-17

let the countdown begin! wooohooooooooooooo! i'm already starting to think of what i'll be packing...

happy thanksgiving!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
i'll be thinking of all of you! and the mashed potatoes. and the stuffing (outside the bird). and slavenka's jello salad. and mom's pumpkin pies...

benvenuta ARIANNA!

ARIANNA is here! she's my good friend francesca's brand spanking new daughter! she was born yesterday afternoon (november 25th... one day before her due date) at 4:44pm (my favorite number btw!). she weighs 3.44kg and is 51cm long. i'm leaving work early today to go see her! i would take photos and post them but my digital camera isn't working properly (it's giving me an error reading) and i'm holding out until we're in the US to buy a new one.

november 16th

thinking of you mom and i know you read my blog so i just wanted to wish you a
BUON COMPLEANNO!!!

we love you & hope you have a great day!

early xmas gift

today was francesco's first full day off since we got back from namibia in early april. it was soooooooo nice to spend the entire day together! we slept in this morning and then did some work around the house (hanging some pictures that have been waiting to be hung for over a year... sheesh!) and then this afternoon we went "window shopping." well, that's what it was supposed to be but we ended up buying quite a few things so i guess we went shopping period. francesco bought me my xmas gift! i'm so excited! it's an espresso machine that i've been wanting for ages. this is what it looks like:





it's really easy to use (though the instruction manual was pretty darn complicated... i gave it to francesco and told him to explain to me how to use it after he figured it all out... ha!). i love it! and it looks great in our kitchen with our other red accessories (like our red SMEG fridge).

all in all it was a great day. :)

nonna turns 80!

today is francesco's grandma (nonna) luigia's 80th birthday! wowowowowowow! i woke up extra early this morning so that i could go to the outdoor market at the piazza del mercato in la spezia to buy her a plant for her birthday (she LOVES plants... remember how i took her my dead geraniums?). i ended up picking out a red peace lily. she was very happy. today franca (francesco's mom) is having her hysterectomy so i think it's a bittersweet day for nonna.

phew! dogsitter... check.

i had been putting off contacting our dogsitter because in all honesty i was afraid she'd say no because of gustavo's behavior with other dogs. i didn't think she'd come right out & say no... i figured that she'd be diplomatic and use an excuse like that she was already booked out. so i finally built up the courage and sent her a text mesage yesterday and she replied just a few minutes later with "sure!" phew! phew! pheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew! what a relief. i was already thinking of back-up plans (thank goodness i won't have to enact them!). i'm sad that penelope & gustavo won't be with us (or anyone in the family) for xmas but i know they'll be in good hands. i'm going to wrap up two bones for them so our dogsitter can give them a gift on the 25th.

so i have one more thing ticked off our to do list before our trip. next up: lining up a rental car at a good rate (rates seem higher than previous years but i think it's because of the holidays) and purchasing travel insurance.

trying to piece everything together...

we're counting down the days until we leave for california! we can't wait! the only thing that we're both sad about is leaving penelope & gustavo. poor babies. we're really going to miss them.

tonight over dinner francesco & i were discussing a rough outline of the 21 days that we'll be in california. so far we've decided that since we're flying into LAX we'll stay the first two nights in los angeles and that the day after we arrive we'll go to universal studios. that's about as far as we've gotten. obviously we still have a lot to piece together. at least we know where we'll be for christmas eve & christmas... taft! :) i can't wait for francesco to experience an american christmas.

a flattering week

this has been a flattering week for me...

a few days ago i was reading reviews from previous clients and i came across one that was posted recently and guess what it said?!? something like "the room was great blah blah blah" and then "the girl from california that works in the office is a hotty" i about died laughing! i have to admit that it made my day, though. heeheehee! am i totally shameless?

last night gustavo had his training lesson. sometimes after our lesson we hang around a bit to watch the others training but last night it was really chilly so i decided to go. as i was leaving the trainer called me over to talk to me. keep in mind that the trainer is a bit rough around the edges with humans (but he more than makes up for it with the dogs). he's not the type to pay compliments... on the contrary, he's very quick to point out all of the things you're doing wrong. ha! anyway, getting back to my story... he called me over because he wants me to join his team as a handler. he's an ENCI (which is the italian version of the AKC) certified breeder of boxers & dobermans. he wants me to take one of his boxer puppies and raise it to show in obedience trials. he already has a team composed of five or six handlers and they are really, really impressive with their dogs. it was a very flattering offer, especially considering who it was coming from. i have to admit that it's tempting but we just cannot handle another dog right now (i have plenty on my plate with penelope & gustavo). maybe someday when we have a yard? *sigh* in the meantime i have to admit that the offer boosted my ego just a tad! heeheehee!

