Todler humor

Real story 1
My daughter now has all under control. We go to the store, pick up what we want, mom pays somehow and we bring things home. So one day she was looking at the ceiling fan.
L- Mommy what is that?
M- A fan, makes it cooler when it's hot.
L- Did grandma buy that?
M- No, actually was there when we bought the house.
L- Mommy, did you buy the house?
M- Yes.
L- Mommy, was the house heavy?

Real story 2
My brother had a small ice cream for my daughter.
B- If you want this ice cream, you have to kiss me
L- (Giggling) Why?
B- This is how I make the girls kiss me, I give them ice cream.
She went, kissed him, took the ice cream, started eating it and...
L- So mommy, when we want the guys to kiss us, we give them lollipops, right?

Real story 3
One night, I found a piece of old bread in her room. The closest place to through it was the toilet and that's what I did, but didn't flush. Next morning, she wakes up and goes to pee-pee. Right after she comes all excited and wakes me up
L- Mommy, mommy... come and see this
M- (Still eyes closed) What is it?
L- There is bread coming out of my bum!!

My Italian trip

My aunt lives in Milano and I had made plans to spent 3 days there and shop till I drop. When I talked with her son to plan my trip there, he told me that as a surprise, he had booked a hotel in the middle of the mountains in the border with Austria.
I kept my hopes open thinking that there might be a city close to the hotel where I could go and spent time shopping. But in reality, my cousins picked us up from the airport, drove for 3 hours, about 30 minutes was around a mountain and the car was not happy at all getting there. We went 1732 Km up the sea level, there was no cell phone reception, the house were we stayed was wired using a solar panel, the lake was gorgeous but cold.


There were maybe about 50 people there all together but my cousins said "Even less would have been better". For three days i was trapped there, did a little bit of Sun bath , some rumors about the cousins that were not there, small talk about our personal lives, ate a lot good food and rested.

After leaving that place, went to Milano taking the out-ring to avoid the traffic, had a shower and lunch at my aunt, visted my uncle for 30 minutes and left to catch the plain for Paris.
Was nice to see my aunt. Last time I was in Milano I had no intention to shop, I just visited around the mandatory places to go when you are there. This time I had full intention to shop but just didn't work. Still, Milano is not a place I would like to live so no surprises there.
In this small little trip I did see one car like mine in Italy!
Off course, even on top of the mountains, in the middle of nowhere, if you are in Italy, Ave Maria is with you. Here is the picture of a little church 1732 Km above sea level.

And Paris

Hmm Paris! So much movies and stories and songs that had made Paris the city of love and dreams for me. Because of this, I think I had the bar of expectations too high.
(You have all seen Eiffel Tower from all angles but this is a picture of it from under)

The hotel I had booked was bad and a little far from the center. I had to take the Metro for 30 minutes to get downtown. For 2 days I was there, the weather played with my feelings. Just when I wanted to stop and walk around a nice neighborhood, the rain would start and ruin the whole plan. On top of all this, people in Paris are very un-friendly and speak only French. Thank God I knew a little French and I made it to survive because with English you can't even find the bathroom there. The driver of a tourist guide bus refused to speak any work in English, only French. Agrrrrrr, so arrogant and annoying!
Now don't get me wrong, Paris is beautiful! The buildings are just gorgeous and everywhere you look is history, art and care for beauty. I went on top of the Eiffel tower and was really nice. I happened to be there when the bells of Notre Dame de Paris where ringing. Sorry about the quality, but I was on a moving double deck bus and the wind messes up the sound for a while.

It was raining when the tour bus went close to Moulin Rouge so I didn't stop.
I stopped for one hour to some stores at Champs Elise and bought some clothes but nothing to be proud of. The World capital of size petite had nothing but size medium and up, up to XL for woman!
In short, a lot of things went wrong for me in Paris so even thought I was in love with Paris, I found out that Paris doesn't love me and it broke my heart. I do not want to live there and I do not see my self as part of that city. Everyone I know tells me that the rest of the France is not like that and Parisiens create that bad image for all the French people. Probablement c'est vrais!
(This is the latest bridge of Paris, Charles de Gaule, like there are not enough places under his name already!)

