long island for a year

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...

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 ...

When I was telling you I would have had a more interesting conversation with my dad, I was being ironic. I don't even have to wait until I call to know what we'll be saying: it's the standard exchange of two people who totally suck at phone calling: "Hey!" "Hey!" "So?" "So?" "Congrats!" "Thank you" "How's everything?" "Fine!" break. "Good!" meditative break. "How are the kiddos?" "They are fine..." thinking break. "Is it warm?" "Well, it is warmer than last week..." "Sorry, I didn't hear" "It is warmer!" Embarrassing break. "Should I call your mother?" "Alright" "See you for Christmas, thank you, bye bye". And that's it. If I want to tease him I'll ask if he could eat some cake - which due to his hyperglycemia might sound insulting. No way I am pushing him into real talking, it w...

May is phone-call month: most of the people in my family and also a good number of friends (and also my husband) decided they had to be born in May.  How blame them?After June, this is a perfect month to come to the world. Point is that I don't quite like phone-calls; if it wasn't for the kids I'd probably feel entitled to just call my family once a month.  Why? Because sometimes, talking with my mom, I have the impression she's got so many more important things to do... "Sorry, I got to go out with my friends" or "Ok, now I'll do something useful" or "The pan is on the stove and my roast-beef must be burning" are some of the typical sentences my mom would use to quit our conversations.  As if she was annoyed and as if I would be calling her every day. Hey, what's the matter??? One of the things that make me hate calling is that she would always mention how much space our house has. What??? Did she see that?Nope. Did I ever tell h...

Last night I couldn't sleep well: my nose was a bit congested and I had a terrible head-ache...so I got mad at myself about the last post. It was the typical scene with a little angel sitting on one shoulder and a little devil sitting on the other one, arguing about this facebook craze. The devil was right, asking "Why on hell would you wish to add another family member to an already large family?". On the other hand the angel was also right, asking "Shouldn't we forgive, even if he voted for B.?". Basically this is what bothered me most; in the end I decided to forgive - but not forget - and kind of forgive myself too, because I seem anyway to have the urge to find more relatives.  Might it be that I am often around and feel a bit rootless?Whatever!I have a more fun story  about relatives. This all started on our last Japan trip, to be correct at the welcome banquet that always takes place when one of Ralph's conferences begins. At the reception we ha...

In times of social networking this title might sound obvious but I want you to push your imagination a bit ahead... Did it ever happened to you to accept/confirm a friendship from someone you don't really know? Most probably yes. Me, I am very strict: either I had at least a cup of coffee with the mentioned person (or an ice- cream) OR we share the same surname. Which is wrong because the last isn't a guarantee for a real friendship or anything but I just think we are all a big family and we don't choose our relatives anyway! But...what if then you find out that your "relative" is kind of an ass?Or that you don't share political views at all?You've incorporated another Mr. someone to your family and now regret it? This is what happened to me, so I'll never trust family members again until they at least offer a cup of coffee - then I will decide.