ramblings

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Quotes from the evening:

"This is the best Halloween ever!" Anna

"I'm not afraid of dogs, I'm a pirate." (J. Ross said this every single time he saw a dog...except for the first time he saw a dog tonight. The first time, he didn't like the dog jumping on him and got a little whiny...then, Josh reminded him, that pirates aren't afraid of dogs...so, the rest of the night...you get the point...)

"Can I have some candy?" This is what J. Ross said instead of "trick or treat.."

"You look like a witch," said Anna to our neighbor who was dressed up like the Statue of Liberty. Oops.

Last night we celebrated my friend Carma's 30th birthday! We went to dinner, then we went on to hear Carma's husband Tim play. Good times were had by all.

Nicki and me

A Packwood family tradition: pizza at Tim's Pizza after Farmer's Market. Countdown to Halloween-19 days
These videos were taken today at the Farmer's Market and the pizza restaurant. I originally took the video in the restaurant, because I knew A and J would want to watch themselves on video (see above picture of me holding video cam). This would keep them still for a while and would give me the chance to have snippets of conversation with Carma and Holly, who came with us today (and who you can hear laughing in the background of this video!). The video ended up being so cute, I had to post it.

My mom called me tonight and told me that tonight will be the first night my dad has spent more than one night at home since August 29th. I can just see my dad now calculating and figuring this out. This is a man who knows how many miles his tennis shoes have run, walked, and mowed. He has been working in Baton Rouge since Gustav, and now is back in Tulsa. Enjoy drinking coffee out of your own coffee maker, Dad. Love, Kerri

This week, I:

1) Let 60 7th graders create their own personal websites in Current Events class. I have been going crazy trying to keep them from embarrassing me, my school, and themselves. Yikes.

2) am loving the fact that J. Ross tells me he wants "go pedal," when he goes to ride his bicycle, which is really Anna's bicycle. He has been "pedaling" various vehicles for a while now, but, the transformation to pedaling the bicycle was significant enough to change his wording.

3) Made a really cool mix-tape-CD (Michael Scott) that I have been wearing out in my car CD player. On it has: Wailin' Jennys, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, and Nickel Creek.

4) took lots of pictures.

This week's pics

5) prayed for my Grandmother Billie. My parents were in Magnolia/Texarkana, Arkansas this week while my Grandmother was in the hospital. She has been very ill the past three weeks, and the doctors have not been able to pinpoint what it was. She is a breast cancer survivor, and was diagnosed with a form of Leukemia called Hodgkins disease several years ago. She is a trooper, to say the least. Here is the sweetest email I received from my dad on Friday:

Late last night we got the word Mom's lung biopsy was negative...they had taken slices from several troublesome areas and all were negative. The results from the bone marrow biopsy are not due til Monday but the oncologist thinks it will be fine. After 18 days in the hospital, she was released today. Very weak and feeble but home...she has a way to go to be normal but is excited to be home.

Before we left the Magnolia Hospital on Wednesday to go to Texarkana for the cancer tests, my dad said, "Let's pray" and our family circled and held hands in Mom's hospital room as my 81 year old dad prayed the sweetest prayer...as he and Mom embraced following the prayer I just about lost it. A scene that was repeated late last night when we got the good news...

Thanks for your prayers...

David

6) saw The Women.

7) was put on a budget (wasn't I already on one?). :)

8) got a Sam's Club membership.

9) am really excited about the Season Premiere of the Office!

10) am watching the Emmy's.

The tour book
What would we do without the tour book? We bought one tour book in Barnes and Noble (DFW Airport). It was Top 10 Paris, and it was a life saver. Since Paris was our first stop, I carried it onto the airplane after drinking my HUGE frappuccino. Like, I was holding it. I didn't even put it in my backpack - I might have even been reading it as I boarded the plane. Could I BE any more tourist-y? I carried that thing proudly everywhere we went in Paris. This is a picture of Josh brushing up on his French right before getting on the airplane. We were SOOO excited about our trip.

Josh and sister Deb in the Pantheon in Rome

Josh in one of the museums

Baguettes and other favorites

Josh's favorites included baguettes in Paris, some liquidy vanilla yogurt stuff that he could find in the markets in Paris, and crepes. My favorites - A grilled ham and cheese sandwich with a piece of cheese and a fried egg on top (Paris)...Pizza in Italy...Ravioli in Siena...and Paninis anywhere! Oh, and cappuccino.

Paris

Paris

Venice

A popular place to eat in Italy - the sidewalk

Tomorrow is the first Sunday of the month. The night before any first Sunday of the month, my husband will say, "do you want the good news, or the bad news?" I always choose the bad news first, because no matter what the bad news is, the good news will inevitably make up for it. "The bad news is, tomorrow's pot luck Sunday"...Oh yeah. What's the good news? "Tomorrow's pot luck Sunday." I have never heard of anything that good be such bad news and such good news all at the same time. I know what you're thinking. How could pot luck Sunday be bad news? Well, there are a few reasons. That means, I have to think of something to make. If I forget until it's too late, I end up feeling guilty and stressed. Or, Josh makes his specialty - frozen vegetables in a dish - which we heat up with salt and pepper when we get there. I still feel guilty when he does that, by the way. Have you ever thought about how often the first Sunday of the month comes around? I mean, before I know it, it will be the first Sunday of October and I'll be thinking of what to make. But, then, there's the good news. Let's just say, we have some really good cooks at our church. We get to eat every potluck-ish think under the sun on potluck Sunday: deviled eggs, lasagna, broccoli salad, barbequed chicken, corn casserole, pies and cakes galore. Food, fun, and fellowship. Then, come home to a clean kitchen and an afternoon nap.
If my seminary friend, Emily http://macaronincheeseagain.blogspot.com/, reads this, she will be so disappointed in me. I remember what she always used to say about potluck etiquette..."for potluck you should bring what you would bring if you were feeding your entire family - anything less isn't enough." I also remember what she said about being late, but that's another story. Anyway. This has been a good weekend so far. I got to be with my mom on Friday...then, my girlfriends on Friday night...Saturday, slept in, then saw some old college friends....for dinner met Josh's uncle and had some good talks. Tomorrow's pot luck Sunday. Have a great week!

