FAQ
So I realized that I don't write a lot about myself or my life outside of crafting. I created an FAQ because yes, I am a geek. If you want to skip this, the next post has pretty pictures. :D
First a little about myself.
My name is Emy Lou F. Yes my initials spell "Elf" which can be either kind of cute or kind of geeky. I have been married to Kevin for 7 years, which yes, means that I got married really young. We have a 2 year old son who sometimes takes the term "military brat" too seriously.
1.Why are you in Sicily?
My husband is in the Navy and we are here for 3 years (1 down, 2 to go.) Growing up I always envisioned men in the military as being big tough strong guys who liked to hunt and stuff. I wonder if other people think that. I guess some people are big tough guys but my sweetie is pretty much the opposite.
2.What is Sicily like?/ Is it romantic there?
Romantic normally conjures up images of intimacy in the bedroom, to me, so its hard for me to call it romantic. It can be breath-takingly beautiful here though. We lived by the coast for the past 5 years before coming here, but the east coast has nothing on the beauty here. I think what really gets me is the water color, depending on where you are different variations of the bluest blues, the aqua-est aquas possible.
Italians must find it very romantic, because they make out in public a lot (grown ups too.) I think it has caused us to be a little more showy in our affections. When we go back people are going to yell at us "Get a room, jeez!" as we hold hands.
The word I would use to describe Sicily is foreign. Of course you say, its a foreign country. But no it really is as foreign as it gets. Everything is so different. Every little aspect of life, the way stuff looks, the landscape. Its still normal to see men driving carts pulled by donkeys.
3.Do you like it there?
I do. It has taken me a while, but I do. When we first got here, we were moved into a tiny 2 bedroom apartment. We were miserable. I had no room to craft and no desire to. My unhappiness was poison and spread to every aspect of my life. I felt fat, stupid, lazy, uncreative, uninspired, like a bad mom. My relationship with my husband was suffering. We finally got permission to move and its so much better now. I have gained almost all of the weight back that I lost during that time, but I don't look at myself as fat anymore. My inspiration came back pretty much the day we moved in here. It took us months to unpack the first place and 3 days for this place. We now live in an American neighborhood with plenty of parks and other children to play with. So you're thinking "A bigger house made her happy." Well to be somewhere every day that makes you miserable, not be able to take your growing child out to play, or be able to release my creative juices, well that was awful.
So to make a long story short, I'm much happier now that my day to day life in the house is happier. We usually only go out on weekends to explore and see stuff.
4.What do you miss about America?
Convenience. Italians have very strange hours. If you want to go to a store between 12 and 4, forget it. They're all closed. Sundays, closed as well. After 8 pm, yeah right. America is open 24/7.
I miss thrift stores. The base has a tiny one and its cheap but the treasures are rare. I like old stuff and there's not much to be had.
I miss Target. Yes, they will ship to us, but only certain stuff. And its not the same as going in the store and experiencing the wonderfulness that is Target. I love the displays. I like seeing everything lined up on the shelf by color. Its much more impressive.
Cheap car insurance. Our insurance tripled when we moved here because there are so many accidents.
I miss fast food and restaurants. McDonalds is all the Italian community has. Our base has a Burger King, 2 Subways, Taco Bell and Popeyes. There's a few others but nothing big. We're getting an Applebees soon which will be wonderful.
5.Fast food? What are you talking about? You're in Italy with Italian food, silly girl!
Italian food isn't the same as American Italian food and nothing like Sicilian food. And I must admit, I prefer American Italian. There's a few dishes that aren't that different, such as alfredo, pasta a la norma, and canneloni. Pizza is way different, thin crust with weird toppings like hot dogs, lettuce and french fries, then topped with oil. The french fries are good. Lasagna has no ricotta but has everything else imaginable like peas, boiled eggs and ham. Speaking of ricotta, it is mostly used for desserts. I cannot for the life of me understand how Italy is famous for pasta, when the desserts are so great. Gelato (ice cream) and granita (like lemon ice) are the best ever. They have yummy flavors like almond and pistacio and hazelnut. I never knew I liked any of these until I moved here. The biscotti (cookies) are great.
