Sunday, April 24

7:15 am
Kitchen

Being the Easter Bunny blows.  I'm up at 7 am on a fucking Sunday.

Cate better hurry up with the coffee.


10:45 pm
Bedroom

Finally, a little private time with my Wife.  Thought this day would never end.

It was a nice family day, but I'm glad it's done.  Always a challenge having ALL the family together.  It's fun to see all the kids playing together and to catch up with some of the cousins I haven't seen in awhile, but after a couple hours we run out of things to talk about. And I see my brothers all the damned time, so it ain't like we have any catching up to do.  In fact I'm pretty sure Matt would rather not see my ugly ass since he's glued to it when we're on the road, ha ha.

And then there's Mom and Dad.  It's always good to see my Old Man; I don't spend enough time with him.  And Mom... well, she's Mom.  I love her, she's my Mother, but she's exhausting.  Always has to be the Diva, the center of attention.

Tony says that's where I get my ego from -- Mom.  Man, that's a low blow.  I developed my ego all on my own, with years of practice, ha ha.

Anyway, today she was in usual form, holding court with all the cousins and grandkids.  And as usual she had to get in a couple jabs about how sad it my kids don't have "a normal family" since their parents aren't married anymore.  They're Children of Divorce, sigh.

I had to bite my tongue harder than usual this time.  Over the past few years I've been pretty good at just tuning her out but today Mom's fake angst just really rubbed me the wrong way.  I guess it's because Cate and I are at such an exciting point in our relationship, starting a family.  Soon we're gonna give Mom and Dad another grandchild.  Maybe that will finally make my sainted Mother realize once and for all there's no chance Dorothea and I will reconcile.

The fact that Mom still doesn't really accept Cate as part of our family pisses me off.  And today she was chattier with Dorothea than usual; she basically ignored Cate.  Cate said I was overreacting and that she was perfectly fine flying under Mom's radar.  And I know D figured out what was going on too; she shot me a couple "WTF?" eye-rolls.

But it is what it is.  God knows I can't talk to Mom about the way she acts toward my Wife, she'll just deny it all and there will be more Diva bullshit.  I guess as long as Cate's not upset I just gotta let it go.

Speaking of grandchildren, I had to be sure to pull Steph and Jesse aside and caution them not to spill the beans about my procedure or Cate's and my Baby Plans.  God knows the last thing we need is Nana Bongiovi finding out Cate's trying to get pregnant.  She'd call me every fucking day "just to see how things are going."  And when I'm in Europe this summer she'd drive Cate nuts.  It's not good to torment a woman who packs heat for a living, ha ha.

Though maybe that would be enough incentive to convince Cate to come on the road with me this summer, ha ha.  Threaten her with the Mother-in-Law.

Naw, I love her too much to do that.

So while I was trying to play nice with my Mother, everybody else had a really nice Easter.  The kids had a great time hanging out with the cousins at the house and on the beach.  My Easter baskets were a huge hit; even Jess and Steph were grinning ear-to-ear when they found them.  Eat my dust, Martha Stewart, ha ha.

Romeo was especially wound up, when he found the little basket I made for Russell I thought he was gonna explode, ha ha.  Made his whole day.  And of course he headed straight for Cate to show her the little pink and purple ferrets the Easter Bunny brought for Russell.  The sweet smile and wink my Wife gave me while she hugged my Boy made MY whole day.

I also pulled Jesse aside for a little bit, to find out how things are going with Bridget.  He's still mooning over her, though today he wasn't too mopey with everybody around.  Guess the party got his mind off of her for awhile.  He said he's been trying to work on his song, but he thinks what he has is dumb.  I had to grin at that; most of my Girl Songs were dumb too.  But I told him I'd take a look at it this week if he wants, before I head down to New Orleans.  He said he'll think about it.

Poor kid.  Sucks to have your heart stomped on.

Anyway, other than Mama Drama the day was fun.  Good food, music, played a little football on the beach, just hung out.  Cate did a great job putting everything together; Dorothea complimented her a couple times.  Even Mom could only find a couple things to nitpick, ha ha.

I always feel a little strange when D comes out here or to the Jersey house for these family get-togethers.  Not that I don't want her here; quite the opposite.  But I know it must be at least a little awkward or bittersweet for her; she was the Lady of the Manor for so long, hosted so many parties and family get-togethers in our homes.  And now she's the guest, not the Hostess.  But she handles it all with grace and poise, which makes me respect her even more.  Class Act, my ex-wife.

So after a long day of food and family and more damned eggs than I ever care to see again, finally most of La Famiglia Bongiovi has gone.  The kids have school tomorrow so D took them back home with her; Cate's gonna telework from here tomorrow.  Mom and Dad are staying overnight; heading out to Jersey to visit friends tomorrow.

Cate and I watched some of the NHL playoffs with Dad while Mom decided she needed to clean the kitchen.  Dad started to doze off so I saw my chance to escape and I took it, ha ha.  Cate went in to be sure Mom has everything she needs (which isn't likely) and said she'd meet me here for a little private Easter celebration, heh heh.

I'm thinking maybe we need to start our private party with a dip in the jacuzzi.  I could handle soaking my old bones in some nice warm water for awhile.  I think I can twist Cate's arm to join me, ha ha.  And I betcha I can convince her there's no need for clothing either.  Who cares if the folks are here?  Dad's done for the night and Mom's gotta be close to calling it a night too.

Besides, the threat of getting caught's half the fun, right?  Heh heh.

Yep, gonna hide all Cate's bikinis.  Right now.  Time for a little Spring Skinny Dip.

But bunny ears are optional.  It's Easter, after all.