Suprised By Italian Toilet Repair

We got a call from our landlord, Luigi, yesterday, who said in his very broken English, "Bonna serra, Tamera. I'm Luigi. Tomorrow come to fix bangno . . . eight o'clock. Ok?
 
It seemed a little early, (especially in light of my last post), but what could I say? "Grazie, Luigi. Siamo felici." (Thank you, Luigi. We are  happy.) All three toilets are running continuously after flushing, especially bad in the evening and during the night when we're trying to sleep! Grrrrr! 
Well, first of all Luigi really meant to say 9:00, but he got the English mixed up. I was up far too early. Double grrrrrrr! Three workers finally arrived at 9:20 with all kinds of equipment to start smashing up the tile behind the toilets to get to what they call "the cassettes" and then replace them.


Surprised by ripping out the tile to put in what they
called "replacing the cassette."

At this very moment, three workers are pounding simultaneously making it sound more like a construction site in my house than what I thought was just going to be a simple toilet fix. As I watched them pound and chisel away, I couldn't help but think about our recent trip to Florence and our visit to see Michelangelo's "David." All that marble and chiseling! And my-oh-my, how noisy it must have been for him! I'm sure he had hearing loss.

If I need to say something to the workers, I take my computer with google translate and ask my question. It's a system that works pretty well.

As far as I can tell, most residential Italian toilets (like ours) are deep, steep bowls with a few inches of water at the bottom of a dark recess of porcelain.  Compared to the American toilets with large, shallow, gently flowing bowls of water, Italian toilets swallow up their contents with the force and swiftness of airline bathroom strength suction. The sound and force reminds me of flushing on an airplane, but with more water. It's over about that quickly as well. You get used to it after awhile, but I must admit I did think that the Italians would have very modern toilet and bathroom fixtures.




This is not the case, however. Traveling throughout Italy can be a toilet adventure. You might find anything from a hole in the floor, a toilet with no seat, and even the Japanese style of toilet with the porcelain toilet built flat on the ground. All with the omni-present toilet brush designed especially to leave the toilet cleaner than when you arrived!

The pounding continues . . . it's 3 and 1/2 hours later. They have just moved to the second bathroom; my bathroom upstairs. The sunny day has turned to gloom and pouring rain, and ironically . . . I have to go POTTY!



*Tamera

Getting to Happy

*Cross myself and greet the Lord.

• Before getting up each morning, set an intent for the day.

Unlike some fortunate people, I'm not exactly 'awake' when I first wake up. It takes me a little while to rouse into the world of the living. One the other hand, unlike some unfortunate people, I have the pleasure of being at home in the morning and not having to set the alarm clock most days to be at any specific place for any specific reason.
When I do have to be someplace early, I've always been a snooze-button hitter when my alarm is responsible for waking me up; I'm loathe to admitt, I don't just wake up naturally at the crack of dawn. It's best for me to puff up my pillows, sit up for a bit, and assess the day. Ideally, 20 minutes is perfect! Once the groginess of sleep has cleared my brain, I find that it's good to go over my day and set an intent for the day. (I do this even before morning prayer; I'm not quite ready for that yet.)

In The Art of Happiness, the Dali Lama says, "Every day, think as you wake up: today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it."

The Psamist, David said, "Oh God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee (my whole nature is designed to long sumpremely after God), in a dry and thisty land where no water is." (Psalm 63:1)

Like King David, I should seek God first thing in the day for His plans and purposes, when I set an intent for my day, before other things come to distract and divert my attention, and well before other influences come in to take control and direct me. The Psamist wasn't searching for real water or any earthly thing, but for sprititual manifestations of God and direction for his life. It's difficult to find that as the day progresses, just like the cool morning dew evaporates as the heat of the sun blazes down on the day.

I don't want the daily intent that I set up to be just another "to do" item on my ever-increasing list. It has to be more than that. I want it to be something that makes a great difference in my day. Something like: "Enjoy today's significant moments" or "work hard and be nice today." It might be a little more specific like "saying thankyou to loved ones today" or "making the day a completely positive day, with no negatives in it."

God's promise made to Solomon can certainly apply to me: "I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. (Proverbs 8:17)

Whatever the case may be, I do it; with God's help I will set the intent for the day. Setting out into the day with purpose, and not just aimlessly wondering into it without direction or a path to follow.


How will I get to "Happy" if I do that?

How will I get anywhere if I do that?



