A Whole Lot of Nothing...

I realize it's been a while since my last post, almost 3 weeks. Sometimes there's so much going on that it seems overwhelming which leaves me feeling like there's nothing to say, but then again, there's a whole lot of nothing. May is always a busy month for our family. We start with a BBQ on May 1st to celebrate "Protomagia". Usually I take a few days to prepare for that and a few days to recover.  Mix in national holidays,  general strikes (teachers included), my birthday, Kosta's name day, weekend outings and a few illnesses--(ok, basically just life)-- and I'm pretty much exhausted by the time I have the urge to write, leaving me with just enough energy to do some mandatory online socializing and read some news, that is, if I haven't fallen asleep first. 

So this week I have a whole lot of nothing coming up. But before I start bringing you up to speed,  I'll share a big happy smile from our newest resident,  Lobo. He's settled in nicely and I think he's pretty happy with us, he hasn't attempted to flee yet! 

Enjoy the remainder of the weekend! 

Where have I been?

As the holidays pass for most families our season continues for a week longer which keeps all of us busy.So, once again life has led me to neglect my blog. Sure I've been present online, but not here. I've spent a lot of time reading, commenting and responding to email; but  not blogging. I can tweet with my kids running around but I can't concentrate on anything else since they usually protest whenever I sit near the laptop. Either they want to use it or they stick books or papers in front of my screen to get my attention. I remember using the same techniques while my parents read the newspaper. I can't really blame them.

 - A little of what I've been doing-

January 6th

Foti's name day. His full name is Fotios, named after my late father-in-law. Although I didn't expect too many guests, I had to be prepared if anyone decided to show up.I spent the day in the kitchen baking and making some of his favorite foods.  Foti was excited and loved receiving phone calls. I made him pizza for lunch and let him watch a movie later that afternoon.  At the end of the day we only had two guests and it was perfect. What was even better is that I had a lot of food left over and didn't have to cook the next day.

January 8th- Izabella's birthday.

Rushing to the bakery early that morning I  decided that although an already prepared cake might be fantastic; a homemade cake would be even better. And even better than that, a homemade cake in which the birthday girl could help make and decorate. So, after I picked Iza up from school we went straight to the store so that she could choose the toppings for her cake. We used this chocolate cake recipe. It was fantastic!

The actual birthday party will take place this weekend and we ordered another chocolate cake for the day. She chose a cake with Dalmations on it, not the Disney Dalmations, just regular Dalmations.

 Izabella had a great birthday and she was so pleased with everything. I still can't believe that she's seven.

and in between celebrations...

We had a play date with friends which allowed me to enjoy coffee & great conversation.

I made a few homemade pizzas. Honestly, I'd never attempted to make my own pizza dough until now, I don't know why. But I decided try my hand at it and  I was pleased with the results. I used Ivy's recipe for basic homemade pizza dough and made my own sauce. I topped one pizza with mozzarella cheese and the others with green peppers, onions, tomatoes and of course, mozzarella.  I have to say that they were a few of the better pizzas I've had in a while. I won't say the best because I still believe that Lisa's Pizzeria in my other neighborhood has the best pizza I've ever eaten.  But the kids loved my pizzas and they're particular about pizza so I'll believe them when they say that they were delicious.

I was able to spend quality time with Adriane. This is her favorite photo of us.

We went to the city to visit friends and along the way we stopped to watch ice skaters. It was too late for us to skate and we were dressed well so we couldn't...

but Foti  really wished that he could have. The kids  also enjoyed looking at the Ancient Agora as we passed by, but since it was dark I couldn't get a good photo.

And in the midst of our adventures in living I got very sick and it took about 5 days for me to feel better. Nasty flu!

But as soon as I recovered I was out taking photos again. These photos of the girls in the wheat field are significant because it's just outside  of our gate and  we've just learned that someone bought this stretch of land and will probably be building a house soon. I hope it's a house and not an apartment building because we love our view, not to mention the serenity.  Let's hope for the best!

