Of course I'm annoyed, I've just come from the post office! This time I asked Clueless Lady for ten stamps, and she asked me for which country.
I mean, honestly.
We got the bank card today, so that particular drama is over. Tonight I'm going to a dress rehersal for the choir concerts which are happening next week, one on Tuesday night and one on Friday. Really looking forward to those. If you'd like to come, drop me an email or let me know in the comments and I'll email you the particulars.
Now I'm heading downstairs to watch the USA play against Ghana in the World Cup. I think we need to win by at least four goals to continue. I'm not holding my breath.
Update: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO They're showing the Italy/Czech Republic match instead of the USA/Ghana match!! Now I'm really annoyed!!
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
allez les bleus
Steph and I have been watching a few World Cup matches here and there, particularly paying attention to the US and France. Neither one are doing very well, alas, though we noticed a marked improvement for the Americans in the second match. They seemed to be sleepwalking in the first match, and for the second one, they woke up. Both teams desperately need to win, and by a large (in football/soccer terms) margin to continue.
Meanwhile, this commercial has been airing during the competition and it cracks me up everytime. I've got my sing-song "Allez les bleus!" impersonation down and it still makes Steph laugh. Enjoy!
Allez Les Bleus
Video sent by Sitedeouf
Meanwhile, this commercial has been airing during the competition and it cracks me up everytime. I've got my sing-song "Allez les bleus!" impersonation down and it still makes Steph laugh. Enjoy!
Allez Les Bleus
Video sent by Sitedeouf
Friday, June 16, 2006
we've won the battle, but not the war
Happily, we've had something of a reprieve the last couple of days, with cooler temps and, for the moment, not sweating all over the computer. Looks like the temps will be climbing again over the weekend, but for the moment we are enjoying a little break from the heat.
The war I'm refering to in the title is what I consider to big the biggest cultural difference between France and the States: customer service. Believe it or not, it wasn't me who faught the battle today, but Steph!
Wednesday marked two weeks after my visit to Bank Dude to sign a contract for a new carte bancaire, or check card. When Steph called the bank to see what the problem is, he learned that for the second time, our request for a new card was denied, again with no phone call or even an automated letter. With no one able to tell us what the problem is, Steph asked to get a call from Bank Dude as soon as possible. He was so upset about the situation that he threatened to change banks if we didn't hear an answer by Friday. The secretary assured him that Bank Dude would call by the end of the day.
Which he didn't.
Yesterday, when Steph got home from work, he called again, only to have the secretary apologize profusely and say that Bank Dude would call by the end of the day.
Which he didn't.
Watch out kids, a top is about to blow!
This afternoon, with still no word from Bank Dude, Steph called a third time. This time, the apologetic secretary was replaced with a flat out lying secretary, claiming that Bank Dude had called several times and left messages!! Steph promptly informed her that if we didn't hear from Bank Dude by the end of the day, the next time he'd see us would be to close our accounts.
Well, what do you know, Bank Dude called back!
What followed was such an empassioned heated conversation that I could barely follow it. When the conversation ended peacefully, Steph told me what happened. Basically, Bank Dude finally admitted that the error was his mistake - when Steph lost his card three years ago, the automatic renewal was stopped, and Bank Dude finally just realized that this was what was holding up the process. But instead of apologizing for the error, he blamed everyone on Earth except himself. It's the system, it's his boss's fault for giving him double to clients he should have, and he actually said that the bank has other priorities than fixing our problems so it's not his fault he wasn't able to call sooner.
Steph said that if he was Bank Dude's boss, he would have fired him for this last comment alone. So I asked him why he thought the French seem to be so complacent with this behavior. In his opinion, it's because it's the easy way out - if you can blame the system for not being able to do your job, why change anything?
In any case, we'll have our card in the next couple of days. Time will tell when we'll have to fight against another complacent customer service representative.
The war I'm refering to in the title is what I consider to big the biggest cultural difference between France and the States: customer service. Believe it or not, it wasn't me who faught the battle today, but Steph!
Wednesday marked two weeks after my visit to Bank Dude to sign a contract for a new carte bancaire, or check card. When Steph called the bank to see what the problem is, he learned that for the second time, our request for a new card was denied, again with no phone call or even an automated letter. With no one able to tell us what the problem is, Steph asked to get a call from Bank Dude as soon as possible. He was so upset about the situation that he threatened to change banks if we didn't hear an answer by Friday. The secretary assured him that Bank Dude would call by the end of the day.
Which he didn't.
Yesterday, when Steph got home from work, he called again, only to have the secretary apologize profusely and say that Bank Dude would call by the end of the day.
Which he didn't.
Watch out kids, a top is about to blow!
This afternoon, with still no word from Bank Dude, Steph called a third time. This time, the apologetic secretary was replaced with a flat out lying secretary, claiming that Bank Dude had called several times and left messages!! Steph promptly informed her that if we didn't hear from Bank Dude by the end of the day, the next time he'd see us would be to close our accounts.
Well, what do you know, Bank Dude called back!
What followed was such an empassioned heated conversation that I could barely follow it. When the conversation ended peacefully, Steph told me what happened. Basically, Bank Dude finally admitted that the error was his mistake - when Steph lost his card three years ago, the automatic renewal was stopped, and Bank Dude finally just realized that this was what was holding up the process. But instead of apologizing for the error, he blamed everyone on Earth except himself. It's the system, it's his boss's fault for giving him double to clients he should have, and he actually said that the bank has other priorities than fixing our problems so it's not his fault he wasn't able to call sooner.
Steph said that if he was Bank Dude's boss, he would have fired him for this last comment alone. So I asked him why he thought the French seem to be so complacent with this behavior. In his opinion, it's because it's the easy way out - if you can blame the system for not being able to do your job, why change anything?
In any case, we'll have our card in the next couple of days. Time will tell when we'll have to fight against another complacent customer service representative.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
how to survive in high temps with no air conditioning
The weather has been brutal this week. Temps have soared into the high 80's and you can really feel it when you live in a house without air conditioning. In the shade, it's really not so bad but our place faces west, so all that lovely direct sunlight that I loved in Winter is now kicking my ass. And remember those two skylights I raved about six months ago? Yeah, hello, I'm an ant under a magnifying glass, ZAP!
The other thing that we've done to screw ourselves over is put both our computers in the "office," or the smallest room in the house. Yeah, two computers, small room, no a/c. Are we rocket scientists or what?
In order to make it as comfortable as possible, I've had to change my routine around a bit. It looks a little something like this:
Please click "Tell me more!" to continue...
MORNING. Go downstairs, open shutters. After obligatory cup of coffee (yes, it's actually cool enough in the morning for coffee!), do whatever you need to do FOR THE DAY. House cleaning, laundry, cooking, do it now! Believe me, you're not going to want to move in the afternoon...
We are very lucky to have a clothes dryer (many people don't) but that thing generates enough heat to bake bread, so one load a day first thing in the morning (which still isn't finished before noon) is all I can take.
Generally speaking, lunch is considered the big meal of the day, but thankfully it is just tolerable enough to cook a decent meal around noon. Later on, it's a different story!
AFTERNOON. Finish up anything on the computer. Go ahead and finish catching up on blogs, play your games, write emails, because right around 2:00 it's going to be too hot to sit in the office. Turn off computer *weep*. This works fine while Steph is working in the afternoons, but when he's home (today, for example) I don't think he's going to be able to tear himself away for that long. We shall see....
Upstairs, close the shutters and the windows, and close the doors. This is my sad attempt to keep direct sunlight from the windows and from the skylight in the hall out of the rooms. I'm not sure it's making a difference.
Go downstairs, where the temperature seems to be staying below 75 degrees. Close the shutters and sit on the couch. Drink a cold drink, read a book, be crafty, but move as little as possible.
EVENING. This forcing ourselves away from our computers has not been easy. Steph and I are content to sit side by side typing away and hardly say a word to each other for hours, happy just to be in each others company. Luckily, we have the World Cup to distract us. There are matches at 6:00 and 9:00, and even Steph takes a break from the heat and watches a match.
Dinner has recently consisted of anything I can think of that I don't have to cook. I made a huge batch of chicken salad the other day, and we've been enjoying sandwiches. I had planned to make a tuna rice salad today but the store was out of cucumber (side note: how can you be freaking out of cucumber??) so I may try to pass off some tuna fish sandwiches instead.
After dinner, we just can't help ourselves and end up in front of the computers again. An ice cream for dessert is a nice little distraction but hardly keeps the heat away for long. I must be insane but by midnight I was sitting here sweating, unable to move because of my internet addiction.
Once the sun goes down (around 10:00 or so), it's safe to open up the windows and let some the cooler air filter in. Unfortunately, this also brings in the entire cast of A Bug's Life. I do believe that the next time I visit a grocery store I'll be spending some time in the Bug Massacre section.
When I'm finally able to pull myself away from the computer for the day, my next stop is the shower, where I take as cold a shower as I can stand. Then it's off to bed; together with Steph if he's not generating enough heat to melt an igloo, or in the spare bed if he his.
So that how to deal with a heat wave in France. I say "heat wave" because these temps are a bit warmer than what we are used to here, and still not nearly as bad as the famous heat wave of 2003 (which I remember well as I was here on a two week vacation) when the temps rose to over 100. We are supposed to see some thunderstorms this evening and for the next few days, which will hopefully drag the temps down to their normal range of the low 70s by the end of the week, because honestly, if this keeps up for a while you might have to come looking for me in the cellar.
The other thing that we've done to screw ourselves over is put both our computers in the "office," or the smallest room in the house. Yeah, two computers, small room, no a/c. Are we rocket scientists or what?
In order to make it as comfortable as possible, I've had to change my routine around a bit. It looks a little something like this:
Please click "Tell me more!" to continue...
MORNING. Go downstairs, open shutters. After obligatory cup of coffee (yes, it's actually cool enough in the morning for coffee!), do whatever you need to do FOR THE DAY. House cleaning, laundry, cooking, do it now! Believe me, you're not going to want to move in the afternoon...
We are very lucky to have a clothes dryer (many people don't) but that thing generates enough heat to bake bread, so one load a day first thing in the morning (which still isn't finished before noon) is all I can take.
Generally speaking, lunch is considered the big meal of the day, but thankfully it is just tolerable enough to cook a decent meal around noon. Later on, it's a different story!
AFTERNOON. Finish up anything on the computer. Go ahead and finish catching up on blogs, play your games, write emails, because right around 2:00 it's going to be too hot to sit in the office. Turn off computer *weep*. This works fine while Steph is working in the afternoons, but when he's home (today, for example) I don't think he's going to be able to tear himself away for that long. We shall see....
Upstairs, close the shutters and the windows, and close the doors. This is my sad attempt to keep direct sunlight from the windows and from the skylight in the hall out of the rooms. I'm not sure it's making a difference.
Go downstairs, where the temperature seems to be staying below 75 degrees. Close the shutters and sit on the couch. Drink a cold drink, read a book, be crafty, but move as little as possible.
EVENING. This forcing ourselves away from our computers has not been easy. Steph and I are content to sit side by side typing away and hardly say a word to each other for hours, happy just to be in each others company. Luckily, we have the World Cup to distract us. There are matches at 6:00 and 9:00, and even Steph takes a break from the heat and watches a match.
Dinner has recently consisted of anything I can think of that I don't have to cook. I made a huge batch of chicken salad the other day, and we've been enjoying sandwiches. I had planned to make a tuna rice salad today but the store was out of cucumber (side note: how can you be freaking out of cucumber??) so I may try to pass off some tuna fish sandwiches instead.
After dinner, we just can't help ourselves and end up in front of the computers again. An ice cream for dessert is a nice little distraction but hardly keeps the heat away for long. I must be insane but by midnight I was sitting here sweating, unable to move because of my internet addiction.
