Celebrate "surprise" style

I wanted to do something to surprise Conor for passing his licentiate defense. So I invited Kevin and Eleonora (remember here, Finn's girlfriend?) over, and made a second attempt at a cake with icing (I made Conor a carrot cake for his birthday, well let's say I make TWO carrot cakes, and the icing was really really goopy on the second one, but it tasted good!)

Finn ate his breakfast while I made the cake. I used my mother in laws mocha cake filling and icing, and just made an easy chocolate cake instead of a white cake. (I've never made a proper white cake before, so I just stuck with what I knew for the cake part).

I've got to say, I'm pretty proud of myself!! It all tasted great. The only problem was that I had to cut the cake in half and do a layer of filling, and I don't think I cut it evenly enough, so by the time we ate it (I finished it up when Finn was napping, so about 1pm and we didn't eat it until almost 9) the top half was sliding off the bottom half.

And yes, that writing took a LONG time!

Anyways, last night was fun just hanging out with Eleonora and Kevin (and our neighbor Jay a little later on)

Now for more fun to begin! Agenda - today: clean, pack, entertain Aussie friends with 5 friends - Sat: clean, pack, hopefully landlords will be coming, going away party for a family - Sun: Mass in Rome with another Aussie, rest and relax - Mon: help one of the families move boxes, pack, clean, landlords come if they haven't already.

Then Tuesday or Wednesday move what we can over to where we're storing it.

Thursday - FLY HOME!

Congratulations!

Conor defended his licentiate thesis today - and as I'm sure you can tell by the title - he was successful!! He is now the proud owner of the letters S.T.L (Sacred Theology Licentiate)

He's glad to have that over with - and now he is "officially" a doctoral student (even though he's already finished 2 of his 4 doctoral seminars, and started research on his dissertation.)

As far as his studies go, we are half way through our stay in Rome. It's been a really tough year - moving to a foreign country is difficult. I thought moving to Australia in 2006 was hard, but add the fact that I don't speak the language, and have a little one to look after, not to mention leaving a terminally sick father - you get the picture. But really, this place (Santa Marinella mainly, not Italy so much!) is really growing on me. When we are sitting out on the terrazza having breakfast, lunch AND dinner, Conor likes to point out that this is probably the best it is ever going to get for us! haha. When are we going to have an amazing view like this, with a great apartment?? Oh well, so I will enjoy the next 7 days (!!) as much as I can, and even though some people won't be here next year, I'm sure I won't be as sad to come back here in October as I was when we came last October.

Please Survive

Dear stroller,

Please survive the next week and a half.

Thank you!

Jackie

If you remember my bad day, you'll know that one of the front wheels of our stroller fell off. Well on Saturday Conor was pushing the stroller and misjudged the curb, bashing right into it and giving Finn whiplash! Well the OTHER front wheel didn't look so good after that. We went over to some friends for a BBQ and Conor was staying to play poker so before Finn and I went to leave I said "I hope the wheels stays on until I get home". Sure enough, we aren't even out of their gate yet and the wheel falls off!

Conor was there, and we had the tape in the stroller just in case the original broken wheel fell off, so he "repaired" it. Now it doesn't turn, I have to pop-a-wheelie and turn it that way.

I hope it survives, we could borrow a smaller stroller for while we are here if we need to, but we need a stroller for the airport and layover, and ours is ideal because it has such a big basket which can hold ALL of our carry on luggage (including a small suitcase!)

Cross your fingers!

Talking update

I forgot to say that Finn uses the word "dada" for Daddy and Duck. haha. But the dada for duck sounds a little different than the dada for Daddy.

Oh, and he said bath yesterday too, sounds like "bth".

Let the packing begin

With two weeks left until we go back to Canada for the summer, and Conor's sisters now gone, I have begun the task of packing!

Finn gave Emma and Sonya hugs and kisses before they left - then he cried!

This time is different than my other packing experiences though. Going to Australia, and coming here, we packed what we would want/need for 2 years (although I guess we didn't need to do that coming here, but we didn't know what at the time) and then everything else that we owned got stored at my moms or my in-laws - plus we each got 2 suitcases (and then an extra one coming here, for Finn). Then moving back to Canada from Australia was the same story, sort of - 2 suitcases each, pack everything we wanted/needed/could fit and just get rid of the rest.