Yes, it's Mt. Olympus in the background.

~~~

A few of my friends in the blogosphere inquired about my absence and I'm thankful. I'm back and not leaving blog land anytime soon. Thank you.

So, my year is off to a good start (well, minus the flu) and I'm optimistic to see how the rest of it unfolds.

Gone...

She's gone.

It's been a week since we've seen her.

Last Wednesday, as we were leaving, she ran out of the gate into the fields near our home. I called her, I tempted her with treats, I followed her. She kept running until I couldn't see her. I waited. I waited for about 20 minutes but I had to be somewhere. I left. I left hoping to find her at our gate when I returned, like many times before.

I returned.

She wasn't at the gate.

I called her name hoping that she was near and that she would come wiggling her little body, waiting for her to jump and twirl.

Nothing.

We searched...armed with treats.

We waited.

Days passed.

I checked the gate and was almost certain that I heard her bark, but again nothing.

We walked the area several times, asking strangers if they'd seen her. The answer was typically a nonverbal sneer.

I hope that she's ok.

I'm sure that someone probably took her...a complete package...sweet, clean and even wearing a brand new collar that I'd adorned her with just a day before.

The kids still look for her everyday. As we drive, we always look for her.

The girls have cried.

Izabella is worried that someone that finds her might feed her table food, raisins or chocolate.

Foti is worried that Tarzan will get sick from sadness since he's alone outside.

I stand on my balcony staring out at the fields hoping that I'll see her run back.

I stand on my balcony listening to dogs barking in the distance, hoping that I'll hear her.

I know that it's possible that she had a family before she found us, maybe she went back to that family.

Maybe.

Maybe the gypsies that camp at the beach nearby took her.

Maybe she'd had enough of Tarzan's rough puppy play.

Maybe she found another family and there are kids that love her just as much as ours do.

Maybe she got hurt.

Maybe she got lost.

Maybe if I had run faster I could have caught up to her and she would have flopped on her back so that I could rub her belly, pick her up and carry her home-like I've done before.

Maybe the dog lady snatched her up.

Maybe she'll come back in a week

or a month.

Maybe...

We miss her.

Related links:

Tarzan

The Dogs

The Dogs

After months of waiting, I am pleased to finally present to you a dog update. Many of my friends/readers have inquired about our canines since my post in January when I took in Tarzan & Asproula. I had originally tried to put Asproula up for adoption but I only received two phone calls from the rescue organization, both of which were inquiries regarding her status and whether or not she was still available.

So, here are some photos that I've pulled from my collection as well as a few words about each pooch. Enjoy.

Gigi

As Gigi is our first dog, she's the most spoiled of the three. She's the only dog allowed indoors and is always next to me. If I sit, she's on my lap, beside me or on my feet. She suffers from separation anxiety when I'm not available or if she can see me but can't be near me. It can be cute as well as irritating since her whining and crying won't stop unless she gets what she wants. I've probably enabled this behavior because she's so adorable.

She's much faster than Tarzan.

She has a bad habit of tearing through barriers that keep her from being near me. Above, she chewed through the plastic mesh on the gate while I was visiting our neighbors.

Here, she tore a hole in the screen. This happened when we had some neighbors pop in unannounced. As I offered them coffee on the balcony, Gigi was inside barking frantically. She wouldn't stop. Actually, all three of the dogs were barking. It was clear that these people weren't animal lovers and the dogs sensed that. The neighbors didn't stay long since we couldn't carry a decent conversation with all of the barking. As I walked them out to the gate, Gigi tore this hole in the screen in an attempt to save me from the non-dog loving visitors. She might be small, but she's mighty and relentless when she senses that we may be in any kind of trouble. I hate having to tell Kosta when she does this, but he just curses once and changes the screen as soon as he can. She's lucky that she's so cute.

Tarzan

Remember this puppy? Well, he's grown into a giant puppy. He's about 8 months old now and huge!

Handsome

Cute

It's this face that keeps him out of trouble. If there's something that you don't want or wouldn't mind having torn apart, send it to us. He's excellent at destroying things.

Here's a list of recent damages:

• Alexandra's new shoes
• A beach hat
• A whole beach bag and its entire contents-flippers, masks, sunscreen, beach mats etc...
• 2 potted plants...geraniums. He even chewed up the plastic planters and the plants were nowhere to be found. I hope that they were delicious.
• Kosta's leather sandals
• Yia yia's fuzzy slippers
• The sprinklers in the front yard
• All of the hoses that were attached to the sprinklers
• Foti's plastic sword
• Foti's sunglasses
• Books
