Day 55--Hopes Crashing and Rising

   Oh, how hopeful we were that "Phase 2" is beginning on May 3rd! A little freedom to "move about the cabin" is what I was imagining.
   But the Prime Minister has announced the easing restrictions, which does mean some take out food at some restaurants (this past 2 weeks, we've had delivery as a possibility but not take out), and some stores opening up.
   But the restrictions are still so strict that I'm not sure anyone but Ron can even go to the campus; you have to have a self-certification form and be wearing a mask. We still cannot leave the region of Lazio.
   Okay, so are there silver linings I'm not seeing? Maybe I can go into Rome just to walk around. Maybe I can take a good jog on city streets near our house. Maybe the hardware store or any other store will open (like to get birthday gifts for my kids, etc.).
    Maybe I can do a big photo shoot, and celebrate Phase 2 by walking around and taking photos. That would be a big improvement over the past almost 2 months.
    Can we leave the country? All so hard to figure out.
    Well, here's hoping to safety, a continued containment and reduction of the virus, and some new freedoms!

Day 54--Growing!

Almost grown out of his Power Rangers suit! It used to be huge on him. Now it's a little tight! It's all that pasta carbonara!!

Day 53--Mighty Is Her Call

Here is the last video I did in a series for Mighty Is Her Call. Nice shout out to Mom!
Mighty Is Her Call is doing so well--our blog is getting new record high's of viewers of our daily posts for mothers. I'm truly awed by the many women who write such quality reflections--I am honored to be a part of this much-needed endeavor! The website and daily posts is at www.mightyishercall.com.

Here is the Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8aI07o16CU

Day 52--Check this out!

    Ron and I had such a lovely walk through the vineyard this morning. Now that the sun has finally come back out, we are hopeful to spend lots of time outside!
    Here is me doing chin ups! Not a pretty sight but it's actually fun to get back into them. I think it's been 10 years since I did an unassisted one! But I did 4 altogether yesterday--UNASSISTED!

Day 51--Theology Class

I am deep into the readings for my theology class at the Angelicum. One of the ideas that has completely transformed me is presented by Fr. Roch Kereszty in his book, Wedding Feast of the Lamb. He refers to the Last Supper, when Christ establishes a new Covenant, replacing the Old Covenant of Mt. Sinai. In so doing, it would have been appropriate for Jesus to have sprinkled the apostles with the blood, as Moses sprinkled the Israelites with the blood of the bull of that sacrifice. But instead, Jesus tells the apostles to drink it. Fr., Roch writes:

"In this way, Jesus does not only make us beneficiaries of his atoning death; in a Jewish context sprinkling blood would have expressed this purpose more appropriately. Rather, he shares with us his blood, his life, indeed the very source of atonement; he wants to let his blood speak in us "more eloquently than the blood of Abel" (Hebrews 12:24) and thus atone for sins within us and through us. In other words, it seems that, by giving us what is most exclusively his own, Jesus calls us to join him in his atoning work" (p. 42). 

That is such a huge idea, that Jesus not only atones for our sins, but invites us to share in his atoning work. We are to share in this mission with him. My head spins at this new way of seeing the Last Supper. I think it was worth moving to Italy just to read this passage.

Day 50--Fresh Circumstances as Gifts from God

"There is not a moment in which God does not present Himself under the cover of some pain to be endured, of some consolation to be enjoyed, or of some duty to be performed. All that takes place within us, around us, or through us, contains and conceals His divine action. It is really and truly there present, but invisibly present, so that we are always surprised and do not recognize His operation until it has ceased. If we could lift the veil, and if we were attentive and watchful God would continually reveal Himself to us, and we should see His divine action in everything that happened to us, and rejoice in it. At each successive occurrence we should exclaim: 'It is the Lord' and we should accept every fresh circumstance as a gift from God. We should look upon creatures as feeble tools in the hands of an able workman, and should discover easily that nothing was wanting in us, and that the constant providence of God disposed Him to bestow upon us at every moment whatever we required."
     --Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade

Day 49--Amatriciana

Amatriciana con Bucatini is one of those meals that it took moving to Italy to get on my radar and fall in love with. This typical Roman dish served with Italian bread and red table wine: It's among my favorite meals of all time. The pasta sauce is not your typical red sauce with oregano or basil; it has a distinctive taste all its own. The white wine, red pepper flakes, guanciale and parmesan are a special combination. The Bucatini is hollow in the middle like a straw, and a bit fat. So, it is the quintessential "slurping" pasta that is enjoyably messy to eat.
   