Once the sun goes down (around 10:00 or so), it's safe to open up the windows and let some the cooler air filter in. Unfortunately, this also brings in the entire cast of A Bug's Life. I do believe that the next time I visit a grocery store I'll be spending some time in the Bug Massacre section.
When I'm finally able to pull myself away from the computer for the day, my next stop is the shower, where I take as cold a shower as I can stand. Then it's off to bed; together with Steph if he's not generating enough heat to melt an igloo, or in the spare bed if he his.
So that how to deal with a heat wave in France. I say "heat wave" because these temps are a bit warmer than what we are used to here, and still not nearly as bad as the famous heat wave of 2003 (which I remember well as I was here on a two week vacation) when the temps rose to over 100. We are supposed to see some thunderstorms this evening and for the next few days, which will hopefully drag the temps down to their normal range of the low 70s by the end of the week, because honestly, if this keeps up for a while you might have to come looking for me in the cellar.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Medieval Festival, Provins, France
Yesterday we went to the annual Medieval Festival in Provins, France. How was it? Well, imagine taking your usual run-of-the-mill Renn Faire and dropping it in a town that actually existed in Medieval Times, and then imagine that everyone in the town gets in the spirit of the thing, you have a pretty good idea of what the festival is like.
For some reason, I can't manage to go to Provins unless the temperatures are at an extreme. The last two times I went, it was so cold I couldn't feel my fingers. This time it was so hot they were making announcements to remind festival-goers to drink plenty of water at the free well water stations scattered through the town.
One of the nice features of this festival is that those who arrive in some kind of costume gain free entry. This leads to costumes from as simple as little girls in Fairy Princess costumes and guys in leggings and funny hats to elaborate brocaded dresses and men in full armour (whom I'm surprised we didn't see strewn all over the roads from the heat). We eventually ran into bands of knights templar, a family of barbarians, and one Robin Hood type fellow with the best up-close make-up job of an axe-wound in his face that I've ever seen.
After a brief visit to the Leper Colony (which is indicated by the photo here), we made our way to the center of town, which had so much stuff going on I'm sure we didn't even see everything. There were food stands, roving musicians, vendors selling everything from helmets to leather goods, and the crowds were something to see themselves. After a refreshing(ly strong) cup of apple cider, we visited one of several "camps" set up around the town and headed back to the center to find something to eat.
We grabbed a couple of medieval sandwiches and sat in some welcome shade for a few minutes before continuing around the town. We made our way this time towards the main gate of the old city, passing yet more vendors and circling around a large encampment before heading outside the town to visit the vendors camping outside the town. Here we saw people actually living in their medieval tents for the weekend and selling their wares. Unfortunately, it was much too hot to stay down in the moat without a breeze for too long (I really don't know how those people managed to stay down there) so we made our way back in the town. Once back in the center of town, we treated ourselves to some medieval ice cream (?) before making our way back to the present day and our air conditioned car.
There are so many things I would have liked to have seen, but the weather was just so miserable that we could only stand walking around outside the three or so hours we were there. There was an archery tent set up which I would have like to have tried (I took archery in college so it would have been funny to see what I've retained), as well as shows featuring falconry and siege weapons of the era. Maybe next year the weather will be a bit more cooperative.
For some reason, I can't manage to go to Provins unless the temperatures are at an extreme. The last two times I went, it was so cold I couldn't feel my fingers. This time it was so hot they were making announcements to remind festival-goers to drink plenty of water at the free well water stations scattered through the town.
One of the nice features of this festival is that those who arrive in some kind of costume gain free entry. This leads to costumes from as simple as little girls in Fairy Princess costumes and guys in leggings and funny hats to elaborate brocaded dresses and men in full armour (whom I'm surprised we didn't see strewn all over the roads from the heat). We eventually ran into bands of knights templar, a family of barbarians, and one Robin Hood type fellow with the best up-close make-up job of an axe-wound in his face that I've ever seen.
After a brief visit to the Leper Colony (which is indicated by the photo here), we made our way to the center of town, which had so much stuff going on I'm sure we didn't even see everything. There were food stands, roving musicians, vendors selling everything from helmets to leather goods, and the crowds were something to see themselves. After a refreshing(ly strong) cup of apple cider, we visited one of several "camps" set up around the town and headed back to the center to find something to eat.
We grabbed a couple of medieval sandwiches and sat in some welcome shade for a few minutes before continuing around the town. We made our way this time towards the main gate of the old city, passing yet more vendors and circling around a large encampment before heading outside the town to visit the vendors camping outside the town. Here we saw people actually living in their medieval tents for the weekend and selling their wares. Unfortunately, it was much too hot to stay down in the moat without a breeze for too long (I really don't know how those people managed to stay down there) so we made our way back in the town. Once back in the center of town, we treated ourselves to some medieval ice cream (?) before making our way back to the present day and our air conditioned car.
There are so many things I would have liked to have seen, but the weather was just so miserable that we could only stand walking around outside the three or so hours we were there. There was an archery tent set up which I would have like to have tried (I took archery in college so it would have been funny to see what I've retained), as well as shows featuring falconry and siege weapons of the era. Maybe next year the weather will be a bit more cooperative.
Friday, June 09, 2006
slow week
Hello.
I haven't neglected to post for any particular reason, there just isn't anything interesting going on. Highlights included making American sandwiches for lunch since Steph was still doing his stage, and I found a grocery that sells pita bread. Um... the weather's been gorgeous, blue skies and temps in the low 70s. We might go for a walk later.
See what I mean? Nothing particularly blog worthy. That being said, we are going to do something interesting this weekend, so please do stay tuned.
I haven't neglected to post for any particular reason, there just isn't anything interesting going on. Highlights included making American sandwiches for lunch since Steph was still doing his stage, and I found a grocery that sells pita bread. Um... the weather's been gorgeous, blue skies and temps in the low 70s. We might go for a walk later.
See what I mean? Nothing particularly blog worthy. That being said, we are going to do something interesting this weekend, so please do stay tuned.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
words in a french life
I have just finished reading Words in a French Life by Kristin Espinasse. Based on her website, French Word-A-Day, the book is made up of vignettes of the daily life of Kristin, an American from Arizona, her French husband and their two children in southern France. For those of us who have been long time readers of her website (French Word-A-Day was one of the first websites I added to my sidebar when I started my own blogging adventure), some of the stories are familiar, but many have never appeared on the website, and she even shares with us how she came to be living in France in the first place. Each chapter is prefaced with a French word, its pronounciation, and its translation, and is then followed by a charming story associated with the word. At end the of each chapter, we revisit the "word of the day" to learn everyday phrases that contain that word.
Kristin may claim that she's expressing her love of the French language, but I submit that she's in love with language full stop. Her stories of day-to-day living in the South of France are filled with such warmth and wonder that it's easy to close your eyes and imagine yourself in the same place. While the South of France and the North-East, where I live, certainly have plenty of differences, I found myself chuckling along at her stories of village life, which at times can seem like a different world from the larger cities of Nice or Paris.
Not only are the French lessons tucked inside very practical, but the stories are told not with the wry sarcasm of most other "Ex-pats in France" books I've read, but with genuine endearment and fascination of the world around her. If you're interested in books about Americans in France, I say put Words in a French Life at the top of your list.
Monday, June 05, 2006
a calm weekend
Steph is celebrating not having to work by going to school and working. What is it about going to the office (or the school, in this case) that is so appealing when you don't have to be there? As he walked out the door this morning, he said he was looking forward to running into his (apparantly not very pleasant) boss, who would then read him the riot act for being late, after which Steph would gleefully tell her that he doesn't even have to be there. Ah, Office Politics, how I do miss thee.
Friday night Steph suggested that we go fishing on Saturday, which involves driving about 45 minutes away and paying for an afternoon of fishing in a couple of stocked ponds. Alas, Steph slept till 11:00 and I didn't feel much like leaving the house so we called it off, which was a shame because it really was a perfect day to spend outside - considerably warmer than the last three weeks and mostly sunny.
Yesterday we had lunch at the in-laws with Steph's younger sister C. and her boyfriend J. where we learned that C. is not, in fact, carrying a boy, but a girl, who will say hello to the world some time around the middle of October. Good thing I hadn't started making anything for the new arrival, though to be fair, since I don't knit or crochet, anything I make would really be for either/or unless I stitch BOY! BOY! BOY! on it.
So now it's Monday and the house looks like the pantry and all the closets vomited all over the place. Why is it that one day your house is nice and clean and the very next day crap springs up everywhere like so many weeds?
Friday night Steph suggested that we go fishing on Saturday, which involves driving about 45 minutes away and paying for an afternoon of fishing in a couple of stocked ponds. Alas, Steph slept till 11:00 and I didn't feel much like leaving the house so we called it off, which was a shame because it really was a perfect day to spend outside - considerably warmer than the last three weeks and mostly sunny.
Yesterday we had lunch at the in-laws with Steph's younger sister C. and her boyfriend J. where we learned that C. is not, in fact, carrying a boy, but a girl, who will say hello to the world some time around the middle of October. Good thing I hadn't started making anything for the new arrival, though to be fair, since I don't knit or crochet, anything I make would really be for either/or unless I stitch BOY! BOY! BOY! on it.
So now it's Monday and the house looks like the pantry and all the closets vomited all over the place. Why is it that one day your house is nice and clean and the very next day crap springs up everywhere like so many weeds?
Friday, June 02, 2006
the non-holiday holiday weekend
Monday is Pentecost, traditionally a state holiday in France. Last year, the government announced that Pentecost would no longer be a holiday, and instead all wages earned on that day will be donated to assist the old and infirm. An enforced donation, if you will.
Today on the lunch-time news, they talked about the plight of truck drivers. Apparently, the truck driving unions have decided that they will work on Monday, but the government said that trucks should stay off the roads, because it's a holday weekend. Apparently the only people that are being forced to work are the ones who won't get in the way of government officials going on vacation during the non-holiday holiday weekend.
Steph told me that he heard today of a teacher who has to work on Monday because all teachers must go to work, but her husband must stay home to watch the kids, because they don't have to go to school (teacher workdays are pretty much unheard of here).
So if you're in France, what are you doing for the non-holiday holiday weekend?
And yes, the photo is apropos of nothing, I just turned around and caught this peeping tom in action before he flew away!
Today on the lunch-time news, they talked about the plight of truck drivers. Apparently, the truck driving unions have decided that they will work on Monday, but the government said that trucks should stay off the roads, because it's a holday weekend. Apparently the only people that are being forced to work are the ones who won't get in the way of government officials going on vacation during the non-holiday holiday weekend.
Steph told me that he heard today of a teacher who has to work on Monday because all teachers must go to work, but her husband must stay home to watch the kids, because they don't have to go to school (teacher workdays are pretty much unheard of here).
So if you're in France, what are you doing for the non-holiday holiday weekend?
And yes, the photo is apropos of nothing, I just turned around and caught this peeping tom in action before he flew away!
Thursday, June 01, 2006
everyday living is exhausting
First of all, when I went downstairs this morning to see Steph off for the day, the thermometer said 16C (or 62F)... INSIDE THE HOUSE. The calendar says June 1, is someone playing a cruel joke on me?
I was Errand-Running Woman yesterday. Steph came home Tuesday evening and announced that the brakes were shot so I learned a new word (frein = brake) and visited the local garage after dropping Steph off at his rendez-vous point yesterday (he's carpooling with another teacher from Brienne le Château). After much gesticulating, smiling, trying not to sound like a jackass or tutoyer the owner of the garage (whoops!), I managed to get the parts ordered and make an appointment for Friday morning. One thing done.
I had a quiet morning, finishing part one of my SSCSP and a tasty lunch, and then it was off to Troyes. First stop was to do some grande surface shopping. Since the bank card expired yesterday, I was determined to stock up as much as possible. I loaded up my cart with dry goods and visited the ATM on the way out of the store. Then it was downtown to see the Bank Dude.
