Lizard-1, Tricia-0

A few months ago I blogged about a lizard that had taken up residence in our sunroom.  Kevin and I hadn't seen him for a few awhile so we assumed he had died or was hiding away for the winter.  Then, he made an appearance a few weeks ago when I went to put the recycling out.  For some reason, Kevin and I started feeding him.  We would find dead bugs in the sunroom and put then outside the crack where he lives...he likes spiders best.   

Apparently, the lizard misconstrued our generosity and thought we were welcoming him into our home.  While Kevin was on the computer the other day, I heard him yelling at me.  I went to see what he wanted and he pointed out the lizard in the corner of our living room.  The little shit had gotten in here somehow.  I thought maybe I had let him in while running the recycling out so I assumed it was my fault.  Kevin got him out with a dust pan and I thought that was the end of it.  

Fast forward a few days...I was in the bathroom this morning and looked down and saw something brown by the shower.  The lizard was in the apartment again!  And not a few hours prior I had seen him in the sunroom so I know neither of us let him in.  Kevin was gone so I chased the little bugger down and trapped him at our front door by using a bowl.  But when I picked the bowl up, he got away.  I trapped him again, but this time his tail got caught and I cut it off.  I feel pretty bad about that.  I finally got him back out to the sunroom and released him.  We had a little talk about coming in the apartment and I got him a dead fly and some water to apologize about the whole tail incident.

How the hell does he get in the apartment?

I cut off about 3/4 of his tail...oops!

Just when I thought I had won, I dropped the glass bowl the lizard was trapped in and it shattered into a hundred tiny pieces across our apartment.  Under normal circumstances, I would have taken care of the mess on my own, but I am 37 weeks pregnant and running on about 5 hours of sleep so I called Kevin.  Thank goodness there were no practices going on so he was able to come home right away.    

What a mess!

Poor Kevin had to clean up the mess with a hand broom because that is all we have. 

Any other day of the month

Today, I had my 28 week check up at the doctor. I woke up at about 7:30 to start getting ready and the first thing I did was turn on the shower to warm up. But it never warmed up...we had no hot water, which also meant we had no heat. Any other day of the month it wouldn't matter, but today I actually had something to do and obviously needed to take a shower.

Thankfully, Kevin and I have experience with having no hot water from our days living in Basingstoke. Kevin put on the cordless kettle and started boiling water in every pot we owned. I washed my hair in the tub with the cold water, which was less than pleasant. Then, Kevin filled up the tub with the boiling water so I could take a bath. I drained the water and Kevin filled it back up with more boiled water so I could rinse. Getting out of the water was actually the worse part because it was so cold in our apartment. 

At the time, I was less than amused and even let the f-word slip out. Looking back, the whole situation is pretty funny. And even with all the chaos this morning, we still managed to get out of the house on time. However, I did not have a chance to shave my legs...sorry doc.   

Domani

I'm writing this post from my makeshift office in the locker room of the Vipiteno Broncos. It smells of hockey gear and sweat and I'm pretty sure I'm going to smell like it when I get home. We are on Day 4 of no internet at the apartment and I might be losing my mind if we don't get it soon. We talked to the hotel about our problem and they informed us that it was out there too and that they called someone to come out and fix it. In the States, they would send someone to fix it within a day or two. But in Italy, everything is 'domani' (or tomorrow). I'm betting we won't have it until early next week (at the earliest), but I'm really hoping I am wrong.

At least in the States, you can go to the nearest Starbucks or Barnes & Noble and connect to their Wi-Fi. Or you can pass time by watching television. These are not options here in our little Italian town of 6,000 people. I've been passing time by working out and napping, but I would much rather be catching up on my episodes of Jersey Shore and New Girl.

I don't mean to sound dramatic, but the internet is my lifeline. It is my connection to America! It is my phone, my television, and my cookbook. Without it, I am lost. I sure hope it comes back soon!

The Sights at the Gym

Lately, I've been doing really well with getting to the gym at least four days a week. Most of the time, I really look forward to going, but not because I love the way I feel after a good workout or because I'm doing something productive. Instead, I love to people watch at the gym. Back home it is never this fun, but the gym here never disappoints.

The gym (located under our apartment) is pretty small. It has 3 treadmills, 3 bikes, and 1 elliptical. Plus, there are free weights and weight machines. There are also two large mirrors located by the free weights and the weight machines. No matter where you are, you can see everyone else in the gym. And this, I love!

In general, Europeans work out in the most random clothes ever. When we lived in England, I was baffled that people would work out in Keds or lift weights in jeans. Here in Italy, guys LOVE spandex and short shorts. And it seems as though women have never heard of sports bras. I know they have them here!

Last week, Kevin was at the rink and I headed down since it usually isn't busy in the afternoon. When I walked in, there was a younger couple. The guy had on his spandex and the girl had a full windbreaker warm up on. The whole time she was riding the bike, I kept wondering how hot she must be. Well, they left soon after I arrived...maybe they were tired of me staring at them. But I got a new Italian friend to watch so I didn't care. At first glance, he looked completely normal until he took off his jeans and sweater and revealed his unitard (with a t-shirt under it). But the head sweatband really made the outfit.

Not even Rob Pattinson would look good in one of these.

When Kevin got home, I couldn't wait to tell him. He didn't believe me though. He said I was a liar and there was no way someone would wear that to the gym. But today, Kevin had to eat his words when my Italian friend, complete with his unitard and head sweatband, showed up to the gym while we were there.

Meet Mandy!

Mandy is the apartment/hotel dog. I'm not exactly sure who owns her, or even if anyone does. She just wanders from one building to another taking naps in the bike shop, outside our door, in front of our car, and in the hotel lobby. We see her on a daily basis and always greet her with some prosciutto or salami. Kevin says he is pretty sure he is going to come home one day and Mandy is going to be laying on our couch. I'm thinking it's a good possibility.

The average dog is a nicer person than the average person. ~Andy Rooney

Willkommen! Benvenuti!

Let me introduce you to our apartment! Nothing says home sweet home like twin beds pushed together and floral couches. But in all seriousness, our place is lovely. We have a two bedroom, one bath place located on hotel property. We have tons of storage space and a large kitchen, which is rare in Europe.

In England, we always had full or queen size beds, but I guess the norm here is to push two twin beds together to make a queen. It really isn't a big deal until I get into bed and hit my knee off the wooden part in the middle, but I'll learn my lesson eventually. The part that makes it really interesting is that we actually have two twin comforters too.

I love our bathroom! We have both a stand up shower and a large bathtub. And I guess the bidet is an added bonus...if you're into that type of thing.

You can definitely tell our apartment is owned by a hotel by the pattern on the couches.

Our kitchen/dining/work area are all rolled into one. We have a large refrigerator, a dishwasher, a table to eat on, and a table to work on. Perfect!

We also have an outdoor living space. It is a little chilly out there now, but I'm sure it will get put to use in the spring.

Our apartment is right off of the hotel property. Since it is the off-season, the hotel is dead. The owners have actually been on holiday in Spain for the last two weeks, but will be back soon in order to get ready for the Christmas Market and ski season.