finally, some writing!

bath time :)

with new toys from Aunt and Unc - thank you!

 OH man it's been a while since I've actually written a blog. Christmas is a busy time, and with my sister here and explorations to be had and a babe that isn't napping very consistently.... it just hasn't happened. So here I am at the kitchen table with my fork in a huge piece of strudel, hoping and wishing that Hendrik's mamma maaaammas will dissipate into slumbery silence - fingers crossed that this morning nap will happen.

There's so much to write about that I don't really know where to start - so, hm... Christmas? It was fantastic. We had a great meal on the 24th with Rapha and family (as seen by the pics in my last post), and, as per a Christmas tradition that spans the globe, we stuffed ourselves. The menu was this: cheese and crackers to start, then: mashed potatoes, potato buns (made by Sarah - they were deeelicious), green salad, chicken salad, apple-waldorf-ish salad (both concocted by Ana) and a bird of sorts. When Rapha was told that he'd be given a fowl by one of the team's sponsors (a butcher, Salumeria Belli), he thought turkey; they, on the other hand, thought stuffed-with-meat rooster, and so that is what we had. And so even though we were all thinking big bird with stuffing, the smaller full'o'meat chicken was good and really, there was no need for any more food. Sarah and Hendrik and I thoroughly enjoyed salads for several days, and the mashed potatoes and potato buns disappeared pretty quickly. Oh and dessert! We had a Christmas treats plate of nanaimo bars, sugar cookies, shortbread and hm, maybe that was it... and it was also delicious. There was wine and the babies were well-behaved and happy, and so it was a success, hurray. And then, after the Raphas went home, the three of us were wondering, is there any way we can stay up until midnight? Antonella and Luciano had invited us to join their Christmas festivities that begin in the very early hours of December 25th, and by the time 1:30 rolled around we were somehow (?!) still up and ambled on over to our neighbors' place. And it was full! Full of people, food and drink. We were plied with champagne and Christmas cake, and of rumtopf too - a very special home-made rum-soaked fruit medley that has been in the works since May - !! With booze and more food we faded fast, so didn't stay long before ambling back over and falling into bed. Christmas day was - what did we even do? - good good good, and we were all spoiled with gifts, again. Steve had to leave for Bassano in the afternoon, so after a nice morning + early afternoon together, he left for practice and we - did what? hmmm, I'm not so sure... we ate? Probably. And that was our Christmas! It was the best having my sister here and to celebrate another year with our little babe was pretty special.

a train from Grandma and Grandpa Brinkman... he loves it!

and an "I Spy" quilt crafted by Grandma B - we all love it!

And the Brinkmans have arrived! We have more visitors and I love it. And Sarah's Jeff flies into Venice tomorrow so will be back here with Sarah after their New Year's Eve soujorn in the island-archipelago. What else what else... Hendrik had some vaccinations this morning and was such a good little guy; there were a few tears and then, up in mom's arms, that was it! The flower window-decals were a great distraction and so was the English-speaking doctor... yay for friendly people in little-known places. We had a smorgasbord of fresh pasta for lunch yesterday which made everyone's tummies and taste buds very happy, and deep-fried olive balls and nutella chocolates too. And coffee on the central piazza and vin brulee.... I keep saying to myself that I should just EAT all year long, eat eat eat while we're in the most wonderful place on the planet to indulge. Sarah and I had gelato on 26th, and Antonella had us over for a lasagna-lesson later that day and then sent us HOME with one (!!! - we thought about jumping all over it and eating it ourselves but decided to - nice nice nice - share with everyone else)... oh the food the food the food. And she made strudel (the one my fork was in this morning when I started this blog) and Luciano sent me home with eggs... we're in heaven and I love it here.

Antonella at work

if ONLY I can duplicate this deliciousness... lasagna heaven!

Okay, there must be more. I have a long list of things and ideas that I'm hoping to get to one of these days - spend more time at the library, read and study more, write, look into coaching education and jobs for the summer - and I need to work out. Running happens never, and with all of the aforementioned gluttony I should really be exercising a little more frequently... awoops. And soon enough I won't have the "eating for two" excuse any longer; weaning is a work in progress, with some good days and some bad. Hendrik is down to one feed a day (before bed) and hm, hopefully we can phase that out in the next few weeks. I've loved breastfeeding, but after 13 months I think I'm done.

Okay, and finally, in short-point form: Steve has a game tonight (gooooood luck) vs Verona, we have no idea what we're going to do for New Years (it's overrated anyways) and I finished Olive Kitteridge a few days ago; I liked the book but loved the last paragraph:

What young people didn’t know, she thought, lying down beside this man, his hand on her shoulder, her arm; oh, what young people did not know.  They did not know that lumpy, aged, and wrinkled bodies were as needy as their own young, firm ones, that love was not to be tossed away carelessly, as if they were a tart on a platter with others that got passed around again…..

And so, if this man next to her now was not a man she would have chosen before this time, what did it matter? He most likely wouldn’t have chosen her either.  But here they were, and Olive pictured two slices of Swiss cheese pressed together, such holes they brought to this union–what pieces life took out of you… It baffled her, the world. She did not want to leave it yet.

I think there's a little more to it than this, but I liked it. Love is ever-important, always-important, to the ornery and difficult, the kind, the small, the old, the tall... to us all.