Caltagirone Market

I just realized I never posted about either of our trips to Caltagirone. oops. Here we go. I am not going to mess with the spacing right now,* so I apologize in advance.

One of mr. waaz's work buddies' wives (Jen) and I decided to find the market St. Partick's day weekend so that when we came back the next weekend with the husbands and another couple we wouldn't look like hopelessly lost tourists. I REALLY wish I'd had my camera turned on to catch a pic of a typical road sign. Picture 10 different town names, in no particular order, pointing both "distra" and "sinistra" (left and right), and the one town you're looking for is posted upside down near the bottom of the list.
Anyway, once we found the town, we turned around about three times and finally found a great place to park that seemed like it was close to the "centro" of town. After asking directions and walking "direto" (straight) for about 15 minutes, we asked again, "dove el mercatino?" and received a "mama mia!" in reply from the twenty-somethings who were relaxing at a gas pump about 5 feet from the road's edge. We were instructed to turn around, go back to our cars, and drive (younger Italians speak way more english than we americanos do italian). We did, asked for directions again--this time by stopping in the middle of the road next to a man that was double parked and talking to someone who was walking down the middle of the street-- and the gentleman in question had pity on our lack of comprehension and told us to "seguimi" follow him. phew. He used his turn signals, didn't weave in and out of traffic, and even found us a great parking spot (which we drove right past...oops). What a guy. Turns out we almost went the right way the first time; only one wrong turn.
Caltagirone is known all over Italy for their ceramics, which are displayed everywhere, from ledge (that ledge overlooks a HUGE valley...the town is in the hills) to the front of each step in this pic (close-ups in the link). Very pretty.

We didn't sightsee much, only enough to notice that there is a ceramics museum and many great shops. We were too excited to finally find el mercato. Shawn even did a little skip of glee.

Markets are great; if you ever visit I'll take y'all to at least two. Aside from the typical fruits and veggies, there are also things, tools, tablecloths, and toys galore. Just about anything you could want to purchase for much less than retail price.
After we were done shopping, we went to a little bar for lunch before heading home. Can't remember what these are called, but mine was filled with cheese, spinach, onions, and garlic.


*if you must know, EP fell asleep naked on my lap (after a bath in the sink) and now my leg is numb and I'm afraid he's going to pee. you're the one who scrolled down to see the notation, so don't blame me if you just spit coffee all over the computer screen.

cherry eye and some cheerios

spectacular. shoulda gotten a mutt.










and, proof that I do actually present the boy with "real" food on occasion (cereal, noodles, cheerios, banana). I cannot be responsible for what happens to said food once it's on the tray, but for the record the bib was unnecessary and there was most definitely a sink involved shortly after these pictures were taken. click to enlarge to see the extent of slimeage. Child of Mine, indeed.

ah, the language barrier

Today I tried to sign up for a web based service to put more minutes on my cell phone. Let me tell you why. Under the current circumstaces I have to go to a vodofone kiosk (one is convieniently located inside the NEX [think Navy Wal-Mart]) and get more minutes there. The process is simple yet far from fool proof. You write down your phone number on a piece of paper with other personal info and tell the counter jockey how many Euro-credits you would like to put on the phone. I opted for 25 Euro and gave the girl my slip. Then they charge your card and you walk away. After that what is supposed to happen is that while you are walking through the NEX/wally world, a text message appears on your phone telling you that the credits have been added. However, what sometimes occurs (once to me) is that the girl behind the counter forgets to add your credits or accidentally puts them on the wrong phone therefore putting me out 32 dollars. Screw that! So I found out that when you give them your money they just go to a web page, enter your information and bingo, more minutes. I have decided to eliminate the faulty middle man and just go to the web page myself. The page is in italian, which my skills in are minimal. I tried to translate the italian web page using a free internet translator. It doesn't always do the best job, translating quite literally. This is what I got when I translated the "agreement to terms" spiel at the end of the page:
"Taken fit of the informative stocked one from Vodafone I give the approval to the personal treatment of my data, relatively to the point 2 of abovementioned informative relatively to the telephone subscription under indicated.

I agree with the treatment of the personal data for commercial end for the number of telephone."

hmm, yes I guess I agree to that?!?

