<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955</id><updated>2009-11-09T07:45:50.779+01:00</updated><title type='text'>Rik's Blog</title><subtitle type='html'>Welcome to Rik's Blog. Rik is a US citizen living abroad in the most beautiful of places; Bella Italia. Ah, the pizza, the pasta, the wine, the seafood, the sun, the beaches, the mountains...</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><link rel='next' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default?start-index=26&amp;max-results=25'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>627</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955.post-8292472109657032479</id><published>2009-11-06T10:24:00.003+01:00</published><updated>2009-11-09T07:45:50.785+01:00</updated><title type='text'>Me and the X Man</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/Sve6lJl6cII/AAAAAAAABPk/-ObXrvw3bZw/s1600-h/PICT1163.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/Sve6lJl6cII/AAAAAAAABPk/-ObXrvw3bZw/s400/PICT1163.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401991425447063682" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;em&gt;Devil's Forest Pub, Venice&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10361955-8292472109657032479?l=rikthib.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/8292472109657032479/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10361955&amp;postID=8292472109657032479' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/8292472109657032479'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/8292472109657032479'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/2009/11/me-and-x-man.html' title='Me and the X Man'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06848395666401881263'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/Sve6lJl6cII/AAAAAAAABPk/-ObXrvw3bZw/s72-c/PICT1163.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955.post-8262397739516355743</id><published>2009-11-05T09:59:00.000+01:00</published><updated>2009-11-05T10:00:04.251+01:00</updated><title type='text'>Happy Birthday Tay-Tay</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://www.rikthib.com/wedding2/riktata.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 479px; height: 719px;" src="http://www.rikthib.com/wedding2/riktata.jpg" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10361955-8262397739516355743?l=rikthib.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/8262397739516355743/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10361955&amp;postID=8262397739516355743' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/8262397739516355743'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/8262397739516355743'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/2009/11/happy-birthday-tay-tay.html' title='Happy Birthday Tay-Tay'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06848395666401881263'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955.post-1698917489794707429</id><published>2009-11-04T09:34:00.001+01:00</published><updated>2009-11-04T09:35:48.510+01:00</updated><title type='text'>Regrets.</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SvE810eRW9I/AAAAAAAABPM/8o8cPBL8oG0/s1600-h/regrets.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 310px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SvE810eRW9I/AAAAAAAABPM/8o8cPBL8oG0/s400/regrets.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400164323510279122" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10361955-1698917489794707429?l=rikthib.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/1698917489794707429/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10361955&amp;postID=1698917489794707429' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/1698917489794707429'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/1698917489794707429'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/2009/11/regrets.html' title='Regrets.'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06848395666401881263'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SvE810eRW9I/AAAAAAAABPM/8o8cPBL8oG0/s72-c/regrets.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955.post-8852749276969490720</id><published>2009-11-02T09:01:00.002+01:00</published><updated>2009-11-02T09:07:42.826+01:00</updated><title type='text'>The Wife and Kid are Home</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/Su6TEfXy-QI/AAAAAAAABPE/NkYHf5bhfIA/s1600-h/Luca.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/Su6TEfXy-QI/AAAAAAAABPE/NkYHf5bhfIA/s320/Luca.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399414708613871874" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;em&gt;Great to have the little guy home&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And it looks like they left just in time as another typhoon battered Manila a few hours after they left and several flights were cancelled. But it's great to have them home and have things back to normal a little bit. Luca is still adjusting but he seems to have developed some bad habits during his time away. He's become a complete mama's boy and even worse he is prone to throwing temper tantrums. That's something the X Man never did so it's new territory for me. I may have to call Supernanny if it keeps up. But he's still as cute as ever and still completely addicted to dancing. I'm hoping to post some cute videos of him dancing in the next few weeks.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10361955-8852749276969490720?l=rikthib.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/8852749276969490720/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10361955&amp;postID=8852749276969490720' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/8852749276969490720'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/8852749276969490720'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/2009/11/wife-and-kid-are-home.html' title='The Wife and Kid are Home'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06848395666401881263'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/Su6TEfXy-QI/AAAAAAAABPE/NkYHf5bhfIA/s72-c/Luca.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955.post-1150020372693540931</id><published>2009-10-30T08:18:00.003+01:00</published><updated>2009-10-30T10:10:08.661+01:00</updated><title type='text'>I Don't Particularly Care for MPs.</title><content type='html'>I've never really been one to buck authority. I do believe we need laws in a society and the military is no exception. Despite this, I cannot stand military policemen ("MPs" for short). They are some of the most arrogant, hypocritical people I've ever met in the military. I'm sure there are some really good ones but I've met and observed so many bad ones that it's impossible for me to have a favorable opinion of them, especially when you see them doing the very things they are so fond of giving other people tickets for such as speeding or parking in no parking areas. They get a little bit of authority and it goes right to their heads and affects their ability to use common sense and reason. For example, an MP on base once gave me a ticket for going 13 MPH in a 10 MPH zone. I assure you, I am not kidding. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The base here is one of the worst I've seen. Part ofthe problem is that most of the MPs here are Reserve or National Guard units that come here for a few weeks to do their time, then go home. They throw on the uniform and suddenly they all think they're freaking Serpico. And to make matters worse, most of them are young E3's or E4's which means they've only been doing it for a couple years or less. They are not content to come to Italy for a few weeks, do their job, enjoy the sights and go home. Nay, they feel they must leave a trail of ridiculous tickets and harassing traffic stops in their wake. Consider this story...