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In her tiny little apartment, she used to cook and serve huge meals, and everyone would come to get a taste of her heritage.

Her meals always started with salad, homemade bread, followed by scrumptious soup.

Next came the pasta, with home made noodles of course, usually spaghetti or ravioli, with all the fixings. Then the egg plant parmesan, just for teasers, followed by the main course - pot roast, potatoes and vegetable.

Just when you thought you couldn’t take another bite, out came the pastry and Espresso, and an evening of talking, laughing and, of course, heated discussions about nothing important at all.

The food always looked so good, and as a little girl, I wanted it all. So as each course was brought out, I would pile a load on my plate. My grandma would always look at me and say, “Patricia, your eyes are bigger than your tummy.”

And each time, as hard as I tried to finish what I had taken, she was right.

The funny thing is that I haven’t changed much over the last thirty years, and I still tend to bite off more than I can chew – in life these days.

I say yes to volunteer committees, when I should say no. I stay up until well past midnight folding laundry or meeting a book deadline since my daytime hours are spent being a wife and a mom.

And I have so many have unfinished projects that there isn’t enough room to list them all here.

I have a Chenille afghan that I started several years ago that sits in my bedroom with dangling yarn. I have an Easter cross stitch pattern that will have to wait until next spring. I have scrap books calling my name, floors that need to be swept, and books that need to be written.

But I also have four kids that won’t be around much longer, so I guess that’s my main course for now.

Just like when I was a kid, I still have a split personality. Part wife, part mom, all me. And since I still bite off more than I can chew, I am trying to chew slowly and enjoy each bite!