The Big Momma Challenge week 4 or 2?

Gosh, late again. It seems that my life is running late all the time. Dreadful feeling. Always running after the time. But this is another story.

This is supposed to be week 4 of my Big Momma Challenge, but it’s actually only my second “serious” week. And not a very good week, actually. I slipped here and there especially at the beginning due to my weekly curry (but home cooked so healthier anyway!), although I have managed to stay away from biscuits and cakes, from cappuccino and caffelatte and that’s why I feel a bit better in the evenings. Not too bloated anymore. I think that keeping away from the "deadly" milk has been very helpful.

I don’t know about weight though. When I tried to check it I realized that my scales are not working properly as every time I stepped on them they showed different numbers. I’m not good with lbs anyway, so I have to purchase a new set of scales, possibly with kgs. As my mentor, notSupermum, informs us, this is Farmhouse Breakfast Week in which we are encouraged to have a healthy breakfast and not skip it, not even if we are in a hurry. This morning I had brown toast with banana and honey and a cup of earl grey tea with lemon. It was delicious and strangely filling....Maybe I'm on the right track....

If anybody wishes to join THE BIG MOMMA CHALLENGE please check out notSupermum

Silent Sunday ...a day later

....and because I love the Moon....

The Big Momma Challenge Week 1+2+3

I’m sitting here writing this nonsense and munching at my “delicious” lunch of basmati rice with just a drop of olive oil and a sprinkle of Parmesan ....trying to imagine a nice curry dish to eat along this rather fade lunch of mine....It's all my fault. Although I took on the challenge of notSupermum: The Big Momma Challenge 2011 : week 3 to help myself to lose a few extra pounds I put on in the last six months, especially over Christmas, already 3 weeks ago, it's only now that I’ve started taking it seriously. Now that's the challenge is something more than shifting a bit of weight but becoming a healthy eater and help myself to get over my digestion problems. In the last couple of weeks I tried to start eating better, avoiding my tea&biscuits – tea&cakes weakness, but I failed miserably mainly due to the fact that January seems to be the month of birthdays among my friends and family. I know it is not a good excuse, but how can you really refuse a lovely meal with friends, an afternoon tea to celebrate an anniversary or a glass of champagne offered by a colleague for her promotion? I didn’t manage that, not until yesterday, but now I have to, for the sake of my IBS and my physical health. So I thank notSupermum for the opportunity of joining a little group of ladies (men welcome too, I suppose!) who are trying to defeat their bad eating habits and get better....Update next week…Fingers crossed….

(No, this isn't a healthy diet plan...I fear...)

Wish Upon a Star...

The dreamer in me can only think of this as a good omen. Colin Firth is the 2,429th star conveniently located in front of the Pig 'N Whistle pub on Hollywood Boulevard, right next to British actress Emma Thompson's. Well deserved. Colin has come a long way since his lake scene in the BBC's Pride & Prejudice. Following his Oscar nomination and BAFTA win last year for A Single Man, he is now a Golden Globe nominee and almost surely will be nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the film "The King's Speech" (please read my opinion about the film in my previous entry). Fingers crossed. And good luck to Mr Firth.

The King's Speech

If there is a justice in the world of cinema, The King’s Speech and its actors and actresses, director, screenwriter and everybody who contribute to the making of this great film should win a huge heap of awards.

The King’s Speech is based on the true story of Queen Elizabeth II's father and his remarkable friendship with maverick speech therapist Lionel Logue. As the second son of George V, Prince Albert "Bertie" was not expected to ascend to the throne, but when his brother Edward chose to abdicate to marry Wallis Simpson, Bertie was his successor and in 1936 he became King George VI. Thrust into the international spotlight, he engaged Lionel Logue who helped him find a voice to lead the nation.



This is a film about the power of speech, about how tone, pronunciation, and delivery can make all the difference to those who are listening. The story spans the decade leading up to September 3, 1939, the day where the King would have to deliver a speech declaring the British Empire to be at war with Germany. Imagine the kind of confusion, fear, and turmoil that all of Britain must have been feeling at this time. Every home in Britain would have been listening to the radio on this fateful day. The speech to be delivered by the King over this frequency, would not only have to reassure the nation that everything will be okay, but that their leadership and government is firm and at its utmost strength. Imagine how uncomfortable the people would have been had the speech been spoken by a King who stammered at almost every word he spoke.