Amatriciana: (10 people)
~diced pancetta or guanciale, as much as you want :) I used 360 grams
~garlic powder, a healthy sprinkle to cover the guanciale
~white wine, about 1 cup
~pureed tomatoes, 700 g jar x3
~ salt and red pepper flakes to taste
~Bucatini Pasta, 1000 g
~Parmesan or pecorino cheese

This is "peasant food" that is very, very simple to make. Brown the meat (guanciale or pancetta) in a little olive oil for 5 minutes. Then sprinkle with garlic powder and let brown for about 2 more minutes. Then pour the white wine over it and cook for 5 more minutes. Then add the tomato sauce, salt (maybe 1-2 tsp) and red pepper flakes (maybe 1 tsp) and cook for 20 or 30 more minutes. That's it. Taste and adjust seasonings. It should not be bland (if it is, add more salt) nor intensely hot/spicy. But it should have enough "kick" from the red pepper flakes to be different from regular red sauce (such as marinara) and have a zing to it.

Meanwhile, cook the Bucatini in salted water with a little oil for 9 minutes (do not overcook). Then strain, and place in a large bowl. Pour the sauce in the bowl as well. I reserve a little of the pasta in its pot and a little of the sauce in its pot so that when I am mixing the sauce with the pasta, if I need to add a little more sauce or a little more pasta, I have enough to get the right ratio. It is important to toss the pasta and sauce together--an Italian would never spoon the sauce on top of a mound of pasta. It must be tossed first. And then add a bit of parmesan and toss that as well.

Serve a portion of the tossed pasta on a plate and then add a little more parmesan on top (optional). The Amatriciana with some crusty bread and cheap red wine--it really doesn't get any better than that.

Day 48--Hamlet

   Sebastian and I watched Lawrence Olivier's Hamlet yesterday, and I narrated what was happening throughout. Sebastian clenched my arm, buried his face in a pillow, and at other times could not unglue his eyes from the screen. The whole rest of the day, he asked me questions like, "Why would Claudius have killed Hamlet's father in the first place?" and "Did Hamlet and Ophelia both go mad for the same reason?" Astute little fellow.
   Then, he, Annie and Leigh put on a tremendous re-enactment of the tragic story. The murder through the curtain was the most scintillating part, and poor Polonius died over and over in our version of the play. Sebastian loved the fact that in the final fight scene, Sir Lawrence Olivier had a dagger in one hand with a sword in the other. That, I predict, will be the new normal for Sebastian's Nerf sword fights. Why have one weapon when you could have two?
   Lesson learned: Don't murder anyone. It goes really badly.

Day 47--The Big Push

    The kids are undertaking a BIG PUSH for the end of the school year. The tests and interrogations are relentless! The kids are studying so hard. I am truly in awe that Clare and Leigh are learning Spanish--taught in Italian--as well as Italian. Golly! What intensity!
    Annie's school just started online streamed class time--very funny that they are changing platforms now. And how it happened is even more hilarious (and totally typical): the first hour was supposed to be taught by the IT director who set up the platform; he lost connection 10 minutes into the hour and could not get back on! The kids all chatted for the remaining 50 minutes! So funny.
    I am homeschooling Sebastian: we are doing entomology (bug science!) and reading. Today we are taking up Shakespeare--we'll see how that goes!
   

Day 46--Divine Mercy

     Words cannot express how much I loved this Divine Mercy Sunday. Our family had prayed the novena since Good Friday, and we really prioritized it and sought as many of the graces as possible. I spent a long time in the afternoon doing an examination of conscience and seeking a purified heart and life. The bottom line: where would we be without a merciful God?!? I am brimming with awe and gratitude.