Last night at dinner, J. Ross volunteered to pray before dinner. First he thanked God for Papi and for the noodles, green beans, and salad. Then, he thanked God for J. Ross and the noodles, and green beans, and salad (in third person). Then, he thanked God for Mommy and the noodles, and green beans, and salad...and so on...around the table (all the while looking up at each person's plate to make sure he covered everything). I am pretty sure he also thanked God for the noodles, green, beans and salad as a whole. Our food was very well blessed last night.


P.S. Later on at the dinner table he asked Papi, what's your name? Papi, Josh said. Papi Packwood, J. Ross renamed him. Then, he looked at me...and you're Mommy Packwood!

I took lots of pictures of nuns on this trip. I think they must be really amazing women. This picture was taken in the hotel where we stayed in Siena. The nuns lived on the 2nd floor, and the hotel was on the 1st floor. This woman probably makes all her phone calls from a telephone booth, right? The idea of leaving the mainstream to live a life of devotion to the things of the Lord and service to God is such a respectable calling. I took this picture while walking by the phone booth in the hallway. She never knew I took it. I hope it doesn't seem that I am being disprespectful to nuns. That isn't my intention at all.
















Above are some pictures of some more nuns and monks in Assisi. When Josh and I were in Assisi, I took a break for a cappuccino, and Josh went on to spend some time in the basilica of St. Francis (pictured below).

Cappuccino


Basilica

Well, Josh later told me that he overhead a priest from the U. S. talking to a group of American tourists about why he chose to go to school in Rome. We saw him again at the train station in Assisi, eating his dinner before getting on the train to Rome. That was July 28th. On July 30th, Josh, Deb and I headed to the Vatican on a public bus. After a few blocks, guess who steps onto the bus? Yep, the priest we had seen twice in Assisi two days prior. Okay, I guess it's not that weird. I mean, we were in Italy, and Rome and Assisi are two places that attract a lot of Americans. But, what are the chances that we would see the same guy three times within 3 days? When the priest got on the bus, he wasn't wearing the same black suit he was wearing in Assisi. However, he was wearing Docker's, so I knew it must be him. Long story short, he ended up offering to give us a tour of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. Not only that, but another American priest friend saw us as we approached Vatican City. He walked us all the way to the front of the line, helping us to avoid who knows how long of a wait to get in. I guess he had special connections. Joe (the priest) provided us with an abundance of information that really made our trip to the Vatican much more meaningful. It was just another event that added to the perfect-ness of our trip. Thanks Joe!


Okay, I have to add this. We saw a group of nuns leaving Vatican City, and they were all laughing and having the best time throwing water on each other and squealing like little girls. It was sooooo cute! My memory card was full at the time, so I couldn't take their picture. If I could have, it would have looked something like this:





(I googled "nuns having fun" to find a photo similar to what we saw. This is the first thing that came up.)

This is a funny story. By the time Josh and I arrived in Rome, we had been in Europe for a week. Something we had learned to appreciate unexpectedly was a nice cold bottle of water. The most we ever spent on a bottle of water was 2.5 Euro (@ $4 U.S.!). The least we spent was about .13 Euro at a local market it Paris. Here are some pictures of bottles of water we consumed in different cities. And, yes, these were definitely worth taking!
Paris

Siena

Venice

Anyway, you get the point. Oh, another thing - more than once, Josh and I thought we were buying water, when actually we were buying carbonated water (with gas, as they say)...Yuck! So, a nice bottle of clean, cold water without gas, was a special treat, in any city. Until we got to Rome. In our Italy tour book, there is a little blurb about drinking water. It said this:

Unlike many Mediterranean cities, Rome benefits from a constant supply of fresh drinking water, piped down from the hills through a system of pipes and aqueducts that has change little from ancient Roman times.

Cool! Since we would be staying 4 nights in Rome, this would definitely save us a lot of money, and we were excited about the possibility of always being hydrated. Look, lots of people took advantage of the fountains in Rome. The book was right!
The long line of people waiting to fill up their bottles.

And, here I am filling up bottles for Josh, Deb (Josh's sister who met us in Rome), and myself.











Now, it all happened so fast. We were thirsty, saw the fountain, remembered what we read in that book. Deb trusted us. As I was filling up the last bottle (mine), Josh and Deb were already guzzling their cold water. I looked to my right and saw a tiny little sign that
read "Agua Non Potabile."
It really was tiny.

Everything started to make sense:
1) Bystanders were laughing at us, and
2) No one else was filling up their bottle in THIS fountain (just putting their feet in it!!).

Later, we went back to that Italy tour book to show Deb what it said. Much to our surprise, the last sentence in that paragraph stated:

Only if there is a sign saying acqua non potabile is the water not safe to drink.

Oh. Whoops. The rest of the day we joked...rather, I, joked about how Josh and Deb had drunk the non-drinkable water. Josh seems to think that since he grew up in Ecuador, his stomach is invincible, which I guess it is, because he never had even the slightest tummy ache.