pictures

yes, we are still here

Okay, it's been awhile and much has happened. I just needed to be quiet due to the tragedy here at Aviano. The base held a beautiful memorial service for the six men who died.

Where do I start? I still haven't learned Italian even though I only have one week left of classes and I've been doing some tutoring. I locked Julia in the car with the keys (don't ask). It was freezing outside when I did this and I didn't have on my jacket.

Julia turned one in spite of me doing this. We had an awesome birthday party for her.

We traveled to the magical city of Salzburg for T'giving. Jacqueline ice skated in Salzburg for the first time! She was frightened and loved it all at the same time. We are almost done unpacking. We've all gotten the terrible stomach flu that is making the rounds (and some in our household twice). Jacqueline threw-up all over the club as we walked in for T'giving dinner. Pleasant.

The Christmas lights here are beautiful and they put their Christmas trees on their porch.
Jacqueline saw Santa arrive on a F-16. She got to run out to meet him and then he walked in holding her hand - awww!

I've thrown a baby shower and Michael turned the big one. Whew! I'm tired.

I think the hardest thing about living in Italy is that you live in Italy. You have one foot in being a tourist b/c you know your time here is limited, but you also have to create a life here. I am settling into the rhythm - greeting the shop keepers and planning my day around reposo. I still live in the car and it's a little cool now to be walking around. The farmers are almost done plowing under their corn crops and a whole new landscape has emerged.

They also take pride in making things beautiful. I went with the Officer Spouses group to the beautiful town of Spilimbergo (http://www.scuolamosaicistifriuli.it/en/gallery/default.asp) to the mosaic school. I love love love mosaics and this 3 year school is amazing and one of the best in the world. We saw the students in action: tediously chipping the stone into the same size piece for each body of work. It is one of the best "art gallery" tours I have ever done. I would never have the patience to work on project like they do. If you visit, put the school on your list as it is only 35 minutes from the house. We also had a delicious lunch with pumpkin ravioli , leek risotto and veal (and the wine was terrific as usual). I sat at the bad girl table b/c we got "in trouble" for shopping on the way to lunch. I saw a floral shop that had flower bulbs and I wanted one to show Jacqueline the flower blooming. Well, I didn't know it would be such a production. It was in a small white plastic pot for 2 euro. I took it inside and she whipped out the hot glue gun and attached 4 large green leaves then wrapped ribbon around the leaves and then adhered a ladybug to where the knot was. I was just standing there with my mouth hanging open b/c all I wanted was the bulb! My g'friend then proceeded to buy Christmas lights at the hardware store next door (as we can't use ours).

By the way, the bulb is starting to bloom!

Tragedy at Aviano

I sit typing while watching an incredibly beautiful sunset. My thoughts obviously go to the families in our community who lost loved ones in the Blackhawk crash on Thursday. Our hearts are heavy for them and our family prays for them as they take each day minute by minute and hour by hour.

As Jacqueline and I danced and watched the twinkling city lights below last night, I was reminded once again of the fragility of life and how blessed we are.

Halloween and lights

We had a terrific Halloween. It rained the days up to it and the days after. We actually "trick or treated" on Saturday evening on the base. Many people decorate their cars and the kids trick or treat out of the trunks. See above.

Jacqueline chose to be a mermaid and picked out the octupus for Julia. Michael was still TDY so he missed out.

The night prior to Halloween, I was cooking dinner and moved the crockpot (we only have one plug in our kitchen) and the electricity went out. I went to the garage to get it back on, but failed. I then went over to my g'friends house to call Michael with the girls in the pouring rain. My cell phone didn't work; I couldn't drive b/c the electric gate didn't open; and, the house phone was obviously not working. As I was going over there I saw my landlord and waved him down, but of course, I couldn't tell him what was wrong (I haven't learned "the lights are out" in my Italian class). He did go over to the house, but he couldn't get them back on either.

Michael walks in the door, unplugs the crockpot and the lights come back on. Ahh. Life in Italy!

Jacqueline likes to open the window on our stairwell and yell "buono giornio" to our neighbors. Today, she did it NAKED.

We went to a wine tasting with one of the fighter squadrons this weekend south of Udine. Terrific wine! See, it all comes back to that.

Look who is crawling!

Julia is crawling!!!! Loads of fun with our tile and marble floors. More pics to follow.

