Papa's 88th!

Tanti Auguri!!!
Last weekend we zipped down Tuscany (as fast as you can zip anywhere in four hours) to see Mum and Papa and to celebrate Papa's 88th Birthday! He's been excited about his 88th for weeks now, like a little kid reminding everyone that the day of celebration is coming.

Together, Zeno, Mum and I set up the birthday table and picked out an ice-cream, ok, ok, gelato-cake. Coming up with a good 88th Birthday present wasn't easy, but following Mum's brilliant idea, we ended up conniving together to get him some special chocolates that you can only find in Milan. Papa grew up in Milan, and whenever Zeno and I go for a visit, he always asks about the how’s and wherefores of this City, specifically the areas he was once familiar with. So, when he opened the box of chocolates and recognized the name of the Milanese chocolatier, he was absolutely pleased... and we all jumped in straight away to make sure they were just as good as Papa remembered them being. Yuuuummmyy! It seems they surely were!

We shared smiles and stories as we savored the delicious stew Mum had prepared, and then, we sang "Happy Birthday" in two languages and I had to have Papa blow the candles out twice because I missed the photo the first time around. Papa graciously blew the candles a second time (still too quick for me to catch...) I think, only because he knew that submitting to my request meant getting his fork into the cake faster! It was a delicious selection - dark and white chocolate mousse. As you can see, Zeno decided that while everyone else could do with a piece of birthday cake, he was going to go ahead and down the entire thing! ...In recompense, he ended up on dish duty.

With Papa's celebration as the highlight of our time, we had a nice, even if it was too short, visit to the country side. Zeno managed to pull out both his chainsaw skills and his bonfire instincts. And I found that it's much more pleasant to study Italian under the Tuscan sun with a cup of tea.

With hugs all around, we have now come back and are again in the midst of work and studies in Milano. But it won't be too long before we'll make the trek to be together again... I think next time we'll be celebrating Easter by the sea! I don't know, it seems like a never ending time of celebrations when we get together. But that is the beauty of family - they are what we enjoy to celebrate the most! Praise the Lord for His many blessing upon our family!

Buon San Valentino!

Sometimes, I can't help but feel the luckiest in the world... That's how I feel about being Zeno's wife And then, on top of that, add the fact that specific calendar day's give husbands complete liberty to follow every loving impulse that springs into their heart, and then, not only does Zeno have me convinced that I'm the luckiest, he also convinces me that I am completely spoiled!!! And, you know, when it comes right down to it, I must confess that I am!

Yesterday, before we headed off to work, we shared a quick breakfast and cup of coffee together. Since it's my short day, I came out of work right when Zeno was headed for lunch! Perfect timing. We had lunch together in a cute tiny cafe and even had the chance to walk to a special chocolate store around the corner and pick out some especially succulent options, Mmmmmmmmmmm Yummy! Almost as sweet as a kiss ( =

In the afternoon, Zeno headed back to the desk, while I dashed home to work on a little surprise for later... Shhhhhhhh! I finished just in time to make it to Italian lesson - Whew! Good news in Italian, the results from our surprise 2 hour test last Monday: I passed by 0.8 points! Hooray! or as I like to say in Italian, "Urlare!". I must admit, I wasn't sure how I'd done since I'd joined the class 1/2 way through and only had one class before the test. I thought I'd done pretty well on the "Whale Story", I was supposed to put the story back in it's correct order, but, it turns out I had the coast guard arrive too early! So, my poor little whale had to sit around stuck in the shallow inlets for longer than I'd wanted it to. But it was rescued in the end! Just goes to show, all the Italian flying around me must actually be penetrating my stubborn gray matter after all!