Well this time we only get one suitcase each (plus one for Finn, but Air Canada is mean and may make us check the stroller instead of bringing it on), so I have to create 3 piles: what we WILL bring home, what WILL stay here, and then stuff that we'd LIKE to take home but may not have room for (ie. things that Finn has outgrown or things we realized we just don't need here).

Wish me luck! On top of that, we have to clean the apartment up. So far the plan is for us to come back here next year. This place was fully furnished (including the kitchen: plates, bowls, cups, etc) but we have bought/acquired somethings that hopefully we can just leave in the kitchen for the other tennants to use and thus not have to pack.

Our suitcases, minus a couple

We have some lovely friends who are letting us store all of our stuff up in their attic storage. This takes a lot of stress off of me because I thought we might have to split up our stuff and hopefully get it all back!

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So today is Day 1

Did I ever mention that I love lists???

Well I do, I had been doing lists on my beloved ipod, but I don't want to overwork it right now, what with it's shattered face and all. So I've gone back to the good old paper lists!!

Conor took (well I should say "has taken" present tense) for a walk so that I can get started. With Conor's defense coming up, he can't really go through his books or anything yet, so I just have to do what I can with my stuff and Finnians stuff. So far I have all of our winter stuff packed to stay here, I have a bag that might come home with us, with Finn's clothes that are too small for him. I'll leave his toys out until after Conor's defense. We are currently operating on one computer, so that means when he's preparing and doing his final school work, I won't have him around or the computer, so I'll keep Finn's toys around for distraction. Then I'll pack away stuff that will come home with us, and I'll pack away stuff that will stay here, and leave a few odds and ends for him to play with before we go.

Finn on a *new* chair that we've acquired from a family that are leaving

And what's a post without a Finn update???

The main thing is TALKING! Yes, his word count has about doubled! He could say dada, yes and tata.

Now he can say Emma, Juice, Downstairs (when he wakes up we ask him if he wants to go downstairs, it's a common word - two syllables even!), toast, and today, be still my heart, he walked up to me while I was doing the dishes, grabbed my leg, and said MAMA. ♥

Rome with Conor's sisters

I just realized that I haven't posted at all about Conor's sisters being here.

They arrived on Friday the 21st in the afternoon. Finn immediately was having a ball with them! He saw them both at Christmas (although Sonya lives in Ottawa, she was home for Christmas), so I don't know if he actually remembered them or not. We have been showing him pictures of all of his aunts and uncles to help him recognize them. But in general he doesn't play shy with people - if they give him any attention than they are his friend!

Sonya and I at Trevi Fountain

The Spanish Steps

On Saturday my gracious husband stayed home with Finn so that I could have a day in Rome with the girls without having to push a stroller around! We had a really good day. We started off by going to St. Peters Basillica, but because we went late (as in, not 8am!) , and it was a Saturday, the line up to get through security was CRAZY! So we just walked around, had gellati - I showed them how to get to the museum (where they went this morning) and then headed to catch a bus. I showed them the Gregorian University and Trevi Fountain. Then we headed to the Spanish Steps (which I hadn't seen before), and onto Piazza del Popolo (also hadn't seen). From there you can go up to this look out, called the "Pincio" - that was pretty cool. You could see the "wedding cake", St Peters, and some other places from up there, and it's right on the edge of Villa Borghese. So we rested in the shade for a bit there. After that we headed back to the train station, stopping in the Pantheon on the way.

Sonya, Me, and Emma in Villa Borghese

Sunday we just relaxed. Went to mass in the morning. The girls went down to the beach to do some tanning (pretty much the only tanning worthy day they've gotten) and went for a walk to the park.

The Pantheon

The Wedding Cake

Monday-Friday they went to Florence and Venice. We didn't do anything special.

On the weekend we just hung out again - went to mass Sunday, took them for a walk up into the back hills here to see the view, relaxed, ate (I made a yummy chocolate pie!).

On Monday the girls went in and saw the Coloseum, Palatine Hills and the Roman Forum. On Tuesday morning the girls went in early to see the basilica, and Conor, Finn and I took a later train and met them after they had come out. From there we walked to see Castel Sant'Angelo, showed them the market at Piazza Navona, and headed to see Chiesa del Gesu. Unfortunately it had just closed for lunch, so we'll have to check it out another time, as we've heard amazing things about the 3D ceiling fresco.