Nothing much

I sharply took in my breath as I walked out the door yesterday morning. Snow was on the mountains right behind our village. I thought, "This is going to be a cold winter." I haven't ever lived in the mountains before so the snowfall is really a novelty to me. You can see the pine trees with the snow surrounding them. I really could have stood there forever, but the girls needed to get off.
Our stuff finally came on Thursday. It has been so nice sleeping on my bed. We still can't find any screws to put the crib, etc. together. Filing a claim will be interesting for screws. I also made it to Ikea yesterday. I need to get some lights and long drapes. I struck out on both those items, but oh well. It was a fun trip.
My nephew should be here today! YEAH. Mom is doing great.
This past spring I got to have dinner with the Aviano Reunion Group. I laughed when they told me the hardest thing at Aviano is deciding where to go on your next trip. It is indeed true as we can't decide where to go for the T'giving holiday! Vienna or Salzburg. It is also someones very BIG birthday and our anniversary so... Any votes?

Tutus and Tiaras

Well, the rest of our stuff finally arrived. Thankfully, it arrived a few days before M heads back to the states for a conference. I only have two more kitchen boxes, but plenty left in the store room and our room. Tonight we got our playroom set up where the fireplace is. We haven't completely figured out the arrangement, but we'll continue to play with it. The guestroom is huge! We still haven't found the screws for the futon (or the crib, or my outdoor swing).

I didn't tell JD our things had come. She was so thrilled when she saw her toys especially her costumes. She wore her ballet outfit the rest of the day with the tiara and shoes. She insisted in sleeping in it, but I successfully convinced her that princesses don't sleep in their tiaras.

I love going to the Italian markets. It is delightful watching the daily life of the people here. It is one way for us Americans to break out of our ease of shopping on base etc. I went with some friends on Friday to one of the bigger ones in Congeliano (not sure if the spelling is right). I learned how to order a coffee "to go." I bought JD some cute mittens and a hat for JL. I also get flowers once a month at the market and they had many beautiful ones to choose from. We were in the food stalls and one of the vendors tried to sell us a skate. ICK. Squid was everywhere. I am just not there yet.

Early in the week I went to a dinner with some friends at a woman's house who owns a wine shop in Sacile. She hosts private dinners in her home for ten + people. It was wonderful. She served us the best Prosecco and red wine. We had bruschetta and cheese for our appetizer, bean soup for our primi course, game hen for our secondi and a wonderful dessert (I still have no idea what it was). YUM. She had the roaring fire going, which greatly added to the atmosphere.

MEN!

Michael came in and announced last night that he has lost 15 pounds since we've moved here. See, this is where the world is somehow mixed up. How do you move to Italy from the desert and lose weight? Seriously.

Jacqueline loves to get the car washed so yesterday I made my first foray into washing the car over here. I went to our local Agip station b/c I love the little old man that pumps my gas (yes, I'll be missing full service when we move back). I drove up to the car wash and put my money in, but it kept on coming back. I tried a couple of more times, but it just kept rolling back out. I went over to the sweet guy and he made me pull my car into the washer (now the car washer is out in the open with rollers and all - just a steel structure) then put my money in. Holy smokes it stayed in the coin collector. You also have to stay out of the car so JD and I sat on the curb and watched the car get clean. Julia did stay in the car asleep. All of a sudden the dryer went on and I picked up JD and threw her in the car and I drove up under the dryer. Well, I finally realized I didn't have to do that as the dryer goes to your car. I turned around and the sweet little man and his friends were laughing at me. Lesson learned. I do have to admit, it was pretty funny.

Another shot of Trieste, videos of the girls and gelatria in aviano

Trieste's lighthouse and Julia in our yard on Saturday.

Yes, I know Julia has keys...

Trieste - Saturday the 13th

We hopped in the car after JD's nap and headed to Trieste (on the southeast coast of Italy and the Capitol of our region). Oh my, when we turned the corner it was just breathtakingly beautiful. We haven't really seen the Adriatic since we've been here. The coast is rugged (as you will see from the pics). We didn't even make it into town as we were so taken with the drive in. There are a couple of castles and a terrific wide walkway into town. We just parked the car and started walking. We met some girls walking with their nanny (4th graders) and they spoke English. One of their names was Giulia (Italian spelling). They told us about the town and where to go eat. We had a terrific dinner and enjoyed walking along the shore.

wine tasting

http://www.contedattimismaniago.it/photogallery2_eng.html The count who hosted our wine tasting. He gave us a lengthy discourse on corks - the plastic ones aren't very good b/c they are too tight and don't let any air in. some are made with MDF and others w/ real wood. I just couldn't believe the variety of wine from one vineyard.

http://www.palazzodattimismaniago.com/ita/index.php This is where we had dinner and the tasting. The dinner was quite yummy with two appetizers then pumpkin gnocchi, pork, and green apple gelato for dessert. I met some more terrific people!

