family

warrior.

12 July 2018 / family, friends, life, pictures, ronni, travel

Holy banana. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? The world’s falling apart. The U.S. is becoming unrecognizable. I’m torn, being upset and feeling helpless about everything. And yet, there are good things happening, things that make me laugh and smile. I don’t know whether to be outraged and fighting every day, or to grab joy and relish it in whenever I can, because who knows how long I’ll have it?

So today, I’m choosing joy. At least for a while.
I have so much to update you on!
Settle in, if you’re interested.

To be honest, I don’t remember much of the end of March, except plugging away at finishing up my Day Job, and preparing for a life of leisure.

Ha ha ha ha, just kidding. Sort of.

My life did slow down a bit, which was needed. Everyone was telling me I’ve been working so hard and that I deserved this time off to rest and recenter. I don’t know about all that… but I did welcome the rest.

Still, I’ve been up to a lot since the Day Job ended. I’ll break it down by month!

April
Catch Up! I cleaned my room (it’s since become kind of a mess again). I guess I did some general housekeeping. I spent time with Aidan for his Spring Break. I got obsessed with playing The Sims again. I started upgrading the PC that sat unused most of the year in the living room. I started limiting my time on social media to do a lot of soul searching.

My left shoulder started hurting… (and it still hurts to this day. Trying to figure out why.)

Watched A Midsummer Night’s Dream ballet at the Joffrey and it was super memorable. Really enjoyable.

May
I treated myself to a spa day at Allyu Spa. I got the works. Facial, massage, sauna, shower, lunch, mani-pedi, chakra balancing. It was such a good day! And something deep in me clicked. I felt I was hitting a reset button. I felt the darkness that had followed me around like a storm cloud all year was starting to dissipate.

I flew out to Ohio to spend a week with my mommy, which was much needed! We talked and ate good food and shopped and spoiled each other. We both needed that, and I can’t wait to go see her again. The coolest part was Aidan came up that Wednesday to spend Memorial Day with Mommy, and he’d had no idea I was there. It was so much fun surprising him! I saw my cousins and it was amazing catching up. I hadn’t seen most of them in way too long.

I started making friends in the Sims community and watching YouTube videos, really upping my game and building. It’s such a great creative outlet for me, and a lot of fun.

Continued to be cautious on social media. Being more mindful of what I was taking in, and how I was letting it affect me.

June
I finished upgrading my computer and setting up my gaming station. I have to say it’s pretty sweet!

I’m a “casual gamer” and I’m OK with that, but I’m still glad I have a nice setup to play. Makes the game so much easier to play.

Aidan came for the summer. We’ve been playing A Way Out on the Playstation 4. We like our games!

I had a write-in and lunch with a couple of #ChiYA members. That was fun and productive.

It was a good day with @anna.waggener and @mizzlizziecooke 🌸 (repost from @mizzlizziecooke )

I started seeing my chiropractor again. I used to go in 2011, but I stopped when I left my job at Schawk. I’m glad to be back. Everyone there remembered me!

Saw The Incredibles 2 with Aidan. Wow!!

At the end of June, we headed to Georgia for quality time with the Selzer side of the family!

We spent time in Atlanta, Jekyll Island, and Savannah! Jekyll is so magical. One of my favorite nights was high tide during golden hour. Another favorite night was stargazing and watching the big full moon rise over the ocean. I don’t have good pictures of that, but trust me, it was gorgeous.

Moonrise over the ocean a couple of nights ago 💙 #ocean #jekyllisland #sunset #moon #waves

When we got back to Atlanta, we visited with family and friends, ate good food, and had a general good time. We also got to meet a baby!!

On July 4, I got to spend it with friends, some very old and dear. It was a day of meeting new people, eating good food, listening to good music, getting caught in the rain, and drunk karaoke. Good, good times!!

When you’re lucky enough to spend July 4 with super awesome people 🙌🙌🙌 #latergram

Aidan and I came back to Chicago on July 5.

Aidan immediately disappeared into his video came and independent study cave. He comes out to eat and chat a bit, then he disappears again. Adam and I have been turning our place into a smart home. It’s so cool to tell Alexa to turn the lights on or off, lock the door, or play music. I love it.

I’m now fully in normal life. For some reason, I’ve been waking up fairly early, even when I stay up sort of late. I think my time in Eastern time has thrown me off a bit. I don’t mind.

My freelance load is picking up, there are some exciting things afoot (that I can’t reveal just yet), and Aidan is still here for seven more weeks! Next week, Aidan and I are heading to Atlanta (for one night) then Tennessee for a writing retreat. Writing and/or editing for me, not sure what Aidan will get up to! Probably video games. I’m looking forward to mountains and nature. Something about that is so inspiring.

Can’t believe it’s already next week!

Whew! I think I’m all caught up! Hopefully I’ll be back sooner than several months… but we’ll see how that goes. I have lots to say, but sometimes the thought of putting everything into words on here overwhelms me. I have to get back to pushing past that! In the meantime, there is twitter and instagram. Give ya girl a follow, eh?

