Hermy

We are all back from our various Spring Break adventures. Emily went off to Virginia to visit with Tom and then went up to PA to visit Nanny and Grandad and then had a hotel weekend in Philadelphia to visit with Gaga and Papa. Lisa and Mark arrived in PA and picked up a Hertz truck to pack up the business and move it on down to Kentucky. After a successful business move and a wonderful dinner with their new shippers they went on a brief road trip through Tennessee. More to come on that trip since we have photos. The whole Cabrelli family had a very restful break.

We have now fallen back in to our comfortable routine of Monday night football, The Wee Free Men and weekend mornings reading in bed. Unfortunately we have not been able to enjoy our back patio over the last few weeks as the wind has just been too strong and it impossible to sit out there without getting drenched by waves bursting over the sea wall. Lisa hasn't even been able to vacuum the pool.

Anyway - the subject of this post may possibly be spelled wrong. We will have to confirm with Emily when she gets home from school but... the story of Hermy.

We have been having some serious problems with the concrete paving stones out on our front patio. They had all been pushed up and were loose and uneven. Last week we had some workers in (including our favorite handyman Chris) to remove the stone tiles and re-pave the patio. Chris soon found out what the problem was - some very large and very active hermit crabs were making their homes in the ground underneath our patio and actually pushing up the stones as they tunneled. Chris collected them all in a pot which you can see below. We decided to release them all in the cushy grass by the palm tree in the back garden and let Emily keep the smallest two. Emily created a temporary home which Chris assured us they would not be able to escape from - well they escaped in to Emily's bedroom while she slept. No problem, we located them cuddling with her stuffed animals the next day and back in to the container they went for Mark to watch over while Emily was at school. Mark didn't do such a great job. The big one escaped again (from underneath a lid of a pile of newspapers and Mark's big sneaker). Only Hermy remains - named as such after the Harry Potter hero Hermione and shortened to Hermy for "hermit crab".

Emily and I are off on a shopping trip tonight to look for a glass tank to keep her in.

Our Second of Fame

You may recall way back when last May that Mark and Lisa got their big greak in to The Bahamas movie scene when they took a few days to be "extras" on the set of the Clive Owen and Julia Roberts movie, "Duplicity". Well the movie was released last week and we weren't too surprised when Mark's Mum called to tell us that she had been to see the film and we weren't in it.

We waited until some of the movie scenes were posted on the web knowing that we knew exactly where to look. There are a few flashes of our clothing and hair throughout the scene, but we get a real fraction of a second of fame with a full view of us along with Julia Roberts and Clive Owen in the same frame.

See below - there is Clive Owen's white suit on the left, a blurry Julia entering the scene on the right, and that gorgeous couple standing at Clive's elbow in themiddle of the frame. Man we were good!

Happy Birthday Mark!

News of our crazy week is forthcoming... but in the mean time this space is reserved for wishing a very Happy Birthday to Mark. The greatest husband, business partner, best-friend, step-father, play-mate that anyone could ever wish for. Here's to another great year of adventures as the leader of the Three Musketeers! It just keeps getting better.

I pledge allegiance...

...a banner week this week in the Cabrelli household! Lisa and Mark flew back to USA to attend Lisa's oath ceremony - she is now officially an American citizen! It was a very cool ceremony with a great speaker who talked a lot about the "melting pot" of the US and preserving foreign traditions and cultures as we move in to citizenship in order to further enrich the Nation. It was all very interesting and even cynical Mark was glad that he came. There were 63 people in the morning ceremony and lots of cameras and hand-shaking. Although after living in the States for 25 years the event was more like paperwork for us... Lisa spent the morning pondering what a momentous and life changing occassion the oath ceremony has been for so many people before her. She was quite moved by the whole thing. They gave each of us a little American flag and we watched a video montage of shots of "American Life" set to the "Proud to be an American" song which of course had Lisa and Mark busting out the flag off and on for the rest of the day for impromptu duets of the afformentioned tune. We also got to see Miranda and the boys, always a joy, and have a quick drink with our ex-neighbours at lovely Ann's house.

This morning was a banner day for Emily as she took off for her week long school trip to Abaco (another island of The Bahamas). She was so excited that she didn't sleep last night and was a ball of anxiety about getting to the airport on time this morning. Tricia and I got lost and picked up a friendly Bahamian who jumped in the car and guided us there (he was headed there for work anyway).

Here is Emily and her friends in the line looking all grown up :-(

Longing...

When leaving the grocery store yesterday with her green bananas, almost but not quite moldy oranges, $8 gallon of milk and conspicuous lack of gluten-free products - Lisa experienced a physical pang for Wegmans (especially the cheese and pate section)that was so strong it stole her breath for a moment. Oh we human beings are such shallow creatures.

Tina Was Here

Lisa's cousin Tina dropped in for a visit and stayed for a too short 10 days. We had an awesome time despite the very un-Bahamian like clouds and temperature on a couple of days - no matter Tina still managed to go home with a tan. We did all the regular stuff, Atlantis, lunch at Green Parrot, visit to Cabbage Beach, drinks at The One and Only Ocean Club, Cable Beach pools, the straw-market, breakfast on the Cricket Club porch, yacht watching, island walks, sea-shell hunting and sunbathing on the patio. We visited the Marley Resort and Tina got her photo taken behind the bar. We also had a very nice cocktail party at Harry's secret garden house (now known as The Haven) and a Water's Edge patio evening with Tricia and John, Trevor and a new friend from New York, Grant. Lisa, Tina and Cindi had a wonderful girl's night over at Bimini Road with a quick stop at Crazy Johnny's. Tina was also here for Emily's birthday so she got to join in the Emily celebration. Our last night together we spent as a family at The Humidor restaurant feasting on fourteen different kinds of meat.

It was a really wonderful visit and Tina's disappearance has left a little empty spot in the house. We are hoping that she will come back very soon and hang in The Bahamas some more. Next visit... Colin is on his way from Aberdeen at the end of April. Look out!

Cindi, Tina and Lisa - Girl's night out.

Emily in her birthday dress and shoes from Sundie looking very grown up.

Tina sunbathing on Cabbage Beach

Cabbage Beach

Sea-shell hunting at the end of the island.

Tina behind the bar at Marley's