Che Cosa Ha Detto?

What Did He Say?

Because sometimes I like to record things that amuse me:

 

At work, in a meeting where we were asked to go around the table, introduce ourselves, and explain what we do:

Ryan: I’m Kate’s part-time assistant

Coworker: Actually 24 hour assistant

Me: Yeah – it’s a full service operation

 

On cleaning around the house:

Ryan: Kate buys the swiffer as if it’s going to solve all of our problems. Like one day the swiffer will just get up and clean the floors. But you’re never going to clean the floors, and I hate those things, so you just threw away $10.

 

In Portugal, Mom was face down on the bed after a day of touring. We’re deciding where to go for dinner, and we accuse her of ‘fading’:

Mom: I’m not fading. But if I took a little nap, it’d be ok.

 

In Portugal, we stayed at a wonderful Marriott, but disagreed about the quality (read: size) of the comforter. (See if you can fill in the blanks about why that might be.) :

Mom: did you notice any problems with the comforter at the Marriott?
(responding at the same time:)
Ryan: No
Kate: Yes!

Ho Sonno – e tu?

I’m sleepy – are you?

Check out our sweet matching pjs!

My sister Christine gave them to us … she said we’re just cool enough not to be too cool to wear them. :)

We lounged about in our pjs and took silly pictures.

I’d show you the ones after Ryan discovered the flap in the back … but I’m pretty sure he’d kill me … :)

L’Ultimo Serata dell’Anno

The Last Evening of the Year

Partners in crime – giving the evil Eye

For News Year’s Eve, we all got a little dressed up

And posed for a picture …

And then we went out for sushi

Where Sophia showed us all how to eat rice

Andiamo Da Nonna

…To Grandmother’s House We Go

Photo with Grandma

Grandma’s house on the other side included some excellent Custard – the same custard recipe Ryan has made with me – it was fun to try the original!

Ryan may have embarrassed me completely … but it was completely worth it … I got to check out his Uncle’s farming equiptment. It’s very possible that everyone was laughing at me as I looked around wide-eyed like an excited child. But … it . was . awesome.

I got to climb up in the tractor, and Ryan’s uncle patiently explained all the controls to me. Know how you adjust the speed inside? It’s a lever that you push from turtle to rabbit! Just like a lawnmower. (A really expensive lawn mower.)

We used the lights on one of the tractors to check out the combine trailers.

The little?! tractor

learning about hydraulics… and whatever this thing does ..

How awesome is this??

Sopra il Fiume e Attraverso il Bosco

Over the River and Through the Woods
(There’s pretty much no chance I got that right. Man, prepositions are so hard in Italian!)

I love visiting Ryan’s grandmother – it’s a great combination of relaxing … and fun new adventures for the city girl.

The first attraction is Ryan’s parents cabin, they’ve built it themselves (did you know that was even possible?

They put it up pretty quickly, and it has a great view over the pond where I caught catfish with bass lures. For those of you who don’t know … that’s not supposed to happen. But, I did catch the most fish … so I say they just didn’t know how good bass lures are for catching catfish.

We hung out inside and did some catching up

And then we gave the cows some water. (I was freeezing, Ryan’s grandma seemed not to notice that it was cold out. She’s hard core.)

And we collected some eggs in the hen house

And then, happily for my toes, we went back inside. (How cute are they?)

For lunch! Where Ryan’s Grandmother always prepares an amazing meal, even though we always tell her not to go out of her way. Amusingly, I’m pretty sure I was so busy eating after this point that I didn’t take any more pictures. All I know is that I usually have several servings, at which point Ryan’s Grandmother apologizes for the food being cold, but I’ve already eaten half my plate again ’cause it’s delicious cold too. :)

Cooking :)

It was a great visit – I can’t wait to go back this summer.

Guarda Quella Faccia

Look at that Face!

 

I have a camera full of adorable Sophia pictures … but here are two of my favorites.

Uncle Ryan and Sophia

After Ryan left, Sophia spent months blaming her Uncle Ryan for every questionable behavior she displayed.

Look at that face!

 

Seriously, doesn’t that face make you think that there can be nothing worse in the world than a popped balloon?

Vie della Compagna

Country Roads

Apparently in the country, people drive a lot. We got to help Ryan’s mom with a Meals on Wheels kind of thing – which was actually really nice. I only feared we’d get stuck in the snow once or twice …

And we got stuck in traffic once – there were THREE WHOLE CARS in front of us at an intersection waiting to turn left. So that slowed us down a bit … but the views were worth the wait …

I love how this picture isn’t some place you drive a million miles to get to a viewpoint to see … it’s just a random rail road we intersected on our way to Grandma’s.