The Man Chair

two posts in one day? yes that's right folks. This one is a two-picture post, to show my wonderful SIL just how appreciated her secondhand (well, thirdhand now, i suppose) furniture really is. Ten minutes after the first shot--taken a couple of days ago--all 3 loungers were snoozing. Ten minutes after the second shot--taken a couple of hours ago--the snoozer was lounging and very much awake (remember when I said his morning naps are shrinking?).

weeds in a cup

We went for a walk yesterday, the boy, the dog, and I, and I finally remembered to bring my camera to document bits of Sicily in the spring. I was going to take pics of the town of Mineo, and of the geep, but the clouds and sheepdogs interrupted my good intentions. So instead I decided to shoot the flowers that cover the fields outside the base. The only problem with this is that the fence is mere yards from the highway and every time I crouched to get the perfect shot, the Italians honked and waved and ruined the moment. Perhaps it was at the boy, completely zonked on my back for his ever shrinking morning nap. Perhaps it was the dog, enjoying some off leash time by chasing the palm branches and her (lack of a) tail. Perhaps it was at the crazy American lady picking weeds through the fence (these are the same Italians who burn the grass alongside the road, after all). At any rate, I quickly decided that instead of stopping to take a pic of every pretty "weed" I found, it would be better to take them home with me instead. Hope this brings a bit of cheer, especially to those of you to whom spring won't become a reality for at least a month more. Enjoy.

fly on the wall

me: "Honey, guess what?!"
mr. waaz: "what."
"if you go to sleep right now, you will get a whole 6 hours of sleep before you have to be awake again!"
"hooray. "

15 hour days are no good, I tell you. lb and j, I now understand your "like ships passing in the night" comment from awhile back. Add no sleep to starching and ironing uniforms and polishing boots every single day to STUPID people at work, and you get one drained husband, in every sense of the word.

ugh.

The Skinripper

The Irony: not only do I tell nearly every single person I meet to cut AWAY from their bodies, but do you see that other scar? another skin-ripping incident from a couple of summers ago, that one involving a saw. I guess some folks never learn...

ps: no, lb, I didn't go in and have it looked at, though the thought did cross my mind as *gross out alert*my palm filled with blood during the five steps from sewing table to sink and kept opening every time I moved for a few hours after the fact. *gross out alert over* The crime pic was from the next day and now (5 days after the incident), it's a lot better. Sure wish I'd had butterfly bandages handy though!

Your Cat

I kicked your cat out of one place where I wanted it to be, so he moved. To another place I wanted to be, so he moved again. (rinse and repeat) Finally I sat down to sew a bit and saw him splayed over the goodintentionquilt fabric. He was even more stretched out before I got the camera. I guess he doesn't want you to see quite as much of his too fat belly. (funny, I hadn't notice that he is somewhat stripey before this photo. Hanging with stripey cats will do that for you I guess. Wonder if that will help his tail deficiency?)

Hockey night in Catania

Well, Arcireale really but Catania is close enough....

Anyway here we go.

The teams (notice I am not in the goalie gear)
Catania Flames in the blue
Sigonella Flames in the red

apparently "Flames" is a popular name for hockey teams around here. A little known fact about our jerseys is that the sun was drawn up with a pitchfork and horns and the old team was going to be called the "Sun Devils" but the old CO thought it was satanic and did not want his base to be represented as such. So now we are unoriginal.

A salute to the teams. Each team salutes the other by saying something like
Us: "For Catania, pip pip!(sticks banging)
Them: For Sigonella pip pip! (more banging of sticks)
This is their pre-game ritual to show respect and sportsmanship and whatnot.



Here we are in the 1st period intermission. So far we are not losing too badly.







A mid-period conference to strategize as we begin to lose our grip on the game.






There were no good action shots as the lighting is odd (as I am sure you can tell) and we are not so savvy with our own camera yet, at least not enough to find just the right settings to get action shots at night in weird light. Better luck next time I guess. Anyway we went on to lose our inaugural scrimmage either 10 to 5, or 9 to 4. Something like that anyway, we weren't technically keeping score. I think we are playing again Thursday, so maybe more pictures and stories or something.
XY

time flies

how did EP go from about 90 minutes old to 9 months old in the blink of an eye?? As I sit at the computer this morning thinking about the Market post I need to finish so that I can put together the Taormina post, I am constantly distracted by the screeching coming from behind me to my right. EP's there, chowing down on a pizza crust that he swiped right out of my hand and laughing hysterically every time I whip my head around and acknowledge the noise that he's making. It sounds something like this: "aahhhheeeeeeeeeeeebababa(deep breath) SCREECHgigglescreech mmmmmmdududu(deep breath)AAHAaaaAAA sssssgigglesputterSCREEEEEEECH bubblesputtermamama CLAPCLAPCLAP!!!!!!!!" and echoes in a way you wouldn't believe in a house with cement walls and tile flooring. This week we've taken a developmental leap off the deep end of infancy into babyhood; EP stands on his own for about two seconds at a time, lets go of my hands to pivot and look in the other direction or reach for something else to support him(while standing), pinches cheerios like a champ, plays games with anyone who will participate (I've got to get a video of him and his dad playing the cup game), sings along in church, and can go all day without crying once.
He's an absolute joy to be around--most of the time--and has very definite ideas about what he wants (everything) and when he wants it (now). He's solidly in 18 month pants and 12 month shirts, and is starting to "help" me get his clothes off and on. Last night he took a bath in the tub for the first time since he was quite small, and LOVED smashing the bubbles onto his face and eating the poof and twirling the knobs of his brand "new" tub seat and attempting to catch the rubber duckie. I tell ya, this mom thing is the most fulfilling job I've ever had. I cannot wait to tell him Bible stories and listen in the first time he talks to God out loud and watch his reaction the first time we go to play in the creek...you guys better start praying now for our trip this May so you can see firsthand what I'm talking about, and remember what it's like to be a little one in God's kingdom.

