Sydney

So today was an alright day, nothing special. I went to bed around 11:45 last night, which is pretty early for me, because I had a bad headache. I was worried it would turn into a migraine since it was hurting so bad and I had already started getting nauseous. I had trouble falling asleep because of the pain, but once the Tylenol kicked in I slept very soundly. I got up at 8 to shower before class at 9. My plan for class today was to process the film I had shot over the weekend so I could get started on my final. When I got to class I was completely exhausted, I do not function well if I get up before 9, so I went and got a coffee. The coffee woke me up and I was able to start working. Instead of processing my one roll of film that was finished, I went out and shot the remainder of film that was in my camera. The smallest tanks we have are 2 roll tanks for processing and I don't like to process one roll if I can help it. Once I finished shooting I came in and started processing. As I put the developer into the tank two of my classmates realized that they got their tanks mixed up and accidently opened one way too early. I got a little nervous because there was a slight chance that the tank was mine and  that was why the film inside had no pictures on it. As I continued developing I also ran into the problem that the water was too cold. I went and got Jacopo after trying for about half an hour to get it above 15 degrees celsius, as soon as he touched the water control it went to the right temperature. After I was done I was relieved to find my film was in fact my film and had pictures on it. After class I went home to grab my laptop and books for my other classes and went straight to Italian. Italian went pretty well and was a lot of fun because there were only 6 or 7 of us there today. Next I had graphic design. I was kind of disappointed when I walked in and found that we had a guest speaker. The speaker only took about an hour so I had the rest of class to show my teacher my finished project. As I was waiting for my teacher to come to my laptop to see my project, the speaker's friend who is a graphic designer I think came over to me. She asked if I was a graphic design major. I told her I was and she said it was perfect for me because of how attentive I was. I was thrilled. After this compliment my teacher came to look at my project and loved it. I left class very happy with everything. I walked home as quickly as I could because it was drizzling and I didn't want my leather bag to get ruined or to get caught in a downpour. As I got settled in the apartment my stomach started growling so I made some salmon and reheated my pasta from yesterday. I am now relaxing on the couch talking to Mom and some friends online. I am somewhat upset because while I was eating dinner Mom told me that Chris called her yesterday. He said he can't take care of Sydney anymore and wanted to know what to do with her. I am upset because Sydney is such a sweet cat and it breaks my heart to think of putting her down or sending her to the SPCA. In addition to being upset about my cat, I was kind of annoyed that he did not talk to me about it. He and I have been online at the same time a lot recently. Even though we have not talked in the past few months because of personal issues, this is not about us. So I am now trying to think of a good home for Sydney that would be willing to put up with her bladder problem rather than killing her. I feel like if he took her to the SPCA she would just be put down because of her bladder problem or not being adopted. She is such a sweetheart and deserves a good home and family that can care for her. Poor Sydney.

Could It Get Any Better?

So today was a really great days for me. I started my day out waking up at 8 thanks to the construction right outside my window. I drifted in and out of sleep for the next hour until my alarm went off at 9 and I got up. I wanted to sleep later, but I needed to go to the lab and get blood work done. So, I got up, showered, and got to the lab by 10. As I walked home I left both my jacket and my hoodie off because it was so warm out. When I got home I checked my email and then did some Italian homework before going to class. Class went well since we are just reviewing for the final. I may stop going to the class in the next week or so since I am not planning on taking the final. After class I came home to find the results of my blood work waiting in my email. I was very happy to find that my platelets were 239,000 since I did not get the full treatment on Friday. I hope that this number will hold out until I get home since Dr. Travis said if I need to have a treatment again it can only be high dose steroids since I had the reaction on Friday. After chatting with my mom for a while, I created an account on Flickr to upload some of my photos and work I have been doing. While the pictures uploaded I decided to go for a walk. I took my camera and a sketchbook with me. I went down to the river and ended up drawing and shooting for about an hour. I did a small drawing of the little waterfall next to the park that I am pretty happy with since I am not that fond of drawing. Today was such a beautiful day that it just added to my walk. It was supposed to rain today, so it was a treat to have such warm and sunny weather. After my walk I came home and found that my pictures did not upload. So I had to upload them about 4 at a time which was frustrating. In addition to that frustration Flickr kept freezing, so it took me about 3 hours to get everything I wanted uploaded and labeled. Once I was done with Flickr I realized I was really hungry since I had eaten lunch at 11:30 this morning and it was about 6. I made myself some salmon and pasta which was so tasty. I am not sitting and trying to decide what I want to do for the rest of the night. I have a feeling that tonight is going to be a great night as today was a great day. 

Here Comes The Rain

So today was an extremely boring day. I woke up around 11 and was surprised I slept so late since I usually sleep until 10:30 without an alarm set. I got out of bed and remembered that today is daylight savings here in Italy. So that means I really did get up at 10 and not 11 because we had to set the clocks forward and my computer and ipod adjusted automatically. I knew today was going to be a dreary day because I could hear the rain outside hitting the window. I had a list of things to do today so I got up and started my list. The first thing to do was take a shower and then clean the bathroom. After I finished cleaning the bathroom I sat down at my desk and worked on some homework. I actually finished my calender that I am working on for graphic design. After finishing the calender I moved on to writing up some artists statements for my previous projects. By the time I was finished with all that work I decided to take a break and just relax. I messed around online for a little while and then decided to make some dinner. I made my last piece of chicken which was so good and reheated my pasta from last night. As I was eating my pasta I realized that I was not liking the sauce that I put on it. I had bought a new sauce and thought I would like it, I was wrong. I threw away about a quarter of the pasta because it was staring to gross me out. After dinner I realized that I needed to take my Warfarin, but didn't know how much to take since my INR went from above 3 to below 2 overnight. Mom and I spent about half an hour trying to figure it out. I ended up taking 6mg and hope that that was the correct amount to take. I guess I will find out tomorrow when I retest my INR. So I spent my day inside today, except for a quick trip to Conad, because of this horrible rainy weather. It looks like it is going to rain everyday for the rest of the week. Hopefully I can stay dry and warm.

What A Day

So today was an icky day for me. I went to bed pretty late last night, but I didn't mind because I had all intentions on sleeping late today since I had nothing to do. I fell asleep almost immediately and slept very soundly until about 8 this morning. I got up to go to the bathroom and when I got back in bed to go back to sleep I heard that they are started working on the construction right outside my window. I had a really bad headache from my treatment yesterday and was frustrated because the construction was so loud I couldn't fall back asleep. I tried sleeping with my hands covering my ears for an hour and when that didn't work I got up and put my ipod on. This didn't work very well either. I did fall asleep for a few minutes on and off. At 10:30 I was so fed up with not being able to sleep, and my headache had just gotten worse, I decided to get up and start my day. I took some Tylenol which did not help and then realized it was about to rain which was probably another reason I had a headache. I brought my laundry in so it would dry before the rain started. After taking a shower and eating lunch I went down to the market to talk to Guiseppe because Mom had called me last night to tell me he sent the wrong bag home and to see if I could exchange it for the correct one. I talked to him and he said he couldn't exchange the bag for me because I didn't have the bag in Italy and said I would have to buy the new one. I asked if I could buy the new one and have my mom mail me the incorrect one and then get a refund for that one once he got it. He said no because I paid with a credit card. I called Mom and she said to buy the bag on credit card and that he was scamming us so she was going to call the credit card company and report him. That would be my luck. After talking to him I decided to go for a short walk before going home. I decided to be a tourist today and I bought a tshirt that I find pretty funny and a zip-up hoodie that says Firenze on it, something I have been wanting to remember my time here by. After my little bought with retail therapy, I came home and messed around online for about an hour and did some homework. I got really tired and still had a headache so I decided to take a nap around 3:30. This was the perfect idea because I woke up at 6 and felt so much better. I got up and made some dinner, pasta with a new sauce I'm not thrilled with and chicken. As I was coking and eating I decided to watch the first half of the Sci-fi series Tin Man. The rest of my night will probably be watching Tin Man, relaxing, and doing some work on my graphic design project.

