What did I need to vent? Oh, the usual. What I thought of on [...]]]> At the beginning of this week, my mind was all set to do a VENT post. As things turned out though, there was no time to do a vent post and instead I have time today to give thanks.

What did I need to vent? Oh, the usual. What I thought of on Sunday as “financial woes”. A couple of months ago, the van’s windshield cracked. Just like that, no warning. Two weeks ago, the windshield on the car cracked. It made me want to pull my hair and blurt out my 19-yo’s current favorite, “REALLY!!!???” But that’s not all. The van’s brakes also needed fixing, and there were a number of small expenses that just couldn’t be helped, kids needing shoes, clothing, etc. Oh, and how could I forget the oven that died last week and needed a repair? And on top of all that dh’s mom is recovering from surgery and she needs extra care so there go some of the savings….. (I am not complaining at all about that, though — we are half a world away and the least we can do is send some much needed cash to her caregivers to whom we are indebted much!) But yeah, you could say my head was spinning a bit watching those savings dwindling right before my eyes…. and especially since I’m hoping we can save enough money soon so dh could get a new (old) car. Not that he wants one — he’s not the type to complain and he’s the type of guy who will drive a car to the ground — maintaining it as best he can — you wouldn’t hear one peep from him about liking this or that model, though I know he notices some of the spiffy ones, him being Mr. Engineer and all. But his car is a ’93 model and it’s rusting a bit in places and if I could go out and get him a trusty little Honda right now I would. But….

So, my fingertips were itching to type exactly that and many more little grumblings about this and that and how life is unfair sometimes and how the secular world is driving me crazy — between the oil spill and Lady Gaga and Kagan and the lawsuit against the Vatican and various other things I had gotten wind of somehow even though I don’t spend nearly as much time as I did a month ago online…. okay, Stef, breathe. Sigh.

Let’s try this again, shall we. I said this was NOT going to be a vent. So I’ll stop right here and instead ask you, dear reader if you’re out there, to pray with me for several families who need MANY MANY MORE PRAYERS than we do.

1. My friend M and her husband, who’s been out of a job for I don’t remember anymore how many months…. that he will find employment soon.
2. My friend C and her husband M, who’s been out of a job since January. They have six kids.
3. Our friends D & F, whose family is apart right now because of jobs, etc.
4. Old family friends S & S, who live in New Orleans… what else is there to say, huh? Still recovering from Katrina and the oil spill and then with the threat of storms…. you get the picture.

And I should have done this first, but I have a LONG list of Thank You Lords that I’m trying to focus on instead of doing the pity party:

1. for a husband who saw fit to take Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University course and follow its teachings
2. for savings in the bank, food in the pantry, a roof over our heads, cars to drive, and clothing and shoes
3. for friends who love and pray for us — our lifeline
4. for beautiful children who keep us inspired and keep us laughing and give us reason to work our butts off daily
5. for my God who remains faithful no matter how neglectful and dismissive I get
6. for my marriage and its many many joys and blessings
7. for a Godly husband who knows his priorities
8. for the health of my parents
9. for our priest who is as sane and constant a shepherd as any sheep could want
10. for the upcoming family reunion, which excites me no end….

…. and which brings me to: THE PLANS!

- dear youngest brother requested a picnic, so we’re having one this weekend! At one of our favorite parks!
- farmer’s market on Saturday — hopefully to get some picnic items!
- Momofuku’s chicken wings! I hope we have enough time to get some cooking done together! Four chef-wanna-be’s in the same place…. could get hairy! My other brother is *the* chicken wing connoisseur so this one’s for him.
- I’m also hoping to make some really healthy smoothies for my mom and dad
- fireworks with the kids

Okay, gotta go. I’ve got laundry to finish up, two loaves waiting to be baked, and almond butter to be whirled in the Vita Mix. (The Thank You list is actually much longer, but I had to stop typing at 10 to get to the end of this post.)

The goals are many, my list is long. My family has been very supportive.

This is a huge thing for me, considering that I’ve been online in one fashion or another since college. [...]]]> Nine days ago I announced to my online circle of friends that I was going offline for 100 days.

The goals are many, my list is long. My family has been very supportive.

