LeMec (said buddy's moniker of choice, at least as of a few years ago) also sent over what he seems to think will be the "bundle of joy"(his words, not mine)'s first storybook------->
ps: we decided his hand is squishing his nose; in the normal u/s we could see his hand waving around a lot near his face. the guess is he was attempting to mine for gold. I swear the kid is going to make us rich one day :-)
This week at american baby:"Dependents acquired on or prior to the effective date of orders are authorized travel allowances from the place at which acquired to the new PDS (duty station), up to the transportation entitlement for travel from old PDS to the new PDS...Questionable cases should be referred to PERS-40CC for resolution."
Since the eighteenth century, Catania has been the second most important city of Sicily, supplanting Messina in that respect. Subjected to Etna's fickle temperament, Catania has been damaged by lava flows and earthquakes on several occasions. A particularly destructive volcanic eruption in 1669 was followed by a serious earthquake in 1693. Founded by the Siculi and colonized by Chalcidians (a Greek people) from Naxos in 729 BC, Catania was conquered by the Romans in AD 263, eventually becoming the most prosperous city in Roman Sicily. However, archeological evidence indicates man's presence in the area during the early Bronze Age (2200-1400 BC). By the Middle Ages, it was still an important port, though less prominent than Messina. It flourished until 1169, when it was almost completely destroyed by a particularly violent earthquake. Following this catastrophe, Catania was gradually rebuilt...
...It was during the eighteenth century reconstruction period that noble families from across eastern Sicily began to build palazzi in Catania. Thus began a social and economic rivalry with Palermo that continues to this day. One of the essential differences between the cities is that while Catania is somewhat more industrial, Palermo remains the administrative center of Sicily. Though it won't be readily apparent to the casual visitor, the two cities differ from one another in many subtle ways. Catania is certainly less chaotic than Palermo, and most streets and squares are a good bit cleaner. Its residents are generally more open, and organized crime, which certainly exists, is slightly less pervasive here than in Palermo. Most Sicilians, even Palermitans, would agree that it's generally easier to do business in Catania than in Palermo.
For all its Baroque grandeur, the city is not frequented by the number of tourists who flock to Palermo, Syracuse and Taormina, most of whom just briefly pass through Catania on their way to Mount Etna or Syracuse...Catania is a good point for making connections to other places if you're traveling by train or bus. Buses for Etna, the airport, Palermo and various nearby towns depart from the piazzas near the train station (there are several different bus lines with offices off the main square). Fontanarossa Airport is only about 20 minutes from Catania. There are fairly frequent train departures for Taormina, Syracuse, Messina and the mainland.
And if I were to take an afternoon off to explore Catania, here are a few of the sites that might perhaps catch my eye:
*Two Roman ampitheaters (one of which was built over the ruins of an earlier Greek theater)
*Ursino Castle, built in the first half of the 13th century (now a museum),
*a cathedral whose construction began in 1092,
*Mt. Etna,
*various churches and palaces built with volcanic stone,
and, of course, the street markets and family restaurants that abound.
nope, I'm not thinking "bored is in the Sicilian dictionary. Especially when that's just the closest city, and we'll have the rest of the island to explore, not counting the neighboring countries :)
Tuesday, April 4, 2006; Posted: 12:03 p.m. EDT (16:03 GMT)
MIAMI, Florida (Reuters) -- The 2006 hurricane season will not be as ferocious as last year when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, but will still be unusually busy, a noted forecasting team said Tuesday.
The Colorado State University team led by Dr. William Gray, a pioneer in forecasting storm probabilities, said it expected 17 named storms to form in the Atlantic basin during the six-month season starting in June.
Nine of the storms will likely strengthen into hurricanes, with winds of at least 74 mph, the team said, reaffirming their early prediction in December.
The forecasters said five of the hurricanes were likely to be major storms, reaching at least Category 3 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity, and boasting winds of at least 111 mph.
But they also said there was less chance of major storms making landfall in the United States compared with 2005's record-breaking hurricane season.
"Even though we expect to see the current active period of Atlantic major hurricane activity to continue for another 15-20 years, it is statistically unlikely that the coming 2006-2007 hurricane season, or the seasons that follow, will have the number of major hurricane U.S. landfall events as we have seen in 2004-2005," Gray said in a statement.
Last season -- at $80 billion the costliest on record in terms of damage -- saw 27 named storms, of which 15 developed into hurricanes.
In addition to Katrina, Hurricane Rita hammered Texas and Hurricane Wilma briefly became the most intense Atlantic hurricane ever observed before slamming into the Mexican resort of Cancun. Wilma then curved back over South Florida, where it wreaked $10 billion worth of damage.
The long-term statistical average is for about 10 named storms per season, of which six become hurricanes.
Copyright 2006 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
starting almost 23 years ago, if that gives you any clue...)
Then, as you look ahead into the trailer from the "front" door, we see the "kitchen." Yeah. food was stored in the upper cupboard, the cat's litter box was in the lower cupboard, and the bare essentials of bake/cookware were in the cupboard to the left of the door (visible in the next pic). I'm amazed that we didn't eat out every. single. day. One consolation: the full size fridge. Our neighbors, who had the fancy trailers with a pull-out section and 4 bunks, only had a 3/4 size fridge. neener, neener.
From the bedroom door into the rest of the trailer, we see the aforementioned full sized fridge and pots-n-pans cupboard (the tv was on top of this), the living room couch (read: SIL and BIL's pull-out bed), the dining room table (read: school table for the niece and nephew and later the computer desk). Both seats had storage underneath for all of the kids school stuff and toys, and the table could come down and make a bed, if need be (need never be'd for us, so to speak). The armoire where E and J kept all their clothes was quite nice, if you opened the door, the mirror's reflection gave the impression that the trailer was twice as big. really.
what I found in the
box
#3
#2"As the larval flea progresses in its development, the tapeworm inside it is also progressing in development. By the time the flea is an adult, the tapeworm is ready to infect a dog or cat...
Inside the host’s stomach, the flea’s body is digested away and the young tapeworm is released. It finds a nice spot to attach and the life cycle begins again. It takes 3 weeks from the time the flea is swallowed to the time tapeworm segments appear on the pet’s rear end or stool." (The Tapeworm Page)
#1
so I bathed her
twice
well, overall she was a good dog and we are sad to see her go, but try to move a cat, a dog, a brand new baby, and me to italy... E wasn't having it, so I guess we'll stick with the cat, who bye the way is having an official name change..... Spaz.
he won't notice; he doesn't come when he's called anyway.
I have a bump big enough to show through clothes, lol. Behold the product of 20 weeks time.