Quick Reaction

So today was a rather long day but not bad. I started my day off getting up at 8:30 so that I could get to fresco on time for once since I would have to leave early. I checked my email and Dr. Travis wanted me to check my INR daily so I did that before I left for class, it was high again. I left to go buy bus tickets since it was already 9 and I wanted to get there as fast as possible. I got the tickets but I sat in the back of the bus and I didn't have to use them since the driver wasn't checking today. I got to class and had a really good time like I always do with my Mario and my friends. I was not able to paint a fresco, even though we are working on a much smaller scale. However, I did get my image drawn out. I decided to draw a tiger, which I actually traced. By the time I was done tracing and poking holes into the tracing paper I needed to leave to get to SACI and have them call me a cab. I got on the bus and after about 4 stops realized I got on bus number 33 not 23! I got off the bus when I knew where I was, at the piazza near the Design Center. I got off and started walking then realized I was turned around and had walked to the wrong side of the piazza. I walked as fast as I could to SACI since this bus took me a lot longer to get back and I got turned around. I got there and Sam called me a cab. It was smooth sailing from there. The cab dropped me off and I was only a few minutes late. As I was waiting to get my treatment started I realized that I forgot to get a panino and had eaten nothing all day except drinking a cup of coffee at the fresco studio. They set me all up with my IV and I asked for some food and they brought me some crackers, a banana, and a yogurt. I ate everything because I was so hungry and watched The Dark Knight. As the movie ended I felt like I was having some acid reflux or something in my throat and chest as I got up to go to the bathroom. When I cam out of the bathroom the pain in my throat and chest had gotten worse so I told the nurse. She said ok and went to get someone. As I sat back down in my chair I got extremely hot, worse pain, and started to cough repeatedly because I was having some trouble breathing. Within minutes I had 2 nurses and a doctor around me taking my blood pressure and pulse-ox. The doctor told me he was going to stop the treatment, I only had 1 bottle left, and give me steroids. I got 2 shots of steroids and 2 bags of fluids before they would let me go home. After the steroids went in I felt much better. I took a cab home and was ready to relax for the rest of the day. I took a shower because I felt gross from sweating so much durning the reaction. After my shower I made dinner, pasta and salmon. While I was making dinner and doing some laundry our power went out 2 times which was annoying. After dinner I was craving some cookies and was out so I ran down to Conad, the supermarket, and bought some and a pack of 2 light bulbs since one of ours was out. When I came home I attempted to change the bulb, which you would think would be easy. I put the first bulb in and it blew out immediately, but I did not know this until I tried for about 5 minutes to turn it on. I threw out the bulb and put in the second one that worked just fine. So I am now sitting on the couch relaxing for the rest of the night.

A Good Day

So I knew as soon as I woke up this morning that today was going to be a really good day. I went to bed early last night because my shoulder was cramping up very badly, I was grouchy from the pain, and I was exhausted. I fell asleep almost immediately and slept very soundly until about 7:45. When my alarm went off at 8 I got out of bed and felt groggy, but refreshed. I got ready as fast as I could because I needed to go to get my blood drawn before class at 9. I got my blood drawn rather quickly and actually made it to class right on time. After an hour of demos, Jacopo explained to me the final project and then gave us the rest of class to print or go out and shoot. I had nothing I wanted to print, so I decided to go out and shoot. I went home to get my camera and check my email before doing so. I was disappointed to find that my blood results hadn't been emailed yet, but it was still pretty early. However, I was thrilled to find an email from Mike that had his hotel stuff in it. I was relived because I was hoping he hadn't lied to me and now I knew for sure he hadn't. This just made my day so much better. After shooting I went home and made myself a sandwich before I headed over to Italian. I got to the Design Center right at noon but only saw one of my classmates. I asked her if we had class, I didn't know since I missed a day of class. She told me that the class got spilt up into groups for Thursdays and Fridays. Marta, my teacher, said I could just come on Thursdays since I have fresco on Fridays. After class, which was a lot of fun with only 6 of us, I went to Graphic Design and checked my email again. I found my blood results which were not good. My platelets are 32,000, which is very low, and my INR was 3.6 which is very high. I went to SACI main building to talk to Chiara, but she was at lunch so I left her a note. Afterwards I ran home and got my sketch pad which I had forgotten and went back to class. M teacher came to check on my work and said she liked my idea but didn't like one aspect of it, which she did like last week. So I spent the majority of class changing that aspect of my design and trying my best to get the project done. After class I went to SACI and Chiara told me I was scheduled for a treatment tomorrow at noon. This is good because I can go to a few hours of fresco, but it is also bad because that means I will be there longer. Keep your fingers crossed that my IV works. The rest of my night consists of dinner, a nice hot shower, fighting with our wifi, and relaxing.

ER? Just Kidding

So today I was supposed to go to the ER with Chiara to get my shoulder looked at and make sure everything is alright. I got up early for a Wednesday, at 8:30, which was not easy for me to do because I had trouble falling asleep again last night. Chiara and I got to SACI at the same time and Daniela filled her in on what was going on. We decided to call Dr. Longo and see what he thought before going to the ER since I was feeling pretty good and had very little pain. After about an hour we finally reached him and he said I did not have to come in to the ER. I was relived because I really did not want to go since I was feeling better. We also said I would check my blood counts tomorrow and scheduled a treatment on Monday for me because I do not want to miss fresco on Friday since I only have 2 more classes. However, if my platelets are between 30 and 35 I will have to miss it on Friday. After I left SACI I went home and was going to skip my meeting with the T.A. since I was so tired but I decided to take a shower and go. Class went pretty well and I came home and took a few hour nap. When I woke up I felt pretty good. It was the perfect nap because I was home alone so it was quiet, I got to sleep right away, and it was early enough that I am tired now and hopefully will sleep well tonight. After my nap I got up and talked to Mom and a friend for a while before I made dinner. As I got up to make dinner I realized my shoulder was starting to hurt again and I was having trouble lifting my arm above my head. After dinner the pain was still there so I took some Tylenol and a hot shower to try to relieve some of it. It is still hurting when it cramps up so I have to keep moving it and cracking it like I do with my fingers or my knees. The rest of my night will consist of doing some Italian homework and relaxing as usual. I may work on my graphic design project if I get bored as well. 

No Bologna For Me

So today I was supposed to go to Bologna for the day with my graphic design class, but that did not happen. So let me back up and start my day off with last night as I usually do. Last night was rough for me because of my shoulder. I don't know what I did or didn't do to it, but I was in a lot of pain. I started to freak out because I remembered this summer having shoulder pain before I had the clots. I emailed my doctors and went to bed in a lot of pain. I had trouble finding a spot to lay that was comfortable, but found one and slept so soundly. I was exhausted. I think all the stress of being sick and that I had over Mike had caught up to me and was just exhausting me in all ways. I got up at 8:15 and was in a lot of pain. I checked my email and the doctors said I should get examined and an xray. I decided I was going to try to go on the field trip anyway, but by the time I got to the bus I was in so much pain I decided I needed to see a doctor. Dr. Kerr was not in until midday so I went home and went to sleep until noon. After I woke up my shoulder was still hurting a lot, but I was able to move it around some. Dr. Kerr said he didn't think I needed an xray since he was pushing on it pretty hard and I had no pain with that. He suggested going to the ER but said he thought it was either Crohn's joint pain or a sever stiff neck. I went home and talked to Mom about it. As we talked, the pain started to go away. She suggested I call Dr. Longo. I went to SACI and they called but he was not in. Dr. Baldini was in and said to go to the ER. Daniela and I decided I would wait until tomorrow morning when Chiara could go with me since my pain was not that bad. I took a hot shower after this and that helped with the pain a lot. I am still in some pain, but I am able to move my arm and neck and do everything with minimal pain. I think it was just a sever stiff neck, but I am still going to get tested tomorrow just because I am scared of clotting again. So for the night I am going to relax and maybe watch a movie a little later. I just ate dinner and made way too much pasta, so that will probably be my snack later as well. I am in a very good mood. I think I am starting to calm down with the stress of everything from the past week. 

