Preparations Complete

We're now nearly completed with all of our preparations for the baby. Ann's visited and decided on a nearby hospital for the delivery. We've moved Thomas' bedroom to a different part of the house, turning his old room into the baby's room (it's closest to our bedroom). We've now acquired all of the necessary baby-raising tools. Yup, we're essentially ready for the arrival. The only small item left to accomplish involve addressing some last-minute registration and insurance issues.


In other news, we're getting into the holiday season. Thomas' school is beginning to prepare for a variety of European Christmas traditions. Since his school has students from all over the EU, it will be very interesting to see the variety of customs to which he'll be exposed.



Oh...and here's a neat picture. We often get a lot of fog in the morning. We're told that this year isn't as bad as many, but some morning's it can be really thick. We snapped this photo over the weekend, as the fog was lifting off of the lake. Just thought that you'd enjoy.

Thanksgiving

Happy thanksgiving to our friends and family back in the 'States!

We did our best to keep some of the American holiday here in Italy. John worked, but Ann stuffed and roasted two chickens (in place of turkey). Those chickens, along with mashed potatoes and some of the usual fixings, were our Thanksgiving dinner. No extended family, football, or parades, but it was a nice meal.

Belly Shot

Strollers and Cheese

This weekend our travels were more mundane than usual. Instead of visiting historic castles and churches, we went to the baby superstore. We spent outrageous sums of money, purchasing a wide array of tools for dealing with infants. The crown jewel of our baby-shopping treasure is a futuristic stroller. It's got inflatable tires, a bicycle-like hand brake, an aluminum frame, and (after the assembly work) we've affectionately named it 'franken-stroller'. Actually, the stroller will come in very handy when navigating the steep hills near our house.

To change subjects, John is still exploring the world of Italian Cheese. Here's a few photos of the newest cheeses. One was a Laurus Cheese, which is made with bay leaves. Another is a Tuma cheese, was soft and a little sweet. The Panerone was a bit sharp and dry. So far, all of the cheeses have been pretty good, and we've only just scratched the surface of the supermarket's cheese isle.

We don't have much else to report. The weeks are flying by, and we're counting down to the baby's arrival.

Towers and Bells

As Americans, some of the things that we find most fascinating about Italy are all of the Bell-Towers. Whether you call them bellfrys, campalines, or something else, they're everywhere in Italy. Every little village has at least one of these towers. They're often free-standing, but are sometimes attached to a church or public building. What's remarkable is that they're usually the tallest structures in view, that they have working (and accurate) clocks, and that the bells ring on a faithful schedule. These things just don't exist back home in America (outside of a college campus or occasional church...but they're just not the same).

We have such a tower that can be seen from our patio. The bells toll every half hour, and play a melody at noon. On Sunday at noon the tower plays Beethoven's Ode to Joy. The constant ringing of the bells was a little annoying and intrusive when we first moved here, but now hearing them provides a sense of comfort.

We made a recording of the bells, attached here as an MP3. We have to apologize for the sound quality...the microphone on the computer is a little crude.

Touring to Nove and a Baroque Villa

A few months ago, Ann joined an English-speaking women's club. The club has a number of meetings, activities, and events. They also sponsor occasional tours, one of which was this weekend. Ann signed up for our family to take a bus tour this weekend. So, near our home, we met with about 50 people and boarded a bus that took us to Nove, a city that's renowned for its ceramics. There, we toured a ceramics factory and bought a few pieces. We next went to a beautiful baroque villa that's just a short distance outside of Verona. The Villa Arvedi is an historic and huge house, located on a dramatically picturesque hill. Here we had lunch and toured a working olive press. After watching the making of olive oil, we naturally had to buy a bottle. The day finished in Verona, where we visited Roman Arena for our second time (we took a trip here in August). It was just after sunset, and the scene was particularly eerie from center of the unlit arena (imagine the ghosts of gladiators dead for two millennia). It was a fantastic Saturday (not just the tour, but also meeting some nice anglophones on the bus) and we're glad that Ann's joined such a fun club.

We don't have much news other than our trip, but we're staying busy. Ann's doing well with the pregnancy, although we still haven't settled on a hospital for the birth. Thomas is still having fun at school, and John had an overnight business trip during the week. So, life is hectic but good.

Hello Baby!

Ann had pleasant visit with her doctor today. The doctor did a thorough check-up on the baby-in-the-belly. We're pleased to report that everything's fine, and is going according to plan. The baby was moving around, and his head is facing down. So, everything is still on target for delivery in a little less than two months.

We thought that you'd enjoy this picture. It's supposed to be a portrait (and the baby's sticking his tongue out!).

Nesting

Well, this was a stay-at-home weekend. It was a weekend when we went shopping in the outskirts of Milan, searching for baby-related items. We only have a short two months left, and we're now rushing to get the house ready for the new arrival. The process of re-organizing the house (moving Thomas' room to make way for a baby room) is in full-swing.

Our tasks were helped a little by the fact that this had been a holiday week. Thursday was All Saints Day, a national holiday. Businesses, government offices, and nearly everything else was closed on this day. John went to work on Friday, although nearly everything in the country was also closed on this day. Also, Thomas had vacation from School for the entire week.

It felt good to be home-bodies for once, but we'll soon be day-tripping again.

(The photo is of John and Thomas assembling some of the items that we bought to get the house ready for Baby).