Pillow Fighting

Every Sunday in June, July and part of August our town organizes little shows for kids in one of the main parks. This summer we’ve managed to go a few times, last year we tried but the boy got completely freaked out by the music and the actor wearing a gigantic, fluffy dog suit (who wouldn’t get freaked?). 
So yesterday we went expecting to sit on our picnic blanket in the grass for an hour watching an entertaining little story, what we got instead was this:

A pillow fight. Who’d have thunk it?!

Arming up 

joining the craziness

Stealthy attack from behind

Super (pillow fighting) man

the guy directing this whole thing

No way would something like this have happened in a big city, people would’ve run off with the pillows… 

We had a blast, kids and adults alike, one of the good things of living in a small town I guess.

I'm linking up with Life Made Lovely today, go check her out!

Silent Sunday {1}

Da Doo Dee

Sometimes I think my kids are the cutest. (Of course I lie, my kids are always the cutest). Tonight, after dinner, as I was in the process of trying to turn the kitchen back into something the opposite of a hurricane site, the Boy and the Girl were playing. I had never really noticed that they have started playing together as opposed to just around each other.

Tonight they were running around like whirling dervishes and when I stopped to listen I hear the Boy explaining to the Girl, “Girl, you stand here and count, one, two, three, five, eight, ten and then come get me”. And the Girl, obligingly went to stand with her back against the wall, recited Da, Doo, Dee and then went running after her brother. It appears that they were playing a strange mix of tag and hide and go seek in which the girl was always “it” so had to go stand against the wall, count and then chase her brother around the room.

This went on for a good fifteen minutes. They were pretty tired by the time we went upstairs to bed, so a win all around. Plus the Girl’s learning to count… Da, Doo, Dee.

Virtual Coffee {17}

Hello dear friends and welcome to coffee. I’ve missed our coffee date lately and am very happy to be back. Last week we went to France for a little vacation, I shared some pictures yesterday and I figure that today they’re the best accompaniment to a nice cup of coffee so sit back and take a little virtual vacation with me along with our virtual coffee.

We met a really nice statue in Menton, it didn’t freak us out at all.

We have a fixation with the merry-go-round apparently:

And we made funny faces:

We lounged around:

We went to the park:

We found out that Daddy's face is squishy:

And then we slept:

When we woke up, we went swimming:

Then we went to town and took lots of pictures:

We anxiously waited for fireworks to celebrate July 14^th Bastille Day in France:

And here they are:

And then the next morning we played peekaboo:

And did a little dance:

And chilled on the stairs:

Thanks for coming for coffee, more pics tomorrow if you’re interested!


And don't forget to visit Amy, her pictures are definitely better than mine!

p.s. Just checking again: I’ve been told by a friend that she can’t comment with Disqus, and as I’ve noticed a certain decrease in the number of comments I was just wondering if Disqus is, in fact, causing problems. If you would like to comment but can’t seem to for some reason could you drop me an email at {moomser at gmail dot com} to let me know, please.

THANKS!

Oh, so that’s where you’ve been

You may have noticed a certain lack of communication from me this past week… I promise I had a really good reason, you see, I was here:

Looking at this:

From out here:

Or relaxing here:

With them:

Doing this:

And this:

 Eating this:

made us this happy:

We also did some more of this:

Then we took sail on a pirate ship:

and drove off into the sunset:

Wrestled crocodiles:

And chased little girls with glee:

We swam and swam and swam some more and caught some rays:

There'll be more pics in the next few days...

Cause they're just too cute...

But I missed you all and am very happy to be back home!

Living with Leukemia. Part 7. Loneliness

Loneliness is a sad, sorry state. I’ve always been wary of being alone. I left my family when I was relatively young, but I was lucky enough and patient enough to build strong relationships with friends and long-distance relationships with family because I never wanted to be alone. I got married, started a family of my own and thought I really would never be alone. But then, years in, I realized that we are, in fact, always alone. 

Someone once said to me that I needed to harden myself against this fear because in the end everyone dies alone and there’s neither shame nor sorrow in living alone. This thought always made me a little sad. Then something happens, in my case it was the Husband’s illness… and I’m back at the idea of being alone.

The reality of this phase in our lives is that he’s alone with his illness, his recovery, his fight I can only sit by and observe, try to help, but in the end I can’t really know how he feels and by the same token, I’m alone on my end, he doesn’t know how I feel, how it’s affected me nor does he, or probably should he, care.

How to deal, how to claw my way out of this incomparable sadness, out of this quite possibly unjustified sadness, is a mystery to me. I often find myself looking at my life like I’m looking in a mirror towards a parallel dimension, another me, smiling, taking care of her children, her family, doing everyday mundane things, enjoying a holiday, talking to friends, and then there’s me, looking through the glass, a little sad, a little melancholic a knot in my throat that won’t let me cry but won’t go away either. A constant undercurrent of tension, clenched teeth, always, slightly on edge, possibly not enough to warrant real worry, but just enough to take the joy out of things. 

