(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

I pass this house everyday on my trip to and fro and I alway wonder why they haven't replaced that one shutter...

Just Being

This was one of those fabulous Italian weekends where the weather is perfect and where you makes plans weeks in advance and then everything falls through due to some unplanned event.  It sound terrible, right?

It wasn't. As much as I would have liked to hang out in Florence with our wonderful friends traveling to Italy from America, our family just really NEEDED a break from LIFE.  Thankfully, the weather cooperated and we were able to spend some time outside before the weather turns nasty for winter. (It really, really does rain almost every day from October through May) The kids played outside, we took a Sunday afternoon drive (that really happened on Saturday), we washed a ton of clothes and hung them on the clothesline and on the clothes racks, and I shared wine and conversation with a new friend in one of my favorite tiny villages here in Italy. Living here in Europe is such an amazing opportunity, but it can be hard to just take a week off to let normal life happen. You feel as if you always have to go go go and see the sites and visit the places before moving back home to America.  The clock is always ticking--except for us, it's not our biological clock it's our travel clock! It felt nice to just "BE" this weekend....

Here are some "random life" shots from this weekend.

Wordless Wednesday

 

There are no words for this....

Tory's homecoming dress came today...three weeks late. She made her boyfriend try it on...poor guy. 

Sure would love your vote!  (Even if you've voted before..you can vote once a day...) Thanks!

Catch and Release

This morning, I awoke to one of those dark and dreary days that are so typical of Italy in October.  It's almost as if Italy says goodbye to the sun in late September and we aren't reintroduced to her again until late May.  Rain, rain, rain...as the season's change and fall shifts slowly into winter....ugh....

But, as I was saying...this is a dreary, cloudy day here in Italy and I haven't been able to shake the BWB (bad weather blues) lately. You would think that with all the cold and damp weather, and having to keep our windows shut up lately, our fly population (read here about it) would have deminished. Not so. I swear those little suckers have multiplied. Yesterday, I apparently left the window of the car rolled down just a smidge...not enough to let any rain in, but apparently just enough to allow every fly in the Veneto to take up residence on my seats. 

I was greeted by about two dozen of them this morning when Delilah and I were leaving for school. At first, I frantically waved my arms trying to get them out of the window in disgust.  Then, the thought hit me....I strapped Delilah into her car seat and drove off with my windows shut and with flies buzzing around.  

Our first stop way to her preschool.  It was raining, but I rolled down my window, not all the way, but just enough.  

Next stop, Jackson's school....again, I rolled down the window--just about two inches this time.  

It was raining steady by this point, but little did everyone (who passed me and wonder why I had left my window down) know that I had a plan.

Success!  I arrived back to the car a couple hours latter and head back to pick up Delilah...fly-free.

My own "catch and release" plan of action :)

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A Give-Away With Some Friends

I've teamed up with some lovely blogging friends for a give away this week!  Be sure to enter, you just might win! And be sure to check out some of the awesome blogs posted as well!

Starletta Designs | Smile and Write | Postcards from Rachel | Treasure Tromp | Chasing Happy | True Colours

Via Fontanelle | Meet With a Smile | Lazy Boleyn | Lip Gloss & Lunges | The Wellness Doer | The Boots Parade

One&20 | Modernette | A Girl Smitten | Deecoded | Found Love. Now What? | The Nectar Collective

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway Rules

1. Giveaway is open internationally.

2. Giveaway winner will be selected and contacted by email by October 10th. If you are the winner, you MUST respond to that initial email within 48 hours. If you don't, a new winner will be selected and will be held to the same terms.