One of my goals while here (Scotland, not Italy)

One of my goals here is to never take out the trash. I still do most of the cleaning and all the laundry and the cooking. Richard helps with the dishes occasionally, but he doesn't clean the kitchen nor do all the dishes. Though he did once while here and it was fantastic. We were told we had an inspection but they never came! Whatever fits in the dishwasher is good and he is done. So even when he does the dishes I do too... So back to the trash. We once had a discussion of cleaning many years ago when I complained that he never put his stuff away. He said that we fix what bothers us. His clean clothes on the floor didn't bother him so therefore he may or may not do anything about it. So I took to either ignoring it, or when I couldn't, put it away. The trash really bugs him when it is full and I make another pile in a bag next to the trash he is SO bothered. It doesn't bother me so I do nothing about it. I'll ask a kid to take it out or Rich will take it out, but I won't and it feels really good to ignore it. (Rich might disagree with what I have written, but it is my blog... : )

Italy was great and it has gotten me thinking about another move. Italy is so much warmer and sunnier than here... My poor children!

unmotivated

I have a ton to do, but instead have been looking on everyone's blog that I know of and reading all the celebrity gossip and looking at anything that will distract me from what I should do: write. So I'll blog to waste a bit more time... The last few weeks have been terrible! The first disappointment was Atlas breaking his arm. Both bones in his forearm. Skateboarding. Then he got the stomach bug. At first I thought it was a reaction from all the drugs they gave him at the hospital, but it wasn't. Think big kid, a lot of poopy laundry! right arm not useful... Then Emilia got her eye scratched by Paris flailing her arms with a tube of toothpaste. Being a great big sister, she was helping her brush her teeth and Leif thought it funny to turn off the bathroom light. There are no windows in the bathroom and it was dark. Emilia went along with it and started to make spooky noises. After a trip to the doctor and two weeks later her eye is almost white again. I was sure she would be blind in that eye. Then our renter was ready to skip to another place with out finding replacements and wanted something cheaper. A contract is a contract and the market is different in March than August... Oh the stress, but I am loving the law of contract!
We are taking our first real family vacation in many years and have had trouble with our car rental. We tried to reserve a 6 passenger and they would charge us once the car was confirmed. One was not to be had. Instead someone thought it ok to give us a 5 seater. (Three is the magic number- kids that is) They imposed a reservation on us that would not fit the family, charged our card, and now gave us a fine for cancelling a reservation we did not make and we can't get a hold of anyone who will do anything!!
On the upside, Atlas' cast could come off in a week, but we'll be out of town, so he has to wait. Where we are going is supposed to be 10 degrees Celsius warmer (I don't know what that translates to in Fahrenheit, but a lot more). I should be done writing anything that needs to be written and all I'll need to do is get a bit of a tan while I revise for my exams at the end of the month. Oh, and the icing on the cake is that I finally went to the salon to get my hair done and it is the funniest (ugliest) color. Think tree-trunk and stripes or a skunk. I had the girl re-do it and she tried with out much success. I won't ever go back to her. The next month will continue to be hat time- lovely pictures to follow... I am still able to smile so nothing is life shattering. And instead of having a break-down, I baked two cakes in one afternoon and have taken some beautiful walks. Glasgow is getting some color.
Tuscany, let the sun shine on us... PLEASE!