Italian Capers

Our little Percy, Z-Bomb and lately self-named "Barney" celebrated her second birthday Sept. 12th. I guess this officially starts the "terrible twos." A mere two years ago...... As you can see, there's nothing terrible about her : ) Many thanks to all those who sent gifties to help celebrate...hoping to post pics of the girls opening the boxes soon. (I can't find the pics of the box from G. Grandma S and G. Grandpa J. Their boxes are always first to arrive and the kids enjoy them so much, that I feel bad not putting their pics in too. So, I hope to find them soon...they're somewhere on this computer!)

I was taking the Fonz out for a stroll when my neighbor motioned me over. (The neighbor is Kiko's Dad. Kiko is the dog and he's the only name we remember.) Anyway, he asks me if I like fish- the Dad, of course. Sure, I like fish- I am thinking he's making strange small talk- or perhaps, yet again, I didn't understand the question. He gives me the "one minute" sign and turns and jogs into his garage. Over the gate, he hands me this..... Grazie- I mumble while forcing an appreciative smile. I had mixed feelings when I looked down and saw the slimy fish in their plastic strainer...their gaze fixed on the sky, gelatinous eyes glistening in the sun. Time to stop sharing baked goods with the neighbors! I really like living in the country. I even like country music, but I was not raised country....and I was a bit shocked by the fish. Quickly I began hoping the vital organs had been removed. They had, thank goodness. I couldn't control my giggling as I showed thes...

We are experiencing slight technical difficulties, but certainly will be back by the week's end.......thank you, in advance, for your patience in this matter.

I had changed my mind. There I was, in the Cleveland airport, saying good bye to my parents, and I really had changed my mind. One good bye led to another, then to another...I was stalling. Finally, I hugged my dad and he whispered in my ear, "Just go." Thank goodness he did, thank goodness I did. Here are my beloved french sister and brother. Like I have said before, I didn't know how much I missed them until I saw them again. Here we are having the traditional Tarte Flambe in Alsace with french mom and her beau. Tarte flambe is a thin bread crust with a creme fraiche sauce. There's some form of bacon- more like a pancetta on it. When you go to a restaurant, they bring them out one at a time. The waitron keeps bringing the same thing out until you tell them to stop. It's very social and fun. It goes well with beer or white wine. It was wonderful to be back in France. I felt like I was "home."

We miss you RoRo, oh yes we do, we miss you RoRo and will be true, when you're not with us, we're blue, oh RoRo we miss you. And we're not getting off the floor until you come back.

Okay, kind readers, now's your chance to help out your favorite foreign exchange family. We have a mystery fruit on our hands. This is not the first time our neighbors have kindly offered us mystery fruit. I can't find the pics of the last batch, but we decided (based on someones distant gut feeling- tee hee) that they were most likely Quinces. They tasted pretty good- we ate most of them. Seems that just when I am seriously considering moving into government quarters (yes, Aunt Na and Uncle Crunchy, this is still a recurring topic) the neighbors surprise us with a kind and "charming" interaction. I am beginning to wonder if our landlord has the place bugged. When he hears me go on too much about moving, he hires the neighbors to play happy villagers and they try to persuade us to stay- albeit with interesting tactics. Our neighbor was smiling broadly as he presented a large bowl brimming with this fruit. He showed me that you peel them before eating them. He also jok...

Sitting in the kitchen chatting with Nanny, I thought I saw a bit of debris on the floor. I leaned over the arm of my chair for a closer look. Here's the conversation that ensued: Me: "Oh my gosh, Nanny, it's a Scorpion, get me a shoe." Nanny: (leaning closer) "Where?" Me: "Right there, get me a shoe." Nanny: "Where?" Me: (shouting a bit) "Just get me a shoe!!!" Nanny: (handing me the shoe) "Poke it to see if it's alive." Me: (poking said Scorpion who then scuttles across the floor) "Ahhhhhhh!!! (Smash) Nanny: (at the same time) "Ahhhhhhh!! Here are the post-mortem pictures. Sorry ShoSho and Aunt Buffy, there was no way I was going to "rescue" this guy. I included this one for scale, it looks pretty small now, after it's dead and flushed and all. Definitely still has a very high "creep factor" for me. Here's how we felt for days. My Man had to flush the dead body for me, I was...