Palmabella's Passions

My VIEW is a classic shot of the beautiful Portofino piazza.

This was a tough theme for me. The first thing that came to mind is how sad it is to leave Italy at the end of a trip. Here are a couple of old posed shots from years past.

2003:

2005:

REALLY sad, is the last Italian caffe latte a week and a half ago. I haven't had a decent cup of coffee since!

This one was easy, as we are a lazy family!

Here is Ego, too lazy to swim.

This pretty much sums up Ego's day. It is only the location that changes.

Here is Brad in our room in Varenna. He is not moving any time soon! (For the sake of accuracy, I think he had just driven all day.)

I guess I do not usually photograph MYSELF being lazy, but there are lots of naps taken at my house. This is another typical summer scene.

There are lots of different ways to think of "family".

I look forward to seeing 40 members of our Slow Travel family next weekend!

First thing that came to mind!

BLUEberries:

Capri's BLUE Grotto:

And since I'm in that Capri folder...one more:

Here are a group of school children arriving for a field trip in Orvieto. Their teachers are trying to make sure they stay TOGETHER!

I am posting my Photo Hunt early, as I will be traveling this weekend.
This is a photo from our 2003 trip to Puglia and Basilicata. It is a view of the ancient town of Matera, believed to have been founded by the Romans in the 3rd century B.C..

The ancient town, is known as the "Sassi di Matera" (meaning the stones of Matera). The sassi houses are dug into the tuff rock itself. Many are really just caverns. Some streets are built on the rooftops of other houses. They originate from a prehistoric settlement, and are some of the first human dwellings in Italy. The Sassi of Matera are now a Unesco World Heritage Site.

During the 1950s, the old town was a slum, with thousands living in unsanitary conditions, without plumbing or electricity. Malaria was prevalent. The town was evacuated, and people were moved to the newer box-like houses. The caves were left empty for years.

People began occupying caves, movie producers loved the ancient look of the area, and tourists came to see.

Could this have been one of the first piazzas?

On the way into town, oxen roamed freely in the road.

We followed this guy for a while.

Now some of these sassi homes have gone high tech. There are computers, servers, and even a 500 employee call center in one of the ancient caves!

It was a strange place to visit. There are very rough streets with uneven stones and steps. We had a guide, and while it was fascinating, there was an eerie sense to the place for me.

The photography and lighting in this video may give you an idea of what I mean. This photography is amazing.

Sassi: Light and Shade video

This week's theme of "reflection" was easy, but hard to choose only one favorite. So here are all my favorites!

The first photo I chose was taken of a reflecting ball at Buchart Gardens in Victoria, B.C. in 2003.

Here is our pool on a December 2007 evening at sunset.

This is a few minutes later.

Here is another reflection from Buchart Gardens.

This last one is from Villa Melzi in Bellagio, on Lake Como in September, 2008.

Since we are at the Paris in Las Vegas, this is the logical choice:

However, I prefer this gate at a house in Montalcino. I could move in here in a second. Isn't it charming?

And here is the garden:

There was also a lot of metal at the Fashion Show Mall yesterday!

My usual breakfast is a cup of coffee.

But here are some holiday breakfasts from last Christmas:

A casual pannetone bread pudding:

Ham and cheese omelette in puff pastry:

A Christmas morning Benedict:

My FAVORITE Christmas tree (of five) is our Italy tree in the office.

We have a few new ornaments this year, and this Tuscany Santa is my FAVORITE:

Here is his back with a sack covered with cypress trees.

There are three pieces of "luggage" for Rome, Venice and Pisa:

There is an espresso pot:

And finally, tiny photo frames of our friends who live in Italy: Judith, Alessandra, Mary, Diana, Judy, Barbara and Art, Gloria, etc.

A WIDE expanse of snow on our mountains!

SQUEAKY

Due to the nature of the word this week, I will NOT be checking other blogs. If you are a ST friend, and posted a small creature with a tail (that is anything close to a rodent), please PM me, and I will avoid your blog for a few days!

Ego let me borrow some of his squeaky toys. He had a lovely 16th birthday yesterday!

I have hope that with good leadership, Americans can work together to change our future.

I have hope that while we try to get the economy "back on track", we will realize what is really important in life, focusing more on relationships, friends and family, and giving of oneself.

