2008 Beijing Olympics and our friend Sherraine

Sherraine Schalm is competing in this year's Olympic Games in Beijing China. It is only a matter of days before she competes in the division of Women's Epee Fencing representing Canada. August 13, I will be glued to the tube waiting to see our girl in action.



Sherraine is a force to reckon with on and off the piste. She's an amazing woman! Her sense of humor alone would make you fall in love with her. And yeah, she's currently ranked 5 th in the world for epee fencing.

Vance and she went to high school together in Brooks, Alberta. She has trained in Paris and Budapest. Vance and I were fortunate enough to hang out with Sherraine in Budapest and visit her training center which was an old Catholic church. We have also watched her compete several times in the World Cup Championships along with the Canadian Women's Fencing Team in Rome Italy and St Petersburg Russia.

You can follow her on her journey at the following links.

The Official Beijing Olympics website


Her blog for the Canadian women's magazine 'Chatelaine'


And the Canadian Broadcast Centre



Sherraine, we wish you good luck and a wonderful experience. I hope to see you in Budapest soon.

Summer Wave part 2

After the camp was over, I had to go with the Amazing Grace Gospel Choir on a retreat to Pentolina, a small town near Siena. Visiting Professor Ramon Rebird came from New York. We practiced everyday for 8 hours and at the end of the week we performed for the guests at the Happimag resort. It was a beautiful place where we learned beautiful music. I was able to assist Debbie Ross with the daily Astanga Yoga class after we completely our own personal yoga practice. It was a great week!



July 18th I became another year older. My last year of my 20s. I plan on enjoying it! Vance and I went to dinner and went to the beach the next day! Perfect! Thank you Marcy for the ITunes cards! August came with the heat! The fans are going in attempt to move the hot air! I have a constant shining complexion. 3 liters of water a day is the minimum! Vance and I entertained a few guests few days and then he was off traveling for work. This month it is Cairo Egypt and Tripoli Libya. I'm looking forward to Lisa's return from the States and Misty's visit to Rome at the end of the month!

I'll end this with another video of our sweet Cicciona playing with her favorite toy, a Qtip.

Summer Heat Wave

It's been so long. Between Facebook and Myspace, I've neglected my blog. Sorry! I have to remind myself to put things in perspective. Since the last post in May, I've done a few jobs, adopted a kitty, traveled, retreated and enjoyed life.

Our newest addition is Idra. She is a great friend for Cicciona, especially after the death of Timido. I adopted her from the Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary. She was rescued and found to have had a hernia in her diaphragm. After major surgery, I have to wait a week for her to finish her antibiotics before taking her home. Cicciona loved her instantly and wanted to play. Idra healed up quite well. The only thing was that beacuse of the intense nature of the surgery and her condition at the time she could not be spaded. Unfortunately she was in heat for a good portion of the time. Finally we spaded her and are now learning her true personality. She was so affectionate and lovable when she was a horn biscuit! Now she's a typical cat. Only comes around when she wants and is a bit of a biter! She also likes to pee in our shower! Hey I can't complain...it's not of the walls nor the furniture! We hope it passes! Isn't she precious?!



Marcy and Chris came to Rome and we took the ferry from Bari to Korcula Croatia. Words cannot express how much I love Croatia! We stayed in Vela Luka and the city of Korcula. Pics speak louder than words.





Mid June I met my dear friend Lisa at the train station and we went south to Formia. I small city just north of Naples. We were a part of small group of English mothertongue speakers that taught at a local school of 7-11years old. I found myself speaking 60%English and 40% Italian. The kids loved me, of course! I worked with a great group of ladies. Nicola and Alex of London and Lisa, a Cincinatti girl transplanted to Florence. We stayed at the Nocca family home and had a wonderful experience. We even got to experience the wonderment of a voyeur! Mr. Wanky across the street. The overall trip was such an opportunity and we left with a new appreciation and new friendships. Little Italians can be a handful! Nicola and I were even able to make a trip down to Naples. Surprisely it wasn't as filled with trash as we expected. (There has been a trash issue over the past year. Trash is overflowing into the streets, not enough space at the dumps and is being barged over to Germany).





Cicciona was feeling left out of the conversation...