The Grind

Ciao friends and family! We are stuck in a lull, so I thought I'd post our latest happenings, even though they are less than exciting.

Joe is picking up his car today! We have been a 1 vehicle family for the last 3 months. To say I'm ecstatic would be an understatement. Even though I'm not in love with this lemon of a van, it is fulfilling its purpose of being a mode of transportation. I guess I can't expect much more out of it. I took Joe to work this morning and, of course, lights starting flashing at me on the way back home. It appears we need an oil change...2 short days before we leave for a long trip. So yeah, GREAT news. Joe is attempting to get an appointment for tomorrow so I can take it in for service. I'm less than thrilled with this prospect since my Italian skills are still infantile. Oh well!

Speaking of my Italian skills...I had two separate instances of how delinquent I am in this language today. I "tried" to pay my cell/wifi/home phone bill today. To say that things are done differently here would be an understatement! First of all, you cannot pay your bill at the store you bought said phone and services. You have to either go to a bank, post office or little vending machine thing. No, I'm not kidding. I'm dead serious. I went to the local post office, which is usually quite empty. Well, it was quite empty when we arrived but had filled up by the time we left. The only thing I could figure out was that the computer was down for paying bills and I'd have to come back later. I think ?!?! Then, shortly after arriving back home, the company that provides these services calls the home phone and tries to speak to me in Italian. I try to speak to her in English. She laughs and says, "Oh dear!" Well, I at least understood that and the fact that she was either attempting to get me to fess up to  knowing more Italian than I know OR she was asking for an Italian speaking person to get on the line. In either case, I just said, "Non capisco l'italiano." It was a short, sweet, unhelpful call. She did ask me for my telephone number...which I didn't even know! Sorry America! I am giving the whole nation a bad name.

Joe and I saw the chiropractor yesterday. We both have some weakening in our necks (ok, mine is more significant than that...arthritis is setting in and I'm starting to get rounded shoulders...ugh) and I have a weak lower back (it is shaped like an S, which would be fine if I were a snake!) and my arches are falling in my feet. Yeah, I'm falling apart. He did an adjustment and showed us some exercises, and boy am I sore! He wants me to eventually start Pilates. I'm ok with that...but am hoping we get this neck and back strengthened first! I could totally see my pulling something else out of whack.

OH, Joe and I had date night the other night! A neighbor watched the kids while we went out for dinner. She is 18 and lovely. The kids followed her around like puppies, I'm sure. She made them dinner and worked on her English while teaching the kids some Italian. Perfetto! Joe and I were needing a few hours away. It was very refreshing. Here's a pic of us in our booth at the restaurant.

Sunday, we slept in past the alarm. I think Joe turned it off and we rolled back over and fell back asleep. Anyway, we missed church which was a big bummer. It always starts the week off right to be with other believers and hear the Word. Alas, this did not happen for us. We did, however, get to the Cavalry Museum that afternoon. Can I just say, I either need to brush up on my Italian history or I need to quit visiting so many museums? I'm starting to feel like I've seen every uniform the Italian military has ever used. The pics of the training field were really cool...especially seeing the horses jump over such obstacles to look as if they were flying. They also had miniature replicas/models of the Battle of Waterloo. I must say, my favorite part was seeing the big tanks and the motorcycles. Maybe I should visit the Automobile Museum next?!?! Seems more my style.

We leave in a few days for Firenze. I am over-the-moon excited! We have a "plan of attack" and are sticking with it. LOL. Just kidding! We have a plan but are staying flexible since the weather seems hit or miss for the weekend. I would be happy just people watching, but I'm sure the kids would be "bored". The really amazing part about this trip...we just started learning about the Renaissance Period! Our book referred to Florence, Italy several times. God is so wonderful. I had no idea when we booked this trip it would fall at the same time we started learning about Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello...oh wait, that's something else! We didn't learn about Donatello. That one was just for laughs. We did look him up and discover he was an artist during the Renaissance. Those TMNT, such Renaissance Reptiles. :)

Arrivederci!