Which of these things did not happen to me yesterday?

1. locked our keys in my car
2. almost fell off our roof
3. had foot urinated on by a dog


Haha, it's a trick question...ALL of those things happened yesterday, and help to explain the giant plate of fungus below..

Yesterday started of innocuously enough. A trip to the gym, work out, take awesome yoga class that proves to me how out of shape I let myself become with move, nice drive home. To enter our house you have to open a gate that you then pull the car in through. I exited said car, hear the door shut behind me, opened gate, went back to car, and BANG, door won't open. Ten years ago this would have been a fairly common occurrence for me. Since newer cars have emerged that make it virtually impossible (by ways of key fobs, doors that can't, supposedly, be shut locked, without unlocking themselves, etc.) this hasn't happened. Until yesterday. In the good old USA, not such a big deal. In rural Italy without a phone and without nearest neighbors home BIG deal.
Here I am, car running, girls about to get out of school-needing to be picked up, and no phone. On top of that, no phone numbers memorized with which to call for help.
I ask our nearest neighbors who are home, with my bungled Italian, if I can borrow their ladder. This is the first time I met this poor woman, and may I remind you that after the gym I am a natural disaster unto myself. I take the ladder down and she helps me extend it for our (very) tall roof. Once on the roof I realize the tiles that are on the roof are much, much, slicker than they appear, and that the window I need to get into is directly over the twenty to thirty foot drop into our garage area. After nearly giving myself, and my new friend, heart attacks I get in through the window, get extra keys, and head off to get the kids from school.
Let me interject that at this point I'm also on empty since my car was sitting there running for an hour while I got into the house. It's riposa (afternoon siesta time in Italy) so no gas stations are open. I get to the school in the nick of time. While waiting, still nasty and stinky from the gym, I notice a warm feeling on my foot. Looking down I realize that a dog has just URINATED on my shoe. Yes, really. What are you going to do? At this point there is absolutely nothing to do but laugh, hard. Did I mention I also needed to talk to Liz's teacher that afternoon. I'm sure at this point she is convinced I am a raging lunatic. Italians would never show up to their childrens school in sweaty workout gear, and dog urine is SO last season.

Finally, I pick up the kids, navigate the self serve at the Italian pump (not as easy as one would think!), and make it home to a nice HOT bath. That night we took a cake down to the neighbors who were so kind (did I mention that I also almost broke their ladder?). Catarina (neighbor) was nice enough to bring the cake plate back today with the beautiful mushrooms on it. I can't wait to cook them up with some polenta and cheese tomorrow. It may have made the whole day worth it.

The girls and I also planted our flowerbed. We now have rosemary, daffodil and garlic bulbs, and pansies planted. Selection is limited this time of year, but we have big plans for spring! And to my mom, who loves to garden..we now have gardenia, lavender, rosemary, roses, ferns, geraniums, hibiscus, ivy, pansies, mint, (my favorite) marigolds, and I can't remember what else growing quite happily out on our porch and in our yard. Can't wait for you to see it in person!

Our wonderful neighbors.

Sunrise over the vineyard next to our house this morning.

We are really, really lucky people. That's the only explanation I have for the fact that we have had the BEST neighbors anyone could wish for. This time around seems to be the same (ok, not quite the same, no one can replicate our last batch!!). On one side we have Daniella and Ricardo. They are two of the sweetest, most patient, smart, and gifted people we could hope to live next door to. Ricardo is a music teacher. Frequently we hear both he and his wife playing either the piano or the guitar. Oh, paradiso! Daniella is a retired teacher and my coffee/language buddy.



On the front side of us we have Gringo's family. Gringo is our neighbors dog, we rarely see his owners and can't remember their names, but Gringo provides us (and Sophie) with endless entertainment. Remember, we have no TV now! Gringo would love to be Sophie's friend, she seems to be toying with him.

On right side we have the family with the vineyard.


The other day we saw him out in his field and he proceeded to give us armfuls of fresh grapes straight from the vine, along with a heavy dose of language that I couldn't understand to save my life. Today Chris picked up our latest gift, home made wine and more grapes, that our neighbor dropped to Ricardo and Daniella for us while we were at the AF ball last night.

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On a side note, the rest of the town is starting to adjust to us too. I count it as a major milestone that along with the "crazy American" looks I get while running, I've also started getting a few "Buona Corra!"'s (Good Run!) as I jog by.
Liz has already announced that she plans on working hard so that she can retire here. I may not be at that point, but I definitely see having a hard time leaving.

The walkway, and why I was digging ditches

Here is the "before" shot. Well, actually I'd already started moving bushes and taking this photo was a good excuse for a break!

