1st course

cheers

the white shirt club - ck out size of the bottle

Oh so much to tell. First and foremost, Grace had a wonderful time on Saturday.  Japanese food, shopping, silly photos around the center.  Then off to the Grandparents so that we could be silly.  I may never fully recover from the party.  Just don't have the stamina I had 20+ years ago when these were an every weekend occasion.  We started with Spumante and appetizers at 8ish and I didn't get to bed till 4.  That's a.m..  I spent all day yesterday napping.  Here, at the Grandparents, back here again....   But the party.  The locale was fantastic.  It's a hotel-restaurant built into the side of a hill that supports a huge church above.  The rooms were old cellars belonging to the church at one time, with walls of rock, (with fossils), and doors and windows looking out over a narrow street and the hills beyond.  Very cool.  We ate traditional local food, some of it questionable for my tastes.  There was steak tartar, and a stew made of various interior parts and eels in brine.  I did not eat those things.  Fortunately there was also risotto with mushrooms and sausage and roast pork and ox tail (very good) and more....  There was also a lot of wine.  A lot.  Really.  Taking a break till next weekend when we have a lunch date to celebrate the Grandparents' town's saint day.  Every town and city has a patron saint which of course is celebrated by eating and drinking. There's a lot of that around here. So far I haven't blown up like a balloon but I'm putting that down to spending 6 or more hours a day moving boxes and filling shelves with  books.  All the squatting has been great on the thighs.  I start officially, which means getting paid for what I've been doing for free, some time in October.  I'll be working everyday, 3 to 4 hours.  Tomorrow I'm not going in as am going to lunch with another mom I met at the school.  Also need to do some errands that will be tougher to get to once working.  Miss you all!  xxoo me