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We have a shoppette on base which is like a little convenient store. It's the kind of place where people run into real quick to pick something up or drop a movie rental off. There's an expansive area in front where you are not supposed to park at but people do all the time when they are just dropping a movie off as it takes about 20 seconds to run in and run out. About 5 years ago I was on base with the wife and the X Man (who was just a baby) in the car and we needed to return a movie. There were no parking spots and I didn't want to have to unhook the baby seat and carry him in so I pulled up to the front and told the wife to run in and drop it off. No sooner did she get out of the car when I noticed an MP car so I backed out so as not to get a ticket. As soon as I did, the sirens came on and he proceeded to follow me with the sirens blaring as I parked in an open spot. I can hear him on the radio calling it in and then a few minutes later he gets out of his cruiser and slowly walks to my window WITH HIS HAND ON HIS GUN. I'm watching all of this thinking "WTF, do you think me and my newborn baby are packing heat?!". He asks for the usual documents and I tried to explain that I was just dropping my wife off to return a movie but it didn't matter, he tells me "When I see you stopped in front of the shoppette, for all I know, you could be inside doing your grocery shopping". Seriously, he saw my wife get out of the car and he saw me sitting in the drivers seat with a baby in the back. He then proceeded to hold me there for TWENTY minutes while he ran my info and then let me off with a warning to "Watch yourself next time" as he might not be as lenient. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thank you Cagney, say hi to Lacey for me...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well I had another incident this morning. We had a cold snap last week and one of my headlights went out. Changing a headlight on my car is no small feat, the entire thing has to be removed and replaced and it's way above my knowledge and skill level. Since I had to go to Germany for work this past week I figured I'd get it fixed when I got back. So I'm driving onto the base this morning and sure enough, there's a reservist MP who takes my ID, then asks me to turn my headlights on for him. When he sees one of them is out he tells me to pull into the temporary holding area and asks for my license, registration, proof of insurance, etc. Then he disappears for 15 minutes before I even get a chance to explain that it just went out and that I just got back from Germany so I haven't had a chance to get it fixed. He comes back, gives me a ticket and asks me if I have any questions. My reply was "Yeah, here's a question, how am I supposed to get my headlight fixed right away when it takes two weeks to get an appointment at the garage on base?". The kid looks at me and says, very condescendingly "You can change a headlight yourself". Well, I started to go off on him about how replacing a headlight on my car is a big job and that I just got back from Germany but then remembered that MPs are complete dickheads so I just stopped my self and said "Nevermind, just give me the damned ticket." &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There is a reason why the MPs are the most hated people on military bases. If anyone has any MP stories, please feel free to share in the comments section...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SuqtRJPv6VI/AAAAAAAABO8/jLqhRpAhZ2U/s1600-h/MP.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 256px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SuqtRJPv6VI/AAAAAAAABO8/jLqhRpAhZ2U/s320/MP.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398317613408315730" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10361955-1150020372693540931?l=rikthib.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/1150020372693540931/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10361955&amp;postID=1150020372693540931' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/1150020372693540931'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/1150020372693540931'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/2009/10/i-dont-particularly-care-for-mps.html' title='I Don&apos;t Particularly Care for MPs.'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06848395666401881263'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SuqtRJPv6VI/AAAAAAAABO8/jLqhRpAhZ2U/s72-c/MP.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955.post-5052019289783366864</id><published>2009-10-30T05:06:00.000+01:00</published><updated>2009-10-30T05:07:36.350+01:00</updated><title type='text'>The Wife Comes Home Tomorrow.</title><content type='html'>Thank God.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10361955-5052019289783366864?l=rikthib.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/5052019289783366864/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10361955&amp;postID=5052019289783366864' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/5052019289783366864'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/5052019289783366864'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/2009/10/wife-comes-home-tomorrow.html' title='The Wife Comes Home Tomorrow.'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06848395666401881263'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955.post-2753555917666930127</id><published>2009-10-25T07:05:00.003+01:00</published><updated>2009-10-25T07:07:53.113+01:00</updated><title type='text'>Headed to Germany for a few days...</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SuPqxYQ14pI/AAAAAAAABO0/5QILBlOkndU/s1600-h/stuttgart.png"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SuPqxYQ14pI/AAAAAAAABO0/5QILBlOkndU/s200/stuttgart.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396414912567566994" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Be back on Wednesday.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10361955-2753555917666930127?l=rikthib.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/2753555917666930127/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10361955&amp;postID=2753555917666930127' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/2753555917666930127'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/2753555917666930127'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/2009/10/headed-to-germany-for-few-days.html' title='Headed to Germany for a few days...'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06848395666401881263'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SuPqxYQ14pI/AAAAAAAABO0/5QILBlOkndU/s72-c/stuttgart.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955.post-5629306707435658085</id><published>2009-10-22T08:16:00.003+02:00</published><updated>2009-10-22T09:04:01.396+02:00</updated><title type='text'>Dinner at the Neighbors.