"People brought babies to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. When the disciples saw it, they shooed them off. Jesus called them back. "Let these children alone. Don't get between them and me. These children are the kingdom's pride and joy. Mark this: Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in." Luke 18:15-17, the Message

Conversations with an ITT* representative:

11:30 a.m.
"hello, I'm calling about the Taormina and Gambino Winery tour happening this Thursday?"
"We have three seats left"
"Great! I'll take them."

11:40 a.m.
"hello, I just called a couple of minutes ago about the Taormina tour?"
"Yes, Mira, right?"
"That's me. Bad news, I just realized I have a standing engagement on Thursday mornings, so we won't be able to go."
"ok. I should be able to cancel your credit card. I'll call you if it doesn't work."

12:15 p.m.
"hello, this is the lady who's called a couple of times about the Taormina trip?"
"Yes, I just tried to call you to get your cc # again because I couldn't cancel the charge..."
"that's ok, I just found out my babysitting gig isn't happening this week, so we CAN go!"
"Good thing I didn't cancel the charge then!"

Hooray! Going places and doing things! Here's the description of the trip from the MWR's monthly publication to whet your tastebuds (I added the links):

"Tour Taormina's historical highlights including the Greek Theater and Chiesa Madre. Then head to Linguaglossa for a light lunch and wine tasting."

jealous yet? ;-)

*Information, Tours, and Travel

I think that if you squint,

you might think EP's hair is reddish. Obviously, I am squinting.

He is Risen!

Yesterday morning (Easter Sunday), EP and I went to the chapel's sunrise service (mr. waaz went to half of it...the other half was spent getting jackets for us all b/c the chaplain decided to take the service outside. two minutes after mr. waaz returned, we moved inside. Thanks anyway, hon. There was a potluck breakfast and then the normal service. K&K and LOM (little old man) Brayden came over for pics afterward, and then we brought broccoli salad and pizza fixin's over to their house for dinner. There was supposed to be a hockey game on (and their tv is bigger), but it was rescheduled or something so we watched part of Blood Diamond instead...until the menfolk remembered that they had to get up at 4 the next morning.








Captions:
Our new buds, Kevin and Kaylee (sp?) and their cutie-patootie Brayden, who was kind enough to model my newest t-shirt diaper AND put up with monster baby, a.k.a. EP's binky swiping
experimental pinching excited screeching friendly advances with the suave demeanor only a little old man could pull off.

We clean up nicely, yeah?










He is Risen Indeed. Happy Easter, everyone :)

I have a new job!!

on the hockey team that is, and no, mom, I didn't get a raise either. Equipment manager? you say. Again, no, my new job is much more, hmm... important. People that I have talked to regularly (about the hockey team) know that one of our biggest problems was finding a goalie. Well it would appear that I have found us one, me. Ugh. It's hot, there are a ton of pads to wear, and by the time we actually get around to playing in actual tournaments I will have the most cut up legs (muscularly toned) ever. I don't know how I got this position but I can assure you that after practice today and a scrimmage against Catania on Wednesday we'll have plenty of pictures.
(mira took pics at practice today...slideshow below)
(mira will also be bringing the camera to the game so look for more to be added later)
XY (who will also [hopefully] be known as "the brick wall')

BUT! the calendar says it's SPRING!

On Tuesday I dug the front flower gardens and thought how pleasant it was the my skin was getting "some color". By evening the first daffodils had bloomed and about 200 more were ready to open.
On Wednesday it rained. Very cold rain.
On Thursday it snowed. And froze the daffs.
On Friday it iced. Some (drooped, crackling) daffodils now had an inch of ice on them.
Okay, maybe that is spring, now that I think of it.
(Easter forecast? Cold and Snowy.)

thrift score

all this for $3.50. Title inspiration from this book (turns out my family isn't the only one with the disease)












quilt not included...it's one I pieced and Granny quilted years ago =)
















and for those of you that are, shall we say, less than interested in thrifty goodness, here's what we ate for dinner a few nights ago. Steak kabobs with crostini (basically, you top french bread slices with market fresh ingredients--I used olive oil, provolone, diced cherry tomatoes and onions, minced garlic--s & p, and fresh chopped herbs from the garden. 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and everything looks just a bit crispy).