• 2 door mats
• 1 throw rug

...and much more. If anything is left outside unattended, it's fair game. So, everyone has finally started to pay more attention to their belongings. His habit of chewing everything in his path is beneficial by helping me instill personal responsibility in our children.

This photo is blurry because I was going to wipe his eyes before taking his photo and he ripped the towel from my hand and a chase ensued.

He thought he'd hide in the brush...

And then he stuck his head out to make sure that he could continue to taunt me.

I spend a lot of time chasing him!

Here he is about 6 months old.

Trying to share Foti's Popsicle.

Asproula

She's beautiful, sweet and extremely gentle.

Roaming & playing with Gigi.

Friends with Alexandra

Have a look at this face! This is my view of Asproula...she's always begging me for food & hugs. Her worst (& sort of cute) habit is jumping on me. Asproula is the type of dog that twirls and flips in front of you as you walk. Twirling, flipping and jumping with her tongue out is pretty funny to watch. I'd like to find a tutu for her one of these days and put it on video.

Asproula is fairly easy to have around. Our only challenge with her is trying to tweak the "street" dog out of her. Most dogs love to steal food at any opportunity that presents itself, but she's fast & furious and we can't leave food anywhere unless she's on a leash.

When she first came to us she was squeamish and would crouch and hide if we raised our voices. I think that she's finally realized that we won't harm her as we haven't witnessed this behavior for a while. I'm glad that she's comfortable.

Having the three dogs together has been fun as well as challenging. The fun outweighs the challenges and we love that our children have them to love and care for. It's evident that the love and care is reciprocated by the dogs as they keep careful watch over the them. I'll admit, once again, that I was never a "dog" person, although I didn't mind them I just didn't love them. Now, I couldn't imagine life without the love of a dog...they've won me over.

I hope that you've enjoyed this long overdue update.

A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than you love yourself. ~Josh Billings

Kosta's TV appearance

Here's the video of Kosta's appearance on "6 me 10 mazi". My friend, Belpana, was gracious enough to record and post the video for us. Thank you Belpana!

Tarzan

It was a another rainy day when I set out for the grocery store. I was navigating my way around miniature lakes that have formed along the road when I swerved to avoid running him over. I stopped the car and opened the door to see where he went. And then, there he was. Standing in the pouring rain, muddy and shaken was a little black puppy with white markings obviously in need of a loving home and at the very minimum, some food.

I closed the car door and thought to myself..."oh crap". I sat in the car sheltered from the rain as the puppy looked at me from outside. I dug in my purse for my phone and dialed home.
Kosta answered and I said, " you're going to kill me".
His reply was, "what did you do to the car?". (typical male response eh?)

I said, "nothing, the car is fine but there's this puppy out here...it looks distressed and it's alone...near the dog lady...I don't want her to get him. Can I bring him home?" (the dog lady is a dog hoarder, her dogs live in cages and filth...over 200 of them...someone probably dumped him there thinking she's doing a good thing)

Without a pause, he said yes. (Whew... )

I opened the car door and he was a little nervous but then he came toward me, licking my hands and wiggling his little body. I picked him up and put him in the back of the car. He was so muddy and seemed to have some trust in me as he didn't put up a fight when I placed him in the car.

Izabella was home from school that day, she was very ill early in the morning. She watched from the front window as I took the puppy out of the car. She started to giggle and jump on the couch. I put him on the back porch with some food and water. He ate all of the food within minutes. I still had to go to the store so I left him on the porch with some towels and blankets where he was sheltered from the wind and rain.

Here he is, shortly after his arrival, muddy and wet.

He was a little camera shy too.

Here he is just days after we took him in... already comfortable with stealing my slippers and outfitted with a masculine collar.

Biting my toes...

Getting to know Foti.

Foti is thrilled with Tarzan because he's always wanted a big dog...a big dog that's a boy. I remember when we introduced him to Gigi. He was disappointed because she was a small dog. Foti also named him Tarzan. Other name possibilities included: Hercules, Caesar and Zeus. But, Foti picked Tarzan and so that's his name. End of discussion.

We took him to the vet for his immunizations and his estimated age is about 2 months. Yep, he's a big 2 months! He's a Shepard dog but I can't find his breed online. Well, I'm sure that he's not 100% anything, but I'm still looking for the closest match. He's going to grow to be about 70lbs./around 32 kilos and I'm told that he's going to be wonderful with the children. Actually, he is a very gentle dog and is already great with them. We've had him for about 2 weeks and he's already grown a lot. He's also damaged a lot! That's why he'll be our happy outside puppy...much too big for indoors. Tarzan is the now the king of our olive grove.