Our bank is just in front of the préfecture in Troyes, where they are in the middle of building a massive underground parking right between the two. I may have mentioned in passing last year that construction was halted after they broke ground and discovered a centuries-old cemetery, so archeologists were called in and the construction site became an archeological dig for almost two years. Now they're back on track and I stood there on the edges of the construction sight, along with about twenty other people of all walks of life, mesmorized by the enormous bulldozer digging up ground 100 feet below the surface. Wish I'd had my camera....
Anyway, at 3:30 on the dot I walked into the bank and told the secretary that I was there to see Bank Dude. Next thing you know, Bank Dude comes out and says that our appointment was the next day. Instead of being embarrassed, I was mad; even if I'd misunderstood the date, when I hung up the phone with him, I'd said "A demain," which means "See you tomorrow!" and he replied, "Oui, à demain!" so WTF, Bank Dude? So I told him that I wouldn't be able to come back the next day because I wouldn't have a car but was going to suggest rescheduling for Friday when he told me he had a few minutes before his next appointment and ushered me into his cubicle. Then he asked me once again (although, to be fair, it has been nearly two years since I saw him last) where I was from and once again told me how he loved New York City. How nice. Then he ran around like a poulet sans tête, running to the secret office in the back to get his manager's approval to get us another bank card (even he didn't know why it wasn't sent automatically), I signed a couple of pieces of paper and that was it. Can't wait to see how long it takes to get a new bank card; I am not particularly inspired by his apparent lack of organization.
So I flew home, threw the shopping bags in the house, and grabbed an empty gas tank (our Easy Bake Oven runs on gas) and another shopping bag, and went to one of the local groceries to replace the gas tank and buy some fresh veggies and meat. Then I picked up Steph at the rendez-vous point, drove home and fell over.
I couldn't figure out why I was so exhausted until I realized that I'd spent the day running errands like Normal Everyday People instead of hiding inside my house all day. Huh. Maybe I'm finally starting to emerge from the Immigrant Blues?
I was Errand-Running Woman yesterday. Steph came home Tuesday evening and announced that the brakes were shot so I learned a new word (frein = brake) and visited the local garage after dropping Steph off at his rendez-vous point yesterday (he's carpooling with another teacher from Brienne le Château). After much gesticulating, smiling, trying not to sound like a jackass or tutoyer the owner of the garage (whoops!), I managed to get the parts ordered and make an appointment for Friday morning. One thing done.
I had a quiet morning, finishing part one of my SSCSP and a tasty lunch, and then it was off to Troyes. First stop was to do some grande surface shopping. Since the bank card expired yesterday, I was determined to stock up as much as possible. I loaded up my cart with dry goods and visited the ATM on the way out of the store. Then it was downtown to see the Bank Dude.
Our bank is just in front of the préfecture in Troyes, where they are in the middle of building a massive underground parking right between the two. I may have mentioned in passing last year that construction was halted after they broke ground and discovered a centuries-old cemetery, so archeologists were called in and the construction site became an archeological dig for almost two years. Now they're back on track and I stood there on the edges of the construction sight, along with about twenty other people of all walks of life, mesmorized by the enormous bulldozer digging up ground 100 feet below the surface. Wish I'd had my camera....
Anyway, at 3:30 on the dot I walked into the bank and told the secretary that I was there to see Bank Dude. Next thing you know, Bank Dude comes out and says that our appointment was the next day. Instead of being embarrassed, I was mad; even if I'd misunderstood the date, when I hung up the phone with him, I'd said "A demain," which means "See you tomorrow!" and he replied, "Oui, à demain!" so WTF, Bank Dude? So I told him that I wouldn't be able to come back the next day because I wouldn't have a car but was going to suggest rescheduling for Friday when he told me he had a few minutes before his next appointment and ushered me into his cubicle. Then he asked me once again (although, to be fair, it has been nearly two years since I saw him last) where I was from and once again told me how he loved New York City. How nice. Then he ran around like a poulet sans tête, running to the secret office in the back to get his manager's approval to get us another bank card (even he didn't know why it wasn't sent automatically), I signed a couple of pieces of paper and that was it. Can't wait to see how long it takes to get a new bank card; I am not particularly inspired by his apparent lack of organization.
So I flew home, threw the shopping bags in the house, and grabbed an empty gas tank (our Easy Bake Oven runs on gas) and another shopping bag, and went to one of the local groceries to replace the gas tank and buy some fresh veggies and meat. Then I picked up Steph at the rendez-vous point, drove home and fell over.
I couldn't figure out why I was so exhausted until I realized that I'd spent the day running errands like Normal Everyday People instead of hiding inside my house all day. Huh. Maybe I'm finally starting to emerge from the Immigrant Blues?
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
my love/hate relationship with the phone
Yes, I hate the phone. Although, to be fair, I hated the phone before I even moved to this country. Back then, I only used a cell phone. Since my internet connection was through cable and long distance calling was always so much cheaper that way, why not? So if someone I didn't know called, and I didn't recognize the number on my handy caller ID, I was more likely to let it go to voicemail and find out what the call was about. This was mostly to avoid telemarketers, but I admit that caller ID allowed me to be selective about answering the phone when people I knew were calling, too. Sometimes you just don't feel like blabbing for hours on end.
But I love the phone too, for there is nothing like hearing a friendly voice when you need to vent or share a laugh. But now that we don't have caller ID here, I'm much less likely to pick up the phone if I'm alone. Perhaps it's because 90% of the calls we receive will have French speakers on the other end. Faking through a conversation in French with someone right in front of you is one thing, but someone speaking rapid-fire French on a telephone is another thing altogether.
But today, I knew I had to answer the phone. It went slightly better than expected.
You see, our carte bancaire, or check card, expires at the end of the month, or tomorrow if you prefer, and we haven't received a replacement. So Steph called yesterday at the end of the day and was told that our bank representative (whom I first met way back here) would call us back as soon as possible. Since he didn't call by the end of the working day, we knew it would be today. That means, yep, you guessed it...
So a little while ago, the phone rang so I clenched my teeth and hesitently picked up the receiver. At least it was actually Bank Dude so I know I can go back to ignoring the phone again.
As usual, the Frenchie on the other end of the line spoke rapid-fire French so all I could do is take a deep breath and hold on. I didn't understand every word but the important bits that I did understand included things like "contract" "two years ago" and "signature," fun things like that. When he asked when Steph could come down and sign a new contract, I replied that it's going to be a while, since he's doing his big stage in Chalons this week and the next, so he proposed that since the account is in both our names, why couldn't I come instead and sign the paper?
Ooh, he's smart, this one.
So I've got to go to the bank tomorrow afternoon and sign a contract and in turn, we'll receive a bank card with my name on it. It really doesn't make a difference whose name is on it, as every transaction is performed with a PIN number, making it quite different than check cards in the states, which are treated like credit cards. In any case, I can't wait to hear Steph's reaction to this bit of news when he gets home.
Oh, and if you ever want to call and chat, you may want to shoot me an email first. That way I'll be more likely to take your call!
But I love the phone too, for there is nothing like hearing a friendly voice when you need to vent or share a laugh. But now that we don't have caller ID here, I'm much less likely to pick up the phone if I'm alone. Perhaps it's because 90% of the calls we receive will have French speakers on the other end. Faking through a conversation in French with someone right in front of you is one thing, but someone speaking rapid-fire French on a telephone is another thing altogether.
But today, I knew I had to answer the phone. It went slightly better than expected.
You see, our carte bancaire, or check card, expires at the end of the month, or tomorrow if you prefer, and we haven't received a replacement. So Steph called yesterday at the end of the day and was told that our bank representative (whom I first met way back here) would call us back as soon as possible. Since he didn't call by the end of the working day, we knew it would be today. That means, yep, you guessed it...
So a little while ago, the phone rang so I clenched my teeth and hesitently picked up the receiver. At least it was actually Bank Dude so I know I can go back to ignoring the phone again.
As usual, the Frenchie on the other end of the line spoke rapid-fire French so all I could do is take a deep breath and hold on. I didn't understand every word but the important bits that I did understand included things like "contract" "two years ago" and "signature," fun things like that. When he asked when Steph could come down and sign a new contract, I replied that it's going to be a while, since he's doing his big stage in Chalons this week and the next, so he proposed that since the account is in both our names, why couldn't I come instead and sign the paper?
Ooh, he's smart, this one.
So I've got to go to the bank tomorrow afternoon and sign a contract and in turn, we'll receive a bank card with my name on it. It really doesn't make a difference whose name is on it, as every transaction is performed with a PIN number, making it quite different than check cards in the states, which are treated like credit cards. In any case, I can't wait to hear Steph's reaction to this bit of news when he gets home.
Oh, and if you ever want to call and chat, you may want to shoot me an email first. That way I'll be more likely to take your call!
five things
After rereading yesterday's run-on sentence of a post (hoo boy, do I need to get out of the house more often or what?), I realized that today would be a good idea to do The Bold Soul's Five Things Meme wot she tagged me for.
Five items in my fridge
1. Leftover chicken salad from last night, which I shall enjoy for lunch today
2. Strawberries. I love that you can only get fresh fruit when it's in season!
3. Beer. That has been in our fridge since Christmas. Not big beer drinkers, us.
4. Cherry yogurt. Actually, cherries just came into season so I'm going to have to buy some fresh ones soon...
5. Bricks. No, not the kind you build houses with, like this. Sorry I can't find anything in English about them, but this is a great site about French cooking.
Five items in my closet
You're lucky I have a closet! They're not easily found in France! So, in the closet in the office...
1. My wedding accessories, including shoes (is it too sentimental not to wear them again? They're really cute...), garter and tiara (ok it's not really a tiara but it's metally and goes on your head)
2. Old photos that will eventally find their way into photo albums. One day.
3. Steph's box of shoe shining things
4. A tin box of various medals Steph won while playing table tennis
5. A box of various and sundry computer accessories that probably don't work
Five items in my car
Bit of a handicap here, as (a) the car was cleaned out last week and (b)it's not here so I'm working from memory
1. A large umbrella
2. discarded parking meter receipts
3. some fishing accessory (like I said, working from memory)
4. a large bottle of motor oil
5. an incredible amount of dust
Five items in my purse
1. small bottle of water, which I added recently because it seems I'm always dying of thirst as soon as I leave the house
2. folder holding choir music - it's a big bag
3. perscription sunglasses
4. camera
5. hawaiian lip gloss I've had for two years now, this stuff lasts forever!
Five people who are "it" now
Oh no you don't. Every time I tag someone I get yelled at, so if you'd like to pinch this meme, please feel free. Let me know you've done it and I'll link you here.
Five items in my fridge
1. Leftover chicken salad from last night, which I shall enjoy for lunch today
2. Strawberries. I love that you can only get fresh fruit when it's in season!
3. Beer. That has been in our fridge since Christmas. Not big beer drinkers, us.
4. Cherry yogurt. Actually, cherries just came into season so I'm going to have to buy some fresh ones soon...
5. Bricks. No, not the kind you build houses with, like this. Sorry I can't find anything in English about them, but this is a great site about French cooking.
Five items in my closet
You're lucky I have a closet! They're not easily found in France! So, in the closet in the office...
1. My wedding accessories, including shoes (is it too sentimental not to wear them again? They're really cute...), garter and tiara (ok it's not really a tiara but it's metally and goes on your head)
2. Old photos that will eventally find their way into photo albums. One day.
3. Steph's box of shoe shining things
4. A tin box of various medals Steph won while playing table tennis
5. A box of various and sundry computer accessories that probably don't work
Five items in my car
Bit of a handicap here, as (a) the car was cleaned out last week and (b)it's not here so I'm working from memory
1. A large umbrella
2. discarded parking meter receipts
3. some fishing accessory (like I said, working from memory)
4. a large bottle of motor oil
5. an incredible amount of dust
Five items in my purse
1. small bottle of water, which I added recently because it seems I'm always dying of thirst as soon as I leave the house
2. folder holding choir music - it's a big bag
3. perscription sunglasses
4. camera
5. hawaiian lip gloss I've had for two years now, this stuff lasts forever!