6.I bet you see all kinds of weird stuff. What kinds of weird stuff do you see?
Well, where to begin. I've mentioned a few already. What else? A family of 4 on a vespa, truck drivers driving while reading a newspaper, a dad and son on a vespa walking a dog, a man dropping off an umbrella girl (hooker) and smiling as we passed him, a man on stilts with a horse mask, people selling everything from fish to couches out of their trucks. I guess the thing I will never forget though, is that people do not put their kids in carseats here! The moms hold them in the front seat. Ah! This kills me!! And I still can't get over how much people love babies here. Men, teenage boys, other children, everyone has to touch my bambino's head and tell me that he's beautiful.
7.What's up with your email address?
ilovepantsmelons. I love pants melons. Okay, think of what shirt melons would be, now think of pant melons. Pants melons means butt. My husband works with computers and he's always telling me not to use my name for my email address. Hackers can break in to your account and send mail using your name. They used to do it all the time to our account in America which did in fact use our name. He hated that people were getting spammed from his name.
Anyways, I chose the silliest thing I could. It makes me laugh. I actually heard the term on an episode of Malcolm in the Middle.
8.How do you live without Insert-Popular-Show-Here?
We have AFN which is 8 stations that show the shows popular in America. We don't watch much tv though. One station is for kids and that's really nice. But there's no channel you can always count on to be entertaining (like HGTV). We have a movie channel too but they keep showing the same stuff over and over. Basically we get whatever the networks will give us for free or very cheap. So we get lovely shows like Little Big Kid (so awful that a google search produced nothing) and commercials about presidents and national landmarks.
9.Are you going to have another kid?
I dont know. We have about a 9 month window that we would need to get pregnant in and it is very quickly approaching us. My first pregnancy was awful, with extreme morning sickness (so bad I couln't move without puking), scary tests, telling me I may need to abort my long waited for child, pain and more pain, epidural not working, hemmorhaging (almost needed a blood transfusion; i think i almost die) and then after all that having my son whisked away to have surgery when he was 3 days old. Breastfeeding never worked due to various reasons. The whole thing was so stressful. Was it worth it? Yes. I love my son more than anything. I just sometimes worry that I was never supposed to have children and tempting fate again may kill me this time. My husband disagrees that I almost died, but you should have seen his face. He was terrified. And normal births don't involve 10 doctors and nurses each taking turns feeling you up and leaving the room covered in blood. (This probably contributed to my very strong aversion to blood.)
We had been thinking of trying in August but as August approaches, I'm getting scared. Cale is easy now. We're done with the hard part. Soon I won't even have to wipe his butt! He'll start preschool soon! And I don't want to give up my craft room or my craft time. Selfish reasons, but my reasons to have children were just as selfish. At the same time, I would love for Cale to have a sibling. I grew up with 2 sisters and a brother, and it made me very conscious of others. I had to learn to share. And my neice's voice keeps echoing in my head "Don't make him be an only child! You don't know how lonely it is!" We'll see if she's singing a different note in October when her new sibling is born.
So I don't know. We're still in negotiations.
10.Where are you from?
There's a commercial on AFN that this question reminds me of. Its like, where was I born? where was i before this? etc, etc. My husband and I are both from a small town outside of Houston, TX. We lived in Norfolk, VA before this for 5 years and that area is the area that I will always consider home. I read Country Living magazine and it makes me so homesick because it seems like most of the homes are from the east coast.
11.So you're high school sweethearts?
No. Friends and then it blossomed from there. He's still my BFF.
I'm going to wrap this up because its already waaaayyyyy too long. Thanks if you read it all. If there's anything that you're dying to know, let me know and I will answer.
First a little about myself.
My name is Emy Lou F. Yes my initials spell "Elf" which can be either kind of cute or kind of geeky. I have been married to Kevin for 7 years, which yes, means that I got married really young. We have a 2 year old son who sometimes takes the term "military brat" too seriously.
1.Why are you in Sicily?
My husband is in the Navy and we are here for 3 years (1 down, 2 to go.) Growing up I always envisioned men in the military as being big tough strong guys who liked to hunt and stuff. I wonder if other people think that. I guess some people are big tough guys but my sweetie is pretty much the opposite.