Sleep Would Be Nice

So today was a somewhat crappy day for me. As usual it started last night for me. I went to bed around 12:30 after talking to a bunch of people for a few hours. I felt exhausted but unfortunately I had taken a nap around 5 that afternoon. This meant that I couldn't fall asleep since my body or my mind, not sure which, was too awake. I think I finally fell asleep around 3:30 or 4, but I kept waking up. I had a rough night because my shoulder was hurting from my nap. I think I slept on it funny when I took the nap and woke up in pain. So after sleeping I got up at 9:30 to go to the lab to get blood work done. I was surprised at how warm it was outside and the short wait I had at the lab. I got back home by 10:30, took some Tylenol for the pain in my shoulder, and took a shower. I think the heat from the shower helped with the pain because I was able to lift my arm above my head afterward. I checked my email and then went to class. As I sat in class I started feeling like I couldn't stay awake. I was so happy when class was over to go home and sleep. I had planned on scanning my prints from photography, but I was just too tired and walked home. I made myself a sandwich and talked to Mom for a few minutes before I took a nap. I laid down and slept for about an hour then woke up and slept again for another hour, not restful. I got up and went to see Dr. Kerr about my feet. He said he didn't think it was anything to worry about and wasn't sure why my one toe is still blue. I walked to SACI and got my blood results to tell Chiara so we could call Dr. Longo. However, she had left early so it will have to wait until Wednesday when we are both back. Next up for me was to come home and make some dinner. I heated up my pasta from last night, but the meat in the sauce kind of grossed me out so I threw it out and made new pasta. I am still hungry so I think I might take out some chicken to thaw while I take a shower and then cook that as a late snack. Sounds like a plan to me.

Not So Cold

So it is Sunday yet again in Firenze. I started off my day staying up late talking to some friends and watching Indian Jones and the Crystal Skull last night which means that I slept in this morning. When I woke up I was so warm I did not want to move, but I knew I had to get up at some point. So I got up and started my day. I was feeling pretty good and my feet were not blue, that is always a good thing. After I took my shower I checked my emails and found a very long one from Mike with flight information attached. So, at this point I had no idea what to do and what to believe anymore. I figured I would just think on it some more like I had been planning to do. So after all that I went to SACI to see about getting our heat turned up so I would have less of a chance of turning blue again. Sam, the guy at the desk, told me how to turn it up but I got confused. Today was much warmer than yesterday and Sam said it should stay warm from now on. However, I told my mom that I would stay inside today and that is what I did. It was a very boring day since I didn't have anything to do but think. I did a lot of thinking about my situation with Mike and came up empty, I have no idea what to do. As I was eating dinner I logged into second life to talk to some friends and saw that he had taken me off his friends list and stuff. This just confused me since he said he loved me, why do that? So, after being upset and confused I talked to a friend who was talking with him. She said he thought I was done and wanted nothing to do with him. So I am feeling lost as to what to do. I wish someone would just choose for me and make it easy. So the rest of my night I am going to do some Italian and try to figure things out.

Lies and Blue Feet

So today was an interesting day for me. I started my day off waking up to construction yet again but at 10:30 and not 7 this time. I got up and made myself a sandwich and then took a shower. I need almost as soon as I got out of bed that it was going to be freezing outside so I dressed with an extra shirt. After checking my emails and relaxing I decided to go for a walk, something I had actually planned to do yesterday. Pretty soon after I started walking, by the time I got to the Duomo, I realized my right foot was numb. At this point I had just left home so I decided to go into a snack bar and get some coffee to warm up. I spent about half an hour inside drinking my coffee and feeling returned to my foot. As I walked around I periodically went into shops to warm up. After walking around the stores I decided to go to the river to clear my head of all the crap Mike has cause the last few days. I went down to a little park and watched the ducks for about an hour or so and left smiling. I was calm and cold so I went home. I got home and felt even colder that I felt being outside. I got all the feeling back into my hands after about half an hour. As I was talking to one of my friends online Mike logged in and I confronted him. He denied everything and still does. Just as I started to calm down from the stress he was causing me, and finally had stopped shaking from the stress and the cold, I realized I couldn't feel my foot again. I changed positions thinking it was how I was sitting and that did nothing. I took m slipper and sock off and tried to warm it up but that did not help either. At this point I decided to run it under warm water in the tub for a while and see if that helped before I went to a hospital. After about 5 minutes my white skin started turning blue! As the blue came into my toes I stared getting feeling into them as well. I could feel my other foot just fine, but I decided to put that one in warm water as well and the same thing happened. It is a very scary and disturbing feeling to watch your toes turn blue. After about 15 minutes my feet went back to being pink and I had feeling. I called my mom panicked because I had never had this happen before I wasn't sure what to do. She was as lost as I was. I decided to make dinner and see how I was after. As my chicken was cooking I started researching blue and numb feet online and came up with Raynauds Phenomenon. I was diagnosed with this in high school. I found that extreme cold and or stress, both of which I had been exposed to, can cause an episode. These episodes can cause numb, blue, and tingling feet, hands, and sometimes the tip of the nose. As I read that Mom called with the same information. We decided that I will be staying inside for the rest of the weekend and going to a doctor on Monday to make sure I am not clotting. I took a hot shower after dinner to stay warm in addition to my 2 shirts, 2 hoodies, socks, and slippers. As I was in the shower I kept checking my feet and the were a little blue on the bottoms. after the shower I got back into my layers and then into my bed which has 3 blankets on it. Two of my toes still have a little bit of blue on the bottom of them but I am feeling pretty warm, my legs especially since my laptop is on them as I sit in bed. So I will be inside tomorrow doing all I can to stay warm and stress free. I will only be leaving the apartment to go to SACI to see if we can have our heat turned up, then back home. Despite all the sickness, stress, and drama I have had while in Italy, I am still glad I came. I would not trade this time here for anything and I have learned so much about living, about other people, and about myself. Going home and or staying home seems like it would have been so much better and much easier, but I am in love with Florence and a part of my heart will always be here. 

A Bad Day

So my bad day started last night. Last night I got an IM from Mike, who was supposed to come to Italy to meet me, saying he was not coming because of work. I got really upset and sad because I was very excited to meet him after having been talking for almost a year. After a while of talking to some of my friends and family I realized that he probably never even made plans to come. It made sense to me because he would never give me flight info when I asked him for it. So I decided to go to the hotel today and ask about it. However, I needed to sleep and go to class first. So I went to bed and had a hard time falling asleep because I kept hearing this motor noise in the wall and then a strange beeping. I finally fell asleep then was awakened around 7 am because of the construction being done outside and I kept thinking it was my alarm going off. On top of the construction, the wind was blowing so hard that the shudders were banging up against the building. My alarm finally went off and I got up and went to get lab work done. I then started walking to the fresco studio listening to my music in the freezing cold wind. It is strange how fast the weather changes here. It can go from being very warm to very cold literally over night. I got to fresco and drew out my next piece and then attempted to paint it. The painting was not going well because it was not being absorbed fast enough so the paint all mushed together. I started to get very frustrated with it because I was still upset and angry about last night and very tired and hungry. So my class and I went to get some lunch. However, my stomach decided to start hurting as I ate so I packed up and brought the food home with me for later. I finished the fresco and was very unhappy with it, so I didn't even bother to take a picture like I usually do. After class I took the bus home and stopped at the hotel Mike told me he was staying at to see if he ever made a reservation. I found out he did not and I left feeling livid. I went home and found out that my platelets are low which means I will probably have a treatment in the near future. So I made dinner and I am now talking to some friends online. I am supposed to go out tonight with Guiseppe. I am just waiting for his call to go. I actually hope he doesn't call because I am so tired, but if he does I am going out to get my mind off things for a little while. I just need some sleep and I will be better tomorrow I am sure.

