The End of April

I look at the calendar today and realize that in 6 weeks we are leaving for Italy. I have been taking walks around the estate lately, letting Giada see what Spring looks like here. There are wildflowers so dense it looks like colored carpets spread in the glades. Tiny yellow finches hover over the pond catching lunch, as I watch Margot chasing fat squirrels into the wood. I stand facing the ocean, glacing over at Giada lulled to sleep by the waves and birds, wondering if we are crazy for leaving this place. It's so warm today that I open every window in the house and I swear the wind brings it to life. I haven't prayed in long time, and I've almost forgotten how to, yet in this moment I feel a great lump of "want" in my gut. Want for a sign that there is a right decision, and want for a sign that we've made it.


Meanwhile, Giada has started eating carrots. She likes them so much that she grunts for more. She uses her two favorite fingers to help her swallow: I suppose that the sucking helps the carrots go down? Today, after a two day wait, she finally pooped...and the carrots reappeared! I never would have imagined being excited about a poopy diaper, but I do like to live on the edge :)

Gettin' my Pilates Cert. On!

I am about to embark on my third of five weekends of Pilates training. Yes, I decided to do it, and YES I am so glad that I did. IT has been a lot of work. More than I expected. I see now why it is a costly thing to become certified, but I really feel like this is the change that I have always needed. I am so sucked into it that I have started becoming a Pilates snob. I scoff to myself when someone walks by with an anterior pelvis. I grit my teeth when the cashiers shoulders are up to her ears.

All right, not that kind of a snob. I do find myself looking, though. Wanting to run up to the anterior pelvis and tell them how I can help them, that I bet they have lower back pain and I can relieve it for them. I also find myself wanting to spend $100 on a nice fly pair of Puma gym pants. Needless to say, I've done neither, but it's still in my head.

It's elating knowing that I am choosing a new career that I truly believe in AND one that will fit my new life as a mother. I know that it won't be easy to gain a good reputation, but I see this field taking me places. I feel much more confident in the thought of selling myself as a trainer than as a designer. That's not to say that I will never go back to landscape architecture. But for now Pilates trainer suits me just fine and I look forward to this title for the next 4 years or beyond!

Joe Pilates at 72. NO he's not single. And YES those are some hot shorts.

Highlines

Hey check out my brother's band! They say they sound like a mix of Better Than Ezra, Gin Blossoms, Counting Crows , Jimmy Eat World...but I would even dare say there is a little Dashboard and Foo Fighters too.

Johnny sings and plays bass guitar. He is a VERY talented musician. When he was five he could play the drums. In elementary school he played the trumpet and then eventually could play all the brass instruments, and WELL too. Then he picked up my flute and played better than me. Then he picked up our older brother's guitar and played it like he'd always known how. I used to make him sing the harmonies to Christmas songs with me until he'd cry to my mother. He forgave me, and sometimes when we were older we'd hit up an open-mic for fun...we got past the christmas songs of course. Now he's on tour with his band, Highlines, based out in LA!!!! WHAT? I know crazy.

So check them out at their MySpace,
or their website www.HighlinesMusic.com!

my new favorite jam

oh my god

I'm just looking at a post down there....Giada's hair is so scary! she looks like a balding man! I can't believe I posted those! poor girl.

hey...I'm right here!

wait, what's my name again? no joke...I was on the phone with the bank yesterday and I literally forgot my married name. I am finding it hard to tell if things are getting foggier or clearer these past weeks.

Giada has started to teeth, and 'lord almighty' can those gums bite hard! She's also started to roll over which means I can't abandon her on her changing table to catch a pee. I have to waddle, knees together pigeon-toed to her play-rug, bend over trying not to squeeze it out, then make a mad dash to the lady's before she's rolled herself out of her room and down the stairs.

Meanwhile, Adam has found a school that is affiliated with an American college, and has now enrolled there instead of the original school. What's great is it means we can get more money, BUT it also means complicated paperwork, and confusing Italian protocol. At the same time we are trying to wrap up the last of our dual citizenship paperwork in time for our 6 month in advance appointment at the Consulate. (inhale exhale inhale exhale....which leads me to...)


my ass is totally kicked. I have been training to train (yes I said that) to become certified in Pilates. I feel like overdone pasta and I still have to lift 13 pounds over and over everyday. I AM excited though and I am hoping that this is a good move for our move (yes I said that too).

Oh yes...Giada took the big plunge! She was Baptised on the 18th of March, so now she's going to be perfect forever, right? Really..she was so good...the only baby that didn't cry, and she slept during most of it. I cried a wee bit...can I still blame that on hormones? haha Laura flew in (the god-mama) and was delayed a day from snow, but she made it nonetheless...what a great girl! I just have to say...Laura is so freaking naturally beautiful and I wish I had curves like her! (don't mind the hair in this pic...I'm in transition for God's sake)


Okay so back to our move. We are SOOOO F-ing excited that the day is drawing near! Despite depleting our savings just a little, it's all coming together. We have plane tickets, passports, the visas are in the working, and our Apt is reserved. We'll soon be selling most of our furniture, and then we'll have an enormous garage sale. It feels good to be downsizing, but I am going to miss this life (4 BR house with 3 bathrooms [hey we don't own it so don't get any ideas...we're as broke as the next guy], the ocean a 10 minute walk, and in the middle of the woods). In about 2 1/2 months we'll be boarding a plane with 3 suitcases, 2 boxes, a dog crate, a carseat, and a stroller, and heading for Rome. From there we'll rent a van and drive our sorry asses to Florence, hoping we've taken the proper route to avoid $500 in fines, sleep, go to Ikea, and pray we remembered everything. More stuff will arrive in a few days, and then hopefully we'll be off to see more of Italy before classes begin!

Is this REALLY happening?

PS: anyone had any experience driving from Rome to Florence, or the reverse? any advice would help! our uncle did it last summer and got 4 tickets!