LisaKinVA Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 House hunting -- I am so over looking at houses here. We gave up living in the mountain country area of Avellino. We couldn't find anything really special that we would feel justified the extra toll expenses. It's a beautiful area... but there are other things to consider (The landlords were also starting to jack up the rent they wanted to the same prices as I'd pay to live with a gorgeous sea view, because they knew we could "afford" it. I wasn't going to spent that much money on a nothing-special house AND pay top $$$ for it with additional commuting costs. We always said it had to be something really special, and nothing we saw was. We focused our next search on areas closer to the coast line with better breezes from the sea. We are pulling the trigger and going with a smaller house close to the coast (about a mile, so walking distance, town called Pinetamare). This house oozes character (stone fireplace, Tuscan-style architecture), but is a fixer-upper. It has a huge garden with bearing fruit trees, and a pool. Plus, there is a huge vacant lot owned by the LL that backs to our house that we can use for playing soccer, playing with the dog, having a garden...). It's further from the kids' activities than I'd like, there are only 3 bedrooms (smaller), but like I said, I'm done. We've got at least 6 more weeks here in the hotel, and we just need to get out. The landlord is putting in a nice outdoor kitchen, putting a gas dryer hookup in the laundry room, re-modeling the kitchen (and I get to design it), and there are other changes we can make as we go (the landlord said we could do whatever we wanted, and he'd pay for the materials). I'm designing with the character of this house in mind -- trying to stay true to the style, while modernizing some features. This will be a very special house when I'm done :D The LL also makes his own wines...which my husband happens to really like .. he gave us about 150 euro worth... the LL is also friends with lots of professional football (soccer) players, so I'm guessing a Napoli Nation game is in the not too distant future. We go on Sunday to finalize some ideas and get some things written down, agree upon the details...and then we wait for the house to go through the process. Stuff: Our newly minted 5yo (Boo) starts speech therapy next week. The kids have all started swimming with the local Italian teams (the practices are extremely easy compared to what my older competitive swimmers used to do). My husband has gotten involved with Boy Scouts, I'm heading up the AHG Trailblazers here (we have a group of about a dozen families so far), my on-line store is about to go live, and I'm still earning money writing from home. We are planning our first major trip to Normandy, France at the end of April (Scouting Camporee, part of the 70th anniversary of D-Day), we are driving the 17 hours there and back. I'm excited :D (we are also taking the dog). We start learning Italian in earnest in a few weeks (just too much going on...life has been in a state of upheaval, and learning a new language on top of that was becoming a bit overwhelming to me). Everyone is doing fairly well, no major meltdowns or bouts of home sickness. Still taking things one day at a time -- although, I don't think I'll every quite get used to the way people stop on the off-ramps, back-up on the off-ramp, pass on the on-ramp, or any number of things that are almost expected here. On another note, I can now drink a cup of cappuccino or an espresso without making embarrassing faces. I'm not quite so successful with Limoncello (I swear, it tastes like Lemon Pledge...BLECH). My husband really enjoys this melon liquor though (tastes like cantaloupe). We purchased a Garmin, which makes traveling around to new places a bit easier, and I'm looking forward to some Fridays exploring some of the history (once we're settled, and my clothes arrive). Sadly, my limited wardrobe has made going out to nice places problematic. I ordered some new clothes from Kohl's about 5 weeks ago, but they haven't arrived yet. I'm hoping they are here before winter is over! I still have to figure out what to do about homeschooling...kids are finishing up some of the curricula I had (only packed enough to really take us through the first semester for some things), guess we'll explore Netflix and some other things until the rest of our stuff is unpacked. So much to do, gearing up for 9th, 7th, 5th, 2nd and K. Oh my LORD! What have I done?!?! Love you all...not posting a lot, still a lot on my plate. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfgivas Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 the house sounds wonderful! it will be good to be settled. i love reading about your updates, so thank you for not fogetting us! let us know when you're ready for company ;) ann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 I love reading your updates! Hope all settles down soon for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Glad you found a place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest submarines Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Thank you for updating. I love reading them. The house sounds lovely! Pictures, please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlgirl Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Yes please pictures! I love reading your updates too. There is something strange about me that has always wanted to live in Italy for awhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Glad you finally found a house! But you don't like limoncello? There must be something wrong with your taste buds or the type you tried. Do you buy it from a roadside cafe? Because that is the only place to buy it. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 Glad you finally found a house! But you don't like limoncello? There must be something wrong with your taste buds or the type you tried. Do you buy it from a roadside cafe? Because that is the only place to buy it. ;) It's probably just me. We've had it from the landlords who made it, at restaurants, at friends' houses...it's just ick to me.Seriously...lemon pledge, Unfortunately, we seem to be offered limoncello almost as often as we're offered some form of coffee...at least I got used to the coffee! