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June 15, 2003

Happy Birthday To Me (a day late like everything else I do!)

(lots of pictures below - be sure to click on the purple words)

I have had the busiest past two weeks! Averaging 4-5 hours of sleep a night is just not good. I actually remembered to buy stuff to make my birthday cake this year but it is still sitting on the counter (all the parts I need are in my cake server). I have turned on the oven two times on two different days now but turned it back off because I realized each time I didn't have enough time to complete the operation. So today, I will make myself a lemon cake with lemon icing. YUM! My mom started a tradition of allowing each kid to choose the icing and cake type and I have continued that in my house. When I was a little girl, I used to choose the weird ones like rainbow swirl cake with vanilla icing that had candy mixed in it (gag).

My birthday kicked off with my nanny (Eleonore) showing up with a HUGE bouquet of flowers to me. We had a gift for her and both of us were surprised to get a present. <a href="http://www.debcodding.com/caltigironeanselele.jpg">She and her honey (Ansel)</a> took us to Caltigirone as promised and we all had a great time. We spent most of our time at <a href="http://www.debcodding.com/caltigironemarket.jpg">the market</a> which was PACKED with people. I realized that I am starting to understand quite a bit of Italian now (just can't speak it hahahaha). I gave each of the boys ten euro to spend and they were on the hunt for bargains. Eli bought: a pepsi (in a odd, really tall can), a squirtgun, a pound of peanuts, a six pack of bitters (like ginger beer) and a Dragon Ball Z whistle made of clay. Jake bought: a plastic guitar, a bey blade, and a Dragon Ball Z whistle made of clay. Seth bought a kid-size push broom, a new hat and some sandals. I did well too. I got <a href="http://www.debcodding.com/blueyarn.jpg">two hanks of the prettiest cotton yarn</a> (probably <a href="http://www.debcodding.com/blueyarnclose.jpg">DK weight</a>) and two skeins of a black DK acrylic (I have no idea what I will do with either but I couldn't pass them up). I also bought a quart of strawberries, a bag of bing cherries and an economy bottle of Mr. Clean. It was baking hot so we sat down and had granites (pronounced gr-ah-nee-tas), which are the same as in the States - finely choped ice with blended up fruit. As we were leaving the market, we found a vendor selling <a href="http://www.debcodding.com/sethducks.jpg">ducklings</a> and chickens. <a href="http://www.debcodding.com/sethducks3.jpg">Seth lost his tiny mind.</a> The owners were cracking up at his reaction. It was a combination squeal/shriek/laugh/growl/happy dance.

After the market, <a href="http://www.debcodding.com/caltigironeele.jpg">Eleonore</a> took us to see the famous <a href="http://www.debcodding.com/caltigironesteps.jpg">steps of Caltigirone</a>. I was exhausted looking at them. The <a href="http://www.debcodding.com/caltigironesteps2.jpg">front of each of the 142 steps</a> has a different ceramic tile design. The <a href="http://www.debcodding.com/caltigironepottery.jpg">pottery</a> there is overwhelmingly beautiful (and expensive!). It was like going to a restaurant with 100 things on the menu when you are starving. I am looking for the pattern that I will stick with for dishes and so didn't buy anything. We also went to a museum that was once the jail. It was chock full of paintings and statues from around a few hundred A.D. on, all done by local artists.

Jake, Seth and I went grocery shopping (hey, even birthday girls gotta eat!). I had not even begun to prepare my dress uniform that I needed to put on in two hours. Fortunately Seth was exhausted and went down for a nap within minutes. I have never worn this particular uniform and quickly decided that it was not my favorite. It is called <a href="http://www.debcodding.com/messdress.jpg">Tropical Mess Dress</a>. The dining out was interesting but drug out way too long. There are very strict rules about addressing the master of ceremonies (called madam vice). It actually got quite spirited in a fun way with various people reporting to madam vice infractions of others. The biggest infractions involved uniform violations. One guy had only one sock on and was reported for it. He stood up and challenged by saying that the regulations state that the uniform includes a pair of black socks but no where does it state that they must be worn on each foot. He then demonstrated that he had two black socks on one foot. That was fairly representative of the comedy of the evening. At the beginning of the dinner there was a ceremony to make the "grog" that would be used as punishment. They very elaborately made up this solution that appeared chunky and stringy. Traditionally it was alcoholic but now there are two choices one with alcohol and one without. If you are fined for an infraction, you have to either pay a fine or drink the grog. I carefully avoided any infractions! I was extremely grateful to have the evening finish though. Those things always seem fun for the first hour or two but then (it seems like a rule) drag on unmercifully. At ten pm we still had not heard the guest speaker!

Oh and I forgot - I finished another <a href="http://www.debcodding.com/blueandgreensweater.jpg">sweater</a> two days ago. I am actually getting quite fast, especially considering that my ripping out is at a minimum now. The next two sweaters will be a summer one for me and a baby sweater for a friend (I will use the <a href="http://debcodding.com/sweater.JPG">same pattern</a> as the one I made for Seth as a newborn). Seth has been wearing his <a href="http://www.debcodding.com/stripesweater.JPG">latest sweater</a> in the morning when it is chilly and overcast and he loves it.

Posted by DebC at June 15, 2003 9:28 AM

Comments

Posted by: Doris Codding at June 15, 2003 2:51 PM

Posted by: Belva Codding at June 16, 2003 3:33 PM

Posted by: Kim at June 17, 2003 1:20 AM

Posted by: Shemelle at June 19, 2003 1:50 AM

Posted by: MOM at June 24, 2003 2:12 AM