2007

This is where we left off last year.
Happy New Year to you all!!@@

2007….a GREAT year for the Barbacci Family!!

I am STILL at the Historical Society…amazing but true. I am really enjoying it. My colleagues are young, fun & help me keep up with the latest trends, lingo, reality TV (yuck!), & technology (hence the blog idea). A few more aches and pains and a little less gardening this year. I had great plans for travel .

Rebecca & I started the year with a visit to DC in January. We went to Mt. Vernon, visited the Textile Museum (saw a wonderful exhibit on Islamic Textiles), and saw a small part of the Smithsonian. The most exciting part of the trip happened about 1 hour before we left. Francesco had just dropped us off when we heard a lot of sirens and saw a motorcade...1 1/2 blocks long...the likes of which I had never seen before. There were at least 4 police cars, 2 vans, 2 jeeps (with the doors open & men with rifles inside) & 2 limousines. I was literally jumping up & down from the excitement. It had to be the President, a taxi driver told me. When I recounted the episode to my colleagues, they responded:"all that excitement & you don't even like the guy!" Francesco later explained it had to be the VP cuz the president travels with an ambulance. They then replied: "Seems like it's the VP who should travel with an ambulance!"

At Easter during a game of charades we were clued in to a pending addition to the family -- Rebecca & Zak were expecting on Halloween. Shortly after, Francesco & Katherine informed us they were expecting for December 21st (Winter Solstice). At that point I gave up all plans of travel & decided to focus on baby quilts & baby room decor!! I have a lot more people to occupy my time & energy and more reasons to be happy this year!

I also realized immediately that the Christmas newsletter was going to be a problem....due to the late birth of Gabriella & the fact that F&K live in Alexandria...How would we do the group family photo?? First I thought to do a triptych, with the 3 family groups. But that would mean waiting until well after Xmas. Finally the blog idea came about & YES...we can save on paper, postage & time (not to mention $). So much more efficient & yes Green!

It’s been a very busy year... but quite honestly I can only remember about 4 events. More than enough to fill up this blog!

In March we were broadsided on 3rd Avenue in New York City by a young FBI agent in a minivan! Miraculously we were all fine...the car THANKFULLY was totaled!! After 11 years it seems that was the ONLY way we were going to get a new car. A real deus ex machina!!@@ Friends & colleagues had begun to take bets on how long we would drive that Jeep! So we bought "GREEN," a Toyota Hylander. It's a wonderful car & we hope everyone will follow the hybrid trend soon.
Have a bit of patience as you read through this...I didn't have much time to perfect it.

Rebecca & Zak

Rebecca is still with Time, Inc…just on maternity leave for 3-4 months. Zak has a new job with the Visiting Nurses of NY. Both are still working in Manhattan. In July they bought a house in Maplewood, NJ. They moved in at the beginning of July. But first I had to help get Becky OUT of the apartment in Queens. NO small feat!! They were loaded to the gills with wedding gifts, baby gifts, & décor, and souvenirs!!
Maplewood is adorable, about ½ hour from NYC & similar to a small town you would see in the movies (in fact it is in the movies..."Stepmom" and "Garden State"). It has a very sweet down town with great restaurants, a train station, & parks. Their house, built in the late 1920’s, is Craftsman Style -- fun! It was in very good condition; the colors were just right for R&Z…but of course it needed just a bit of tweaking. So Franco & I were there often to help with that & have been commuting ever since!! I have painted furniture and Franco has made and adapted numerous things. Francesco even got in the act & put up the kitchen pot rack. He was a real hero as there had been 4 or 5 attempts, both in Queens & this house! Thank heavens only one bedroom was painted…purple. Yes, Afsara shares the Barbacci love of that color!

Francesco & Katherine

Katherine & Francesco have been in Alexandria, VA just over a year now. The Old Town Alexandria is wonderful, very characteristic with many red, brick buildings and located right along the Potomac. He is a director at the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in Bethesda, MD. She is evaluation officer at Landmine Survivors Network (LSN), in Washington, DC. (Princess Diana was an activist for LSN.) Scecco & KK have a sweet 2-bedroom apartment & are waiting for house prices to fall a bit more before jumping into the housing market. I suspect that won't be too long now as the nursery, also the guest room, is pretty full. They took a trip to England in August this year for a wedding. They have also been up to NY and CT to visit quite a few times due to numerous baby showers for friends, family (i.e. Rebecca) and of course her own. We really miss having them close by.
Scecco has also become a keen cyclist in the past few years & also quite the little chef. He doesn't need to call me for recipes as much anymore.