Five people who are "it" now
Oh no you don't. Every time I tag someone I get yelled at, so if you'd like to pinch this meme, please feel free. Let me know you've done it and I'll link you here.
Monday, May 29, 2006
obsessive weekend
I spent the last two days in a complete state of mania over my two favorite hobbies (this week; subject to change), one nerdy and one girly.
The nerdy one is the same one I've been doing off and on since I moved here, playing City of Heroes online. I've always liked the idea of playing an MMORPG, but just couldn't get into the trolls, orcs, and elves scenario - that's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. But my sister starting playing this and I thought it was a nice change from the usual and it would be something we could do while I'm in Europe and shes in the States. So we played together for several months and then she went back toEverCrack Everquest and I sort of floundered around on CoH for the next year and a half. But over the last few weeks, I fell into a rather large guild (guilds in CoH are called Super Groups, of course!) and got a lot of help in increasing my character, until Saturday I found myself within one level of the ultimate goal - level 50. So I sat here for eight hours and played until my fingers hurt and I was seeing double but by god I got my level 50 character! That's something I'll do maybe once a year because unlike my husband who really can play for eight hours at a stretch, I do actually enjoy sunshine and fresh air and all that sitting makes my butt hurt (not to mention makes it wider but I digress).
(tangent: so yeah, I know what the following terms mean: PL, mid (I don't like doing either one, however), lft, pwnage, n00b, and incidently if anyone on the Champion server ever needs a level 50 regen katana be sure to let me know, and if you understand any of that Congratulations! you are a gamer geek just like me.)
Yesterday I was bouncing back and forth between my brand spanking new character that you can only have when you reach level 50, and working on the girly hobby, my Sooper Secret Cross Stitch Project. I want to do both of these things so much that I literally get the shakes thinking about getting my fingers on them. My day kind of went like this:
(after breakfast, reading news and blogs, etc)
9:30-11:30 play with my new character!
11:30-1:00 prepare and eat lunch
1:00-2:00 play with my new character!
2:00-3:00 arrange all the new threads for SSCSP in numerical order in specially-ordered plastic storage sheets (is it possible to have selective anal retentiveness?)
3:00-5:00 play with my new character!
5:00-7:30 begin stitching the SSCSP
7:30-8:15 prepare and eat dinner (leftovers)
8:15-9:00 turn on overhead light as natural light is fading, stitch SSCSP
9:00-10:00 must turn off light as it is too hot in the office (with two computers in a small space it can get very warm in here!) play with my new character!
10:00-10:30 attempt to stitch with hall light and table lamp but get headache from squinting so hard
10:30 give up, goof around online and eventually crash around midnight
I'm not sure how I was able to avoid nausea and dizziness from all that spinning around in one room!
The nerdy one is the same one I've been doing off and on since I moved here, playing City of Heroes online. I've always liked the idea of playing an MMORPG, but just couldn't get into the trolls, orcs, and elves scenario - that's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. But my sister starting playing this and I thought it was a nice change from the usual and it would be something we could do while I'm in Europe and shes in the States. So we played together for several months and then she went back to
(tangent: so yeah, I know what the following terms mean: PL, mid (I don't like doing either one, however), lft, pwnage, n00b, and incidently if anyone on the Champion server ever needs a level 50 regen katana be sure to let me know, and if you understand any of that Congratulations! you are a gamer geek just like me.)
Yesterday I was bouncing back and forth between my brand spanking new character that you can only have when you reach level 50, and working on the girly hobby, my Sooper Secret Cross Stitch Project. I want to do both of these things so much that I literally get the shakes thinking about getting my fingers on them. My day kind of went like this:
(after breakfast, reading news and blogs, etc)
9:30-11:30 play with my new character!
11:30-1:00 prepare and eat lunch
1:00-2:00 play with my new character!
2:00-3:00 arrange all the new threads for SSCSP in numerical order in specially-ordered plastic storage sheets (is it possible to have selective anal retentiveness?)
3:00-5:00 play with my new character!
5:00-7:30 begin stitching the SSCSP
7:30-8:15 prepare and eat dinner (leftovers)
8:15-9:00 turn on overhead light as natural light is fading, stitch SSCSP
9:00-10:00 must turn off light as it is too hot in the office (with two computers in a small space it can get very warm in here!) play with my new character!
10:00-10:30 attempt to stitch with hall light and table lamp but get headache from squinting so hard
10:30 give up, goof around online and eventually crash around midnight
I'm not sure how I was able to avoid nausea and dizziness from all that spinning around in one room!
Friday, May 26, 2006
ascension party!
Yesterday was a holiday in France, and we were meant to meet the MIL and SIL at the annual vide grenier in Romilly, where Steph used to work, in the morning before meeting up with friends (Steph's former colleagues) in the afternoon. Since the weather was absolute crap yesterday morning, we waited until after lunch, walked down the main street filled with less-than-spectaular stuff, and met up with the friends and did it all over again, except this time with a nice fine drizzle of rain. Then we went back and plowed through a couple of beers each, several bottles of wine and all the snack foods available in a three-block radius. I'm sure you can imagine how I'm feeling today. Oy.
I've got to buck up because there's grocery shoppin' to do, plus I have to go to Troyes this evening for half an hour and maybe sing (I can explain this better if you care). There's nothing much else interesting going on, but Karla's post today made me think of a completely random story.
If I were ever going to start a band (chances are now highly unlikely but I was in a garage band for about five minutes so it's not wholly unreasonable that I would have these thoughts) it would be called The Speaker Children. That's because many, many moons ago, I would go visit my friend Carrie, who was going to college in St. Augustine, and we would go to The Milk Bar in nearby Jacksonville. All around the dance floor were enormous speakers with kids (yes, even in college we were old beyond our years) swaying in front of them, as though in homage to their god. I'm sure it was really Carrie that christened them "Speaker Children," because she's way cleverer than me, but in any case I'd intended to steal it and ride to glory with it.
So if you were going to start a band, what would you call it?
I've got to buck up because there's grocery shoppin' to do, plus I have to go to Troyes this evening for half an hour and maybe sing (I can explain this better if you care). There's nothing much else interesting going on, but Karla's post today made me think of a completely random story.
If I were ever going to start a band (chances are now highly unlikely but I was in a garage band for about five minutes so it's not wholly unreasonable that I would have these thoughts) it would be called The Speaker Children. That's because many, many moons ago, I would go visit my friend Carrie, who was going to college in St. Augustine, and we would go to The Milk Bar in nearby Jacksonville. All around the dance floor were enormous speakers with kids (yes, even in college we were old beyond our years) swaying in front of them, as though in homage to their god. I'm sure it was really Carrie that christened them "Speaker Children," because she's way cleverer than me, but in any case I'd intended to steal it and ride to glory with it.
So if you were going to start a band, what would you call it?
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
i told you it was going away
Thank you all for that little ego boost yesterday, but I had to take the photo down because this is supposed to be anonymous and Steph would kick my ass if he knew I pulled that little stunt. So, back to complete obscurity for me (as if this blog weren't already completely obscure)!
Anyway, thank you all for your birthday wishes and emails and phone calls and such. I spent most of the day sprawled out playing my computer game. It was glorious. I nearly gained a level (sorry, nerdspeak)!
Today I'm going to Troyes to buy the last bits for my Sooper-Secret Cross Stitch Project and to pick up a few odds and ends, and then I'll come home and work on my birthday present from Steph (yes, I know, pics to come, I'm forever saying that). It looks beautiful outside but it's freakishly cool today, still a good day for wandering around!
Anyway, thank you all for your birthday wishes and emails and phone calls and such. I spent most of the day sprawled out playing my computer game. It was glorious. I nearly gained a level (sorry, nerdspeak)!
Today I'm going to Troyes to buy the last bits for my Sooper-Secret Cross Stitch Project and to pick up a few odds and ends, and then I'll come home and work on my birthday present from Steph (yes, I know, pics to come, I'm forever saying that). It looks beautiful outside but it's freakishly cool today, still a good day for wandering around!
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
an accidental birthday gift
When Gnumoon announced that she was going to be taking performance photos at this year's MerleFest, I was greener than green with envy. Not only is it an amazing music festival with all kinds of different music represented, but one of my favorite bluegrass bands, Nickel Creek was performing this year. Not only did Gnumoon take unbelieveable action shots of the whole shebang, but she went out of her way to send me a program from the festival, signed by Miss Sara of Nickel Creek herself! In the accompanying note, she said, "and Sara says, 'Bonjour!'" Well bonjour right back Miss Sara. Rock on. Thanks so much, Gnumoon; since it arrived three days before my birthday, I'm counting it among my gifts, I hope you don't mind!
So yes, today is my birthday. I have nothing at all planned for today. Steph is gone all day in Chalons and I may walk to the grocery store and buy a birthday chocolate bar. I have no complaints, I've done more than my share of traveling this year and we did have the big party this weekend, and doing nothing at all is loads better than what I went through last year. That being said, if anyone can arrange a birthday something similar to this for next year, it would be much appreciated. Api Birzdai to me!
So yes, today is my birthday. I have nothing at all planned for today. Steph is gone all day in Chalons and I may walk to the grocery store and buy a birthday chocolate bar. I have no complaints, I've done more than my share of traveling this year and we did have the big party this weekend, and doing nothing at all is loads better than what I went through last year. That being said, if anyone can arrange a birthday something similar to this for next year, it would be much appreciated. Api Birzdai to me!
Sunday, May 21, 2006
of bbqs and IKEA accessories
On Friday, I met Doc in Chaumont, where we indulged in Chinese food before filling up two grocery carts with food and party favors for a big bbq/birthday party extravaganza last night. On Saturday, we sliced and diced, mixed and squished food between our fingers, stuffed pastries and chopped veggies all day before filling up no less than three car trunks with food and drinks to go to the local chalet, where we celebrated the birthdays of Steph, Doc's hubby Marc, Nono and ME! Despite the freakishly cool weather, we hung outside next the grill, and when the grill ran out of gas, the men proved that men are the same world-over and created a fire-pit in the gravel next to the chalet and roasted the remaining meat. Then we exchanged gifts (I received a really lovely planter to hang above our front door, pictures to come) and some wine and the new Corneille CD, and Steph got a couple of books) and, in the wee hours of the morning, drove all the way home. Spending the day in Doc's kitchen was really fun and I picked up quite a few tips that I'll be implementing in the near future.
Today I'm feeling rather worse for wear - recently I've been suffering bouts of terrible car sickness, but it's probably from indulging in a couple of party cigarettes and then jumping in the car after - but I did manage to take a photo of the famous IKEA accessory I got last week. It was actually Steph's idea to hang up the measuring things my sister sent me for Christmas, so I knew IKEA would have the perfect thing to do just that. I am so in love with my spice corner - not only does it look great, but I actually use everything! Click on the photo to see what kind of spices I like to keep around.
There's actually quite a lot going on right now - I've received two exciting packages in the mail, Steph starts his course to become certified in special education tomorrow, and my birthday's on Tuesday (mark your calendars!), but today's a day for being lazy so if you'll forgive me, I'm going to get back to it!
Today I'm feeling rather worse for wear - recently I've been suffering bouts of terrible car sickness, but it's probably from indulging in a couple of party cigarettes and then jumping in the car after - but I did manage to take a photo of the famous IKEA accessory I got last week. It was actually Steph's idea to hang up the measuring things my sister sent me for Christmas, so I knew IKEA would have the perfect thing to do just that. I am so in love with my spice corner - not only does it look great, but I actually use everything! Click on the photo to see what kind of spices I like to keep around.
There's actually quite a lot going on right now - I've received two exciting packages in the mail, Steph starts his course to become certified in special education tomorrow, and my birthday's on Tuesday (mark your calendars!), but today's a day for being lazy so if you'll forgive me, I'm going to get back to it!