1st and definitely not the last trip to Venice

Well, we finally made it to Venice! We were going to go Saturday, but it was rainy and dreary so we went on Sunday. For those of you living in Dallas or Tampa we taped one of those holiday greetings on Saturday. I was terrible, but oh well. Jacqueline and Julia were cute.

We found the Sacile train station after not listening to our nav (we haven't figured out all the quirks of it yet so it tells you to turn when there is no turn). We hopped on the train for the hour train ride to Venice. We were the only Americans in our car. These young (20ish) kids were sitting across the aisle from us. I just wanted to giggle the whole trip. No American 20 yr old man would be caught dead in what they were wearing, and I know they thought (and by Italian definition they did) they looked cool. They were wearing huge sunglasses, black shirts and white pants (tight not baggy) with spiky hair. The girls were wearing their Dolce and Gabbana big belt buckles. I guess everyone from the surrounding area goes into Venice for a day too.

The train drops you off in Venice so it was terrific. We saw the long lines at the vaporetto station so we decided to keep moving forward and walk. We encountered our first of many bridges making this city very unfriendly for strollers. We felt we had to bring it in case JD wanted to nap. We won't bring it again as it was a pain in the rear end (I'd love to say another word b/c that's exactly what it was, but I'll be polite).

Venice seemed small at first. It's dirty, but I reminded myself it is old and sinking. Also, many of the residents have moved out and the apartments are owned by people who occasionally vacation there. Graffiti was everywhere and it was terribly CROWDED. We didn't have our map out as we were too busy trying to carry our stroller. Michael kept asking me if I knew where I was going, but I didn't, of course . I just followed the crowd as I thought someone in it would know where we all were going.

We eventually broke away from the crowd when jd spotted some cookies outside a church! Well, mass had just let out and they were having their fellowship hour. The people kept giving jd cookies and chips with a coke to top it off. Boy, that nap won't be likely now. In true Italian style, they also were serving wine. I thought I need KR here as she would love it! 8:45 fellowship would change if we did that!

JD loved all the bridges and boats. She kept asking me what they were for so I had some fun making-up things besides repeating over and over, "that's how they get around." I can't recall when they put railings across the bridges, but I can't imagine the number of people who fell in before they were put up.

We found a lovely piazza to have lunch in away from all the crowds. It was such a beautiful crisp fall day we chose to eat outside. What is so terrific about Venice, you don't realize initially, is that there are no cars! It is quiet b/c of this and there is no dodging traffic, just people. Our lunch wasn't spectacular, but the setting was terrific and our waiter was funny. The guy next to us had a fish for lunch, and they brought it out whole. JD watched the process when she saw the fish being rolled to the table. The waiter whacked off the fishes head, put it on a spatula and playfully pretended to throw it at JD. Then he whacked off the tail and did it again. JD screamed and laughed. Then he gutted the fish. Her eyes were big now and we had to tell her not to watch the guy eat it b/c her mouth was still hanging open. She also loved the potty. No squatter this time, much to her dismay. This one had the plastic on the seat where you push a button and it just goes around and around and around. Well, we almost stayed there all day watching a toilet seat in Venice.
Of course, when we finished lunch, JD had to find gelato. And what do you know, there was a gelatria around the corner with a big ice cream cone in front. She picked Vanilla. YEAH (not hard to clean out of clothes). There was a scrumptious bakery across the street. I gained 5 lbs. just smelling the cookies.
We wandered some more and eventually found the Grand Canal. I couldn't believe the size of the gondolas. I just always thought they were small, but they are huge. The strength to operate them is incredible. It was absolutely fascinating to watch.
The crowds got big again and we were jostled around going to San Marco Square. I wasn't too impressed with it, but it was maybe b/c the crowds were so large and it's dirty, but I could look past it and see the beauty of Venice. JD loved the pigeons. They were jumping all over her including her back, and she just thought that was the funniest thing.
After being poked and prodded enough we walked over to the vaporetto station and jumped on #1, like the guidebooks recommend, to head to the train station. Michael looked and me and said, "Uh, the max occupancy is 215 and there are way more people on this boat than that!!!" as we were being squeezed to the side. Luckily, we ended up standing on the outside of the boat for the 40 minute boat ride back. It was a lovely boat ride back to the station.
We can't wait to go back sans a stroller and explore more of Venice. It is a charming city with many nooks and crannies, right in our backyard plus it was only an 8 E roundtrip ticket!
Guess who was on our train again? The boys with the white pants! What better date for a Sunday afternoon than Venice?

Get Well Soon Grandma!

