I Don't Even Know What Day it Is!

I'd planned to blog today, but now I've overslept. I'm exhausted. We're leaving every day by 8:30 and not getting home until 10 or after. But, I don't want to miss anything!! We have one day of rest on Saturday. It might be then before I can blog. That's a shame because I'll have forgotten everything I wanted to remember about this trip!

In the meantime:


Well crap! I can't get the pictures to upload!

Later...

Italy Part 1

So the flight for the girls wasn't all that good---uncomfortable. I expected that. It's a long way to go in the same position. I sent drinks back to help cheer them. The good news, the flight attendant didn't even charge me!!

We are having a great time. The afternoon of our arrival, we had our first tour of the city. It was basically an overview until we got to the Coliseum and Roman Forum. Our tour ended at the Pantheon but there was a service going on, so we couldn't go in. The Pantheon is right next to our hotel, so we can try again.

Day 2:
We met our tour guide and driver in the lobby. We went to the catacombs and Appian Way. That was really interesting to me since I had never done either. Our guide took us to lunch in the Jewish ghetto. I learned that "ghetto" is not a "bad"word after all. I've always equated that with "slums."

We just let our guide choose the food. We had fried artichokes, fried zucchini flowers (reminiscent of what our grandmother used to make) and a couple of different pastas. We really enjoyed that.

After lunch, our tour continued on foot. We went to the Trevi Fountain---which was disappointing to me. I had already been there, but this time, it was so crowded, you could barely move. Joyce and I opted not to fight the crowd to get down to the fountain. After a brief stop there, we got in line at the best gelato place. That was quite chaotic too. You pay first and then join the masses trying to get their cones. This is one place where you really have to be aggressive. I'd say at least 10 people shoved ahead of me. Our tour guide waved to the servers and said something in Italian an aggravated way. I sorta think that made the server madder as he continued to overlook me. But I finally got my cone---pistacio and black cherry with pane (cream). It was really good---and I'm not a huge fan of gelato. Next time I'm getting the amaretto. I had a taste of Jennifer's and it was the best.

We ended our walking tour at Piazza Navonne. As I recalled, it was one of my favorite places to have a drink and enjoy the local craftsmen. It was packed. We had our drinks, but I was very unhappy to find that my diet Coke cost the same as the local beer---5 Euros!!

Last night we went to dinner at a place that Jennifer's friend recommended. The food was delicious, but the man that served us was just plain rude. I don't think that's ever happened to me before in Italy. I usually always find people very nice and friendly. We had the feeling that they wanted us to eat and go so they could turn the table. Still, the food was worth it. We got a couple of salads to share and 3 different pastas to share. We had learned our lesson the day before as the portions were so huge. This time the servings were average. We contemplated ordering more food, but decided not to.

Here's what I've learned so far:

1. We need to designate one person to be the picture taker for the group. We're going to have 5000 photos. Plus, personally, I think it's rude to ask someone to take our picture and then hand them 4 cameras. The girls are telling me to "chill out" about that.

2. The twins---Janice and Jennifer---could never live together. The rest of us are getting along fine with our roommates. Jennifer has suggested we switch up already!! I said it might be fun to put all 7 names in a hat and see who you get. Janice said she's too used to living alone and didn't like water splashed on the vanity. Jennifer said she was the one who "did" it! Those twins. Somehow, they've intertwined their money too. They always did that as kids, but I have no idea how they are keeping it straight now. It's hilarious to watch them.

3. The money part is going well. I collected 200 Euros from each of the sisters to cover combined expenses---tips, some meals and cab rides.

4. I've learned that none of my sisters know what a pashmina is! My girls and I can't live without them! I tie one on to my purse when traveling and always have it if needed. I also learned that if you loan it to your sister in Italy, she's going to get spaghetti sauce on it. I already had to do laundry!

5. If you order a "big" beer, you get a "BIG" beer!

Off to Pompei today!

Later...

Sette di noi fuori per l'Italia!

Seven of us set off for Italy! I thought about impressing you by doing this entire post in Italian. But, since I don't speak Italian (nor actually write it) I decided it would be too much trouble to fake!

Tomorrow is the big day. My sisters and I will meet up in Chicago mid day. It's going to be fun, tiring, crazy busy but completely EPIC!! At least I hope so. We've never travelled together before. Add to that, we are older and you know how older people have their own quirks. It will definitely be interesting!

