Working Out

Update on the garden–one one zucchini plant survived the crash. The tomatoes are starting to take off now. I went on a mad weed-uprooting spree the other day in the backyard and discovered several large vegetable plants! In Italian, they’re called “coste” I have no idea what they’re called in English…sort of like…swiss chard with bigger, whiter stalks. Anyhow, I feel I’m making progress.

I bought my favorite stand-by workout videos in European DVD format last week and finally started using them a couple of days ago. (Tae-Bo: Get Ripped and Cindy Crawford: Shape Your Body). I’m enjoying them immensely. I’ve also started my mom’s money back guarantee workout which involves eliminating from your diet alcohol, dessert, and all foods eaten standing up. Plus you need to eat a little something healthy every three hours or so and work out. She guarantees that you’ll see results right away! I hope so because I also bought a scale yesterday, and though my weight in kilos doesn’t mean that much to me, I’m pretty sure the numbers are higher than they should be. I’m enjoying my first 3 hour mark snack as I write this (mint tea and sugar-free whole wheat chocolate cookies. Oh shoot. I guess cookies could be considered dessert, couldn’t they? Damn. I was really enjoying the chocolate-mint combination too…)

I don’t know if Spring is here or not. One day it’s beautiful and the next it’s cold and rainy. I’m convinced that I have allergies either way because my face is full of gunk, I can’t hear anything, and my eyes hurt. I seem to be getting these sinus symptoms ever since I lived in Napa. The last three years in a row I’ve lost my voice. This year, things are looking a little better, but keep your fingers crossed for me?

I got my hair cut yesterday! Luca’s mom and I go together every month and a half or so. It’s fun! I wish I could take a video of the salon. There are three 30-something women who work there and tons of old ladies getting rollers put in and their hair styled. Everyone speaks Piemontese, and there’s constantly at least a dull roar of gossip going on. The shop is always really busy and it’s fun to watch the women work–one washes hair, one cuts, and one blow dries and styles. I also enjoy it because my favorite grissini (breadstick) shop is around the corner and I always manage to sneak away and pick up a couple eti (a couple hundred grams). Yummers! (But shoot! Now that I’m on the famous Janet McConologue “Works Wonders” Diet that means I can’t eat grissini on my walk from the bread shop to the hair dresser. Man!! These sacrifices better be worth it in the end, Mom!!

In other news, our work on the new apartment is going along swimmingly! The kitchen arrived yesterday (though it has not been installed yet) and Luca’s practically finished varnishing the beam ceilings. At this rate I’d say we’ll be ready to move in by July sometime…We’ll see.