Here is my assignment for MAY for the BY INVITATION ONLY SERIES.Note the pretty chandelier at the top of the page that will be your clue for future posts in this series.

WHAT FIVE THINGS DRIVE YOU CRAZY?

1. THE COMPUTER:

It drives me MAD sometimes.I get so MAD at myself when something goes amiss and I have no understanding why!For instance, the other day it gives me the message below!I have two e-mail addresses because one is from the very beginning of time of the e-mail epidemic and the other I had to have according to my family pretty recently!I was not willing to give up the old quite yet!It took me awhile before I realized G~MAIL was GOOGLE!!!I know I live in the DARK when it comes to all this techy stuff!I am lucky it just arrives as a gift and then I am told to GO FOR IT!I cry for HELP often and even went for classes at the APPLE store for a little bit until the day I thought I had signed up for a class on photos and they tell me at the door I am NOT SIGNED UP!That was the end of the classes for me!MADDER THEN MAD at myself and at them.So, they do not see my name in their hand held IPAD’S ; seeing I am upset and a bit older wouldn’t you think the young man would say,”Let me get you into another session I am sorry this happened to you?”OH, NO doesn’t even cross his 20 year old mind!

So, if your me you need a COMPUTER WIZ who will come to the rescue sooner then later!You must help the economy and find a nice man or woman who will dash over and solve all the FRUSTRATIONS of owning LA COMPUTER.An item I just could not live without………….talk about ADDICTION!

2.THANK YOU’s:

I grew up by writing and saying THANK YOU when I received a gift or went to someones house for dinner.I was told it was a VERY important part of my education.My Grandmother had a column at the OAKLAND TRIBUNE newspaper and a radio show where she would talk about FOOD, WINE and ETIQUETTE.(Her boyfriend after my Grandfather died which was when my DAD was very young was HERMAN WENTE of WENTE VINEYARDS) I can still remember being reprimanded for folding my used napkin on the dining table in a restaurant after the meal was over!But my point here is how something that was so route has become almost forgotten.It seems that saying THANK YOU after the dinner upon departing or after receiving the gift is enough now or all you will hear.Occasionally,an email will be sent the next day or a text but seldom that HAND WRITTEN NOTE,that says you really enjoyed yourself and  appreciated the effort or gift that was given.

3.THE EXERCISE PANT:

The pant of the last decade I think!I wonder how many they have sold?I have to say I too am guilty of SPORTING  the black, basic, stretchy, comfortable, unflattering, exercise pant more then I would like to admit!You should have heard me when I found this purple pair!HOORAY………….I need color in my life!But holy cow I am amazed at how many women go about town in these without a care of what they look like from BEHIND!Never mind the ones that do not wear underwear and when they bend over just a wee bit the entire CRACK is exposed!( I tend to see that in exercise class a lot!)

Now,if one is exercising that is a good thing! I understand after class you may need to run a few errands and get stuff done!WE ALL NEED TO DO THAT,but why not wear a “COVER ~ UP” of sorts that disquises the DERRIERE to the public!This is not the most flattering shot of me in my exercise attire but you see I add length to the top that covers the exercise top and then I would have a coat on over this or a heavy long sweater…………TAKE PRIDE IN YOUR APPEARANCE even if you are dressed casually.It really does not take any extra time and you will be amazed at how many compliments you will receive through out the day!

4.THE ITALIAN HUSBAND:

Tis TRUE he drives me  NUTS…………..but after 28 years of marriage you would think I am use to him!NOPE…………….I drive him NUTS and he drives me NUTS!I guess that’s what makes the whole marriage thing work…………..we are so different in everything we do!He is precious and persice.I can do nothing RIGHT!

Today, for example……….I dumped the compost!It’s a compost pile right…….it makes dirt for our garden.I dumped it in the WRONG SPOT!His compost bin is neater then my closet!The spaghetti  for our STARTER course…….well I used the wrong LONG FORK to stir the batch in the boiling water!Imagine that after 28 years I still use the wrong fork!(Maybe I do it on purpose just to get his goat!)

The computer YES, you know how I ADORE LA COMPUTER well I asked him to make a HEN HOUSE FILE……….I know ,I know I doNOT even know how to make a file!He sat down to figure it out for me and after 3 minutes I said ,”FORGET IT!”I will just put it under WORK which is a category on the sidebar…………..THAT made him so mad he got up and HUFFED to the BATHROOM!I thought I was helping by saying don’t spend your time on this that WORK category will do the deed!Instead, I created TENSION in LA FAMIGLIA today…………I should have gone to the OUTLETS to return the gorgeous shoes I bought him that are too small when I went to meet those BLOGGERS……………..I haven’t told you about them yet have I?

As the t~shirt says he was BORN and raised in the old country………..and BELIEVE YOU ME he still goes by those ways!Here he is making bread for his pizza oven tomorrow night!We will dine on a pizza  starter A Pizza Bianca first and then all who join us will have their own pizza to devour and then the party favor at the end of the night is the warm loaf of  lovingly made bread that a gorgeous PASTRY CHEF taught him to make.

I CANNOT EAT A BITE………IAM A GLUTEN FREE GAL……….YES,IT DRIVES ME CRAZY!

5.DINNER TIME:

If I could be a FAIRY GODMOTHER I would wave my wand and have the entire family sit down around the table for dinner hour.There would be NO CELL PHONES ALLOWED.LA TAVOLA as they say in BELLA ITALIA  is the call to the table for it is time to EAT.This is the most important part of the day as the family is together and they can share stories and life’s up and downs.I do believe sitting around the table for  the entire family is a lost occurrence these days.I know everyone is busy and these kids today have way too much homework plus everything else outside of the school day but we must bring back a few of the good TRADITIONS to make this next generation of children who have grown up in cyber space more human.They are fast with their texting and well equipped to surf the internet but can they actually hold a conversation?There needs to be more family time more interaction more laughing more compassion.Make an effort to be a family member.Be nice, have interests,and most importantly be interested in those people who share your roof with you.It is a very  important part of their education!

It’s off to dinner I go!Lets not get into the dinner attire…………..we can save that for another day!

PS.I had four of my topics for this POST ,but needed a fifth when I asked the ITALIAN HUSBAND if he had any ideas!His reply was ” ME!”So,I quickly wrote notes on all the things that drove me crazy on my grocery list from our weekend together .Well, it seems I DROPPED MY LIST in our local grocery store and somehow it turned up in the SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE newspaper!!!!I received a call early from a dear friend telling me I had made the newspaper!The best was she knew right off the bat who had written that list without my name being there!See below!