Mom goes in for her surgery today! We wish you well and that the doctor gets rid of all the cancer! We know you will get well soon, but don't rush it! Here are some videos to entertain you!

Turn up the volume on the computer

video link - October

I got connected to this on You Tube - a video with nice music of our town and surrounding area. I'll have to figure out how to do music sometime. http://youtube.com/watch?v=VVDzbpYOJbk&mode=related&search=Remida%20Dardago%20bugo%20luce

video

Jacqueline showing her favorite sign at the lake.

I drive through this town regularly - Castello d'Aviano. Beautiful.Our town and the mountains again, but in video.

October 3rd

Over to the far left is our town (I am on my way back from dropping JD off) with a little snow on the mountains. Next, our swing covered with hail. Jacqueline and I had just been reading about hail so it was so funny that we had this hailstorm (I am hearing they are a frequent occurrence).

Jacqueline and I spent Sunday afternoon watching over 45 para gliders sail over our house. We had fun guessing the colors b/c you can see they are pretty close! Then we went out and saw them land within 1/2 mile of our house!

It's beautiful again here (rain last week and snow on the mountains in Piancovallo). No, we still don't have the rest of our stuff, but we are still settling in somehow. We should hopefully get it by the end of the month. Many of you have e-mailed and I am so sorry I haven't responded, but we don't have Internet at the house yet. I am hoping by the end of the week. I only have about 30 minutes to do e-mail when I can get to the community center. I did have a little shopping excursion to Sacile, an absolutely beautiful town about 15km from our house. It is built on a river. I even got to have my favorite - gnocchi - for lunch. The fall bazaar was this past weekend. I didn't do any furniture purchasing, but I did buy alot of wine and cheese. I realized at 1 o'clock I was a little tipsy as I hadn't eaten b'fast or lunch (trying to do too much) and this sweet wine lady wanted me to try all of her wines. I did break down and buy white chocolate wine - yummy- and you serve it in miniature ice cream cones. They also had glass from Murano.

Last night, JD wanted to play with the neighbors kids so we went over into their yard. We all just stood there b/c I didn't know how to ask and they don't know any English. Somehow after about 5 minutes of gesturing we figured it out and she had a good time. I did start Italian yesterday - flexing parts of my brain that haven't been used in awhile! We'll see how much I learn.

Rough week

It's been a rough week. Julia starting throwing up on Monday night and hasn't really stopped (now I'm just down to once a day and I'm better at not getting it on me). We walked into the hospital and she threw up all over me and all over her and these teenagers sitting there said, "that's disgusting!" I, of course, replied, "Why yes it is!" I then proceeded to the check-in counter and she wanted me to take a seat and wait in the waiting room. I was literally standing there dripping. I stood there looking at her. She told me again to take a seat and I politely replied, "Don't you think it's best if I go to a waiting room right now? I can clean both of us up then." Stomach flu - no surprise there.

The next evening we received the most unfortunate news that one of Michael's stellar paralegals husband was killed while riding a motorcycle. He was doing everything right and someone ran a stop sign. Please keep her in your prayers and their two young kids - 2.5 and 8 months. She's doing a good job of putting one foot in front of the other right now.

Julia signing more

julia playing with her pacifier - Michael took!

jd on her trike

The week

A bit crazy here with the pilot ejection issue (boy, that sounds funny). Michael and his team have been working non-stop. I am at my frustration point since I can't fully unpack since I only have 1/2 my stuff. I keep saying - "I live in Italy. Go drink some wine. Eat some gelato." Yeah, that only works so well when your rear end keeps getting bigger.

Due to that, we've been walking around our town at night (I'm pushing our stroller). Our town isn't flat by any stretch of the imagination and the streets are very narrow so it is truly an adventure to walk around. Thankfully, my stroller is orange! The little ladies of the town love the girls - they fawn all over them (at least I think it is that since I don't speak Italian). I did have one man yell at me for not holding JD's hand when we were walking - I think. The past couple of times we've gone to the cemetery (how this started I don't know). JD is now very interested in dead people. GREAT. At least this has gotten us talking about the subject. The cemetery is very beautiful here - electric candles on all the graves and beautiful statutes. It also sits on a hill so last night JD and I watched the lights sparkle in Vigonovo.

I love the ladies here - you rarely see them in pants and they usually have their aprons over their dresses. I can't believe the number of times this week I have seen my other "Italian image:" people do talk to each other through their windows! They will lean their bicycle up against the house and the person in their house has their head out the window chatting or yelling.

Michael's car of his days before marriage is truly getting banged around. I backed into the gate in our driveway before it was fully open and then this weekend, I went to the laundromat on base and hit the very low curb (didn't know it until I pulled out). The header on the bumber completely came off. Just terrific. I just went there so the towels wouldn't be crunchy (this is how they are when you dry them outside).

