Abandoned doggies in Italy

On December 1st, a poor injured bedraggled dog came to rest at the end of the day at the cemetery. He hobbled along on three legs because the one hind leg was injured. Mike came home and told me about him and we went back down to the office to see if he was still there. With biscuits in hand, I met this dear soul and we were off to Dr. Gandolfo's to see what he could do to help him. Buddy, as he was first known, was so sweet even though he was very hurt and probably in shock. Dr. G was able to position his leg back together with a plate and screws. We brought him home and he's been happily snuggling in his big bed in our kitchen.

Moving forward to today, Tiberius has joined our family but Butch isn't thrilled about this at all. Two males (especially one who is not neutered) makes for a difficult combination. We will start the new year by enrolling in a dog obedience program to see if we can bring peace and calm back to our home. An additional trip to the vet clinic will need to be scheduled for the big "snip" for Tibee as we have nicknamed him. All of this needs to happen before we make our big move to Belgium. Imagine three dogs and a cat and three or four humans in our van driving and staying overnight on our way there. Perhaps doggie valium will have to come into play? We can't take it since we need to stay alert so we arrive alive!

The last day of the year already?

Does anyone else feel the same way as I do? Where did 2012 go? The years seem to fly by so quickly even though there are times when we feel like things we wait for will never occur!

It is our last big holiday in Italy. We are still waiting to hear when we will move to Belgium. So many exciting things to look forward to in 2013 -- Michael's 15th birthday, moving, a trip for me to Penn State in April to see Kristen in "The 25th Annual Putnam Co. Spelling Bee," Kristen's 21st birthday, home leave this Summer to name a few.

We often make resolutions and then know full well that they won't be kept for long. So this year, as one of my friends in the Netherlands has posted, I'm not making any specific resolutions. I just plan to live a full life and remember what's important - family! So many people are grieving for those that were lost and their lives are changed as a result. It is so easy to live for tomorrow when, in fact, we should be living and loving all of the little moments of each and every day.

Kristen and I are sitting watching Julie and Julia before we go out to the kitchen to have a cooking adventure for New Year's Eve. Short ribs from Ital Carni are on the menu for tonight with turkey breasts to be roasted tomorrow instead of our usual pork roast and macaroni and cheese.

What surprises will 2013 bring? Wait and see...

Buon anno/Happy New Year from Nettuno!

The Sunday before Election Day

I'm sitting here in the almost dark and it's 10 am in the morning! It's a rainy grey day here in Nettuno. The quiet is wonderful and has given me time to look at various sites on the web. The biggest news is that we are only 2 days away from the Presidential election. Two days! So many people have predicted victory on one side or the other. My hope is that our country will be led by an individual who has the best interests of the country in mind and that good decisions are made. We have already voted by absentee ballot so all we can do is sit and watch what happens. An exciting point in this big day is that Kristen gets to vote for the very first time. I know that this is something she is really excited about. I don't remember the first time I voted. Almost 40 years have passed since then! Now I really feel old!

Whoever reads this post, please pray for those who are going to vote, for those who are responsible for maintaining the proper handling of the votes and for our country. We can be proud that we are able to vote in a free election. I know that there have been stories of different ways that people are trying to influence or change votes and ballots. Pray that they are not successful. I don't engage in political conversations online because they usually get uncomfortable for one person or another. This is not meant to promote one party or the other. We did have a very exciting election 4 years ago when America elected a man of mixed race for the first time. He promised change. It was a very big promise to keep. I'd be happy with a strong government who protects its citizens with appropriate assistance and continues the story of our country as the greatest nation under God.

Get out there and vote!

Anonymous

a·non·y·mous

adj.

1. Having an unknown or unacknowledged name: an anonymous author.

2. Having an unknown or withheld authorship or agency: an anonymous letter; an anonymous phone call.

3. Having no distinctive character or recognition factor: "a very great, almost anonymous center of people who just want peace" (Alan Paton).

 

Have you ever felt anonymous? It is a lonely feeling. It is a time in life when you know something is missing but you aren't really sure what it is. We all go through seasons in our lives when our schedules are clear and we are not over involved with activities and groups. But, when a season of anonymity comes upon us not of our own choosing but through someone else's decision, it finds us feeling adrift, unsettled and alone even when we are with our family or other people.

This is how I feel right now. After years of working in law offices, belonging to church choirs, playing in musical groups, having numbers of friends who I met along the way that led me to learn to cross stitch, quilt and scrapbook, join PTA, and, last but not least, study the Bible, this season of anonymity is upon me. When we are overbooked and schedule weary, we crave days of quiet and filled with nothing. When we are under booked and schedule empty, we crave days of activity, times with friends (who are far from us), reasons to get up and go!