Day 45--Pizza and Gaga

  Having a blast! Ron got TAKE OUT PIZZA from Frascati tonight! Oh my goodness, its the first pre-prepared food we've had in 44 days! Oh it was so good. Cant believe things are opening up! It's been a long 44 days!
   We're watching Lady Gaga's COVID 19 show. Ron and I don't really know any of these people. :)
   But it was a memorable moment watching Jack Johnson sing "Better Together." Ron had bought all Jack Johnson's albums when we were engaged and first married and we listened to them all the time long before any of our kids were alive. And now, here we are quarantined in Italy, watching Jack Johnson sing from his front porch in Hawaii, and our kids are singing along and know every word. It's a strange life. All things come together.
   Crying here watching the health care workers give their lives fighting this virus.  Mothers not being able to see their children at home, working around the clock. Where the virus goes berserk, it is really lethal and unbelievably contagious. So hard to predict where it will go over the top as it has in Lombardy and New York. But it does not do this everywhere or all the time. It's a squirrely, nasty thing!

Day 44--Bug Hunt

    I'm not sure where I got the energy or drive to do this. The entire time I thought to myself, "In 20 years of being a mother, I have not had the energy or attention for something like this. What is wrong with me?"
    Wherever the inspiration came from, I suggested I take Sebastian and Annie on a bug hunt. Sebastian has been "bugging me" to read him his book on bugs every day. It is almost 50 pages long. I get the full creep-out experience every single time we read about cockroaches, bed mites and jungle scorpions. I hate that book. But it is our daily routine.
    Yet as we read, he astounds me. He tells me verbatim what various sections say, even though he cannot read. He has memorized a large percentage of this book. He even knows what pages the various descriptions are. At one point he told me there was a bug that was a machine. I said there were no bugs that were machines. He said, "Look!" and he turned right to the picture of a queen termite, under which it is written, "The queen termite is an egg-laying machine."
     Today I had been getting nervous that some of our kids are not getting a good education. I remembered homeschooling Jacob and Mary long before the others were even alive. The whole idea was to light their imagination, get them truly interested in something. Today as I was washing dishes and thinking about buying "The Well-Trained Mind" online, Sebastian asked me to read him his bug book again. I realized, "This is it! This is what he is interested in!" And so we went out, including Annie since she is not able to be left out of anything interesting. She recorded all our data. We captured 4 black ants, one red-and-black bug (a real name!), an arachnid or some sort, and a white moth. We almost got a fuzzy brown spider but it got away. A little "Jacob" and "Mary" coming down the pike!

Day 43--Homemade Pizza

  Making homemade pizza is no small thing. I have made it twice in a row now--still learning. Yeast is just plain different over here, and we have a poor-quality oven. So the second time I made it, Ron worked up the grill and we put a pizza stone on it. The I made about 8 pizzas. The ones at the end, cooked when the stone had gotten very hot, were incredible. It turns out, the way to make pizza crunchy/crispy on the bottom but not just a crisp cracker all the way through is a pizza stone--that is the trick to making pizza! The other trick is letting dough rise for long enough. One recipe didn't even suggest letting it rise; a second one suggest a 30 minute rise time.  But the best one said at least three hours and let the dough triple in size. Now we're getting somewhere! This dough, when rolled out very thin, and cooked on a very hot stone is the real deal.

Day 42--Little House on the Italian Prairie

     Strange days. . . it is beyond weird to be secluded from the world for this long! The kids are starting back up with school work after Easter and doing a big push to get their grades up and finish strong for the end of the year. So, everywhere you turn, you see a Rombs kid at a computer or iPad focused on something in Italian. Ron and I have taken to grilling each night, since the weather is nice and we just have to get outside more often. Watching the sunset each evening and having time to talk and be together is so pleasant. We are talking a lot about theology and philosophy, as I am taking a course on the Eucharist and am embarking through territory I have never imagined before, and as Ron is reading for his own research and publications. There is so much to discuss! It is really a wonderful time for us.
    That said, it is surreal because the health of the world, the healthcare system, and the economy are in such an intense crisis right now. I cannot see the extent of it yet, and have no sense of whether this is a "we'll bounce back" kind of thing or a "our culture will forever change" type of event. And where all 8 of us will land seems entirely in question. I grieve for the people around the world who are hurting, both physically and in terms of economics, job instability and lifestyle upheaval. Lord, help us, teach us, cure us, enlighten us, show us the way!