2.What is Sicily like?/ Is it romantic there?
Romantic normally conjures up images of intimacy in the bedroom, to me, so its hard for me to call it romantic. It can be breath-takingly beautiful here though. We lived by the coast for the past 5 years before coming here, but the east coast has nothing on the beauty here. I think what really gets me is the water color, depending on where you are different variations of the bluest blues, the aqua-est aquas possible.
Italians must find it very romantic, because they make out in public a lot (grown ups too.) I think it has caused us to be a little more showy in our affections. When we go back people are going to yell at us "Get a room, jeez!" as we hold hands.
The word I would use to describe Sicily is foreign. Of course you say, its a foreign country. But no it really is as foreign as it gets. Everything is so different. Every little aspect of life, the way stuff looks, the landscape. Its still normal to see men driving carts pulled by donkeys.
3.Do you like it there?
I do. It has taken me a while, but I do. When we first got here, we were moved into a tiny 2 bedroom apartment. We were miserable. I had no room to craft and no desire to. My unhappiness was poison and spread to every aspect of my life. I felt fat, stupid, lazy, uncreative, uninspired, like a bad mom. My relationship with my husband was suffering. We finally got permission to move and its so much better now. I have gained almost all of the weight back that I lost during that time, but I don't look at myself as fat anymore. My inspiration came back pretty much the day we moved in here. It took us months to unpack the first place and 3 days for this place. We now live in an American neighborhood with plenty of parks and other children to play with. So you're thinking "A bigger house made her happy." Well to be somewhere every day that makes you miserable, not be able to take your growing child out to play, or be able to release my creative juices, well that was awful.
So to make a long story short, I'm much happier now that my day to day life in the house is happier. We usually only go out on weekends to explore and see stuff.
4.What do you miss about America?
Convenience. Italians have very strange hours. If you want to go to a store between 12 and 4, forget it. They're all closed. Sundays, closed as well. After 8 pm, yeah right. America is open 24/7.
I miss thrift stores. The base has a tiny one and its cheap but the treasures are rare. I like old stuff and there's not much to be had.
I miss Target. Yes, they will ship to us, but only certain stuff. And its not the same as going in the store and experiencing the wonderfulness that is Target. I love the displays. I like seeing everything lined up on the shelf by color. Its much more impressive.
Cheap car insurance. Our insurance tripled when we moved here because there are so many accidents.
I miss fast food and restaurants. McDonalds is all the Italian community has. Our base has a Burger King, 2 Subways, Taco Bell and Popeyes. There's a few others but nothing big. We're getting an Applebees soon which will be wonderful.
5.Fast food? What are you talking about? You're in Italy with Italian food, silly girl!
Italian food isn't the same as American Italian food and nothing like Sicilian food. And I must admit, I prefer American Italian. There's a few dishes that aren't that different, such as alfredo, pasta a la norma, and canneloni. Pizza is way different, thin crust with weird toppings like hot dogs, lettuce and french fries, then topped with oil. The french fries are good. Lasagna has no ricotta but has everything else imaginable like peas, boiled eggs and ham. Speaking of ricotta, it is mostly used for desserts. I cannot for the life of me understand how Italy is famous for pasta, when the desserts are so great. Gelato (ice cream) and granita (like lemon ice) are the best ever. They have yummy flavors like almond and pistacio and hazelnut. I never knew I liked any of these until I moved here. The biscotti (cookies) are great.
6.I bet you see all kinds of weird stuff. What kinds of weird stuff do you see?
Well, where to begin. I've mentioned a few already. What else? A family of 4 on a vespa, truck drivers driving while reading a newspaper, a dad and son on a vespa walking a dog, a man dropping off an umbrella girl (hooker) and smiling as we passed him, a man on stilts with a horse mask, people selling everything from fish to couches out of their trucks. I guess the thing I will never forget though, is that people do not put their kids in carseats here! The moms hold them in the front seat. Ah! This kills me!! And I still can't get over how much people love babies here. Men, teenage boys, other children, everyone has to touch my bambino's head and tell me that he's beautiful.