My First Thunder Storm

So today was a pretty good day. I started out with not being able to fall asleep last night. Even though I could not fall asleep last night I did not feel sleepy most of the day. I got up and went to my photo class. Today we had our second project due which means that we were having a critique. When I showed my images Jacopo only had one comment that one of my prints was printed a little too dark. He said I have improved and that all of my prints were well done. I was one of the first critiques so there were about 5 more after me. This made the class feel very long and I started to zone out about half way through because I had only had a piece of toast for breakfast. After class I stopped to get a panino from my favorite snack bar but they were out of the kind I like so I got a piece of pizza and a Coke in hopes to get rid of the headache I had developed. I walked quickly to Italian because I was late. As the class went on I started feeling better and more awake. Once Italian was over I went to graphic design and worked on my project. I got a lot of work done o the project even though I still have a lot left to do. After class I came home and was feeling very hungry and tired. I had a snack so I wouldn't ruin my dinner. As I was sitting talking to some friends and listening to music I heard a loud bang. I thought it was just someone being loud out on the street until it happened a few more times then I realized it was thunder. We have not had a thunder storm since I have been here. It only last about half an hour which was nice. However, I forgot that I had put some clothes outside yesterday to dry. When I remembered I went running to bring them in because it had just started down pouring. I got my clothes in and put them in front of the heater to dry. After the storm I made some dinner then took a shower after dinner. As I was in the shower Guiseppe called and wanted to go out tonight, I called him when I got out of the shower. We decided to go out tomorrow because I just didn't feel like going out tonight and I was already in my pajamas. So I probably will call it a night a little early tonight and try to get some sleep since I have not been falling asleep so well. 

The Music Of Fresco

So today a was really good day for me. However, my night was not so good. I stayed up late because I didn't have class until noon today. I stayed up listening to music that my friend was DJing for me over itunes. I went to bed and had a really hard time falling asleep because the people upstairs were taking a shower and I could hear the water running. In addition to the water running, my roommate and her friend came home around 2 and were being very loud for about an hour. I think I fell asleep around 3 and I got up at 10:30 to start getting ready for class. When I woke up I felt pretty good and had a good start to my day. Before I went to class I downloaded some music that my friend had played for me last night. I have been listening to this music all day and it put me, and kept me in a good mood. After class I went home to drop off my books before walking to the fresco studio to paint. I got to the studio and my roommate Meg was there finishing up one of her frescos, which look great. I painted mine in about an hour and a half. I am very happy with how it turned out. It was a painting I did from a photo that I edited in photoshop of my eyes. The only thing is that the colors on the fresco are much duller, but thats because you cannot get such intense colors with fresco paint as you can with other paints because they are dry pigments that are simply watered down. After painting I took my time walking home because it was a beautiful, warm day. By the time I got to the Duomo, I realized how hungry I was because I had only had a sandwich to eat before my Italian class.  I decided to stop at my favorite gelato shop and get some. I ate that as I walked home and finished just before getting home. Once I was home I realized how tired I was and decided to stay in for the rest of the night. I took out some chicken and got dinner ready while downloading some more music that I didn't get to download earlier. While I was eating my stomach started to hurt so I ate very slowly. After dinner I started doing my Italian homework, which I am still working on now. I'm having a hard time with it because it is stuff we just started to learn. So the rest of my night will be listening to music and doing Italian homework and writing an artist statement for my photo project tomorrow.

To Sleep Or Not To Sleep, Stupid Question

So I started my day with turning my alarm off and going back to sleep. Actually, I was up before my alarm went of because Stacy's alarm went off at 8 and she was loud getting ready. I was more reluctant to get up today than most days because I was not sure I had class this morning. I saw Jacopo on Sunday and he told me that he would not be in class today but we can print and process with the T.A. Libby. So, I got up and was completely exhausted and went to class. I talked to Libby about my project and she helped me pick out some images for the critique on Thursday. After deciding on images Libby said I could leave and go do something else since I had no printing or processing to do. I decided to go home and sleep, even though I should have gone out shooting. I was just too tired to shoot. I set my alarm for 10:30 which gave me about an hour to sleep. I woke up on my own and felt like I ha slept for hours. I looked to see what time it was and my ipod would not turn on. I started to panic slightly because I thought my ipod was broken and that I missed my class. I looked at the time on my computer and saw it was 11:30 and I still had half an hour to get to class. I stopped to get a panino and then walked to class and actually got there early enough to do a few sketches for another class. Class went pretty well. We had a quiz that was kind of hard because I still don't know all the vocab. After Italian I went to graphic design and got some positive thoughts on my next project. I started working on the project but encountered a few problems because I do not know how to use Illustrator that well. After spending most of my time fighting with it, my teacher told me to do it in InDesign, which was a lot easier. After class I came home and took out salmon to thaw for dinner. Stacy had told me yesterday that the freezer was smelling bad and she thought it was my fish. Turns out she was right and the salmon smelled pretty bad. I decided to take it out to the trash and buy some new food in the supermarket. I bought some already made salmon and a few other things. I then came home home and made the salmon and some pasta for dinner. After dinner I went to sit down to write todays blog but my stomach had other plans for me. As I sat down on the couch I got a horrible pain in my stomach. I am finally feeling better and might even eat some cookies a little later. 

A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

So today was probably the nicest day we have had since I have been in Florence. It was so warm outside today that I walked around in my hoodie with the sleeves pushed up and no jacket. I started my day with sleeping until 10 and waking up to this beautiful weather. As I got up and around I of course got a stomach ache. This seems to be a recurring theme, waking up with a stomach ache. After getting ready for my day I made a sandwich and was happy that my stomach handled the cheese alright. I then walked to my Italian class. Class went alright and I talked to my teacher after class about dropping it. She said that it was fine and I am still welcome to participate in the class. After class I walked home and got my camera. I decided that it was too nice of a day to waste so I took a walk. As I walked around I began to get frustrated because I was not sure what to take pictures of. I guess I was not feeling creative at that point. After about an hour of waling around I came home with the intention of taking a nap. This never happened because I got distracted by talking to my friends online. I was slightly productive and did some of my Italian homework. After doing this for a few hours I decided to have an early dinner. I made myself some tortellini with ham in them. They were pretty good until I bit into one and couldn't chew something. This made me lose my appetite and I threw the rest our because I knew I would not eat them. So I am not just sitting talking to a friend and waiting for Guiseppe to call because we are going out tonight. 

Dark Room Sunday

So today was a good day for me. I got sleep late which always puts me in a good mood. However, I woke up to a stomach ache, but after about 15 minutes of being up and around the stomach ache went away and I was able to start my day. I had planned on going to the dark room today to make some prints but I couldn't do that until 1 so I waited around the apartment until then. After taking a shower I made myself a procuitto and cheese sandwich which I was a little nervous about eating because of the stomach ache I woke up with and my stomach was a little queasy. I handled the sandwich just fine and by the time I was done eating it was almost 1. I got my photo stuff together and headed down to the market to give Guiseppe his picture I printed for him yesterday and to buy some bags from him as gifts for people. He loved the picture and helped me out with the bags and said he would ship them home for me tomorrow morning. After chatting and buying from Guiseppe I realized that I had forgotten my negatives so I ran home and got them on my way to SACI. I like to go to the dark room on the weekends and print because I am usually the only in there and can go at my own pace without the hassle of other people. I got a lot of printing done. At one point Jacopo came in looking for my T.A. and helped me with a print.  I spent about 3 hours printing and got some very good prints done I think. I still have some more printing to do since I am now developing my idea for the project that is due on Thursday. After printing I dropped my stuff off at home and decided to go for a walk because it was so warm outside today. My walk was cut short, however, because my stomach started to hurt from a cookie I had eaten. I decided to go home and thaw my chicken I was going to cook for dinner and watch a movie. I watched the end of the Sci-Fi series called Tin Man and I am now in the middle of watching Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. So the rest of my night will be finishing this movie and doing a few sketches for class that are due on Tuesday.