Day 41--Cheers

We have heard the quarantine will be partially lifted beginning May 3rd--20 days. Meanwhile, the state of Texas is already about the lift their shelter-in-place order. . . how is that possible? This is all so surreal. My mind spins with where we will be next year, what schools will be open with classrooms filled versus which ones will not.
    And then I let it go, take a big breath, and enjoy the present moment. I love the sound of rain on the roof, the birds and little footsteps all over our house. Our family just started watching Cheers together--brings back memories of high school! Cheers almost single-handedly got me through senior-itis! I love having Jacob here before he leaves, and Mary will be right behind him. How I cherish these days of everyone being home.
    Cheers to all the people surviving a quarantine and a global catastrophe right now!

Day 40--Police

   Ron went out to the grocery store this morning and was stopped by the police. He had to hand over his self-certification form, carta d'identita, and answer 100 questions. The police released him and there was no penalty. But it is a reminder of the incredible burden of this state of emergency. I marvel that in the U.S., people are driving around free to go where they want.
   The stores throughout the region, it turns out, are all closed, even grocery stores and pharmacies. We are living in times of rationing, times where having a storehouse of food is critical. How can I ever go back to living where I take for granted being able to get food and other supplies whenever I want? I will never be the same.

Day 39--Easter

   The joy of Easter was sublime--a long, quiet morning with Ron; Mass from the Vatican and the pope's address afterwards; a pancake breakfast and then a huge roasted lamb feast in the late afternoon.
    The world is hurting; it is so sick; it is so broken. So many people are in horrible circumstances. This is why Easter matters. It is not supposed to be a "perfect day." It is not supposed to be without pain, anguish or struggle. It is not to avoid those things. Christ came to be in them and triumph over them. His triumph is not what we expect. So many of Jesus' followers were bitterly disappointed by him and the way he did not heal, help, save. But his way was very specific, and he did it perfectly. He restored our relationship with God by way of a perfect sacrifice. He did not eliminate pain or wrongdoing but through it he restored us and established a new covenant. What he offered was in perfect, almost unimaginable humility--for God to become human and then emptied out and crucified.  And then to become food for our nourishment. His humility and self-gift are marvelous to me. I treasure him both in his death and in his resurrection. He is risen, alleluia!

Day 38--Holy Saturday

    I cooked all day in preparation for Easter. I made a second cheesecake, 2 trays of brownies, and boiled easter eggs to dye. I spent more time reading articles on the Eucharist for my class at the Angelicum.
      I was overwhelmed with awe at what I read: while the high priest of the Mass is Christ and the priest is an instrument of Christ, the faithful may, through charity and devotion approach a perfect participation in Christ's offering. Much depends, then, on their interior disposition. This is because a sacrifice involves a) the material offered (e.g. flesh); b) the act of offering (eg. slaughter; crucifixion); c) the interior intention and disposition of the priest. The whole sacrifice begins with (c), in that the sacrifice is not really a sacrifice if there is no interior disposition of love or desire for restoration with God. If the priest does not have a desire to honor God and give Him due praise, thanksgiving, and contrition, it is baseless. The interior disposition is the very foundation of the sacrifice. Then comes that material and the act of offering. The faithful have every chance to join with Christ in his perfect interior disposition, and by the grace of God (its impossible without grace, and is not a "work" in the Lutheran sense), the faithful's love and contrition can participate in Christ's perfect love and desire for restoration with communion/friendship with God. This made a big impact on me, and I spent the remaining time watching/participating in the Easter Vigil and Easter morning masses with great eagerness and devotion.
     We participated in the pope's Easter Vigil mass in the Vatican as it was live-streamed. Then or family broke out the prosecco and cheesecake and had the most lovely "banquet" I have had in a long time. I actually had the thought, "This anticipates the heavenly banquet." I am grateful for my family.
   

Day 37--Good Friday

   Today was one of the best days and honestly, one of the most truly prayerful Good Fridays I've had in a long time. This was the beautiful sight I woke up to:

I began the morning by printing out stations of the cross for Sebastian and Annie to color. They did and then we taped them around the room. Later in the night, we followed Pope Francis' Stations of the Cross by way of streaming it on the tv, and I loved having Annie and Sebastian's Stations on our walls.

