Dee on a plane

Monday morning Dee said that she had only four hours of sleep after getting up really early to shower before the Anziani. All four of them were showered and fed and ready to go by just after 7am. I woke up before my alarm (and so would be sleepy all day); I just threw on my workout clothes and drove them to the temple for their tour. Getting home, I had time to eat and shower, and then we headed out for the airport at 9am. There was very little traffic, so I dropped Dee off at the curb in plenty of time. She had two big suitcases, with her carry-on strapped to one of them, plus her shoulder bag. I was back home before 10:30am. Between Dee and me, we ran three loads of laundry in the morning, with still many left to catch up on linens. Our washer only holds sheets for one bed at a time, and we had five beds worth to wash. I also walked down to Conad for a big load of mostly produce.

There was a ton of stuff to carry to the Institute, so I missed Dee yet again. I arrived plenty early, giving myself time to walk over to the Termini station and buy a new SIM card for our friends Steve and Linda from Carlsbad, who arrive Wednesday. Linda and I exchanged a bunch of emails on various logistics in preparation for their arrival. I bought the SIM card but later found that I had mis-typed my last name as "Whitig" on the touchscreen, which is easy to do with no tactile feedback. Unfortunately, that meant that they didn't accept my ID (passport and codice fiscale) because it didn't match. So I called their customer support to learn that the only way to fix the name was by filling out a form and submitting via either FAX or snail mail. Since I need it soon, I had to go downstairs to the copy store and spend 2.50€ to FAX two pages. Then I learned that I had misinterpreted a field on the form, so I got to fix that and do it again, for another 2.50€. Sigh. All my fault, but still it should be easier. By night they still hadn't fixed the name, so the card couldn't be activated. Hopefully it will happen Tuesday, or I may have to give my SIM card to them when they arrive.

There was rain with sporadic (but strong) thunder and lightning throughout the day. Six young Anziani spent their P-day afternoon at the campus, doing their weekly email and enjoying some rare down time.

For home evening, we had a big group. It was Dario's birthday, and he invited several nonmember friends. At my request, the Ganziani gave the lesson, talking about Christ and his resurrection and using a church video. Luca, one of Dario's friends, selected the quote from our book. Our question of the week was someplace that each person would like to visit. It is really fun to see what folks come up with. Ugo dropped by before and after FHE, downtown for some meetings.

Everyone asks how Dee is doing. There wasn't much to report, though I did track her flights online all day. Near the end of the transatlantic leg to New York, she learned that the onboard WiFi was free for WhatsApp, so we were able to message a few times. The new Verizon line that I set up on our family account, using an old SIM card from before our mission, apparently worked right away off the plane, which was nice for her. She has her Italian phone for WhatsApp, and my old US Verizon phone for calls. It will be slightly painful for a week, but that is definitely a first-world problem to have!

Dee had made a carrot cake for dessert for FHE, but we didn't use it because Grace and others prepared a feast for Dario: chips, tuna dip, peanuts, chicken, potatoes, cake, etc. We all ate a lot. 

Krista and Riccardo preparing tuna dip

FHE filled the library

Grace and Krista preparing the spread

 

 

I got home by 9:30pm, leaving with the campus still humming with activity. There was time to run one more load of sheets before bed. I hope to be all caught up by Wednesday.