End of Week Dump: Green Machine and my first day!

Alright this week has been busy but I really promise to get back into the blogging routine! Here is a past week Dump!

After a rough weekend and a meltdown from the buildup of said rough weekend, Wednesday, I was finally able to pick up my car! Thanks to the USAA guy who actually did his job right, (first go around of trying to get the insurance card left me in tears) I was able to complete the 3 hour process of getting my car registered, inspected, and getting my first set of gas coupons! Ill tell you now after not driving for almost 2 months it was very nerve-wracking getting behind the wheel again. The green machine did not enjoy her first trip up the driveway from hell, but I think a little practice and she will do fine....also maybe getting the brakes checked just to make sure lol!

Tucker Update: aforementioned rough weekend. We had another incident with the neighbor dog Thor. This time, after a bath and closer inspection, Tucker appeared to get the worst of it. He has some bite marks on his poor little ears and some surface lesions/scratches down his neck and on his left shoulder! I was so scared for my little puppy but he seems to be doing better. Lots of neosporin on his wounds (luckily I had just got some for my own from my bike accident), a couple cans of dog food (he usually only eats dry unless we are having problems getting him to eat-like after the incident) some boiled chicken (for when he really wont eat anything), and lots of snuggles and neck/ear rubbies from mom, he seems to be on the mend...again!
After some phone calls to the housing office and threats of breaking our contract and moving , the message finally got through to our landlords (I would call them directly but they dont understand english and my Italian skills are lacking). Dont worry the fence appears to be constructed shortly. Just yesterday they brought all the preassembled pieces, so hopefully its a short wait before it is up!

Well yesterday was my first day of the new job! I am the Homework Lab Tech at the Villagio Youth Center. After the first day I already know that this job is going to be very different than teaching preschool. I will be assisting 6-8th graders with their homework as needed and otherwise just hanging out with them and simply supervising them in the center. The kids come and go as they please, are never required to participate. My side of things will be working with kids who have signed a contract with the center and their parents to come to the homework lab a certain number of times a week. I will monitor attendance and work as a type of liaison team with parents and the middle school. I will also be helping plan some fun learning activities that are available to win points for the kids for prizes and parties at the end of the semester with competition between grade levels. I love how relaxed everything is at the center and the people I will be working with are great!

Best part of the new job: having my mornings to do what I want (such as today, I can keep up on the blog). Yesterday I was able get used to driving around, which means I pretty much found different routes to post and to the malls...hey a girl has to shop! Well better finish cleaning as I am expecting a certain someone home in the near future.

Stay tuned, this weekend my adventurous travel buddy Rachel and I will be heading to a local vineyard for a cooking class and wine pairing! I'm just excited to eat!

St. Patty's Day Italian Style

 For a Saint Patty's Day trip my friend Rachel and I visited the city of Bologna in search of some Irish Festivities. Getting off the train around 1pm we simply started to wander around and just take in the sights. After realizing we had no idea where to go and what to see we invested in a trusty map! Good decision looking back now. We started to head to the main square Piazza Maggiore (I think I only wanted to go there because Maggiore is like Maggie). Anyway we were able to see one of the 12 entrances to the city and parts of the Medieval city wall.

Porta Galliera

Enjoying the beautiful buildings that were simply massive we stumbled upon a market which is on my agenda the next time I go to Bologna.

Via Dell' Indipendenza-Street Market

Palazzo D'Accursio- now the Public Library

Strada Rizzoli -way to Le Due Torri

Public Library in the Piazza

Palazzo Re Enzo

More Medieval Castle- view from the Piazza Maggiore

 

Inside the Public Library

Below the Library old Ruins

Fontana del Neptune

 Rachel and I and Neptune (Ignore the photobomb behind us)

 Basilica Di San Petrono

Inside the Basilica (shh don't tell we weren't supposed to take pictures but it was just so grandiose I wouldn't be able to describe it)

 Rachel's and mine favorite street, with some festive Italian musicians- I think it is Via Clavature

Finally made it to the Celtic Druid

Happy St. Patty's Day from Italy!

