ok, will begin first with grant. watched the video of his performance at tasty world, and about 5 seconds into the first song my entire body goose bumped and i burst into tears. i dont know that i have ever been so proud or positively blown away by anything than the sight and sound of my little brother singing and playing his songs, like that. its incredible. just watched with my hand over my heart and my mouth sort of ajar (a pose which atticus finch would describe as "common"), thinking that it's probobly a good thing i wasnt there in person or i would have commenced to make a fool of myself in public, as i ran about grasping at people's lapels and wobbling, "thats my sibling! we're womb related!", in manner of angelina jolie's crazy brother (though, come to think of it, that might not be a good example). so bravo, grant boy, bravo!

italian lesson for the day:
"bravo" is a term that we have adopted from the italians, and it is used frequently in the english language when we want to let someone know that they have gone a good job by, say, writing a hit play, or picking up chick-fil-a without even asking if we wanted any nuggets, or knowing the correct answer to the trick question asked by the police man who wanted to know where yall were 45 minuts ago (at blockbuster, debating whether to rent "pineapple express" or "knocked up", and not at the seven11 dribbling stolen red bulls into water bottles of vodka). in these instances, "bravo" is ligit. but only if it is being said to one boy. if it is being said to a girl, you say "brava", feminine. two girls or more, "brave" (pronounced brav-eh), and two boys or more, or to any group of people in which there is at least one boy, "bravi". i love "bravi", thats my favorite. when FL and i do something successful (in any sense...), we say, "bravi, bravi, bravi!", to congratulate ourselves on a job well done. anyway, just thought what with all the awesomeness going around these days it would be fun to know the correct use of that word. because i can say for sure, when one speaks proper italian, one is immediately the coolest person in the room (i tell myself this for motivation).

anyway. in 1.5 hours i go and give my very first english lesson to those sweet pre-teens. a bit nervous actually, as i'm not sure exactly what it is i should do, though i'm sure something will come to me. probobly just talk to them about the weather and what they like to eat. we'll see. mimi emailed me a bushel of good tips and ideas for lessons, which i will put into action. bought a new notebook and pastel sheets of paper in order to seem more professional yet child-friendly.
had a very bridget jones style moment this morning, in manner of "3 hours and 15 minutes between waking and leaving the house is too long", the part where she details her morning schedule (my favorite is: "7:15-7:30 stare out of window"). had to be at class at 11 this morning, which seemd easy enough. arose at 8:00 (or became conscious anyway), and went about getting ready in the same way that i have been since returning to friuli. took a hot bath with rose petal black tea, selected my outfit for the day, fed the cat, texted FL. was just starting on my hair (realised it was drying in weird shape) when i checked my phone and saw that it was 10:30. had not done mascara or gone to Caramello for my cappucino. began to get sort of rush-like, shoving papers and keys into purse and snapping at the cat for standing in my way, the whole time still convinced that i was first going to go downtown and have my cappucino, then hightail it up to school. when i realised this i started to giggle, as it was aparent that at least some part of me has finally adapted to the italian lifestyle. this ambling, oh-weve-got-all-day mindset has gotten into me, and i've started to take 30 minute soaks in the tub every morning. and the thought of going to school senza espresso didnt even register as an option. then remembered, on top of this, that the professor for this course is the same guy i had last semester, who either came to class an hour late or not at all, leaving only the foreign students confused. so i slowed my pace back to the way it was, and wandered into town, saluting old ladies and petting puppies. had my caffè and a brioche, read the paper for a mo', and showed up to class half an hour late, just in time to write a bit before the professor showed up. the course is viticoltora tecnica, or basically how to assemble a vineyard. something everyone should know, according to the ancient romans.
oh, i have the best news(best news for me, yall might think its weird)!!!!! but now i have to go to my tutoring thing, ill write tomorrow!
e