Zia Has My Back

This summer we are having late nights. Last week my husband arrived home with the kids from a cousin's house down the block with Zia in tow as the lightning bugs were getting fired up. We assembled in the kitchen because the kids had not been fed. I was struggling to figure out a quick dinner that everyone would eat, when our five year old son yelled across the table at me, "Mommy - Cook corn! - that's alliteration!" I was in awe. But my happy Mommy moment was confused for a second because Zia immediately started yelling, "Luca! Abbiate pazienza! La tua Mamma sta facendo dieci cose, il mio uccellino!" which I realized after my standard translation delay meant something like, "Luca, be patient! Your mom is doing ten things at once, my little bird!"  

Wisenheimer

The latest quip from the wise-ass minister at the little Lutheran church down the block. 

Adoption

My father-in-law believes strongly in adoption. He says that if you are the last person at the soccer field you can collect all the "orphan" balls that are left behind.


But then a week later he said to me, "I really hope you didn't take those balls back to the field today." 

Locked Out

About a month after we moved in, my father-in-law began locking the door to his bedroom. Can't blame him. His grandchildren barge in at all hours often at his son's suggestion and he hates to sleep in pajamas. The side-effect is that my mother-in-law gets locked out of her own bedroom, a lot.  

The Voyage: Feeling Left Behind

In truth, we rarely see my in-laws though we are living under their roof, and on Friday when they depart on a two-month long ultra-marathon vacation we are going to lose them sadly for most of the summer. We tried to pull a trip together to meet them in Italy for a couple weeks, but the flights were too expensive. Very disappointing.


The first part of their voyage is a trans-Atlantic cruise, followed by a winding Eurorail adventure all the way to Sicily. They will be accompanied for most of the trip by their best friends, a great couple, and at other times by my brother-in-law's parents who are British. Once they reach my mother-in-law's home town in Sicily, their best friends are predictably ditching them and flying home. At which point, they will turn around and head north back through Europe to catch their ship home, crossing the Atlantic a second time. 


Not only would it be absolutely ridiculous to watch them interact with strangers all over Europe, but it would undoubtedly be an endearing depiction of Italian-Americans for the world to see. 

Our Adorable Immigrant

Today my niece gave my daughter a present so special that I welled up. It was a ball-chain necklace (like the kind of chain that comes with dog tags) with 2 charms, a beautiful little white soccer ball charm with black hearts instead of black pentagons and a tiny little silver charm in the shape of a soccer jersey with the inscription "BFF" meaning best friends forever, of course. Around the kitchen table tonight with a dozen or so of the family gathered, my mother-in-law told everyone about the beautiful charm that said, "E Effe Effe".  

Little Korean Neighbor

Three days ago my kids befriended a cute little Korean boy from down the block. They have been playing with him every possible second since then. He circles the street on his bike waiting for an invitation to come inside the gate of the Compound. When we got home from a soccer clinic today, his bike was lying outside the gate but we found him inside the house playing with hot wheels. 

Nonno's Soccer Practice

On the first nice evening of the year, glorious things happened in the little side yard on the corner of the Compound. Nonno's moves are not to be missed.  

Ricette per Vita

My mother-in-law and her sister, Zia, cook some dishes that still set the bar after 15 years as the most mind blowingly delicious things I have ever eaten.

Natural Treasures

You can take the girl out of Cali, but you can't take the Cali out of the girl.