I hope our nation will work toward peace and regain the respect of the rest of the world.

The morning after a Slow Travel Desert Get Together:

I used to wear a lot of hats! I had pretty hats that went with pretty dresses and dramatic hats that went with suits. I wore them to luncheons or to San Francisco. I even have a beautiful fur hat from Saks 5th Avenue in New York. I still have a few in three hat boxes on the top shelf of my closet. Of course my "hat days" were long before digital photography. I look really stupid in a baseball cap (but I do have a Slow Travel hat).

The photo I chose is much cuter than anything I could have modeled.

This is my dog-buddy, Bailey, on Halloween. She is an Old English Sheep dog.

My first thought for "chipped" was a glass mosiac. Actually, that is not true. My FIRST thought was chips and dip! : )

These are two friends I made in the piazza in Bologna.

I took this photo on my 2006 trip to visit Ida in her tiny village of Vico Pancellorum. The beautiful Maddalena's Bridge is also called "Ponte del Diavolo" or "Devil's Bridge" on the Serchio river near the town of Borgo a Mozzano. This bridge with its assymetrical arches is located near the town of Bagni di Lucca on the SS12 between Lucca and Abetone.

THE LEGEND OF THE DEVIL'S BRIDGE
"Once upon a time a clever and respected master builder lived in a village on the banks of the Serchio River. The inhabitants of the village approached him, asking him to build a bridge to connect their village with the one across the river. He immediately set to work, but he soon saw that the work was not progressing as quickly as he'd promised his fellow citizens it would, and being a man of his word and one who always fulfilled his obligations, he became very unhappy and desperate. He continued to put great effort into the work day and night so as to finish the task within the time allowed for in the contract, but the work continued to proceed very slowly while the days flew by. One evening while the builder was sitting alone on the banks of the Serchio looking at the work and thinking of the shame and discredit he would suffer for not having completed it in time, the devil appeared to him in the form of a respectable businessman.

He went straight up to the builder telling him that he'd be able to finish the bridge in a single night. The man didn't believe what the devil was saying, but listened anyway, and in the end accepted his proposal. Naturally the devil wanted something in return: the builder was to undertake to give him the soul of the first person that crossed the bridge when it was completed. The builder accepted and the following day the village had its beautiful bridge that can still be seen today in Borgo a Mozzano."

The people were stunned and unable to believe what had been accomplished, and went to congratulate this craftsman who ordered them not to cross the bridge before sunset. In the meantime, the builder got on his horse, a little worried if the truth be told, and set off for Lucca to ask the Bishop for advice. At that time the Bishop was Saint Frediano. This saintly man told him not to worry and to allow the devil to take the soul of the first person to cross the bridge, and told him to let a pig cross first. This was done and the devil, furious at having been tricked, threw himself into the waters of the Serchio, and has not been seen in the area since.

From www.welcometuscany.it

Another bridge I discovered on that same trip was way off the beaten path. We took a ride to "Il Ponte Sospeso", (the point of suspension) near the tiny town of Mammiano Basso. We felt no need to walk across the bridge, and went for a gelato instead!

This week's theme was easy. I had lots of photos as we love to travel to places where there are boats and water! I went way back to 2001 for this shot of Venice.

My beach in Maui: view from my condo's lanai

I am thankful for many, many things. I am VERY thankful that I am feeling like my "old self" again. Thank you to all of you for your support and encouragement.

I will interpret this week's theme as "A Perfect Space".

One of the most wonderful "spaces" I know is just outside Pienza at L 'Olmo.

A space to relax:

A space to have coffee:

Our own patio space:

The golden light of Tuscany:

Space for poppies:

Pienza in the distance:

A pool for relaxing:

I would love to be in that space!

Four sculptures on, El Paseo, our shopping street.

Here they are from the other side. A little too thin, don't you think?

So many choices for YELLOW!

Some spring blooms:

Home grown lemons:

Little lemon tartlettes

Ducks and Daffodils

And finally, the tulip centerpieces from last year's Gathering in Savannah's Sunday Brunch at Vic's on the River!

This week the theme is HANDS. I remembered to take a photo at dinner last night.

I also love this photo of Diana guiding me on her pottery wheel.

My first thought was to look through Italy photos for canopy stripes on the Amalfi coast or rows of vineyards, but I decided to go with...FOOD!