</title><content type='html'>Our neighbors are Calabrese, that is, they are from the region of Italy named Calabria. Calabria is found way down south, in the "toe" area of Italy that is kicking the island of Sicily. Giorgia and Daniele are their names and they also have three daughters, two who live with them and one who lives in town, and a grandson, little Daniele who I previously wrote about on here. Giorgia is a teacher in the X Man's school and she is wonderful, we love her to death. The whole family is great actually and we love having them as neighbors. In typical Italian fashion, they always want to have us over for dinner. Although I love eating dinner over there, I have to decline sometimes for a couple reasons; first, like most Italians, they eat dinner very late, usually around 8 or 8:30. That's just way too late for me as I'm usually in bed by 9 since I get up around 0430 for work. Also, dinner at their house means way too much food for me. A normal Italian meal has 4 or 5 different courses, then they force dessert on you and then maybe some cheese or fruit afterwards, not to mention the vino flowing freely throughout the meal...it's just too much for me, especially late at night. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;With the wife away, I think Giorgia took pity on me and the first week asked me to come have dinner with them. I didn't want to be rude but I explained that they eat too late and that I'm usually in bed around 9 so I would have to pass. She understood and was not offended but since I mentioned that weekends were better since I don't work, she wanted to invite me on a weekend but every weekend so far has been either full or they have been in Tuscany visitng her brother. She invited us for lunch this past Sunday but we had plans to be in Venice all day so I had to decline once again but I felt bad so I agreed to come to dinner on Wednesday. It worked out perfectly as there is an American kid named Jeremy staying with me this week, he is the son of a girl I went to school with back home. He's a freshman in college spending his first semester in Florence on an exchange program and he's on semester break so I offered for him to come up here if he wanted to see Venice and experience some real Italian culture. Well, let me tell you, if you want real Italian culture, go to dinner at an Italian's house. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We ended up eating around 8 and what a freaking meal. Antipasto was prosciutto crudo from Tuscany, then bigoli all'anitra (fat pasta with duck meat) which is a speciality of the Veneto region where live. After that they brought out a huge plate of homemade polpette done in Calabria style. Polpette is similar to a meatball except it's mostly flat instead of round and they make theirs with meat, cheese, parsley, cream and one or two other ingredients I can't recall. Absolutely delicious. Along with the polpette was a big plate of a special sweet salsiccia (sausage) from Asiago, the famous alpine town nearby known mostly for it's cheese. As a contorni (side dish), there was also a huge plate of steak fries (which I avoided) and a big bowl of salad. I was completely stuffed but then Daniele insisted on bringing out the big block of Asiago cheese and then a big bowl of roasted chestnuts. Dessert was a torta (cake) with pear on top. We also had three different kinds of vino.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The food was amazing but the best part of the night, as it often is, was the fellowship. The entire evening was spent with us learning a lot of Italian language and culture as well as introducing the neighbors to a lot of American language and culture. That kind of thing has always been one of my favorite parts of living in Italy. And it was quite an experience for Jeremy as well, as he was able to practice his Italian and the look on his face was priceless and I'm certain that he will keep that experience in his mind forever. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I didn't get any pics from dinner but I found a few online of some of the dishes:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SuABea9d01I/AAAAAAAABOc/gkmn0me_QNY/s1600-h/crudo.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SuABea9d01I/AAAAAAAABOc/gkmn0me_QNY/s200/crudo.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395313975734686546" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;center&gt;Prosciutto Crudo&lt;/center&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SuABelO__QI/AAAAAAAABOk/kGS6lgn1WGc/s1600-h/bigoli.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 143px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SuABelO__QI/AAAAAAAABOk/kGS6lgn1WGc/s200/bigoli.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395313978492583170" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;center&gt;Bigoli all'anitra&lt;/center&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SuABe5Z3mbI/AAAAAAAABOs/p7sc6uAnYlY/s1600-h/polpette.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SuABe5Z3mbI/AAAAAAAABOs/p7sc6uAnYlY/s200/polpette.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395313983906879922" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;center&gt;Polpette&lt;/center&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10361955-5629306707435658085?l=rikthib.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/5629306707435658085/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10361955&amp;postID=5629306707435658085' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/5629306707435658085'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/5629306707435658085'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/2009/10/dinner-at-neighbors.html' title='Dinner at the Neighbors.'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06848395666401881263'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SuABea9d01I/AAAAAAAABOc/gkmn0me_QNY/s72-c/crudo.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955.post-7814495467245012013</id><published>2009-10-19T07:54:00.002+02:00</published><updated>2009-10-19T08:05:08.548+02:00</updated><title type='text'>Update on the Wife</title><content type='html'>The main reason the wife and kid went back to the Philippines was because her family had decided to hold a huge family reunion this month. Unfortunately the typhoons came one after the other and her family's farm was hit hard, losing all of their crops before they had a chance to harvest them. the reunion was scheduled for Saturday, October 17th and I was wondering if they would even still have it since they are still recovering from the floods but I heard from the wife on Saturday and she said that all of her aunts and uncles and other relatives showed up and that it was a fantastic time. She says it was weird seeing family members that she hasn't seen in 20 years and I can just imagine but I could sense the excitement at it all. She says that everything is fine and the recovery is going well. Her family is just in love with Luca and having a ball with him and he is enjoying himself quite a bit, playing with his cousins and grandparents. hopefully she's taking a lot of pictures and videos so I can post some of them when they get back. They're arriving back in Milan on Saturday, October 31st. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On the homefront everything is well. I had another great weekend with the X Man. We spent the day in Venice again yesterday and he was well behaved and didn't whine a bit, I was quite surprised. When we got home he went right over to Daniele's house for the rest fo the evening before going back to Giampi and Agnese's house for the week.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10361955-7814495467245012013?l=rikthib.