Till next time!

That feeling when you just get back from the hair salon ☺️

2 Comments

as 2017 winds down.

1 November 2017 / aidan, denmark, europe, family, friends, italy, life, norway, pictures, ronni, scandinavia, shenanigans, sweden, travel

It’s been AGES, right? I say this so much. Then I secretly vow to be better at blogging…and then I fall off again. To be fair, I’ve been fairly busy, and I have so much to tell you!

Since my last post, well, if you followed me on instagram or twitter, you know that I was abroad for most of September. I got to travel with Jennifer, who is one of my very best friends and also my soul sister, and it was amazing. It’s been a month since I’ve been back and I still can’t form words. Not only did I get to eat great food, see beautiful sights, and meet amazing people, but I got to spend a month with Jennifer! Having long distance best friends is hard, so we pretty much crammed all of our girl time into those three and a half weeks.

Here are a few photo collages from the trip:

(I stole this one from Jennifer)

Oh #copenhagen #denmark, I love you so so so much ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Well hello there Denmark! I certainly did not expect to love you so much!! ❤️ #Denmark #copenhagen #europe #travel

I got back to Chicago and was immediately thrust back into full-time and freelance work. I worked some when I was abroad, but it was different, working in a hotel room in Italy or Denmark rather than my apartment in Chicago. There, I’d open the window and listen to the languages and the different sounds and it was so awesome. Here, Fi is still making stinky messes every 40 minutes or so. I don’t have much room to spread out like I want. They’re tearing down a building across the street and for a week straight, my entire building would shake while they were doing their work. Charlotte has grown a lot, and she is a very naughty kitten! I’m covered in scratches and bites. She’s not the little rag doll she was the first day she came home. She’s feisty and vocal and strong-minded. I’ve had to start using the squirt bottle on her. I hate doing it, but she’ll just keep being naughty otherwise. Sometimes it’s exhausting. But then she tires out and collapses on me, and holds on to me so tight, and all my exasperation with her evaporates.

Also during October, Aidan went to homecoming (I KNOW), I got a massage, I got all my watches fixed, I cleaned out a lot of clothes and things to donate, and I cleaned out the bathroom and threw out four bags of old shampoo and body washes and things. I did a panel at Windy City RWA with my fellow ChiYA bloggers. I kept up (mostly) with my Personal Power University class (don’t ask me about the homework I still have to turn in!). And Aidan popped in for a long weekend. It was cool spending time with my awesome kid. Adam’s parents also popped in for a bit, and that was cool.

I also spent weeks trying to catch up and I think I’m *finally* there. It felt like my To-Do lists were growing even though I was steadily doing things. I haven’t been back to yoga, or barre (haha in years for this one), I barely got any new writing done. I interviewed for a job but ultimately decided it wasn’t for me. That was a weird position to be in. So much is going on all the time…and the Day Job is busy. So it does seem like the list of things to do is never ending. So, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that I came home after my massage Saturday and slept for hours and hours. Got up, maybe had a snack, and then slept all night.

But now, it’s two minutes to midnight at the time of this typing. That means November is not only looming, but it’s HERE, and it will definitely be here when this post goes live. Every weekend through the end of the year is booked except one and I just hope I can sleep in at least two of them. Soon there will be Thanksgiving and Christmas and expectations and family and oh God. I can’t even think about it now.

Instead, I’m going to bed. Till next time!

Comments Off on as 2017 winds down.

disney 2017.

25 August 2017 / disney, disney world, family, pictures, positivity, travel, vacation, yay

If you’ve been following me on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, this is not news to you… but I went to Disney World again! 🙂 We stayed in the Polynesian, which was my holy grail resort, and now I want to *always* stay there. Beautiful grounds, comfortable room and bed, fun tiki bar with yummy drinks, great service all the time, monorails, close to Magic Kingdom… it was just amazing.

(I asked Aidan if he’d rather to go Disney every year and stay at a cheaper resort, or go every few years and stay at the Poly, and he picked option 2. When I asked if he’d rather go every year and stay at the Poly every year [MY preference] he said that it was a lot of money and that I work too much and too hard as it is. I have the best kid ever.)

Some of my favorite moments:
– riding Avatar: Rite of Passage (omG AMAzING!) and seeing Pandora, which is beautiful
– seeing Bev at Garden Grill
– Lola getting a Bippity Boppity Boutique makeover
– awesome dinner time conversations
– campfire brownie
– Happily Ever After
– playing in the photo booths
– finding the rose gold Minnie ears!
– running into Josh & Kelly

It was a really, really, really good trip.

I put together a few collages for your viewing pleasure, and there’s also a link to a full album of photos. Enjoy, and I’ll see ya soon!

Comments Off on disney 2017.

summer 2017.

21 August 2017 / family, friends, pictures, summer, yay

As the second half of August descends upon us, I can only sit here in a bit of disbelief. Seems like it was JUST June, and Aidan had just arrived, and we were ready for a fun, busy summer. The problem with fun, busy summers is that they speed by.

