Weekend Update

All that Babbel has helped me catch a few more things in Under the Tuscan Sun. This weekend I caught the movie on the WE Channel and noticed more of the building signs and non-subtitled dialogue. Example? Before Francesca (Diane Lane) walks into a building to sign for the house, the sign says "risparmio" which basically means savings. Many banks or financial institutions are generically called Cassa di Risparmio di (name of city). A few weeks ago, I did a vocab lesson on money and banking. Now I might just have to go back and watch The Godfather movies, especially Part II since there's a lot of non-subtitled Italian. Lately, I've tried to watch or listen to streamed music and TV programs broadcast from Italy.

The string bag, Verde, is coming along nicely. I've got about 2-3 inches to go before beginning the straps. Lately, I've been working more on that than Sheldon simply because I got tired of my kids pawing Sheldon, poor turtle. Out of sight, out of mind.

For Father's Day, we grilled hamburgers out back. Not the healthiest of meals, but we also had pasta salad, chips, and watermelon. After dinner, we roasted marshmellows on skewers to make smores from the dying heat of the grill. Before the sunset, I pumped up my jogging stroller tires, and we went for a short walk in the neighborhood. When we got back, I gave Ian his milk and Marie her hot chocolate after which they both took a bath.

Hair stuff? Though I've CO-washed occasionally since last Tuesday's olive oil DT (a complete and utter FAIL), I hadn't low-pooed. So, I broke out my Avalon Organics sulfate-free shampoo (Nourishing Lavender is the one I have) and went to town. Normally for styling, I use flax seed gel followed by HE Set Me Up Gel. But today, I skipped the FSG and only used some old LA Looks Sport Gel. It was super crunchy when it dried, but after SOTC it looked nice and felt light.

I keep hearing wonderful things about Loreal's CG conditioner for curly heads called Vive Pro Nutri Gloss Conditioner for "Medium to Long Hair That's Curly/Wavy." It's in a pink bottle with a blue band. The other versions (one for fine hair and one for smoothing) in that line are NOT CG, so beware. Many on naturallycurly.com swear by that stuff for their CO-rinse. Most people will CO-wash with something lighter like Suave Naturals conditioner and then do their CO-rinse and/or leave-in with the Vive Pro. It sounds like it works for a variety of curlies, but especially for people like me who have tons of hair. Supposedly, it feels like the cone-filled conditioners without actually containing any of them.

My...well, I should really say Marie's shasta daisies are still alive! They've completely adapted to the outdoors and are doing well. They sure don't grow fast, though, I must say. In other backyard news, we have some new residents in our birdhouse. At least we did for a short time. A pair of birds built a nest in the birdhouse, and I watch off and on one day as both birds guarded their abode. Unfortunately, I saw a black crow or blackbird checking out the birdhouse and haven't seen the cute pair of birds since. I'm guessing the thieving crow got the eggs. Mean crow!

ETA 6/27: Good news! I've seen the pair of birds guarding their birdhouse again.