JD was sick this weekend so nothing fun or exciting. We at least found a use for the bidet other than it's true use.

The week

I still don't have internet so it's catch while catch can on the blog and e-mailing (melinda!). We've submitted our application to the wi-fi place so we'll see how long it takes to get it. I also contacted Vonage to get an American phone number. All this technology! I know nothing so I am trying to learn. My kids will know more than me by the time they are 5. I don't want to be one of "those parents."

We are so blessed living in this community. There are so many terrific down to earth people here (and lots of Texans). Michael even said the other day, "I really like it here b/c there is such a sense of community." There are about 10,000 people in the Aviano military community - including all family members and civilian employees. We have a hospital, but no emergency room on base and a new school! There is a library, a bowling alley (Jacqueline loves), a movie theater (not new releases truly - they've been showing Harry Potter this week), a grocery store, Post office etc.

We found a church service we agreed upon only to discover today that it is moving to 5 on Sundays so we'll see what we do about that. On Wednesday nights they have a gathering with Sunday School for a full hour (including adult classes). I enjoyed that. We are studying "The 5 Languages of Love." Of course, it is interesting doing a marriage enrichment class when your husband isn't there!

Okay, so last week we went to the mall in Udine and Jacqueline was all excited about the restaurant in the above picture. You should have seen her glee! Michael and I couldn't bring ourselves to do it so we ate Italian food, but didn't realize we were sitting in the chinese food section so Michael had to order another plate of food! There was also a Mexican food restaurant - hmmm at an Italian mall.

Well, our stuff came the SAME DAY as Jacqueline started school. Also, we only got half of our stuff. We have some table legs, our bed frames, one side of Julia's crib, some of my clothes, glasses, but no plates... you get the picture. No one knows where our other stuff is. I also had the house perfectly arranged in my head, but our overstuffed green couch doesn't fit through the downstairs door so it is sitting in the garage. I hurriedly drove JD to school then back to the house for 15 minutes then to the base for Officer's Spouses Club to sign-up for all the fun stuff (the Vice Wing Commander's Wife had RSVP'd for me so there was no way I wasn't going to show up). I stayed for 30 minutes and left to go home then back to p/u JD. Aren't you exhausted? I know I am. So far we only have a few broken things. For some reason, one of the packers put tape all over our leather ottoman and wrecked it. The chair isn't here yet.

The Monday before our stuff came, Michael and I had the pleasure of attending a VIP dinner with a visiting General. We were taken by shuttle bus (somewhere - I still don't know where) to an old restaurant - stone building. We started (the 12 of us) with Olives in the Olive grove and Prosecco (a type of sparkling wine). It was delicious. Then we headed inside to start on our first of many courses. The wine served at dinner was grown locally. Our first course had bruschetta and other appetizers. Then we had lasagna (but it was with a white sauce), next came some risotto, I can't even remember what the primi courses were, but there were about 3-4. They also served us one of the best things I've ever eaten - fried sage leaves. I can't even describe what they tasted like, but the men were a little reluctant. The secondi course was pork with cheese on top and roasted tomatoes and potatoes. Dessert was a creme carmel of sorts and figs etc. We also were treated to flavored grappa for our appertif.

Most of the guests were fighter pilots so needless to say, I feel indoctrinated to the AF now. It was just fascinating listening to a whole different side of life in the AF I know absolutely nothing about. I also now know the legend of Jeremiah Bush whiskey - the General informed us all about it. I also know how to make my own limoncello - another delicious appertif here. The grappa is more like gasoline to me. Again, terrific people serving the AF well here. If you haven't seen the latest news on our fighter pilot that had to eject check out estripes.com for the news. Michael hasn't been getting any sleep working on this issue - at work at 5:30 and nights past midnight. The pilot is so lucky to be here. He definitely had a guardian angel working for him.

pictures of Jacqueline's 1st day at the Asilo

Jacqueline running to Asilo - don't worry she was crossing the street carefully! She loves it. On the way to school she told me "she is big now and I wasn't allowed to cry about it." Today, she didn't want to leave and was upset she couldn't stay for the "big kids" lessons b/c she is a big kid too! She yelled at Michael that she gets to stay for lessons on Monday.

The nun - "We have nuns like in 'The Sound of Music' that we watched at G'ma and G'pa's."

Her room -


Her teacher Maestra Marzia. Love her. She and I are finding ways to communicate. She knows more English than she lets on - learned through the movies she told me today. I let her know I was starting lessons next month! The nuns just prattle on to me like I know Italian even though the know I don't.