there's nothing a little scotch tape can't fix

maybe you remember my post about our dsl not working? well, i finally called our ISP and i spoke with tech support. apparently our modem was working and transmitting an a-ok signal to them so we narrowed it down to a faulty cable that runs from my laptop to our modem (don't even ask me why i'm not using my WiFi... that's a whole different story). i jumped in my smart and made a quick trip to la spezia to pick up a new cable. i got home, changed out the cable and guess what? the new one didn't work either. so while i was back on the phone with tech support i wiggled the cable around a bit and realized that it wasn't making proper contact. so guess how i fixed the problem?!? scotch tape. yep. very classy i know. but the important thing is that i'm back online! :)

gustavo turns two!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GUSTAVO!

our baby boy (a.k.a. french bulldog) turned two today. it seems like yesterday that he was born. of course we had to celebrate so we bought a nice big steak for him and topped it with two candles. :) i know, i know... call us crazy but we really do love our dogs that much.

yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! tickets bought!

i just got finished buying our tickets home for christmas... YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! i'm so excited! :)

we're flying out of pisa on the 17th of december and we'll be flying back on the 7th of january! so christmas AND new year's at home! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY! i'm doing my happy dance heeheehee!

we're flying alitalia (which pretty much stinks) but our connections are quite good (we have to change only in paris) so i'm happy about that. oh! and we're flying in & out of LAX (which is highly unorganized & crazy... i would have definitely preferred SFO but so is life).

i just wanted to share the good news! i now just need to nab a good car rental rate and we'll be good to go! oh... and travel health insurance (ehem... i learned my lesson on that one!).

where's our internet?

you never know how much you depend on something until you don't have it anymore. our dsl isn't working at home for some reason and i feel like i'm missing a leg. i didn't realize how internet dependent i've become! last night was even worse because francesco was watching a soccer game and i was twiddling my thumbs (normally i'd be online). i think i need to buy a good book. hmmmmm...

the port of genoa (genova in italian)

yesterday i drove to genoa to pick up our wedding book (album) from our photographer. it turned out lovely! we'll be bringing it home with us at christmas so everyone can see it. since i was already in genoa i decided to make the most of it and i hit up one of my favorite stores...

i love ikea because it's one of those places that you can get lost in. and i was so happy to be there alone because i didn't have anyone breathing down my neck trying to rush me (sorry, no offense francesco... heeheehee!). i ended up buying some new pillows for the couch, a sheepskin (to cover up the chewed corner of the couch... thanks gustavo) and some other odds & ends. all in all it was a great day.

the funniest part was when i got home to biassa i stopped by to see francesco's cousin andrea & his family because i wanted to show them the book. when andrea found out that i went to genoa by myself he thought i was crazy. as if it's some kind of epic journey to get there. mind you that genoa is less than 2 hours away from us and 95% of it is on the autostrada (the italian tollways) and only 5% of it is city driving (which can sometimes be a bit scary but i've got the hang of it... thank goodness for our GPS though!). i tried to explain to him that i did longer roadtrips when i was 18, but it really is another world here.

by the way, i love my smart. :)

we'll be home for christmas!

we'll be home for christmas! YAY! i'm really excited about it because it will be francesco's first christmas in california with my family. we haven't bought our tickets yet but we should be doing so soon. i think we'll only be able to be in california for two weeks (which passes in a snap, trust me!) but i'm just excited to be there!

burnt out...

i'm feeling burnt out at work. stagnant. i need something to shake things up and get my mind reeling again. after working here since 2003 it's feeling monotonous. i can only tell my "story" so many times a day before i start to cringe and fake an italian accent so i don't get asked. i know, it's pathetic. i think it's because we're towards the end of the season and even though i should see a light at the end of the tunnel, i'm not seeing it yet. and the funny thing is that i should LOVE what i do as i'm not overworked and/or underpaid like so many these days.

the girls of rio

here's a photo that was taken of us at julie's baptism a few weeks ago.

