Quick Takes

1. Our internet connection hasn't been working well this week, which has been especially frustrating since I've been eager to work on my new blog. I want to draft out the story of our first year in Sicily, with all the ups and downs of adapting to a new country and an unfamiliar culture. I keep telling myself this is going to be a slow process (maybe even slower than I'd expected) and that it's okay to write slowly, haphazardly, and in my spare time, but part of me is worried that I've taken on yet another project I don't have time to complete. I find myself with the constant sense that I want more out of writing somehow, but I'm not sure what that means exactly. I wish I had more time.

2. Chris has been out of town a lot lately, so (since I haven't been blogging) I've had a little extra time to read. Yesterday I finished Giovanni Verga's Little Novels of Sicily. Of course these stories were automatically interesting to me because they're set in places I see daily, but I would recommend this book to anyone. Stark and sometimes sad, this collection is beautifully written, lasting--and, if nothing else, it'll make you glad you weren't born into the 19th-century Sicilian peasantry!

3. Have I ever told you that my kids are brilliant? Because they are--brilliant. First, you should know about our neighbor's dog. It's the kind that barks. Incessantly. So, yesterday morning everything was normal. We were eating breakfast, listening to the dog and talking about fairies when suddenly Penelope looked around and said, "Bow. Bow wow." Then she stopped, thought for a second and said, "Dah guh. Dah guh." "That's right," I told her, "dog. You can hear a dog. It's barking." She continued to stare at me, puzzled. I could tell she wasn't satisfied, but I didn't think about it again. I turned back to the conversation about fairies. A few minutes later, she started looking all around the room and then looking at me. "What is it, honey?" I asked. "Dah guh," she said again. Then she made the sign for where, still saying dog over and over, and laughing. She could hear a dog, but she couldn't see a dog and she wanted to know why. Katherine and I were impressed, so of course we spent the rest of the morning outside, paying an early visit to that ever-irritating, always barking dog.

4. Our trip to Paris is on hold. It's the car. Remember a few weeks ago when our timing belt broke? Well, they finally replaced the belt and found out there's a lot more damage than we expected. They might need to replace the engine, which would cost more than the car is worth. So now we're faced with the prospect of buying a new car without being able to sell our old car. Needless to say, a big trip to Paris might not be the best idea right now. Instead, we're planning a quick trip to Malta next weekend and maybe (hopefully) a trip through Northern Italy once we reevaluate our finances. As for the new car, I have no idea what we're going to do.

5. Katherine keeps getting bigger. Yesterday at the park I realized I was the only mom in sight. Katherine was running around with a group of new (slightly older) friends and I was sitting on a bench on the far side of the park, trying not to be noticed. When they all ran over, breathless, to tell me they wanted to go play "freeze ball" in an empty neighborhood yard, I didn't know what to do. They were going by themselves, all of them. Katherine was invited and she wanted to go, but I got the impression that they didn't want me tagging along. Penelope was already home with Chris. There was no excuse for me to stay outside, wandering up and down, but our house was all the way on the other side of the street. Not a long distance, really. But long enough. What's a mom to do? I made them show me where they were going and what they were going to do. I made sure Katherine knew how to get home if she needed to, told her I'd be back to pick her up in 10 minutes, and left. Five minutes later, I came back. They were still there, playing and having fun, and I don't think Katherine even noticed she was on her own. What just happened?

6. I keep waiting for signs of the approaching Fall, but when I open my front door every morning I'm met with a blast of hot air and the scent of flowers. I guess this year the signs are going to be more subtle: ballet sign-ups, my sudden desire to cook with beans, apple sauce simmering on the stove. I wouldn't mind a drop in the temperature though, or a pretty russet-colored leaf. I'm ready for a change.

7. While I'm writing this, Katherine is working on a math project. She's at the table with a newly sharpened pencil drawing ten fish in an aquarium. I expected ten little squiggly lines or something, just to get her familiar with counting, but she's taking the project very seriously. Her aquarium includes a shark (complete with dorsal fin), an eel, a jellyfish, and seven smiling, big-eyed fish. Who knew a math project could be so fun!

And, as always, for more quick takes, click here!