I was talking to friends yesterday about families where some members are estranged. I was saying how my family has always been close. But after this trip, that could change!! I think we'll be fine as long as we steer clear of politics. That's about the only thing this family can get worked up about. Besides, there's really nothing good to say about politics on either side these days.

Anyway, I wanted to share this layout since it has a lot to do with the trip we are about to take. The AYM word for April was "when."

"When did we become the "OLD" aunts?" When we were growing up, we referred to my Italian grandmother and her sisters as the "old" aunts. All of a sudden, we find ourselves in that position---except we don't feel "old!" And our "old" aunts were younger than us when we started calling them that!

We plan to toast the "old" aunts on our trip. We're going to visit LaSpezia---the ancestral home. We're hoping to discover places our ancestors frequented. We do know of one church for sure. We had hoped to connect with some family members, but that didn't happen. Who knows? When we get there, we might just uncover something exciting.

Hopefully I'll be able to blog from Italy. But we have such a busy schedule, I might not have the time. We'll see.

Saturday/Sunday

It's been a really fun weekend. I started Saturday cleaning out my chest of drawers. You know, work before play!! Then I spent a few hours in my scrapbook room--that felt so good! There's nothing like playing with photos, paper and a good story.

I was having trouble getting my title letters to stick to the glittered red star. Since the layout is about wrapped Christmas gifts, I decided to just tape them down. That worked perfect!

After scrapbooking, I decided to take my book outside to enjoy the gorgeous weather. BTW I finished The Lake House by Kate Morton on Friday night. Excellent! Definitely read it. I've just started one of my book club books---When Breath Becomes Air---a memoir about a neurosurgeon who gets brain cancer. I have to read book club books closer to our meeting or I can't remember much.

The "kids" came over after lunch for their first day at the pool. The water is way too cold yet, but everything else about the day was perfect for catching a few rays.

Stephanie posted a photo on Facebook with the caption: "Who says it's not summer?"

Butch immediately texted her with the picture below.

He said everything was quiet at the beach. He had a great couple of days---took care of business, played golf, attended the homeowner's meeting and still had plenty of time to lounge on the beach.

I was really looking forward to Saturday night. I had invited myself to go along with Connie, Amanda and Analise to see Les Miserables at Franklin Road Academy.

Connie was warning me that it was a high school production and didn't know how good it would be. Les Mis is my all time---#1 musical. I knew what I was getting myself in to. I figured regardless of how the kids did, I would really enjoy the music. I didn't know there was such a thing as "School Edition." The play was great---the kids did a fabulous job with something so ambitious! The set and costumes were so good. As far as I could tell, there was only one thing they left out. It happens to be my most favorite scene in Les Mis. It's the duet between Jauvert and Valjean where they are singing in each other's face. Better they leave it out than butcher it! Other than that one thing, I could not tell what was different from the original production. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was glad I invited myself along. I can enjoy most theater---even if it's appreciating the work that goes in to it. FRA did themselves proud with their many talented singers.

I spent Sunday in my scrapbook room again. Butch got home before noon. We put burgers on the grill for dinner and caught up on a few shows.

Now it's time for me to start thinking about Italy. Friday will be here before I know it!

Friday

My weekends always start on Friday.

Connie and I met her daughter, Amanda and grandchildren for lunch at Cinco de Mayo. The kids are growing up so fast. They are always fun to talk to---Analise is nearing teendom and is all about social media. She showed me some music videos that she and her cousin, Grace made. It amazes me what kids can do these days. She follows me on Pinterest---which I think is hilarious. I can't imagine which of my boards she would be remotely interested in: The Royals, Recipes, Scrapbooking, Fonts, etc. Her boards are what you would expect of a young girl: Hair styles, make-up, nail art, etc. I'm following her back, but I don't get on Pinterest much. That's one area where you can get carried away and waste hours!

Merritt got third place for his pinewood derby in Cub Scouts. When I heard that, I asked Connie to tell him to bring it. I knew he would love showing it off and telling me all about it.

He's the cutest guy and so well behaved. Sometimes he has a hard time getting a word in with his big sister---who wants to tell his stories for him. Maybe he doesn't talk fast enough for her!! Connie's always trying to "shush" her. It doesn't bother me at all. I had a couple of talkers when my girls were growing up too! Heck, I can be quite a talker myself!

