Happy 16th Birthday Marshall!

I can't believe it.

Marshall is 16 today.

10 years ago, my son Corey, was about to enter Kindergarten at Arbor School.

It is such a great school that they send the Kindergarten teacher to your house

in August before school starts so that your kid feels comfortable.

So out came Lori P.,

best Kindergarten teacher ever.

She hung out with Corey in his room and told him that

she had a first grader in her class

named Marshall that was very "special" and that she thought Corey and he would

be great friends.

That day was quite fateful when the idea of someone named Marshall

was introduced to our family.

Little did we

know what was in store for us.

Weeks later, when school started, Corey and Marshall became friends,

as Lori predicted they would.

.

They were both a little quirky, odd (in a good way of course), funny,

strange, outrageously creative,

and the 2 of them together were

a couple of nut jobs.

Over the years, Marshall became an honorary member of our family,

we had many morning coffees together,

many bowls of

spaghetti carbonara,

and best of all,

we had many, many, many great times!

(and still do.)

I have been so lucky to know this most amazing, interesting, funny, whacky, great kid.

Happy Birthday Marshall...

with much love from

Strega Stitica

and the rest of the Friedman clowns...

click on photo to enlarge

IPhones and Fall

I got an IPhone recently and I love it.

My kids said I would never be able to "get it."

Well, I proved them wrong.  I always knew better, 

I am highly techno-savvy 

when I want to be.  I can even text on it really fast with one finger, 

all though my son says I need to learn the 2 thumb technique-ok, someday...

when I have nothing else better to do (ha!)

So I was led to

the IPhone app "Toy Camera" which is REALLY  fun, 

and takes pretty good Lomo-Holga 

style photos.

I have been wandering around, shooting photos, but it really doesn't make sense to just

leave them in the computer so that my kids can look discover them in 

the archives when I am dead someday. I will attempt to just share them and 

make this blog post look like all

those other dreamy blogs that I wish I could emulate.

This first group is a series of decaying flowers, the last vestiages of late summer.

Halloween

I have always loved things that show up on sidewalks.

Something to do with the fact that they are somewhat discarded or 

dismissed. 

And for my last set of photos today:

What I saw on my walk this morning with 

Ms. Dummy,

 who is otherwise known as Sogni the Dog.

The end.

p.s. does anyone know why Blogger randomly defaults and 

underlines 

the text body for no reason?

Return to Blogland and Hiking Boots as a New Lease on Life

Procrastination and laziness

are one of my character

flaws.

I dropped off the blogging bandwagon when I returned from

Italy 2 months ago.

Every time I think, "oh I should blog..."

some other thought enters in like:

"oh, no, it's too late...YOU ARE WEEKS BEHIND!!!

how will you catch up now?"

Catch up to what?

So, when I couldn't answer that question to my satisfaction,

I decided, ok... just start anywhere.

So the big news today is:

I went to the foot doctor and FINALLY

after 4 months in the broken foot boot cast,

(yes, my foot has still not healed completely,

don't ask,

too long of a story...suffice to say,

I am 50% on the

road to recovery-I feel like I have worn the

Darth Vader boot

most of my life now)

to hiking boots and a metal brace yesterday-

HOORAY!

And

these cute Merrell Hiking Boots

even have FUSCHIA

accents-how good is that?

I have to say,

I had some help from above on this as

hiking boots

are normally a fashion nightmare

for this girl's aesthetic sensibilities.

If all goes well,

I will be sporting this

Northwest Great Outdoors Look

for another 2 months.

The Tumbleweed slips, dresses and Prada boots

are going to have to stay in the closet

just a little while longer...

photo courtesy of Tumbleweed Boutique

Slice of LIfe

I was walking by one of my favorite courtyards in Cortona, 

it is somewhat hidden behind a iron gate, 

but not really and it has this amazing palm tree, a vintage red swing set, 

and hydrangeas everywhere.

I never get tired of looking at it.

So I was passing by before pranzo hour (lunchtime) and noticed an elderly signore grilling meat in the courtyard. He didn't see me, so I ducked down and spyed on him through one of the gaps in the iron gate. There was something so adorable about him lovingly tending his grilled chicken.