Tiramisu stripes:

Blackberry Cake stripes:

Lemon-blueberry trifle stripes:

At first I was stumped with this theme. Then I realized I had an example of a triangle that I looked at every day for 8 years: the YMCA logo.

I know you're all thinking I was an aerobics instructor, right? LOL
The mental health agency, where I was director was under the umbrella of the YMCA of San Francisco. Project FOCYS was a youth service bureau that served the counseling needs of kids and their families. We had 20 clinical staff and interns. We provided counseling in many elementary, middle and high schools, and family therapy at the clinic. Children and adolescents were referred by police, juvenile probation officers, and school counselors and principals. We had a very successful group program for parents, children and teens in three languages, as well as services for gay, lesbian, bisexual, or questioning youth. We started a violence prevention program after the traumatic events at Columbine High School, that was proactive and very successful. I served as School Services Coordinator, Family Group Program Coordinator, and eventually as Director of the agency.

I began there as an intern therapist, and ended up training and supervising interns. I am very proud of the work I did at the YMCA. It is NOT just a health club/gym. Besides the sports and camp programs, the YMCA works to build healthy families and strong values. The organization stresses character development by demonstrating "Character Counts" which focuses on six pillars of Character: Respect, Responsibility, Trustworthiness, Caring, Fairness and Citizenship. Check out YOUR local community YMCA. "We build strong kids, strong families, strong communities."

I found very little in my photo files that could be considered purple, so...

I made PURPLE with Photoshop. There lots I don't know about Photoshop, so it was fun to try to figure this out.

My first thought was our 2006 visit to Ferrara!

Here is the moat at Castello Estense. It is a brick building in the center of town with four towers, and is surrounded by a moat. The castle was built in 1385. I didn't know moats had sprinkler fountains!

I am standing on the drawbridge. My Slow Travel tote PROTECTS my journal and camera.

Timing is everything. I am signed up for an art walk in May, but this will have to do.
I March, we too a short drive up to see some of the wildflowers blooming. This is just a few miles above Palm Desert on Highway 74 (goes to San Diego if you keep going).

We took a short WALK, (not a hike). It seemed as if the rocks themselves were blooming!

Other desert plants were also beautiful close up.

Our longest walks take place in Italy, or have shopping involved!

Lena Nettis Case 1907-1984

See a resemblance? If you gave me dark hair, and took away my dad's Germanic coloring, I would look like my mom. The similarities are much more pronounced in personality. My mom loved to entertain, did volunteer work, was smart and quick, though she only had an 8th grade education. She loved to cook and bake, travel and shop. She was a great wife, mother, sister and friend. She had quite a "collection" of dishes, shoes, and handbags.

The youngest girl of 10 siblings, mom was born in Bronx, New York, where she lived until moving to California along with her five sisters in the 1940s. Her dad, a musician, played clarinet in John Phillip Souza's band. At age 14, she had to quit school to stay home and take care of her mother and grandmother. Her dreams of being a teacher stopped there. Italian families still "arranged marriages" and at age 21 she married a man she met the night before the wedding (a "date" where they went to church for confession before the wedding, chaperoned by two older brothers) She didn't like the guy, and begged her father to not make her marry him, but the families had "arranged" the match, and my grandfather said he was from a nice family, and she would "learn to love him".

He wanted children immediately, and beat her the first three months when she started her period. The fourth month, he sent her to a doctor to "see what was wrong". She checked out ok. Month Five, she suggested HE go for a medical exam. He found out he was sterile, and physically took it out on her. She left for good and tried to get a divorce. She had no grounds. My uncles set up a prostitute in a hotel room and invited her violent husband. They hid in the closet, and at the appropriate moment, jumped out with cameras in order to get necessary "evidence" to meet grounds for divorce. At the time (1928), the only allowable reasons for divorce in NY were adultery, insanity.

I am so proud of her strength and assertiveness, especially during an age when domestic violence was not discussed. It is very sad that she felt so much pain and guilt about the divorce. The family was very Catholic, and she really felt she had disappointed her father, and shamed the family. She also had very skewed ideas about men and relationships. She did not date for 20 years.

Interestingly enough, (and quite frightening) her husband remarried, and MURDERED his second wife, killing her with a dog's choke chain collar!!! My mom was lucky and brave to get out when she did!

