Author: Jen Rios

Before…

I really feel like this was MY OWN personal Super Bowl!! My man won (whom I have loved since 2009 when he entered the league and was playing for Detroit) and I ABSOLUTELY loved the halftime show!!! My Mom, not so much!!! And the only reason my Mom has seen it is because I have watched it three times on my TV and once on my phone!

On Sunday, when Sean and I were watching the game together, he also enjoyed the halftime show because he has been familiar with the music because of me. it wasn’t until Eminem came on when the tears started streaming down my face! (Add they seem to stream down that way each of the four times I have watched the halftime show already). Sean asked me why I was crying and I didn’t look at him but continued watching the show and just said, “I bought the CD and listened to it on loop in my car this summer after I graduated high school. It was before I started college, before I was diagnosed with MS and before I was a Mom. It was simpler times!”

I saw this post on Facebook just after the Super Bowl and it completely resonated with me for so many reasons!!!:

I think that I will queue up the game now for the fifth time on my DVR. Well, not the WHOLE game. I will start with the halftime show and I’ll watch the last 4 minutes of the game and the trophy ceremony. I am pretty sure, almost positive that I will cry again when Eminem performs…

“I Love You, Daddy”

I have been thinking about my Dad a lot lately. After 15 years, I have resigned myself to just live with this ache in my chest regarding him.

Anyone who knew my Dad, knows that he was NOT extremely demonstrative. That being the case, I DO have a few pictures of us together and I ALWAYS knew that my Dad loved me!

I think it was the Saturday before he died that I clearly remember him sitting at my Parents’ dining room table and I kissed him on the right side of his forehead and I just said, “I love you, Daddy.” I remember that he told me that he loves me too.

I also remember that and that Sunday, my Mom took Sean to Greenfield Village and I stayed at their house to be with my Dad. I remember that I called my Mom because my Dad did not sound well. She came home early from Greenfield Village with Sean. I was too chicken to say anything to my dad before I left and instead, told Sean to, “Kiss Grandfather goodbye.“

The last thing that I remember my Dad say was some thing like, “Come here, Handsome.”

I have already watched the halftime show three times and the game twice. My friend texted me this video and I was speechless. I absolutely love Matthew Stafford and I have never had a daughter but hearing him say that he loved his girls made me think of my Dad:

You Know What Today is, Right?!

I saw my Facebook memories on Valentine’s Day and I had just left a special message for my Dad 4 years ago:

I really DO miss him! My Dad used to always buy AL of us our Valentine’s day hearts the day AFTER Valentine’s Day. My Mom would get her Valentine’s Day heart, and my Dad would buy four red hearts and one pink heart. The pink heart was for me! I never knew that he bought our Valentine’s Day hearts the day AFTER Valentine’s Day because they were cheaper.

I told a colleague about that and he laughed and said that he was going to do that because it was Valentine’s Day and he would not see his wife or kids until super late at night.

I am NOT even going to eat a pink Valentine’s day heart AT ALL but I liked thinking about my Dad doing that for all of us the day AFTER Valentine’s Day! So, you know what today is, right?!

The Feisty Ginger

I have been frequenting The Feisty Ginger for long time! I really do LOVE my mugs and I was able to get two of them for my Mom and me for Valentine’s Day. My Mom’s mug is on the left because she walks Leia and the one on the right is mine because love KIND OF bites for me!

My Mom made me those cinnamon donuts for the Super Bowl because she knows how important my Super Bowl food was for me. Now, I can no longer chew very easily so I had pirogi for the Super Bowl. She made the donuts for me because I had the mix from the last Pampered Chef party I had. She just surprised me with a few of them yesterday during the Super Bowl.

The BEST part of this package that I received was that I received my first birthday present!!! Deirdre, the owner of the shop, was in my brother’s class in grade school.

So, it’s Valentine’s Day and I ate those three donuts but I don’t want to eat much more sweet things because I AM going to receive a pink Valentine’s Day heart tomorrow from my Dad. Right Daddy? And I was not being serious with that last sentence because my Dad hasn’t been around for 15 years…

… Since ‘09

Well, my man did it!!! I always KNEW that he could ALL ALONG!!! I cried yesterday when they won but I woke up to this information which I liked to hear so much!:

And the halftime show. Seriously?! I loved it! I loved that so many of my Facebook friends loved it as well! Ranging from former colleagues, to grade school classmates, to high school classmates, to adult friends I now have. I ABSOLUTELY loved it!!!

