a room with a view

hope it makes you smile, just a little.

Green Eyes

is slowly getting used to the "new normal" around these parts. The rest of us wish we were taking the changes as gracefully.

quilt inspiration from sicilia

(there, lb. happy?)

just to whet your appetite

The grass was mowed, the scenery was pastoral, the flowers were in 5 gallon buckets, the dress was redesigned vintage, the hair was au natural, the rain only lasted as long as the (very short) ceremony, the guests teared when the groom spoke his vows, the reception was simple, the bride and groom rode off into the sunset on a dirtbike.
















more when people who actually recalled to BRING their cameras to the wedding get around to emailing me ;-) I know my mom has some great ones, for example. Then again, she could just make her own post...hint hint...

how do you say "rendezvous" in Italian?*

Guess what?! Grandma's going to be a world traveler yet again! Here's the TENTATIVE itinerary, as emailed to me by lb (ha I'm a poet):
**
Gonna land in Rome early Monday. am July 2nd. Would be GREAT if we [lil B and J] could meet you [mira] at a prearranged spot at the airport (?where? never been to that airport) Then the five of us (I'm assuming EP is coming along for the ride? we can take turns hefting him in the sling) can go into Rome's center in a taxi. I'm trying to get a hotel as close to the main attractions as possible b/c it's SO MUCH FUN to go out on the town at night (see the trevini fountain all lite up-it's gorgeous!) but do NOT want us, repeat, do NOT want us to have to take the subway/trains, etc b/c, well, long and disgusting story, but there's a REASON Roman woman basically don't go out on the town at night (it's really weird actually, there's about 1 roman woman out for every 10 roman guys). So, that Monday we'll be a tad tired and can't check into hotel (which I'm looking into) until at least 2 p.m. So I thought we could drop our luggage off at hotel and walk to Spanish Steps, perhaps the Coliseum and the Pantheon (or go see that one night as it's near the Trevini fountain). Then All day Tuesday we could spend at St. Peters, climb to the top of it, go to the Sistine chapel (one of the wonders of the world, in my opinion. Since I'm not quite sure what the 7 wonders of the world are, I'd rank it right up there anyways) and then go to the Vatican museums (drool-amazing!! could spend ages in them!). Then Weds we could take a bus or taxi out of the city center to the country side to see the catacombs as they are VERY important to the founding our our religion (eh, we are offspring of the first popes). The catacombs are fascinating and help you envision what was like to be a first century persecuted christian.
Then Thurs am we can get up and check out of hotel and you and Gram can go to the airport for the direct flight back to catania or wherever you fly into. J and I will take train ride up to Northern Tuscany (it is looking like) and do the biking trip and we'll be done a week later, that Weds am (believe it is July 13th) and we'll head back to Rome and meet G'ma at the airport at our gate.
So, what dya think?

*appuntamento, according to babelfish

"time he put a ring on the finger he's wrapped around"

kudos to anyone who can source the post title ;-)















I'm sure this is all old news to y'all, but my internet phobic "little" bro (hereafter referred to as Big P) is getting hitched. And yes, we love her. Actually, you probably love her more than I do since I only met her twice! That's her in the front next to Carolyn, forming a buffer between my own inlaws and outlaws, (for those of you more out of the loop than myself).

Date: May 26
Location: the "land"
Guest list: grandparents, parents, sibs and their kids (sorry!!)
Registry: She says: "As far as house colors go, I think it's safest to describe them as "earthtones". I realize that's a bit vague, but I trust your judgment.. We are going to be using alot of brown tones(especially chocolate), sage, and I actually like deep mustard yellow as well.. I'm not sure how Pat feels about that one, but I'm sure he'll just shrug his shoulders and say, "whatever". haha."

She also says: "And before everyone asks, you can also add the comment that no, Pat did not pick out the ring- he didn't want anything to do with picking it out, and I didn't want him to have anything to do with it, either -haha aren't we perfect together.."

It would seem so!

Grandma, you have to promise not to laugh too hard! After all, I'm freely admitting my lack of expertise!

ingredients: batting from less than perfect diapers (which shouldn't have batting to begin with), top from Grandma's stash (all the patterns are printed on, no piecing involved), and a receiving blanket that might have held a sibling or two.

hand quilting is every bit as time consuming as it looks, that's for sure.

This last pic is of the best part of the back. The first part I did is terrible, trust me. I'm working on the mock binding now (where you use the fabric from the back instead of a separate fabric to finish the edges), and then ep will have his very own doll quilt. Alas, he has yet to acquire a doll (or G.I. Joe, as the case may be).

Hey, if it's already called pathetic, I can't be disappointed with the results, now can I?

productive constitutional part due*

two in italian. pronounced do-ay.

Is is weird that I choose my route for the nightly dog walk based not on where all her "buddies" live, but rather on whether I want fruit and herbs from the empty houses' back yards or "trash" from the dumpsters? I care not.

This high chair retails for $79 on gracobaby.com. The straps are missing, but they're about $20 to replace (with shipping). Everything is adjustable. very cool.















