Friday, October 30, 2009

Friday

Back again.

Alex is all revved up for Halloween - he wants a dress rehearsal this evening to try out the outfit with the makeup. Lol. We're just going to the local library to change books and then maybe take a walk around the neighborhood because there aren't any activities for kids on Halloween here, just for the adults in the clubs.
I'll take plenty of pictures though, if possible. I think I got the kinks worked out of our Nikon, but the pics are still all out of focus lately.

Last night I made tuna fish cassarole, I had to deviate from Mom's recipe and use regular corkscrew maccaroni instead of wide egg noodles because I'm saving the noodles for the stroganoff. It was pretty good, but kind of strange having regular pasta in it. I also took a picture, after already having spooned some out onto plates, so I don't know what the dish looks like to be honest, I'll try posting it tomorrow.

Alex had homework again last night, honestly, I am getting fed up with his new teachers, he's already at school from 7:30 am to almost 6:00 pm, he rarely gets home before 6:30 pm and is dog tired when he does. The teachers had already said that they weren't giving out any homework during the week, but this is already the third time this week!
Alex is doing great with his reading and writing and I'm glad, but I just don't get this "read a list of words 20 times" thing on a weekday.

To change the subject, when Alex was a toddler, he did this noise that we used to describe as "coon-coon" that was cute as all heck. He hasn't done it in years now, but yesterday evening he all of a sudden started doing it and it almost made me scream out "Mah baby!" and fall to my knees. Oh geez, I think I need to have another baby, Alex is already a young boy and doesn't give us much of those moments of toddler-parent cuddling that I miss so much. That's the way things should be, don't get me wrong, but with some things, once is not enough! Even though most likely once will have to be enough, we're getting old for having new babies and if Andrea's work doesn't pick up soon, then time will really run out for us. Anyway....

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Work, shmooork!

Hmm, doesn't sound quite right, there, added a few more "o"s to the title.
I've just polished off a bag of onion flavored chips - is there anything better in life? Well, maybe sour cream and onion would be better, but try to find anything with sourcream flavor here in Bologna - dang near impossible.

And now my hands stink.

Anyway, I have to finish a translation on "behaviour regarding swine flu" for my colleagues. They're mostly English and everyone they know practically in the UK has had it, so they are very blasè about the whole thing. It's the Italians that have this absolute terror of ever, ever getting sick, ever. Not that I really want to get the flu, any flu, but geeze, do I really have to go around disinfecting the doorknobs and my computer keyboard and telephone all day long? Is any of this useful?

Boh.

I also have to update the uniform order form with a few new items, before I forget again. I also have to call the company that usually prints our posters (God help me) because the company who will be putting them up need them either on January 4th or 5th. Huh, neither sooner nor later - I think that this is gonna be tough, but we can give a good try at begging.

Yesterday I made cornbread, just for the heck of it, I wish I had taken a picture but the camera was acting up and I just didn't think of it. I might just take a pic this evening of the dried remains of the cornbread, but that's beside the point! It was too sweet. I wanted my Mom's cornbread, the kind she always made in her 25lb cast iron skillet that was all nice and crunchy fried on the outside and good and soft on the inside. And wasn't sweet. I got the recipe off of Tasty Kitchen (great site) because the recipe had 5 mitts, but pfft, dang it was almost a cake, good, but sweet.

And you are all screamig "we get it already! Too damn sweet, now shut up!"

Right.

Well, I'm off to telephone calls and stupid translations.

And tomorrow I will be making hamburger stroganoff, hope the family will eat it.
Here's some brownies to tide you over until then.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Long time, no post

I've pretty much ignored having this blog for the last two years, argh, I get so caught up in day to day life and all that I just forgot that I even have it at all.
And no, please do not correct my grammar there, I gotta be ME!

Alex has grown alot, just started the first grade in a new school and is doing really well. The first couple of weekends with homework were tough, but now he's actually running to get his homework out on Saturday!

Here's a pic of him on his first day in class (before the camera batteries went dead):


Naturally, the first day of school was rainy as all get out!

Here's another of Alex at a local chestnut festival - freezing wind and yummy pasta that the little charmer picked out from the kitchen!



And Andrea pouring the wine: