Category: The Homefront

The Homefront

Cracked mirrors; or, On having a minivan in Sicily

"I thought you were bringing a car, but you brought a ship!" -Owner of an apartment where we stayed on our trip to Cefalu. Yep, that's about right. When we announced that we were moving to Sicily, we got a surprising number of questions about whether we were bringing our van. Now, something like seven months aft [...]
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by Author Kasey
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The Homefront

Our new favorite pool spot

Summer heat has been intense over here (though we have had a little break since a storm on Sunday) so we've been spending a lot of time at the pool to keep from frying. As of last week, we have a new favorite spot!
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by Author Kasey
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The Homefront

So half of Sicily is on fire right now.

(Not volcano related). At least, that's what it feels like -- everytime we drive somewhere for the last few weeks we see actual fires or at least the tell-tale smoke. On the way back from Celafu we saw a big one near Taormina, and we've seen plenty of roadside ones as well. In the last few days though it fe [...]
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by Author Kasey
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Mount Etna The Homefront

When the volcano blows

Mount Etna smokes pretty much all day every day, but for the first time last night we got to see lava! Admittedly it was hard to see because (from our angle) it was a pretty low-key eruption, but we still got a bit of a thrill. Now if only we had a way of turning off the street lights near our house!  
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by Author Kasey
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The Homefront Uncategorized

What we’ve been up to lately

Well, somehow it has been more than two weeks since I posted. Um. Whoops. I certainly didn't mean to let that much time go by, but the combination of having a lot of freelance work due at the same time and just trying to get back into a routine made the days fly by. Some updates: 1) Owen started preschool! We hav [...]
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by Author Kasey
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The Homefront

On jetlag

If you are wondering how our jetlag is coming along ... It is now 11:30 p.m. in Sicily, and I give it about 70 percent odds that one or both of my kids will be awake in the next 30 minutes demanding food. After we eventually get them back to bed, Chris and I are likely to be eating chips and watching TV at about [...]
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by Author Kasey
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The Homefront

A quick update

Well, we are settled into our hotel! The new owners took possession of our house on Wednesday with no tears from anyone but me. (Though this morning Fiona did ask me if we could "go home" and was a little upset when I told her we couldn't. I'm sorry, baby girl).
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by Author Kasey
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The Homefront

Major developments

It's been a busy couple days over here! 1. The movers have come and gone already! It took them all of Monday and only a few hours on Tuesday. Considering the original estimate was four days, I guess we have less stuff than the average family?!
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by Author Kasey
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The Homefront

Moving right along

In other news, things are moving right along for our move! There is even an outside chance that we might be able to leave a bit earlier, if the visas come back in time. Since we are living in hotels and with family for more than a month as things stand now, that would be welcome news. Anyway, here's what's happened in [...]
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by Author Kasey
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The Homefront

The trip we aren’t taking

This morning started with a text message letting me know that our flight to New Orleans, scheduled for around 9 a.m., was being pushed back until around 9:30 a.m. because of aircraft maintenance. Given my obsession with being at airports super early, I'm sure this development -- while minor -- would have led to some ex [...]
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by Author Kasey
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The Homefront

Sigh of relief

We just heard from Chris' sponsor that not only are there a couple hotels near base that have two-bedroom set ups, but also that we should be able afford one within our temporary housing allowance. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS. It probably sounds like a small thing, but I have been worried that we were all going to be exhauste [...]
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by Author Kasey
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The Homefront

What we’ve been up to

Well, this won't be a particularly exciting update but things are continuing to move along as September (aka ... the last full month we'll be living in the United States for the next few years! gulp!) approaches. My thoughts are kind of scattered today because Fiona turns TWO in a few hours, so I'm going the bullet poi [...]
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by Author Kasey
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