We kicked off the season with a trip to the Once Upon a Time Convention here in Chicago. Aidan is not into the show, so he hung out in the hotel room and played video games. I attended a billion panels and Q&As, autograph sessions, concerts, and photo ops, and even got to chat with some of the actors in the bar. Michael Coleman is a sweetheart to the max. In fact, most of the actors were amazingly gracious and open and friendly. A few of them seemed exhausted. I sprung for the GOLD package, which wasn’t cheap, but was worth it. I got 9 autographs, had an assigned seat in the auditorium, got free admission to the concert and karaoke, and got to attend special panels. I also sprung for a few photo ops. Those were cool, but I managed to look stupid in EVERY SINGLE PICTURE. *sigh* Anyway. Very amazing experience but also EXHAUSTING. I don’t think I’ll be able to do that again, but we’ll see. I’m glad I did it.

At the end of June, the ALA conference came to Chicago. Rena and I hit up the exhibition hall and got to meet/see a lot of great authors, load up on free ARCs, and network. It was tiring but worth it! And right after ALA finished, Aidan and I went to see Aladdin, which SUCH A GOOD SHOW!! We went to Stage Door and got to take pictures with most of the main actors.

Here are some of the ALA pictures:

July, Aidan and I headed off to the beautiful and peaceful mountains in Salt Lake City, UT. A writing retreat for me, and just relaxing for Aidan. We were there with Rena, Traci, Nia, and Anna and it was a really great week. I hammered out a lot of my revisions, got to be in a nature, and got to zip line!! It was a great trip, I did not want to come back to the hustle and bustle of Chicago.

The next day, Aidan’s best friend Benito came to town to spend the week with him, and that was great. Benito’s pretty cool, and we did things like go to Navy Pier, go on a Shoreline architecture tour, and eat dinner at Sakura. Then Rena and I trekked out to Naperville to write and to attend the Angie Thomas/Becky Abertalli event!

We had a week of regular life. I turned in my revisions to my agent on July 30, and spent the rest of the day packing for Disney World! We stayed in the Polynesian, my HOLY GRAIL resort, and had a wonderful time!

One last week of summer, and then Aidan headed back to Ohio on August 12. He started high school on the 14th and seems to be doing well so far. I spent Sunday at the Four Seasons getting pampered, then spent the rest of the day shopping on Michigan Ave. It was a perfect Ronni Day.

In the midst of all this was working, dealing with a sick Fi, raising a rambunctious Charlotte, writing, and freelance. Trying and failing not to overdo things—I’m still technically recovering from surgery and I did feel the sting somedays. I really need to chill out.

Now, I am gearing up for a very busy fall. Travel, freelance, work, writing. September is going to be amazing, October is going to be busy, and then it’ll be time to plan for the holidays. 2017 is flying by and it’s bittersweet. But life’s good, and I’m so excited about what’s to come!

More soon….

Comments Off on summer 2017.

…

5 May 2015 / family, pictures, sad

On April 30, 2015, my stepfather passed away.

I still haven’t fully processed it, because I can’t believe it’s real.

And sometimes I do remember it’s real, and it’s like a punch in the gut. And yet, I smile because I don’t want to make anyone else cry, even though I’m crying inside.

My mom and Greg started dating in 1995. He’d actually written her a note asking her out, so I tease her about it all the time saying he gave her a note that said “Do you like me? Check yes or no.”

Apparently, it worked. They got married in June of 2000. They eloped to Vegas, which was not even surprising, knowing them. I was so happy for them.

From the beginning, he treated me like his own. He knew the perfect gifts to give me for holidays. He and my mom flew me out to Las Vegas for my 30th birthday and paid for everything. It was crazy. He’d give me a $10 bill and tell me to get him a pop and keep the change. It was years later that I realized that was his way of giving me spending money, because while you’re gambling, beverages are free! And he was always gambling! He gave me money for the slot machines. I am not a risk-taker, so I’d win $2-3 and then quit. I was richer when I came back than I was when I landed.

I remember one Christmas, he woke my mom and me up at 3am because he was SO EXCITED for Christmas to start. And then the power went out. We opened gifts at 3am by candlelight and I was so scared the wrapping paper would catch a flame and we’d burn down the whole building.

He walked me down the aisle when I married Chris. I remember being a bit nervous to ask him. My mom said he got choked up. Then he said he’d be “honored” to do it.

He said “oinky the badoinky” instead of “poop.” He always made a sad crying noise when I had to leave Ohio and go back to Chicago or wherever.

He fed the animals that come up on their balcony. He bought entire loaves of bread for the squirrels and birds, and now they come to the door and look in, waiting. The past few days, it’s been Aidan and me feeding them. My mom will take over when we head back.

He spoiled my mom rotten. Whatever she wanted and he could get for her, he did. I could have loved him for that alone.

I never realized it, but now I know that he would have done anything for me, had I only asked. I just never had to ask.

But I guess I can’t ask him to come back.

RIP Greg. I know you’re playing the most awesome poker game and winning ALL the money! Thank you for being a dad to me and thank you for taking such good care of my mommy.

3 Comments