(Thank god for the cider beer so we could still be festive and have one to celebrate)

Paperwork and a painful ride home

This week has been full of getting ready and filling out paperwork for my new job. Also I will finally have my car on Tuesday!! I got to longingly look at her through a fence and can't wait to get behind the wheel again, plus ill finally get to do a big grocery shopping trip. The weather has been so amazing lately I think I got a bit of sun today and am enjoying my bike rides a bit more!

At no ones fault I also had my first bike accident:(
....nothing serious, just some bruises and scratches. Luckily enough I collided with an American who happens to live nearby and work on post. Even though it was a rough beginning, I am happy to have made a new friend!

Heading to Bologna tomorrow for a little Irish Festival! Happy St. Patty's Day everyone and don't forget to wear your green!

Villa Sceriman

Another weekend another full day of events to keep busy. Yesterday, Saturday I was invited to join a group of ladies on a wine tasting day. We traveled the 30 minutes or so to Villa Sceriman and tasted just about every bottle they made.  CA' Sceriman is a 16th Century country Villa, a minor work of Palladio located in the Euganean Hills.
The Villa was beautiful even in the spring time and the wines were delicious. I even tried a couple of the reds, which usually I steer clear of, but found a very tasting sparkling red. To me it tastes like grape jelly in a glass. How can you go wrong with that kind of flavor! Also some of my favorite bottles of the Moscato made it into my shopping cart, totaling six bottles for about 20Euro. You cant beat the prices of local wine! Here is just a small sampling of pictures from an amazing afternoon making new friends and socializing while also tasting some delicious Vino!

PS cant wait for the next ladies weekend trip. Stay tuned next weekend we are heading to Bologna* (not sure on spelling) for an St Pattys Day festival at an Irish pub. Bring on the green drinks!

Busy Bee

Well my week has been full of Job Interviews, plumber/internet/satellite appointments around the house, running errands and shopping trips with friends, FRG socials, learning Kyle's drill to hang some pictures and my first dinner guest. I am exhausted at the end of the day and my feet are swollen, I think that means Im doing too much but I am desperate to keep busy while Kyle is gone! My new friends Lindsey and Rachel have been my godsend this week!
 I am happy to announce that I did accept a job offer today working with Child and Youth/ School Age Services. I am a new Homework Lab Tech at the Teen Center on post. Pretty self explanatory in the title but Ill be helping high schoolers with their homework and helping make learning fun! I also aid in any field trips that are planned and possibly being a summer camp counselor! Its only part time but I think it is a good start for now also leaving me more time to spend with Kyle before the deployment.

I am still waiting for the TV connection to be fixed as well as Internet so Im on a borrowed connection for now to at least get a little bit of Internet at the house, but am running low on movies on our shelf to watch! Lucky for me the library on post has a very large section of movies and tv shows to check out! Nothing LIke some wine, bruschetta and salami for a night In watching old Friends episodes! Starting to be more Italian already with these small meals....

on another foodie note, I have also fallen in love with greek yogurt from the Botega at the bottom of the hill with some granola and an expresso for breakfast. True Italian style right here! (I dont think I could do the drinking wine at lunch thing...)

We had our first ladies only FRG today which was a delicious potluck giving me the opportunity to meet some fellow HHC ladies!
Yes I hung pictures by myself. I am very proud that I first figured out how to use his drill and actually put the bit in, and figured out how to hang pictures properly in these cement and plaster walls! I am a handy'woman'.
Things are coming together and I am excited to get into a routine with the JOB, but am enjoying making lots of new friends in my free time!
Well off to a Villa/Winery tomorrow with a group of ladies for some tasting and dinner (hopefully with a couple of bottles to bring home too).

Here is a picture of roo 'helping' hang some pictures....I guess this means I will sleep at the foot of the bed tonight!

The house-phase one

We have already started moving things around since I took these pictures yesterday but I will post them anyway so everyone can see!