And there's one more... dog...



Shortly after we took in Tarzan, another stray dog came to our home. She walked in the gate as if she belonged here. It seemed as if she knew Tarzan because she went to him as soon as she was in. I put her out of the gate and she came back in through the bars. Kosta and I put her out again, only for her to return. We spent 2 hours on a Sunday afternoon putting plastic mesh over the bars so that she couldn't get in...but alas, she got in. As she would squeeze through the bars she'd get stuck and squeal as she wiggled her way in, she was desperate. We couldn't watch her do it anymore...so we let her stay. I called a local animal rescue agency and our vet to try to find her a home. She's adorable and really no trouble at all. We've actually considered keeping her too. But can I have 3 dogs and 3 kids?! I received a call from an organization in Thessaloniki, they may have found a new home for her. We're really on the fence because she's a doll. And, whenever we open the gate to pull the car out -she watches patiently and as soon as we're ready to close the gate, she runs back in, making it clear that she plans on staying. So, we haven't officially named her because we don't want to get too attached. Izabella calls her "Asproula" and I call her "Blondie".




Here she is...

I'm not sure what will happen with her but whether she stays here or goes to a new home, she'll be loved more than she apparently had been. I've got my hands full but it's ok. The kids love having 3 dogs to play with also. There's never a dull moment around here.

My heart is broken.

Last week our koumbaro, friend and Godfather to Alexandra passed away. He was only 35 years old. So, for the last week I've been with my koumbara and her family.

It was early Thursday morning. I was getting the kids ready for school and the phone rang. All that I can say is that it was the phone call that we all dread.

It's been a long week.

Time seems to be standing still.

He had symptoms, but never had them checked. I suppose that's because he was only 35 he probably didn't think that they were that serious, we'll never know.

My sweet koumbara is torn and needs support so we're doing whatever we can to help her.

I haven't had the time or the appetite for blogging as I'm sure that you all understand.

I took some time to check my email Wednesday, for the first time in a week and found a nice surprise. My friend Phivos sent me a link to one of his more recent posts. His post is titled
"Peace on Earth-Children of the World". He kindly included our children in the post and it was a sweet and welcome surprise. If you have a chance please take a moment to check out the post and his amazing blog.

Thank you Phivos. :)

Olives

We've been picking olives for curing this week...hence my absence from the blogosphere.

I hope that everyone has a great weekend!

Here are just some photos from my Memorial Day...

This morning I discovered these 2 lizards in our sidewalk chalk box that was left on railing of our balcony. It seems that they must have run down a column and ended up in the box. They couldn't get out as the box was too slippery. I think that they were relieved when I found them and let them out.

I did have BBQ sauce and I made the chicken that I'd been craving. It's been a while since I've been allowed near the grill and I love using the grill! So, we had chicken, corn, potato salad and kidney bean salad for our Memorial Day dinner. The kids were thrilled.

Gigi was hanging out in the hayati. (the little house that the grill is in...can't think of how to translate it at the moment) She was really hoping that I might drop the chicken. Look at how desperate she looks, I never feed her.

The pomegranate blossoms are gorgeous. Very bright orange!

I also want to add that I officially took the day off today. I think that it was time. I'm just exhausted. Of course you all know that a mother of 3 doesn't really get a day off. I slacked a lot-so much that my husband mentioned it. You should see my laundry pile now-especially after the weekend. Ugh. It will all be there for me tomorrow, that's how I see it so I decided to go easy on myself. Iza said, "Mom-are all of those clothes dirty?"-and I said, "yep".

It was a perfect day to slack though. It was really hot, hotter than it's been so far this year. Also, as I was slacking I swear that I felt small tremors. I was telling Kosta about it and of course, I was just overreacting until he felt one moments later when the couch trembled a little. Ha! I'm not sure why he never believes me after all of these years. Although many of my stories and/or concerns seem exaggerated at times-they never are. So, I checked the EMSC to see if it was recorded but it hadn't. It must have been too small- I think. We probably experience tremors regularly but I'd never know it because I never sit in one place long enough to realize anything.

***I'd like to thank Mel for my new EMSC obsession!***