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/7814495467245012013/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10361955&amp;postID=7814495467245012013' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/7814495467245012013'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/7814495467245012013'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/2009/10/update-on-wife.html' title='Update on the Wife'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06848395666401881263'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955.post-2115978166444082233</id><published>2009-10-15T08:50:00.003+02:00</published><updated>2009-10-15T09:34:45.156+02:00</updated><title type='text'>Sometimes I Wish I Were Italian. Or Irish. Or...</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/StbQDTvkHXI/AAAAAAAABOU/PObiSj1vnIE/s1600-h/fleur.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 285px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/StbQDTvkHXI/AAAAAAAABOU/PObiSj1vnIE/s320/fleur.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392726359080705394" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm French. More specifically, I'm French Canadian. 100%. As far as I know, there is only French blood running through my veins. Both my mother's and father's side of the family can be traced immediately back to Canada, most of them to Quebec. Growing up, French Canadians - lovingly referred to as Canucks - were predominant in my neighborhood, my town and my schools. Most of my classmates had last names like Levesque, Francoeur, Boucher, Gagnon or Cote and many were fluent in French. Most of my older relatives spoke French and when I got to high school I started learning French partly because I wanted to feel like part of my heritage. After college my brother and I went to Montreal and Quebec a couple times and for the first time I saw where my family had come from. When I got to Europe in 1998, I cherished every trip to France because I wanted to sort of get in touch with my ancestry and culture. I even got a tattoo of the Fleur-de-Lis, the symbol of Quebec (also their flag).  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But the truth is, I've never felt much nationalistic or ethic pride in being French Canadian. Over the years I've come to be envious of people with other backgrounds. Italians, Irish, Germans, Mexicans, Filipinos, hell even Puerto Ricans. They have so much pride in their heritage and wear it like a badge of honor. Italian Americans and Irish Americans in particular, two of the proudest groups there are in the US. There are plenty of Italian Americans who are 3rd, 4th or even 5th generation but they can still speak the language and still identify themselves as more Italian than American. Italians have made a huge mark on the US with their food, culture, etc. Same with the Irish, I mean they even have their own holiday. All of these groups have identifiable cultures. French Canadians...not so much, unless you want to count meatpies, construction, sheetrock or drywall. Somehow, saying "Kiss me I'm French Canadian" doesn't have the same ring to it as "Kiss me I'm Irish" does.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The funny thing is, living in Italy for almost 10 years now I've developed a lot of Italian traits and can even speak the language decently. In some ways, I'm a lot more "Italian" than many of the real Italian Americans back in the US but because my blood is 100% French Canadian, I'll never part of the club. I've accepted that. But sometimes I wish that I WAS Italian. Or Irish. Or one of those other nationalities who have so much pride in their heritage. In the meantime, I guess I'll just have to say "Je me Souviens!"...and pass me another piece of meatpie.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10361955-2115978166444082233?l=rikthib.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/2115978166444082233/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10361955&amp;postID=2115978166444082233' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/2115978166444082233'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/2115978166444082233'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/2009/10/sometimes-i-wish-i-were-italian-or.html' title='Sometimes I Wish I Were Italian. Or Irish. Or...'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06848395666401881263'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/StbQDTvkHXI/AAAAAAAABOU/PObiSj1vnIE/s72-c/fleur.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955.post-2591014462185678698</id><published>2009-10-14T11:04:00.002+02:00</published><updated>2009-10-14T11:17:42.277+02:00</updated><title type='text'>5 Underrated 80's movies</title><content type='html'>1. Big Trouble in Little China&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2. Adventures in Babysitting&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;3. F/X&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;4. Masquerade&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;5. Shoot to Kill&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10361955-2591014462185678698?l=rikthib.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/2591014462185678698/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10361955&amp;postID=2591014462185678698' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/2591014462185678698'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/2591014462185678698'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/2009/10/5-underrated-80s-movies.html' title='5 Underrated 80&apos;s movies'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06848395666401881263'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955.post-279761392686721022</id><published>2009-10-13T09:13:00.003+02:00</published><updated>2009-10-13T09:25:18.541+02:00</updated><title type='text'>Love...Exciting and new...</title><content type='html'>A few weeks ago I finally got Sky Italia. Sky Italia is the satellite TV package in Italy, it's got about 800 channels ranging from sports to variety to movies to music. I'm loving it so far as I get all the soccer I can handle and occasionally a movie will come on that I haven't seen in a while (Last week it was "Major League"). One of my favorite channels is Fox Retro. As the name would imply, it shows a bunch of stuff from the 70's and 80's so I love it. i'm enjoying watching shows I haven't seen since I was a kid but I've been surprised at how many of them just don't hold up very well. There is one show however that is just as enjoyable now as it was 30 years ago: The Love Boat. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It comes on a few times a day and I'm loving it. It's amazing to see how many famous people were on it, every episode is like a who's who of American culture. The storylines are laughable, the acting is over the top, and the jokes are corny at best but I don't care. The Love Boat rocks. And the theme song! you cannot hear the Love Boat theme song and not feel happy. You just can't.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.rikthib.com/audio/loveboat.wav"&gt;The Love Boat Theme Song&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10361955-279761392686721022?l=rikthib.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/279761392686721022/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10361955&amp;postID=279761392686721022' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/279761392686721022'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/279761392686721022'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/2009/10/loveexciting-and-new.html' title='Love...Exciting and new...'