I did neglect to mention a little somethin' in my last post, a highly unbelievable, but true story: Here's the Disney mania I just don't get. 

A few years back, my Hubby and I were having a fantastico vacation in Italy. Wow, if you haven't been there, I highly advise saving up your pennies for an experience of a lifetime. It was a few years ago, so I can't vouch for the present, but in terms of Europeans, the Italians seem to like us a lot better than some of their hater neighbors. I won't tattle on the meanies, but let's just say, if you go to their snooty part of the world, you sho' won't be feelin the amour, oui?

Those Italians though, not only are they good-looking, but such a charming, charming lot. Here's the best way to describe it. Take the ever-so delizioso, Fabio from Top Chef, multiply him by the millions and voila, you've got Italy. 

The only problem we had there was my Hubby and his business partner can sometimes be....well, let me list a few of their best qualities:  incredibly boisterous, a little over the top with the jokester jokes, loud talkers, fellows who talk up everyone they come across whether their new friends want to engage in conversation with loud-talking Americans or not...Did I mention, aggressively loud? 

For some reason, the Italians called them George. They did it with a smile on their face, but everywhere we went as soon as they opened their mouths, they were George. 

No one would ever tell us why.

At Epcot this weekend, I asked one of the girls in Disney's little Italy, what that meant. She hid her giggle behind her hand as she said in her sweet, stumbling English, "I am not sure."

It's probably the number one rule in the employee handbook when they're hired by Disney. "Do not call the obnoxious Americans, obnoxious Americans."

But, even with the Georges, I had a captivating, lovely time as we made our way, through Rome, Florence (my favorite), Siena, San Gimignano, and Venice. 

In Venice, we were all about the tourist, when we climbed aboard a gondola. It was a cold evening and so The Hubby and I huddled up under a fur throw provided by our very handsome gondolier. And as we cruised the canals, taking in the splendor of this ancient city, this Palace of the Sea, this magnificent place that is considered one of the Wonders of the World and one of the most beautiful places on the planet, I gazed up at the twinkling stars, surrounded by such incredible beauty and said, "There is no where else in the world I would rather be right now."

How many times can you say that in your lifetime. I mean, truly. 

I could be sipping a glass of wine watching the sunset in one of those swanky villas in the Maldives, the ones with the glass floors where it feels like your bed is floating on the blue of the ocean, but if someone told me that behind curtain #2, there were front row tickets and back stage passes to a U2 concert....I'd say, "Monty, Let's Make A Deal!"

Maybe, not your idea of a fair trade, but you get what I'm sayin. 

There's always a better place to be...usually. 

But, not on this evening. I was enchanted by the night, the company, the surroundings. 

I turned to our handsome gondolier, curious. With this being where he punched a time clock, strolling down the waterways of Venice, how much higher up on the scale of perfect places, must his dream place be? I asked, "Where, Mr. Very Handsome Gondolier, would you be, if you could be anywhere else in the world?"

Yup, you guessed it. 

In his Italian accent that was as lovely as his face, he said, "Walt Disney World."

And I, in my broken Italian, said, "Huh?"

He then went on to tell us how he and his wife have been saving and scrimping for the day that all their dreams could come true in the Land of the Mouse. 

When I told him that I lived near the city of his dreams and that I wandered through the crowds there many times, (too many times), throughout the year, he stopped rowing or gondoling and just stood there afloat, stunned and said, "You are to be kidding me right?" 

The rest of our romantic gondola excursion was spent regaling our gondolier with tales of the Mouse Land as his eyes twinkled with a far-away longing, there in the canals of Venice. 

America where the streets are paved in mouse ears. 

And now onto American Idol news. It's now past the silly bad-singing auditions. I hate that nonsense, all serious Idolers do. We're now down to the top 36, where America gets to vote. I don't usually like to pluck a contestant just yet, but I've really taken a shine to Mr. Danny Gokey. Not only is he a dead-ringer for the handsome genius of an actor, Robert Downey Jr., he's also a recent widow, (a heartbreaking thing at such a shiny, young age), and he can sing the pants off of a Mariah Carey song, a tough thing to do. Usually this early in, I can't be bothered to pick up a phone, but I did dial his digits a handful of times last night. 

The only other notable part of the night for my family was when the beautiful Casey Carlson took the stage and sang, "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic." 

Let's just say, at least she's pretty. 

Not only was her singing, in Simon's words, HIDEOUS, she had some bizarre choreography goin' down. If you are at all familiar with Elaine from Seinfeld's dancing, this little chica made Elaine look like a Solid Gold Dancer. It was all spazzy gestures at odd times, with some stagey winking. My family loved it so much, we rewound the Tivo over and over again, howling with laughter every time. 

We do so love when people make asses out of themselves. Good Times

Today's What You Better Download: "15 Steps" by the Marvelous, Brilliant, Radiohead.  A good anthem for these worrisome times. "How come I end up where I started. How come I end up where I went wrong. Won't take my eyes off the ball again....one by one, it comes to us all."

I'm not going to get all preachy or politicky, but bad choices for so many, put us here. My daughters' school places great emphasis on making the good choices and we need to start assuming some responsibility for our own actions and make some good choices so the whole class can have gold stars. I'm just sayin'.