Gets A Little Nicer Every Day

So today is Saturday which means that I did not have to get up for anything. I slept in until about 10 this morning. I woke up a few times this morning at 8 and then again at 9, but did not get out of bed until 10. After I finally got out of bed I took it slow and checked my email and messed around on my computer before I took a shower. After my shower Stacy asked if I wanted to go to the market and the internet place with her and I did. I was very excited today because I decided to wear my new boots. Once she was ready we left and went to the market to get some chicken and other food. We came home to drop off our food before going to the internet place. As Stacy cut and cleaned her vegetables I cleaned the kitchen a little bit because there was stuff everywhere. So now we have some counter space. We then walked to the internet place where we got out wifi from because the wifi has been going out a lot recently. As we walked up to the store we found the gate down and that it is only open monday thru Friday. So after our little outing I came home and made myself a ham and cheese sandwich and was thrilled because I did not get sick after eating it. I had planned on going to the dark room today to do some printing, but I stayed home for about an hour after I ate to make sure that I didn't get sick, and I did not. I got all of my stuff together and went to SACI to do some printing for my photo project that is due on Thursday. I got about 4 or 5 good prints in about 3 hours and left to go to see Guiseppe since one of the prints I made was a picture of him that I promised him a copy of. He was not at his stand in the market and my feet were hurting from standing in the boots for so long so I just went home. I got home around 7 and made some chicken and pasta for dinner that was so yummy. My stomach hurt a little bit after dinner but I am feeling pretty good now except that the muscles in my stomach hurt from the past few days. The rest of my night will be relaxation and maybe a little bit of homework.

Attack Of The Stomach

So today was a pretty good day for me. I got up at 8:30 so that I could go and get my lab work done before class. After getting my lab work done I walked to fresco which is on the other side of the river pretty far away. I timed myself today because I am alway curious as to how long it takes me to walk from the lab to the fresco studio, about 40 minutes. Once I got there I started to draw out my nest fresco. I am doing a self portrait of my eyes edited in photoshop that I did while I was in the hospital. Once I got it drawn out and colored with pastels, I mixed my colors so I would be all set to paint. I am going to go to the studio on Wednesday to paint it so that I can catch up to the rest of the class. After class I came home and made some lunch, left over pasta from dinner last night. My Crohn's is acting up so eating usually does not go well for me. I ate about half of the pasta before I was in terrible pain. I am hoping that we, my doctors and I, get this figured out soon because I need to be able to eat. After eating lunch and resting for about an hour I went to SACI to call Dr. Longo and give him my blood results which came out great. It was such a nice day out that I decided to go for a walk and look for some boots. After searching around for a while I remembered the shop near Mom's hotel had boots, but I wanted black leather boots which are hard to find now because they are going out of fashion for the spring. However, I walked in the they had beautiful black leather boots. I ended up getting a pair for 79 euro that were originally 240 euro! I am thrilled and can't wait to wear them. After my shopping I went home feeling great. I decided to spend the rest of the night at home and cook some chicken for dinner, because that should be pretty easy on my stomach. As I was waiting for my chicken to thaw I made 2 pieces of toast with nothing on them because I was starving from hardly eating lunch. After the first piece I had horrible stomach pain. However, I am eating my chicken right now and have minimal pain. So the rest of my night is going to be relaxing and trying to keep my stomach not in pain. 

Thursday Thursday

I knew last night that today was going to be a long day for me. I took a shower last night so I could sleep a little longer later this morning. I got up at 8:30 with a horrible stomach ache, checked my email, and went to SACI for class. As I walked into the photo studio I realized I had forgotten my camera. I quickly walked home, around all the construction that they are doing in front of SACI, to get my camera. When I got back, Jacopo looked at my camera and we determined that I did not load my film properly and it therefore did not advance. I found this out when he gave my film out of the camera and said it was already wound into the canister. He told me to process it and see if any of this film had pictures on it, it did not. I was happy, however, because my other roll of film that I processed came out and had a lot of pictures I think I can use for my project that is due in a week. After class I dropped my photo stuff off at home and went to Italian. We got back out midterms and I did horribly. I was very upset about this because I want to do well and because if I get a low grade it will lower my GPA. I am taking these classes at SACI for myself and for credit, but I do not need them to graduate. After Italian I went to graphic design where we had a guest speaker that I found interesting. Toward the end of class I started feeling sick again with stomach pain. I showed my teacher a project and then walked home. On my way home I stopped by Guiseppe's store to apologize for skipping out on him last night and found out that he wasn't there either because the police stopped him while he was taking his stuff home. I decided to go home and stay in for the rest of the night because I was still not feeling well. I came home and told Mom about my day and we decided that it would be best for me to drop the Italian class or if need be all of my classes to try to get rid of some of the stress that could be making me sick. I went to SACI to talk to the dean about this because the drop/add period is long past over. He was very understanding and said I could still go to the class but it would just be for no credit since he put me in the computer as a withdraw-passing. I came home right after that relived that my GPA won't be affected and that I do not have the worry about that class anymore. I decided to make chicken for dinner, but forgot to thaw it so I moved to my next option which was pasta. I cooked the rest of my pasta and melted a little bit of butter on it. I handled this alright and was feeling alright. As I was sitting here writing today's blog I ate 2 cookies and got very bad pains in my stomach. I think I am done with food for the rest of today. Tomorrow I go to fresco and I hope I am feeling better.

Just A Day

So today was a pretty good day for me. I got to sleep late until 10 because I did not have class until 12. When I woke up I felt so good and my back cracked all the way up and down which is always a good thing. After getting up I got ready with a nice hot shower and then took my time getting to class. For some reason I am always the first person to class and end up waiting for about ten minutes. I got to class and was the second person there, my friend Brittany was waiting before me. We went through everything with the T.A. and then left class. I came home and cleaned the bathroom, something I had been putting off for a week or so. After the bathroom was all clean I got my camera and went out to shoot the rest of the film that was in it so I could process it in class tomorrow. As I was out shooting I met this guy who actually asked me a camera question. I tried my best to answer him and then I asked if I could take his picture for my project. The day was beautiful, very warm, and I did not wan to go back inside. I headed home once I finished the roll because I had a headache and some work to do for other classes. As I got home I took my laundry out of the washer and went to hang it and out that my pants that I washed this morning were dry already. I was pleasantly surprised to have more room outside on the lines for my clothes. I then worked on a magazine cover for the fashion designer Capucci with which I am very happy with. Next I decided to wind my film that I had taken and put new film in the camera so that I could go out tomorrow if I wanted. However, something is wrong with my camera. As I went to wind the film I heard a slight grinding and then it stopped and now the film will not wind. I had no problem with it while I was shooting. I went over to SACI to try to find Libby, my T.A., but she was not there. I will have to wait until tomorrow to talk to Jacopo about it. I hope everything is alright since it won't wind and I dropped it at one point as well. After this crisis I came home and heated up the rest of my pasta from dinner last night. As I was eating I started to feel very sick to my stomach. I am feeling better now, but my stomach is still queasy. I am supposed to meet my friend Giuseppe for coffee at 8, but I will probably go to at least tell him I am not feeling well. If I drink coffee, the milk will make me sick again. So my night will probably be uneventful since I am not feeling well. Keep your fingers crossed that my camera is alright.