In Italy it is not at all uncommon to have gravel walkways and driveways. That being said our home is the only one in our area that does not have paving for both. The gravel can be charming and all, but is also a major dirt tracker and not the easiest to walk on. So....our fantastic landlords decided to pave the walkway. Originally there were large bushes to the side of the walkway. I spent a few days transplanting these to empty spots along the outer fence so that the walkway could have a flower bed next to it. Our poor neighbors truly do think I'm crazy now, "yes, I LIKE to work outside...No, I don't need Chris to help....No, really I LIKE to dig in the dirt, seriously." The soil is a "little" rocky here, but is not nearly as difficult to dig in as the baked clay of Oklahoma, or tough soil of Alabama. Nonetheless the experience left us with two broken shovels and handfuls of blisters. That being said, there is little that I enjoy more than good hard work in the dirt with beautiful weather.This is "during".
And here is the after. Well, almost. The flower bed still needs to be planted, but that's in the works.

Pictures of the girls

Prior to leaving the states I had promised my grandparents I would have pictures made of the girls. I thought for about half a second before realizing that I know one of the best photographers around, and promptly asked her. Here are the first batch of photos from that shoot. (Tracy, you are amazing as always and I love them.)
By the way, some of the pictures are a little off-it's my scanner, NOT the photos.

First day at scuola

This is Emma on the first day of school and her school. The middle school and elementary school are connected by a hallway and share a lunchroom. They are doing some construction to Emma's school right now as you might be able to see in the front.

This is Lizzie on her first day and her school building.

This is across the street from the girls school in the parking lot. Liz is wearing her grembuile.

Ok, I'm technically writing this way after the first day, but we've been malto busy..... I've had a couple of false starts with this post!!
So, we're now into the third full week of school for the girls. The first week and a half they both had half days, six days a week. That was great, because full days might have killed us all. Liz is now on full days, Emma is still on half. Her full days will start this week.

Ok-ways that Italian school is different:

1. They speak Italian......The girls are rapidly picking it up and once again I'm astounded at how many Italians speak very good English. Emma is also taking German as one of her usual classes.
2. The schedules are different every day. Liz has 3 full and 2 half days, Emma has 2 full and three half.
3. Liz wears a grembuile to school each day. This is a black smock that the children wear to protect their clothing and works as a uniform of sorts.
4. Emma's class stays put, and the teachers rotate in and out of their classes instead of the other way around.
5. The lunches are 2 course, sit down, one hour affairs. According to Liz it's fancier than the restaurants we go to. I'm jealous.
6. The children also have one to two breaks per day. It's a time to have snacks and just rest. How civilized is that?
7. The children only occasionally have homework. If they do it's on the half days.
8. Classes are very small. Liz has 12 children in her class with 2 full time teachers. Emma has around 14 children in her class.
9. During the winter they will take a week or two where they will have "school" in the mountains, skiing etc. I'm hoping they need parent "helpers" this week.
10.The kids are also occasionally riding the bus to and from school. (All sorts of firsts for the James girls). Kids are not allowed to leave school or the bus stop unless a parent is there to pick them up. No latchkey kids in Italy!

Overall the girls are enjoying school, which makes all of our lives a little (lot) easier.

Emma's new bed (otherwise known as Representin' Oklahoma in Italy)

Prior to leaving the states we knew that Emma needed a new bed. After all, the girl is taller than most adults already and hasn't even caught up with me yet. We really figured that we could come over here, buy a bed, no problem...... The European beds are not exactly what we've come to expect in the states, so cross buying local off the list. The BX has random assortments of pieces of beds at really high prices, ya'll know how cheap I am, so cross that off the list....But wait, all the stars aligned and there was a great sale the other day. We bought the queen size mattress set only to be told that we could have the mattress, but not a boxspring. The boxsprings are out and wont be in for at least two months. Ok, no problem. We drove the van down to the little storage facility in a tiny almost abandoned Italian military base, and (grandparents-quit reading here) tied the mattress to the top of the car. Chris tried his best, and almost got us the boxspring too (after all, it would be a sturdier haul that way) but no go. So, off we took with the mattress on top of the car. All of a sudden I was transported back to my HS days of doing stupid things in cars with the same music playing (I believe "Buffalo Stance" was on). To top it off, we both had hands out the windows to insure that our new purchase didn't flatten the Fiat riding our tail..in the passing zone...with plenty of room to go around.....because it's just funner to honk at silly people than to go around them. That was funny enough, but no, we're not done. When we got home we realized we'd seen a post for a box spring on the Aviano classifieds (their mattress was destroyed during shipment). Rather than wait two months we decided to go for it and drove 20 minutes away, at normal speeds, to pick up the box spring. Now, we're on the road again, this time with a box spring attached to the top of the car. Chris is sitting in Liz's seat to raise him up a bit so that he can hold on through the window. And the early 90's music is on AGAIN. It's dark, cars are piling up behind us (including a bus that eventually passes us), and we decide to trust the GPS. HA! We end up on a gravel road in someones farm land, going 5km an hour, with the full moon, and a box spring attached to the car. Eventually we do make it home, and now Emma has her new bed. Who else but my husband (or maybe my mom or brother) would do something crazy like that with me?! Oh yeah, bringing a little bit of Oklahoma to Italy.

Aunt Helen (1906-2009)

It feels a little wrong to blog about this. It feels even more wrong to skim by it, not attempting to acknowledge the impact it has.

