Ain't Got No Bugs On Me

A quick note: for all reading whose mother tongue is not English, the title to my blog is not proper English, merely an old saying...so don't use :-)

This week has been a blur. After the stomach bug hit Ruggie and Pat, I have been eating an orange a day and drinking orange juice for breakfast in an attempt to build up a vitamin c wall to defend against any foreign viruses. So far this tatic has worked and like the title suggests I have not caught a cold or "bug" yet. Pat stayed home from work on Tuesday but by that night she was feeling much better and had her appetite back. On Wednesday I was swamped at my day job and had to bring some work home. After dinner I retreated to the dining room table to work while Alberto worked in his room and Pat went to an apartment building meeting. I still didnt finish all my work that night but made more progress on Thursday. When the boys and I came home from basketball Mekela, the new house cleaner, had prepared dinner and set the table!! It was so nice not to have to prepare dinner. The boys were being great and we had a lot of fun playing. I put them to bed and Ruggie spoke English to me. His favorite question to ask people is "How do you say zucchini or gnocchi in English?" He knows that both words are the same in both languages and he wants to trick people.
Friday was a hard day at the first job because my boss was gone again to London and working alone seems to go slower. However, Fridays are only three hours long so by the time I really get in the groove of things (or the coffee kicks in) it's time to go. I picked the boys up and Mekela had lunch ready for Fil and me. After lunch I layed down with Ruggie until he fell asleep and then checked on Fil while he finished his homework. At 5 I took Ruggie to his gymnastics lesson and watched him learn how to do a cartwheel. The lesson is at the same gym as basketball practice and I love going there because they have it set up like a museum. The building is the oldest gym in Torino and is best known for the Olympic training facility it was first opened to be. The athletes that train there could possibly be olympians in the future (not sure this includes my boys) but some of the older gymnists look as if they compete on a regular basis. When we got home, Mekela had fixed a pizza and put it in the oven. We talked for a little while and we help each other with Italian and English. I really like her and think that this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Pat was suppose to arrive at 7:30 so we listened to the radio and danced around the kitchen. I put one of the boys' bandannas on and did a little beat boxing. I think they thought their babysitter had lost her mind...but I thought it was off the chain.
Pat finally showed up 10 after 8. The boys got tired of waiting so I let them eat the pizza. When the parents got home we fixed some pasta and had a nice meal just the three of us.
Today I slept in until 9:30!! So wonderful. After breakfast I did my daily chores and then went to the open air market to buy fruits and veggies. I love going because it helps me face my demons and practice my Italian in public. I know the lady I buy from and she always greets me with a smile. The boys and Pat were still at the swimming pool so I had enough time to take a shower and get ready for the day. For lunch Pat fixed fish (the whole thing..eyes and all) in the oven. When I got to the table I was relieved that my piece had been cut up and could not look back at me. After lunch I met Balbina so that we could go to the train station to buy train tickets for tomorrow. We are going to a small town in the South of our region, Gavi. Alberto's cousin lives there and her husband works with Balbina's mother. It is because of this couple that Balbina and I met. We are going to leave early in the morning and spend the whole day. They have something planned for us to do even though we have no idea what that might be. We are both excited to meet them and spend the day. I promise I won't let a whole week go by before I blog about our trip. After we got our tickets we met Barbara downtown and spent the day in the center. We went to the Po River and walked beside it, taking pictures and enjoying the amazing scenery. For dinner we went to a pizzeria Balbina and I discovered a few weeks ago. When we walked in there was one other couple eating. I asked for a table for three (in Italian) and the woman eating with her husband said "Hello how are you?" (in English) so I guess it's pretty obvious I'm not Italian, but I still can pretend. We had a nice conversation and she helped translate with the waitress...even though we didn't really need it cause we all understand Italian for the most part. The food was wonderful and we made friends with the owners. I now have two restaurants I know the owners and plan on going back soon. It started to rain after dinner so we parted ways and called it a night.

I will leave you with the best quote of the week:

Fil "I don't like dogs."
Me "Me either"
Fil "I don't want one for a pet, I want a tiger."
Me "I'm allergic to cats"