Avere un buon giorno,



Mimi

 

How To Feel Better Today

   
     I'm going to talk about feeling better at home. I'm home most of the time these days for one reason or another, so I got to thinking: How can I 'feel' better while I'm at home. Don't get me wrong. I'm not writing this for you. I'm writing this for me! I want to feel better at home. I love my home. I don't always want to take a walk in the woods or a drive to the beach to feel better. I don't even necessarily want to be outside. I just want to feel better while I'm at home.
     For me, and as anyone can attest to who knows me, I always feel better at home if my bed is made. It's remarkable how a few minor little tweaks and adjustments to my daily routine, like making my bed, can become the agent to a meaningful change within my day. But its true, and always has been true. If my bed's undone -- I'm undone.
     My home is an extension of who I am. What I do within the walls of my dwelling place shapes my mood, affects my productivity, and influences my entire outlook on life.
Karen Miller, wife, mother, Zen priest, and author of "Hand Wash Cold" and Momma Zen" explains: "The state of your bed is the state of your head." She is definitely on to something. When I walk out of my bedroom with my bed in a massive bundle of covers, I start the day on the wrong foot - already feeling defeated by my bed! Even my dog knows something is wrong if I don't throw all of the pillows on the floor and start making the bed before I walk out of the bedroom. He looks and me with that look. "Are we getting back in?" We are both loath to get the day started. It's pitiful!
     On the other hand, when Sherman (my dog) and I step back and have a look at our freshly made bed, I have to admit that we are happy. I think about how nice it will be to pull back the covers that evening after a long day as all three of us (husband, dog and me) go through our evening routine. And as I walk out of the bedroom and invariably look back at the pretty made-up bed, I say to my room, "So long you cozy little cave of tranquility. I've created you with my own hands and you are as you once were. Until we meet again." Somehow I'm ready to tackle the day. Happier!

 Sogni d'oro (sweet dreams),

Mimi






http://www.ehow.com/video_4756201_make-bed.html

http://youtu.be/0KQHXc4cBvQ

Time is Unfair Sometimes

     Time has been a little unfair to this blogger. I considered transferring all of the information on this blog
 to a different host after months of trying to figure out how a 'coloncleansingcompany.com' was hacking into my blog every time anyone logged in, including me! I tried everything: erasing posts, spending hours with my Internet security company while they took over my computer and zoomed around at the speed of expert, while I just watched in amazement, but nothing! I tried many (amateur) attempts myself at working through the problem, with little success. It wasn't until today that the mystery solved.

     I received a long awaited answer back from Google Blogger. It seems the 'coloncleansingcompany.com' people had hacked into one of my Google Gadgets - the one that counts how many visitors come to my blog. That makes sense, right? Each time they visit my blog, my visitor would be helplessly redirected to the hacker's website! Grrrrrr! 
     All I had to do was erase that Gadget from my side-bar and voila . . . problem solved. I have my blog back with no nasty hackers trying to steal my faithful readers from me! In the meantime, I did make a little change. When you used to get to my blog by this address: http://tpelikan.blogspot.com; now you only need type: thepelikanbrief.com to get here (which you already know if you are reading this). So, please spread the word. Changing to my personal domain name was one of the attempts at fixing the problem. Now that I've decided to keep it, it's a lot easier to remember.

     As a result, I've got a lot of catching up to do. About a year's worth, it would appear. I'll do my best to combine the two, with a few fun changes along the way.

(((Abbracci))) e benedizioni, 

Mimi (a.k.a. Tamera)

Undo edits

Happy 5th Birthday, Elijah

Happy 5th Birthday, Elijah Pelikan

Dear Elijah,

     Today is your 5th birthday! This means so many things for you:
     You are half-way to the age of ten, and we bet you can do things like skip and jump and hop now, better than ever! Can you stand on one foot with your eyes closed? That's what you can do when you're five!
     You can copy a triangle and spread peanut butter with a knife.
     You can name all of your primary colors and count to ten. You know all the names of the coins in your Dad's pocket. And, we think you probably say "Why" a lot.
     You are growing about 3 inches a year (or maybe even more in your case), and you are behaving more responsibly now. Have you noticed that? It's easier to apologize for your mistakes and to be more peaceful. You like to imagine things more when you're five-year's-old, like a trip somewhere.

     When you are five it's fun to read together, and learn rules; you will like to play with other children and go to interesting, new places.
     And you know what else you can do when you're five? You can start to do little chores around the house. Mimi and Papa know that you get the mail every day, but now that you are five you can add some more things. You can help set the table, and pick up your toys after playing with them without being asked. You can even start to learn to make your bed yourself!  Five is Fun!

For Elijah

Happy Birthday
Our sweet little man,
We love you very much
We'll see you and hug you as soon as we can.

Dream big dreams today
Of God's wonderful plan,
He sees you and is with you to lead you every step of the way.
He loves you very much.

Just remember if you ever need us
We'll be right there,
And no matter where we are
You are always in our heart!
Love,

Mimi & Papa

“May the blessing of the Lord be upon you. May your Guardian Angel protect you from all attacks of the enemy!”

Happy Birthday, Misha

Today Misha is 7-year's old! Happy Birthday to our creative, funny, happy, and sweet little granddaughter. We look forward to the days when birthday celebrations can be at Mimi and Papa's house again,

Buon Compleanno . . . birthday love and hugs!