One night at the TV, I watched a movie of Luis De Fune. Brought back memories from when I was a child and those were movies we could watch on the communist TV after they were modified for us. The funny thing was that my daughter laughed like silly with him as well. I guess a good-easy movie is good-easy at any time :)
I did not see any car like mine in Paris. It was expectable because was full of those ugly Renaults that look like the hats of French police men.
(A side of Paris from the top of Eiffel tower)

Berlin,Berlin

Ah! What a nice place! There is so much history in every corner. Everywhere there is the distinction between East and West, Russians and Americans. People are very friendly and like to practice their English with you at any chance they get. I met about three people that have been in Canada before for different reasons and they all had good memories about it, which made me be a special visitor. A guy that was riding velo-cycles told me he was in Canada for 2 years and started pedaling very slow so he could talk longer :)
It helps to have friends that live in a city you travel. A friend of mine told me before hand where the right place for a hotel would be, where the nice places to go were and then also some night life from the city.
(The picture here is what they call Victoria, the Fat Lady of the town, foot size 93)
I stayed there 3 days and 3 nights. First day took a tourist bus that went all around the East and West. Changed the guide 3 times and each of them gave different flavor to the tour. One of them was simple and just explained what the buildings around were. The other must have been from the East because she was sort of angry about West. But she was well informed about the prices of everything that was being constructed or re-constructed. Here she is in this picture with mic on her hand while we are getting to the Gendarmenmarkt.
And believe you me, there was so much under construction there, unbelievable. The third guide was very patriotic. He said that he had shed a tier when in a train he found himself divided by a glass door from the first Class passengers. Also, he had all the ironic jokes about politicians and Obama that visited Berlin just one day before me.
(The picture here is the German White House. When the flag is up, Angela is in the house)
For tourist entertainment, there were a lot of people painted up in shiny colors that would stay like sculptures and move only when you get close. Typical of big cities. Here a picture of some tired soldiers eating McDonalds and chatting with a tourist :)
On the second day I visited Potsdam. What a lovely little town! If there is a place in the World where I would like to live, would be that one. So cute, so charming, with so much history, with so much art... just lovely! It was first build to be the place where Prussian Emperors wanted to spent their summer. Not in Berlin but yet close to it. All of them brought there something from their hobbies and desires. There was a part that looked like Tuscany, a Dutch neighborhood, wood barakes where Russian singers used to live, a copy of a Scottish castle, Dutch wind mill. There was the Cecilian palace where the fate of Second World War was discussed (Potsdam Conference) and Truman was telegraphed of having a son. One of the Kings wanted to have fresh fruits every day so he planted a lot of trees and vineyards. Sanssouci palace is just gorgeous! One of the Emperors had build a decoration monument on top of a Dom. There were three naked woman on their back representing the Empress of Austria, the Queen of France and the Empress of Russia. They were all positioned in a way so they were showing their naked bum to their own countries. What a funny Emperor!
(This picture is Potsdam's version of Branderburg Gate, build only 20 years after the original one in Berlin)
There was also the Forbidden city where the head of KGB used to be and nobody knew what went on there. The walls were painted white and the prisoners were dressed in black so they were visible if decided to escape. The Wall used to be just by the river side and nobody could see the river. There was a heavy bridge and that was where Americans and Russians used to exchange the spies. Here a picture of the bridge, sorry, not a good one!

In short, lovely little town!
On the third day I took a tour with a boat around the river Spree. Nice but was only in German so can't say I learned a lot from it. But went behind some buildings hat looked very pretty from the front and just normal from the back. We counted 47 bridges going on. Here is a picture of some live-in boats in the river.

I had very little time to shop there but my hotel was very close to a big mall, KaDeWe. I had only one hour to shop there and I bought the only thing that I am proud to show off from this European trip. Is a HugoBoss shirt with an edge! Not so lucky with shoes! Those people are very tall and the cool shoes were flat, while I have the other problem (short and need high hills). I also went to a couple of bars, one of them by the river and my feet were in sand. Was in the Possessed district, a part of the city where artists took over the houses and refused to pay. They fought with police and continued to make their crazy art. Still, there was art made out of pieces of iron.
During all the time I was there, the weather was nice and warm. The hotel was good and I got it for half price deal. Trains were well organized. People friendly and good with English. In short, I liked Berlin and Berlin liked me. I believe that when you visit a place and things go right at the beginning, things will go right for a long time. From this idea, I would say that Berlin is a city I can live with pleasure :)
(This is a picture of a part of the Berlin Library, a very modern building)

I did see 2 cars like mine in Berlin :) 4 in general in Germany! A lot of BMW and Mercedes and Audis. Nice to see good cars. One nice thing in Germany is that radio stations have good decent music. I just ended up hearing some old songs, Italian, French and English ones that you do not hear in any Canadian radio.

