Friday’s pieces 3/10

1. Last Friday, Noah and I had a beach day with some friends. It was really warm and sunny and the beach was not busy. We had a lot of fun! That was a week ago, and I’m still finding sand in my purse or his backpack.
2. Have I told you before about how Italians dress for the calendar and not necessarily the weather? It was probably close to 70°F and all our kids were barefoot and in short sleeves, and my friend’s kids were even splashing around in the water. We definitely got some side-eye from the Italian moms whose kids were still wearing puffy jackets and wool hats because IT’S MARCH!
3. Ever heard of the game Where in the World? It’s a geography board game that my brother and I loved growing up. Even now, my husband and I play it all the time. Of course, instead of doing one continent at a time, we do the whole world and capitals. I’ve learned two things: it gets significantly easier the more we travel, and I’m not good at Africa.
4. Wednesday was Women’s Day (Festa delle Donne), which is a huge deal here. There is a special yellow flower that everybody buys that day and there is literally a guy on every corner selling small bouquets for a euro. All museums and attractions were also free for women, so my plan was to go downtown and see a famous statue that we never got around to seeing before. But when I got to the train station, I discovered that there was a transportation strike that day, and I was absolutely not driving and trying to park downtown. We’re going to try again today.
5. Speaking of Women’s Day, I don’t think I’m entirely on board with this female empowerment movement that’s happening in the US right now. Or maybe I’m just annoyed by the protests and “day without women” stuff. Sure, I probably have had different experiences than a lot of people, but even trying to look at it from a different perspective, I’m still annoyed. I try not to make my political opinions public, so that’s all I’m going to say.
6. I went to the thrift store the other day (they were finally open during their posted hours!) and got Noah one of those ride-on plastic cars. It plays music and has firetruck sirens. He loves it dearly! He threw a huge fit when I put it in the trunk because he wanted to keep playing with it, right there in the parking lot.
7. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of the Azure Window in Malta (I hadn’t), but we got to see it when we went in November. It was pretty spectacular. Unfortunately, I just saw the news that the storm a couple days ago made the whole thing collapse. The natural bridge and the entire column are gone. So sad!
   
8. I mentioned the other day that I came up with a fantastic idea for a new quilt. I found a template for the pieces and was about to jump in, but then decided that I needed to plan it out first. I ended up spending most of yesterday afternoon creating a “quilt map”. It was kind of tedious and hurt my brain and eyes (it’s a kaleidoscope). When I finally finished, I felt like I had done one of those 5000 piece puzzles! But I think it will be worth it in the long run because I now just have to follow the map.
9. This week Noah figured out how to get up on the couch by himself. He uses the coffee table as leverage and looks so proud of himself when he gets up there. Sometimes he even takes his best friend, the colander, and they just chill.
10. After some nasty weather the beginning of this week, the weekend is going to be beautiful. You can bet we’ll be doing something outside tomorrow!