The house is almost finished!!

As the title of this post states, the house is almost finished!! I plan on moving in on Friday no matter what. I told the painter I was going to move in this week and he said I was crazy. I needed time to clean everything and put everything in its place. I said I'll do that after I move in. I have been going to the house every day to clean and put things away. I was there for two and a half hours this morning with the Motta's maid helping me clean. Then this afternoon Maria Pia and Fabri and I will do some work there.



This weekend I got to help babysit Fabri's cousin's 2 year old daughter, Lucrezia or Lulu (pictured above). Maria Pia was watching her while her mom was at work and her dad ran some errands. She is a very good baby, and hardly ever cries, but she's sort of shy and has never been sure if she likes/knows me or not. She started off following Maria Pia everywhere she went, but when Maria Pia had to run upstairs to grab something and Lucrezia started getting upset she couldn't follow, I saw my chance and grabbed her. I walked around the yard with her and waved at the Motta's dogs. Then we went and picked some flowers which was a fun game.  Then Maria Pia thought of a game she really loved.  We went through Francesca's jewelry and found a bracelet that was small enough for Lucrezia.  She loves jewelry and every box we opened she would go "oooooh" and then dump everything out.  Then I figured out she likes to color, so we spent a long time coloring together.  She hadn't taken a nap and had to be getting tired, so her uncle Gaetano tried to get her to fall asleep, but as soon as she saw me, she put her arms up and wanted to go with me.  It was really funny and Gaetano was mad.  She's his brother's daughter.  Then we all decided to put on Finding Nemo and relax hoping she would fall asleep.  At first she colored some more, then she sat on my lamp and watched the movie.  Then she climbed up on my chest and fell asleep.  It was sooooo sweet.  After only 5 minutes or so her dad arrived and we transferred her without waking her up which was good.  That was my Saturday afternoon.

We saw them again on Sunday at the 30th birthday party for Fabri's cousin Michella.  Fabri had to work and didn't arrive until after the party was over, but I went for the whole thing with Francesca and Antonio.  Lucrezia's mom Brunella said that when she works in Saluzzo, she would love to bring Lucrezia to stay at my house so I can speak English to her.  She's not saying more than Mama, Nonna & no right now, but it's always helpful to speak English and it's easiest to learn when you're young.  I said sure, that would be great.  I also might have a job going to a friend of a friend's house for 2 or 3 hours a week and speaking with her kids in English.  I have no idea what I'm going to say, but I like to talk, so I'll figure something out.  

The party was nice with lots of Michella's friends there.  I was sort of overwhelmed because I had to speak Italian with everyone without Fabri there to help.  But Francesca speaks English well and helped me with a few words I needed but didn't know.

So that was my weekend.  Poor Fabri worked all weekend, but that was his last weekend on call for this month.  We're looking forward to moving in the house this weekend and then heading home in 2 weeks for Thanksgiving!