As I write this, I am days from leaving... yet when this posts goes live I will have been gone for a few weeks. We (family of four) packed up our lives and [when you read this] are cycling across the Netherlands, parts of Belgium, a smidgen of Germany and into Paris. We made the big decision to go for a year abroad, to check out of our American lives to interject a year of adventure with our two [junior high] sons.

After a summer of cycling, a visit to London, and a week-long soccer camp, we will fly to Florence, Italy, and take up residence for the school year. Officially I will have an ex-pat blog! Notes from me to you will be parlo di pomodori (aka 'talk of tomatoes').

My blogging may be a little inconsistent for the next two months, because I will be writing in multiple venues. First and foremost, we have launched a family blog to capture our adventures. You are welcome to stop by or follow our frenzy at www.familyfrolics.com. And [hopefully] along the way there will be chunks of time that I can spend working on a book. Something I have always meant to do.

And much like this blog, culinary school, and our trip abroad, writing a book falls under my ever-widening umbrella that reads "things I want to do in my life" AND "seize the day" AND "I only have one chance at this life and want to make it count."

Much of our trip is about capturing moments, stalling time and soaking up our rapidly growing boys (ages 12, 13). In that vein let me leave you this quote to ponder (passed along from someone wise):

"The days are long but the years are short."

Stay tuned, talk of tomatoes will include tales from the road and will turn even juicier when we land in Florence come end of August. In the meantime, feel free to stop by our already bursting family blog: Family Frolics. As for now, I hope you are enjoying your summer, that it is filled with fabulous food and cooking, friends and sun on your faces. More soon...