This is a huge thing for me, considering that I’ve been online in one fashion or another since college. Back then the screens were just green text on black, and our printers were dot matrix…. this was around 1989. But a few friends had started using e-mail and my first job called for me to buy a new PC and get online service, so I could work weird hours especially after having our first child. My first boss was super-flexible and super-tech-savvy that I only mostly went in to work when hubby came home and we could all go as a family. By then the offices at the research facility were closed and most of the people were gone, except my boss who stayed late sometimes. I had the most basic of services, I think America Online at $5.95 a month (hah!), and OF COURSE it was dial up. My boss had designed, together with his computer team, a software that allowed our computers to communicate.

So, online for 20+ years… though I’m not 100% offline during these 100 days. Still check my e-mail once or twice a day, and still blog. But the fruits have been undeniable. This was actually the result of a Lenten experiment that had to do with SILENCE. I have been reading, learning, studying this virtue…. maybe one of these days I’ll blog about it as well.

The projects (sigh) are endless — like the photo albums that have stood neglected for the past 10 years or so as we moved from place to place, had two more kids, got back to homeschooling, traveled…. it is tedious work, but B encourages me with his usual and pithy “One thing at a time”. Day One was easy: declutter my dresser drawer. “Work on pictures” was on Day 2 of my 100-day list, but I’ve been working on it for 7 days now. I’d suffer from total burnout if it weren’t for the fact that looking at these pictures, sorting them, rearranging them, sifting the good from the bleh, brings back so many memories, promises of days to come, dreams realized.

Ninety-eight projects to go.

I’m detaching, and re-attaching. It’s been a remarkable journey, so far.

When you get to the ads, click on the shirt images for close-ups. Haha.

Something’s seriously wrong with this ad.

She can dance the night away in these fantastic flats!

Really? Kids 3-7 years old??? No wonder we have problems in this country.

Love is a fire, which when fanned into a flame, becomes devotion.

The love which we begin with early on is a tiny bud, which we water and feed and grow under the light of His Grace… until it becomes DEVOTION. Love brought us together, bound us together… devotion keeps us together. By constantly [...]]]> Thinking:

Love is a fire, which when fanned into a flame, becomes devotion.

The love which we begin with early on is a tiny bud, which we water and feed and grow under the light of His Grace… until it becomes DEVOTION. Love brought us together, bound us together… devotion keeps us together. By constantly attaching ACTION onto the EMOTION, love is allowed to flourish and bear fruit. It’s when we try to live on EMOTION alone that we neglect the needful things…. and when there is no evidence of fruit then discouragement and disillusionment sets in, and we mistakenly think that LOVE has ceased to exist.

The same applies to our relationship with God. The action that proves our love for our God is also the food which allows this love to grow and bear fruit. It is a cycle that never ends. If we truly want to be DEVOTED to God, our love needs to be motivated into ACTION.

Reading: Introduction to the Devout Life

So I bought a bunch of pussy willow branches, just because I’ve always wanted some in the house. They are now at the fireplace, in a vase much too big for them… to look nice, it will need at least 5 more of these bunches. I guess I need a pussy willow vase for them to look “proper” but if I tarry too long even the vase will not be necessary. Nino (14 months) has been pulling the little catkins off the branches, at first attempting to eat them… and after being reprimanded he is now simply caressing them with his index finger. Pussy willow all over the carpet, the couch…. I suppose I should be glad I don’t have to get a real kitten for him.

He has also started to draw. We made him muffin crayons the other day from saved Crayola pieces. He seems to prefer the Derwent pencils though.

Unlikely place to find my favorite notebook, but there it is. My beloved Miquelrius, in the stationery aisle at Target. An even lovelier surprise: my beloved Miquelrius, in the CLEARANCE aisle at Target. I jumped and bought 5 of them, one for each of us. What I love about Miquelrius: the color coded pages, perfect for separating subjects without the use of tabs. Made in Spain. Quality paper that takes fountain pen ink really well. Yummy yummy.

The kids have started new notebooks. I was inspired by a conversation at the 4RealTL…. and was reminded that we haven’t done a proper notebooking project in a LONG while. (Did I mention I *strongly dislike* 3-hole-punched lined paper?) But the kids have been using it for years so it’s hard to break the habit — everytime I propose switching to notebooks they balk. But Miquelrius changed their minds this time.

Paco has started one for Technology, Migi for Weapons, and Yena is picking 4 different topics, Birds being the first one. She’s thinking of Engineering, Weapons, and Plants.

Mine is the “master notebook”, where I’m keeping track of all their projects and mine.

I also post this as an encouragement to myself and other homeschooling mothers who worry about their children’s writing skills. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it in the past but Aisa was very resistant to formal writing classes/lessons. I [...]]]> Since this is my blog, I’m allowed to brag once in a while, right?