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
i do not think it means what you think it means
I learned a valuable lesson yesterday. Just because a word looks the same in French and in English, doesn't mean it means the same.
Last time I went to choir rehearsal, I was told that there would be an audition on Tuesday, May 16, in the hall in Troyes where we often give concerts to the public. so I'm thinking
So imagine my shock when I arrived at the hall last night, five minutes before the audition was the begin, and there is an audience and all the choirs and the director are on stage taking directions.
It was then that I learned that in French, an audition is a small informal concert open to the general public. Ha HA!
Luckily, I had all the apporpriate music, I had worn something presentable (thank GOD it was casual!) and everyone had a good laugh about the whole thing. Though I have to say that I'm pleased that in two years, this is the first time I've had to cop the "I didn't understand, I'm a silly foreigner!" defense. I'm sure it won't be the last!
Last time I went to choir rehearsal, I was told that there would be an audition on Tuesday, May 16, in the hall in Troyes where we often give concerts to the public. so I'm thinking
1. It's nearing the end of the school year, so we're having auditions for the next school year.
2. It's being held in the hall so it can accomadate all the people for the four different choirs, from little kiddies to adults.
So imagine my shock when I arrived at the hall last night, five minutes before the audition was the begin, and there is an audience and all the choirs and the director are on stage taking directions.
It was then that I learned that in French, an audition is a small informal concert open to the general public. Ha HA!
Luckily, I had all the apporpriate music, I had worn something presentable (thank GOD it was casual!) and everyone had a good laugh about the whole thing. Though I have to say that I'm pleased that in two years, this is the first time I've had to cop the "I didn't understand, I'm a silly foreigner!" defense. I'm sure it won't be the last!
Monday, May 15, 2006
one year
When I was seven years old, my parents bought a piano. It was the end of a vacation in North Carolina, and they bought it at a piano dealership just two towns over from where my father was born. We put it in a U-Haul trailer and dragged it all the way back to Florida, where it was installed in the "fancy" living room.
Over the next few years, my sister and I pounded out various scales and musical pieces. Meanwhile, my mother, who had played in the student orchestra when she was a child but never quite got around to learning piano, bought herself The Billy Joel Songbook. The whole family loves Billy Joel, Mom especially. She set out to learn her favorite Billy Joel song.
Unfortunately, Mom never did manage to find her way around that piano. I don't know if it was because she only played on it when the mood struck her, or perhaps the fibromalgia was already doing a number on her hands, but even twenty years ago, she was struggling to get through the first phrase. My sister and I, subtle creatures that we were, used to tease her mercilessly. Whenever we heard that first phrase
we would howl like wounded animals. "Oh noooooooooooooo," we'd moan. "You're killing my ears!"
As I grew older, I learned to leave her in peace. She would never be a virtuoso, and we both knew it, but it gave her happiness and who was I to make fun of her for it? When financial circumstances forced my parents to sell the piano, I like to think she gave it one last shot the night before, for old times' sake.
One year ago today, I sat in the back seat of my father's Buick.
Forty-five minutes earlier, my mother had been taken off the ventilator in ICU at the hospital. Dad thought it would be a good idea to eat an early dinner before going to spend the evening at the hospital, so we were in the middle of preparing some leftover sauce and cooking pasta when the phone rang. Mom was fading.
So I was sitting in the backseat of my father's Buick trying to prepare myself for the worst. I knew what was coming and I couldn't wrap my head around it. My heart was beating so hard I could hear it. It was a rainy, cloudy day, and it seemed everyone in Asheville was in our way, slowing us down.
Mere moments before pulling into the parking lot of the hospital, a new song came on the radio
and I knew. I knew like I know my name, that she was gone, just that moment. I couldn't say the words, I could barely keep the tears from spilling, but I knew it.
It was confirmed minutes later, as we entered the ICU ward and washed our hands, that we had only just missed her. Fifteen days shy of her 60th birthday, Mom had lost her fight with Scleroderma.
I'm not really a superstitious person, and I'm just as skeptical of supernatural stuff as the next person, but I know that my Mom sent us a message one year ago today.
Mommy, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of you. I miss you and need you more than ever. But I want you to know that I heard you.
Over the next few years, my sister and I pounded out various scales and musical pieces. Meanwhile, my mother, who had played in the student orchestra when she was a child but never quite got around to learning piano, bought herself The Billy Joel Songbook. The whole family loves Billy Joel, Mom especially. She set out to learn her favorite Billy Joel song.
Unfortunately, Mom never did manage to find her way around that piano. I don't know if it was because she only played on it when the mood struck her, or perhaps the fibromalgia was already doing a number on her hands, but even twenty years ago, she was struggling to get through the first phrase. My sister and I, subtle creatures that we were, used to tease her mercilessly. Whenever we heard that first phrase
*chord* Don't go changin'...
we would howl like wounded animals. "Oh noooooooooooooo," we'd moan. "You're killing my ears!"
As I grew older, I learned to leave her in peace. She would never be a virtuoso, and we both knew it, but it gave her happiness and who was I to make fun of her for it? When financial circumstances forced my parents to sell the piano, I like to think she gave it one last shot the night before, for old times' sake.
One year ago today, I sat in the back seat of my father's Buick.
Forty-five minutes earlier, my mother had been taken off the ventilator in ICU at the hospital. Dad thought it would be a good idea to eat an early dinner before going to spend the evening at the hospital, so we were in the middle of preparing some leftover sauce and cooking pasta when the phone rang. Mom was fading.
So I was sitting in the backseat of my father's Buick trying to prepare myself for the worst. I knew what was coming and I couldn't wrap my head around it. My heart was beating so hard I could hear it. It was a rainy, cloudy day, and it seemed everyone in Asheville was in our way, slowing us down.
Mere moments before pulling into the parking lot of the hospital, a new song came on the radio
*chord* Don't go changin'...
and I knew. I knew like I know my name, that she was gone, just that moment. I couldn't say the words, I could barely keep the tears from spilling, but I knew it.
It was confirmed minutes later, as we entered the ICU ward and washed our hands, that we had only just missed her. Fifteen days shy of her 60th birthday, Mom had lost her fight with Scleroderma.
I said I love you and that's forever
And this I promise from the heart
I'm not really a superstitious person, and I'm just as skeptical of supernatural stuff as the next person, but I know that my Mom sent us a message one year ago today.
Mommy, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of you. I miss you and need you more than ever. But I want you to know that I heard you.
I could not love you any better
I love you just the way you are
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Part 3 in the can
Man, this really is going slower than I imagined and I'm wondering if I'm even going to make my goal finishing at Christmas, and I've got a couple of (smaller) projects I want to do in the meantime! Luckily, Part 4 is only half this size and then I'll have one third done. Onward and upward!
Friday, May 12, 2006
ikea!
Yesterday, I ran away to Dijon with Doc, who, along with her son Matthieu, had eye doctor's appointments there. We took advantage of this to go to IKEA (pronounced in France "ee-kee-ah"). This was my first time walking into an IKEA and it did not disappoint.
We started off in the cafeteria, where we dined on their famous Swedish meatballs - very tasty! Then we walked around the first floor exhibition area where Doc ordered more goodies for her new house and I found the one item I was looking for (yes, I chose something I wanted from the catalog before I went, and a good thing, too!). Then we went down to the ground floor, where Doc stocked up on new goodies for her new kitchen and I picked up something extra myself (who can beat two wooden kitchen cutting boards for 2 Euros?). After we did some damage to our bank accounts (granted, I did much less damage!) we visited the Swedish food mart, where I picked up what Doc assures me are real bread and butter pickles, some Swedish cheese, and a couple of bottles of Swedish root beer (!). And after all that shopping, why not rest your feet and enjoy a soda and a hot dog, for only one Euro? Then we piled in the car and made the trek home, where poor little Matthieu zonked out in no more than 10 minutes.
Man, that was fun. And now, I get it, ok? I know what it is to love IKEA. I want to go back tomorrow. With mucha moolah. Oh, and wondering what I bought? Don't worry, I'll be taking pictures of it, as soon as Steph installs it this weekend (oooh, intriguing!).
We started off in the cafeteria, where we dined on their famous Swedish meatballs - very tasty! Then we walked around the first floor exhibition area where Doc ordered more goodies for her new house and I found the one item I was looking for (yes, I chose something I wanted from the catalog before I went, and a good thing, too!). Then we went down to the ground floor, where Doc stocked up on new goodies for her new kitchen and I picked up something extra myself (who can beat two wooden kitchen cutting boards for 2 Euros?). After we did some damage to our bank accounts (granted, I did much less damage!) we visited the Swedish food mart, where I picked up what Doc assures me are real bread and butter pickles, some Swedish cheese, and a couple of bottles of Swedish root beer (!). And after all that shopping, why not rest your feet and enjoy a soda and a hot dog, for only one Euro? Then we piled in the car and made the trek home, where poor little Matthieu zonked out in no more than 10 minutes.
Man, that was fun. And now, I get it, ok? I know what it is to love IKEA. I want to go back tomorrow. With mucha moolah. Oh, and wondering what I bought? Don't worry, I'll be taking pictures of it, as soon as Steph installs it this weekend (oooh, intriguing!).
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
vivi vs. la poste
It has now been six months since we moved to our little village, and I can say that we've settled into a comfortable routine here. Just about everything we need can be found here, with two grocery stores, a handful of restaurants, a couple of appliance stores and a shoe store and plenty of doctors' offices. I haven't had any problems at all dealing with the locals in any transactions, except for one: La Poste.
Now, first of all, I should say that the French Post Office does in fact offer many more services than its American counterpart. Not only does it perform all of the duties you'd expect from a post office, but it also serves as a bank, for many years offering checking and savings accounts, and since the beginning of this year, becoming a full-fledged bank with the ability to offer financing. Anyone who can handle all these intricate details certainly has my respect, and I can even report that, in our local post office back in Troyes, they even had service with a smile, and I never had a problem there.
And then we moved to Our Little Village.
This post is a bit long, so if you'd like to continue, please click "Tell Me More!"
The first time I went to buy a few stamps, I'd forgotten that the stamps cost 53 centimes each.
So I hurriedly left that place with my face burning red, but at least I had the stamps I needed.
The latest drama with the local post has been regarding having our mail forwarded from our former address. In France, you have to pay for the privilege to the tune of something around twenty euros, and it's only good for six months. However, you have the option to renew the contract for a further six months for free.
Since our contract started on November 4, we assumed the contract would end on May 4, so during the last week of April I took our copy of the contract and went to the post office. This time I was spared from having to talk to Stamp Lady, but I met her counterpart, Clueless Lady.
I showed her the contract and said that it seemed that it would end in a week or so and we would like to renew. She took a close look at the date on the contract and said, "I'm sorry, but in my opinion it's too close the end of the contract. It takes around ten days for the contract to be renewed, so if there's a pause the renewal won't work. Besides, you'd have to go to Troyes to renew it anyway."
Well I thanked her and went home, and then Steph and I started to worry that we weren't going to get our tax forms** (which are mailed out during May) and we'd have to pay a late fee. Just when we were wondering what to do next, we received another forwarded piece of mail. I took a closer look at the label and noticed that the first contract doesn't expire until the end of May, meaning our tax worries are resolved!
When I showed it to Steph at lunch yesterday, he realized that we could renew the contract anyway. This made him rather suspicious (shouldn't Clueless Lady have known that it wouldn't be over until the end of the month?) so we looked at the fine print on the back of the original contract. Turns out that not only does the contract run until the end of the sixth month, no matter on which date it started, but contracts can be renewed at the new post office! So, armed with the envelope and the contract, I went back to the office yesterday afternoon.
First, I had to talk to Stamp Lady and explain to her that I wanted to renew the contract. She went one step better than Clueless Lady and at least gave me the form to fill out (yep - exact same information, another piece of paper. I HEART bureaucracy!). After I filled it out, I got back in line (I suppose I could have gone back to Stamp Lady but there was a woman about seven months pregnant in line) and then ended up with Clueless Lady. First I explained that Stamp Lady had my first contract and then I gave her the new form and the envelope, showing her where it didn't expire until the end of the month.
