One of the things I'll (hopefully) be doing this summer

Im signed up to instruct a class this summer as part of a kids camp type program on campus called Kids on Campus. Its basically an enrichment program that gives students exposure to the campus as well as allows them to enroll in a wide variety of classes. The class Im teaching is geared towards 7th to 9th graders. I figured I would include a link to the programs website-the following link will take you to the page that displays the description of the course Im teaching. :)

http://keeneweb.org/ksckids/2009/02/17/classes-suggested-for-seventh-through-ninth-grades/

And this is the link for my bio :)

http://keeneweb.org/ksckids/category/faculty-biographies/

Im really excited but of course all of this is dependent on enrollment so hopefully I will get lots of kids to sign up for my class! :)

Cathedral of the Pines

One of the things that is becoming apparent with the melting of all the snow is just how many trees split/died/cracked/fell down during the ice storm. Its really staggering. Lining all the streets are the limbs that people have cleared from their land.

One place that was particularly hard hit is the Cathedral of the Pines. And its a shame because it was such a beautiful place before. It still is, but what with all the trees theyve had to clear out, it really has lost something.This is what the Cathedral looked like three years ago. If you look close you can see all the trees surrounding the monument. Those were trees in the clearing/sanctuary part.

This is the sanctuary now. You can see where theyve had to dig up the trees.And a bulldozer that was working on clearing.

It really is a shame. Makes me sad.

Still the most amazing view. And still my favorite place in Rindge.That is Mt. Monadnock in the background.

New cam!

So-with the money the government so graciously returned to me this year I was able to pay off my credit card, put some toward savings and....buy a new camera! I just received it in the mail today. I really wanted a camera with a good zoom on it that I could use to take good outdoor pics. Im going to be going to Yosemite this summer-and just really wanted a good camera for that-as well as any other outdoor activities. I went with the Kodak easyshare-my old camera is a kodak and I really like the company-their software is so easy to use. Plus its American. Gotta help domestic sales!

So today it was such a beautiful day I went out and experimented with taking some pics down our street. Here are a few I took.

down our street

these names mean something...

A creek down the street from us

barn-down our street

and this is my fave! tulips!

Easter: or Authentic Italian in Dublin, NH!

DelRossi's Trattoria, Dublin

For a while now, my brothers and I have been trying to make it to DelRossi's Trattoria in Dublin, NH. We all have such different schedules, and its been hard trying to coordinate the trip. Easter Sunday gave us a good excuse to go-since most of us were off for the day.

I had heard about DelRossi's, and it seemed to have a good reputation-and then one day my brother Matt told me he knew the chef-since he is a regular customer at the Dunkin' Donuts where my brother works.

Even though the idea was partly Matt's I have to admit I was a little afraid about going with my little brothers. Especially since for one of them (not naming names ;) ) a good meal consists of easy fries and stoufers microwaveable mac n cheese. And the other-doesnt even like spaghetti. Knowing that there certainly would not be any hamburgers, fries, or mac n cheese on the menu-I was a little nervous that there would be complaints, especially since we were all paying for ourselves.

However, I was pleasantly surprised. Everyone found something on the menu. There were no complaints, and we had a great dinner with good conversation. Case in point: When my mom ordered lamb chops she mentioned that she had never eaten that particular meat before. Matt responded by asking what she was talking about-he always remembered her making it? None of us know how he got this idea, and we tried to convince him otherwise. I told him that he used to WATCH lamb chop on TV, but we never ate it. haha...I dont know where he gets these things.

At any rate, I was pleased by the food as well. There was an ad in the paper displaying what the selection for Easter dinner would be. I was excited to see Saltimbocca alla Romana on the list. I love Saltimbocca. When I got to the restaurant however and saw how they prepared it I was a little worried. They put peas in it-for some reason. And they cook it along with pecorino romano cheese and pour it over fettucine. Now, I dont want to sound like a food snob-but Ive had Saltimbocca alla Romana-in Rome-multiple times- and Ive never had it like that. I know there are variations on how to cook it-but I was still iffy.

my saltimbocca

I ended up ordering the Saltimbocca-without peas-and it was good! I was happy about it. And my brothers all liked their meals as well. And my mom also liked her lamb chops. I must say I tried a bite and it was indeed good. We joked that my brother Frankie had veal and my mom had lamb chops. All the baby animals. dying for us. We are so mean. :(

moms lamb chops

At any rate, we all agreed that it was a good restaurant and a great experience. And we all agreed we would definitely like to go back. Except Frankie who said it was too pricey: we went to a restaurant in the North End once that was really good, and about half the price. I will agree that there are a lot of great restaurants in the North End that are cheaper-(depending on when you go)-and just as good-but still. I think it was worth it.