I’m often confronted by the idea that the person I married, my other half, isn’t there for me, can’t be there for me, not right now anyway and I wonder what to do when I’m the one adrift. I don’t want to whine, I don’t want to assign blame where no blame can be assigned, but I feel how I feel and there’s not an awful lot I can do about it. So what do I do about it?

I find myself looking at other people now, people around me, working, living, smiling, doing their thing and I wonder if maybe they’re a little sad too, I search strangers’ faces wondering if maybe their smile doesn’t quite reach their eyes, and wondering how they do it, how they plod through their days, how they sleep through their nights. And I feel guilty (when don’t I?) because I think how lucky we are, the husband’s here, with us, my children are healthy and a joy to raise, we’re solvent, we have jobs to go to, a roof over our heads, no major crises befall us and yet the constant, relentless sadness sucking at my soul, making me feel so lonely I could cry but actually can’t. It’s inexplicable and inescapable and leaves me wondering what I should do.

Cockroaches freak me the hell out

Cockroaches really do freak me the hell out.

I’m not kidding. In Texas, where everything is bigger, better, colder and faster and whatever other positive comparative you can think of (and yes, I know there’s no such thing as a positive comparative, adjectives can be positive, comparative or superlative but not all three at once… unless you live in Texas, that is) the cockroaches are like super-sized, bionic specimens of the species. With superpowers.

Plus, they fly. I mean it’s not like they don’t already have all of the genetic advantages, they reproduce like crazy – to the tune of between 800 to 30,000 baby roaches per mama a year (shudder), nothing short of a solid whack with a hard-soled shoe can kill them – supposedly not even a nuclear explosion, they can subsist on practically anything, and despite their comparatively small size they manage to strike fear and revulsion in their biggest enemy (i.e. humans), do they really need to fly too?

Tonight I ran into a relatively small specimen for the first time ever since we moved into this house five years ago, you just don’t see that many cockroaches around here, garden beetles, spiders, ants, bees… yes, but not roaches, anyway, this run-in reminded me why I hate them so very, very much.

It was on my nightstand, as soon as I noticed it, it stopped moving and stood perfectly still, occasionally just twitching an antenna – it’s disturbing as hell to me that it knew I was looking at it. I tried to kill it by thumping it with my water glass, it moved at the speed of light just out of my reach and then froze again. It did this repeatedly. This behavior so freaks me out that every failed attempt at killing it sent me closer and closer to waking the sleeping husband with a girlish screech. I literally got goose bumps. I’m so much bigger than a cockroach and yet the fucking thing eluded me for a full five minutes all in an area smaller than a square meter. Until I went and got a flip flop, flicked it on the ground and pounded it into a pulp.

So, in this case size does have the upper hand, but still a teeny cockroach, no larger than a pinkie nail turned me into a nervous wreck before it’s demise and inspired an entire post. Unnerving. 

Things we'd rather not think about

Apparently Independence Day really took it outta me since I spent all day yesterday with an extremely persistent and annoying migraine. I even managed to miss my Virtual Coffee this week. And today I want to talk about something that’s going to send most of you running for the hills.

Pediatric Cancer.

I realize that there are approximately a gazillion charities and organizations out there fighting for all sorts of things, money, awareness, political pull…. So each of us has to navigate through all the information we’re constantly bombarded with and decide what we care about, or rather, what we want to vocally care about.

I’m lucky enough (knock on wood, touch steel and whatever other bad luck thwarting ritual I can think of) not to ever have been directly touched by pediatric cancer, but I’ve got kids and cancer is, well, a much despised, recurring, hopefully beat for real this time, annoyance in my life lately so…

Ever since the husband got sick my recurring, obsessive thought has been “please let the children be alright” right along with please let the husband get well and please don’t let me get sick. It’s a miracle I haven’t turned into a hypochondriac. The thing is, when cancer comes a knocking at your door, directly or indirectly, it becomes a reality, an obsession and you see it lurking around every corner.

I know what it feels like to watch an adult battling cancer, to watch them suffer and be afraid and it’s a truly horrible feeling. Imagine watching a child go through that, or don’t cause it’ll make you cry.

So I’ve decided to hang my hat on a cause vocally, for today.

I became aware of this through Lemon Gloria you can go read what she has to say here. What I’m asking you to do today basically is to vote for Journey 4 a Cure by clicking on the banner above (they’ll ask you to login with your facebook account, yes it’s another company asking to access your info and if you’re against this sort of thing, I get it, but if you allow some companies to access your info – say twitter for example – one more isn’t going to hurt is it?) the organization that gets the most votes by August 27^th gets $250,000 from Vivint. Not bad, huh?

All you have to do is vote, preferably every day, or whenever you remember, but if you vote every day think of the good karma coming your way!

If you want more information check out Journey 4 a Cure or Lemon Gloria or Masala Chica who inspired LG.

We all have children. Pediatric Cancer. Think about it. Or don’t because it’s just too horrible for thought, just vote.

Independence Crisis

I am in the middle of a crisis this morning. Oh, Happy Fourth y’all!

