Mambo Italiano

Planning for an adventure is an adventure in itself. Extricating oneself from life is a little trickier. The past few weeks have included...

Fabulo. This is the greatest little app for learning Italian. I was hoping to be farther along in my language studies, but I'm pretty fluent, currently, in phrases like, "Mi bicicleta é blu," "Abbiamo bisogno di parlare," and "Mi piace la macchina rossa."

Body by Melisa. Jenny has been coming to Oakland on a regular basis to enjoy the caring ministrations of my web client Melisa. After each spa visit, she would meet me at Underwood or Homeroom, hot new spots in Oakland's up n' coming hipster "Jewel Box" neighborhood. Here we are at Melisa's retirement party. (At which I got all excited about Isagenix.)

The Impact Hub. When we talked about what we wanted to do in Italy, meeting interesting people came up a lot. How do you do that?  I realized I am a member of an international organization, so I hosted a "Pencil Party" at my co-working space to write letters to friends at the Impact Hub in Rome. Using my Google Translate app, I managed to communicate with the staff there to schedule another Pencil Party (Festa di Matita) when we are there.

Zumba. I teach a class to high school students once a week, and you never know what music they're going to like. Since it's the school's centennial year, I've been doing songs from different decades. We're up to the 1950s, and in my excitement I had had had to do Mambo Italiano! (Fortunately, the kids loved it.) I will miss them... and the start of a new gig... but it will be worth it!

PTSA. The hardest part was extricating myself from the workings of the PTSA, of which I am president, a huge commitment. This is the week that the board decides how to spend about $50,000, which requires late nights with extra reading, a very long meeting, and a lot of extra correspondence and administration. And yet, this wonderful group of dedicated volunteers has been so incredibly supportive of letting me go. "You need to take care of yourself," they say, to a one. My VP has even agreed to wear something appropriate to continue my performance art of dressing in a different decade at each meeting. THANK YOU ALL!

Shopping. We're staying with Alexa in Rome, and all she asks is we bring some candy corn. And Cadbury Eggs. And a bag of goodies from her mom. And... I had to borrow a big suitcase to fit it all! But it's a little like packing empty space. Since the dollar is strong, I plan to do some shopping... And speaking of, that last trip to Trader Joe's to stock up for the guys while I'm gone was fun... I got them all Italian foods. Chicken Parmagiana. Lasagne. Spaghetti with Bolognese sauce. Pounds of Salami. Provolone. It's the least I can do.

"Should have passed to Marshawn Lynch #Beastmode"

Packing. It's going to be cold, but I can't decide which three coats to take. Still, I borrowed two suitcases and a scale, and I think I've thought of everything! Oh, and...

Superbowl. Oh, and there's some football game on? I decided to make Italian food (baked ziti, gorgonzola kale) for the gang on my last day here. We were rooting for Marshawn - I mean the Sea Hawks, because not only do they carry the Broncos Juju, but because Donald programmed the marquee .... What a crazy turn of events in the last few seconds of the game!