Family Love Story...

To My Family: 

The Costantino Crew!

    I am tired and worn out after a long a week of work.  My body hurts from smashing trees and stuff on the ski slopes this year.  I realize that the one thing that always cheers me up is my family.  My daughter Abby scratching her old man's back as I read her favorite greek mythology book.  
My little Ailey, slapping me on the butt as hard as she could after I tortured her for a half an hour, unbeknownst to her, with my new Verizon Fios Android TV Remote Application.  I was changing channels on her, muting it, flicking pictures of the family on the tv, all from another room!  All great fun!  She finally caught me!  
After reading to my 3 year old Mia, she snuggled on my chest and stretched out like she likes to do.  She looked up and put both hands on my cheeks and gave me a big smile, damn she is beautiful.  Oh did I forget my wife?  Yeah she chewed my ass for doing something stupid tonight but I still love her, and I know she still loves me!
     My point is there ain't nothing in this world as important as your family.  Enjoy every second of them while you can.  We are only here for a little while.  I have to remind myself that all of the time.  I love all of you Costantino ladies to pieces!


Love,


Your Wacky Dad and Husband






  

Help Me Wipe Out Pancreatic Cancer!

This past June I lost my close friend, Karen Petty to Pancreatic Cancer. Karen's son Jason was my closest friend growing up and I was at the Petty household on a daily basis. Karen was like a second mother to me while I was growing up. Losing Karen was the closest I have come to losing a parent and it really hit home for me. Karen's passing has inspired me to bring the fight to Pancreatic Cancer in any way I know how. My first stab at taking on this disease took place on Sept. 25th 2010 in the form of a 200 mile one day solo bicycle ride from Karen's home in West Warwick, RI to her cabin in Thornton, NH. This ride served a twofold purpose. It gave me a way to take on Pancreatic Cancer actively and also helped me honor the great life that Karen led. Also with the help of devoted family and friends we raised almost $8000 for the Lustgarten Foundation from this event. The Lustgarten Foundation is underwritten by Cablevision, allowing 100% of your donations to go to Pancreatic Cancer research. I believe the amount raised is testament to how many people truly loved Karen.

Since the ride I have had a lot of time to reflect and have become more in tune to the Pancreatic Cancer community. I have found that although raising money for research is extremely important, there is something that I think is even more important to the overall fight against Pancreatic Cancer. That something is AWARENESS! I am totally shocked by how few people have mobilized against a disease that happens to be the 4th largest cancer killer in this country. Yes the 4th largest - with survival rates in the single digits, and very few government dollars to aid in the fight! This is unacceptable to me. Something else I've learned since my ride is that Pancreatic Cancer is actually a very slow growing cancer and only becomes lethal in your body after about a 20 year gestation period. I find this news heartening because in my mind if we can catch this disease in its infancy then I believe we can kill it. The key to all of this is early detection - which has so far eluded researchers. The only path to finding a cure is to give these researchers the money they need to continue on with their search. Raising public awareness of Pancreatic Cancer is the only path to getting the research funding, both Federal and private, needed to make this fight a success.

I recently joined the Rhode Island Affiliate of The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. I learned about this group from an event called Purple Light that I was invited to by one of it's members. I was very impressed by what I saw at the event and also by the fire in the bellies of its volunteers. I knew this was a group I had to be a part of. These are fighters that I can stand back to back with in my fight against Pancreatic Cancer. The Rhode Island affiliate is relatively new and really beginning to pick up speed. I have taken on the role of Event Coordinator for the Rhode Island affiliate to try to do my part.

Our next event will be what is called PurpleStride Rhode Island event. It is a walk to be held on May 15th, 2011 at Goddard Park in Warwick, RI. We have made it our goal to bring at least 1000 walkers to this event. I believe that Rhode Island should be a perfect place to begin a storm of awareness on the subject of Pancreatic Cancer. We are small, passionate, and smart. We also do not like to be messed with. Rhode Islanders are being assaulted every day by this insidious disease and I find it hard to believe that this state full of fighters will continue to take this lying down. We are here standing by to help you bring the fight to Pancreatic Cancer in your own way. We all have special talents and it is time to put them to good use. This event will take all of our talents and resources to make it the big success we need it to be. Please join the fight and lets fight pancreatic cancer as a team and make it a distant memory!  We have already recruited 200 walkers to date and are approaching $15,000 in donations.  Lets keep it up everyone!


Sincerely,



Eric Costantino

Costantino Women Hijack My Dad Blog!

My editor in chief!  Dang thats a good looking editor!

I have a peculiar situation in my household.  I am pretty sure that my wife needs a blog of her own.  She has taken to following my Twitter and Facebook pages very closely (ie. Phone-"ring ring"...I answer... Wife-"so and so just mentioned you. cool."), and she has even annointed herself the editor in chief!  What in hell does that mean?  We're talking about a blog that has been in existence for 6 months and has earned me a total of about $5 through random advertisement clicks.  Not exactly a cash cow!  I hope she isn't looking for any big money with a title like that.  Maybe a slap on the ass or something, but no dough!

Creativity Department!

Actually I am really thrilled to have my wife on as a team member.  I also have recently added my daugher Abigail to the "payroll".  She is my new "idea person".  I get a lot of writers block.  Abby is giving me 3 ideas a day to help out with this problem as the new head of the creativity department.  Yesterdays post about Ailey, was Abby's idea.  She told me she wanted a job - so I put her to work on the blog.  Again I have no way to pay her except in lunch money, kisses, etc...

