Poor Frogger

I haven't been able to post in awhile because I have been locked up for murder. Okay, I wasn't really locked up but I did kill Frogger and I feel terrible.

In October, I pulled in the lime and rubber trees from my patio because the news was forecasting the first frost to hit that night. A week or so later, I noticed a little tree frog hanging around my fish tank. I figure he came in with the tree and since it was so cold outside, I didn't put him back outside to freeze.
I would see Frogger once every week or so all winter long. Then last week it was 60 degrees outside so I caught Frogger and put him outside. The next day it snowed two inches!

Poor Frogger - I feel so horrid and have been in mourning ever since :(

There are things to do in Evansville

One of my New Year's resolutions is to stop saying there is nothing to do in Evansville and actually participate in the things there are to do around here. In the past, this has been a hard thing because I never could find anyone to go with - either other people were not interested or they didn't have any money (people here are always broke, which I don't understand, but that is another rant and rave for a future post).

Today I went to the university's Martin Luther King Jr. luncheon. There was a keynote speaker, an interpretative ballet dance on Rosa Parks, the Culver Elementary Drumline (which was cool to see since I always heard them practicing when I went to Culver to lead my Girl Scout troop), and a step dance routine.

The food was made by the university's food service so it wasn't all that good but the program was really good. I sat with a group from the university's career services office. One of the guys at the table thought that the hot sauce was French dressing and poured it on his salad! He still ate his salad!

There is a Russian Ballet presentation of Sleeping Beauty on Tuesday and a Harlem Globetrotters event on two Fridays from now but I am on call for this week and next (gosh darn job ruining my life! LOL)

Need caffeine

Okay, so one of my handful of resolutions was is to stop drinking soda and to lay off the caffeine (not a total withdrawal but a drastic minimization). It was not abnormal for me to drink a couple Mtn Dews a day and to drink 2-3 energy drinks a week. Of course, there was some regular trips to Starbucks in the mix too.

This is the second day of class and I am craving some caffeine - need that kick. It doesn't help that I have been sick for the last week and just want to sleep right now.

Like Jack's Mannequin says "I need caffeine in the bloodstream".

I am fighting it but it shall be interesting to see how much caffeine I drink this weekend - I have 5 chapters to read! I am going to make some tea now.

The War hits home

This morning on the news, they announced that funeral services for Private Pfender would happen this week. I never had the pleasure of meeting this young man but his death brought the war a little too close to comfort for me.

I first learned that Jonathon Pfender existed when the local Pizza Hut on St. Joe announced wishes of good luck on their marquee. He worked at the Pizza Hut, enlisted in the Army, and was sent to Iraq. I don't know what he looked like, what he did in his spare time, what made him who he was but thanks to that marquee I knew that he existed and I knew that he must have had an impact on those who knew him because that marquee kept the wishes of good luck on display - it never came down.

I don't know if my sense of comradery with Private Pfender was because we both worked at the Hut. It seems that I always have an instant bond with a person when we find out we both did some time smelling like pizza (not as pleasant as you might think). The announcement of his death today just really jarred me and put a more personal spin on the war - I didn't even know him, just knew that he existed.

I think the feelings are a lot like those felt after 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. I don't have a frame of reference for what those locations looked like and I (thankfully) did not know anyone who was personally affectected so I was detached and until Private Pfender I was detached from the war also.

Mixed feelings - not sure if it is like the Toby Keith song "I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then". I do know that even though we never met, I will never forget Private Pfender - my life from this point out is definitely different. God bless and keep you Jonathon Pfender.

Hey - that building is leaning!

Amanda and I drive from Milano to Firenze (Florence) where we are to meet back up with Heather and Melissa at 3pm at the hotel. The drive through Tuscany is beautiful. A lot of people think of Tuscany as a city but it is more like a state/county. Rome is in Lazio and Florence is in Toscana (Tuscany). During the trip we do ponder why we have American names for the Italian cities - why can't we just call it what they do?

We arrive at the hotel a little early and grab a bite to eat at the local bar. An Italian Bar is like a coffeshop. Think more like a snack bar than an alcohol bar. On the way to the bar, we pop into the liquor store. A nice sized bottle of Galliano is 13 euro. What a bargain but I am worried about customs and bringing over too much alcohol and having to pay custom fines. Amanda and I are trying to find some Absinthe but have had no luck so far.

We meet up with H&M and decide to take the train to Pisa. The train ride is about 40 minutes long. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is actually part of a church and is quite interesting. The sun is setting and I get some great pictures. Across from the tower is a great store and I am excited to be able to finally find a touristy gift shop. The store is closing and they will not let us look around anymore. I sadly look at the clerk and she lets me purchase the two items I had in my hands. While she is ringing me up, I add a few more items that are around the register and then see under the counter the Italian charms that I have been looking all over for. I spent about 80 euro in the store, imagine if I had a chance to actually look around!

We have dinner at a same trattoria in Pisa. I play adventurous again and order some food that I am not quite sure what it will be like.

My mother's birthplace

Amanda and I get up early and take the vaporetto for one more ride through Venice (I thought it would be a neat thing to see at dawn). Unfortunately, the taxi does not ride the full loop at such an early hour. We have breakfast (one of the yummiest of the whole trip) and take the ferry back to mainland.

Amanda is getting better at reading the crazy Italian directions. As soon as we pull into big cities, she runs in to a hotel and asks for directions. This has proven to be quite successful except when some of the streets do not go straight through. We had to drive around a block like three times to get going in the right direction. Roundabouts are fun!

In Milano, we stayed at a Best Western with the snobbiest clerks ever. They were so standoffish and rude! Amanda and I - wise from our many driving misadventures - take the subway to the Duomo. We struggle trying to understand how the Subway works when some people from Holland help us (they say they were just as confused yesterday).

The Duomo is a large building with spires and we think we should be able to see it. Amanda stops and consults the map swearing the building is just ahead of us. Hesitantly, I follow her directions and as we walk a block or two - boom- there it is surrounded by modern skyscrapers that are home to many elite fashion designers. Many of the shops are closed because of the holiday (not that I could have afforded to shop there even if they were open!) Milano is full of street vendors with lots of good bargains and Amanda and I find a World Gifts Festival. While it didn't prove to be a good place to buy souveniers ("Hey look I got you this African tribal doll in Italy!"), it was a lot of fun.

For dinner, we eat at an upscale resturant. At the hotel, we pay to check our email and I discover that my bank fee for withdrawing money from the ATM is about $10! This picture is the view from our hotel. At the hotel, we see an amazing video for a song called "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter. It appears that he is probably British and the video has such a good story. I was hoping to find a good Italian group over here but I think Daniel Powter will suffice. We try to get an appointment to see "The Last Supper" but with the holiday, the hotel clerk tells us that it won't be possible.