Happy Birthday Italy!

Ok, so I am late in posting. I must really try to do better.


Today we celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Unification Of Italy!
And let me tell you, it's not as much fun as St. Patricks Day. Oh, well.


Vitti had to be in the Town Hall in Montescudaio, along with all her classmates, to "celebrate" (hear the mayor talk forever) and sing the national anthem. Oh, joy!
The room was so small that not everybody fit in so I just shoved Vitti in there with her classmates and I went outside to take photos! 
The whole town was adorned with Italian flags! Quite nice actually and a great photo op!
I walked around town and kept taking photos until I heard the last national anthem sung.


Here are some of the photos I took.

Afterwards I took the kids for a very patriotic lunch of sushi at the little restaurant in Cecina. Hey, the sushi was red, white and green so it all worked out.


Oh, and of course some pics of sushi!

Floppy Bread

I though Floppy Bread was a pretty cute title for this entry. Not that I want to write about the floppy bread I made. 
Romano just walked in and said "Goodness, that bread is ugly!"
I just looked at him and said nothing.
He quickly added "But, I bet it tastes GREAT!"
Smart man.


I'll show you the bread but you must promise not to laugh.

Floppy Bread

Ok, you laughed.. I saw you! 

Today I had a rather quiet day. I only had to babysit Nina. The lil pooper. Who knew a small rabbit could poop so much!

She is very clean around the house but man, oh man, all she does in her cage is eat and poop. Actually, I know a few people like that.. hmmm

Tommy started his sort of Spring Break today. I say "sort of" because Italy really does not have Spring breaks. The kids usually get a week off around Easter and then have a few days off during the year by having long weekends and stuff. But this year there are no holidays to add the long weekend on to. 

It seems all the holidays land on a Sunday or otherwise non school day so they are screwed. 

Well, I know you would love to hear more about my SUPER EXCITING life but I must put the focaccia in the oven! Yep, a regular Martha Stewart! That's me!

I promise that as of tomorrow I will write more exciting and specific things in my blog! Really!

Oh! Wait! I might post pics of Nina later on.. so you might want to check back. I mean, what else were you doing today anyway?

Vitti's Birthday

It was Vitti's birthday yesterday!
It is hard to believe she is now 13! She doesn't look 13. Well, at least not to me.
When she woke up yesterday she came downstairs and found the table all set for breakfast. We usually don't do this so she was quite surprised.
I made waffles for everybody. No, I did not make them from scratch. They come in a lil package that you just toss in the toaster. But we did have herkin' expensive maple syrup with it! Steve's Maple Syrup. Original Canadian. A 250 ml bottle costs more then a steak! Never heard of the stuff while I was living in Canada. Oh, well....
She enjoyed her breakfast and then Tommy gave her her present from him. LIME perfume from Taffi. She loved it! She almost bathed in the stuff. She does love her perfume! Good choice, Tommy! (Ok, it was me who picked it out really..)

Vitti putting on her new perfume!

Once Vitti left for school I got out the old hamster cage I had in the garage. I cleaned it and set it up for our new bunny! Man, those pellets stink!
I then went to the pet store in Cecina and picked up the bunny. Oh, I found out its a female bunny.
We surprised vitti with a sushi lunch that Romano picked up from Tokyo Japanese restaurant in Cecina. She liked that! We all liked that!
Then it was cake and present time! We gave Vitti her presents; 2 books and Mario Bros game for the wii. Oh, I also gave her a little wooden box that I had decoupaged for her. It came out rather nice but it doesn't open. I must have done something wrong. Bummer....

The box I made for Vitti.

We saved the best for last! I had gift wrapped the bunny's hay... or grass, or whatever it's called. It was a big package!
I gave it to her and told her it was the sweatshirts she had asked for.
She opened the package and just stared at it. Took a few seconds for it to sink in and then she started jumping up and down!
I brought out the cage with the bunny and she was just so happy!
She said she NEVER would have imagined getting a rabbit. Especially after all the time Romano had said NO!


After lunch Romano drove Tommy to the train station as he was going to Rome with a friend for two days. That's a whole other entry I guess. My lil baby boy going to Rome with friends.. Sheesh! Where does the time go?
I drove Vitti into town at 3 pm. She met up with her friends and they walked around Cecina for a few hours. They were supposed to go to the movies but there was no mattinee...
They went to the chocolate fair and bought, well, chocolate. LOL
At 5:30 pm I got a phone call that the girls wanted to be picked up because it was raining.


The girls were spending the night here...
I picked them all up and home we came. They played with the wii for a bit and then had hot dogs in burger buns that Romano bought. Romano is not savy with American fast food...

The girls enjoying their hybrid hotdog/hamburgers

The girls then grabbed ice cream, chips, candies, drinks and board games and retired to the loft for the evening! LOL
I could here them talking till about midnight....
This morning they came down at about 9 a.m. and I made them waffles!
Right now the girls are sitting on the floor in the livingroom playing with Nina... Yes, they named the bunny Nina.
I like that name. Hope the bunny does too.  

The Bunny Saga Begins

venerdì 11 marzo 2011

12.46

Vitti really wants a dwarf rabbit for her birthday. We always said she could not have one. Well, actually Romano always said she could not have one. We finally found out why: when he was a boy in Arezzo back in the 30's he had to take care of thirty rabbits for his mom every day. He had to clean out the cages, change water and give them fresh grass. He hated doing it as he says they smell and they bite. He calls them "Little monsters!" I managed to convince Romano that one small dwarf rabbit in a cage will not haunt him for the rest of his life. He finally agreed.

So, last week I went to the local pet store in Cecina to see if they had any. They had some but it was much to early to buy one and bring it home as I wanted it to be a surprise for Vitti on her birthday which is March 12th.

I went back on Tuesday and there were none left except one but the lady in the store said she was getting more in on Thursday or Friday. I looked at the one that was left. He was a sorry looking little guy. The fur was missing off his back. The lady told me that there were some guinea pigs in the cage with him and they scratched his fur off. I guess bullying goes on in the animal world too.

I went back this morning (Friday) and she only had the one rabbit (now with a bit of fur on his back). She said her supplier had no rabbits. That's a first for me as I always thought rabbits were highly reproductive creatures.

I looked at the lil guy that was left. Actually, I have no idea if he is male or female. The lady said I could have him and if Vitti does not like him I could bring him back. She also said the same thing happened to his brother but she sold him and his fur is growing in just fine.

I had to think long and hard. This rabbit was bullied and beaten. Well, scratched. After having dealt with Mac I am very cautious about getting an animal with unstable mental health. I asked the lady if he had any psycological problems due to the bulluying. Blank stare.

I looked in the cage at the bunny. The lady said I could hold him if I wanted so I did.

I spent about 30 mins bonding with my future family pet. I talked to him in a gentle calm voice and he smiled at me.

Heaven knows I need to nip any psycological problems in the bud.

I mean, I would not even know where to find a "bunny shrink".

I bought all the supplies and I go back and pick him up tomorrow morning.

I am sure he/she will fit into this family just fine. :)