First Day Back To Class

So today was my first of classes since the break. The day went pretty well, it just felt like a long day. I woke up at 8:30 for class at 9. Other than my teacher, I was the first one in the room and felt weird because I am usually a few minutes late. In class we went over our midterms individually. I did alright on mine. Jacopo said I got B even though my strict grade was a C. He said I did well for having missed so much of the technical lectures when I was in the hospital. After the midterm reviews we saw a slide show of some of Jacopo's work which I found to be very interesting. In the middle of the slide show Mom called to see if I could come over to say goodbye, but I was not able to leave class. After the slide show we walked to a photo exhibit about 10 minutes away from SACI that was very interesting. After staying there for a while a friend and I walked to the Design Center for our italian class. I missed class yesterday so I was a little lost as to what we were doing, but I think I caught on. After class my teacher told me I need to work a little more because I am starting to fall behind. I actually found this funny because I was thinking about asking for some extra help. My guess is she saw me struggling in class and I am pretty sure I did not do well on my midterm. After this I had to go to graphic design. This was a pretty good class. I was so tired, though, that I started to fall asleep during the powerpoint presentation my teacher was giving. After her slideshow I went to get some lunch and then came back to work on my next project. However, I could not connect to the server for some odd reason so I had to wait until the end of class to get everything I needed from the teacher onto my computer. At the very end of class I got a very bad stomach ache and ended up just going home and relaxing. I had planned on going to the movies tonight. Instead of going I decided it would be best for me to stay home and just watch tv. So I have been talking to my friends online, watching tv, and watching Reaper on Youtube. I wish I could have seen Mom and Tom before they eft this morning, but I will talk to them tomorrow when then are home. i hope they have a good trip home.

Their Last Day

So today was Mom and Tom's last full day in Florence and I hardly saw them. First, let me start with my night like I often do. I went to bed around 12:30 last night, which is early for me, because I was pretty tired. As I was falling asleep I started hearing a banging on the wall. This banging was coming from my room, I am staying in Sam's room don't forget. I laid there hoping it would stop soon, but it did not and went on until about 2:30 in the morning. So I did not fall asleep until about 3. After only sleeping for a few hours I had to get up at 9 so that I could shower and get to SACI before my treatment. I went to SACI and Chiara called a cab for me and wrote out exactly where to drop me off because I have yet to be dropped off at the day hospital. Of course, the cab dropped me off at the main building which was around the corner from where I needed to be. Good thing I left SACI early because I got there at about 10:20 and was taken back to start my treatment at 10:30, half an hour early. The nurse put my IV in my wrist, which I have had before, but for some reason it did not work and was very painful. I was then stuck in the crook of my arm which worked very well and cause no problems. This meant that the treatment went very fast. I had uploaded The Dark Knight, my favorite movie, onto my ipod and watched that as I fought falling asleep. By the time I was done my treatment I had gotten about an hours sleep and it was 3 pm by the time I got home. After checking my email I decided to take a nap because of how exhausted I was. I slept for about 2 hours and it felt good to sleep. I woke up and watched one of the movies Mom had brought me from home until she called me and said they were back. Mom and Tom had taken a half day tour of Chianti and done some wine tasting as well. I walked over to their hotel and was actually followed y some guy. He stopped me right in front of their hotel asking my name and stuff. He wanted to go for a walk and I said no. After about 5 minutes of me repeatedly telling him I could not go he left and I went inside. The guy at the desk had someone walk me to Mom's room because it is hard to find. We took the long way up all the stairs which was bad because I had a bad headache from the treatment. After talking about our days we went to dinner which was probably the best dinner I had had since they have been here. After dinner Mom and Tom walked me home. I am hoping that I can get out of my photography class early to say goodbye to them before they leave in the morning. So tomorrow is my first day back to classes since the break. I am happy to be going back, but tomorrow is also my long day so I am going to be very tired I think. I hope I'm more awake tomorrow than I have been today.

A Beautiful Day In Firenze

Ciao! So today was a great day. I got sleep in late, even though Stacy woke me up at 5 am as she was leaving. I slept until 10:30 and then met up with Mom and Tom at 11:30. After I met up with them we went to walk along the Ponte Vecchio. There were so many people on the bridge it was hard to move. I was very happy once we go to the other side and there were not as many people. After that we were going to go to the Boboli Gardens, but we could not figure out how to get in. So we walked to one place and then walked up a few hills and decided that we couldn't get in that way either. After a quick detour to find me a bathroom we ended up back at our original spot and found that that was the correct place to go in. Tom got in line for tickets and when he came back he said it was free for Mom and I because it was Sunday and women get in for free on Sundays. We found this odd, but who is going to argue with 2 free tickets? So we went and stood in line to get into the gardens for a while and then finally made it in after about 20 minutes of waiting. We walked around a little, but there were huge hills to climb and Mom was not up to it. We climbed one hill and then Mom and I sat down in the sun while Tom ventured around by himself for a little bit. After he came back we left the gardens mostly disappointed and very hungry. We decided to eat in at outdoor cafe in the Piazza Vecchio. I was so thrilled because I had a cheeseburger and fries. I guess I was craving American food. While we were eating it cooled down considerably outside and it got quite nippy. We then decided to go into Palazza Vecchio, the old town hall building. We stood in line for about half an hour to just go through security and then finally made it in to buy tickets and explore. Again, mom and I got in for free because we are women on Sunday. We walked around the museum for a while. My favorite part was the old bathroom that was a small room maybe 3 feet long and a foot and a half wide with a bench that had a hole in the seat. Of course I took a picture. I plan to go back next weekend to take some pictures of the sculptures with my SLR camera. After we left there Mom and Tom went to their hotel to rest and I went home to get my SLR camera to go out and shoot some film of people for a project. I took a picture of Guisseppe and then just wandered around for a few hours. I got a roll and some taken. I hope I got some good shots. So now I am just waiting for 7:30 to roll around to meet Mom and Tom for dinner. After dinner I might go out to get some coffee or something with Guisseppe, we will see because I am pretty tired. So the plan for tomorrow is that I will most likely have a treatment for my blood and then see Mom and Tom one last time before they leave on Tuesday. I am going to miss them a lot.