I also post this as an encouragement to myself and other homeschooling mothers who worry about their children’s writing skills. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it in the past but Aisa was very resistant to formal writing classes/lessons. I tried so many books on her — The Latin Road to English Grammar, Voyages in English, Exercises in English, an online writing course, etc., etc. Finally around the 10th grade I gave up. I just continued to feed her good and great books, fueled by my own passion as well as hers, and just let her write, as she wished. Mostly on her blog. There was very little (emphasis on the VERY) in the way of formal writing in our homeschool. I did give her Format Writing to do on her own (because by that time I was frustrated with her non-cooperation and I frankly didn’t have time to go through her work and put up with the little annoyances of back-and-forth argument about what to do and how to do things. I don’t want to give the impression that she’s argumentative or stubborn. She’s very sweet, but I had to learn to strike a careful balance between giving her advice on her writing and basically just keeping my mouth SHUT. Most of the time I ended up doing the latter, just to avoid unpleasantness. Sometime before 12th grade I gave her The Elements of Grammar, figuring if she at least read that short book she’ll have the basics, even if we never did anything with it.

Well, she finished high school a year early and took several months off to relax and travel with us. She starts college in the fall. She’ll be in Honors English and asked a couple of people to write recommendation letters for her to submit to the committee. Yesterday, she got this from her Anglo-Saxon lit teacher, and needless to say we are mighty proud of her:

July 22, 2009

To Whom it may Concern:

I highly recommend Aurora (Aisa) P for entrance into your Honors Experience program. Her writing ability and critical thinking skills stand out in my memory as exemplary. I had the pleasure of teaching Aisa in the Fall 2008 semester of Virtue and Heroism: An Introduction to Anglo-Saxon Literature. This class is presented to junior and senior homeschool students as an honors-level writing and literature class. Its structure was based on the honors seminar classes I had in college and emphasized critical, text-based interpretation of literature and written analysis. Assignments included reading Anglo-Saxon works in translation, answering 3-4 analysis questions weekly, and writing a final paper incorporating elements of the semester-long study.

Aisaʼs writing throughout the semester was pointed and precise, supported with detail from the text. It was technically proficient, devoid of grammar errors and small mistakes, and submitted punctually. She followed directions precisely, except where combining answers to two questions on an assignment produced a more complete essay. She also far exceeded the minimum paper length, and yet her work was focused and didnʼt ramble. Her vocabulary is expansive, having been fed from a steady diet of great books.

In addition to writing competently, her thought was well-formed. The question on the final paper was to sum up the virtues of a good Anglo-Saxon man and woman. She drew connections between the class-assigned literature to works she had read in different courses, and to her contemporary faith and to her extra-curricular role leading a youth group. Chesterton was quoted alongside Bede, and Peter Kreeft, along with Beowulf. She was able to see the big picture, and often compared or contrasted one weekʼs assigned reading with that of a previous assignment. These skills are often found in upper-college level work; finding it in a younger student is a rare treasure.

Aisaʼs insights and academic ability would make her an excellent scholar in your honors program. I would be happy to answer any questions you have, and can be contacted by phone and e-mail. With my highest recommendation, I hope you accept her in your program, beginning her freshman year.

Sincerely,

The Condo, cont’d.

The Laundry Room

… is small and serves as the “1/2 bath” — so you can go to the bathroom while doing your laundry, I suppose

There’s a small Electrolux washer that holds about 1/3 of what my American washer does. And there’s a sink to [...]]]> Part 1 is here.
Part 2 is here.

The Condo, cont’d.

The Laundry Room

… is small and serves as the “1/2 bath” — so you can go to the bathroom while doing your laundry, I suppose

There’s a small Electrolux washer that holds about 1/3 of what my American washer does. And there’s a sink to do your handwashing, but mostly the kids have been using that to rinse after-the-beach things. There’s also supposed to be some sort of electric dryer above the toilet, but the condo owner said it was broken.

- Aisa: ~ Hanging the clothes outside can be time consuming, but it’s a very pleasant thing to do. Note that the sun is on the extreme left end of the balcony, the end that opens up to the two smaller bedrooms.

The bathroom

… is again, small but adequate. There’s a bidet opposite the toilet, but we are just not bidet people. The tub is as long as ours at home, but much narrower — I believe about 18 inches wide (the interior, that is). And don’t forget the shower curtain because you’ll be bumping into it as you take a shower if you’re not careful. The sink is huge as far as bathroom sinks go. We’ve been opening the bathroom window a lot, actually all the windows in the house are kept open when during the day and when weather permits — just better air circulation, hence healthier for us too. And the paint has been peeling off the bathroom ceiling, and steamy showers don’t help.