L to R: kiiri (canadian), martha (californian), julie (50/50 american/italian), christina (british), me! (don't ask why i'm not smiling, i have no idea) & last but not least, kelly (canadian)

at the beach with p&g

our "family outing" at the beach in marinella

francesco, gustavo & penelope

gustavo... he's a happy boy! :)

usually francesco has wednesday afternoons off but this week he had to switch with thursday. because gustavo has his dog training lesson on thursdays he was going to come with us to the lesson & bring penelope, too! we were all excited... until it started raining. i called the trainer and he said it was raining there as well so he cancelled the lesson.

we had to stop by the vet clinic to drop off gutavo's pee (see my other posts if you don't know what i'm talking about) so i talked francesco into taking the dogs to the beach in marinella (sarzana's marina area). dogs aren't technically allowed at the beaches in italy but my logic was this: bad weather = empty beach = happy dogs on beach! so we went...

it was pretty deserted. there were some fishermen who apparently don't care if there's bad weather and one foreign family who didn't seem to care either. it actually was perfect. we couldn't have been happier!

apparently i wasn't thinking ahead because i didn't bring any towels for the dogs (or francesco's feet... i kept my shoes) so i had to use a mitt for washing the car (that i luckily had in the back of my car) to try and dust the sand off of the dogs before putting them back in the car. i don't think i was very successful and i'm sure i'll be remembering our trip to the beach every time i get in my car for the next 6 months.

uncle mike, do you recognize that shirt? :)

welcome october!

welcome october! i'm so happy you're here.

to me, october means:

• chestnuts falling
• tourists diminishing
• the return of some much needed peace & quiet

update on gustavo's health

well, the good news is that it looks like gustavo is just fine.

this morning i kept an eye on him (he was acting like his normal self) and i was relieved when i saw he had another yellow pee this morning (sorry if this is TMI... too much information... for some of you!). so i left him at home in the company of penelope and went to work, feeling like the worst was over.

i rang our vet clinic to speak with one of the vets just for some reassurance. when i described what had happened our vet seemed quite worried. she said that it could be poison (as in gustavo ate something with poison in it) or it could be a serious infection. keep in mind that i have a really good relationship with our vets and when i call for little things oftentimes they'll tell me what medication to buy and how to administer it so that i don't have to drive all the way to their office. in other words, they aren't the type of vets that always say "come in!" so that they can charge for the visit. so when she told me to come in ASAP i started to get that worried sick feeling in the bottom of my stomach again.

i picked up gustavo from biassa and we drove to santo stefano (where the vet clinic is located... it's between la spezia and sarzana). francesco came as well but drove his scooter because he had to be back at work by 5pm and we didn't know how long things were going to take. gustavo ended up getting the works today! first they shaved his forearm so they could withdraw blood for the exams. then he had a thorough exam of ALL his body parts. then we had to take him into another room where they shaved his stomach and slathered gel on him for the ultrasound. what a strange way to see your dog's insides.

luckily gustavo's bloodwork and ultrasound on his bladder were all within the norm. i still have to turn in a urine sample tomorrow but at this point all signs seem to point to a burst blood vessel caused by a mild trauma (i'm sure having your bladder filled to the brim doesn't help much!).

it was an expensive day but i guess you can't put a price on peace of mind.

the big scare

maybe you're starting to figure out that we have neurotic dogs. if you haven't yet arrived to that conclusion maybe you will now...

gustavo is a creature of habit. if he were human he'd probably be diagnosed with OCD. he only likes to go to the bathroom in his special spots. period. when he was a puppy he had to have eye surgery and even after pumping him full of liquids through the IV he refused to go pee until we got home. it was the longest pee EVER. and he was a PUPPY. they aren't supposed to have THAT much control, right?

