Weekend In The Motherland (conclusion)

Continued from the last post - if you haven’t read that one, go down and read first!

Credits -
Kit - Kismet by Beckie Wallace, Yellow BBQ bow by Swheat Creations
Fonts - Sand, Note This, Georgia

This is going to be the title page for the scrapbook pages for last weekend

I got to Pop and Aunt Judy’s place just before they got in from the birthday party for my cousin’s twins they’d been at. My cousin's son and daughter turned 4 the same day David turned 42! I think it’s neat when you meet someone with your birthday, but I guess when you’re a twin that’s not such a big deal. Last Christmas when I told E and A that they had the same birthday as David they were thoroughly unimpressed!

Dad started up the grill for the feast! He made IItalian pork roast and Italian sausage. He finally found somewhere near his new home that makes Italian Sausage without fennel. Too many American stores believe that the fennel is what makes it Italian. Not at all true! It’s the other spices and style of processing that make it Italian! My imported Dad doesn’t like the fennel flavor at all and I’m allergic to fennel oil. When someone tells you “all Italian sausage has fennel,” it’s a lame excuse to hide the meaning, “We don’t carry it without fennel, but buy it here anyway.”

The meat was wonderful! I love my Dad’s gill-cooking! He also did grilled veggies with a seasoned bread crumb topping. That’s an old family recipe. Noni used to make them, so I’ve enjoyed them all my life. He included some sweet red peppers stuffed with the topping that were sheer heaven! I had a second pepper!

After supper, we played euchre. Dad and Dave against Laura and me. It was my first time playing in a long time and my first time with Laura as my partner. After we won the first game, I just looked at my brother, smiled and said “Thank you for the new partner, Bro! You did well!”

Before bed, in honor of Fathers Day, we put in the DVD I’d done for Dad’s 60th birthday party, “0-60 in 14 Minutes” It was fun to watch Dad grow up again! hehe...

Sunday morning, after breakfast, we called my Aunt in Italy. Actually, it was calling my Aunt in San Marino. I’d asked Dad what I needed to do to get my San Marino mail sent to my new address. I‘d done the address change with the post office, but I hadn’t been getting any San Marino mail. Since my Dad hadn’t become an American citizen yet when I was born, I am a citizen of both the United States and San Marino. Of course I’m not an active citizen there, but a citizen none the less. I get mail from the government concerning political issues, inviting me to come vote and with socialized healthcare, any changes in that as well. The biggest thing that I missed the mail from San Marino for was the opportunity to continue learning to read Italian. I am by no means someone who can correspond in Italian...yet...but I can read and get the general idea of hat’s in the letters and every time I read a letter I pick up a new word of two. Someday,maybe I will be able to correspond in Italian without translation software!

After getting off the phone with Auntie, it was another long hug goodbye and a final {Happy Popsie’s Day.” I think my Dad had an awesome Fathers Day weekend with both his kids there!

The road back south had me stopping to photograph the water tower in the burka. Unfortunately, she didn't have the dress anymore and the sun had been brighter Saturday, but it’s still neat and I’ll have that picture to pair up with a new one when it’s painted. Then I met Scotty and Sheri at Dunkin.

The darker skies around the water tower were a forewarning of the killer rain deluge that passed over Dunkin Robbins just shortly after I got there! I sat outside at a table with Scotty and Sheri and felt the rain drops starting to fall on my back. Then the sky zipped open and we retreated inside. I bought iced coffee for me and an iced tea for Sheri when I ordered an ice cream cone. Scotty remained outside in the “smoking section” until the rain and wind were knocking over the umbrellas on the tables. Then he snuffed out the cigarette and came in! The rain did stop in time for me to leave on schedule. Once again the long hugs that had been a staple of every stop on my weekend tour of the Motherland ensued. On the road again, a little farther south, Belleville.

I met Tracy at Cracker Barrel for an early dinner. Early was a good thing! It meant our wait was only about ten minutes! Hey, for Cracker Barrel on a Sunday, that’s a record! We had dinner, caught up, talked, philosophized and laughed. We met for dinner at 3:30. We finally said goodnight because it was going to be dark before I got home 45 minutes later if we didn't go “now.” After dinner, moving to sitting on the porch to talk more and then standing in the aisle for ten minutes saying goodbye, I finally finished the trip home, before dark, but after the ran that had gone through Toledo.

It really was a great weekend! Like the song by that Ann Arbor Michigan boy says “see some old friends, good for the soul.” Of course, I headed north, not west, but it was a fantastic trip visiting some old haunts and the people that make those places special!