After her move to California, she owned her own business, the "corset and lingerie" section of a department store. She lived with my aunt and uncle, traveled with girlfriends, and splurged on trips and nice clothes. In 1951, she went to a friend's home for dinner, and they had also invited my dad (a blind date she knew nothing about). They courted for 4 months and were married in May, 1951. Dad was 20 years older (64), retired and a widower of a happy 40 year marriage.

In February, 1952, my mom kept having nosebleeds and craving fava beans. She went to the doctor, and he told her she either had a VERY large tumor, or was pregnant. The test was positive. She sent my dad in for the results, as she was sure she was dying, but found out instead, that she was 6 months pregnant. Only three months to wait for my arrival!

She and my dad had 28 happy years before his death in 1979 at age 93. She was a wonderful, warm, loving and supportive mother.

I'm sure my mom is happy to know I do work I enjoy, cook like she did, have a happy relationship, a comfortable home, and visit Italy whenever I can!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

My lovely friend, Maria Hunt, painted some of the traffic light boxes on our Palm Desert shopping street, El Paseo. Art in public places is very important in Palm Desert, and is supported by the city and local businesses. Maria painted the 18th hole of Desert Willow Golf Course.

The scene wraps around both metal boxes, containing traffic light equipment. Here is Maria, with her art!

There are many many examples of plastic in my pantry and kitchen. These are items used every day.

Here in the desert, the word "plastic" has a more frequent meaning. Most people would think of SURGERY rather than GLADWARE! Cosmetic surgery doctors and clinics are on every corner.

Because of an ordinance, there are no drive-through fast food chains. I guess those drive-through lanes are unsightly, so you must go inside to get a burger, fries or taco in Palm Desert or Rancho Mirage (except those by the freeway). This always amuses me, and since I do not partake of fast food, I don't care, but I do feel for those moms with multiple car seats and sleeping babies, who need to schlep everyone inside the Mc Donalds. My point is, are all the plastic surgeons not also creating much "ugliness", yet they are allowed EVERYWHERE! Some of their results are a little frightening! I don't even try to guess ages here. I am usually off by at least 20 years.

Finally, my favorite "plastics" are these:

This week's photo hunt topic is "books". Here is one I thoroughly enjoyed, and recommend highly!

"Love Walked In, by Marisa de los Santos, is the kind of book that makes you want to hunker down on a chilly day in a comfy chair and read straight through til dark....This is a poignant, heart-tugging story about a single woman and a little girl who develop an unlikely bond." The Washington Post Book World

"A touching, triumphant story of the power and variety and responsibility of love. A joy to read, filled with characters you wish you knew in real life. Love Walked In is every bit as engaging as the classic movies Marisa de los Santos lovingly invokes." Karen Joy Fowler, author of The Jane Austen Book Club

My book club is reading Love Walked In this month (on my recommendation). You will absolutely fall in love with 10 year old Claire, a character who is so real, vibrant and resilient, you want her to bring her home. The other characters are also quite human and vulnerable. The book will make you laugh and cry, and want more.

I just bought the sequel, Belong to Me, and I'm saving it for my flight to Rome.

This will be the first Italy trip where I only bring one book to read. Since I got my new i-phone (which acts as a Kindle), I have been browsing Amazon to see what books I'd like to read with no extra weight in my luggage. That should be worth a couple extra pairs of shoes!

I love this photo I took of a billboard for Lavazza coffee in the Milan airport.

Here's the caption.

Here is one from Bologna. To say, to do, popular (admired)

"Slide to unlock" this arrow to open my iPhone.

"There's an app for that!" I've had the iPhone for a month, and so far I have a few handy applications. The phone COMES WITH an app for: texting, a camera, photos, You tube, stocks a calendar, maps, weather (I have Palm Desert, Vegas, Rome, and Bevagna temps.) a clock (Italy time at so I don't have to add 9...) a calculator, notepad, itunes, the app store, along with your phone, contact list, email, browser (Safari), and iTunes.

The apps I have added include: (You may see a food and travel trend...)

