Absent With Explanations

Life has been crazy here on Via Fontanelle--so crazy in fact, I couldn't settle down to write anything worthy of reading. I'd taken to writing most of my posts on my phone while waiting in the car for something....for the bus, to pick Delilah up from school, for appointments....

I felt absolutely NO inspiration to write. I just wasn't feeling it. 

All of this told me it was time to take a little break, plus I have a bit of a secret...

Steve (the husband) has been deployed to Africa on a UN mission since the summer. It was one of those fast and furious preparations for deployment--we literally had just a week or so of notice and then he was gone.  It was a short one, as far as deployments go--only four months, which honestly seems like a drop in the bucket compared to our previous deployments, including the most recent one which was 14 months.  But as any Army spouse living overseas can tell you, a deployment here can be extra hard. Kudos to my Army sisters (and brothers) who stuggled through a year long deployment while living in Italy and came out smiling on the other side...I applaud you.

Anyhow, with security being what it is now, I would have been crazy to publicly announce Steve was gone, and I've always promised myself that my blog would be about our real life, not a make-believe one, so I took a little break. 

I'm back now and can't wait to tell you about our latest adventures! (Including an awesome trip to Prague!!)

Grape Stomping

Hey there!  Let me start by apologizing for being away so long...I am not dead and nothing is wrong.  With several people--family, friends, and perfect strangers included--contacting me each day to check on my well being, I thought it might be important to start with a little, "everything's ok" message.  But I appreciate the concern and the support.  It's so nice to feel the love.  I have just literally been bogged down with life at the beginning of this school year!  Yikes!  What a fickle bitch I am.  At the end of the school year last year, I was begging summer to hurry up and come and then at the end of summer, I was begging her to hurry up and end.  Now all I want is just a few more days!  Come back, summer.  Just hang around for a few more days!  Please?

So, like I was implying, we've been REALLY busy here at Via Fontanelle during my unintended break from the blog. Life in Italy with four brats kids in four different schools is hectic, never dull, but always fun (hahaha, I hope you can detect the sarcasm).  So I've got a lot of catching up to do over the next couple of blog posts, but I wanted to post today about something amazing that we got to do in Italy over the weekend.  When we moved here, I made this little Italy must-do list that I keep in my head of random things that I wanted to do during our time living here in Italy.  It includes things like:

*Ride in a gondola in Venice

*See the chess match in Marostic

*Pick grapes and mash them I Love Lucy style with our feet

I've done all of these now, by the way, because this weekend we went grape stomping!  What an awesome experience it was for us!  The kids LOVED it.  And Francesca and her wonderful friends and family at the Salvan Urbano Vinicola were super to invite us to give it a try.  The kids actually got to pick the grapes from the vine, dump them in the giant mashing tub and jump in with their feet to stomp them.  There was wine and local food for sampling, live music, and lots of fun.  It was a great way to spend a weekend enjoying what our local area has to offer us here in Italy! But I cannot even begin to describe just how sticky it was....

(Let me apologize for all the pictures now)

 (Tory and her boyfriend, Drake--they've been dating forever in teenage years.  This is the smile that I always get from them)

(Delilah's future husband)

The man up there pouring the wine carved his name into the stone back in 1993...

Sure would love your vote!

Blog Lovin'

I posted a late one yesterday, so make sure you check out my post on the tiny island of Burano.  You can find it by clicking HERE.  It's located just off the coast of Venice and I took some amazing pictures...even if I do say so myself!


Remember how a couple of weeks ago I posted about being a follower on Via Fontanelle? Well if you chose to follow Via Fontanelle on Google Reader, sorry...that's not an option any more.  Apparently, Google Reader has decided to close up shop as of today.  Sigh....

I swear, the world of technology can be so....technical....sometimes!!

Anyways, here's a great way to follow Via Fontanelle now.  Just click on that cute little picture below and it'll take you to my Blog Lovin' page.  Blog Lovin' is how I follow most of my blogs.  I love it because it sends me an email each day with a brief caption from each of the blogs that I follow.  That way, I get to pick and chose what I read that day and I only get one email, not one from each of the blogs that I follow.  It's a great way to stay connected to the blogs you enjoy!

This adorable little "Follow Me" button comes from my fellow blogger Anna over at Crazy for First Grade.  

Although I haven't taught in years, I guess you can take the girl out of the classroom but can't take the classroom out of the girl! I still find myself reading her blogs and enjoying the great ideas she shares!