Architects, Italy, and Evelina

Keeping up a blog is hard work I now realize.I seem not be good at regular postings. Either that or time has accelerated lately and I continuously find myself short of it. I so looked forward to springbreak, to be able to catch up. And what have I been doing? I have been scrambling to get a fellowship application ready and in the mail. It is due tomorrow, I will be sending it overnight. I am still waiting on a letter of recommendation. All that work and all that time, my springbreak nearly over, and the chances that I will get the fellowship are so slim that buying a bunch of lottery tickets would have been more cost and time effective. Come to think of it, I might still go out and do that too. I also decided last minute to send in an abstract for the big AIA conference (Archaeological Institute of America) which is in Chicago next year. I made that submission by a few hours. Phew. So all that and my house--which I had planned on giving a good clean-up, drawers and closets and all--is still a mess.

So what has been happening otherwise you ask. Well after a long silence we got a long report back from the architect. We don't have the plans yet, he promised those for next week. But he did go to the house and send us his findings. Good news: he thinks it is a great house with many possibilities (well either that is good news or merely a marketing ploy to get us to work with him, on those possibilities you see... ) and we can keep the floor! Yeah! Not so good news: he thinks there might be quite some work necessary on the bay window. But no bad news really. Of course we have not yet gotten any bids from him. I am sure we will consider that very bad news.

What else? I have been (sort of) hired as the art history instructor for a program located in Umbria! If the classes fill I will teach "Umbrian painters" to the program's participants in July and September. This will be one of those things where many aspects will have to fall into place to make it all work. But it does give me something to look forward to. The lady that runs the program sounds very nice and eager to make it all work. So fingers crossed. If you want to check out the site, here it is: www.caifiordi.com

Evelina is doing swell! She switched day care in February and is now at the UT developement center in a class with bigger kids. She seems to be loving it. I can't believe she is almost 1! One year old. See that is what I mean, time has been accelerating. Is that what happens when you have kids? Anyway, she is starting to say words. "Papa" seems to be here favorite one. She understands an aweful lot. She knows and uses appropriately various signs. She is putting food in her own mouth (and ours as well) and she is starting to walk. Six steps is sofar her record. And she is just such a joy to be around. And still as cute as a bug! Here are some recent pictures of her.









Other than that, we are expecting my mother. She arrives this Sunday. And in time for Evelina's birthday party my father will fly in as well, as will Robert's mom and Dale. So that should be lots of fun. It is the first time that everyone will be together. There will be pictures of that event for sure.

For now, lots of greetings from Texas with love.