Riddle Family In Italy

TMQ Where are you???

I live in Italy, so it is more like Tuesday Evening Quarterback, but "TMQ" refers to Tuesday Morning Quarterback, a column written by Gregg Easterbrook for ESPN.com.  I look forward to reading this column each week since I do not get to see much football here.  I love the wit and common sense that is TMQ.  Normally I am able to read the column at 6:00 pm local time, but something has happened this week!  Maybe the evil Cylons have taken Mr. Easterbrook away or a young Spock and Kirk wanted him to write the next installment of the Star Trek Saga (ver. ???).  The story would probably be better if he did write it! 

Anyway, I am off to a meeting and hope that afterward, I will find TMQ in his usual place, Page 2 of ESPN.  I appreciate your wit, humor and practicality Mr. Easterbrook.  Thanks for a great column.  Now where is that "BOSS" Button??

Five Hours...

Hey, just so you all know!  We are only five hours ahead of you at this point right now.  We "fell back" here in Europe and I do not know when the States move the clocks back one hour.  So, until you all fall back one hour, we will only be five hours ahead of you instead of six.  Now you know.

Special Summer Visit...

A couple of years ago, we were finishing up our language school in Lecce and for the last three weeks we had another young lady in our class.  She was Erin Walsh and was in Lecce as part of her University studies in the States.  She came to Italy alone and so we welcomed her into our home and for about  month, we had a great time seeing many different sights in and around Lecce.  I believe we even learned a little more of the language in that time period also!

During the summer we were able to pay a visit to Erin and her family in New Jersey and it was truly a special time meeting her parents, Jim & Marybeth and her brother, Jim and sister, Emily.  We enjoyed time just sitting and talking about events of the past two years and remembering many of the things that happened during our time together in Italy.  It was a great opportunity to just "be" together.

We also had fun going to the beach!  The boys love going and even though there was rain much of the time we were with the Walsh family, the times that we planned on being out with them, the weather cooperated and allowed us to have great times together.  Not only was the beach a ton of fun, but we also got to visit the Board Walk in Ocean City, NY! 

It was great fun to ride the ferris wheel, the roller coaster, bumper boats and have some great ice cream!  Yes, Ice cream that is as good as what we get even here in Italy!  Maybe it is the Italian influence in that part of the country!  By the end of the evening, we were all pretty tired but very pleased with how the day had gone.

To you, the Walsh Family, thanks so much for a great time in New Jersey!  It is a great pleasure to be able to call you our friends and we hope that in the future, whether it is here in Italy or Stateside, we will be able to build our friendship that began by chance?  or maybe God had it in mind all along!  I like to think that it was His plan.  Thanks for being a huge blessing to us this summer! 

(If you want to see the small pictures better, just click on them!)

Sports...

In the past couple of weeks I have been too busy to write here!!  But it has been a good couple of weeks for the teams that I cheer for both here in Italy and in the States! 

A.S. Bari beat Chievo Verona 2-1 in Verona two weeks ago to move into 9th place in Serie A!  This is great news for Bari fans.  Bari has only lost one game in eight so far and have allowed a league low five goals all season.  This may not sound impressive but two of the games were against Inter and A.C. Milan and both of those games were in Milano!  Many teams come out of the games in Milano with zero points, Bari got two!  That will be important later this season.

In football, American style, the Steelers are starting to pick up a little more and that is good to see!  Granted, they have played against some pretty bad teams (Cleveland, Detroit & Tennessee) but they still count as wins at the end of the season!  This week will be a test as they get the Vikings at home.  I could watch the game here in Italy but unfortunately the game starts here at the same time we have our church service!  I do have priorities and God comes before football of any type! :) 

In baseball news:  The Philadelphia Phillies are going back to the World Series.  I think that I like the Phillies because 1) my wife's family is from the Philadelphia area 2) I have never really followed baseball in my life & 3) my brother-in-law LOVES the Phillies.  It would be beautiful to see them beat the Yankees in the Series.  Even though I do not follow baseball all that much, I do not like the Yankees.  So, Go Phillies!

Sports are a fun and bring a welcome relief to the busy part of life.  I look forward to watching a little bit of soccer today and this evening seeing how the Steelers do.  Enjoy everyone!

