our Italian friend

{Celeste, Carly, Maurizio - outside the polar bears}

.....

Maurizio, a friend (long story short...originally a friend of Kenny's Italian cousin - now our friend too) was in the states from Italy.

.....

Two years ago, Kenny and I went with Celeste (Kenny's mom) to Italy. Maurizio met us at the airport and was our personal tour guide, chauffeur, self appointed protector, translator, and expert on all things Italian (well except maybe anything to do with a museum).

.....

Maurizio had already been in the States for a couple of weeks - mostly out West. He and Celeste came up to visit and spend one night. There are several "tourist" spots in the Memphis area such as Elvis's Graceland, Mud Island, Downtown, Sun Studio, Gibson Guitar Factor, etc.

Did we do any of those things? Nope.

(I am NOT going to mention that we took our guest to WalMart

but we did need a couple of provisions)

• First, Carly had a soccer game - a.k.a football.
• Then we grabbed lunch at a place close to the soccer field. Maurizio ordered pizza. This is so wrong in so many ways. Not that the pizza at this restaurant is not good - in fact it is excellent - IF you have never eaten pizza IN Italy. But as always he was gracious.
• Finally, we were off on our way to the Memphis Zoo. It was the perfect day. The weather was about as good as it gets here - It warmed up to the high 70's with sunshine ALL day. Memphis has an excellent zoo and with the weather as "bella" as it was there was no way not to enjoy oneself.
• Last, we were off for sushi. We all love sushi - Carly loves edamame, clear soup, and gyoza. Maurizio had never had sushi - so it was a new experience - I think he liked it.
• Back at home, we got the Italy map out and started planning our next trip!! There were lots of stories about the last trip and excitement about seeing new things.

for you dad

...because Kenny said you would think it was a crime to leave those huge green olives,

and that I should eat them for you....so I took one for the team :)

random moments from the beach

{popsicles, the snack of choice I wish I had kept count or maybe I am glad that I didn't. My favorite was the one at 6:30 a.m. following "I am on vacation"}

...

{track ball, beach game of choice - along with Old Maid, the inside game of choice}

...

{boogie boarding, water activity of choice.}

...

{sunglasses, Carly's new accessory of choice - which make her look 13}

...

{Cousin JC, weekend playmate of choice.}

...

{putt putt golf, outing of choice - Carly wearing her new "orange" LuLu's shirt and playing with an "orange" golf ball because "you know, orange is my favorite color"}

...

{self portrait of Carly and I from the deck of the beach house - all cleaned up on our way to LuLu's}

I'm seeing

sunsets in my future

.....

and sunrises

and so, so much in between.

I'll think about you

while my toes are in the sand,

a good book in my hand,

and the sounds of waves rolling in.

soccer saturday

{1st game in our new pink jerseys}

.....

{Carly went to a spend the night party the night before.

She didn't go to sleep until after 2:00 and was up at 6:00. Add the fact that she had 3 cokes and a mountain dew since I dropped her off the night before (no wonder she didn't sleep) and donuts for breakfast.

Plus a (only in Mississippi) 90 degree October morning and we were just glad she made it through the game without coming unglued or throwing up}

.....

{In spite of all that, she played hard, had fun and scored a goal.}

GO CARLY!!!

good mail

What a surprise to come home to good mail from my new blogging friend, Natasha. It is perfect. Love the circle post-it notes, the Halloween stickers, and the oh-so cute polka-dot picture frame! Thank you so much Natasha!

september readings

I read one time that 40% of the households in the U.S. did not buy a single book that year. Gasp! I can't imagine. I read that several years ago and I would like to think that statistic has changed for the better, but I am a little scared that the number might be higher!

Quickly, a list of what I have been reading this month.

• Deal Breaker by Harlan Coben - love Myron Bolitar who is the main character and love even more his best friend Win. This is the first one in the series if you want to get in on the ground floor. He also wrote Tell No One which is an excellent suspenseful read.

• The Alibi Man by Tami Hoag - not bad, fast reading, but fairly predictable.

• Dry Ice by Stephen White - first time reader of this author. It was a pretty good read too.

• Honey for the Woman's Soul by Gladys Hunt - my birthday present from my BIL and SIL. It's a book about books. So far, I have read parts and skimmed all the lists in the book. A couple years ago they gave me Honey for the Child's Heart and I love it. I have written all in it and used it to make good book choices for my child as well as to buy presents for other. I look forward to reading this again and again.

• At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon - another stretch for me but I am trying to broaden my horizons. I enjoyed it.

• And drumroll please....my recommendation for the month is Twighlight by Stephanie Mayer
• Have you read it? If not you should. And if you don't fall head-over-hills in love with Edward, you just dont have a romantic bone in your body! I was very skeptical at first. Who wouldn't be with a description like "a vampire romance" which is what I read on someone else's blog. I don't much like vampires. But I kept seeing it recommended and there was a huge display at Davis Kidd Bookstore. It was fabulous. The second book in the series is called New Moon and I am showing great restraint not to dive into it today, BUT I am saving it for next week when I am at the beach. I can't think of anything better than a good book, blue skies, and the sound of waves. I'll let you know.

catfish & khaki's

Fun, food, friends,

all in perfect weather!

Last night was the annual Catfish & Khaki's fundraiser for Junior Auxiliary of Desoto County. It was a wonderful event.

Held outside on the grounds of an old home with thousands of twinkle lights and paper lanterns. (I'm really sorry I don't have a wonderful picture so you can see how beautiful it was. You will have to use your imagination)

Perfect weather, yummy food, beautiful decorations, happening silent auction, large crowd, and fun band all added up to a great evening. Everyone loves the casual atmosphere and were having a wonderful time being outside enjoying a perfect night - eating, visiting and dancing.

{these were the centerpieces for the tables, gorgeous, I was able to bring one home because I was on the cleanup committee}

Thanks Kacey & Doodlebugs for your silent auction donation. I missed what the final bid was ,but there was lots of bidding on it.

friday night lights

Cool and clear - the first signs of Fall

(at least for what passes as Fall around here).

A perfect night for football -

it was our first high school football game at Carly's school.

Oh yeah...our team won 49 - 6! Go Team!

gymnastics

{Determined to simplify our after school activities,

Carly changed from taking dancing to taking gymnastics

which is really close to our house.

I am thankful that Carly loves that decision!}