Time's A Killer

I don't know about the rest of you, but for some reason Spring Forward this year has been like a death sentence for me. In case any of you do not know, Italy Springs forward at the end of March, while the United States springs forward at the beginning of March. So, for almost a whole month I was six hours closer to home, and I was naturally waking up around 6:40am getting work done, and just generally enjoying my natural early rising. Then, the time change hit, and I have been like a zombie for these past few days. I have not been able to get up out of bed until 8:30am or later, and in so doing, miss my morning yoga routine, and generally just do not get much accomplished. This morning was no different. I woke up, and just rolled over. I guess it does not help that I am staying up later as well. With the time change, I have to wait until even later in the evening to talk to Mom, which puts me in bed an hour to two hours later than normal. I swear tomorrow, I am going to wake up and get over this lethargy. I hope.

In other news, I am going to try to make a Ribollita soup tonight. It is a Tuscan soup that uses old bread, veggies, and that's about it. I am adding some pork fat to my soup in hopes to give it a little flavor. You know, you would not think it would be too hard to find some things. Even if you don't know the proper word for them, you would think you could still describe them, and people would know what you are talking about. Not true. I have talked to at least three people now who have no idea what I am talking about when I try to explain a "ham hock". Everyone looks at me like I am from Mars instead of the USA. Sam says that even butchers just don't sell the bones here, very weird, and I have to wonder, 'where do they all go?' So, this morning I went to the local market and asked Johnny, who is very nice, for a piece of meat maybe prosciutto or pancetta, that I could use to give a flavor to a soup. He also looked at me like I was a little crazy, but what are you going to do eh? He was helpful though, and said I should probably use the pancetta, a lighter bacon, and I asked him to cut me a sizeable hunk I probably will not use all of it, but freeze it and use it again. I told him, while he was cutting, that in the good ol' USA we normally use a bone, but that here it did not seem possible to find such a thing. He shook his head ferverently and said no. Oh well, at least I have something now.

Also, I have taken down the spider web curtains that hang over my kitchen area, and threw them in the wash this morning. I was amazed at the gaps in the windows I had thought I filled with aluminum foil (by the way, thanks Jeff for the recommendation to use dryer sheets to keep out the bugs. Unfortunately, since there are no dryers in Italy, dryer sheets are not available here). I mean, Batman could fit through those gaps. So, I filled them, completely this time, with almuminum foil, and once the curtains are dry, I will hang them over the window in hopes to insulate the apartment a little more.

And, of course, I am going to England in six days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Think I am excited?? I was telling Mom the other night how happy I was to be spending Easter with a family this year. I mean, sure I could be with the family I work for, but as it turns out, Emma's birthday will be the day after easter, so they are celebrating it all together this year and there will be something like forty kids running in and out of this apartment. It isn't even really the kids that bothers me, but who do you think would have cleaned up that mess afterwards. Certainly not Mom or Dad.... Yeah, cleaning up after forty kids is no way to spend a holiday. I am glad I am going to be welcomed as someones guest for Easter. I don't care if we just sit in the livining room eating Chinese food; I will just be happy to be with a family. I think Thanksgiving might be really hard for me, and I might really put an effort towards going to one of my pen pals homes for that period of time. The weather says it is suppose to be raining for the first three days after I arrive in England, but I figure this is normal, and I am not too worried about it.

Last night it rained here like crazy. Fortunately, it stoped by the time Pam and Sam got home, so I did not have to walk back to the apartment in the rain. It was the first night of their first tour of the year last night, and they were out until around 11:15pm. This Friday, Saturday, and part of Sunday, they will be gone so I will have a little relaxation this weekend, which I am happy about. Oh, and did I mention something early about going to Paris with P&S in June?? Well, if I did, please know that it is officially off... for me. Pam decided to take just Siena after Emma complained about going, and so it was decided that I would stay here and watch Emma while everyone else went to Paris. Damn. Well, I guess it is my job, but from now on, I will just know to not count on anyhting Pam says we are doing. Still, I can go to Paris on my own if I want, so I guess that is some comfort.

I am really missing home this week, but I am excited to be going to England, and I am trying to keep that in mind.

Finally, I am very very sorry I have not posted pictures lately. I know those are the posts everyone loves the best. My plan is to do a little walking maybe on Saturday and post some photos after my walk around San Gusme. However if this does not happen, please know that some time after April 15th this blog will be loaded down with pictures of England. Perhaps I will take a picture of the soup a make tonight as well and post the recipe to my blog if it tastes good.

Missing you all.