Honest Observations

1. Driving in Italy makes me angry. Inevitably I get honked at for things Italian drivers do everyday. I do not understand this.

2. I am not a phone talker, at all. I have tried explaining to my parents why I'd rather text than call people, because I guess their generation doesn't get that. I get so nervous on the phone and feel like I babble/talk quickly/make no sense.

3. Boomer (my Min-Pin) has some sort of stomach sickness a couple of nights ago. It ended up with me getting very little sleep that night and a vet visit in the morning. I realized that's just a small taste of what I can expect when I have children. Scary....

4. Speaking of children, when I see women on TV, in blogs, on Facebook that actively try to gain as little weight as possible during their pregnancy and then brag about it, I judge you. I don't mean that I think women should gain massive amounts of weight during pregnancy, so that it's unhealthy for them or the baby.  But I also don't think you should limit yourself to ridiculous amounts of food or exercise in an unhealthy way just to keep from gaining weight. Frankly, I think it's selfish. It's not about you, it's about the baby you are growing in your body. If you can't realize that, then I think you have deep seated issues.

A Few Opinions and Observations from Yours Truly

Currently we are in the holiday season and to be honest I wasn't sure what to expect when it came to Christmas in Italy. To say I'm surprised is an understatement. After Thanksgiving, more and more Christmas lights started appearing in our neighborhood and even Santa figures appeared outside clinging to balconies. Sean and I went downtown last weekend and the whole main part of Vicenza had lights strung across streets. It was gorgeous! I plan on taking pictures of all of this before I leave next week. The only thing I regret about not spending Christmas here is missing out on all the Christmas markets. Perhaps next year.

I picked up a book at the library yesterday. I love to read about other people's military experiences (hence why I love reading all your blogs out there) but this book was sort of a letdown.

It's called Standing By: The Making of an American Military Family in a Time of War by Alison Buckholtz.



Don't get me wrong, there were parts of the book that I enjoyed, but it wasn't something I'd read again or even recommend to someone. At first I couln't put my finger on why I didn't really like it. I thought perhaps it was because I couldn't identify as much with the family situation, because I didn't have children myself and didn't have to face a deployment alone with children, but I don't think that was it. In all honesty I felt like the book was a little repetitive and relied a little too much on passages and opinions from other military texts. It just wasn't my cup of tea.

Oh...I put this on my Facebook last week, but I wanted to share it on here too. Let me say I'm not really a cat person, but I've watched this video like 10 times. I laugh hysterically every time!

Surprised Kitty @ Yahoo! Video

Last, but not least I've rented a bunch of movies to help entertain and distract me this week and weekend. I picked up Night at the Museum 2, Julie and Julia and disc 1 of Season 4 of Weeds. Also my Christmas present from Sean came in yesterday. Can I just say how much I love Twilight Zone and I cannot wait to watch all.six.discs of it?