7.What's up with your email address?
ilovepantsmelons. I love pants melons. Okay, think of what shirt melons would be, now think of pant melons. Pants melons means butt. My husband works with computers and he's always telling me not to use my name for my email address. Hackers can break in to your account and send mail using your name. They used to do it all the time to our account in America which did in fact use our name. He hated that people were getting spammed from his name.
Anyways, I chose the silliest thing I could. It makes me laugh. I actually heard the term on an episode of Malcolm in the Middle.
8.How do you live without Insert-Popular-Show-Here?
We have AFN which is 8 stations that show the shows popular in America. We don't watch much tv though. One station is for kids and that's really nice. But there's no channel you can always count on to be entertaining (like HGTV). We have a movie channel too but they keep showing the same stuff over and over. Basically we get whatever the networks will give us for free or very cheap. So we get lovely shows like Little Big Kid (so awful that a google search produced nothing) and commercials about presidents and national landmarks.
9.Are you going to have another kid?
I dont know. We have about a 9 month window that we would need to get pregnant in and it is very quickly approaching us. My first pregnancy was awful, with extreme morning sickness (so bad I couln't move without puking), scary tests, telling me I may need to abort my long waited for child, pain and more pain, epidural not working, hemmorhaging (almost needed a blood transfusion; i think i almost die) and then after all that having my son whisked away to have surgery when he was 3 days old. Breastfeeding never worked due to various reasons. The whole thing was so stressful. Was it worth it? Yes. I love my son more than anything. I just sometimes worry that I was never supposed to have children and tempting fate again may kill me this time. My husband disagrees that I almost died, but you should have seen his face. He was terrified. And normal births don't involve 10 doctors and nurses each taking turns feeling you up and leaving the room covered in blood. (This probably contributed to my very strong aversion to blood.)
We had been thinking of trying in August but as August approaches, I'm getting scared. Cale is easy now. We're done with the hard part. Soon I won't even have to wipe his butt! He'll start preschool soon! And I don't want to give up my craft room or my craft time. Selfish reasons, but my reasons to have children were just as selfish. At the same time, I would love for Cale to have a sibling. I grew up with 2 sisters and a brother, and it made me very conscious of others. I had to learn to share. And my neice's voice keeps echoing in my head "Don't make him be an only child! You don't know how lonely it is!" We'll see if she's singing a different note in October when her new sibling is born.
So I don't know. We're still in negotiations.
10.Where are you from?
There's a commercial on AFN that this question reminds me of. Its like, where was I born? where was i before this? etc, etc. My husband and I are both from a small town outside of Houston, TX. We lived in Norfolk, VA before this for 5 years and that area is the area that I will always consider home. I read Country Living magazine and it makes me so homesick because it seems like most of the homes are from the east coast.
11.So you're high school sweethearts?
No. Friends and then it blossomed from there. He's still my BFF.
I'm going to wrap this up because its already waaaayyyyy too long. Thanks if you read it all. If there's anything that you're dying to know, let me know and I will answer.
posted by Emy at 1:16 PM
3 Comments:
What an awesome post! I loved it. So honest and open and informative. I remember Italian pizza...weird, weird, weird...but I agree on the desserts! Yum! I'm glad you found a place that let you feel happier and craftier. We may have a lot in common in seems. Crafting time please, not sure about the baby thing, and I'm in Norfolk! 8-) very interesting.
thanks for the ilovepantsmelons info. I've been scratching my head over that one.
Oh, I feel like I know you so much better!
And for the military guy thing, I only have one friend who's served in the military and he was the sweetest, nicest guy ever.
Deciding to have a second child is a tough decision for everyone, and I can understand why you haven't made up your mind yet. Very serious situation, indeed.
I haven't been to Italy (yet, someday, hopefully), but I am familiar with the differences of Sicilian food -- and it is really different and not quite my favorite either. I think the more north you go, the more familiar it becomes in comparison to American-Italian food.
I have been to Germany, and they had The Best Food Ever. My husband was there for three months for a business trip and I got to visit for a week. We went to the Greek restaurant twice in the week because it was my favorite. And the store hours were hilarious, and in the evenings when people got off of work everyone was in town and it was almost like a big fair (he was in a small town, surrounded by smaller towns).
What a great, honest post!
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