From Italian class, I dashed off to meet Zeno for a concert! We had a great time ( = They were playing Beethoven and Haydn. We got a kick out of the brass section, it was made of only two middle aged men, both endowed with a substantial waistline. They would elbow each other and have a little chat while they were awaiting their turn to play, or, if there wasn't anything interesting to chat about and none of the other orchestra members were worthy of heckling, they would sit arms crossed on top of their abundant tummies.... It was HILLARIOUS! Then, on a side note, doesn't it always strike you amusing to see a big, round, built man cradle a tiny little violin under his chin? Hmmm, I was thinking he and the petite little bass player should swap instruments during the intermission... it seemed she was having trouble seeing around her instrument to read the music!

Ah, so it was a treat both for the eyes and the ears. Add to that, during the long melodic sections, Zeno's shoulder was the perfect place to relax my head and thoroughly enjoy the passage. It was a delightful evening. And then, SUPRISE! upon arrival home there was a fabulous bouquet awaiting me! And Zeno's surprise? He was all smiles while looking at the collage of pictures I'd assembled into frames to add around our house... In his pictures he got six roses too! And not just any roses, New Zealand roses. Ahhhhh, how romantic! And with that, we waltzed off together into dream land...

Until our next adventure! We send out love!

Pronomi e Particelle

"It's a dangerous thing to walk out your front door..."

Well said, by one of Tolkien's foremost protagonists in The Lord of the Rings. Zeno and I have found this to be quite true! Especially here in Italy... and with a 14-year-old car who has a mind of her own much of the time. However, with my courageous and adventurous Amore in the lead, we venture off into danger quite often!

I'm glad we did so yesterday. We've been aching for spring to arrive, and with the sunny days of late we couldn't help but take our first opportunity to jump on our bikes and head for the Ticino river! It was lovely and much needed. We've both been recovering from severe head colds (poor Zeno is in the midst of his) and I think a bit of fresh air and cardio work set our immune systems in action. Much more so than sitting behind a desk, burying the head in Economics, or figuring out the whatnots and wherefores of Italian Pronouns and Participles (Pronomi e Particelle). Though, as we're working on acquiring a good balance between work and play, I know we'd both agree that there's a great satisfaction in tackling a goal. And for Zeno, finishing up his Economic studies is a huge goal, while for me, the Italian Language often seems more like a Mt. Everest... or maybe I should say the Monte Bianco since it's the highest mountain in Italy (you might know it by its French name: the Mont Blanc).

More than anything, the Lord used our time together to provide us with both physical and spiritual exercise. Our personal perspectives can be so constrained! Yet, the Lord offers us the opportunity on a daily basis to see ourselves and our lives from His perspective. Such a vision can be vast and overwhelming, even hard to comprehend many times; but if we are humble and patient, He is standing by with spectacles of His grace and binoculars of His wisdom so that with His help, we can begin to fathom and become excited about His design for our lives. Just as He opens our eyes to behold the wonders of His creation!

And now, back to those Pronomi e Particelle! Tomorrow I have homework to turn in...

Psalm 28: 6-7

Praise be to the LORD, for he has heard my cry for mercy.
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

Amanda's first official day of Italian class!

I should be studying right now, but after meeting Zeno after work for some succulent vegetarian Indian food, I realized that I was in the mood for... well, not for studying right away. So, I cleaned up the kitchen and dropped off the mail in our office-room, when my eyes fell upon our web-cam. A wedding gift we'd had for over a year and still hadn't put to proper use! Not so any longer ( = One thing led to another, and before I knew it, not only were we set up for Skype, but our Blog Page account miraculously began to take shape.

Now that I can check these items off of my "to do" list... they've been on there waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long, I think I'm set to jump into my Italian lesson for tonight. Thankfully, my professor didn't assign any homework for tonight or I might be in trouble.

Well, actually, I think I might clean/decorate the kitchen for a bit. Zeno put up a new shelf for me and I can't wait to decorate it and fill it with tea and tea cups! Then, once I figure out how to add photos, I'll post a picture of our new kitchen shelf! I really love fixing up and decorating our house.

Well, if I'm going to do all of that over the next hour I'd better get cracking!

More to come....