No It Is Not A Christmas Tree

So today was my first full day with Mom and Tom. I started my day without them, however, at the lab getting blood work done. I needed to check my platelets and INR again to determine what I should do about getting a treatment on Monday. It looks like I am going to be having a treatment and miss my first day back to classes. After I went and got my blood drawn I came home and took a shower. Right before I took the shower Mom called and said they were ready to go out. They decided to go to Santa Croce since I had been there already with Dara and would meet up with me at noon. So I met them outside the Duomo at noon and we decided to go inside. I have been in the Duomo once before a few years ago when I came to Florence with CCC but it was a very quick visit. I was glad to go in and have some time to look around and take pictures. I was surprised because we did not have to pay to go in and I was told that there was a charge to go inside the church. As we walked around Mom suddenly said "Look at the Christmas tress." They were the candles to light when you say a prayer in memory of someone. We light one for Stephanie because Mom thought she would like that, I think she would too. After lighting the candle we went downstairs. The Duomo is a giant church that was actually built on top of another church that was discovered many years later. So we went down and saw the other church, which is also where Brunelleschi's tomb is, he is the person who built the dome. After the Duomo I took Mom and Tom to see the Central Market where the you can buy meat, fish, and fresh fruit and vegetables. Next we were very hungry and Mom wanted a good panino so I took her to my favorite snack bar across the street from SACI. She and Tom agreed that the panini were very good. After the delicious lunch we walked through the market with the intent of buying me a leather bag from Guiseppe, the guy Dara bought her jacket from. He remembered me and helped me pick out a nice leather laptop bag. As I was looking at my bag Mom found a purse she liked as well. So we both left the store with a bag that we each love for a great deal. After our little shopping spree we went into San Lorenzo church since it is right next to the market. We wanted to go into the Medici Chapels but they had just closed for the day. We walked around for a long time in there and the church was beautiful. The ceilings had gold leaf or at least gold paint on them, like nothing I had seen before. After walking around the church we went to the museum that was attached to it. Here we got to see Donatello's tomb and Cosimo Medici's tomb. We next went into a another room with a bunch or religious things and reliquaries.  These bothered me a lot because you could actually see the bones. There was one that had part of a finger in it, once I realized this I was so creeped out I had to leave and wait next to Donatello for Mom and Tom. After we left we went to get gelati and coffee. Mom and I ended up getting a fruit thing and coffee which were all good. After this we tried to go into the Baptistry but we needed to buy tickets and they had stopped selling them for the day. So since that idea was shut down rather quickly we went to the Academia. You are not allowed to take pictures in here, but I took 2 pictures of the David without getting caught. We walked around for a little while then bought a few things in the store and left. Mom and Tom went to the hotel to rest before dinner and I came home. I was having trouble with out internet, so I uploaded Dark Knight, which Mom brought me, onto my laptop. By the time I was done with this and fighting with my internet Mom called me to meet them for dinner. We ate at this nice ristorante. Our waiter was a very nice and funny and the food was great. My stomach was not hurting too bad so I could actually eat and enjoy it. So after dinner I just came home and here we are. I am tired so I might go to bed a little early, or maybe not because I can sleep in tomorrow morning. I am looking forward to another great day with Mom and Tom tomorrow.

They're Here And So Is The Pain

So today was the day, for real this time. Mom and Tom finally arrived! I started my day out sleeping late, until 10 and then just dozing in and out of sleep until 10:30. After I got out of bed I did my usual shower and getting ready. Mom said she would call me when she got in, and I had planned on going to the hotel if I had not heard from her by noon. I decided to clean the apartment a little. Just as I was finishing up sweeping she called and said to come on over. I got to the hotel and asked at the desk how to get to her room. All they told me was go to the third floor. So I went to the third floor and was so lost because the rooms started at 325 and her room was 311. I found someone and he showed me how to get there, I had to go up and down and across to get there. I was so excited to see them that I just gave them both big hugs. It was about noon and I was starving because I had not eaten anything. So after talking and getting them settled in we went to lunch around 1 at a pizza restaurant in the Piazza Vecchio. This was perfect because we had 2 o'clock tickets for the Uffizzi. After lunch I showed them the river and the Ponte Vecchio then we went to the Uffizzi. During lunch, however, my stomach started hurting and by the time we got to the museum I had to go to the bathroom. After what seemed like forever to go through security I got to go to the bathroom. It was in the basement about 4 rooms away. After this, we walked through the museum, but Mom was so tired she got worn out very quickly. After the museum we went to SACI so I could figure out what I was going to do about my blood treatment on Monday. On the way to SACI, we stopped for some coffee and gelato because Mom wanted to try gelato, she liked it as I knew she would. Anyway, at SACI Mom finally got to meet the people, Chiara mostly, who have been such a big help to me. Then I took her home to show her my apartment which she loved. After taking my laundry out of the wash and hanging it I walked Mom and Tom to the hotel because they were going to take a nap. I took them through a small part of the market which Mom wants to go back to, probably tomorrow. We also did a little bit of shopping. Once they got to their hotel we chatted for a little bit then I went to the ATM, the grocery store, then came home and relaxed for a few hours. My stomach was upset but felt better for the most part. Around 7:30 Mom called and said to come on over to the hotel and we would go out for dinner. As we picked a place to eat m stomach started to hurt very badly again. I ate a little but of my gnocchi and skipped desert. I had a really good time with Mom and Tom today and cannot wait to spend more time with them tomorrow. Seeing them actually has made me a little excited to going home in April. I love Florence and I still want to live here one day, but Vineland has the people who I love and who love me and I look forward to seeing them in April.

Mom's Here?

So today is Thursday, the day I have been waiting for all week because today is the day Mom comes. We talked yesterday and agreed that I would meet her and Tom at the hotel at noon. Knowing this I decided to get up at 9 and go to the lab so that I could get my INR and platelets checked before she got here. When I got up I remembered hearing a shower last night and found out that Stacy and her boyfriend were back from Paris. I left around 9:30 and trekked to the lab in the rain. My shoes that I wanted to wear were still wet from yesterday and I was down to my last pair of sweat pants because I washed all my others last night before I went to bed. So by the time I got back to the apartment I was soaked again. I took a shower and ended up wearing a pair of jeans for the day. After my shower I found out from Stacy that her boyfriend had gotten sick in Paris and now had a 102 fever. I did my nest to stay away from him but he walked around the apartment coughing and sniffling. I am happy that they have left again to go to Venice for a few days. Anyway after talking to Stacy and eating a late breakfast I walked over to the hotel to meet Mom and Tom. When I got there and asked for their room the woman at the desk said there was no one by that name that had a reservation for today. She checked and said they would be checking in tomorrow. I then realized that neither Mom nor I realized that the day she was leaving was not the day she would be arriving.  So I walked home in the rain feeling like an idiot. I got my blood results and the INR is decent but my platelets are low. Dr. Longo wants me to have a treatment on Monday, but I am still waiting on instructions from Dr. Travis. I actually called her to see what she wanted me to do, but no one answered so I will try again tomorrow. After calling Dr. Longo I went to see Dr. Kerr because I needed a new prescription and some new lab slips and to the Uffizzi. Now knowing that Mom wouldn't be here until tomorrow she and I talked and agreed that we would not be able to make our eleven o'clock reservation at the museum. I got the time changed to two and I am pretty sure that gives Mom and Tom plenty of time to get in and get to their hotel. I then came home and planned on staying in because of the lousy weather outside. I made myself some dinner around 5:30 which is very early because I usually eat around 7. While making and eating dinner I started watching a tv show called Reaper on youtube. This is another show that I have gotten into here in Italy, however, this is actually an American show. So that is what I have planned for my night, to watch Reaper and to talk to my friends online. I can't wait for the real day Mom is supposed to come.

Siena, San Gimignamo, And Rain

Ciao. So today was my day trip to Siena and San Gimignamo. I got up and was all set for my day until I walked outside it was a steady light rain. Knowing Italian rain, I knew that it would stop and start all day and probably come down pretty hard at times. As I met the group I was touring with I bought an umbrella at the news stand that was next to the meeting place. We got on the bus and drove about an hour or so south to Siena. As we got there it was raining a little harder so I took out my umbrella to try avoid getting soaked. Just a quick side note, anyone who knows me knows that I do not use umbrellas or rain coats unless the conditions are pretty bad. So take this knowledge and judge for yourself just how bad the weather was today for me to be using an umbrella. Anyway, as we walked around Siena to the duomo it started pouring rain. Siena is a city set atop 3 hills, so there was quite a bit of upward hiking which is difficult in the rain because the ground is quite slippery. We got to the duomo and I was relieved to be going inside out of the rain and cold. We first toured the museum and then the church. I learned that this was supposed to be the largest church in Italy, but construction was stopped due to the black death that wiped out almost all of the people in Siena. Part of the walls that was supposed to be the main entrance still stand. The only family that survived the black death lived to finish the church, a much smaller church than originally planned, and bought the title of pope 2 times. They were Pope Pius the 2nd and 3rd. After touring the church we had lunch and I sat with a couple from Canada and another from Germany. The man from Germany reminded me a lot of Dad except much shorter. Before we got to the restaurant, however, the wind picked up and my umbrella broke so I was left with the hood on my hoodie and my jacket. After lunch we got back on the bus after a hike in the pouring rain. By this time I was soaked through all 4 layers I had on and was freezing with a headache. By the time we got to San Gimignamo it had stopped raining and I dried out a little bit. Here we had and hour and a half of free time. I walked around and took some pictures. This village is very tiny and is set atop a hill so every view is amazing. I was still freezing so I found a little coffee shop and got some coffee to warm me up until we left. On the way out of the village I stopped and bought a very pretty butterfly ring that I don't want to take off. We got back on the bus and had an hour drive back to Florence. Once we arrived I got a call from Mom as I was walking home. Once I got home I took a hot shower to warm up, did some laundry, and then made dinner. I am now in dry clothes resting on the couch for the rest of the night. Despite the weather I had a pretty good day. I can't wait to see my mom tomorrow. I was thinking it is almost like a dream that she is coming. I feel like I am going to wake up tomorrow and someone is going to be like "just kidding!" Anyway, hopefully this rain goes away soon so Mom and Tom do not have lousy weather for their trip.