Valentina

Zia Tina, as she is referred to now in aunthood, is doing well in Manhattan!! She does more in one day than anyone I know…even me …but then she does go to bed a LOT later!! Still with the Council on Foreign Relations, she has moved to the Meetings department and seems to have a more reasonable workload now. She organized a business trip to Belgium and Turkey in June, when she took about 25 Council members to meet with top officials at the EC and NATO in Brussels, leaders of the business sector in Istanbul, and Turkish government representatives in Ankara, to discuss Turkey's possible entry into the EU. Then she managed an extra week for vacation and had a great time paragliding in southern Turkey and bargaining/haggling in the markets of Istanbul. In fact it was on her recommendation that we went, later this year. In July she was in Bonaire for her first scuba diving experience. It was amazing & in fact she tried to get us to go there too. Franco was really keen…but after hearing a bit of the details of scuba diving, I decided it was too late in life for me!! I haven’t had the need to swim more than a length of a pool in 40 years!! It also seemed like too much work (serious stuff). I did enjoy the video that her friend took. Good enough for me! Oops this part is NOT about me!
Still stuck on doing the peace corps in South America (allegedly by Fall '08), she is now also looking to pursue a joint MBA/MA program either in DC or NY...these are all idle threats though! In the meantime, the dating scene in NY keeps her pretty busy socially...but since Francesco and Rebecca have fulfilled the need for a grandchild, she has time!

Constantinople/ Istanbul

I then panicked thinking I wouldn't have time for a vacation in a LONG time. I (with Tina's recommendation) convinced Franco to go to Turkey for 11 days, in late Sept. We spent about 5 days in Istanbul, which is wonderful!! Tiles & carpets everywhere… and people selling them too! Of course we bought a carpet (for R&Z) there was NO time to buy more. It took about 4 hours of haggling, talking and drinking apple tea!! The skyline is fabulous with the minarets of the mosques everywhere & the Islamic designs lend a very different air to this part of the world. The most incredible baklava ever!! Then we spent 4 days on a gulet (boat), cruising the coast of Turkey, from Fethiye to Antalya, with 12 other people half our age. Really relaxing & very fun!! The water was the most incredible shade of blue I've ever seen. We visited a few wonderful little towns and saw a few ruins. A must see! We even met up quickly with friends, who have been sailing for three years.

Lorenzo Yaseen

Next it was time to get ready for BABY… Grandchild #1!! I made a Noah’s Ark quilt from fabric I had collected a few years ago in anticipation. I found a wonderful old child’s dresser (from the 1930’s, I believe) at a tag sale. It had chipped white paint & was full of old peeling decals, etc. Nasty! I painted it a butter color & with a Noah’s Ark design on it. Franco added the top piece for a change table and then made a lamp out of a Noah’s Arks boat set that Rebecca/Lorenzo received as a gift. I then found a little end table at another tag sale for her to put her water & a book on while she feeds. Of course that also had to be painted. Oh & I painted Rebecca's old rocking chair red. The room is adorable!! Be sure to check out Lorenzo's blog to see pictures: http://mir-barbacci.blogspot.com

A New Citizen

On November 30th Franco was sworn in as an American Citizen!! He was SO excited and So proud!! He wore a Flag pin on his lapel. Rebecca, Valentina & Lorenzo were there to witness the ceremony. Now unfortunately he will be a Republican voting citizen!! Thank heavens we outvote him at least 4 to 1 in the family!! He is SO happily retired and manages to keep himself VERY busy with Tennis 5-7 times a week in the summer, not so often in the winter. He still rides the horses...but not so often. The property requires a LOT of his time, his veggie garden and so does my honey do list !! I’m FULL of fat ideas. Of course the kids have their wish lists too! He is becoming quite a cook… we try to guide him a bit (recipes are good)!! Today was our first big snowstorm, 1 foot of snow. Unfortunately his newly purchased tractor was temporarily trapped in his new addition to the barn!!
Keep scrolling down to see the end of this newsletter. Click on (Older posts).

Gabriella Ava

Late November it was time to gear up for Grandchild #2. Of course that meant another quilt. . Franco made a lamp & I had to refinish another rocking chair. On Tuesday Dec 18th Katherine was scheduled for a caesarian section delivery as Gabriella was breach. Not wanting to miss a minute of the action, Franco & I took the train from New Haven, CT to DC. Departing at 6:58 a.m. we reached DC's Union Station at 1:00p.m. We got to the hospital just in time...so we thought & then waited & waited. Gabriella was born at 3:33 weighing in at 7lbs 8oz she was 20 inches long. Francesco came out at 4:50 to say she was born...all OK & that Katherine was feeding her. We managed to see her for a few minutes. What a cutie very beautiful blue eyes and a nice round face. At birth she looked just like her Grandfather Konicke, now she seems to look more like Scecco. Then we managed to see her again only for a few minutes at 8:30 pm ... just before leaving for the train station. The overnight train departing at 10:00 pm arrived in New Haven at 4:58. UGH! That was a tough one!! I am so excited to have been there. They are home now & fighting over who gets to change her diaper. Scecco thought he would never be so excited to do such an activity!!We will go back to DC with the rocking chair, lamp & what ever else we accumulate after Xmas for about 5 days. In the meantime we will update her photos. Be sure to check out her blog:
http://gabriella-ava.blogspot.com/

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We love hearing from all of you!! Now with email it is SO much easier. We will be able to update the blog regularly and add/change pictures.
Disclaimer:Some of our pictures on the blog (most actually) are not of great quality. None of us have had the time to get, share & upload the pictures.Our priorities have been elsewhere!! Please understand. Watch us learn & grow....(or not!)