You'd think I'd have a lot to say since I haven't posted any updates since March. Hmmm...
quick round-up:
I have a new job. It's awesome... way better than I could have expected. I work in the urology department of a big hospital for the two most important surgeons in their field in all of Italy. I now know way more than the average person should probably know about prostates. Men talk to me openly about their incontenence and erectile problems. It was weird at first, but now it's just all in a days work.
Our old pervy neighbor broke a hip a couple of months ago and has been in the hospital ever since. He got especially pervy before this happened. I feel bad about not feeling bad about his current state, but at least we have had some peace and quiet in the courtyard lately.
Fabrizio, the crazy upstairs neighbor, has been in and out of the psych ward. This has also offered us some peace and quiet, although when he's home he still stops by at least 3 times a day to demand that Alberto make him some coffee. He's become some sort of staple in our lives and we actually miss the weirdo when he's in the hospital, but then when he comes back we realize we didn't really miss him all that much.
I'm on a real diet for the first time in my life. My days of wine and beer drinking and salami and cheese eating have finally caught up with me. Today is day 2 of my diet. I made chocolate banana muffins for Alby and Claudio tonight and only tasted half of one. I'm guessing this will only last until the weekend, but we'll see. Eight - ten pounds is my goal, to get back to the weight I was when I met Alby. I've also got a fancy gym membership. I went to a group conditioning class yesterday and I can hardly walk today. Damn, I'm old. Despite the pain, I went for a 40 minute walk tonight. The weather was beautiful and I reckon we won't have too many more days like today before the cold grey rain that defines the Milan winter sets in. I've got to enjoy the sun while it lasts.
Oh, and just in case you didn't know, Italy is in economic shambles right now. Thank god for my job. Things are looking grim out there. Alby is scraping by with some free-lance work, but times are indeed tough for many right now. Yesterday I dared to think about how much gas actually costs. Converting liters to gallons and Euro to Dollars we currently pay $8.86 per gallon. Ouch. Needless to say, we don't go out much these days. Luckily most of our friends are in the same boat so we have a lot of poor people dinner parties where we eat pasta and drink discount beer. It's awesome, except that both pasta and beer are prohibited from my diet plan. Like I said, this may have to be a 5-day a week diet.
Now that I'm a bit settled in a routine I'll see if I can actually write something sometimes. Also because I don't get to talk to the three of you who might read this on a regular basis. I miss all my friends and family afar!!