There are so many GREAT stories from this team’s win but I am going to stay in my lane and just stick with Matthew Stafford being my story!

I just want to say that Eminem sounds completely normal to me!!!


But this one, was one of my faves!!!:


That and this picture which will be my new picture for a while on Facebook and Twitter:

I have loved him since 2009 and I love that he finally has his ring!!! 😍😍😍

Fall and Winter Months = Set!!!

I would always arrive one hour early to a movie that I was going to see. Sean has ALWAYS made fun of me! But I’m okay with that; besides, you should ALWAYS be prepared just in case. Maybe it’s because of that reasoning that I just received a package today from Amazon:

You may not tell what it is from the packaging but I am keeping it wrapped up until I need it. What I ordered, is back up extra flavors for the fall!:


I really liked that it had just the three fall flavors I wanted and I use the pomegranate between seasons as well! Because of Target’s sneaky trick, I have extra salted caramel (Which I never liked – but will use it until it’s gone).

So now, couple this delivery from a delivery from a few days ago, now my fall and winter months are set!!!

Scars

I had seriously forgotten about this song until it showed up in my Apple Music shuffle. This song was a song that came out when I was still teaching! I shared it on one of my Faves in my “Tunes” tab.

I do have visible, physical scars though. If I’m thinking about the order that I received the scars: Chicken pox cars when I was 13, ACL reconstruction on my right knee when I was 17, C-section scar when I was 19, meniscus repair on my right knee again when I was 35.

I remember showing my ACL reconstruction scar to a colleague just after he came back to work after he had his ACL reconstructed. He had two little dots on his knee and I told him to close the teachers lounge door and to never discuss how white my legs were but I showed him my ACL reconstruction scar and I told him that’s what ACL construction is supposed to look like! It’s about a 4 inch scar down the center of my knee. They have come along way with knee surgeries and they didn’t need to cut him open like they cut me open.

The most noticeable scars that I often forget that I have are my Chicken pox scars. I have two pocks on my forehead and a less noticeable mark on my nose. The pocks came when I rubbed my face on my pillow while I was sleeping and my eyes shot open when I realized that I had just pulled off two of the scabs on my forehead. I remember telling my students that I licked my finger put it on my forehead and put the scab back into place (LIKE THAT WOULD WORK?!)

I think I told that story pretty close to the end of me teaching because it was already in the spring time when a student commented on it and wondered how I got it so I told them the story and I was surprised that I hadn’t already told them that.

… “I thought I Would be a Different Woman

So again, I am late to the party but in my defense, my son is 20 years old! The days of me going to see a new animated film opening weekend are long since past.

I enjoyed this one throughly! I laughed and I cried as well and I’m not even embarrassed about it. I can’t control my emotions anyway! I liked the Abuela‘s song though because for different reasons, I too, “I thought I would be a different woman.”

#MyGirlL: A Champion

My Mom told me a story about Leia on their walk this morning. So, because the weather has been so warm, her second annual track has melted and what is in its place is a muddy mess so that’s why my Mom takes out for walks now. When she came back, she was helping me out of bed and she told me the story that reminded me of a video I recently saw.

I would share this video if I knew where I saw it but I will just to give you the gist. Apparently, Leia was listening as I was watching because she utilized this technique. The interview was about someone interviewing multiple Olympic athletes before their event. They asked about their nerves and how they feel about the event they’re just going to be in. then, they would interview them AFTER their event and specifically, they interviewed the winners.

Thry asked them if nerves were a factor and what they did that made them successful in their event. Each athlete who had just won their event have a simple answer. It was the same for all of them. “Do it scared,” I guess that Leia Heard that and utilized it because my Mom told me that and their walk, (I was still sleeping) FaceTime across what looked like a melted snowman. It was just a small pail surrounded by grass because of the melting snow. My Mom said it was about Leila’s size. She immediately stopped and crouch down and my Mom talked to her soothingly and told her that they were going to investigate it.

My Mom said that Leia was sniffing everywhere as they walked closer. Leia hesitated a bit but she walked closer, so close that she put her front paws on the melted snowman and as she did, the hair on her back was standing straight out! #MyGirlL is a TRUE champion! She faced her fears and did it scared! Go on ahead with your bad self! I love that dog!!!

3 Christmases

I received a delivery from Amazon yesterday and I have secured the next three Christmases! Christmas 2022, Christmas 2023, and Christmas 2024. I am happy that I will have the next three Christmases covered! I have a number of the Ginger Spiced that I bought but now I will start stocking up on these because I know they are available on Amazon!