I grabbed the camera from my purse and snapped away, incognito.

While he was tending to his job, his wife showed up and yelled at him,

"Stai bruciando il pollo! Muovilo!"

(You are BURNING the chicken! Move it away from the fire!)

He snapped a reply, appeared not to do anything 

and waited for her to go back in the

building.

He then proceeded to move the grill shelf, chicken and all, 

down one level as she had instructed, with an air of resignation, 

which seemed very familiar to him.

He then puttered over to a panel in the wall, 

 washed his hands and disappeared inside.

Now, I watched this whole interaction and thought, 

there is something so universal in this male-female dynamic, 

and I have an idea of what that is...

How about YOU, what do you think?

(Hint in ITALIAN: "frustata")

Real LIfe in Italy; the TRUE Story; Part II

You would think that with a broken foot

in a hill town in Italy I could manage to get back to posting

but somehow I have managed to stay busy and never get back.

So to recap the second part of the adventure of our first few days in Italy

here

So after find our car in Culo a Cristo and giving permission to send it to Macchina

Heaven, we set about on the second adventure of the day:

The Ospedale!

(Hospital)

As you may remember, my foot was very broken upon my arrival in Italy,

and in my typical fashion,  I just kept going up and down these vertical inclines

of Cortona, complete with boot and crutches.

After a few days of this nonsense, I was getting a bit alarmed that my foot was hurting and swelling. (wouldn't you if you were a broken foot and your owner kept charging up and down the hills of Cortona?)

I thought I could get some peace of mind by sending a photo and an email to my doctor in Portland describing my symptoms, and she would tell me:

No worries, you are fine!

No such luck.

She responded by saying:

You might want to have that foot looked at.

Having someone "look at it" in Italy, requires extreme stamina and fortitude,

for that means entering the Italian Ospedale or Hospital.

Denys, our EVERYTHING person, transported us there and began the procedure of navigating

Ospedale Beauracracy.

After getting shuffled around to different admitting stations

we settled in for the wait.

Denyse yaks on her cell phone which is constantly ringing and Rob

pretends he knows Italian by perusing the Italian newspaper.

I instead, am becoming more anxious,as I watch the various doctors scurry by... I wonder what will be the outcome of this adventure to the Ospedale.

Did I really screw something up by charging up and down that Cortona
mountain?
Will I god forbid, have to have surgery in this place?
Have the bone reset?

Oh here it is:
Senora Friedman!
They are calling my number!
Here we go, wheeeeeeeeeee!
We enter the exam room.

But wait, who is this Dottore?
Oh phew, he's nobody. He wasn't MY dottore.
Here is the real Dottore!
And he has my xrays.
And what do you think the verdict will be?

Senora, you absolutely can NOT leave your house to run up and down

the mountain of CORTONA

You must stay OFF your foot, keep it in the boot always, and never,

EVER walk without the crutches.

You will run the risk of displacing the bone.

Your xrays are fine, but you MUST do as I say!

Oh dear, this is good news but Denyse, how will I ever manage to go shopping?

 



No problema Stacey, I will drive you everywhere!

And so it goes, another day in the Friedman Dolce Vita Real Life Italy..

But wait!!! 

There was a problem with the xrays!

Another dottore has just arrived to give a second opinion!

It is that same dottore I saw lurking around before!

Senora, we highly advise that 

you do not shop at all!

The debit you incur in your Italian bank account will only 

run the risk of dislocating the osso (bone) 

Complete bed rest is imperative, with absolutely NO shopping expeditions!

Your might also want to take a look at all those utility bills and silly bank statements

that have accumulated this past year 

that your husband is unable to read due to his  faulty command of the language...

This would BE VERY theraputic and aid your foot tremendously in its healing...

OK OK, VA BENE!!!!

CAPISCO!!! (I UNDERSTAND!!!)

that %#@!*% dottore!

Che stronzo! 

(what an a____hole!) 

Allright Allright, I'll stay off my feet!