The school - Michael said it looks like a war zone! Well, it does, but it's 100. I hope I look this good when I'm 100 especially if I've had thousands of children running all over me.

Pure Jacqueline, posing for her 1st day.

The video is of "the swing." I knew she would love it, and I can't get her off! Today she was excited b/c she got to sit in the front seat. There are some wierd blips in the video. She held her own against a boy who wanted her seat and thought he could bully her off. She did almost fall off shortly after the video, but she's got the hang of it now. Today she had me get on - yeah. My big butt, from all the pasta, wouldn't fit. No surprise there.

The two videos below didn't take -

september 11th

I have much to write about so I hope I remember it all. It's another beautiful day here in Italy. I am sitting outside blogging while looking at the green mountains with a bright blue sky above them. AHHHHH. Next time I will bring my camera so you all can sigh with me. Thank you for reading - I'm glad to know someone besides my mom is!

Last Friday night I went to Jacqueline's Italian school for the parent-teacher conference. The school was peeling and looked so old on the outside so I wasn't too impressed at the outset. I turned the corner and PRESTO - the playground - the center of the universe for any preschooler. The equipment was new and there are some really cool pieces. The nun in charge was conducting a service. I, of course, didn't understand a lick of it b/c it was in Italian. She wasn't your stereotype scary nun as she had much joy in her face! It was interesting being in a school with Christian images - I hadn't expected that.

There were four teachers up front. One was really cute and she looked like she would be fun (a great barometer for how good of a teacher she'll be I know). I also thought JD would love her red glasses and long hair. Well, that is who she got! Love her. JD's classroom has all new furniture and is newly painted. The school, by the way, is old as it is celebrating it's 100th anniversary this year. There are 25 kids in her class between the ages of 3-5. She only goes for an hour the first few days b/c it will be "so hard" for the 3 year olds then two hours and then three. Obviously this means I will be spending lots of time in the car. We didn't get into the school by our house.

The teacher asked me all about JD's personality (in Italian again through my translator - Michael's terrific assistant, Linda). At the end she said, "I think she'll be teaching me English by the end of the year." We all laughed. JD is most excited that she may eat octopus for lunch as that is what one girl told us she had sometimes. A group of people said last night she will be so disappointed when she goes back to the US and all they serve are grilled cheese and hot dogs.

On Saturday we did head to the mall in Udine. A beautiful drive through the countryside. It looked like a warehouse from the outside, but a typical mall inside. The size was deceiving b/c it was really big! I'll talk more about this adventure later when I have my camera with the pictures. I've added some more pictures of Florence to the top of the post.

9-7 pics including Florence

September 6, 2007

Interesting few days here. It has gotten cool so since we don't have any blankets -we had to sleep with towels over us the other night. Thankfully, yesterday, I talked to a friend and she loaned us about 10 blankets. I only have two pairs of pants for Jd and only a few long sleeve tops for jl so, much to my dismay, we will have to go to Udine to the H and M there to buy some clothes. I will try to get a coat for myself since I don't have one -it's been in the 50's at night w/ a high in the mid60's. It might warm back up tomorrow.

Well, we have two cars (but the license plate doesn't fit on the Tahoe so we aren't driving it yet)
On Sunday morning we got up early to go to the train station in Pordonene. The night before we decided to take a test run since we hadn't driven to the train station previously. For some reason, we decided to use the nav the next morning and it got us lost and we just made it on the train. We later discovered that I had progrommed in the wrong train station. yes, it was loads of fun trying to figure out where the train station was at 6:30 in the morning.
JD loved the train for about the first thirty minutes. We played a lot of "I spy" and watched some dvd's It was only a four hour trip to Florence - when you are from Texas - four hours is a short trip.