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Great update from you and it sounds like finally you will be able to move out of the hotel soon. I hope it is as quick as you think now, because my experience is that almost everything takes longer than anticipated at the beginning. Keep your fingers crossed and keep an eye on the workers, and try to keep it progressing every day. Once you have your own stuff in your new home, you will be able to enjoy life in Europe, travel a lot, and widen your horizons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 The house sounds dreamy. More importantly, your landlord sounds great. Thanks for the update! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 So fun to hear your posts--I'm sure there's more than one of us living vicariously through you!! Go ahead, make your time sound as romantic and "Italian" as you can! :hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim in Appalachia Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Just curious, why did you order clothes from Kohl's instead of shopping there? Are the prices that high? I would think it would be fun to shop in Italy for clothes (and I'm not a shopper, or someone who likes to get new clothes, I just think the experience would be fun). Glad you found a place and that you are adjusting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Lisa, wonderful update! I'm so glad you found a place to settle. I live vicariously through you! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariannNOVA Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 And I thought I was the only person on the planet who did not care for limoncello..........and, yes, I described it as lemon pledge! Your update is wonderful to read! Blessings to your family! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilaclady Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Great to hear the good update. Hoping for more pleasant experiences in Italy. Enjoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 Just curious, why did you order clothes from Kohl's instead of shopping there? Are the prices that high? I would think it would be fun to shop in Italy for clothes (and I'm not a shopper, or someone who likes to get new clothes, I just think the experience would be fun). Glad you found a place and that you are adjusting. Part of the issue is not knowing where to shop yet...knowing what size I am here...how to get to said shopping places...and wanting something other than one of various shades of black and grey ...:) learning to shop is on my list of things to do...it's just a bit below some other learning curves I have to get through :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom in High Heels Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 I'm so glad to hear you're getting house finally! I'm sorry you're having to go smaller, but you will have room for me to visit, right??? :) The house sounds like it will be wonderful when it's finished! I can't wait to see photos. Also, it is crazy awesome that your LL knows pro footballers! Just to let you know, Europe is going to go crazy during the World Cup this summer. We're so sad we won't be there. If the army hadn't gone crazy and shut down James Bond's unit, we were supposed to be in Germany until late this year and we were excited to be around for the WC again. Places in Germany shut down when Germany was in the semi's and then the finals. It was nuts. They lost though. :( You can shop for clothing at H&M in Naples (it's on the Via Roma, 343 in zip code 80134). I rarely bought trousers in Europe, as they are clearly made for skinny European women who have no hips! IIRC, when sizing for women in Italy, you add 32 or 34 to your US size, so a size 10 would be a 42 or 44 in Italy. It's incredibly depressing. :) In Germany, a 44 is considered "Gross Mode" which basically means plus size. Sigh. What is your online store? How will you be shipping? I ask, because if you plan to use your APO, that's illegal and if you get caught, you can get into trouble. Just to let you know. We are considering flying over for the Normandy camporee. It would just be me and Indy, and he'd stay with his former troop. I would stay in a hotel, as I don't camp. Ever. It depends on our monitory situation and if JB can get the time off to stay home with Han Solo. We'll see. Keep updating! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 I'm so glad to hear you're getting house finally! I'm sorry you're having to go smaller, but you will have room for me to visit, right??? :) The house sounds like it will be wonderful when it's finished! I can't wait to see photos. Also, it is crazy awesome that your LL knows pro footballers! Just to let you know, Europe is going to go crazy during the World Cup this summer. We're so sad we won't be there. If the army hadn't gone crazy and shut down James Bond's unit, we were supposed to be in Germany until late this year and we were excited to be around for the WC again. Places in Germany shut down when Germany was in the semi's and then the finals. It was nuts. They lost though. :( You can shop for clothing at H&M in Naples (it's on the Via Roma, 343 in zip code 80134). I rarely bought trousers in Europe, as they are clearly made for skinny European women who have no hips! IIRC, when sizing for women in Italy, you add 32 or 34 to your US size, so a size 10 would be a 42 or 44 in Italy. It's incredibly depressing. :) In Germany, a 44 is considered "Gross Mode" which basically means plus size. Sigh. What is your online store? How will you be shipping? I ask, because if you plan to use your APO, that's illegal and if you get caught, you can get into trouble. Just to let you know. We are considering flying over for the Normandy camporee. It would just be me and Indy, and he'd stay with his former troop. I would stay in a hotel, as I don't camp. Ever. It depends on our monitory situation and if JB can get the time off to stay home with Han Solo. We'll see. Keep updating! The store is called Your Craft Source ... I'm hoping to do a couple of big things with the Dodea PTA groups, but most orders will be shipped from my mom's house in VA to customers FPO boxes. And, if you come to the Camporee, I think we must meet up. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trulycrabby Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 Thanks for the update, your house sounds lovely! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 Yes, Please post photos when you can. Sounds like a great home you've found! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PollyOR Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 Lisa, you are one busy woman! Thanks for sharing with us. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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