Our Aunt Helen passed away yesterday. Technically she was my great Aunt, and the girls great great Aunt. Aunt Helen was kind, caring, and very devoted to her faith.
When I was a child she lived with her two sisters, May and Elizabeth, in a home near the old family farm. I spent the night there one time, lying terrified in bed as I heard what I was sure some poor lady being brutally murdered. When I brought it up the next morning they all looked puzzled, then laughed and laughed as they explained that it was the neighbors peacocks I had heard screaming at each other all night.
Sometime around the age of 90 Helen started refusing the Christmas gifts we would bring her, after all she was going to die any day. Sometime right after her 100th birthday she started quietly taking them again. I'm not sure if she just realized it made us feel better, or that maybe she figured she may be around for a while after all.
Helen was always impeccably dressed, even in her very proper pajamas. Her home was always spotless but welcoming, even when her home moved to Providence Place. She kept up with the large Murphy clan ( quite a task!!) , always knowing what each of us were up to.
My tiny nucleus of family had a tradition of visiting a church in each city we traveled to and saying a prayer for Aunt Helen, not because of our beliefs, but because of hers.
It's been a few months since I've seen her, and I knew I wouldn't be able to see her for at least a few more, but I feel the loss of her already.

This was the last picture I have of her. She's a little frail in this one, I wish that I had a picture of her to post earlier in her life. Aunt Helen was a beautiful person, with a beautiful spirit. We will miss her.

Top three (or so) funny things about Italian Radio

1. Disco Duck. Yeah. "Italian, Italian etc....Disco Duck....chuckle". I have no idea what it is. Contest? Show? Who knows? If you know, please put me out of my misery. I hear it at least once a day on multiple Italian radio stations. The only clue I have so far is that is does have something to do with Donald (the Duck). Hmmmm.

2. The fascination with Shakira's "There's a She-Wolf in your closet" song. How much got lost in the multiple translations on this one? Never mind, it's fun to sing to driving down the road (you should hear the kids howl). Haven't heard it yet? I'm sure it's coming your way. Maybe.

3. George Clooney (read number one, insert George Clooney for Disco Duck). Hmmmm, is George Clooney Disco Duck?

4. The Neverending story song.......at least 20-30 times so far. I didn't hear it that much in the decade the movie came out!

The funniest thing is that most of the songs are American. At least it's always good for a laugh.

Slovenia, Venice, and some of the best friends a family could ever hope for

During the past week we had some of our very bestest friends come in for a little summer vacation. We started off by heading over to Slovenia. Slovenia was part of Yugoslovia, and it's only a short 2 1/2 hour drive from us, through Austria, to reach Lake Bled. The little towns around the lake were quaint and pretty, and we all loved the Alpine Agriturismo we stayed in... especially the kids. This is Max being lick attacked by some of the farm puppies, and no, we did not bring any home. (There were also kittens and horses, I was way more tempted by them!)

This was the view from our balcony, including the train of cows as they were being pastured the next morning.

Oh yeah, Lizzie was digging the cows. By the way Kansas, Iowa, Oklahoma folk-nary a John Deere in sight, it's all Massey Ferguson and Ford. I'm loving the red and blue!

This is Castle Bled from the lake shore below. We hiked around the lake and up to the castle.

And then all of us on the castle ramparts above.

The castle had a couple of restaurants, an herbal apothecary, a live band, and a museum. Some of their relics were excavated from over 2,000 years ago. The castle itself is only a little over a thousand years old.

The lake was crystal clear with HUGE fish, "massive, ginormous, everybody gather round and look" big fish. We went swimming in an area they had set up with a super fun fast water slide and diving board. I couldn't resist posting these pic's of our brave swimming party jumping off that huge diving board.

On our way home we encountered our only real problem with Slovenia. I had never heard of driving with a "vignette" before. I'm sure I will never forget it now. A "vignette" is the tax you must pay and sticker you must have to drive in Slovenia. Chris also sent me the list of other countries that require this nifty little money maker: Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania, and Slovakia (not to be confused with Slovenia). These "vignettes" are to be purchased at the first gas station you pass as you enter one of these countries. How, you may ask, are you to know about these? Well, you aren't! That way you can bargain your way down to a 150 Euro fine from the 300-800 range fine they originally tried to stick you, and 80 of your closest friends with, as you were on the border LEAVING. Not, if you ask me, a good PR move for the tourist department. All in all Slovenia was nice enough to return to, even after getting hit with the Eastern Europe stupid tourist tax. Here's more info and pictures to check out: http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/east/bled.htm
Our friends that visited are definitely world travelers, we were so excited to actually go with them to a country they'd never been to!
Their last day here they wanted to see Venice again, ok ok twist my arm:

Amanda and Irving upheld the kiss under each bridge tradition. Lizzie was angling for a kiss as well, she had to make do with me. Going along with the theme, we also passed by the home of Cassanova. I had not read about Cassanova's life, it's really fascinating. He was a lawyer, a soldier for a while, play write, and gambler, as well as being one of the most famous Venetians of all time.

I could probably type another page or two about the neat things in Slovenia, Venice, and seeing our friends. I'm just not that inspired right now, so...enjoy the pics, and start planning your trips! Weisenthals-we miss you already!!