better late than never

Before racing from behind to reclaim my Boggle title last night I worked on a whole thwack of tabs - most of which are still open in another window. I browsed books on Powell's (made a list of to-reads, and bought Alan Hollinghurst's The Stranger's Child on my kindle), looked into Pinterest and was yet again thoroughly intimidated (but yes indeed P-interested), and thought about resolving the messy murk-pond of thoughts that might (or might not) add up to a well-rounded and thorough post. Hmm, how about this: I'll start where I started and didn't finish Saturday night.

My mom sent me these pics a few months ago when Hendrik hit the one-year mark, and I've been meaning to share them ever since.Voila, Heather + family in 1979, one year old:

with Grandpa Larry and Grandma Edith in Ottawa

And in Toronto with parents and Grandparents Hamblin

What else have I got... We went out for an amazing sushi lunch this afternoon with our Swedish friends who we don't see enough... and we were baby-less! Hendrik made his way home with Grandma and Grandpa for nap time, and we had our first lunch out in a while... it was fab. I also had a nice solo walk into town this morning and stopped at the library and Centro Sportivo Life to inquire about swimming lessons for Hendrik. While there I had to maintain a face of calm while someone told me that it would cost 65 EUROS for four 40-minute swimming lessons for him... ridiculous! It would be super convenient seeing as how the two of us could walk or bus there in no time, but really? That's getting close to $100... pffffft. Sooooo, I'm going to look into things at another pool and just hope that it isn't so stinkin' expensive.

Hendrik spent a good part of the afternoon chasing a cat around the back yard and it may have been almost as fun as yesterday's merry-go-round ride in Bassano del Grappa... except for when, while peeking under the hedge to locate the tabby, face-planted right into the dirt and got a mouthful of it. Thankfully, he was unphased.

peeking, chasing, and asking for more

We stopped in Bassano on our way home from an awesome visit with Gretchen, John and Wesley, the newest addition to their lovely little family of three. They both seemed so relaxed and natural, and it made me wonder - were we like that? I don't think so, and I'm going to blame it on the feeding hurdles and the sleep challenges that fall/fell right behind. It was great to see them, great to eat some ridiculously good lasagna (white cheese chicken), and the brownies that came with the coffee weren't bad either.

Bassano, like so many other smaller Italian towns, was delightful. I'm pretty sure that you could visit hundreds of such places and have just as good of a time in this country as if you hit up Rome, Milan, Florence, Venice and Pisa (etc). Emelie and Per were talking about heading up to Merano some time this week - because it's a nice place - and because there's good shopping there, including an H&M. January is sale time here (yippee) and this mamma needs some new clothes. I've just doubled my reasons for heading north to see a new place... now I just need to find the time.

Bassano del Grappa

Tab-itis: Clone of a Cinnabon, Pinterest: 13 Tips and Tricks, Trento, Roman Roads, Chez Beeper Bee, Apartment Therapy, Amazon (Seasons - I want), Don Kenn gallery, New York Review Children's Collection, Amazon (The Man Who Lost His Head), New York Review books, mmmmcrafts, Lost World of Sea Life and Best iPad Apps for Babies, Toddlers and Sanity Loving Parents.... when oh when will I get to all of this?!