Anyway, I asked Merritt about his car. He said that you buy a kit, then carve it and decorate it. He said it was a lot of fun to work on and took about a month because they didn't work on it every day. Apparently there are specific rules for the cars. They can't tape pennies to the bottom of them anymore.

I love to talk to the kids about school. Merritt is the more serious student. I always ask him about books. He's in the 3rd grade. I asked if he reads Amelia Bedelia and was quickly informed that---that was soooo 2nd grade! Analise, on the other hand will take the subject of school and go straight to all of her extracurricular activities. Gym is her favorite "subject!" Both of the kids do a lot of sports.

I'm happy to report that not only have I finished my closet clean-out, but I've also cleaned out my dresser and nightstand. All I have left is my vanity in the bathroom.

I have about 150 empty hangers now. I probably had 50 to spare to begin with. I love the neat, uniformity that matching hangers give to a closet. They're pretty cheap to buy---maybe 2 bucks for a dozen.

Of course I had to have matching white wooden pants hangers. I bought them on Amazon a few years ago. They were not this expensive when I bought them. Maybe you can find them cheaper elsewhere.

I bought those two white bins from Target---$7.00. One has socks, the other---underwear. I need to get one more for my "over the shoulder boulder holders." The baskets came in a lot of pretty pastel colors. I couldn't decide, so I just settled on white. Can't go wrong with that!

Nothing has changed here. I rarely wear necklaces, but there weren't any I wanted to part with.

Butch has been meaning to clean out his closet. He has nothing to be ashamed of here. His closet is always neat and tidy.

I'm showing these pictures to make the point that it doesn't really matter what type of hangers you use as long as they all match---like these white wired shirt hangers---just the cheapie ones from the cleaners. I never realized he had his clothes all color coordinated too.

 Okay, so there's one wooden suit hanger that doesn't match the others. Not too bad.

 And then there's this. I'm not quite sure what this is a collection of---but random hangers for sure.

I'd like to know what Butch thinks he has to clean out. It all looks pretty good to me.

Now on to my cousin, Chris! First off, Happy Birthday girl!!

We've been "besties" since we were kids. When we were teenagers, she was the one who cleaned out my closet for me. I was pretty lazy back then. I used to love helping her clean out her closet because she always gave me cool stuff! She had a lot more clothes, make up, jewelry and records than I did---smaller family, you know.

Well, apparently, my closet clean-out motivated her to do her own. She sent me these pictures.

First off, let me say that her closet ALWAYS looks this nice. She doesn't allow clutter to pile up.

I bet she knows what I'd say about those hangers. Finally---I have something on her!

Actually, my mother is the one who planted the "matching hanger importance" in my brain. When I was growing up, she assigned a color to each one of us 7 kids. I was red "x's." All of my clothes had little embroidered red "x's" so I knew which were my socks, underwear, school blouses and everything else that belonged to me. She carried it a step further and made yarn covered hangers to match our rooms. Mine were yellow. When she died a few years ago, those hangers---that we all took so for granted---became very valuable to us. We divided hers up evenly amongst us---boys included.

I keep them in my guest coat closet. Thanks mom!

Okay, that's enough about closets and closet organization! Just tell me one single thing you love about your own closet or the organization there of.

Whew! That was only Friday!!

I Was Sicker Than I Thought!

Basically, I've spent the last two days in bed.

On Tuesday, I started feeling bad and went to bed at 7:15. Wednesday morning wasn't so bad. I went to Nashville Needleworks to pick up fibers for our latest project. As I was there, I started feeling "woozy." I went home and to bed around 11:30 a.m. and slept the rest of the day. I had that flu-like feeling that I get with my hives, but didn't think that was it.

Butch insisted I see the doctor right away on Thursday so as not to mess up my Italy trip the end of next week. I got up early and planned to be there when the office opened at 8 a.m. I almost talked myself out of it as I could hardly get myself together to drive over (Butch is at a board meeting at the beach). I was the first one there. I got in right away. No fever. Blood pressure low. Weight---not going there but less than last time.

