long island for a year

I wrote in a prevoius post about how sometimes my parents act nonsense . Well, this time the nonsense is about me. As a parent I am more than once in a while VERY tired: nights are interrupted, no time for myself, appointments to which I might not necessarily wish to attend.  Anyway, there is some project going on to which I can't say no anymore (promise, promise!) and I need that precious quiet time between throwing pebbles in the water and chasing after my little Messner or fighting about just anything with my daughter. So I feel kind of stressed and sometimes this just comes out as a river of tears that I can't really justify - also, listening to some pathetic songs doesn't help. Kids are very quiet in those moments and show their best "Why on hell is this woman crying? Must be because she didn't get the chocolate she so much wanted !!!" sorry look. Of course kids know better. As we were walking to the beach couple of days ago, Carlotta - always looking...

I certainly told before the story of my mom finding many excuses not to come visit. First it was about the flight - she has never gone further than Berlin, so I understand a certain preoccupation. Then it was about my dad and his health - he's perfectly fine apart from some high sugar level. There is also an upcoming wedding (end of August) to keep her busy - she basically has to go to the wedding, after getting dressed. I don't know what she found out next. Maybe the fact that she didn't want to be left alone with me. Who would??? Anyway, after months trying to convince her, I eventually gave up. Just recently I was mentioning how beautiful some of the harbor towns are and how nice it is to be able to go to the beach whenever we please. Well, guess with that I unexpectedly convinced her. It might well be she was a bit sad we are staying three months longer than the original plan and she wouldn't be able to see her grandchildren, but I really had the impression she was...

This morning we spotted three tails under the bushes in the garden... We tried not to scare the little raccoons away, knowing how bad people drive around here. They had probably lost their mom and were looking for a safe place. How sweet!

Given the fact that the settimana enigmistica (the Italian crosswords-riddles&puzzles authority!) is my favorite magazine and that some people used to call me like that, no wonder this title is some kind of riddle. Anyway, since some of you were already laughing at the strange coincidences I experienced during this week, I'll explain what I mean. I had birthday and I had my cousin and her family visiting from Italy for some days. Because they are Jehovah's Witnesses - but also people I like a lot - I decided to leave my celebration uncelebrated on the very day - and keep my daughter distracted enough and forgetful - so that nobody would be offended or hurt. I wasn't hurt: as I said, my cousin is one of the persons I like most and since she is nice, sweet and caring that's no effort. As kids we used to spend quite some time together and she was always a sort of older sister to me, as much as I was the sister she never had. This in spite of the fact that we are very ...

With my birthday approaching (and no wisdom in sight), I have to hear questions like "What do you wish?", "What should we do?", which I can never answer because I don't really need anything special...wait, I DO need something!!! I need my peace: quiet, silence, calm. (Ideally a desert island would do the trick, but I'll be contented with something smaller). That I can never have a relaxed breakfast has been an issue for quite some times now, so it's time to have another breakfast outside .Hooray! It'll be an exception, so let me tell you how an Italian - used to either tea-biscuits (those you can professionally dunk to show-off), rusks or double-baked bread (the messy, old fashioned, tastier version of rusk) in a big bowl of lukewarm milk with pure soluble toasted barley - finds her way in this Country to have breakfast at home. My usual breakfast since we've moved is nothing fancy but a bowl of cold milk and cold cereals with a cup of coffee (o...

Super cute map in Kobe, Motomach i Some of the things I do are just random, some other dictated by rational thinking. To guess what is what you'd have to know me to a certain degree. One of the things I rationally did, was choosing the picture for my profile because, although I don't have many nice pictures of me, this one explains a lot about me. Taking a closer look at it, in fact, one can see that I am standing in front of a big map. It's not just the casual picture taken in a touristy moment, it's more like a general attitude. I love maps. I own a number of maps. No matter where I am, no matter if my bags are stuffed, there is always place to collect more maps - those with funny cartoons, those with numbers for sightseeing, those you find at information centers (of course, different versions of the same place) and those you might just find in the telephone book... Once - oh my, that's embarrassing - I even stole a map. I swear it was absolutely unintentional a...

The past ten days were very busy and almost every night I was falling asleep soon after my kids: still, I didn't feel there was a day I wanted to sit at home by the beautiful weather and went to a couple of interesting places. I had planned this a while ago for and eventually I visited the Whaling Museum in Sag Harbor . Lately I am observing that - since we are in the US - my kids learn to know different animals than they would in central Europe, starting with "quirrl" (squirrel), chipmunks (a novelty for me, too), interesting birds and - even if not live - whales. Admittedly, I had the impression that the history of whales is more or less a history of men, but it was nevertheless fascinating to learn more about this mammal; there are different kind of whales and their bodies were used for the most various purposes like fuel for lamps or tennis rackets, cosmetics and fashion products, like corsets (and here you find me totally against it). Whaling itself was a na...

Because I am in a hurry, but because I will do that sometimes - postponing is a habit - but not now, I just want to remember that I have a blog-roll; these are the things I do read and that make me feel good. Obviously it is updated. Everybody is my favourite. Some is my most favourite. One is a kind of second voice talking for myself very often - that's Elisa .  Thanks for talking your mind!

I know, I know, I was weak; I ate that bar of chocolate. Sure, it was not mine to enjoy, but hell...it was there and now I feel a little sorry. Is it my fault I can't resist dark chocolate? What's in my brain that makes me need that?And what is in my blood NOW. Good, I confess: as short as a pleasure it might seem, it is on the run the winning, uncomplicated key to ALL of my problems. And I don't want to quit because there is no real reason to do it. Some research showed that consuming chocolate could cause depression (contrary to the belief that it cures it), but no, not in me. Give me more of that, I don't feel depressive; guilty maybe, a bit nasty, but not depressive!!! I don't mind chocolate cake or chocolaty stuff, no, no, I am for the real thing: starting from the 70% cocoa and up, I am in heaven with a couple of ounces of that bitterness and even when it is not in my pantry, it is in my thoughts. Once in a while I do carry it in my purse (you never know!) and...