well, this is the next best on gustavo's pee list. today he came with me to the office for work. after lunch we headed to forte dei marmi (a little over an hour away from us) for his lesson with his dog trainer. we actually got there an hour early so we headed to the seaside to go for a nice long walk (& to practice on everything he's been working on). at 5:30pm we met his instructor at the field for an hour and we didn't get back to biassa until about 7:30. keep in mind that during the day he was with me nonstop and didn't pee once. when we got back to biassa he stopped in one of his "special" spots and finally peed. and peed. and peed. keep in mind that it was getting dark and he was peeing on gray cobblestones and i STILL could make out that something wasn't right. it was bright and i mean BRIGHT red. it wasn't thick like blood but everything else about it looked like a puddle of blood. this is NOT normal. i'm worried that he's brought on a UTI or even worse that he suffered some kind of trauma (jumping into the car? at his lesson?) on a very full bladder and perhaps damaged some tissue? i have no idea. when penelope had her bladder infection she had just a little blood in her pee... nothing like gustavo's tonight.

the good news is that he's peed twice since. one with blood (the second) and one without (the third). third times a charm, right?

we flipped him over and pushed around on his stomach to see if he was having any sensitivity but he wasn't showing any. i'm hoping this is just a fluke and that he'll be fine tomorrow but chances are we'll be making a vet visit.

what's next? i think i need a dog psychologist. sheesh.

easy how-to

here's an easy how-to on how to leave comments on this blog...

• at the bottom of each blog entry you'll see a white box with the time the entry was posted and the number of comments that have been left for that entry, here's an example:

Posted by amy at 2:18 PM 0 comments

• click on this comments link at the bottom right of whichever blog entry you'd like to leave a comment about.

• an empty box will come up... write away to your hearts content!

• when you're done writing your comment you'll need to click the drop down menu where is says:

Comment as: Select profile...

• you'll see that there are a bunch of options to choose from in this drop down window. click on Name/URL and a new window will come up where you can type in your name (just ignore the URL part)

• click Continue

• click Post Comment

• you will be directed to a word verification box. enter the letters as they are shown in the image (this helps prevent spam comments) and click Post Comment

• and finally... you're done! your comment will be sent and will be posted as soon as it's approved!

thanks for commenting. now i won't feel like i'm talking to myself. heeheehee!

is anybody out there?

does anyboy really read my blog? i honestly have no idea. i started blogging because i thought that it would be a great way for me to keep in touch with everyone back home. i just don't know if anyone is really reading what i write. hmmmmm... i've played with the settings so now you should be able to leave comments. please let me know that you're out there! and if for some reason you can't leave a comment drop me an email so i know! grazie :)

5 a day

some people think that "five a day" is all about eating your fruit & vegetables... not in our house! i hate, hate, H-A-T-E ironing. *sigh* so i have to set up a 5 a day program for myself to get through the piles & piles of clothes i need to iron. if i try to iron it all in one day i get VERY grumpy (just ask francesco... ha!) so i focus on ironing 5 items per day until i get through the entire pile (after which i go on an ironing strike and wait for the piles to accumulate again... aren't i sly?). :P

in the states you hardly ever have to iron because clothes come out of the dryer in relatively good shape (& once you fold them you can hardly tell if they're a little wrinkled). not the case here in italy where we don't have dryers and we hang everything to dry. aside from the fact that everything is a little "crunchy" (read: not soft) after being hung to dry it's also wrinkled. and the worst part? in italy (or at least where we live in italy) if a man goes out looking wrinkled and frumpy it's not a reflection on him... but on his wife. yep. you read right. no comment.

francesco's mom & grandma iron EVERYTHING (as is the norm here) from underwear (what's the point?) to sheets, shirts, jeans, etc. etc. i draw the line at what can be seen (if you can't see it then it's NOT getting ironed!).

so far i'm on day 2 of my 5 a day program. so i probably have a good month to go before i get through it all. sheesh.

one ugly spider

we have a houseguest. well, i guess technically it's not a houseguest because it's living on our terrace but you know what i mean. i have no idea what this thing is but i have a feeling it's like the black widow of italy (just a hunch, for all i know it could be completely harmless). it has a really, really sticky web (i accidentally walked through part of it the first day) and for whatever reason i associate sticky web with poisonous spider (hey... why is that?). anyway, i have a soft spot in my heart for charlotte's web so i'm not going to do anything about it unless it starts invading MY space! ha! if anyone knows their spiders and wants to tell me what it is (and most importantly if it's poisonous!) please do tell. :)

p.s. did you see that my succulents are still alive! wowowowowowow!

