"Florida…well let me start by reminding you I was there to celebrate being 5 years cancer free! Did I ever mention that I was diagnosed with breast cancer? Just in case you missed it. We had just had one hell of a scare and I wanted to go to Florida to celebrate. Jim wanted to celebrate also, but was not all at all happy about my choice of venue, but as a good hubby, he came along. As I watched the last two episodes I caught many things I had missed that night. I probably missed them for several reasons. First, I was outside with Dina. Secondly, I had way too much to drink and not enough to eat (plus I had just flown in), and lastly, I was talking to Bobby in the bathroom. Hey, rookie mistake, with four kids we do not get out much on “adult nights,” so to one or two drinks at dinner max. Neither of us is accustomed to large quantities of vodka. We had started that day flying out early from New Jersey, we jumped on a plane had “airplane” food only…big mistake. Because when we landed our group was to go out to dinner. Unfortunately, our plane was late, the restaurant we picked was too packed, so we only had drinks and a few appetizers. Bigger mistake…leaving without food! I learned a few funny lesson, and in truth, I think we all did. I realized I can no longer drink like I did in my single days with Melissa, and I am not smart enough to do algebraic equations while intoxicated. But hey, my makeup looked good, so it wasn’t all bad.
I asked myself, how did the whole crazy thing get started? If you go to bravotv.com, you will see we were all having a blast. Everyone was teasing everyone, Melissa was Dr. Ruth, Joe was saying he wanted to be hugged like a “bitch” after sex. Dina was saying Teressa was her date, and the group was cheering, “I want to see Amber and Jimmy make out.” All in good spirits. Jim and Joe were having a blast, Jim even rubbed and kissed Joe’s bald head! Even Bobby and I were back to teasing one another. We were really having a great time, but I think as with anything, too much alcohol is not always a good thing.
Best I could tell, Jim was busting on Bobby and complimenting the twins. I know Jim is ball buster and gives as good as he gets. He and Bobby had been friends for years and were having a great time, so when Bobby started with the faces and talk, Jim busted back in kind. Clearly, he struck a nerve, which set off a time bomb! Bobby got mad at Nicole. Teressa, feeling the need to defend her sister, got mad. Teressa started coming at Jim because of Bobby, not because of anything he said about Nicole or Teressa. Not sure why Teressa was defending Bobby…oh yeah, he was hiding in bathroom. In any case, Teressa and Jim emptied the largest bottle of vodka I have ever seen that night. So when the two clashed, it was not pretty. I wish Rino was there, because he may have brought reason to the party. But then again, who knows. The last time Jim spoke to Rino, Rino called Jim a jerk-off at Bobby’s house. But Jim and Joe worked it out with a shot of vodka, so I am sure Jim and Rino would have done the same.
Nice thought, but back to reality. Teressa came at him on multiple occasions and the more Bobby hid, the meaner she got. She came at Jim on many occasions. When you see Jim pop up and call her uneducated, dumb bleep, she had already been attacking him with crude remarks. Bad move! If you notice, Jim is sitting on the couch when Teressa comes at him the last time, and no doubt was lying in wait. When Jim smirks, the sh-- is going to hit the fan! He dropped the bomb. I of course was so hammered that after he dropped the bomb, I went into crying mode, which was normal for me the last few months as I was emotional wreck due to my health. Then I smoked a cigarette, which is a big, BIG, stupid mistake. My father died of pancreatic cancer when I was 19 inside of three months -- that along with my diagnosis should have kept me more in check. Did I over react? YES! Too much alcohol, the highly stressful situation, no food, not enough sleep, and coming off the scare of my test results really lowered my better judgment.
When Jim and I went up the stairs, he was laughing. Teressa was just as drunk and nasty, so he figured they would hug it out the next day. Jim viewed the Gotti thing as a stupid “mama joke” and never gave it a moment of validity. I am not going to lie, he also found humor in some payback -- hey, he is Sicilian, under 5’ 8”, from Jersey, and trained as an attorney -- am I the only one who saw it coming? I tell you, it is bad when he starts speaking Latin (or whatever came from his drunken slur). One thing was certain, he was hammered and viewed the whole thing as nothing more than a drunken exchange. I think he got a kick out of how many times Teressa came at him. I could have been mad at him, but we went through a lot over the years, and I know in his mind he was just trying to defend me.
The next morning, he popped out of bed. I do not know how, but was ready for a new day on only three hours of sleep. I was still hurting and wanted more rest. Jim is the breakfast guy in our house; I cook all week and he does breakfast on the weekends, so it was natural for him to cook. Plus we had not eaten anything substantial for 24 hours at this point. The twins were not feeling as jolly as Jim that morning and took the exchange to heart. I think we were all tired and had too much to drink
I think they were really hurt, because while Jim let the cat out of the bag, they realized this rumor had been around for a while. The only time I spoke of it was to Jim and to confirm with Tre that I was not going to repeat it. Tre decided to tell Dina. I repeat, I think the way Dina told the twins caused animosity and it was shady. I truly think Dina’s comments about the rumor and my relation to it created unnecessary tension. Think about how she told them the night before we came down. Dina did not say it came from Gotti and that I had nothing to do with it, she placed it squarely on my shoulders.
When I called and spoke to Dina to tell her that I was coming down because of my good test results, she should of relayed that to the group, not a doomsday message that set a negative tone. Worse, why didn’t Dina remind everyone we were celebrating my being five years cancer freeafter we had a scare? Certainly the group would have been happy for us instead of feeling tension when we came in. Also, the way Dina called me outside was shady. She loves to gossip, but pretends she does not gossip. In short, Dina caused tension due to her shady “rumor gossip” then didn’t tell anyone our good news. I am calling “ZEN PENALTY FOUL” since I feel Dina was protecting her friend and placing the fault squarely onto me. Dina feels needed when she causes bad sh--, and she enjoys it. I saw pictures of her smiling and laughing when the twins and I were fighting in Bobby’s basement. Dina likes to cause trouble behind the scenes and then plays the “healer” with her spiritual “love.” It’s called passive aggressive behavior. She attacks and then pretends to be victim as proof -- look how she has treated my husband.
She never civilly spoke to my husband, yet feels comfortable enough to call him names? Unsolicited she called him a dick, vagina, douche, and told him to stick it up his a--. I remind you, Dina, without knowing my husband, approached him at the first responders party. Why? It was none of her business! This was an issue between Jim and Joe. I was just attacked and she thought that was a good time to ask about bowling? She has a pattern of starting trouble to justify her nasty comments. She consistently pokes her nose in gossip, like the Gotti rumor and the first responders party, then decides to attack my husband. I notice she does not call anyone else’s husband names when they act less than gentlemanly. If you have watched all year, there have been plenty of times Dina could have offered her opinion. Dina is the type to speak in vulgar terms about a man she never took five minutes to know and then acts offended when he speaks his mind. Dina thinks she is all high and mighty, but in reality she has a cold heart that has displaced her anger due to her own personal heartaches. It is clear she is jealous that my husband loves and adores me, protects me and fights for me, while her husband doesn’t give her the attention she needs. I actually feel bad that she got to this level of anger and resentment. I pray she finds her true love, so she can finally get off my husband’s jock strap.
Finally, on a sad note, my heart aches for Teresa, Joe, and her children. Jim and I’s thoughts and prayers are with Tre and Joe. I do not know Joe well, but I can see from the times I was at their home he is a good father and loving husband, and Teresa is an amazing mother. I really hope that you all just extend your well wishes and keep the nasty comments away."
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