But stammer is what King George VI frequently did. The film frequently shows Albert (Bertie), King George's real name, rendered literally speechless whenever he had to speak publicly. This was serious problem he wanted to rectify; at first for his own well being, but then because he was to be appointed King once his older brother stepped down from the throne. The scandal that surrounded King Edward's relations with a divorced American woman caused him to revoke his title. This caused it to be thrust upon Albert, despite the fact that he did not want it. The film rightfully sidesteps the details of the scandal and focuses on Albert, and the friendship he develops with Lionel Logue, the speech therapist that Albert hires to help him with his stammer.



Colin Firth is perfect as Albert/King George VI. His performance emphasizes the inner struggle Albert faces as he deals with his own problems as well as the country's. Colin Firth is spectacular, giving a very natural and human spin to what could have a tired turn. We have seen how hard actors tried to show their technical skills, and it's Firth's gift that he can make a stutter emotional and frustrating, that we see how his soul hurts, and his spirit breaks over and over, as he tries to overcome his disability. He knows where he belongs, the pressures he is under, and he hates the spotlight, and all of this is perfectly reflected in his performance.



Geoffrey Rush deserves Oscar consideration for his portrayal of Lionel, the unconventional and unqualified Australian teacher. Rush mixes just the right amount of humour with the character's determination to make Albert into a mighty King. Also of note is Helena Bonham Carter as Albert's wife Elizabeth. Only a great actress like Carter can play a woman so merciless as Belatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter films as well as someone so gentle, and merciful as Queen Elizabeth in The King's Speech.

Befana Day

La Befana is one of Italy's oldest and most celebrated legends. Each year on January 6 the children of Italy awaken in hopes that La Befana has made a visit to their house. This is a significant day to Italians because it marks the end of the Christmas season and the day that the three Wise Men arrived at the manger of the Christ child. Over the years the Epiphany has often been a more celebrated holiday for the children of Italy than even Christmas.

According to the legend, the three Wise Men were in search of the Christ child when they decided to stop at a small house to ask for directions. Upon knocking, an old woman holding a broom opened the door slightly to see who was there. Standing at her doorstep were three colorfully dressed men who were in need of directions to find the Christ child. The old woman was unaware of who these three men were looking for and could not point them in the right direction. Prior to the three men leaving, they kindly asked the old woman to join them on their journey. She declined because she had much housework to do. After they left she felt as though she had made a mistake and decided to go and catch up with the kind men. After many hours of searching she could not find them. Thinking of the opportunity she had missed, the old woman stopped every child to give them a small treat in hopes that one was the Christ child. Each year on the eve of the Epiphany she sets out looking for the baby Jesus. She stops at each child's house to leave those who were good small treats in their stockings and those who were bad a lump of coal (nowadays 'carbone dolce', a rock candy that looks remarkably like coal).

My daughter loves this tradition and, although she knows now that La Befana is actually her mother, she doesn't miss hanging her stocking up. We’ll see tonight if she's been good or not... Happy Befana Day!

I felt the earth move ...

…. And it wasn’t a good feeling. Yesterday evening I was lying in bed recovering from a painful and distressful stomach bug when I felt the bed shaking as if someone was pushing it sidewise. And a loud rumble as if a big jet had just flown over my house. I was sure it was a small earthquake. I run downstairs and told the rest of my family but nobody else had felt it. The TV was on loud, the kids were sitting on the carpet and they thought I was exaggerating, as usual.

But I was sure it was a quake. I felt them many times in the past when I used to live in Italy. Bad ones too, but fortunately not as bad as in certain parts of my country, where there was destruction and death. My broadband connection went as well. So I couldn't check the news, but this morning I've had my confirmation. The tremor, measuring 3.6 on the Richter scale, struck six miles from Ripon, North Yorkshire, not far from here. The strength it is not likely to have caused any damage, but it was quite unpleasant. It is said that you don't get earthquakes in Yorkshire, but there’s always a first time.