Monday, May 27, 2013

    I cannot wait to go home! Not only can I not wait to go home because of my parents, siblings, and grandparents, but I cannot wait to see me aunts and uncles either. I specifically cannot wait to see my Uncle Timmy. Uncle Timmy is a very special person in my life. He lives in a group home because he is mentally challenged. My family picks Uncle Timmy up from his house every weekend for a BBQ or just regular dinner. He is always very funny and can put anyone in a good mood. I know that I am just as important to Uncle Timmy as he is to me because out of all of our cousins, I am one of the few names that he always remembers!

Friday, May 24, 2013

    While a lot of people think that they have a big family because they have over ten first cousins, imagine having over thirty first cousins... Since my dad is one of thirteen, I have about thirty cousins just on his side alone. The best part is, though, that most of them are all pretty interesting and fun to be with. I have a cousin who is in the Guinness Book of World Records, a cousin who is in a band, a cousin who is a Pro Gamer, a cousin who is an amazing baker, and a cousin who has even met the vice president!

My cousin Katie; she is in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the first person to eat this 5 lb. burger and 6 lbs. of toppings in under two hours.

Check out this article!

My cousin John; he has his own band and just released a new single!

Here's the single and the lyrics!

My cousin Richie (on the right); he is a Pro Gamer.

My cousins Jen and Tom at there wedding with a cake that he made and some other cakes that he made ...

                                      

My cousin Kacie after the vice president kissed her forehead; he told her not to date until she was thirty!

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

    After being away from home for so long, I can not wait for school to be finished so I can go home. Not only do I want to be able to sleep in my own bed, shower without flip flops, and have a home cooked meal, but I want to be able to be with my family whenever I want. I want to be able to watch television with them, have dinner with them, and even play games with them.
    My favorite thing to do with my grandparents is to play cards. We play a game called May I and it is like a seven hand rummy game. Every night that we do not have any plans, I beg my parents if we can go play cards at my grandma's. However, it is routine that we play at least one night a weekend, if not both Friday and Saturday.
    The game gets very serious. We even keep a schedule of who wins and at the end of the year we tally it up, get the percentage of games won, and have a winner! You don't actually win anything, but you do get bragging rights! It is the most fun that I could ever have with my family and I wouldn't spend my weekends any other way.

Me and my grandma on my 18th birthday.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 Part II

    My sister Jen's engagement party is June 23, 2013. Many people that I talk to from Elmira College do not understand what I mean when I say that she is having an engagement party. The idea that people don't have engagement parties seems crazy to me, though. 

    The party is basically a pre-wedding event that all members of the family (parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts/uncles, and cousins), and all members of the bridal party get to go to. In some situations friends go, but it is mostly a family party. The event is usually thrown by the parents of the engaged couple to celebrate just the engagement. Therefore, the date is closer to the engagement than to the actual wedding, unlike bridal showers and bachelorette parties. 

     I'm really looking forward to Jen's party. This will mean that I will be home, I'll see my family, and most of all... it takes us one step closer to Jen's wedding. It will definitely be a great day! Now all I have to do is make sure that I do not have work that day...

Jen and Steve just after he proposed!

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

    As I have already stated, my family has a lot of events that have either just passed or that are coming up. I have already talked about being excited for Elsa's upcoming christening, but two other important current events in my family include Brendan's graduation and Jen's engagement party.
    My brother Brendan graduated from St. John's University on Saturday, May 18, 2013. Brendan and I have always competed with grades and he always told me how much smarter he is. All through my high school and early college career we compared classes and I even finished my college math courses before him even though I was still in high school. I've tried my hardest to be able to say that we could have graduated at the same time and I came pretty close. After starting school two years after him, I ended up only a year behind him credit wise.
    Even though I can still technically finish school in less years than Brendan, I am extremely proud and happy for him. Brendan has always been very smart and he has earned his degree in finance. He will go on to complete a five-year MBA program at St. John's and I'm sure it will lead him to great places.
    Unfortunately, I was unable to attend his graduation. Not only am I four hours away from home, but I took part in a charity run in Albany that day. It was called Hero Rush and the proceeds went to the Fallen Firefighters Association and local charities. This was a lot of fun and pretty challenging, but I feel bad that I missed his graduation. At least he won't feel obligated to come to mine, though!

My mom, Brendan, and my dad outside of my house before Brendan graduated

Next Post: Jen's Engagement Party

Monday, May 20, 2013

   I had planned to write this blog about current events in my family such as Brendan's graduation or Jen's engagement party, but I'll save that for another day and write about my dad instead. My dad is a great guy. Really great. He always puts his family first and does as much as he can for us. To do this, from as far back as I can remember, he has had multiple jobs to support us. 
  While he worked part time at a United Artist's movie theater, he worked full time at KeySpan (now National Grid). At KeySpan, the company always had a Christmas party for the families of the workers. Ever since I can remember, my dad has volunteered his time to dress up as Santa Claus for the company. Not only did he do this at the party, but he went around with the company choir to various offices, hospitals, and charities during the Christmas season. Even though he is now retired from this company, he has about six or seven suits that he still wears for charities and his own work. He charges about $150 for the first half hour and I think $100 or $50 for every half hour after that. 
   Some people may think that this was unfair to my childhood because I may have never believed in Santa. However, it was actually the complete opposite. My parents did the best they could to keep this from me and my brother, but even when we did realize that my dad did this, they convinced me that he was "Santa's Helper." My dad even mailed letters to our house pretending to be Santa thanking my dad for helping him out during the busy holiday season!
   Even though my dad does this and is known for his Santa Claus persona, he has also worn many other costumes in the past. I remember him wearing costumes such as Simba from The Lion King, Chuckie from The Rugrat's, Shrek, Yogi Bear, Batman, Baby New Year, and many other characters and even then, I never knew they were my dad!

My cousin John, my dad as Baby New Year, me, Brendan, and my cousin Max

Me and "Santa"during my first Christmas season

Some more costumes...

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

The start of the Heinz Family:

   My parents met each other in 1989. Some people may have stories of their parents meeting in college, or maybe at work, or possibly through friends, but my parents met at a wedding. This wasn't just any wedding, though; it was the wedding of Henny Decker and Nancy Heinz. Why is this wedding of any importance? Well, Henny is my mom's brother and Nancy is my dad's sister. Some people might find this to be a great, unusual experience (that I would have the same set of married aunt and uncle on both sides of my family), but after awhile they might realize it could get messy. 

  My parents got married less than a year later in 1990 and had my brother Brendan in 1991. While this should have been a happy time for my family, it was also upsetting because my Aunt Nancy and Uncle Henny just started to file for divorce. Since I wasn't alive then I don't know all of the particulars, but I do know that my brother's christening ended up at the police station! 

  As a conclusion, my parents were never able to throw big birthday parties for us and it was always awkward at mine and my siblings graduations, communions, confirmations, etc, to have both Aunt Nancy and Uncle Henny together because in their second marriages they both had children around the same age as myself and I wasn't allowed to tell them about their parents' history. As it turns out, all of us kids are now in college and are aware of the situation and even make fun of it sometimes. We still don't have big parties together, but at least my relatives are happily married!

Me and my brother Brendan... I forced him to play dolls with me.

P.S. I brought the bunny in the santa suit into class last year for show and tell!