a week of ups & downs

Dog Training

vs.

this has been a week of ups & downs for me...

the good: wednesday afternoon francesco & i took gustavo to his first ever meeting with a dog trainer. even though the trainer seemed a little rough around the edges he was great with gustavo. i think gustavo & i will learn a lot together. :)

the bad: wednesday afternoon when we were at the training field with gustavo i noticed my eyes were acting/feeling funny... thursday i woke up to a swollen eye that was practically glued shut. ick. guess what it was??? pink eye. i have no idea how i got it (i've never had it before) but since then i've been having cortisone eye drops and it has really improved (thank goodness because the very first day i was sporting sunglasses even indoors! ha!).

tomorrow is julie's baptism (julie is my friend martha's baby) so i'm looking forward to having an excuse to dress up and hang out with the girls. :) hopefully i will remember to take my camera so i can share some photos afterwards...

drastic weather change

we've had a drastic change in the weather... thunder & lightning and pounding rain. the rain was sorely needed... although now it's too late to help the grapes (they've already been harvested and because of the lack of rain this summer apparently it wasn't a great season). but at least it will hopefully dampen the plans of a serial arsonist (if there is a serial arsonist?).

penelope doesn't like thunder... it never bothered her before but for some reason she's changed her mind about it in the last year. she doesn't bark or shake or do any of those typical things that other dogs do... she just gets really on edge. in the middle of the night the thunder & lightning were super close so i caved and let her & gustavo join us on the bed. after that she slept like a baby! ha! what a spoiled brat... ;) or should is say brats (plural)?

apparently the weather is supposed to remain like this until thursday...

just a thought: are my succulents on the terrace going to drown in all this rain?

happy birthday andy!

i don't think my brother follows this blog, but just in case...

HAPPY 32nd BIRTHDAY ANDY!

riomaggiore fire

photos by: giordano natale

last night there was a fire in riomaggiore... i'm starting to think that perhaps this isn't a coincidence? two fires in the cinque terre in the span of just a week (in all the years i've lived here there hasn't been even one). and there have been fires in other places in liguria as well (near levanto and another near genoa). maybe we have a pyromaniac on the loose?

i was actually at home in biassa last night when the fire started on the hillside behind riomaggiore. francesco called me at about 8pm to tell me that he could see flames on the hillside from his store. after they closed the store he went to his parents' house where they kept an eye on things (as it was quite close to their house). francesco finally got home around 1am (i was in bed by then) and i guess right around that time the fire changed directions and headed straight for the homes on the edge of the village (like francesco's family's home and my friend christina's home). they were evacuated and didn't get back into their homes until hours later. luckily all of the homes were saved but i spoke with christina this morning and she said it was the scariest thing that has ever happened to her...

by this morning the fire was put out but the planes are still dousing just to make certain there aren't any hot spots left...

fire in the cinque terre

we had a fire in the cinque terre this week... in corniglia, to be exact (that's the third village).



we haven't had any significant rain in months so it's pretty dry here. i don't think it took much to set it off. it was strange because that day i walked to manarola with gustavo in search of tiles for grandma jean (an epic search, but that's a whole different story). the skies were absolutely clear on my way to manarola & back. when we got back to riomaggiore i was at nonna's house for less than an hour and then on my way home i saw LOTS of smoke. strange that so much can happen (& burn) in such a small span of time.



the fire burned for two days before it was put out. i'm still not certain as to how many acres were burned (i'm sure it's nothing in comparison with california fires but for such a small area it was significant & it made it on the nat'l news).



here are a few links if you're interested in seeing other photos:


http://www.cittadellaspezia.net/fotogallery/07-09-2009-INCENDIO-CORNIGLIA-207_1.aspx


http://www.cittadellaspezia.net/fotogallery/07-09-2009-INCENDIO-CORNIGLIA-207_2.aspx





in the YouTube film you can actually see what i saw on my drive home (that's riomaggiore that you can see in the foreground).

it's cooling off...

thank goodness. it's so strange... the 1st day of september we started having a drop in the temperatures. it's like mother nature knew that the calendar had changed a page. anyway, the cooler weather was much needed and much welcomed. :) heeheehee!

ci risiamo...