     Then I cooked vegetables, rice and beans for the family so that in our light eating and fasting, there would be good options. Then Sebastian, Annie and I made homemade bread as well as homemade play dough with which they played all afternoon.
     We had a quiet afternoon outside where I read an article about the Eucharist. Then we came inside for the Good Friday Liturgy. It was solemn and even more so due to the world-wide crisis--it was astonishing that St. Peter's was empty and the pope was the only person to venerate (kiss) the cross of Christ.
     This was a powerful passage from the Magnificat today that I am really focused on:

"The world in which we live cannot satisfy the desires that sustain the human quest for happiness. The world as it is cannot be a true home of the human heart."
 
This is so true. The writer goes on to say:
"Jesus accompanies our in ur exile and turns this world into the place where we encounter him, making present in this world the new world toward which he will lead us. He called it My Father's House (John 14:2). His exile ends ours. . . This world begins to participate in its destiny, a culture of life is generated. our efforts and sacrifices for justice, peace, and freedom are made worthwhile, human creativity is made fruitful, and hope is sustained."

May we all find our true home in Christ, and may our lives be various ways of participating in his goodness. May our families be a figure of the heavenly family, and may our efforts toward justice and peace be a share in the justice and peace of God.

Day 36--Holy Thursday

    It was a poignant Holy Thursday, watching the pope celebrate the beginning of the Triduum from an almost-empty St. Peter's Basilica. His voice shook, he seemed frail and aged, almost like he has had a stroke. His message was powerful to me. After speaking about priests nobly serving the sick and dying during this epidemic, he said, "They are noble, but they are sinners. And bishops are sinners. And the pope is a sinner." He spoke about how we are all sinners, and in need of great mercy.
   He continued with the reminder of Christ's words, that we will be forgiven by God in the measure we forgive others. The more we forgive our offenders, the more God will have mercy on us. This message got my mind going on how badly most of us feel for ourselves when we get hurt. But in the Christian faith, such moments are opportunities. They are opportunities to lavish someone else with unmerited, undeserved kindness. They are opportunities to love our enemies--not just put up with them, but love them.
   I am praying for God's help to become a Christian, the real kind that sees hurts, no matter how egregious, no matter how unthoughtful, unwarranted, disgusting, unprecedented, undeserved, unimaginable, or intolerable as welcomed chances to BE MERCY.
    As Aquinas says, mercy is God's signature.  

Day 35--YouTube Video

Here is the second video in my series for Mighty is Her Call, support for mothers in quarantine. It's called #Apocalypse. It took SO LONG to make! And then, I completely redid the last part of the family after we did our Bible study, which took so much longer! It is a very steep learning curve!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYJBWZnwmQk&t=21s

Day 34--Hair Cut

Me: "Would any of you be willing to give me a haircut?"
Clare: "Have you SEEN what I did to my Barbie dolls' hair when I was young?"

Later, Mary was cutting my hair. But then we got distracted. So now I am walking around with 1/3 of a hair cut!?!?!

Day 33--Rombses Losing their English

Leigh: "I'm suppose-ed to do a video chat now."
Me: "Supposed to."
Leigh: "Oh yeah."

Annie: "You got pastickios! Oh, what are they called?"
Me: "Pistachios."

Jacob: "It was broughten there."
Me: "Do you mean 'brought'?"
Jacob: "Oh man, what's wrong with me?"

Sebastian: "My soldier muscles are getting bigger" (as he places his fingers on his shoulders).
Me: "Shoulder."
Sebastian: "Shoulder? Soldier? Oh yeah, shoulder."

They're losing their Italian, not going to school anymore. But they've lost their English too!

