Werth It

For those ardent followers of this blog, and there are at least two, you are aware that I have been in the States since Memorial Day. Today is Saturday morning, June 12th and it will be all about preparing to head back to Italy tomorrow.

It has been good to be home. I was able to finish training guides for the line producer and presenter (show host) positions. Along with the previously completed coordinating producer training guide, they all total about 75 printed pages. I'm not sure if that's a lot, considering my 21 years at the company. Perhaps there should be more.

Being 4k miles away has also not stopped me, with the help of our crack human resources staff, from getting much closer to hiring an interpreter (who will translate the 75 training pages into Italian and what I speak) and 6 coordinating producers. Both of these jobs I hope to have filled in the next week or so.

This coming week will also be quite busy. I will take the overnight flight tomorrow evening, which lands at 9am Milan time Monday, get to a new hotel (much less expensive than the last - hope its OK), and get to work in time for meetings that begin at 2pm. My meeting slate won't end until 7pm. Ouch, babe. It is babe?

The two weeks I have been stateside have been wonderful. There has certainly been an heightened appreciation for the little things: Teri & Andrew's softball & baseball games, American Television, American COFFEE, hamburgers, and visiting QVC to name a few.

There also have been some really great things that have happened this past week. Teri won the academic achievement award at her school for having the highest grade point average in her class. Andrew, not surprisingly, won the best athlete award for his grade. If there were a "class clown" award he would have won that for sure. Andrew, unfortunately is quite like his father and tends to use his intelligence for evil, not good. Jack, although not confirmed, will more than likely finish with the highest grade point average in his class as well (his overall average is 98%.) Forgive me for bragging on these kids. Miriam has done an outstanding job with them and their school work.

OK - the neatest thing happened this past Thursday night. On a whim, and because we may not get a chance to see a game live for a few years, I took Teri and Jack to a Phillies game. As has been the recent custom, they lost. In the late innings however Teri and Jack were caught on the Jumbotron with the sign they had created, "Make it WERTH staying out on a school night." This in honor of Phils rightfielder Jason Werth, a Wennersten women favorite. That in itself was neat, but was even more fabulous, was that my brother Steve and niece Stephanie were at the game. They saw the kids, gave me a ring on my mobile, and we met for a few minutes after the game. It was great to see them just before I head back across the water.

Teri actually got on the Jumbotron again later in the game. She told me life was now complete.

Time to start a very busy Saturday. Ciao. Next time I write I will be back on the boot.

Culture Club

It has been a week since I last posted here, and I have spent the last 7 days adjusting to life back in the states. It is short-lived, as I return to Milan next Sunday, 6/13. This next trip will be for about 5 weeks. Unfortunately, these 5 weeks will be spent in a hotel. I will be back in the states for another 2 weeks at the end of July (one will be spent in North Carolina on vacation). Once that stint is over, it begins for real. My visa should be close to completion, the family will join me in Italy and I we will move into our new home Arese.

Yesterday, Saturday 6/5 Teri and Andrew spent the morning at QVC getting Italian culture training. I complement QVC on providing this for my entire family. Both children came away excited about their new adventure. One of the facilitators had been a teacher at the American School of Milan for over 20 years. She is currently an associate professor at both West Chester and Franklin & Marshall teaching Italian. The kids really enjoyed hearing about their new school and are looking forward to moving to their new country. Andrew is especially excited and has been practicing his Italian on anyone who will listen. Prego.

Jack, Miriam and I will have our training tomorrow at QVC. Ours is a full day, Teri and Andrew's was just 5 hours.

The overall mood of the family is positive and it has been very nice to spend time with them this week. They all seem to be handling this period of transition well.

Miriam and Jack were able to open the pool over Memorial Day weekend, so the kids have been enjoying swimming during this early heat wave. In an effort to do some American things this week, Jack and I are going to see the Phillies Thursday night and hopefully we will have crabs for dinner one night this week.