ci risiamo (here we go again)... penelope's eye problem isn't "fixed" like we had hoped. :(

a few weeks ago she had an ulcer (a scratch) on her cornea and we had to give her antibiotic drops for 10 days. at her check-up visit our vet was surprised at how quickly (and well) she had healed. we finished the treatment and for four or five days she was just fine. then two days ago she started having the same symptoms again (lots of tearing and blinking and when it's at its worst she keeps that eye shut). we started the drops again and i called the vet (we are supposed to go in tomorrow).

i'm starting to think that maybe she has an eyelash that is growing inward instead of outward? distichisis is what that's called (http://pet-diseases.suite101.com/article.cfm/distichiasis_an_eye_disease_in_dogs) it's the only explanation that i can think of.

the problem is that penelope HATES having her eyes touched or "worked on" so it's next to impossible for the vet to really see what's going on. maybe we'll have to give her a tranquillizer or something so that she will sit still. hmmmmmm... the funny thing is that for two days her eye looked terrible but this morning her eye actually looked quite good (almost like normal). i wonder if she's figured out that she has a vet appointment on the horizon? hmmmmm... ;)

auguri chelsie!

today is my cousin chelsie's wedding in san diego. oh how i wish i could be there! (*sniff, sniff*) one of the hardest parts of being away is when i know the whole family is together... without me. :(

AUGURI CHELSIE & BRUNO! we hope you have an amazing day and we can't wait to see the photos! congratulations!

open mouth, insert foot

i'm so embarassed... i committed a MAJOR faux pas today.

penelope & i went to la spezia to run some errands and i went to intimissimi to pick up some new undies. i know a few of the girls that work there (just from shopping there) and i saw one of these girls and I SWEAR (swear, swear, swear!) that she looked pregnant. i asked and she said no. gulp. i still feel horrible about it. talk about putting my foot in my mouth. and the worst part is i didn't really know how to "right my wrong"... i think i just dug my hole a bit deeper. mamma mia.

note to self: even if you see someone who looks NINE MONTHS pregnant never, ever, ever ask! lesson learned. :(

family outing :)

gustavo, our champion swimmer :)

yesterday was my day off and francesco's afternoon off. we decided to go on a "family" outing (a.k.a. with penelope & gustavo) to the magra river. unfortunately, dogs aren't allowed at the beaches here in italy but they are allowed at the rivers (hence the decision for this outing). we loaded up penelope & gustavo & all the gear into our very spacious smart (hahaha!) and headed out. the magra river runs between la spezia and santo stefano di magra/sarzana. it's not a popular destination because we're right on the seaside (so who would bother going to the riverside?).

after some offroad (talk about 4x4 in my little smart!) we came to a great spot and we had it all to ourselves! the best part was that we were able to have penelope & gustavo off the leash without any worries about other people or dogs (something that hardly ever happens here).

penelope actually acted more adventurous than usual and was the first to wade in (not too far though!). the river is actually really low right now after months without significant rainfall so we could easily wade from one side to the other (it was about waist high on us). we learned that gustavo (once he gains up the courage) is a SUPER STAR SWIMMER! wowowowowowow! and the funniest thing is that he's FAAAAAAAST! he swam so much faster than we could walk! penelope wasn't very confident with swimming so we eventually put her life jacket on her but then we had a little near-drowning experience! while gustavo was swimming he would swim towards us and then try and climb up on us (ouch! i have the scratches to prove it). so when he saw penelope floating/swimming with her life jacket on he tried to do the same thing to her. result: he climbed up on penelope's back thus pushing her completely underwater. kind of like when people are drowning and they cling on to whomever or whatever they can find... francesco dove and pulled him off before it became disastrous (thank goodness!). but that about wrapped up our swimming for the day! penelope & gustavo were both SO tired that they crashed on the way home. last night we didn't hear a peep from either of them. ha!

the creepiest thing at the river was that it was full of minnows (and i mean FULL). when we waded in they would all swim away but as soon as the water calmed a bit they would come in and start touching your legs with their little mouths... EWWW! reminds me of an article grandma sent me about the new pedicures in the states where you put your feet & legs in a vat with little fish in them and they eat the dead skin cells... how disgusting is that?!? i guess i got my own free spa treatment yesterday. ha! ;)