 

When you have left behind a life that was filled with reasons to get up and go, it takes time to adjust to the quiet. My days are far from quiet due to homeschooling a 9th grader and keeping connected to our dear daughter at college. I guess what I miss the most is the sense of community that we had in our lives, when we lived in Belgium, France and the Netherlands. The people in our lives here are occasional contacts vs. consistent interactions which bring about that needed sense of community. It feels temporary but is lasting longer than that word usually means.

 

I'm reading a wonderful book that was suggested to me by a dear friend, Kristen Logan (who I met via PWOC). The title of the book is "Anonymous: Jesus' hidden years...and yours" by Alicia Britt Chole. The description is: "We all experience times of hiddenness, when our potential is unseen and our abilities unapplauded. This book redeems those times by reminding us that though we often want to rush through these anonymous seasons of the soul, they hold enormous power to cultivate character traits that cannot be developed any other way!" This book definitely helps explain why each step in our life is the main event. Here is a quote from the book that I just read and want to meditate on before reading further:

 

"In moments when I am tempted to treat this gift called time as though it were some unfortunate filler,

 I hear a gentle whisper from God in my soul: "Child, I am the God who wastes no man's time. 

To me, every course in your life is main.""

 

Are you registered to vote?

We mailed our absentee ballots from Naples on Friday.

What a privilege we have living in a free country where we

can each voice our choice for President every four years!

9th grade and 14 year old boys...

We are back to work and made really good progress today. I finally put everything in notebooks - I planned on doing this from Day 1 but that would be in the perfect world that only lives in my mind.

Our trip would have been better, if it hadn't been at the beginning of our new school and new year.

Now we are back on track and have made a little headway on our missed lessons.
 
K12 online seems to be a great fit. Even with a 14 year old who is dealing with 14 year old issues. Boys are definitely different from girls at this age. Maybe I'll learn to listen more and talk less and sympathize with what I hear instead of trying to always fix it... Prayer helps too.

Tomorrow is another day.

So many languages...

Buenos tardes, Buona Sera...

We are just back from a 5 day trip to the Netherlands. Wow! In only 2 hours from Rome you can reach Dusseldorf, Germany and start the parade of words in my brain and out of my mouth. Unfortunately, they don't necessarily come out in the right country for the right purposes. Like when we walked up to the Backerei and I asked for apfel kuchen and replied Si! to the nice man behind the counter. Rewind would be a great function for our mouths at times I think! But it generated a fun conversation with Mike and how he can speak (well, I might add) so many different languages. I, on the other hand, try my best to not make a complete fool of myself. I'm not always successful - there's the "noggin" story from our time in Germany and the "je suis pan" from Belgium. Not to be outdone, there's the fish tea story from Italy!

Our trip actually took us to the Netherlands for the Requiem concert at Margraten. We had the best time staying with our dear friends, John and Liz Nuyts. Visiting over meals and putting our feet up at night laughing and just visiting was the best of the best.

Saturday morning we drove over to Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery to visit with our friend, Caroline. This was our first cemetery to be posted back in 2001. It seems like yesterday that we lived there! Coffee and torta followed at Lou and Anna's home. English and Italian flew back and forth as we visited in our old home. Some changes have been made since we lived there but it brought back special memories just having a little time to spend with them.

On Sunday morning, we were able to attend Chapel in Brunssum and that was a very special experience for us since we aren't able to do that here in Italy. Seeing a few friends still in attendance at the Protestant service, sharing coffee and John's cookies upstairs in the American Room and finally getting to hug on a few friends from the Catholic service made for a full morning. We ran by home to pick up Iris and then drove to Margraten for the reception and lunch prior to the concert. Lovely food presented by the committee for these concerts in a tent on the grounds was very well done. The concert was performed by the Limburg Symphony Orchestra and Brabant Kor (chorus). Sgambati's Requiem Messa was not familiar to us but soon became clear that it is well written and an exciting piece of music. The orchestra and choir were in top form and it seemed like it could have been a recording for the quality of the sound. I can't wait to find a recording of it and listen again!

Sunday night we enjoyed a dinner of mussels made expertly by John and pizza (for 2 who didn't want to eat mussels - they missed a treat is all I can say!). Then football time with the New England Patriots which was a good game - nothing better than watching football with friends, right?

Monday morning rolled around too quickly for us as we prepared our suitcase and repacked to make the trip back home to Italia. The triborder community of Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands will continue to be thought of as home in all of our minds!

Back to the normal routine and life goes on. La dolce vita in Nettuno...