Summer trip

For the last 3 weeks I've been on a trip to Europe. Last time I was there was 3 years ago so I needed the European shot on my blood to keep me going. This time family decided to get together at my brother's place in Germany. I have been there before and had no interest whatsoever to spent my all vacation there so I made it clear right from beginning that I will move around. Good girl as I am, I did spend some time with the family anyway, but I did also travel around. I went to Berlin, Lago Rosso (Italy) and Paris. I will write a blog for each of these trips and I will tell more about each. I do have tons of pictures from all the places I have been but I will pick only one for each trip.
In general, after visiting all these places I have learned:
1-Germans like Canadians
2-Even Italians that live on remote places in Italy, cook well
3-People in Paris are very un-friendly
4-You must visit Berlin before it becomes like Paris
I have traveled in airplanes, fast trains, subways, buses and cars. It is amazing how good the trains are in Europe. Here trains are like luxury. The other good thing is that trains are everywhere you go, close to airplanes, close to subways, close to other trains. So easy to use and so friendly in options. Love it! My daughter loved them too. Now she is an expert on trains. Which ones are supper fast and which ones are not so fast. Where does the garbage go, how do doors open, how does the small-tiny washrooms function, where do we put the big lugagges .... she knows them all.
There are some very cheap airlines within Europe that make the traveling so easy and affordable. The catch is that they use remote airports that have cheaper costs and taxes so the tickets are cheaper as well. I heard that there is a company doing the same in North America now but so far connects only 3 cities.
I was planning to do a lot of shopping but it just didn't work out very well. I bought very little stuff and no shoes!!! I am very disappointed about this, so much that I feel like planning another trip just for shopping and tell nobody that I am there so I don't have to visit any family and waste my shopping time wherever they plan to take me, which is usually away from stores I want to be.
Another thing I notices is that I keep being different from the rest of my family. I am very far from them in geographic and mental distance. Not sure if they are right or I am right but I have no hopes that my mom and dad will ever be content with me and my choices on life.

This picture is taken from Eifel tower. There was the distance of each capital city from there and I found mine :)

Back to songs

When I drive, I like to browse radio channels and stop when I hear a song I like. A couple of days ago I just happened to hear and Italian song by Tiziano Ferro that gave me goose bumps listening. So I went checking on youtube and found it. Listen here and below there are the lyrics in original (Italian) and my translation beside (English).
I also got the whole album where this song is "Nessuno e solo" and it is pretty good. I like "Stop!Dimentica", "E Raffaella e mia", "Baciano le donne". Cool guy :)


Tiziano Ferro: "Ed Ero Contentissimo"(And I was very happy)

Ora che sarai un po' sola Tra il lavoro e le lenzuola Presto dimmi tu come farai ? Ora che tutto va a caso Ora non sono più un peso Dimmi quali scuse inventerai ? Inventerai che non hai tempo Inventerai che tutto è spento Inventerai che ora ti ami un po' di più Inventerai che ora sei forte E chiuderai tutte le porte Ridendo troverai una scusa Una in più.. Ed ero contentissimo in ritardo sotto casa ed io che ti aspettavo Stringimi la mano e poi partiamo... In fondo eri contentissima quando guardando Amsterdam non ti importava della pioggia che cadeva... solo una candela era bellissima e il ricordo del ricordo che ci suggeriva che comunque tardi o prima ti dirò che ero contentissimo ma non te l'ho mai detto che chiedevo Dio ancora Ancora Ancora Qualche cosa ti consola Con gli amici il tempo vola Ma qualcosa che non torna c' è C' è che ho freddo e non mi copro C' è che tanto prima o dopo Convincendoti ci crederai Ci crederai che fa più caldo Da quando non mi hai ormai più accanto E forse è meglio perché sorridi un po' di po' di più un po' di più... Ed ero contentissimo in ritardo sotto casa ed io che ti aspettavo Stringimi la mano e poi partiamo... In fondo eri contentissima quando guardando Amsterdam non ti importava della pioggia che cadeva... solo una candela era bellissima e il ricordo del ricordo che ci suggeriva che comunque tardi o prima ti dirò che ero contentissimo ma non te l'ho mai detto che chiedevo Dio ancora Ancora Ancora Ancora E il mio ricordo ti verrà a trovare quando starai troppo male Quando invece starai bene resterò a guardare Perché ciò che ho sempre chiesto al cielo È che questa vita ti donasse gioia e amore vero E in fondo Ed ero contentissimo in ritardo sotto casa ed io che ti aspettavo Stringimi la mano e poi partiamo... In fondo eri contentissima quando guardando Amsterdam non ti importava della pioggia che cadeva... solo una candela era bellissima e il ricordo del ricordo che ci suggeriva che comunque tardi o prima ti dirò che ero contentissimo ma non te l'ho mai detto che chiedevo Dio ancora Ancora Ancora Ed ero contentissimo ma non te l' ho mai detto E dentro urlavo Dio ancora Ancora Ancora