Slow Talk
Facebook
Skype

Days Until...
Kayak
I love Travel (Packing lists)
ispeak Italian (phrasebook/translator)
Rome (a guidebook)
Expenses (keeps track of trip expenses by category)

Epicurious
Zagat 09
Kitchen calculator
My Recipes
Open Table (Restaurant reservations)
Coffee finder (find a Starbucks)
Urban Spoon (restaurant finder)
iParty (Party planning)

Jacks or Better (video poker)
mSecure (remembers all your passwords/pin codes/account numbers)
World Radio (I love the Italian music stations)
Amazon kindle

This week's theme is FLAGS:

This is the the Quisisana Hotel in Capri:

or last 4th of July's jello salad:

Talk about TIMING! Here is the walkway at Chicago's O'Hare airport Friday, June 26!

I must have had a great Girl Scout leader as a child. I remember her getting lots of empty 5-gallon ice cream tubs from Baskin-Robbins. We rolled up lots of colorful pages of Life Magazine ads into tightly rolled pencil-thin straws, gluing them shut. We cut them all the height of the ice cream container, glued them on, and ended up with a colorful waste basket. It looked like a round version of this:

She was ahead of her time, as this was WAY before recycling. So many "green" products are now made of recycled materials. Here are a couple of items made from GARBAGE.

Here is another creative waste basket:

Or how about a candy wrapper purse?

Unfortunately, here is some garbage in the Tiber River.

My favorite rocks are the Faraglioni, three large craggy rocks off the coastline of Capri.

In 2003, we sailed right through the opening.

It is great that this week's theme is a no-brainer for me. Here is the stuff I use every day. There are also two drawers full of utensils, and one filled with knives. My newest gadget is a Williams-Sonoma cherry pitter.

This was the entertainment at our dinner party last night. An imovie I made on my laptop from our recent trip to Umbria. Actually that is only half the story. That is just an empty jewel case. There is no DVD in it yet. I DID make a movie on my laptop. Here is the sad story...

Some of you may remember when my space bar and delete key were stuck. I had to copy and paste a space between each word from another document. I brought the computer to a Mac store (We don't have a real Apple store in the desert.) They took everything off my hard drive, did tests, put it all back. I payed for a new keyboard.

It is just a few months later, and now the return key (enter) is stuck. So is the hyphen, and the plus and equals key. To skip a line I have to copy and paste a paragraph sign from WORD. Pain in the butt! Anyway, when I began the movie, my iphoto was GONE. It looked like it was in the applications folder, it was still on the dock, but didn't OPEN. Same with iDVD. Whatever they did at that place, messed everything up!

I sort of tricked imovie into thinking each photo was a "clip" (video segment). That worked. I could add sound, and effects. I finished the movie. Then you have to "render the movie" to make it a dvd. I can't!

Long story - short...I got a new laptop!

It is VERY cool, and will work with our video camera. We are currently transfering files over. When we transfered the movie...it lost some parts. The new themes are very nice, but the old themes won't be there. It has new titles and special effects, but the old ones don't transfer, so my movie is back on the editing room floor. I don't think it will take me long to put in a few new bells and whistles, and my NEXT movies will be so much easier.

The rest of the weekend, learning all the cool new features of the new laptop will be my ENTERTAINMENT. And no keys are stuck!

Here is a cat laying LOW near a parked car in Italy.

I go through this by the case.

10-20 per day for 5-10 mugs of coffee. I take 300 with me for an Italy trip. I hate Equal, and will use Splenda if I HAVE to, but it tastes just like sugar, which I also hate in my coffee. I have been using Sweet and Low for 39 years. If I was a lab rat, I'd be dead.

This week's theme of "ripples" was easy, as I immediately thought (longingly) of our days in Varenna last September. Here are some Lake Como ripples:

My most recent nice surprise was while in Orvieto for the day. Brad brought me one big beautiful sunflower. It's the little things...

Of course, orange is one of the colors of fall.

Then I remembered my Slow Travel Pumpkins!

Fall leaves are what I'd love to see this year:

Almost time for pumpkin soup!

And who can resist a stunning sunset?

There seem to be electronic devices in almost every room of our house. Here are our cell phones: my iPhone, Brad's cell, and two Italian cell phones. These all need chargers, regular and car chargers!

When we travel to Italy there are phones/chargers, camera and video camera with chargers, iPod, and laptop with power cord. Each charger for a U.S. item need an adapter.

The bathroom is simple: a hair dryer. I can do without it. Brad would NOT be happy.