When we first got to the train station, I was thinking, "This is Florence?" Not impressed as I had heard so much about it. It was a comedy walking on the cobblestone streets with our car seats and luggage. I know we would have been on some show! The hotel was great and near the market. I bought a couple of beautiful scarves which will serve me well now with the change in the weather!!!
We went to a church near the hotel that was started in 383. Wow. Still wasn't charmed by Florence, but the artwork in the church was incredible.
We then just headed out walking (again another challenge since we couldn't bring the stroller and the car seats and luggage). We turned one corner and then, I understood, my breath was just taken away by Florence. I wish I could characterize it better, but it is just so old and buildings are fabulous. We didn't do any museums, but we will do that on our next trip. It is fun traveling with our girls b/c people automatically gravitate to us. They want to make Julia laugh and touch JD's curly blonde hair. People also can't believe Julia's name since it is popular here (and we live in the Giulia region of Italy- we must have known when we named her that we were coming her).
Okay, so the next morning we are on the train to Livorno to pick up the car. The Italians do not believe in lines so it was a challenge to get a cab at the train station. You have to be quite agressive. Our terrific cab driver found the warehouse at the port. When we got upstairs, they said so sorry the paperwork isn't done and it won't be done till tomorrow. yeah. Great w/ two small children in tow. My "type A" came out as politelly as possible- uh, you told us last week it was a go and come pick it up - what happened between then and now? Sorry - it wasn't done - just big talk.
We just sat in the office and let jacqueline color (I thought if we sat there maybe the paperwork would be magically done, but as they love kids, it really didn't matter). We then went downstairs for lunch as all offices close from 12:30-2:30. JD needed a nap so we had her sleep outside their office on the cold tile floor (again me thinking sympathy). They all came back at 2:30 and 5 minutes later the paperwork was magically done! They even drove us in this tiny little red car to the place where the Tahoe was. I guess a little wine and a nap during reposo worked!
We discovered on the fourish hour drive home that we cannot drive 80 mph on the autostrada when it is so windy. The wheels seem to actually lift off the pavement. Tuscany is magical. I saw some paitings in Florence and wondered if it would really look like that - the sunflowers and Italian cypress. I can tell you - it does. I actually saw some of the landscape depicted in the pictures.
Another interesting thing that you would never see in the states was a chapel at the rest stop. We said some prayers for safe travel and patience with small children in the car (and gratefulness for having the car).

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." Helen Keller

Pictures

Jacqueline at Piancavallo the ski resort on the mountain behind our town. It has an ice skating rink etc. About a 20 minute drive on a curvy road with no guardrails. I could look straight down the mountain and wasn't too happy about it. I also couldn't believe the number of cyclists.

I've tried to rotate this one, but am having issues. Julia at Piancavallo w/ Daddy. She loves to swing. Sorry the pictures are faded as we only had our disposable camera with us.

Julia enjoying her first bites of Italian food at the Pizzeria. Couldn't figure out how to delete the image. I will figure it out when I get our home computer up and running.

Our house in Dardago. I will be working on curb appeal soon! We have built in shutters, which are really nice.

The picture on the right is our balcony and looking back into town. We are looking forward to dining al fresco! Our neighbors are always eating dinner outside. The mosquitos are a bit troublesome, but we are working on that!

Below is the view of the mountains (the Alps) and our town. We can see this view out our bedroom and family room windows. Love the new YELLOW house!! We can only see it from Julia's room.

August 30th

This morning I heard a broom very close to our house at 8:30 in the morning. I looked outside and our landlord was sweeping a very small portion of our driveway. I couldn't believe it. He swept this very small area for at least 5+ minutes. I went out and greeted him and opened our gate. He came in and swept and pulled some weeds for about another hour. Very interesting. The Italians really do sweep alot.

Today I saw a nun riding a bicycle. I have only seen this in pictures, but to actually see it... I just laughed.

Michael and I are going to recommend that anyone who PCSs' here has to have at least $2000 saved up (really more than that b/c our car insurance is 5x as much as it was in the states). We are going to pick-up our second car so a lady told us to bring $500 Euros to pay people off at the port (this is a reliable source). GRRRRREAT. We had to pay the road tax at the post office today as it also functions as the town bank. It is not cheap and then, to top it off, they charge you a 1Euro "service fee." I just thought - I paid $500 for my car and then you charge me a dollar as a service fee? GOOD GRIEF. I can't even remember how many other things we have to pay for... At this point we just shell it over.

I'm trying to figure out the washer - still not sure if I am doing it right. I am not using the dryer since everyone tells me our electricity will go out so I am doing as the Italians do and drying my clothes outside.

OOh I forgot to say on Saturday morning one of the very sweet wives in the office took me out to show me around. I could get in trouble here. We went to the COOP in Pordenone (the closest big town). It is the grocery store and it is just wonderful. Every kind of cheese you could imagine. It is like a glorfied Super Walmart b/c it also has clothes etc. Then we went to a couple of houseware stores. One was like Ikea, but a little bit more pricey. Loved it.

Yesterday, Jacqueline and I amused ourselves by watching a tractor plow our neighbors yard. I saw it come in to Henrico's w/ two younger boys on it. They had a plow initially attached to it and the two boys differed on how things needed to be done - it was funny watching them yell at each other. I went in, got a beer, came back out to watch. I don't know how long this went on, then they got another attachment and continued to plow about 3x back and forth in no particular pattern and just left. I just scratched my head in complete confusion.