Castel Sant'Angelo

After that we headed toward the "wedding cake" and took the steps up behind it, got a great view of the Roman Forum from there. Then we went to the Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin, and stuck our hands in the "mouth of truth" (all of our hands are still intact!). Onto Circo Massimo, then to the Lateran and then finally home. Lots of walking, but it was nice for Conor and I to see some things that we hadn't seen yet!

The Mouth of Truth

Chiesa del Gesu

Today the girls went in to the Vatican Museums, and were going to try to sneak through the Sistine Chapel into the Basilica to get in line for the stairs up into the Dome. Hopefully they made it.

Tonight we're going out to Civitavecchia for pizza, and the girls fly home on Friday.

Way more pics here

The KLM Saga

Read here about why I'm upset with KLM in the first place.

Anyways, I finally wrote them a letter of complaint at the beginning of March. I didn't expect any money back or anything, but I wanted some air-miles or something to make up for how inflexible they were.

I didn't know where to send it, so I sent it to the North American Division of KLM (who are connected with Delta). A few days later I got an email asking for a phone number in Italy, as they had tried the Canadian one I had provided and I was never there. I thought that seemed like a step in the right direction, they were actually trying to contact me. The next night we got a phone call, Conor answered it since I was putting Finn to bed, from KLM. The lady was very nice, but apologized because I needed to send my complaint to the European division, since I had booked my original tickets from Europe.

She also emailed me, and tried to send my complaint to them herself, but she didn't have my Italian address, so couldn't fill in all the details. She gave me links to their website and more info, and was overall very helpful.

So I passed my complaint onto KLM Europe. I even got a follow up from the KLM North America, to see if I had heard back from the other division yet (which I hadn't).

Anyways, I finally heard back from KLM Europe. Where the other KLM had emailed a few times, called me, followed up, and were very nice, KLM Europe sent me an email (via and no-reply address) saying sorry there's nothing they could do, in about 3 sentences!

I was going to reply right away, when I saw that I couldn't. So I responded to the GOOD KLM's follow up by forwarding the email onto them. That lady replied to me that she was really disappointed in the response I got, and asked if I was a Delta skymiles customer. I told her I wasn't. She emailed back the next day with a $200 Delta Airlines credit!!!

I'm going to go back to the BAD KLM and tell them that they suck! haha

PS. Anyone fly Delta and want a credit? I can't see myself flying with them in the next year, but you never know!

What I do when I feel homesick?

Make my own "Timmies Iced Caps"!!

Thanks to my amazing mother-in-law, who likes to make whatever she can to save a few $$$, I am able to make my own blended coffee drinks, which reminds me of my beloved Tim Horton's Iced Cappuccino.

Here's what I do:

Step One: In my junior espresso maker (sorry, not sure if it's 2 espressos or 3 - let's say 2), I do 2 shots of espresso. ignore the dirty stove top!
Step Two: In an empty yogurt container I put 3 tablespoons of sugar.

Step Three: Pour the espresso shots in the yogurt container, mix in the sugar, and then fill to the top with milk.
Step Four: Put the lid on, and put it in the freezer.
Step Five: About 6 hours later, it should be about right to put right into the blender, add a little bit of milk, and blend away! If it's been in longer, I just put the container in a bowl of warm water for a bit, so that it melts a little.
Step Six: Pour into a cup, grab a straw and drink! If you're a die-hard like us, you'll even bring a Timmies cup to Italy with you!
The way we originally made it was with instant coffee. You may have to tweak the recipe depending on how strong you like it, how much sugar you like, and how big your container is.

This recipe makes about 2 medium timmies cups. I've roughly guessed that one batch costs us between 20-50 cents!!

Update

• the kink in my neck has subsided a bit.
• my "boyfriends" face is still shattered, but he is wrapped in saran wrap and still useable!
• Finnian wasn't hurt when he fell off the bed, just more scared than anything.
• Conor has taped the wheel onto the stroller so it does work. PLEASE PRAY THAT IT SURVIVES 24 MORE DAYS!!!
• The umbrella is still a little broken. Well not really broken, but just weakened.

If I hadn't gotten up today...

• maybe my neck wouldn't have the HUGEST kink in it, causing me a lot of pain today.
• maybe I wouldn't have dropped my "boyfriend" on the ground and shattered his face.
• maybe I would have made Finn sleep his whole nap in his crib... so that he wouldn't have fallen out of our bed.
• maybe we wouldn't have gone out for a walk (in the rain) and our stroller would still be in one piece.
• maybe I wouldn't have broken Conor's beloved umbrella (while walking in said rain)

Happy Mother's Day!