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06848395666401881263'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955.post-3742618915085972955</id><published>2009-10-12T11:10:00.002+02:00</published><updated>2009-10-12T11:11:31.449+02:00</updated><title type='text'>This pretty much sums me up...</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/StLylkuGtlI/AAAAAAAABOM/FnRCSAJ2qdc/s1600-h/motivation.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/StLylkuGtlI/AAAAAAAABOM/FnRCSAJ2qdc/s400/motivation.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391638431242040914" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10361955-3742618915085972955?l=rikthib.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/3742618915085972955/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10361955&amp;postID=3742618915085972955' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/3742618915085972955'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/3742618915085972955'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/2009/10/this-pretty-much-sums-me-up.html' title='This pretty much sums me up...'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06848395666401881263'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/StLylkuGtlI/AAAAAAAABOM/FnRCSAJ2qdc/s72-c/motivation.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955.post-8937195076951157130</id><published>2009-10-10T08:45:00.002+02:00</published><updated>2009-10-10T09:27:18.741+02:00</updated><title type='text'>Disaster.</title><content type='html'>I thought the worst of the storms was over in the Philippines but apparently I was wrong. Typhoon Parma completely destroyed the Pangasinan region, where the wife is staying with her family. I spoke to her on the phone yesterday and she described the devastation to me, it sounds really bad. The good news is that her family's house where they're staying somehow escaped the flooding and everyone is safe and sound. The bad news is that the farm and all of her family's crops - basically, their entire livelihood - have been lost to the flooding. The bridge that leads the highway was also destroyed but she says it should be fixed by the time they are supposed to come home at the end of the month. I was worried about Luca and told her that if it was really bad she might want to think about coming home early but she says the worst is over and the waters are already starting to go down. Plus, the house is fine so there's not really much danger for them at this point I guess. It's probably good that she's there right now as she can help them buy things that they really need to recover. We're going to do what we can to help them get back on their feet but I'm sure it won't be easy to recover from something like this. She sounded pretty upbeat about everything on the phone though so I'm not too worried about her and Luca. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In a way, it's kind of ironic; the last time they had a flood this bad was almost 20 years ago. In that flood they also lost everything and were so desperate that the wife, as the oldest girl in the family, had to go to Hong Kong and take a job as a domestic helper to help support the family. About 10 years after that, we met. And now she's back home visiting her family with our youngest kid and it happens all over again. At least this time she's in a much better position to help them...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10361955-8937195076951157130?l=rikthib.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/8937195076951157130/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10361955&amp;postID=8937195076951157130' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/8937195076951157130'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/8937195076951157130'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/2009/10/disaster.html' title='Disaster.'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06848395666401881263'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955.post-5896369314868777139</id><published>2009-10-09T06:02:00.003+02:00</published><updated>2009-10-09T06:42:35.763+02:00</updated><title type='text'>The X Man and Daniele</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/Ss69MZNAUQI/AAAAAAAABOE/OEikY5NrvQs/s1600-h/jpg1.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/Ss69MZNAUQI/AAAAAAAABOE/OEikY5NrvQs/s320/jpg1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390453824630575362" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One of the best things about coming back to Italy is that the X Man has started school and has plenty of friends his own age. We live in a duplex and the people who live in the other side have a grandson living with them named Daniele. Daniele is 4 years old, one year younger than the X Man and they've become best friends. Almost every day Daniele goes outside in the driveway which is separated from our front yard by a little wire fence, and starts his familiar chant: "Xavier...Xavier...Xavier..." and he will not stop until the X Man goes out to the terrazza and visits with him. It's actually kind of cute. Daniele asks everyday if Xavier can come to his house and he usually does. He probably spends more time next door than at home and often eats dinner over there. The neighbors absolutely love him and love having him over as he's a good influence on Daniele. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But things are not always rosy between the X Man and Daniele. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Daniele, although being a year younger, is bigger than the X Man. He's also a brute who doesn't always play well with others. When the X Man is with him, he becomes a lot more unruly than normal and suddenly has trouble listening to the wife and I. I've had to drop the hammer on him a few times and he seems to have learned his lesson. But overall, I'm happy that he has Daniele to hang out and play with, it's good for him to have a best friend. Yesterday, Daniele's grandmother picked up the X Man after school and he played with Daniele in their driveway. When I got home after work and walked up on the terrazza, the X Man was clinging to the fence and in a soft, weepy voice said "Daddy, I want to come home". I saw that he was crying so I asked what happened but he didn't want to say, he just kept saying he wanted to come home. So I went over and he met me at the end of the driveway and took my hand. I picked him up and told Daniele to tell his grandmother that I was taking him home but she was sitting on their steps and jumped up when she heard me and came over. Whatever had happened, she didn't see it and had no idea anything was wrong until she saw the the X Man was crying. When she asked him what happened, he told her that Daniele had hit him. Well she flipped out and started chasing Daniele around screaming at him, it was actually kind of comical. She apologized to me and I took the X Man home and he was fine. According to him, he wanted to "pick a flower for mommy because I miss her" and Daniele wouldn't let him and an argument ensued which resulted in Daniele hitting him several times. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm sure it's all been forgotten and Daniele will be outside today calling for him like every other day. But it looks like I'm going have to teach the X Man to defend himself...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10361955-5896369314868777139?l=rikthib.