Diagnosis---double ear infection and bronchitis. She ordered a breathing treatment and steroid shot. I reminded her about the prednisone since that's steroid. She said it was fine. I've never even heard of a breathing treatment before. They put this liquid stuff (medicine, I guess) in this little container hooked to a breathing thing that plugged in to the wall. I was told to breath in deeply and exhale through my nose. The nurse left. About 10 minutes later she came back. The doctor came back in and checked my lungs again. She asked if I could breath easier. Since I didn't even realize I was having a problem breathing, I paid attention and said, "well, yes, now that you mention it I can breath easier!" I'm highly susceptible to suggestions. She said that I had far less wheezing than I did before.

She called in three prescriptions for me---an antibiotic, heavy duty cough suppressant and a nasal spray for my ears. I still was feeling pretty crappy, but decided that I didn't want to go home only to have to go back out later to get the prescriptions. I got to the pharmacy and was told it would be about a half hour before they would be ready. I was waiting in the car when suddenly I realized I wasn't feeling so bad anymore. Those steroids are miracle drugs.

I decided to run to the grocery store to pick up a few things. Look what I found:

I was so excited. But there's a few things wrong right off the bat. The packaging is wrong. And they are not by Sunshine.

Even when I opened the package, they look wrong. First of all, that's too much filling. Plus, they look like "seconds" all cattywampus. I really didn't care as the proof would be in the tasting.

I did what I always did with Hydrox---twisted it apart. I licked the frosting and it's exactly like an Oreo---your tongue just slides across it. Hydrox frosting is a little grittier and much more lickable. The chocolate cookie part wasn't right either---very much like an Oreo. Something tells me that they just tried to match the Oreo recipe an slap Hydrox on the label.

So beware! They are fake Hydrox. Butch is not going to be happy about that. Now we have Oreos and Hydrox in the pantry that I don't like!

If you are a Hydrox lover and have had a chance to try the new ones, let me know what you think.

PS I'm feeling great already!!! You know I'm sick if I miss my nail appointment and bridge!

A # of Things

Mindy's bridal portrait shoot was a couple of weeks ago. #1. We went back to her old alma mater where we had taken her First Communion photos. #2. St. Cecilia Academy (SCA) has been the butt of jokes for many years because of those fearsome scarabs. #3. They've finally decided to embrace them! #4. If you look close you can see the little line of ladybugs walking on the sign.

I went to Atlanta last week with Stephanie---well just because I hadn't been anywhere in at least a couple of weeks! #1. Ya' gotta love a hotel that provides outlets on their bedside lamps. #2.  Thanks Hampton Inn!

Picked up the "preserved" wedding dress. #1. Where the heck are we going to keep this? #2. How do we know if the dress is really in there? #3. Wedding expenses continue...

I really don't understand scented candles. #1. Yankee Candles have been my favorites. #2. Recently, I've tried Bath and Body Works candles. #3. Some smell throughout the house and others just don't. #4. This one from BBW smells so good all through the house (well, most of it), but is really too strong in the kitchen where it's burning. #5. Others smell good just where they are burning. #6. You really don't know what you're going to get until you buy them.

 Butch gave me a Groupon for Christmas to Music City Tea. #1. I didn't know we had a tea company. #2. I went after stopping at Hobby Lobby which looked to be right across the street. After driving around for 15 minutes, I discovered it's in the same shopping center as HL! #3. Who knew?

 OMGosh! #1. Remember those pesky pantry moths? #2. It's been nearly two years since it began---August 2014. #3. I've had the traps out ever since. #4. I've gone months with no moths. #5. Just like that, one moth two months in a row. #6. I'll be using these traps forever!

 Last Saturday, the girls and I went to the Southern Women's Show. #1. Met the channel 2 morning crew---Justin and Dawn. #2. Huge show. #3. Crowded. #4. Still a lot of fun!

 Mindy wanted us to go for this reason. #1. Neil---morning anchor on the left introducing Val Chermovsky. #2. Dancing with the Stars.

#1. I have another bronchial thing going on. Since the cough lingered so long from the last one I might go to the doctor this time. Maybe.
#2. Butch left for the beach this morning. Protecting the investments.
#3. Getting everything organized for our latest stitching class. Fiber purchases on the agenda.
#4. Finishing up the closet today. Swimsuit try ons---UGH!
#5. Looking forward to playing in my scrapbook room! Can't wait! Fun AFTER the work!

How are your  numbers shaping up?