Clueless Lady stared at the forms in a state of shock, never bothering to look on the back of the first contract, but finally just stamped the second form, gave me my copy, and I wished her a nice afternoon and I walked out the door.
When I relayed the story to Steph last night with glee, his reaction was, "I hate rednecks like that, (yes, he said "rednecks," I have taught him well!) who think that if you don't speak the language you must be silly (read silly: an idiot)!" Man, if only I had a nickel for everytime I heard a story like that in America....
**You might be thinking, well why didn't you change your address with the tax office when you moved? Well, when we moved here, Steph made a visit to the tax office, and they told him to wait until we received the tax papers, and change it then, so we really didn't have a choice.
Now, first of all, I should say that the French Post Office does in fact offer many more services than its American counterpart. Not only does it perform all of the duties you'd expect from a post office, but it also serves as a bank, for many years offering checking and savings accounts, and since the beginning of this year, becoming a full-fledged bank with the ability to offer financing. Anyone who can handle all these intricate details certainly has my respect, and I can even report that, in our local post office back in Troyes, they even had service with a smile, and I never had a problem there.
And then we moved to Our Little Village.
This post is a bit long, so if you'd like to continue, please click "Tell Me More!"
The first time I went to buy a few stamps, I'd forgotten that the stamps cost 53 centimes each.
Me: "I'd like four 50 cent stamps, please."
Stamp Lady: "Are they for something special?"
Me: "Er.. no... just the regular stamps."
Stamp Lady: (as though she were talking to a small child) "Do you mean the 53 cent stamps?"
Me: (feeling rather like a small child) "Yes, please."
(Insert long diatribe from Stamp Lady about the cost of stamps.)
So I hurriedly left that place with my face burning red, but at least I had the stamps I needed.
The latest drama with the local post has been regarding having our mail forwarded from our former address. In France, you have to pay for the privilege to the tune of something around twenty euros, and it's only good for six months. However, you have the option to renew the contract for a further six months for free.
Since our contract started on November 4, we assumed the contract would end on May 4, so during the last week of April I took our copy of the contract and went to the post office. This time I was spared from having to talk to Stamp Lady, but I met her counterpart, Clueless Lady.
I showed her the contract and said that it seemed that it would end in a week or so and we would like to renew. She took a close look at the date on the contract and said, "I'm sorry, but in my opinion it's too close the end of the contract. It takes around ten days for the contract to be renewed, so if there's a pause the renewal won't work. Besides, you'd have to go to Troyes to renew it anyway."
Well I thanked her and went home, and then Steph and I started to worry that we weren't going to get our tax forms** (which are mailed out during May) and we'd have to pay a late fee. Just when we were wondering what to do next, we received another forwarded piece of mail. I took a closer look at the label and noticed that the first contract doesn't expire until the end of May, meaning our tax worries are resolved!
When I showed it to Steph at lunch yesterday, he realized that we could renew the contract anyway. This made him rather suspicious (shouldn't Clueless Lady have known that it wouldn't be over until the end of the month?) so we looked at the fine print on the back of the original contract. Turns out that not only does the contract run until the end of the sixth month, no matter on which date it started, but contracts can be renewed at the new post office! So, armed with the envelope and the contract, I went back to the office yesterday afternoon.
First, I had to talk to Stamp Lady and explain to her that I wanted to renew the contract. She went one step better than Clueless Lady and at least gave me the form to fill out (yep - exact same information, another piece of paper. I HEART bureaucracy!). After I filled it out, I got back in line (I suppose I could have gone back to Stamp Lady but there was a woman about seven months pregnant in line) and then ended up with Clueless Lady. First I explained that Stamp Lady had my first contract and then I gave her the new form and the envelope, showing her where it didn't expire until the end of the month.
"Yes, but you'll still have to go to Troyes to renew," she said, rather smugly.
"Oh, no I don't," I replied, trying desperately to keep the "Ha! How you like THAT, bizatch!" tone out of my voice.
"EH?" she replied, in wonder.
"Yes, my husband found on the back of the contract that we can do it here. If you turn over the paper, you can see where he marked it."
Clueless Lady stared at the forms in a state of shock, never bothering to look on the back of the first contract, but finally just stamped the second form, gave me my copy, and I wished her a nice afternoon and I walked out the door.
When I relayed the story to Steph last night with glee, his reaction was, "I hate rednecks like that, (yes, he said "rednecks," I have taught him well!) who think that if you don't speak the language you must be silly (read silly: an idiot)!" Man, if only I had a nickel for everytime I heard a story like that in America....
**You might be thinking, well why didn't you change your address with the tax office when you moved? Well, when we moved here, Steph made a visit to the tax office, and they told him to wait until we received the tax papers, and change it then, so we really didn't have a choice.
Monday, May 08, 2006
another holiday
Yep, May is chock full o' holidays, and today we're celebrating VE Day. This means another day off for Steph and another day of laziness for me (I swear, when he's home, I don't want to do anything but goof off. What is that about?). It's a bit rainy and cool here, but we may try to take a walk this afternoon if the skies clear up a little.
This weekend I spent quite a lot of time watching all three parts of The Godfather, which was on loan from Steph's sister (how she came to have a copy in English with no French titles is beyond me). I seem to remember my father watching it everytime it came on tv - after all, my maiden name does end in a vowel - but for whatever reason it never captured my attention enough to sit down and watch the whole thing until this weekend. In fact, that may be an understatement, because I watched both Parts 2 and 3 yesterday, and that's nearly six hours of movie! I remembered bits and pieces of it, but other parts were a complete shock. I can tell you (and for the benefit of those of you who have not yet seen it) I didn't remember it ending like that at all. I also seem to remember that Sofia Coppola got a lot of grief for her performance, but aside from the last scene where, in my opinion, she did indeed appear a bit wooden ("Oh Dad. Why are you doing this to me. *yawn* Why Dad."), she wasn't so terrible. Of course, if I'd seen the movie when it came out, when I was the personification of Drama Queen (both in college major and life) I may not have said that. I may be mellowing in my old age.
Anyway, enjoy your holiday, for those of you who get one, and have a bearable Monday, for those of you who don't.
This weekend I spent quite a lot of time watching all three parts of The Godfather, which was on loan from Steph's sister (how she came to have a copy in English with no French titles is beyond me). I seem to remember my father watching it everytime it came on tv - after all, my maiden name does end in a vowel - but for whatever reason it never captured my attention enough to sit down and watch the whole thing until this weekend. In fact, that may be an understatement, because I watched both Parts 2 and 3 yesterday, and that's nearly six hours of movie! I remembered bits and pieces of it, but other parts were a complete shock. I can tell you (and for the benefit of those of you who have not yet seen it) I didn't remember it ending like that at all. I also seem to remember that Sofia Coppola got a lot of grief for her performance, but aside from the last scene where, in my opinion, she did indeed appear a bit wooden ("Oh Dad. Why are you doing this to me. *yawn* Why Dad."), she wasn't so terrible. Of course, if I'd seen the movie when it came out, when I was the personification of Drama Queen (both in college major and life) I may not have said that. I may be mellowing in my old age.
Anyway, enjoy your holiday, for those of you who get one, and have a bearable Monday, for those of you who don't.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
lunch
Here's what happens when I've been trolling for recipes online and I catch one. I end up making delicious meals I never would have attempted before. This took two hours from start to finish and was so worth it.
Course I'm not doing another thing all day, except maybe watch a movie or three. Have a good weekend, all!
Course I'm not doing another thing all day, except maybe watch a movie or three. Have a good weekend, all!
Friday, May 05, 2006
the upstairs
I had enough presence of mind after I cleaned the upstairs to take some photos, which is something I planned to do way back when I got the new camera (you can find a couple of photos of the downstairs in my flickr set called "home sweet home").
You may notice two things as you go through them:
1. All available windows are open!
The downstairs is still quite cool but with two computers running in one little space, it is already a bit warm upstairs. Happily, we get a gorgeous breeze with two skylights and two windows. Plus all the natural light is so wonderful, it really lifts my spirits!
2. The walls are very bare.
This is a difference of opinion between Steph and I - because we're renting, he doesn't want to have to take the time to cover any holes in the walls and risk losing some of our deposit, and I think that you should make your house a home, no matter how long you're there, and that means decorating with photos and what-not. I have graciously conceded to live in a home with bare walls, as I know eventually we will buy a house and I'll do whatever I damn well please with it. Believe it or not, all the walls have textured wallpaper instead of paint (that can't be less expensive, surely?).
You may notice two things as you go through them:
1. All available windows are open!
The downstairs is still quite cool but with two computers running in one little space, it is already a bit warm upstairs. Happily, we get a gorgeous breeze with two skylights and two windows. Plus all the natural light is so wonderful, it really lifts my spirits!
2. The walls are very bare.
This is a difference of opinion between Steph and I - because we're renting, he doesn't want to have to take the time to cover any holes in the walls and risk losing some of our deposit, and I think that you should make your house a home, no matter how long you're there, and that means decorating with photos and what-not. I have graciously conceded to live in a home with bare walls, as I know eventually we will buy a house and I'll do whatever I damn well please with it. Believe it or not, all the walls have textured wallpaper instead of paint (that can't be less expensive, surely?).
Thursday, May 04, 2006
bloomin' fields
You may remember that just before I went on vacation, I realized that the fields between Our Quaint Village and Troyes were once again green and ready to grow things. Since I've returned, green is fighting for space with the yellow of the first crops to bloom.
These plants with the yellow flowers will yeild Colza oil from the seeds. Not only does the oil have a wide variety of uses, but the waste leftover after pressing the seeds for the oil can be fed to livestock. Hurray for colza!
These plants with the yellow flowers will yeild Colza oil from the seeds. Not only does the oil have a wide variety of uses, but the waste leftover after pressing the seeds for the oil can be fed to livestock. Hurray for colza!
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
and now for something completely different
Say, would you like to see our new commode?
To see the photo, please click "Tell me more!"
Here it is!
By the way, commode is French for a dresser! You didn't think I was going to post a photo of our toilet, did you?
To see the photo, please click "Tell me more!"
Here it is!
By the way, commode is French for a dresser! You didn't think I was going to post a photo of our toilet, did you?
Monday, May 01, 2006
labor day
Today is Labor Day in France, and we'll be celebrating it just like we do in the States - by doing the least amount of labor possible. What we won't be doing here like we do in the States is having a big barbeque outside, as the highs today are somewhere in the 50's. But, if the weather holds, we will visit our first vide grenier of the year after lunch with the in-laws.
Yesterday our village held its annual Spring Commercial Fair, which basically consists of all the businesses putting tables up outside their doors as well as traveling merchants with clothes and shoes and knick-knacks. There were food stands offering barbe a papa (cotton candy) but I'm afraid the ice cream vendors were out of luck (which is just bad timing - more about that later). There was a small art exhibit in the community center and even a small carnival set up for the kids, with bumper cars and a mini carousel. For entertainment, the local Fanfare, or community marching band, marched up and down the main street. I had the oddest sense of displacement when I heard them playing the marching band version of "Gunsmoke." If I'd heard a whistle or a cheer, I think I would have fainted.
The month of April was so maverick when it comes to weather. It was gorgeous for three weeks, and we even turned the heat off in the apartment. It has been getting cooler for the last couple of days and as we were walking back yesterday it started to rain, and it rained lightly for the rest of the day. By the time I went downstairs to make dinner, the temperature downstairs was 15C! That's 60F! In the house! You better believe that heat got snapped back on in a hurry. Here's hoping we got back to warmer springtime temps soon!
