I've been very bad the past two months, not writing anything at all. I would say that I have been swamped; busy with the children; uninspired to write; overworked and underpaid. It would all be just a little bit true, but really not enough to keep me from writing.
My husband would say that I love my Kindle too much to write and have been reading far too often. That would be just a little bit true, too.
Since we returned from Istanbul, a lot of normal day-to-day life has happened, but nothing earth-shattering or exciting. Which is actually good.
First of all, we had planned on switching the children from the school they have been in for the past year, The New School, to one closer to our apartment in Aventino, AmBrit.
There were several reasons for the switch. Right now the children spend anywhere from 2 to 4 hours each day riding the school bus to and from The New School. Ambrit would give them a 15 minute bus ride. Also, the bus company going to and from The New School is private, NOT owned by the school; they don't allow children under the age of five to ride the bus, so Andrew hasn't started preschool. And the bus issues have kept the kids from getting involved in after-school sports since there is no sports bus.
So we filled out the forms, paid the fees and decided to switch the kids. And then we found out that AmBrit has lost its accreditation with the American Schools system, meaning the children might have to repeat grades completed once we return to Pittsburgh; AND the school and it's director are being investigated by the Italian-version of the IRS for failure to pay back taxes (to the tune of 7 million Euros) and embezzlement; and the school is hiring non-English speaking, non-licensed people to teach classes, hence the failing grades and loss of accreditation...
After a nightmare two weeks, we decided to keep the kids at The New School. They will let Andrew ride the bus next year as long as I ride with him every day.
After that fiasco, I have been busy with the American Women's Association of Rome, or as Billy calls them, the Drunken Ladies' Society.
Yes, the ladies do like their drink; every night, when the sun is past the yardarm, scores of drunken ladies descend on the AWAR email hotline; each of them writing, ranting and rambling. And yes, it is apparent they are drunk. Only drunk women hawk labia rings - don't ask - tickets to a naked-ballet (She didn't want her 18 year old daughter seeing 'dangly bits' but didn't want to read the fine print in 60 point font stating that the dancers in the ballet were NAKED!!!) and cheap labor to care for their week-old children.
I, of course, have jumped in with both feet! I am now their Director of Publications, charged with trying update their communications, magazine and website. Yes, I am a glutton for punishment.
The good part of AWAR is that there are a lot of younger Expats like me who are disgusted with the drunken-old-ladies club; we get together for Sommelier courses: Knowledgable Wine Enthusiast sounds so much better than Drunken Bint. And we never start typing when drinking: I don't know about anyone else, but I find that my dexterity goes after the first bottle...(that is a joke, Mom.)
Lastly, The kids just had their school fair over the weekend. I donated 10 pounds of pork barbeque and some of my Jalapeno and Pumpkin plants; smuggled plant seeds make all the difference! Check out the picture of William in face paint. And look how big Andrew is - he turns 4 in a few days and he's wearing nothing but size fives, the big lump.
Other than that, we are ready for May to be on it's way out; I am very glad today is Memorial Day as it gives me another excuse to blast American music and my grumpy English neighbor.
What are the odds? I am living in Rome and I have the bad luck to live over the hedge from a miserable English women (Home counties accent) who hates people who garden on weekends. (Note to English people: Uhh, aren't the national pasttimes of England watching football and gardening?)
After listening to her anti-American rant of "Thank God this isn't America, and You stupid &%$#^@! Americans don't appreciate the priviledge of living in Italy," when I had cut all 10 square feet of my grass, I treated the lovely lady to some really LOUD Toby Keith singing about a boot in an uncomfortable location. (Billy loves his surround sound system and huge, wall-shaking Eltax speakers so much that we take them everywhere.) I have never met anyone English who likes Toby Keith, God bless him.
I love Toby Keith. And Charlie Daniels (Simple Man) and Johnny Cash (Ragged Old Flag) and Lynerd Skynard (Sweet Home Alabama) and Chris Ledoux (This Cowboy's Hat)...especially at 2000 Watts - your average counter top CD player pushes about 60 Watts and a home theater system might hit 200 Watts unless you do some serious investing. I looped it for three consecutive days - what do you bet she moves before I do?
The garden critic hasn't come back to the garden since, either. I guess she's also not a music lover.