Covenant Eyes...

Many of you will notice the banner to the right because it is new to this blog and you may wonder what it is all about.  Well, for many of us, we have trouble with some of the content that is available on the internet.  That was me for many years. 

Just before the birth of our first son though, I decided to take a stand and say "No!" to the trash that I was allowing to enter my home, eyes, mind and heart.  It was destroying me from the inside out.  About four years ago I joined Covenant Eyes and it has been a huge help.  It has allowed others to walk with me during the journey out of the darkness that is pornography.

If you need help in this area of your life, click on the link above or the banner to the right to get started.  But do not stop there!  Talk to someone; your pastor, a good friend or family member, but do get help.  Your family will be better for the decision that you make.

Your eyes are windows to your heart.  What are you keeping there?  What are you allowing to enter? 

Job 31:1 says, "I have made a covenant with my eyes..."  Can you do the same today?

Bad Day for the Steelers...

Not much to say about this one.  The Steelers seemed to have the Bengals where they wanted them and then let them win!  It hurts, but we must live with this also.  We will see what happens next week!

Bari tied Milan tonight.  More on that later!

The Wright Brothers...

While we were in the States this past summer, one of the things that we really tried to do was take the boys to important places pertaining to American history.  They do not study much American history in Italy!  While we were on our trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, we took the opportunity to visit the Write Brother's Memorial.

During the drive from Virginia to North Carolina, we read a book about Wilbur & Orville's work and life. 

It was interesting to see the place that we were reading about in the book.  The boys enjoyed looking around at the various artifacts at the memorial and seeing the long path that marked the first three flights of the Wright Flyer.

We also took the time to sit in on a presentation done by the park service that gave a brief history of the Brothers.  It was fun to see the boys watching the park ranger and she told about the Flyer and how it worked.  It was also good to hear the boys talking to each other afterward and telling each other information that they

had learned from the book. 

Going to places like this is important.  Not only for our boys but for all children.  It gives kids the opportunity to "see" history and makes history more vivid in their minds.  The boys have great memories of times like this and we are grateful for the memories also.  So, take the time to read a good book to your kids and then, if you have the chance, take them to see the place you read about.  It will make a positive impact on them and you, as parents, as well.

Book Recommendation...

Our church here in Bari is preparing for a "Conference for the Family" here in November.  We will be having speakers in to talk of the importance of communication in families and the such and we are looking forward to this very much.  We pray that it will have a positive impact on the community here.

As part of my own preparation for this series of meetings, I am in the process of reading a number of books about the family.  I read one today and it was very good.  I have read it in the past, but it is always good to be refreshed on good ideas to help make your children better people.  I would highly recommend this little book to anyone who has children 12 and under.  It is called "When Your Child is 6 to 12" by John M. Drescher.  It is only about 85 pages of reading and in easy to follow. 

Look it up and see what you think.  If you do read it or have read it, let me know what you think of it.

Not a Good Night for AS Bari...

It was not the best night for Bari at San Nicola, especially after their 4-1 victory there on Sunday.  Cagliari was the better squad all night as they were the more aggressive than Bari and made more things happen in front of the goal.  Bari did pull it together a little at the end of the first half to make some opportunities, but not enough to grab a goal.

In the end, Cagliari got the better of the match late and Bari was not able to equalize.  Next up is AC Milan who are having problems of their own.  It will be an interesting match to be sure and would be great to see Bari pull the upset on Sunday.  We are keeping our hopes up here in Bari, it is still early in the season!

First Win for Bari in Serie A...

Hey!  It was great to see Bari get their first victory in Serie A this season!  They beat Atalanta 4-1 here in Bari at San Nicola.  They are now 1-3-0 (1 win, 3 ties & 0 loses) and have six points on the season. 

They are a young team and have some good players that can do well in this league.  My hope is that the American (Timothy Barton) that just bought the team will work to improve them and maybe even take them to the next level.  It would be great to see Bari playing in Europe in the next year or two.

Keep an eye on Bari, they play Cagliari tomorrow night and have a good shot at a victory.  I will be watching them!