Natale nel Paese delle Fattorie

Christmas in Farm Country

For Christmas in Missouri we did something a little different this year. Instead of one or two big presents, we bought several inexpensive presents for each person – and spread out the gift giving throughout the day.

We started with Stockings …

Then the good stuff

and we were joined by a princess

had culinary treats

and big scary guests

but mostly lots of laughs

especially when the marshmallow shooters came out …

till we were all exhausted

L’Ultima Festa

The Last Party

When my parents bought my Mom’s parents’ house, my Dad didn’t want to negotiate on price. They had done some research to determine what they thought was a fair market price, and from that he decided on a range. He said that if my Pa Joe asked for a price in that range, they would just pay it. No negotiating. ‘Cause you can’t screw over the in-laws when you buy their house … that tends not to sit well with the rest of the family. And my mom is one of 7.

Christmas always used to be at Grandma Kay & Pa Joe’s, so when they were going to move, we decided to keep celebrating at everyone’s childhood home … now my childhood home. Over the years the crew grew – 7 kids got married, and there are lots of grandchildren.

The main event at Christmas is The Grab Bag. The Grab Bag is where we put one gift in per person, and when you get your number you get to either pick a gift from the pile, or steal someone else’s. It’s one of the older cousin’s jobs to count the number of attendees (in the mid forties lately), write the numbers, distribute them, and announce the rules of the game. Each gift may only be stolen only 3 times. Memorable grab bag moments … at least the ones I remember:

– Adam trying to sell a board with a troll by demoing how the board could be a fun toy too

– wrapping a box in a box in a box in a box … with a tiny gift inside.

– the adults falling all over themselves to take the boat bell away from from Adam

– When Julia tried to steal the gumball machine from Theresa, and Theresa ran upstairs and hid under her desk with it

– when someone put in a saggy bra that they got from a 40th birthday party

– when the Mack Truck cigar holder went back into the grab bag year after year, until my mom kept it to use as a paper clip holder. (Where is that now? Can I have it? Did we get rid of it?)

– when I stole a pair of newspaper reading gloves from Pa Joe (when I was in 3rd grade)

Anybody else remember any?

 

And since I have a billion pictures, but probably would have to check with 45 people in them before I posted them, I’ll leave you with a representative photograph … of what happened when Mom got a Shake Weight in this year’s grab bag:

Ricordati di me?

Remember Me?

Look! A papier mache' snake!

I gave my Dad a papier mache’ snake for Fathers’ Day one year. I don’t know how long ago that was … but I imagine it was long enough ago that I was still making things out of papier mache’. Dad’s study was full of  a lot of stuff before they moved … and apparently he kept the snake all this time. I think now’s the time to take a picture … and throw away the snake. Also the eyes kept falling off.

Votes for Snowwomen!

What do you do when you’re the father of 3 girls and it snows the right kind of snow to make a snowman? You make a snowwoman of course! One that supports women’s suffrage, of course.

Santa and his Reindeer - handed down through Mom's family

That Santa and his reindeer – and his sleigh (loaded with whatever ornaments were broken but toylike) have been on that mantle for as long as I can remember.

Mickey Dees!

Dad’s Dad, my grandpa, always took us to McDonald’s when he came to visit. He liked the coffee … we liked getting to go to McDonald’s with Grandpa. I think this is the McDonald’s my Dad remembers as a kid.

Indian Princesses!

The YMCA has a program for fathers and their daughters called ‘Indian Guides and Princesses’. I don’t remember what it was about – I was a kid, I only remember the important things. I remember doing arts and crafts, and I remember going to Y camps where the Dads would buy us junk food, and we’d dump it all out on the floor, and they’d tell us not to tell our Moms. And I remember the drum (see above) … and the talking stick. The talking stick gave you permission to talk when you were in a circle. Can’t talk without the talking stick. They all ended up in our attic eventually. And we got them out on Christmas Eve to say goodbye.

Pointsetta in a glass ball thingy ...

This was one of my favorite Christmas decorations. It’s a pointsetta in a glass ball that you fill with water. I always tried to claim that as my job. I’m pretty sure it’s from my Dad’s childhood. Dad?

Dad's Lighted Church

This is from Dad’s childhood too. There’s a light bulb that goes inside it to light up the stained glass windows.

And last, but not least, were the boxes of papers and things that we went through and read to each other. :)