So that was Easter. Afterwards, we just went home and just hung out. Matt went into work for a couple hours where-funnily enough-the chef he knows came in. They talked, and the chef said we shouldve told him we were there. hehe...

matts food

And speaking of heart wrenching...

My heart goes out to all the earthquake victims in L'aquila, Italy.

Le mie preghiere e pensieri sono con tutti voi.


http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/04/06/italy.quake/index.html

And speaking of climbing...

I am determined to climb Mt. Monadnock sometime during this spring/summer.

Mt. Monadnock is a very celebrated natural landmark around here. It is so prominent, a lot of people refer to it simply as "the mountain." It is touted as one of the most climbed mountains in the United States.

I've been wanting to climb Mt. Monadnock for a while now, but what with me going to Yosemite this summer-I figured it would be great practice for Half Dome-which I am also determined to climb!

I figure I will wait until the weather gets better to climb, and my mom wants to go with me-so we both want to get into shape before doing so. We'll see. I'll keep you updated!

Spring!

I can't tell you how happy I am that Spring is here. Yesterday was a beautiful day and my mom and aunt and I went out to eat at Parker's Maple Barn. I just love going there!

Spring in NH means maple syrup season and Parker's is both a restaurant and sugaring house. They make their own maple syrup there, and I was able to take the tour and learn a bit more about this process.

The vital component to getting the sap to run is nights that are below freezing, followed by days above. Pressure along with gravity induces the flow of sap out of the tree and into the buckets. Its really awesome how it works-just another example of the wonder of God's creation. :)

After the maple barn, we drove home and along the way stopped at a historic marker-which was Uncle Sam's boyhood home. Its pretty interesting to read the sign and the history of it all.

Then, I decided to take some random pics around town-taking advantage of the nice weather. I couldn't help but think of this Beatle's song yesterday. It completely represents how I feel about Spring this year. It seemed like it took years to get here!

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say it's all right

Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's all right

Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's all right

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...

Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say it's all right
It's all right

Heartwrenching

That's the only way I can describe "Seven Pounds," starring Will Smith and directed by Italian director Gabriele Muccino (The Pursuit of Happyness, L'ultimo baccio). It's a poignant depiction of how sometimes the hardest act of forgiveness we will ever have to carry out is that of forgiving ourselves.

La musica

This week in my class I am going to be talking about music. I am excited because Italian music is one of my favorite things! I just thought I would share some of what I'm going to be talking about. Some of it is pretty interesting! :) At least to me!

First off-did you know that every year the Italians hold a music festival in Sanremo, Italy? Appropriately, it is titled Il festival di Sanremo. Much like American Idol, Italians vote on the winners. The difference is that in this competition-the song, not the singer is most emphasized. It's all about good songwriting. Very often singer/ songwriters who win go onto big success. One example is Andrea Bocelli.

Did you further know that it was at this very festival that the song, "Nel blu dipinto di blu," was sung by Domenico Modugno?

You might know the song as "Volare," popularized in America by Dean Martin-among others.

It's the only song by an Italian artist to hit the top of the American Billboard 100 charts.

Something else...

Have you ever heard the song O Sole Mio? If you have, does it sound familiar to you? It should.

Now think about Elvis' song "Its now or never." Yes that's right-it's the same song! The melody for It's now or never was taken from O Sole Mio. So you could've been singing an Italian song all along without knowing it! hehe...

One last thing I thought I would share. Italian artist Laura Pausini recently released a song with British star James Blunt. The song is called, "Primavera in anticipo." It's all about telling someone they have given you a rebirth-an early spring. It's sung partly in Italian and partly in English. I love it. I love when Italian artists collaborate with English speaking ones because you get to see the English speakers singing in Italian and the Italian ones singing in English! Makes me very happy. :) I'm going to try to include videos for both songs in this post. I just love youtube because I can use it to show my students great footage of old songs like Nel blu dipinto di blu, along with current music videos!

Can't wait for my lesson! :)