We have a TV in the bedroom we never watch. There is a Tivo box under the bed, but that is a WHOLE OTHER STORY! It goes with the story of the 42" paperweight in the great room (television). Don't ask.

In Brad's office, we have two laptops, an external hard drive, a huge printer, cable box, stereo equipment, a dvd player, and yes, still a VHS player with a television.

I the kitchen, I CONSTANTLY use my coffee maker, often use my Kitchen Aid mixer, and Cuisenart. Occasionally I need a blender or immersion blender. The toaster comes out of the pantry once or twice a year. I do not own a crock pot, deep fryer, or bread machine.

If the power was to go out, I have a gas grill, a gas stovetop and most importantly...

Upside-Down Lemon Slice Muffins
(from Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library: Muffins and Quick Breads)

3 lemons
1 T. water
1/4 cup plus 12 teaspoons sugar, divided
6 T. unsalted butter
2 cups flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter (or spray) 12 standard muffin tins.

Finely grate the zest from 3 lemons. Set the lemons aside. Combine zest, 1 T. water and 1/4 cup sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat about 2 minutes, just until sugar melts. Add butter and cook about another minute, until butter melts.
Set aside.

With a sharp knife, remove remaining peel from the lemons. Cut in thin slices and remove seeds. Place 1 t. sugar in the bottom of each muffin cup and add a slice of lemon on top.

In a medium bowl, stir and toss flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a larger bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and lemon mixture. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended.

Spoon into tins, filling about 3/4 full. Bake 15-20 minutes until tops of muffins are golden brown, or toothpick comes out clean. Immediately invert the tins on a wire rack. Cool 5 minutes, then tap bottoms and lift away tins. Makes about 12-14 muffins. Serve warm.

The first thing that came to mind was Brad's birthday dinner in May, 2007. We ate at Twisted Restaurant and Bar in Scottsdale, Arizona.

My second thought were the mosiac filled marble columns on the duomo in Orvieto.

I had fun with this week's theme. I began by looking through my scrapbook paper stash:

Then I played with my WORD magnets:

These words reminded me of travel:

These words made me think of food:

Well, you get the idea...

And the words I spend time with EVERY week...

This theme was DEFINITELY a challenge. I am not a big sports fan, nor do I participate in active outdoor sports. I am not a golfer, a tennis player, a cyclist, etc. I don't have a photo of myself swimming. Then I thought we might stretch SNORKELING into the category of sports! Ta-da! This is as good as it gets!

Every morning, on my visits to my Maui condo, I swim out to see turtles!

Who is chasing? Brad or the turtle? I managed to get them both in this shot:

This week was FREE (post any photo of your choice), so I am sharing some cute bathroom art we saw at Beaches Restaurant in Vancouver, WA. I can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with.

The Men's Room and Women's Room were self explanatory at this Pacific Northwest restaurant!

It would be tough to mistake which door to enter! Once inside the ladies room, there is more art inside the stall!

This little dog is patiently tied to his owner in Campo Farnese in Rome.

Apple BAGS

Bag your own...

Although we use the word "purse" in California, I have the perfect one for today from my collection of BAGS...

I am proud to have two veterans and graduates of the United States Air Force Academy in the family. Brad graduated from USAFA in 1970, and Casey in 2000. In the above photo you can see the beautiful Chapel in the background.

Here are Brad's memento's from his 5 years in the Air Force:

I was able to visit the Air Force Academy for Casey's graduation in 2000. It is a gorgeous campus in Colorado Springs. According to tradition, Brad was honored to pin on Casey's bars at the ceremony when he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant.

These were musicians roaming the streets of Bologna, playing jazz, during the September, 2008 festa called Mezza Notte, where music of all kinds was performed around the centro storico all evening.

This was easy. We have a roadrunner who often hangs out in our front yard. It took me three tries to get him to pose for me. The OTHER visitor to my yard seems to be GONE! It's been 5 days with no evidence, and the peanut butter is intact. But Ego (the dog) scared himself silly going after the peanut butter, and almost catching his paw in the trap!

I'm better than I used to be, and stay afloat with our new gadgets. I can do what I need to do with my laptop, surf the internet, manipulate and fix photos, blog, use my i-phone, and our GPS. When I get stuck, or can't figure something out, I call my tech support guy. He lives with me! Brad reads magazines like this:

These are more my style!