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/5896369314868777139/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10361955&amp;postID=5896369314868777139' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/5896369314868777139'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/5896369314868777139'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/2009/10/x-man-and-daniele.html' title='The X Man and Daniele'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06848395666401881263'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/Ss69MZNAUQI/AAAAAAAABOE/OEikY5NrvQs/s72-c/jpg1.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955.post-5349707186979400385</id><published>2009-10-07T09:56:00.003+02:00</published><updated>2009-10-07T10:18:00.917+02:00</updated><title type='text'>Quick Update</title><content type='html'>Nothing much new to report. Got a few emails from the wife; her and Luca are doing fine. They haven't gotten hit too hard by the numerous tropical storms that are wreaking havoc on the Philippines fortunately but they've been having rain constantly which makes it impossible to do much except sit around the house. Because of this, she reports that she's pretty bored and ready to come home already. Luca seems to be doing fine except that he caught a little cold and has a runny nose. They all went to her mom's church on Sunday, when they walked in the congregation was singing some praise and worship songs and Luca is such a music nut that he promptly ran to the front and started dancing which made everybody just go crazy. He's become as popular as the X Man was when she took him there. It's great that her family is able to spend time with their grandkids. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On the homefront, everything is good albeit uneventful. I have to take a day off here and there to watch the X Man when Giampietro and Agnese go out of town which I always enjoy. It's a bit difficult but between them, myself and our next door neighbor Giorgia, we are able to make it work with his school. I was kind of worried that he didn't like being shuffled around between all of us but yesterday I told him "See, there are so many people that love you and want to spend time with you that we have to take turns!" and he got a big smile on his face. It was a great fatherhood moment for me. They don't happen to me very often but they do happen. Overall I think he likes staying with Giampi and Agnese most of the time. They are like grandparents to him and spoil him rotten which he loves. We're very lucky to have them in our lives. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That's pretty much it. I'll post another update next week or so.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10361955-5349707186979400385?l=rikthib.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/5349707186979400385/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10361955&amp;postID=5349707186979400385' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/5349707186979400385'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/5349707186979400385'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/2009/10/quick-update.html' title='Quick Update'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06848395666401881263'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955.post-8143523053787634590</id><published>2009-10-04T15:15:00.002+02:00</published><updated>2009-10-04T15:17:36.019+02:00</updated><title type='text'>Daddy and the X Man in Venice</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SsigXvwm5II/AAAAAAAABN8/3YgEqfzr-yo/s1600-h/jpg3.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SsigXvwm5II/AAAAAAAABN8/3YgEqfzr-yo/s320/jpg3.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388733283966575746" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Took the X Man to Venice today for a little while. Didn't take many photos but here they are:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=114167&amp;id=837968559&amp;l=c58be7db72"&gt;Click me!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10361955-8143523053787634590?l=rikthib.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/8143523053787634590/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10361955&amp;postID=8143523053787634590' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/8143523053787634590'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/8143523053787634590'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/2009/10/daddy-and-x-man-in-venice.html' title='Daddy and the X Man in Venice'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06848395666401881263'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SsigXvwm5II/AAAAAAAABN8/3YgEqfzr-yo/s72-c/jpg3.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955.post-8656070767623634556</id><published>2009-10-03T07:58:00.002+02:00</published><updated>2009-10-03T08:37:42.850+02:00</updated><title type='text'>Wife and Kid Are Fine</title><content type='html'>For those who haven't been following, there is/was another huge typhoon that hit the Philippines this weekend called tropical storm Parma (How ironic). It was supposed to be even worse than the one that hit last weekend causing massive flooding and damage and almost 300 deaths. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyway, got an email from the wife this morning and she said they are fine, apparently the new storm all but passed right by them. All they got was some rain. For anyone who is curious, her family lives in the San Fabian area in the Pangasinan province, near Lingayen Gulf.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10361955-8656070767623634556?l=rikthib.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/8656070767623634556/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10361955&amp;postID=8656070767623634556' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/8656070767623634556'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/8656070767623634556'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/2009/10/wife-and-kid-are-fine.html' title='Wife and Kid Are Fine'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06848395666401881263'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955.post-7186296472870487739</id><published>2009-10-02T11:15:00.001+02:00</published><updated>2009-10-02T11:17:53.340+02:00</updated><title type='text'>Joke of the Day</title><content type='html'>Q. &lt;em&gt;Did you hear about about the man who got a viagra stuck in his throat?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A. &lt;em&gt;He got a stiff neck.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thank you, I'll be here all week...don't forget to tip your waitress and try the veal...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10361955-7186296472870487739?l=rikthib.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/7186296472870487739/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10361955&amp;postID=7186296472870487739' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/7186296472870487739'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/7186296472870487739'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/2009/10/joke-of-day.html' title='Joke of the Day'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06848395666401881263'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955.post-7156763768955370636</id><published>2009-09-30T10:21:00.003+02:00</published><updated>2009-09-30T10:34:56.813+02:00</updated><title type='text'>Bonding With the X Man.</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SsMXEWTWxkI/AAAAAAAABN0/Xf8ilSfcRL8/s1600-h/turkey3.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SsMXEWTWxkI/AAAAAAAABN0/Xf8ilSfcRL8/s320/turkey3.