The tree I paid actual $$ for. twelve whole dollars. The radioflyer trike was across the street, destined for destruction. Good thing I was there to rescue it. Too bad Christmas is already over.







next is a close up of the ornaments that I also paid real $$ for ($4, marked down from $8). Hand blown and painted eggs. My favorite is already broken, so I am REALLY hoping they aren't all gone from the NEX already.















Finally, this I don't have a pic of because I pushed it away from the dumpster so it wouldn't go to waste, told my neighbor across the street about it (said she could borrow it until my kid was bigger) and then by the time I went back for it, it had already found a new home. I'm watching it like a hawk.) But I'm posting it anyway because how could you throw away a little tikes truck?!

don't even need captions

productive constitutionals

Every time I go out walking, I find something new and exciting. The geep and the view are great (will post those as soon as I get decent shots), but truth be told they're not why I walk. Suffice to say, I love "big" trash day.

not shown: the loooong desk thingy that will serve as a sewing table and the bedside table that will serve as storage once I get everything organized.
























comparison shopping: adirondack chair is about $15,
Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Learning Table
is $30, mop is about $10, bucket another $10, the stroller we almost bought that's pretty close to this one is $30,expandable, fold down bed rail around $35 for two, not sure on the window box, but certainly more than I paid ;-).

Doctor, Doctor (Mrs. MD)

overnight, something strange has happened. Previously, every time I looked at the little green and white seat that sits by my desk, I saw some variation of this (ps: check out the great hat and socks, handmade by Granny Boo) :



















but this morning when I looked, this is what I beheld: Should I be concerned?

mmm leather

$1 at the thrift store on base. Score!

SUCH a mountain thing to do.

While unpacking my bathroom items, I came to the conclusion that I have a TON of toiletries. Now, in my defense, a lot of them were accumulated thanks to the give-a-ways I went to after the storm. At any rate, toothpaste is one of those items that I won't have to purchase for at least the duration of our stay in Sicily:














While unpacking said toothpaste (at least 10 big tubes and another 10 or so travel size), I realized that one of them had sprung a couple of leaks thanks to (I think) marauding mice. So, what did I do? Throw a perfectly good tube of toothpaste away because it had 2 holes in it? No, I pulled out the duct tape, of course. Ta-Da!

HEY lil B!!

I was looking back at some of your pics(can't figure out how to repost them from your account though), and what simone does is a lot like what I do, except I have a few different kinds of covers, not just wool (trying to up my woool stash though, it's the best).

also, if you can get your hands on a sample of lanolin, I can tell you how to best wash and waterproof that green wool wrap you have, if you're interested.

and, if simone is done having babies, perhaps she would be willing to give/sell her stash to you? there's nothing like diapering your kid for basically free!

let's take a poll:

how many of YOU were thumb/fingersuckers? apparantly my baby's about to be ;-p

"On Sunday, he ate through one nice green leaf,

"and then he [made a cocoon around himself and] went to sleep"
kudos if you "get" the post title. We've got enough teachers in the bunch that it shouldn't be that difficult. Mom knitted the socks, we thought they wouldn't fit until for awhile...kinda like we thought the other socks she made would fit right away and we couldn't even cram them on his toes long enough for a pic. We're not so good at this sock sizing thing.

driftwood

D and I used to walk from our apartment through the rest of the complex, across highway 90, and down to the beach. This pier stretched out at least a quarter mile into the water and was always where we left our sandals while we walked. Mom and I visited yesterday, and it was amazing to see what the beach looks like when a storm hits and then people don't use it as often. We were able to find a bunch of hermit crabs and some driftwood to decorate the boy's room. I was also able to visit with a few people from the relief tent located across the street who had prayed for us while I was pregnant...it was good to bring the baby back for them to see and also an opportunity for us to say goodbye.

xp: fireworks

ps: nope, still no baby...I'm shooting for my birthday ;-)

speaking of shooting, d and I went down to the beach on the 3rd with our pastor's wife and some of her kids & grandkids, and d experimented a little with the "fireworks" setting on our camera. Apparently it's harder than it looks since the shutter stays open for a realllly long time. By the end of the night, my head became a makeshift tripod, but I'm not sure it helped much since the kid was suffering from hiccups at the time.

the last pre-baby pic ever??

click here

fun fun.

hope everyone's having a great summer, can't wait to hear about Mexico and 1000 islands and such.

Stupid Cat may have met his match:

meet Temporary, who would be named either Jetta (which means "jet black gemstone," betcha didn't know that) or possibly Batman, except he's only here until he's gone (3 weeks, give or take).

Right off the bat, Stupid Cat (formerly named Tuna, or Albacore if you want to be fancy about it) knew something was up.
So he decided to investigate.

Temporary knew he was in uncharted territory.

But, after a faceoff with the resident GIANT,

and a few tussles to determine the pecking order,

calm was restored,

and alliances made.

All's Well that Ends Well.