Charlie doing Fall things.

~Becky

Terrific Twos.

Lately when I put Charlie to bed, we have little conversations about things. He's in such a mild and snuggly state but doesn't want me to leave his room. I was trying to think of what he thought was such a funny idea last night, and then I remembered tonight when he brought up Meow. I was talking about Thanksgiving and said that Meow was going to come to the farm with us... he thinks this is hilarious. We also decided this morning that Meow should have her own sock and shoes. And she's afraid of babies.

~Becky

The Fitzgerald!!

Good Morning!

Clarence is like a little, warm, drooling, adorable alarm clock with no snooze button.

I am nearly to the end of my AM internet time, so I'll make it snappy.

Liz, Brad, Truman and I all had a wonderful time up in the Big Twin Cities (minus finding a parking ramp, entering it, and exiting - these things were difficult for us country mice).

Here are some pictures from the night:

Virtual Applause

I just want to quick say, "WOW!" and, "Super job!" to our dearest Becky. I was Megan's house last night, and it looks very nice. I think you can say, with no hesitation, that you improved someone's living situation this week. Wohoo!

Duuuude…

I very much intend to work in Wyoming on a dude ranch this upcoming summer. After carefully perusing the ranches is the aforementioned state, here are the 3 that I will be sending applications to:

The Hideout Lodge and Guest Ranch

Eatons's Ranch

Paradise Guest Ranch

It's a Family Tradition

We Wistes have a certain sense of . . . well, let's call it style. These images certainly speak towards our desire to wear a lot of denim.

Progress

What does progress look like?

I began this morning with 900+ emails. I proceeded to delete 7 of them. I now have 894 emails in my inbox. In the words of our cousin, Lawson, "That's what I'm talking about!"

Routine

Well, I wasn't really intending to blog this morning, but now, Liz and I are getting into a great, early morning routine. I guess that blogging is becoming a part of that; a way to clear my head or share a bit of the past/future before putting myself to work.

Since this blog is titled, "Routine," I thought it might be interesting to show some ancient tools of routine that came from Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Gladiator fights anyone? Do you think that they had season tickets for regular attendees?

Proof that cast iron is the toughest pan in the world: this one made it through a volcanic eruption and still looks like it is pretty well conditioned. 

My friends and I were pretty sure that this was a toilet. Me, being the super mature one of us all, took a picture of it. Do you think they would have read stone-tablet-newspapers or vellum-novels while sitting on this throne?

This is probably the routine you can expect if you live in the shadow of an enormous volcano. 

Well, I must now sign off in order to continue with my version of the daily grind…

Ballerina Beauty

Good Monday, Y'all. In perusing the internet before beginning my morning work on my 'T', I came across this article. It is short, tear-inducing, and prompts one to think about what all is going on in this big world. Just click the link:

Ballerina Article

Renewed New Beginnings

We are the Coolest!!!

So...I am starting this blog post with a prime example of a graffiti shot (of which I took plenty while in Italy and Norway; graffiti and statues and food are the 3 main categories of photo subjects). This one in particular is a shout out to my lovely sisters and our Mom (because the noun is in its feminine form) - you, us, we are all the coolest!!! **If you would like to see the  photo that I had posted, please ask to see it in person as, post-posting it, I realized that the words had some bad connotations that I would prefer not headline our blog; you can also ask for a clean and a dirty translation**

 This is a picture from the night that we ate chocolate pasta. For all of you out there wondering, the answer is "No, chocolate pasta is not a good idea," (just ask Truman.). I include this picture for two reasons: 1) We live in a land full of wonderful people. Let's take this week to particularly enjoy them. 2) There is cheese (most of it homemade) on the table. I like to make a point of including at least one picture of cheese in every post. Let's also take this week to appreciate cheese!

Last, but not least, a cute kid. I feel like Clarence has been bonding with all of us this past week - if I entertain him properly, he lets me hold him, even if Liz is around! We are all looking forward to seeing our piccolino, Charlie degli occhi blu, and of course his MaMa!, our darling, Becky. See you soon!

Truman's pumpkin patch.

~Becky

Run for the Arts.

 We did it!!!

Not the most flattering pics, but whatever. Like KT said, how you feel you look when you run and how you actually look when you run... not the same. But I think we were all pretty proud of ourselves and each other. Go team Black Hammer, division Wiste girls.

~Becky

Me'nage a' Trois.

And not the wine...

Liz and I have been enjoying Pamela Druckerman's Bringing up Be'Be' so much that I thought she might also like to read this story, an article written for Marie Claire. Not really about parenting.

~Becky