The bedrooms

There are three — one master and the other 2 for kids. The master bedroom has — I think — a king-sized bed. It feels bigger than our old queen-sized one, but smaller than our American king bed, so I don’t really know. S.ra Farina provided some sheets and pillowcases, but we needed more. I hadn’t planned on buying these when we came here, but I did find Italy-made sheets that were quite affordable. We bought our own towels as well. Common sense should have told me I should have prepared for a “move” as opposed to a “vacation” — but we didn’t even bring our most basic stuff (at least I remembered the knives!) that we take with us when we move from house to house. Esp. crucifixes and other religious items that we want around the house.

The balcony

This is one of my absolute favorite features of the house. It’s wrap-around and spacious, such that the kids can play balcony soccer (Paco invented the game and the rules, I’m sure he’ll be happy to teach Christian about it). The living room, kitchen and all three bedrooms all have exit doors to the balcony. You can view the beach from here. And check out what people are wearing so you have an idea of how chilly or warm it will be.

The condo complex itself is quite green and kept up well. In early April we were woken up several days in a row with machine sounds… turns out the landscaping guys were pruning all the trees around the condo buildings and planting flowers, etc. There’s a little grassy area in the middle/front of the complex, with seating — so the boys should be able to play there a bit. Not much running around, though, since there are cars coming in and going out, busier at certain times of the day than others, of course. Kicking balls is not allowed either, apparently. One disadvantage of balcony soccer is that the kids sometimes kick the ball out of the balcony, which means Paco has to make a quick run downstairs to retrieve it. Luckily we are on the first floor (counting the garages as “Piano 0″).

The neighbors are friendly and always ready with a Ciao or Buon giorno or Buona sera. S. Enzo occupies the door across ours. His wife died three years ago — he describes her as “bellissima” and quite clearly still misses her a lot. On the upper floor there is a little girl and her mom — they like going out for gelato. And then there’s a guy we affectionately call “Old Navy” because we don’t know his name, but he was in the Air Force and speaks good English. He has all kinds of tips on where to go and what to see, etc. Other neighbors in the condo complex are similarly amiable, so living here and coming and going are pleasant affairs. I have yet to meet an Italian who’s nasty. (Thank you, Lord.)

Next up: Shopping!

And now [...]]]> Unbelievable, but after spending several days trying to go online after work at hubby’s workplace (right outside the “palace” gates)… we are online, in our backyard. Because the signals don’t reach up to our apartment. Right now, we are in the parking lot, under the palm trees… and it’s REAL high speed.

And now I don’t know what to write. One of these days I’ll try to use dd’s laptop to upload pics, but for now, short blurbs will have to do. To be honest, I don’t know how long this free internet thing is going to last. We still have our Wind connection that hardly ever works…. don’t know if that one has a money-back guarantee, but at this point, I’m letting dh worry about that one.

This will serve then mostly as notes to my mom and relatives that want to get updates from us…. and then notes to myself on “things to remember”.

Palm Sunday in Rome

… was a bust. We got there really early, and parked at the place recommended to us by Italian friends. However, we followed our GPS for walking directions instead of just using the map… and still got lost in the process, and took several wrong turns, etc. I’d forgotten just how difficult walking around in Rome is, unless you’ve got a guide or are used to how the streets are configured. So while we got there at 8:00, with plenty of time to spare to get to the Vatican in time for Mass… by 10:30 we realized we were too far away to make it there. Between kids wanting to stop because they were tired or needed a potty break… and getting lost… you get the picture. We still managed to get lots of pics taken, and got some gelato in there. And yes, we did make it to the Vatican, at around 2:30 pm. Waaah. We sat around the square (circle really) and breathed for a bit, then went back to our parking spot… all in all 10 hours of walking that day. The kids were such troopers, I’m proud to say, and nary a complaint was heard.

Got home at around 8:30, had a late dinner (we stopped at an Autogrill on the highway for a snack) and dropped into bed exhausted. Woke up around 5 am (?) to tremors, which lasted about 2 1/2 Hail Marys… we were camping out in the living room — which we do on weekends. Hubby went to work and came home that night telling us that the epicenter of the earthquake was 1 1/2 hours away, in L’Aquila, and that people had been e-mailing finding out if we were okay. We hadn’t had ‘net access in several days so I had to wait ’til Tuesday to e-mail some people and tell them we were fine. That week we had two aftershocks, mild… the first one we were at the grocery and hubby rushed to find me but — haha — I hadn’t even felt it. The next time we had just tucked everyone in bed and were getting ready to sleep ourselves… so we had some good practice in planting ourselves under our doorways. Life’s an adventure, I tell ya.