To my mom, Conor's Mom, our grandmothers, and all of the other great moms that we know, we wish you a very Happy Mother's Day.

We are sad we can't be there to celebrate with you, but we'll see you in 25 more sleeps!!!

17 months

Here's what my little 17 month old was doing this morning. What a nut!

Then after THAT, we played a bit more (in normal standing or sitting position) and then he went to grab that toy again and reverted to a little baby! This is a "new" toy by the way - we've acquired a lot of "new" toys lately since one family has already moved away, and another will be moving away in a week.

Some random facts about Finnian.

He's my little helper

• He likes to get my sandals for me (even if I don't want to wear them) - and after I've put them on he does a special little happy dance by stomping his feet as fast as he can.
• He likes to close doors for me - our front door, the fridge door (both of them), the freezer door, the cupboard door.
• Today he helped me do the washing by handing me clothes to put in the washing machine, he decided to go a step further by taking the clothes out of the hamper and then walking around and putting them into the washing machine by himself.
• When I'm hanging laundry he likes to give me clothes pins. I say "ta-ta" to him when I want him to give me something, or when I want to give him something. He now says "ta-ta" every time I grab the bag with the clothes pics in it, because he knows it's time to hang laundry and that I will say "ta-ta" to him so that he will give me clothes pins.
• And as you saw from the video on my last post, he likes to throw away his wet/dirty diapers!

Yes, he's quite the helper.

Another recent joy of his is playing in his crib. Most of the time he doesn't want to be upstairs alone, but that's when I grab my computer and surf the inter-web while he plays happily by himself.

Last night he slept a bit of the night in our bed, and as soon as he woke up, he pointed to his crib and wanted to go in it to play and cuddle with his blankies and teddies. I had a good half hour of uninterrupted internet time!

Videos

Well here are some new videos.

Finn has learned to stand up on his own, totally unassisted - he's very proud of himself - as you'll be able to see from the clapping!

A new toy and trick - I love the yell/grunt he does when he's trying to straighten himself up after bending over to get a toy!

A new toy, and lot's of squeals!

Just chillin'. He's done this a few times lately - normally on a pillow or his blankie, but a couple of times just on the ground, with a toy car in hand.

Some fast crawling, and another "power burst" for your viewing please.

I don't put all the videos on here, so if you want to see more, click on the link to my youtube on the right side of the blog.

Spring Happenings

I guess it's mostly the weather, and the fact that this school year is ending and that many of the families will not be here next year, but "events" have been going on ALL the time lately.

Before the Barnard's left, there was a boys beer night here, and another night all of us ladies went out for a girls night, then there was the actual going away party. We've also made friends with a "local" couple. The wife (aka, Finn's girlfriend!) is pretty much born and raised in Santa Marinella, but has travelled, including to Canada and the States, and her family owns a hotel here. The husband is Canadian, and met her while studying in Rome, and they got married and have lived here most of their married life. Anyways, I guess they had been away for a lot of the winter, which is why we never met them earlier, but we had heard about them. They've since hosted a couple of poker nights at the hotel (one of which us moms could come to with the kids, and the boys could play poker).

Anyways, yesterday was a holiday "May Day" - pretty much the Italian version of Labor Day. Our Aussie friend Helen was able to actually have the whole day off so she left her doctoral studying husband in Rome and came to our place for the afternoon. We went down to the beach, just to show her, and it was C-R-A-Z-Y! I've never seen that beach so full, and it's probably only a small glimpse into what it is like in the summer! Italians are funny - I think that most have this idea what, not really weather dependant, ONE particular day marks the start of summer and beach weather, and even if it's really hot previous to that day, they do not go to the beach yet! So it seemed like all of Santa Marinella was on the sand (oh, and who has a labor day on a Saturday?!?!)

After Helen left, we headed to the hotel (well to their apartment across the street) for a bbq and poker night. Everyone brought salad and meet, and it was just a good time. (Although Finn is starting to get pretty frustrating! more on that later). Finn and I left just after 8 for bedtime and Conor stayed for poker - sadly he didn't win, but he had fun.

He said at the end of the night the Canadian husband was already planning another bbq and poker night for the next weekend - although there might be another going away party for another family, so maybe our whole weekend will be busy again! Not that I mind!