Anyway, Independence Day is not a holiday here in Italy (I know, right?), it’s just a regular ole day, so basically no fireworks. But as per the “any excuse for a barbecue” adage, we usually find a way to celebrate anyway, so we’ve got guests over this afternoon for dinner, Moms and kids arriving earlier to play, Dad’s trying to sneak off work early to join us. I spent the weekend looking at cookbooks and websites for fun food ideas… when in fact I probably should have been cooking… So now I find myself, Monday morning ahem, Fourth of July morning, still without a clue as to what to make.

The husband was kind enough to take the kiddos to daycare so I could get a move on, but here I am in front of my mac rather than in front of the stove. AAAAAHHHHHH.

I saw a recipe for the awesomest red velvet / cheesecake layer cake ever, but it’s too complicated to make now (should’ve started yesterday), plus just realized don’t have even a whisper of a strawberry or blueberry or whipping cream anywhere in the house and the grocery stores are closed on Monday morning. Yes. You read right, grocery stores, closed, on Monday morning. Appalling, right? So I’m in full-fledged panic mode. Also, did I mention I forgot to cancel my pilates class this morning, which means I have to go, which means another hour of my cooking time gone… Am I the most disorganized person you know, or what?

Ok, I’m hoping now that I got that off my chest inspiration will hit.

So to all my American friends, HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!!

Looking forward to seeing loads of pictures of what a proper Fourth of July should be, unlike my half-assed one.

5 Things I want to teach my daughter

It’s the first of the month again so per custom I’m posting a few more things I want to teach my kids. This month we’re focusing back on the Girl, but most of these things are valid for the boy as well. So here goes, five more things I believe my daughter should know to grow into a happy, healthy, well-adjusted adult.

1. Learn to change a flat tire. Getting a flat is a monumental pain in the patootie, and changing said flat is man’s work as far as I’m concerned. Buuuuut, unfortunately in today’s world finding a man who will stop to help you change a tire is nothing short of miraculous, as, incidentally, is finding a man who can actually change a tire. I’m absolutely not advocating for my daughter to get her cute clothes and dainty hands dirty if there’s another alternative, but in the unlikely event that she find herself with a flat on an isolated road, at night, in the rain with no cell phone reception well, better she change her tire herself than wait around like a sitting duck for the bloodthirsty mass murderer she is likely to run into in this scenario, right?

2. Learn how to sew basics. I can’t sew, whereas my mother accurately reproduced a 16^th century velvet with gold embroidery Italian lady’s gown for my Halloween costume when I was nine and had decided I wanted to be Juliet. I’m hoping she’ll take after her Nana, but if she doesn’t then she must at least learn to sew on a button, hem her pants, fix a broken strap… I’m not proposing she become a seamstress for Valentino, but there’s no good reason for her not to learn how to thread a needle.

3.Parallel park. When I was 16 years old my Dad took me to the DMV (back then it had another name, can’t remember what it was though and it’s driving me nuts, if anyone from Texas wants to volunteer the info I’d appreciate it!). Anyway, the first thing you did was parallel park, if you couldn’t do that you may as well go home cause no way you were getting your driver’s license. I was understandably nervous about the whole process, especially since neither of my parents have the teaching gene. So I get in my little Nissan with the huge and menacing DMV guy and I get into position to park, (all the while signaling like crazy, repeatedly checking my mirrors and keeping my hands firmly in the ten to two position) I start the maneuver and in the rearview mirror see my dad, who was standing on the sidewalk behind me, whack himself on the forehead with an open palm and shake his head disconsolately as his shoulders are shaking with laughter. Thanks Dad.

In any case, I learned my lesson and can now parallel park with the best of them, blindfolded (backwards and in heels as Ginger Rogers used to say). It’s not hard once you get the gist and the look of amazement in the boys’ eyes when you park your car perfectly in the unlikeliest of places is priceless.

4. Read a map. Notice a certain recurring theme in this list?

I have zero sense of direction so effectively learning to read a map is a skill I acquired early. It’s true that in today’s world what with the GPS in the car and on our smartphones and all manner of information at our fingertips map reading seems a bit, well, passé, but this is exactly why it’s now an important skill to have, fewer and fewer people know how to do this, it could set you apart.

5. Mix a martini - or actually any drink. Learn how to mix a couple of drinks and do them well, because, again we’re now surrounded by pre-made martini mixes and margarita mixes and bloody mary mixes and on and on. It’s all premade and prefabricated and ready-to-use so we don’t know how to do the basics for ourselves anymore.

All this because when my daughter comes home after a really crappy day, in which her pant button comes off and she has to mend it, she can’t find a parking spot to save her life, her car gets a flat and her GPS gives out on her, and her fridge is empty but for ice and tonic water, I at least want her to be able to rummage in the liquor cabinet for a minute and make herself a stiff drink to drown her woes in. 

Independence at its best.

p.s. I’ve been recently told by a friend that she can’t seem to comment with Disqus, and as I’ve noticed a certain decrease in the number of comments I was just wondering if Disqus is, in fact, causing problems (in which case I’ll go back to the old blogger comments). If you would like to comment but can’t seem to for some reason could you drop me an email at {moomser at gmail dot com} to let me know, please.

THANKS!