Friday, March 30, 2012

Photos, Again

Here are the photos again.

Kibbitzers in Lucrino.  Our old frail neighbor supervises the men making the handicapped spot.  Jack parked there to load the truck and the old man kept yelling at him.  He pretended not to understand.





Abigail eating her maple teething biscuits that Nonna brought her from NY.  Yummy!


Friends for coffee in Lucrino

HOUSE BEFORES

The dining room.



Jack's study.



Our bedroom.  Abigail is there temporarily.  


Big bathroom. With fabu shower.


Living room.



Kitchen pass-through to living area.





Living area.




Pantry.  Delight.



Entry way.



My favorite room.  The laundry room!!!!



Hallway to bedrooms.



We are SO happy to be on base.  It was a great decision.  Tobi is more relaxed.  We are more relaxed.  We have eaten on our balcony every night this week.  I insist.  Even if we have to bundle up and shiver through the end of the meal.  

More AFTER pics, when there is an after to show.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Itinerant AGAIN

 I have been buried under all of our worldly goods.  Thankfully, my Mama came to save the day.  She seems to show up at exactly the right time to help me move, no matter where I am in the world.  Here is an email she sent home last week.  


wide awake on Friday and ready to boogie


 

a big event: painting handicap lines on the street, lots of kibbitzers
 

She just loves her organic maple teething biscuits.
 

Better water in Lucrino makes for curly hair
 

Jessica and Connor at the Breezy Bar in Lucrino


 

Abi's room
 

Where I sleep (in Abi's room) note hot water bottle
 

Jack's study
 

master bedroom
 

Abi's place, probably temporary
 

The small bathroom with stall shower
 

big bathroom with tub on the right, sideways
 

what the living room looks like today, Monday
 

the kitchen: these are sideways because I couldn't see the screen when I was sitting outside
 

the kitchen side of the living room
 

the living room
 

the living room viewed from the entry
 

Anna is happy to have a pantry.
 

the entry way
 

laundry room
 

hall with Jack's study on the left, master bedroom on the right

I'm showing you the before unpacking scene so when Julietta and Anna and I attack the chaos, you'll know where we started.  Right now we're happy to have Julietta here to bring fresh energy and her good eye to the situation.  

Friday, March 2, 2012

Decisions, decisions...

We've had a week full of decision making, introspection and honesty.  It is tough work.  But in the end, the actual decision wasn't that hard to make.  We have decided to move again.  NOT move from Italy.  This isn't a move that has been ordered by the NAVY.  No, it is self directed.  We are moving house.

We have decided to move onto Base.

And as these things go, it is bittersweet.

Our little seaside town, tucked away on the Bay of Naples, is just too far from the small, tender shoots of a social life that we have been able to cultivate here.  We live in probably one of the nicest areas around. It is beautiful by Naples standards.  That means that there isn't too much garbage piling up on any flat surface, that the stray dog packs stick to the lake.  There are some sidewalks--albeit in sorry states of disrepair and only once a week or so do we see the shattered and scattered proof that someone's car has been broken into/stolen outside our house.  I make it sound pretty awful, huh?

I can see our friend, who is Naples biggest champion, fuming at that last paragraph.  So, I will add.  The shopkeepers around our house all wave to us and demand that we stop so they can oggle Baby when we pass by.  We have a nice market, and our favorite restaurant and cafes.  It has been home.  It is the house to which we brought our Baby Bee home from the hospital.

I feel like we are moving away from ITALY.  But then, I haven't been totally thrilled with this part of Italy myself. I also feel entitled to say that as I have spent the better part of the last six years living in Europe with a few months spent in Japan for good measure.

It isn't that we don't love it out here in Lucrino.  It all comes down to one simple yet weighty factor.

I am lonely.  Miserably lonely.

I spend my days wrangling a baby, reading blogs and drooling over Pinterest.  A thrilling existence.  My big outing is when we go to the Commissary on Sundays to food shop.

So, off we go.  Decision made.

A grown-up decision that will benefit the entire family.

Now we just have to pack.  Good thing my mom is going to be here.