Yay Luca!

So I will start my day off with last night as I usually do. Last night was a bad night for me. I got myself all worked up over nothing. It was just the bad day I had built up and being over tired. I called home and scared my mom which I felt really bad about, but I needed to talk to her. After I talked to her I was feeling better and not freaking out. I decided to go to bed around midnight because I was so tired and in my mood. I got all ready for bed and realized that the people upstairs were having another Monday night party like they did last week. They were so loud I could not sleep until they were done at 1:30! Once they stopped I fell asleep but was tossing and turning all night. I woke up at 7:30 because they are doing construction on the street next to mine. Once I fell back asleep I was good to go until 10. I woke up a Meghan burrito and could barely move because of how my blankets were. I got up and took a shower pretty much immediately because I had some things I needed to do today. I first went to SACI to tell them about my leak and a few other minor things. After I got done at SACI I went to the central market and bought some chicken and some salmon. I have decided that I am going to try cooking a little more than pasta. I came home and cut the chicken and decided to look online for a day trip to take tomorrow out of Florence. I had no luck finding anything online so I decided to go to a travel place and see what they had to offer. I ended up booking an all day tour of Siena and San Giorgnano. As I was walking in the door to my apartment Luca, the SACI handyman, was right behind me. He came to fix our leak and a few other little things. After he left I just stayed home for a few hours because it was raining and cold outside. I eventually got bored and decided to go for a walk despite the weather. However, the rain had let up and I had a nice long walk around the city. I explored a bunch of areas I haven't been into yet but have been near. After my walk I went to the food store to pick up a few things then came home and took my chicken out of the freezer to thaw. As it was thawing I got a really bad stomach ache that lasted a few hours. So despite my stomach I made the chicken in lemon juice and garlic. It turned out really tasty and I ate it even though my stomach was hurting. After I was done eating I felt mostly better. So I am now on the couch trying to decide if I should take a shower tonight or tomorrow before I leave for Siena. 

Ugh, Yep That Describes It

Ugh is the word that I am going to use to describe my day, well my evening. My day was pretty good until the early evening. I started my day off sleeping in. I wanted to take a shower when I woke up, but Stacy and her boyfriends were sleeping and I did not want to bother them. I would have had to go into the room to get my clothes, plus I think the door was locked. So instead I made a sandwich for an early lunch. After I ate I logged onto Youtube and watched some videos. I have been watching this anime show in Italian and found out from a friend I can watch it in English. So, I have been watching it on Youtube. Around 2 Stacy got up and got right into the shower. After she was done I took one and then got ready for my day. I only had one thing planned and that was to go to the movies. There is a movie theater that shows movies in English and one was showing today called Rachel Getting Married. I went to SACI to call Dr. Longo and find out where to go for this theater. As I was leaving Chiara told me that our gas consumption in the apartment was hug because our heat was turned up really high. She told me she turned it down to where it should be and tell my roommates to leave it there or we will be charged. I told Stacy and we both agreed we were not the ones who turned it up because neither of us know how to use it. After my chat with Stacy I went to the movies. I was pretty excited to eat some popcorn and watch a movie. The theater looked like what I imagine the theater from Phantom of the Opera to look like, it was beautiful. I had heard, but forgot, that the movies have intermissions. By the time this came along in the movie I was disappoint I had gone. The movie was depressing and nothing I would ever watch. It had Anne Hathaway in it so I thought it was going to be a comedy, I was wrong. After the movie I walked home thinking about dinner. As I walked into the apartment I got extremely hot and looked at our heat. I think the heat is broken, as in stuck on or something, because the number was 21 and I think that is high. So I decided I would talk to Chiara about this tomorrow. After that little drama I made dinner. After dinner I did the dishes and noticed my towel smelled like coconuts so I wanted to smell the new laundry stuff to see if it smelled like this. When I picked it up it dripped something wet all over the floor and me, but the bottle was not leaking. I took out every bottle under the sink and they were all wet but not leaking. I emptied the underside of the sink from everything there and cleaned a good deal of dirty wetness. I came to the conclusion that our sink is leaking. So, I moved everything to the floor in an organized corner in the kitchen and decided to try to not use the sink until it is fixed. Yet another thing that went wrong and that I have to tell Chiara about tomorrow. I just hope that everything is easily fixed and that we do not get charged for it all. So, I am in a sort of freak out mode at the moment because of the leak and the heat. It figures that the moment I am completely alone in the apartment stuff would go wrong. Anyway, there is nothing I can do about any of that tonight so I am going to try to relax and enjoy what is left of my night. I will worry about everything tomorrow. On a happier note, my mom is coming in 3 days and I cannot wait. I am also planning on going to the movies next Tuesday to see Pink Panther 2, I know this is a comedy and will be funny! Now to my relaxing...

Boredom Leads To Mopping?

Well my day started off pretty good. As usual, my day started off last night. I did not get to sleep in my own bed, but I did get to sleep in Sam's room in her bed. This was nice because her room is a single so I have the whole room to myself. I went to bed around 12:3o and was lost in my thoughts for a while. Once I fell asleep it was a good sleep. I woke up around 11 and felt pretty good. I got up and made some toast before taking a nice hot shower. Stacy and her boyfriend had left for the day by the time I got up, so I did not have to worry about bothering anyone. After my shower I brought my laundry in since it looked like it was going to rain and then made myself some lunch. My laundry was almost dry so I hung a lot of it on doors and such so that it would dry. As I was eating lunch some of my friends IMed me, so I chatted with them for a while. I decided that I wanted to do something different today so I searched the internet and decided to go to the movies. However, there were no English movies playing today so that was out. I ended up getting so bored that I swept and mopped the entire apartment. I did not do the bathrooms or bedrooms, but I can do that tomorrow. I decided that I will go to the movies tomorrow since there is an English movie playing tomorrow afternoon. After my cleaning spree I went out for a walk. This walk was short lived because it was raining and cold out. I came back home and decided that today was just one of those days to stay inside and listen to music. After my short walk I got back online and and got a recipe from Mom for cooking  salmon. I had a hunk of salmon sitting in the freezer from right before I went into the hospital. While the salmon was thawing I ran to the store to get some garlic and a lemon. When I got back I cut up the garlic and squeezed the lemon on the salmon and put it in the oven. I also had a pouch of rice to make risotto. I put way too much water in the pot with the rice and forgot that I could drain it, so I made another smaller pot of rice. I ended up draining the first and had 2 bowls of rice with dinner! I checked my salmon and thought it was done so I took it out and started eating. I realized that a good bit of the fish wasn't cooked so I put it back in the oven for a few minutes. Once it was done I enjoyed eating the rest of it. However, I still and 2 bowls of rice that I was too full to eat. So I combine the rice into one larger bowl and put it in the refrigerator. So I am now sitting in front of the tv relaxing after my boring day. Although I did not do much today, I feel like I accomplished something. I am proud of myself for cooking the salmon, even though it took me 2 times in the oven, and cleaning the apartment.