Yesterday our village held its annual Spring Commercial Fair, which basically consists of all the businesses putting tables up outside their doors as well as traveling merchants with clothes and shoes and knick-knacks. There were food stands offering barbe a papa (cotton candy) but I'm afraid the ice cream vendors were out of luck (which is just bad timing - more about that later). There was a small art exhibit in the community center and even a small carnival set up for the kids, with bumper cars and a mini carousel. For entertainment, the local Fanfare, or community marching band, marched up and down the main street. I had the oddest sense of displacement when I heard them playing the marching band version of "Gunsmoke." If I'd heard a whistle or a cheer, I think I would have fainted.
The month of April was so maverick when it comes to weather. It was gorgeous for three weeks, and we even turned the heat off in the apartment. It has been getting cooler for the last couple of days and as we were walking back yesterday it started to rain, and it rained lightly for the rest of the day. By the time I went downstairs to make dinner, the temperature downstairs was 15C! That's 60F! In the house! You better believe that heat got snapped back on in a hurry. Here's hoping we got back to warmer springtime temps soon!
Saturday, April 29, 2006
wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
I am running around like a chicken with it's head cut off these days. Yesterday I spent the morning at the conservatory, we had a great session and I was sorry to leave at lunchtime, but we didn't even break for lunch until 1:00 so I knew I had to scram if I was going to get everything else done. As it was, I didn't get home until after 5:00 where I learned that Steph had been a busy bee all day. He even presented me with a list of all the things he'd done: swept most of the house, put the suitcase in the cellar, trimmed his beard (!!!) made an appointment to have his haircut (!!!!), etc. Don't you know I've been giving him gooey eyes ever since? Definitely one of those "Dammit I'm lucky" moments.
Today I put together the furniture base we bought before I went to the States. I promise I only said the really bad words once or twice. I was going to put together the drawers today too, but after putting in three screws, I said, "screw this, (ha!) I'm plugging in the electric screwdriver and I'll do the rest tomorrow!" and that's just what I did.
I've spent another part of the day gathering addresses and designing invitations. To make a long story short, Steph and I are finally going to have our French wedding reception. Only two years late! I'm sure I'm going to be writing more about that in the not-too-distant future.
And then this, which I first saw here, has me laughing harder than a five year old on a sugar high:
If I replay it one more time I think Steph is going to hurt me.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
PS Firefox really is the best. If you're looking at the page and you're wondering why the sidebar is yucky? It's because it's fine in Firefox and I can't be bothered to fix it for IE. Switch today!
Today I put together the furniture base we bought before I went to the States. I promise I only said the really bad words once or twice. I was going to put together the drawers today too, but after putting in three screws, I said, "screw this, (ha!) I'm plugging in the electric screwdriver and I'll do the rest tomorrow!" and that's just what I did.
I've spent another part of the day gathering addresses and designing invitations. To make a long story short, Steph and I are finally going to have our French wedding reception. Only two years late! I'm sure I'm going to be writing more about that in the not-too-distant future.
And then this, which I first saw here, has me laughing harder than a five year old on a sugar high:
If I replay it one more time I think Steph is going to hurt me.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
PS Firefox really is the best. If you're looking at the page and you're wondering why the sidebar is yucky? It's because it's fine in Firefox and I can't be bothered to fix it for IE. Switch today!
Thursday, April 27, 2006
france makes me smile
I had to run over to the local grocery a little while ago to pick up some odds and ends (you know, the stuff you need between the big grocery shops) and as I was wondering down the DVD isle, I learned that the French title of "The Dukes of Hazzard" is "Sherif fais-me peur," or "The Sheriff Scares Me." Heh.
Then driving home I was distracted by a few boys hanging out under the shade of a tree. Well, the boys themselves didn't really distract me, but the one who did a roundoff back-handspring did. Is my village well known for it's gymnastics or something? Have the French recently adopted cheerleaders for football (I can't even say "soccer" anymore) games?
One week after coming home and the biggest step of unpacking is finished - the suitcase is empty. That's not to say that everything has been put away, but at least the suitcase isn't laying open and staring at me everytime I go downstairs. Normally I can't stand the clutter but with Steph home still on Easter holidays, I can't get motivated to do much more than throw a couple of loads in the washer per day and go downstairs and cook meals. What is it about him being home all the time that drains all my motivation away? I've thrown myself into my new recipe search with wild abandon and have a couple of warmer-weather recipes to try out over the next couple of weeks.
Tomorrow there's another stage at the conservatory for our choir and the youth choir which is going to last all day, but I'm going to leave at the lunch break because I have approximately one zillion errands to run and I don't know what time the afternoon session is going to end. Gas prices are climbing higher and higher here so we've got to try to condense as much as possible to help save a little money. I have implemented step one fortaking over the world working at home but until that bears fruit it's really time to tighten the belts a little bit.
Then driving home I was distracted by a few boys hanging out under the shade of a tree. Well, the boys themselves didn't really distract me, but the one who did a roundoff back-handspring did. Is my village well known for it's gymnastics or something? Have the French recently adopted cheerleaders for football (I can't even say "soccer" anymore) games?
One week after coming home and the biggest step of unpacking is finished - the suitcase is empty. That's not to say that everything has been put away, but at least the suitcase isn't laying open and staring at me everytime I go downstairs. Normally I can't stand the clutter but with Steph home still on Easter holidays, I can't get motivated to do much more than throw a couple of loads in the washer per day and go downstairs and cook meals. What is it about him being home all the time that drains all my motivation away? I've thrown myself into my new recipe search with wild abandon and have a couple of warmer-weather recipes to try out over the next couple of weeks.
Tomorrow there's another stage at the conservatory for our choir and the youth choir which is going to last all day, but I'm going to leave at the lunch break because I have approximately one zillion errands to run and I don't know what time the afternoon session is going to end. Gas prices are climbing higher and higher here so we've got to try to condense as much as possible to help save a little money. I have implemented step one for
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
vivi overcomes an obstacle
We spent yesterday helping out Doc and Marc with the staining of the wood on the exterior of their very nearly done new house. Since they had the scaffolding available to them only until Wednesday, they wanted as much help as possible. Unfortuntely, they had to settle for us. (ha!)
Since they started Sunday, over half of the work was done with the first coat, so first thing Monday morning, Steph and Marc set to finishing up the front of the house. I tried to join them, but after climing halfway up the scaffolding, I was overcome with a nauseating wave of vertigo. Frustrated with myself and wanting to help, I made my way alone to the back of the house to see if I could manage to get on the scaffolding there.
Since there's a balcony at the back, the scaffolding wasn't nearly as high as that at the front, so I felt confident that I could overcome my nausea and do some work back there. I set up shop and carefully made my way up to the planks of wood straddling the scaffolding, and got as far as on my knees before I had to take a pause. I stayed in that position for a full ten minutes while I talked myself into standing on my feet, willing the nausea to go the hell away. Finally, I got the nerve to stand up and by the end of the morning I was practically leaping up the scaffolding and bouncing my way across the boards.
I learned that Steph also suffers from vertigo (good thing as now I know he'll never try to convice me to go rock climbing!) and did a bit better than me, helping Marc (who must be part monkey since he was climbing all over the freakin' place) with a corner on the side of the house - the house stands on a hill so the sides require something like 30 feet of scaffolding - but when he tried to work alone on the other side, he didn't feel safe enough. Even Marc, monkey that he is, noticed that it didn't have security bars and minimal planks and set about adding security bars for later. God only knows how Doc's brother-in-law managed alone on Sunday!
After a delicious barbeque lunch back at Doc's current abode, the men set back off to work and Doc and I took her kids for a leisurely uphill climb to see their progress and chill at the local park on the way back.
At 5:00 Steph was ready to call it a day and make our way back home. I nearly slept all the way home. Who knew that conquering your fears would be so exhausting?
Since they started Sunday, over half of the work was done with the first coat, so first thing Monday morning, Steph and Marc set to finishing up the front of the house. I tried to join them, but after climing halfway up the scaffolding, I was overcome with a nauseating wave of vertigo. Frustrated with myself and wanting to help, I made my way alone to the back of the house to see if I could manage to get on the scaffolding there.
Since there's a balcony at the back, the scaffolding wasn't nearly as high as that at the front, so I felt confident that I could overcome my nausea and do some work back there. I set up shop and carefully made my way up to the planks of wood straddling the scaffolding, and got as far as on my knees before I had to take a pause. I stayed in that position for a full ten minutes while I talked myself into standing on my feet, willing the nausea to go the hell away. Finally, I got the nerve to stand up and by the end of the morning I was practically leaping up the scaffolding and bouncing my way across the boards.
I learned that Steph also suffers from vertigo (good thing as now I know he'll never try to convice me to go rock climbing!) and did a bit better than me, helping Marc (who must be part monkey since he was climbing all over the freakin' place) with a corner on the side of the house - the house stands on a hill so the sides require something like 30 feet of scaffolding - but when he tried to work alone on the other side, he didn't feel safe enough. Even Marc, monkey that he is, noticed that it didn't have security bars and minimal planks and set about adding security bars for later. God only knows how Doc's brother-in-law managed alone on Sunday!
After a delicious barbeque lunch back at Doc's current abode, the men set back off to work and Doc and I took her kids for a leisurely uphill climb to see their progress and chill at the local park on the way back.
At 5:00 Steph was ready to call it a day and make our way back home. I nearly slept all the way home. Who knew that conquering your fears would be so exhausting?
Saturday, April 22, 2006
At last, they're loaded
I just finished loading all 86 (presentable) photos onto my flickr page. There's lots of photos of flowers in bloom and general things to see on the farm back in North Carolina where my grandmother lives. Just click on the picture here or on the link in my sidebar.
I think I talked mostly about family in the posts I wrote while I was there, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention the two days when I caught up with friends. On Friday, my sister joined me in hanging out with The Birches, a high falootin' society comprised of my three best friends from college. We ate fancy food in Charlotte and then followed that up with a visit to a wine bar - in a mall, no less. Nothing like liquoring up before a good shop. Unfortunately, sis and I had to cut it short in order to make it back in time for the party being thrown in honor of my cousin and his wife, but it was a much needed afternoon of in-jokes and girl gossip. Thank you ladies, and hopefully we'll do a better one this summer!
Monday afternoon I drove down to Greenville, the town of my last mailing address, to visit with my dear old friends The Dinettes (why aren't there t -shirts yet?). The Dinettes continue to meet once a week at a different restaurant, most mostly stick close to home and enjoy the two favorites (especially since they're in walking distance to most of the members): a Greek pizza joint and a Mexican restuarant. We met Monday night at the Mexican restaurant where I indulged in a couple of grown-up slushies and glorious cheese dip - and I'd forgotten how good their pico de gallo is, too! After a wonderful meal, we retired to S's veranda where more wine was consumed and more catching up was done. Even though they are in the throes of a major kitchen renovation, S and R were extremely gracious hosts (like always!) and made me feel right at home. The next day, it was up and early so S and R could get to work, and also so I could swing by my old office to catch up with those old friends. I brought them some French pastries (*cough*Krispy Kreme*cough*) and checked out their new office arrangements. Not wanting to keep them from working for too long (ha ha!), I kept it short and hopefully next time I'll be able to stay for lunch!
That's pretty much it from the Easter vacation. I think I'm just about over the jet lag, which is a good thing, since we're heading to Doc's new house tomorrow, where she's gonna put me and Steph to work. At least I know the chow will be good!
I think I talked mostly about family in the posts I wrote while I was there, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention the two days when I caught up with friends. On Friday, my sister joined me in hanging out with The Birches, a high falootin' society comprised of my three best friends from college. We ate fancy food in Charlotte and then followed that up with a visit to a wine bar - in a mall, no less. Nothing like liquoring up before a good shop. Unfortunately, sis and I had to cut it short in order to make it back in time for the party being thrown in honor of my cousin and his wife, but it was a much needed afternoon of in-jokes and girl gossip. Thank you ladies, and hopefully we'll do a better one this summer!