It is fun getting use to the night routine. We hear the bells chime, the clinking of plates and glasses being cleaned and then night falls. With the darkness, we start to hear all of the shutters closing. It is like having a warm blanket pulled on top of you. You just settle in and sigh.

august 27th

Well, we were just told that we have another month to go till our "stuff" gets here. It was suppose to be here today. Oh well, what can you do? So it is going to take 3 months for it to get here. Next week we should have phone service! Then maybe the internet, then tv then our stuff. Hey, at least I can quit microwaving hot water for my shower.

This weekend we went up to Lake Barcis. It was sooo beautiful. Emerald green in color and oh so clear and cold. JD really wanted to go swimming, but I stuck my toe in and screamed. Ice cubes, I swear, it was stocked with ice cubes. Plus, I would only have about 3 big boulders to stand on then I was over my head. I don't think balancing on a rock with a three year old who thinks she is a mermaid would have been a good idea. We got her an ice cream instead.

One of the three tunnels we had to take was 4000 meters long.

We had our first successful party last night. The office was invited to come over for gelato. I forgot to look up the word "box" before I left for the gelato shop so I had to do a lot of pointing to order it. I thought, no furniture, good excuse for a party.

See, everything comes down to gelato.

august 24th

Nothing too new to report. Jacqueline and I couldn't believe it when we came outside of the house to p/u Michael yesterday - the clouds were down in our village. It was just breathtaking b/c they framed our bell tower. We still only have one car. We'll hopefully go to Livirno to p/u the Tahoe this coming week.

I did accomplish quite a bit yesterday. I had to go p/u our decoder so we can get tv through the Armed Forces Network. We get 5-7 channels for free - but there are military empowerment commericals instead of "our" commercials. I won't miss all the ads for the elections - The directions were to a white building w/ a white cement fence in the industrial park in the city of Aviano. Well, I get to the industrial park and ALL the buildings are white w/ a white fence. Thank goodness we just bought a GPS. I didn't have the address just the street so I had to figure it out by the process of elimination. I did it though!!

We can see the lights of the city below from our balcony. I think its the town of Sacile, which has canals running through it.

Today I did venture into Dardago during the day. I strolled up the street and the little market on the square was open. I bought a few postcards of Dardago and an ice tea. I have become completely addicted to their peach ice tea. They had gelato and ice cream cakes, bread and numerous magazines. I can't figure out when they are open yet. I will sign up next week for my Italian classes so I can figure it out as well as figure out what my neigbors are saying to me. I know all their dogs names, but little else.

Pretty much everything closes from 12:30-3 including the businesses in the surrounding towns. That is the life, isn't it? Wake up, have your cafe, work hard, take a nap and eat lunch, work some more, stroll around your town, eat some delicious food and drink some wine (and drink a scorpino - not sure about the spelling, but it is lemon sorbet mixed with vodka) then go to bed.
I think I can do that every day for a few years. Come for a visit and you can do it too!

August 23rd

I still can't believe we are here. I'll probably say that the whole time I am here. Yesterday, some of the girls from the office and I went to a town called Nove where they produce ceramics. I was completely overwhelmed by all the choices. They actually produce some of the settings for Lenox and Tiffany's here. I bought some gifts - the prices are amazingly cheap. We also looked at some frescos.
I feel like a true Italian now. I met "the squatter." What is it you ask? a toilet in the floor. I totally wish I was kidding. We were in a nice restaurant too!! It is completely surrounded by beautiful porcelain. There is some strategy for meeting the squatter too, which we were briefed on last week in a spouses training session (didn't think it would include going to the bathroom). All I could think of was wait till Jacqueline meets "the squatter." Thankfully, after my meeting, I ate gelato. All was better then.
As we were leaving I saw an older woman peddling her bike with her dog in the basket. This is pure Italy.
Julia is signing "more" with gusto. She loves Italian food. She should be crawling soon, but I hope it waits till our furniture comes so I can have some rugs down. We do have beautiful tile floors. One of Michael's office mates has all marble floors in his house, which are just beautiful.
We think we'll have more than five pieces of furniture by the end of September. But the good news is that we have HOT WATER. I got to actually take a shower in the house yesterday. Now, I have no excuse to get out of cooking.
I did pass my driving test. There are no shoulders on the roads in Italy and the bikes share the roads with you. There are many streets I drive on not believing two vehicles can pass. I just can't wait to get the Tahoe!! Also I have to remember to check my mirror before I turn left b/c even if you have your signal on, they will still go around you on the left!!!!

It is my new mantra - "check the mirror and don't worry about the Italian in the Smart Car on your bumper."