The first thing that came to mind are all the beautiful curves I saw on a morning walk in Bologna last year!

I couldn't think of anything undesirable, so I am copping out with a video of the stress of Christmas. I personally am having the best December I can remember, with NO stress.

12 Pains of Christmas Lyrics

Go ahead and sing along:

The first thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me
Is finding a Christmas tree

The second thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me:
Rigging up the lights
And finding a Christmas tree

The third thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me
Hangovers
Rigging up the lights
And finding a Christmas tree

The fourth thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me

Sending Christmas cards
Hangovers
Rigging up the lights
And finding a Christmas tree

The fifth thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me
Five months of bills!
Sending Christmas cards
Hangovers
Rigging up the lights
And finding a Christmas tree

The sixth thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me:
Facing my in-laws
Five months of bills!
Oh, I hate those Christmas cards!
Hangovers
Rigging up these lights!
And finding a Christmas tree

The seventh thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me:
The Salvation Army
Facing my in-laws
Five months of bills!
Sending Christmas cards
Oh, geez!
I'm tryin' to rig up these lights!
And finding a Christmas tree

The eighth thing at Christmas that such a pain to me:
I WANNA TRANSFORMER FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!
Charities,
And whataya mean "YOUR in-laws"?!?
Five months of bills!
Ach, making out these cards
Honey, get me a beer, huh?
What, we have no extension cords?!?
And finding a Christmas tree

The ninth thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me
Finding parking spaces
DADDY, I WANT SOME CANDY!!!!
Donations!
Facing my in-laws Five months of bills!
Writing out those Christmas cards
Hangovers!
Now why the hell are they blinking?!?!?
And finding a Christmas tree

The tenth thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me:
"Batteries Not Included"
No parking spaces
BUY ME SOMETHIN'!!!
Get a job, ya bum!
Facing my in-laws!
Five months of bills!
Yo-ho, sending Christmas cards
Oh, geez, look at this!
One light goes out, they ALL go out!!!
And finding a Christmas tree

The eleventh thing of Christmas that's such a pain to me:
Stale TV specials
"Batteries Not Included"
No parking spaces
DAD, I GOTTA GO TA BATHROOM!!
Charities!
She's a witch...I hate her!
Five months of bills!
Oh, I don't even KNOW half these people!
Oh, who's got the toilet paper, huh?
Get a flashlight...I blew a fuse!!
And finding a Christmas tree

The twelfth thing of Christmas that's such a pain to me:
Singing Christmas carols
Stale TV specials
"Batteries Not Included"
No parking?!?
WAAAAAAAAAAH! WAAAAAAAAAAH!
Charities!
Gotta make 'em dinner!
Five months of bills!
I'm not sendin' them this year, that's it!
Shut up, you!
FINE! YOU'RE SO SMART, YOU RIG UP THE LIGHTS!!!
And finding a Christmas tree

I'm so ready for this one!

12 kinds of cookies:

11 Perfect snowflakes:

10 Christmas Hummels:

9 Memories on the Italy Wreath:

8 Holly Cupcakes:

7 loaves of Cherry-Almond Bread:

6 Shiny Trees:

5 German figures on a music box from m first Christmas:

4 Italian Santas:

3 Gingerbread pancakes:

2 Stockings:

And a Cingale on an Italy Tree!

What dog doesn't love peanut butter? Ego was helpful in posing for this week's theme of LICK.

"I wonder why she keeps taking my picture? Who cares?"

"I wonder what next week's theme is? I hope it is CHEW."

"I bet that's why she is cooking that ribeye roast right now!"

"Anything else I can help with?"

The first things that came to mind were: jello (no, I'm not making some), my upper arms (too gross for a photo), earthquakes (too sad and devastating, given the recent tragedy in Haiti), so I'm stretching the topic to say that I'm trying not to jiggle the bed because Brad had surgery Thursday, and I don't want to disturb his sleep or jiggle the pillows or bedding around his incisions!

He had two large lipomas removed from his back and neck, and is doing well!

He's a good patient, so I made him some chocolate chip cookies.

Ann's Raspberry-Brown Butter Tart

Pizza

Orchids

Chocolate Chip Cookies

What is your daily AVERAGE? One cup?

Two cups?

Here's my AVERAGE: