Virtual Coffee {36}

Hello dear friends and welcome to coffee! We’re having a really quick coffee today, more like a one sip espresso standing at the bar counter Italian style. Well, maybe we can sneak in a mini-croissant while we’re at it too…

We’ve been busy, busy, busy lately. We’ve finally spent the weekend at the beach apartment and this afternoon we’re taking yet another trip to Ikea to get some of the last odds and ends we kept forgetting. Our best friends from Milan came to visit us there for the day on Saturday and it was heart-warming as always to see our five kids (soon to be six kids) playing together since we all met in our coupled but unmarried living la vida loca partying days.

Our nanny-less month and some is proceeding more smoothly than we had any right to expect, thanks, in part, to a wonderful young lady that works at the girl’s daycare who occasionally babysits for us. Last week the Husband and I went out for sushi en tête à tête to talk about “our situation” and tomorrow we get to not get divorced directly at Ikea since we’re not bringing the kids with us. So, yeah, she’s a lifesaver. Also, we realized although we love our kids to pieces we would not survive without the occasional childfree moment or two.

Thirty seconds after this was taken she was butt starking nekkid in the water.

yeah, him too and all their friends

we even found and carried over a bench "for the pregnant lady"

In other news, the biannual (completely useless, and monumentally annoying) time change which here in Italy happened this past weekend is totally kicking my butt so I’ve been a walking zombie the past couple of days, both mentally and, alas, physically, but I’m confident we’ll all be over it soon (until October when, inexplicably, we have to do this all over again). Also, I’ve finally succumbed to peer and internet pressure and have started reading the Hunger Games. I gotta tell you, I probably did not pick the best emotional state in which to begin the book as I’ve been intermittently crying every other page. I really hope it gets better, or I may have to sue the author for the worsening of my depression… or something.

"you wanna go in the water?" - "yeah, I kind of do..."

The Husband impersonating Lawrence of Arabia

Ok, all done, hope you don’t get too jittery from the espresso! And don’t forget to say hi to our hostess Amy. Toodles.

Picnic on the beach

who's ready for ice cream?!

Time passes, friends stay

Sometimes when you’re feeling lost or adrift all it takes to bring you back on course is a day with old friends.

I’ve mentioned before how I don’t have many longtime friends but the friendships I do have are tried and tested and hopefully there for the long run.

With our wee ones

They’re built on experiences past, on teenage angst and drama, of melodramatic fights and teary reconciliations, on growing pains, on monumental milestones both exhilarating and tragic. 

These friendships withstand the test of time, of distance, of months without speaking, of years without meeting. We don’t really know what’s going on in our day to day lives but when we meet it’s like no time at all has passed. True, we have to catch up on each others’ news, but we already know and love each other, we accept each other, we understand where we come from and where we’re going in a way that newer friendships don’t.

In our hearts we’d like to be closer, we’d like to share more and be there for one another more, we’d like our children to be friends, to share in each others’ lives. And yet these days, though few and far between, that we have together are like prized treasures that we can keep in our hearts and memories till the next time. And I hope that our children will value these friendships, built on their mothers’ past, and will one day feel the anticipation of seeing their far-flung friends for an instant, a precious, cherished instant that will bring them joy for years to come.

So a few pictures of a day with old friends, cause spending a day with friends is good for the soul and good for the heart.

The boys playing with the funnest big boy toy of the season - a remote controlled helicopter that sounds like an annoying fly buzzing around the house. Thankfully the battery only lasts about ten minutes, but those ten minutes bring pure joy in the boys' hearts.

Cooking breakfast for the Italians

The chef

Venison and pork sausage, a family specialty

Can you tell we're in Texas?!

trying to figure out how the large, professional helicopter works

more complicated than one would think of a toy...

I wish we had this playroom!

Enjoying the balmy Houston weather

Snacktime

The husband and me

Daddy's hard at work

bliss

All this digging.... I'm exhausted!

trying to be like the big girl

Look Ma, no hands!!

What says Texas more than riding in the back of a truck?!

I wasn’t killed by a turkey

So, I didn’t suffer a fatal attack of indigestion after thanksgiving, which, incidentally, we celebrated on Sunday here because it’s not a holiday weekend in Italy. I know, why?  

Anyway, just wanted to let y’all know that I’m on hiatus this week. I’m tired and have no writing in me. So, instead of putting out half-assed crap for you to read I’m turning in early and catching up on my shows, hopefully this will get the creative juices flowing (and, more importantly, unclog my tivo). Or something.

But I’m not leaving you high and dry… I have pictures for you. Thanksgiving pictures. Because now that you’ve finally finished off the turkey leftovers and are starting to forget the family drama you absolutely need me to bring it all back to the top of your minds. You’re welcome.

Thanksgiving 2011 

Despite being in Italy, away from home for most of us, there was food:

the spread

yeah, baby!

dessert.... (the healthy fruit salad? just for show!)

And festive mise en place:

The womenfolk in the kitchen:

All the men cleared out when we mentioned carving the turkey... wimps!

Friends relaxing together:

The little kids. The big kids weren't all that keen to be photographed.

Love:

and lollipops:

 And outdoor fun

Mischief:

I'm not sure what she was getting into, but her who me face says it all!

 And dishes done:

me, in the kitchen

And lots and lots of this:

See you next week!