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387174942738925122" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;With the wife and Luca gone, it's just me and the X Man here. Unfortunately my work schedule makes it impossible for me to bring him to school in the morning and pick him up in the afternoon so he's staying with Giampi and Agnese during the week and I see him after work. I have him all to myself on the weekends though and I am really enjoying the time alone with him. He really is such a great kid, well behaved and very polite. Giampi tells me that the people around town are so impressed by him and his good manners, always saying please and thank you and such. He's also very affectionate and often says "I love you daddy" right out of the blue. Just melts my heart. He constantly cracks me up with the things he says too, you never know what he's going to come up with next. For instance, we had this exchange on the way back from the airport last weekend:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;X: &lt;em&gt;Daddy, do you like the day or the night?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Me: Umm...I like the night because I can sleep.&lt;br /&gt;X: &lt;em&gt;I like the day because I can learn stuff and go to school and have a lot of adventures.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyway, I was hoping to take a few trips on the weekends while the wife is away but I think I'm just going to hang out with the X Man instead...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10361955-7156763768955370636?l=rikthib.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/7156763768955370636/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10361955&amp;postID=7156763768955370636' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/7156763768955370636'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/7156763768955370636'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/2009/09/bonding-with-x-man.html' title='Bonding With the X Man.'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06848395666401881263'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SsMXEWTWxkI/AAAAAAAABN0/Xf8ilSfcRL8/s72-c/turkey3.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955.post-6571813897716649132</id><published>2009-09-28T09:34:00.004+02:00</published><updated>2009-09-28T11:58:44.623+02:00</updated><title type='text'>Wife and Kid Arrived Safely</title><content type='html'>There were a few nervous moments for me after reading about and seeing video of the flooding in Manila this weekend but I got an email from the wife this morning saying the flooding had gotten better by the time they arrived yesterday. Her aunt picked them up and they should be at her family's place in Pangasinan by now so I guess there's not much to worry about anymore unless another tropical storm hits. Apparently the flooding was some of the worst ever there with over 100 people dead, over 2,000 missing and hundreds of thousands without homes or electricity. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On the homefront things are fine. Had a great day with the X Man yesterday, just a couple of guys hanging out. He left for Giampi and Agnese's house last night and will staying with them during the week as my work schedule will not allow me to bring him to school or pick him up. Since Giampi and Agnese will be bringing him to school in the morning and picking him up in the afternoon, they said it's easier if he just sleeps there each night. I'll probably go over after work to see him and maybe have dinner. They are very excited about it too, they really adore him as if he is their own grandchild and especially now that he is fluent in Italian. The X Man is thrilled too, he absolutely loves staying with Giampi and Agnese. For my part, I'm completely ecstatic to have the entire house to myself. I cherish the peace and quiet. Don't have to close the door when I go to the bathroom, I can walk around naked...it's faaaaaaaaaaaaaaantastic....&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10361955-6571813897716649132?l=rikthib.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/6571813897716649132/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10361955&amp;postID=6571813897716649132' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/6571813897716649132'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/6571813897716649132'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/2009/09/wife-and-kid-arrived-safely.html' title='Wife and Kid Arrived Safely'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06848395666401881263'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955.post-3414375134125132456</id><published>2009-09-27T07:36:00.002+02:00</published><updated>2009-09-27T07:48:53.472+02:00</updated><title type='text'>The Wife and Baby are Away...</title><content type='html'>The wife and Luca left out of Milan last night headed for Manila with a layover in Abu Dhabi. Her family decided to hold a huge family reunion so her and Luca will be there about 5 weeks, returning on October 31st. Unfortunately the timing could not have been worse as Manila is currently suffering from some of the worst flooding in its history due to tropical storm Ketsana that dumped the equivalent of an entire month of rain on the area in 6 hours. I've been very worried as the situation in Manila is extremely dangerous right now - estimates say that 80% of the city is underwater - but the last thing I read was the the airports in Manila and northern Philippines have been reopened so hopefully the situation is improving. As I write this, their flight from Abu Dhabi is waiting to take off so there's still several hours until they arrive in Manila. I've got status updates on the flight being sent to me as they occur so I'll be tracking closely.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10361955-3414375134125132456?l=rikthib.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/3414375134125132456/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10361955&amp;postID=3414375134125132456' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/3414375134125132456'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/3414375134125132456'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/2009/09/wife-and-baby-are-away.html' title='The Wife and Baby are Away...'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06848395666401881263'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955.post-557921084658986271</id><published>2009-09-24T08:30:00.004+02:00</published><updated>2009-09-24T09:00:00.158+02:00</updated><title type='text'>My Favorite Pizza</title><content type='html'>I've had dozens of different kinds of pizza during my time in Italy. When I first arrived in 2000, the first pizza that I was addicted to was "spinaci e ricotta" (spinach and ricotta cheese). Eventually I started experimenting with different toppings and combinations. For a while I was partial to "proscuitto e funghi" (Italian ham and mushrooms) and then after that I discovered just plain old pizza con olivi (pizza with olives). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then a few years ago while we were living in Germany and visiting Giampietro and Agnese, we took them out for dinner. They suggested going to a nearby restaurant called La Fenice, (Italian for "The Phoenix"). Normally when we go out to eat with them I've noticed that they usually each order a different pizza, eat half, then switch. However on this night they both ordered the same pizza. It looked liked nothing more than just cheese and cherry tomatoes so I paid it no mind but at one point Giampi told me about the pizza - it was called "Estate del Sud", which means "summer in the south". The south of Italy, particularly in the Naples area, is known for great pizza and great food in general featuring delicious produce and ingredients. So on the Estate del Sud pizza was just tomato sauce, mozzarella di buffala (mozzarella cheese made with the milk of a water buffalo which is only made in the south) and some kind of special cherry tomatos that are only grown in Sicily and only in the summer months so the  only time you can get this pizza is when the tomatoes are in season in Sicily. The finishing touch is a bit of basilico (basil). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyway, Giampi had me try a bite and I can't even describe my reaction. I'd never tasted anything like it, the flavor was just indescribable. I've since ordered pizza with mozzarella di buffala and cherry tomatoes at other places but the taste doesn't even come close. I've not found any other pizza like the Estate del Sud at La Fenice. It is far and away the best pizza I've ever had in my life. Unfortunately summer is over now so we have to wait til next summer to enjoy it again. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here's a couple pics of the Estate del Sud &lt;em&gt;(click to enlarge):&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SrsXqR2bd6I/AAAAAAAABNk/W1Nhp2HNhBw/s1600-h/fenice1.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SrsXqR2bd6I/AAAAAAAABNk/W1Nhp2HNhBw/s200/fenice1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384923794565199778" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SrsX5OaA0SI/AAAAAAAABNs/Vfq3drkwa7c/s1600-h/fenice2.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SrsX5OaA0SI/AAAAAAAABNs/Vfq3drkwa7c/s200/fenice2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384924051338744098" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10361955-557921084658986271?l=rikthib.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/557921084658986271/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10361955&amp;postID=557921084658986271' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/557921084658986271'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/557921084658986271'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/2009/09/my-favorite-pizza.html' title='My Favorite Pizza'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06848395666401881263'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SrsXqR2bd6I/AAAAAAAABNk/W1Nhp2HNhBw/s72-c/fenice1.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955.post-1583505713050109163</id><published>2009-09-22T08:22:00.003+02:00</published><updated>2009-09-22T09:33:40.855+02:00</updated><title type='text'>Autumn is upon us.</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/Srh5ZtXKoVI/AAAAAAAABNA/vgqJYxKyKz8/s1600-h/foliage.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/Srh5ZtXKoVI/AAAAAAAABNA/vgqJYxKyKz8/s320/foliage.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384186837101879634" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You may have heard me say it many times before but autumn is far and away my favorite time of the year. For most people spring is the time of year that represents renewal but for me it's the fall. For me, the fall is when everything is coming back to life. For the first 22 years of my life it meant that the school year was starting up again. It means that the football, soccer, basketball and hockey seasons are starting up again. This was always the best time of year for me growing up because I was such a soccer nut - nothing made me happier than playing soccer and so the fall was the best time of the year for me. The fall meant Saturday mornings at Brickyard Field in Litchfield. Later on it meant soccer practices after school and bus rides to places like Milford, Derry and Merrimack for games. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I guess I don't really know exactly what it is that makes autumn my favorite time of year. There's just something comforting in it, something that brings back all the fondest memories of years gone by. Growing up in New England, fall was always magical if for no other reason than because of the leaves changing. My brother has traveled all over the world and seen more places than anyone I know and he says that New England during peak foliage season, when the leaves are at their most colorful, is still the most beautiful thing he's ever seen. I'm inclined to agree. I was fortunate to attend college at a small, private school tucked away in the mountains in southwest New Hampshire called Franklin Pierce College (Now called Franklin Pierce University). It sits at the base of Mt. Monadnock, the second most climbed mountain in the world after Mt Fuji, and is right in the heart of leaf-peeper territory. "Leaf-peeper" is the term that refers to the droves of tourists that flock to the area in the fall to admire and photograph the vibrant foliage colors, many of whom come from as far away as Europe and Asia. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's not that often that I find myself missing home. But seeing pictures of the foliage definitely brings back some very fond memories. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By the way, here's a great one-stop website for New England foliage:   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.yankeefoliage.com/"&gt;www.yankeefoliage.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10361955-1583505713050109163?l=rikthib.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/1583505713050109163/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10361955&amp;postID=1583505713050109163' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/1583505713050109163'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/1583505713050109163'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/2009/09/autumn-is-upon-us.html' title='Autumn is upon us.'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06848395666401881263'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/Srh5ZtXKoVI/AAAAAAAABNA/vgqJYxKyKz8/s72-c/foliage.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10361955.post-1212409175050862134</id><published>2009-09-18T09:13:00.002+02:00</published><updated>2009-09-18T09:15:19.664+02:00</updated><title type='text'>Fatherhood Moment</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SrMzSpzXl2I/AAAAAAAABM4/iiUCv32P0NI/s1600-h/sleep.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SrMzSpzXl2I/AAAAAAAABM4/iiUCv32P0NI/s320/sleep.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382702375189845858" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;center&gt;Luca falls asleep sitting on my lap...&lt;/center&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10361955-1212409175050862134?l=rikthib.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/feeds/1212409175050862134/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10361955&amp;postID=1212409175050862134' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/1212409175050862134'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10361955/posts/default/1212409175050862134'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://rikthib.blogspot.com/2009/09/fatherhood-moment.html' title='Fatherhood Moment'/><author><name>Rik</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17726907210300737277</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06848395666401881263'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BrB7LIYIK5U/SrMzSpzXl2I/AAAAAAAABM4/iiUCv32P0NI/s72-c/sleep.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry></feed>