Day 32--Peaceful Weekend

   Saturday night, the kids threw a house party on the second floor, blasting music and dancing, and even Annie was included. Ron and I took a stroll through the vineyard and noticed the stars and sky. We stood at the street and stared at the empty street--I counted to 122 between the passing of one car to the next. Incredible. But it is an amazing chance to stop and let other things come into focus.
    Sunday morning, I put Sebastian in the bathtub while Annie and I did our nails and hair. We got dressed up for "church" which was streaming the Mass from Dallas on our screen. Palm Sunday has never been so surreal--I've never sat through the Passion Gospel Narrative before.
    I spent time reading a book outside while Ron played guitar. It was a lovely, lazy afternoon. I had a nice talk with Leah and I also finished filming my video podcast series, "Restoring Peace" that will be blasted over the next month for Mighty Is Her Call. I made roasted lamb and red potatoes and remembered the thank God for a few of His choicest blessings in my life. I pray for those most in need, the sick, the dying, the hungry and homeless, the infirmed, the lonely, the elderly who are so scared right now. May the Lord grant us mercy and restore us to health.
   Here is a view of the sunset from our house. Thank you, Lord!

Day 31--Food Restictions

    Freaking me out--one of the first times in a long time that I have lost my balance in this pandemic. The government here in our region has established designated times that were are allowed to go to the grocery store. They do it by the first letter of you last name. The first half of the alphabet can go to the store on Monday and Wednesday and Friday; the second half on Tuesday and Thursday, and Saturday.  You have to go for a specific time slot--only about a 4 hour window.
    Not to be able to leave the house even to take a walk; not to be able to leave beyond 100 meters of our property line; and now, the grocery store only at designated times--its a lot of restrictions.
    We will be okay. But it is a lot to process! Isaiah 26:3: "He is kept in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee."

Day 30--Friday is Crazy

Friday is so crazy. The kids are frazzled and ready for a weekend. I discovered I had 177 messages on a What's App thread for Annie's class and I had missed her whole school being transferred to a different online learning platform! But what I really missed was a bunch of Italians shouting their preferences and ideas, and then a decision finally getting made. So, today I signed the form and sent it in. Voila. Apparently, I didn't miss anything!

Then I made a feast of a dinner and we watched a family movie, "13 to 30" or something like that. Sebastian was passed out in my bed with Frozen blaring from the iPad. Super cute. The the girls scampered downstairs to go watch Tangled as a post-movie-movie. Again, super cute.

I love my kids.

Day 29--Our New Musician

Day 28--Annoying Italians

As much as I love being here, there are some REALLY ANNOYING THINGS about the Italians. I love them as people but they have some frustrating ways. For example:

1. They don't know how to stand in line. They create clusters and mobs, but never lines. Well now, with the COVID-19-grocery store restrictions, we are supposed to form a line outside the store. There are large crates that form channels we are to stand in, creating a snake sort of line. No kidding, I stood there this morning while the Italians yelled at each other and me, bossily dictating where people should stand. But it was ALL WRONG. There were huge gaps and even a whole row of the snaked line completely vacant. Even when they try with all their effort to form a line, they can't freaking do it. 

2. They just cannot seem to get words and expressions correct. For example, in Leigh's online classes, they call "video lessione" the virtual, streaming lessons that the students are supposed to log in to and attend. But the teachers also make recorded lessons, and they also call these "video lessione." They tell the students to do this "video lessione" and the students get all confused where to log in or where to find the recording. It is so, super stupid! I really don't see why they cannot see the importance of giving these things different names! It's just not that hard.

3.  Clare has a textbook for her government class. I'm not joking--the book has 2 chapter one's. Really! It has 2 chapter two's and 2 chapter 3's, and so on. Really?!?!?!!!#*###>?! At the beginning of the year, she studied the first chapter one when chapter one was assigned. But no, she was supposed to have started with the second chapter one (why would they EVER start with the beginning?). And I understand that some text books are divided in parts. But they should still not start over in numbering the chapters. That's just stupid. We got a good laugh (not a very nice one, either) about how the Italian government textbook probably reflects rather accurately the Italian government.

Please excuse my outburst. I try really really hard to accept the fact that I am the foreigner and not impose my way of doing things on them. But sometimes I just marvel!

It's a good reminder that we are all so silly and laughable. Italians have their ways, but Americans and I in particular have my own way of doing things that must be really annoying and ridiculous to other people. It's good to keep a healthy sense of Shakespeare's famous line, "Ah what fools these mortals be!"