Now that you'll be a little lonely Between work and blankets Tell me quick how would you do it? Now that everything goes Now that I don't bother you Tell me what excuses will you make up? You will make up that you don't have time You will make up that all is off You will make up that now you are loved more You will make up that you are stronger And you'll close all the doors Smiling you'll find an excuse Another one... And I was very happy when late by your house I was waiting take my hand and let's go... Deep down you were very happy when looking Amsterdam and didn't care of the falling rain... only a candle was beautiful and the memory of the memory that was suggesting that however later or sooner I would tell you that I was very happy but i never told you that I was asking God for more More More Some things give you comfort With friends the time flies But there is something that doesn't return Is that I'm cold but I don't cover Is that sooner or later Convinced you will believe it You will believe that will warmer Since you don't have me beside And maybe is better because you will smile a little more a little more And I was very happy when late by your house I was waiting take my hand and let's go... Deep down you were very happy when looking Amsterdam and didn't care of the falling rain... only a candle was beautiful and the memory of the memory that was suggesting that however later or sooner I would tell you that I was very happy but i never told you that I was asking God for more More More And the memory of me will come to find you when you'll feel blue But when you will feel good I will just look at you Because I have always asked the sky That this life gives you joy and real love Deep down And I was very happy when late by your house I was waiting take my hand and let's go... Deep down you were very happy when looking Amsterdam and didn't care of the falling rain... only a candle was beautiful and the memory of the memory that was suggesting that however later or sooner I would tell you that I was very happy but i never told you that I was asking God for more More More And I was very happy but I never told you And inside I was screaming to God for more More More

1780 km

Last week I had one week off, forced vacation from my employer. Everyone had to take one week off so was good to go back, because there was not a lot of work piled up waiting for me.
So I had a plan to go for a trip to Montreal, first with my husband, then he was busy so a couple of girls from work planned to come with me and then at the very last moment, they bailed so I was left alone to go with my daughter. So I called the parents of my best friend. They are retired and bored, nothing to do, but they like to travel. So they jumped right in and they tagged with me alone to Montreal. Was better than I thought. Her father sat in the front seat and kept me busy with conversations and stories all the time. Her mother sat behind with my daughter and helped by giving her whatever she wanted to eat or drink or play with. At the very last minute, I booked a condominium with 2 bedrooms that worked perfect for our setup. Was a very nice place, the owner had done a very good job with renovations and decorations. There were some good places to eat around. Had the chance to meet two friends I have there and that was good because I got to see around places that only people that live there know. On the way back, we went to Ottawa for lunch time and spent there about 3 hours there. For dinner we stopped at the beginning of 1000 Islands and had a nice meal at the restaurant that was the closest to the lake. Sitting there we made plans for our next trip, where to go and what to visit. I ended up getting back home 3 days later at 11:30 pm.
The next day I left at noon to go to the beach. Better say to a small place close to a beach where another friend of mine lives. She is 9 months and 5 days pregnant. Her first child is 2 so was a good company for my daughter. We had fun but was all the time under the panic that she might scream for Hospital at any moment, which was fine to end up her pain. The beach was nice, I am sun burned because didn't feel the Sun that came to me mixed with a nice breeze. At night was cold, so cold that you needed a thick blanket on. Came back home Sunday at 7:30 pm, tired, sun burned, my car stinked and had a lot of sand, my car was counting 1780 km more than last week, but I was feeling good.
I was happy that I made it to leave and forget about work, about being constantly on email, about dragging with me everywhere the work problems. I went back to work next day and had no clean clothes to wear but a dress. Had a lot of phone calls and emails but didn't seem that bad. My head was much lighter!!