I don't know why but this picture seems appropriate.

So where does that leave me as a blog writer.  I don't come up with the ideas, and my damned grammar is so bad that after my wife fixes all of my mistakes I might as well have let her write the damned post!  I guess my only purpose here is to lend my title of "dad" to the project and continue to put my personal spin on things as I see fit.  Once again the women in my life have trumped me - and that is something that I am willing to live with, as long as the call me husband and dad!


Love,


Wacky Dad

Costantino Family Comedian - Ailey!

Little Meathead!

It seems that Abby and Mia have gotten more attention on the blog lately than my middle daughter Ailey.  Not sure how this happened but it is time to rectify the situation.  Ailey is quite the little live wire.  If I had to say which kid was most like me, I would probably say Ailey.  Our brains work so much alike it is almost scary.  There are so many times when we find the same things funny. We can be watching a movie and start laughing at the same part while everyone else in the room kind of looks at us like we're crazy.  We often blurt out the same phrases or exclamations at the same time.  Not to mention the kid looks just like a female Eric.  Hopefully that shared DNA doesn't come back to bite her later in life!

Ailey skiing from the summit of Cannon Mountain

Another thing Ailey and I share is a very competitive spirit.  My sweet little Ailey quietly goes about her business without a lot of fanfare and generally kicks total ass at everything she does.  Her school work is impeccable.  She recently won her age group and class at a recent ski race at Cannon Mountain.  She is such a good little winner too.  Very humble and quiet about it all - but deep down she knows she kicked butt.  She makes her whole family proud!

Ailey loves to capture frogs from the
stream in the yard and tortue her big
sister with them every chance she gets!

One of the best things about Ailey is her sense of humor.  The damned kid is really a comedian!  She keeps us in stitches and really knows how to lighten the mood.  Ailey loves to grab me a beer out of the fridge when I ask for one.  She must have "gotten" me 50 times before I realized that she shakes the beer up right before she gives it to me.  Sometimes I still let her do it just to see her laugh her butt off at me opening it up like a doofus.  Last night Abby was having a bad night - just pooped and not feeling that great.  Nothing could bring her around until Ailey just came out with "I am just 61 pounds of pure power"  - sort of out of the blue.  Then she laughs like hell!  Abby actually busted up with her and it totally changed her mood.  Ailey calls everyone dude - including me.  "What's up dude" is what I get out of her when I get home from work at night.  I just can't put into words how funny this little kid is.  She is the apple of my eye, as are all of my kids, and I really love the heck out of her for who she is.

I have included some video of Ailey in the photo and video section of my blog/  These will give you a small glimpse into just what this little meathead brings to our family!




All My Love Ailey,


Your Wacky Dad

Bathroom Woes Of A Toddler's Father!

I know she looks cute and innocent but this kid is obsessed
with sitting on the can in public bathrooms!

     Well folks the good news is that I am not changing diapers anymore.  In fact for quite a few months now my youngest Mia - just 3 years old - has been using the "head" on a regular basis.  At first, things were great in there.  She would do her thing - tinkle or poopy and she'd jump right off the toilet and we were done, well except for of course the "parent wipe", but that is way easier than the full butt wipe found in a diaper (never got used to that).  As of late though things have become much slower.


     I would like to ask any of you if you have ever spent much time in a ski area mens room.  Well, let me tell you, it is quite a damned treat.  I usually hold my breath before I go in and make it out just before I go hypoxic and fall over.  There is nothing like the smell of disgusting guys at a ski area, venting their waste from the previous night's debauchery.  I don't know quite what lends to it's specific odor, but I am here to tell you, it ain't a good one.

A crapper similar to the ones I have experience with

Now with that background said and understood, I can tell you my quandary.  My daughter Mia - sweet little urchin - has, as of late, begun to take her time on the potty .  She seems to find it quite amusing to sit on the throne in the Cannon Mountain men's room for as long as she possibly can.  She dangles her little feet and listens to the dude next to us who always seems to be taking an explosive type of you-know-what.  It brings her such delight to hear the different styles of poops in the next stalls.  She might go from laughter to shock while listening to all the noises.  Yesterday she said "Awwwww, gross"!  The damned kid thinks she's a darn poop connoiseur.
    

I think this was one of the "poopers" next to us yesterday!

Now I don't know if it is because I have a huge nose and the scent settles into the damn thing more then it would other people, but I hate the smell of a "rotten" bathroom.  Maybe it has something to do with the 6 years I spent in the Marine Corps and the 18 months I spent at sea on a naval vessel, but I really hate it.  Well when you hate the smell that much, and your daughter decides to hang out on the crapper for 20 minutes, contemplating the 4 guys "pinching/firing" a "loaf" next to you, it isn't a father/daughter match made in heaven!  I swear, I literally jump when some of these guys are in #2 mode.  It just isn't right...Why do they have to be so loud about the whole affair.  And I don't think the pressure of these turds is even normal.  They Have to be trying for projection and for noise in their stalls (which with guys, does not surprise me since a lot of us like to compete at Everything and we also tend to like to make as much noise as possibe when doing gross things ie. farts, puking,...).  Maybe they are waiting for a score from the 3 year old shitter-judge next to them - Ms. Mia herself.  I think she needs to start yelling "It's a ten for creativity, artistic impression, noise level and overall smell impression! - Fine job dude!"  Maybe that "judgely" announcement will move them along faster...and maybe move Mia along faster too.  
Well, here's to looking forward to the day when this kid of mine can poop on her own!




Humbly,


Wacky Dad