Holy Week
In the morning we attended Lodi (early morning Liturgy of the Hours). And then we had planned to do a visita iglesia on Maundy Thursday — basically a pilgrimage to see Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament in 7 churches — but didn’t get to as hubby came home with a bad ear infection.

Good Friday we went to Church for the Veneration of the Cross and met a couple of wonderful parishioners who spoke English. One reason being that they wanted to make sure Migi was qualified to receive Holy Eucharist. He was asked while we were in line for Communion, but since we didn’t understand each other my dd simply gestured that yes, he can be given Communion! Afterwards we explained that he had received his first Holy Eucharist in the US. Apparently here in Italy children don’t go until 9 or 10 years of age.

Saturday we decided not to attend the Vigil anymore as we planned to leave early the next morning to attend Easter Mass at the Vatican… which we did! After about an hour of getting lost again, thanks to my mistake of setting the GPS on “Pedestrian”. It wouldn’t take us into the GRA! And we didn’t realize it until after half an hour of going round and round a certain road right outside it. Duh.

Easter!
Anyway… Easter in Rome… awesome. What can I say. The kids were so excited to be HOME. I hope they take that experience into adulthood as one of their life’s highlights and share it with their kids as well. Pics next time, I promise!

Oh… yeah. Our Lumix is dead right now — it died on Saturday. Which means we’re using the kids’ Coolpix… will have to have the Lumix serviced when we get home

Easter Monday is officially a holiday here… so nothing’s open. Forget the American practice of shopping the 50% off sales after a major holiday — no such thing. Well, I don’t know really. I’m still hoping to see some of the humongous Easter chocolate eggs tomorrow when we get our groceries.

Have to stop — hubby’s laptop is out of battery. Will try to go online again later or tomorrow!

Aisa having fun with the mirrors at home (the blue-looking area in the very back is the laundry [...]]]>
Really affordable mozzarella — the kind we buy at Jungle Jim’s for $9-10 a PIECE. This here container has 10 balls, at 4.50 Euro (it was on sale — regular price is 6.10). – March 19

Aisa having fun with the mirrors at home (the blue-looking area in the very back is the laundry room). – March 20

and then with Nino… – March 20

the gang at La Rusticana – March 20

and Paco and Migi

my foccacia — eggplant, artichokes, corn (!), tomatoes, olives, mushrooms, zucchini and potatoes. La Rusticana’s foccacia is similar to cracker crust pizza, but no sauce and no cheese, and simply topped with fresh veggies. Drizzle olive oil on top and you’re all set.

and my dessert — gelato amarena, 3 layers of delish

Aisa with the pizza oven, and the pizzaiolo

Nino’s smile – March 11

Yena and Nino [...]]]>
found a Town and Country here (and same color as our van in the US!) — an Italian version, approx. the same size as the Fiat Ulysse we’re renting, thought that was pretty funny — this was taken at the apt. complex where our condo is – March 10

Nino’s smile – March 11

Yena and Nino – March 12

roast broccoli flavored with lemon, salt and pepper, and finished off with a sprinkling of Parmigiano-Reggiano – March 13

the family minus Aisa, hotel balcony before we moved to the condo – March 14

Aisa practicing her violin which she opted to bring instead of her guitar — view from her room and balcony – March 16

Pork belly, from locally raised “mountain pigs”, marinated in balsamic vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper — I would have grilled this had we a grill, had to pan-fry it… but no complaints! – March 16

Aisa and Nino, March 17

Look at that hair! Nino after his bath – March 17

flying into Rome, March 8

in the microvan — hey, we fit!

driving to Pescara

sleeping Nino… cried for 10 minutes on the plane, jet lagged 1 day, then he was fine!

on the beach

sorry for the low quality pics — we’re still [...]]]> trying to take advantage of fast internet this morning — hope this goes through — 974 kbps!!

flying into Rome, March 8

in the microvan — hey, we fit!

driving to Pescara

sleeping Nino… cried for 10 minutes on the plane, jet lagged 1 day, then he was fine!

on the beach

sorry for the low quality pics — we’re still getting the hang of GIMP.