Monday afternoon I drove down to Greenville, the town of my last mailing address, to visit with my dear old friends The Dinettes (why aren't there t -shirts yet?). The Dinettes continue to meet once a week at a different restaurant, most mostly stick close to home and enjoy the two favorites (especially since they're in walking distance to most of the members): a Greek pizza joint and a Mexican restuarant. We met Monday night at the Mexican restaurant where I indulged in a couple of grown-up slushies and glorious cheese dip - and I'd forgotten how good their pico de gallo is, too! After a wonderful meal, we retired to S's veranda where more wine was consumed and more catching up was done. Even though they are in the throes of a major kitchen renovation, S and R were extremely gracious hosts (like always!) and made me feel right at home. The next day, it was up and early so S and R could get to work, and also so I could swing by my old office to catch up with those old friends. I brought them some French pastries (*cough*Krispy Kreme*cough*) and checked out their new office arrangements. Not wanting to keep them from working for too long (ha ha!), I kept it short and hopefully next time I'll be able to stay for lunch!
That's pretty much it from the Easter vacation. I think I'm just about over the jet lag, which is a good thing, since we're heading to Doc's new house tomorrow, where she's gonna put me and Steph to work. At least I know the chow will be good!
Thursday, April 20, 2006
and back
It was a relatively uneventful return, though I realized today that my layover was longer than the flight from Toronto to Paris. Toronto is now officially my favorite airport in the world. Not only is it insanely easy to do international connections there, but terminal one has some really nice shops (Lush! If only I had more money! And a bathtub!) and I had no problem making my own little space with my cd player and cross stitch.
I've had a shower and a nap, and I'll be heading back to sleep in a couple of hours, but just wanted to say that I'm home, all is well, I have over a hundred photos to sort through and post and I have more stories about my trip home that I'll share in the next few days. Right after I get over my jet lag - say in a couple of weeks or so?
I've had a shower and a nap, and I'll be heading back to sleep in a couple of hours, but just wanted to say that I'm home, all is well, I have over a hundred photos to sort through and post and I have more stories about my trip home that I'll share in the next few days. Right after I get over my jet lag - say in a couple of weeks or so?
Sunday, April 16, 2006
party party party
When my family gets together, we don't need much of an excuse for a party, but we've got plenty of things to celebrate this weekend so we've had one event right after the other over the last couple of days. Last night we celebrated my cousin's wedding and welcomed J into the family. We had a nice time getting to know her and catching up with various and sundry relatives coming into town for the holiday weekend.
This afternoon we had a surprise birthday party for my great-aunt who will turn 80 on Easter Sunday. She thought she was coming to the bridal shower for her granddaughter, so imagine her face when everyone waiting in the church library burst into "Happy Birthday!" when she walked in the door. It was priceless! I gave the video feature on my camera another workout and I can't wait to get home and see how it came out.
I just came from the actual bridal shower my aunt thought she was going to this afternoon. My cousin Lisa is getting married in June and this shower was thrown by her sisters. They had the most fun shower game I've ever seen - since the shower had a tropical theme, everyone got laied (ha!) and if anyone got caught saying the special word, they got their lai taken away. The person with the most lais at the end of the evening won a prize. Since we were treated to, among other delicious desserts, a chocolate fondue, the special word was "chocolate." Cousin Liz was the front-runner for most of the evening, but I just happened to be standing behind her when she muttered something about chocolate on her pants and I caught her out and won all her lais. This happened only moments before Lisa was finished opening her gifts, so I didn't have to hold out very long to be declared the winner! I had such a good time having a girls' night with the amazing ladies in my family.
Tomorrow is the Big Day when we'll be heading to the church bright and early at 10:45 (now there's some good Christians who like to sleep late - my kind of people!) and then we'll be back out at the farm to spend the day with the family and, I'm sure, eating lots of delicious food. I'm going to try to get away at some point with my camera and take some photos of the gorgeous flowers that are blooming all around my Grandmother's house. I'm surprised the pollen hasn't gotten to me yet with all this bloomin' going on, and I hope it stays that way for the next few days!
This afternoon we had a surprise birthday party for my great-aunt who will turn 80 on Easter Sunday. She thought she was coming to the bridal shower for her granddaughter, so imagine her face when everyone waiting in the church library burst into "Happy Birthday!" when she walked in the door. It was priceless! I gave the video feature on my camera another workout and I can't wait to get home and see how it came out.
I just came from the actual bridal shower my aunt thought she was going to this afternoon. My cousin Lisa is getting married in June and this shower was thrown by her sisters. They had the most fun shower game I've ever seen - since the shower had a tropical theme, everyone got laied (ha!) and if anyone got caught saying the special word, they got their lai taken away. The person with the most lais at the end of the evening won a prize. Since we were treated to, among other delicious desserts, a chocolate fondue, the special word was "chocolate." Cousin Liz was the front-runner for most of the evening, but I just happened to be standing behind her when she muttered something about chocolate on her pants and I caught her out and won all her lais. This happened only moments before Lisa was finished opening her gifts, so I didn't have to hold out very long to be declared the winner! I had such a good time having a girls' night with the amazing ladies in my family.
Tomorrow is the Big Day when we'll be heading to the church bright and early at 10:45 (now there's some good Christians who like to sleep late - my kind of people!) and then we'll be back out at the farm to spend the day with the family and, I'm sure, eating lots of delicious food. I'm going to try to get away at some point with my camera and take some photos of the gorgeous flowers that are blooming all around my Grandmother's house. I'm surprised the pollen hasn't gotten to me yet with all this bloomin' going on, and I hope it stays that way for the next few days!
Friday, April 14, 2006
things about america i'd forgotten
* People wear work-out clothes out in public - and they're not even going to work out!
* It's not necessary to say goodbye to people when you walk out of a store!
* One load of laundry only takes an hour and a half, from start to finish!!
Yesterday, my sister and I did a little retail therapy (in fact, more retail therapy than I'd anticipated, ouch) and then went out to the farm to see Dad and Grandma. My father's childhood best friend with his wife, daughter and two of his grandchildren are passing through on the way to Florida in their RV and have stayed the night, so we had a great day of catching up. Today is lunch with the girlies and back to the farm to visit with relatives coming in from out of town.
Exotic American food consumed:
everything bagel with cream cheese
hazelnut coffee
BLT with real bacon
hash browns, scattered
* It's not necessary to say goodbye to people when you walk out of a store!
* One load of laundry only takes an hour and a half, from start to finish!!
Yesterday, my sister and I did a little retail therapy (in fact, more retail therapy than I'd anticipated, ouch) and then went out to the farm to see Dad and Grandma. My father's childhood best friend with his wife, daughter and two of his grandchildren are passing through on the way to Florida in their RV and have stayed the night, so we had a great day of catching up. Today is lunch with the girlies and back to the farm to visit with relatives coming in from out of town.
Exotic American food consumed:
everything bagel with cream cheese
hazelnut coffee
BLT with real bacon
hash browns, scattered
Thursday, April 13, 2006
vivi's tips for international travel
* When flying out of Charles de Gaulle Terminal 2, be sure to arrive as soon as possible. I got there two and a half hours before my flight and practically walked right on the plane, thanks to the ridiculously long passport control. Oh, and I was lucky - just after I got through, one of the two passport controllers went on break.
* I don't care what your health situation is, always ask for a low-fat meal. I did it for the first time this trip, and I was super impressed. Plenty of tasty food and none of the greasy feeling afterwards.
* Headphones are a great alternative to beating the snot out of that toddler three rows behind you making high pitched squeals. For eight hours.
* When using the washroom facilities on board your plane, be sure that water comes out of the faucet before lathering up the hands with soap. The moist towelettes stacked up next to the faucet might be a good hint.
* Addendum to last tip: Moist towelettes are not an effective way to remove soap from your hands.
Dang, it's hard to be funny when you've been awake for thirty-two hours. I have most certainly arrived. First stop off the plane was to visit my good friend Moe. Sweet tea and cheesy goodness. And then I sat down in front of the tv and found Dog the bounty hunter. I'm gonna be here for a while. More about what I did in Paris yesterday and stuff after I've slept a couple of days. Or something.
* I don't care what your health situation is, always ask for a low-fat meal. I did it for the first time this trip, and I was super impressed. Plenty of tasty food and none of the greasy feeling afterwards.
* Headphones are a great alternative to beating the snot out of that toddler three rows behind you making high pitched squeals. For eight hours.
* When using the washroom facilities on board your plane, be sure that water comes out of the faucet before lathering up the hands with soap. The moist towelettes stacked up next to the faucet might be a good hint.
* Addendum to last tip: Moist towelettes are not an effective way to remove soap from your hands.
Dang, it's hard to be funny when you've been awake for thirty-two hours. I have most certainly arrived. First stop off the plane was to visit my good friend Moe. Sweet tea and cheesy goodness. And then I sat down in front of the tv and found Dog the bounty hunter. I'm gonna be here for a while. More about what I did in Paris yesterday and stuff after I've slept a couple of days. Or something.
Saturday, April 08, 2006
green!
We drove to Troyes to have lunch with the in-laws today. Days like today are what make living in the French countryside so amazing for me - green as far as the eye can see. Slowly, fields are being plowed over in preperation for the new planting season, and it won't be long before they'll be covered with sunflowers and betteraves, or sugar beets.
While in town, we bought a new piece of furniture for our upstairs hallway. It comes from a place that we've bought many other pieces that you put together yourself, including our guest clic-clac and some bookshelves, but this time we had some bad luck. The top piece had packing paper glued to it and another board was snapped clear in half. Steph said that it's the first time in 15 years he's ever had a problem with this company, so I won't tell you who they are, but it won't be finished until I get back from the States, since they have to order the replacement board. It was such a disappointment, as I was really looking forward to getting stuck in putting that thing together.
My other project today was a little bit of sewing. I only want to bring a smallish bag as my carry-on when I fly overseas next week, but all I have is a tote bag that belonged to my Mom. It's the perfect size but didn't close. I say "didn't" because I spent an hour or so sewing a couple of snaps at the top so hopefully it's a little less inviting to those with sticky fingers. It's not the best job ever, as there wasn't really a way to hide the thread without taking the thing apart, but it's not glaringly obvious thanks to a butterfly motif in several different colors. This is going to be my lightest overseas trip ever, and it's going to be a nice change.
Tomorrow and Monday will be last chance for laundry (I'm giving myself two days because of the eternal washing and drying time of one load in France), and Monday will be last chance for shopping. Tuesday morning I'll be off to Paris as my flight leaves earlyish on Wednesday. It's all coming together and I'm so ready for this trip!
While in town, we bought a new piece of furniture for our upstairs hallway. It comes from a place that we've bought many other pieces that you put together yourself, including our guest clic-clac and some bookshelves, but this time we had some bad luck. The top piece had packing paper glued to it and another board was snapped clear in half. Steph said that it's the first time in 15 years he's ever had a problem with this company, so I won't tell you who they are, but it won't be finished until I get back from the States, since they have to order the replacement board. It was such a disappointment, as I was really looking forward to getting stuck in putting that thing together.
My other project today was a little bit of sewing. I only want to bring a smallish bag as my carry-on when I fly overseas next week, but all I have is a tote bag that belonged to my Mom. It's the perfect size but didn't close. I say "didn't" because I spent an hour or so sewing a couple of snaps at the top so hopefully it's a little less inviting to those with sticky fingers. It's not the best job ever, as there wasn't really a way to hide the thread without taking the thing apart, but it's not glaringly obvious thanks to a butterfly motif in several different colors. This is going to be my lightest overseas trip ever, and it's going to be a nice change.
Tomorrow and Monday will be last chance for laundry (I'm giving myself two days because of the eternal washing and drying time of one load in France), and Monday will be last chance for shopping. Tuesday morning I'll be off to Paris as my flight leaves earlyish on Wednesday. It's all coming together and I'm so ready for this trip!
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
a (bad) joke
A member of my choir is singing a big Bach piece with another choir next week, so he handed out some leaflets in rehearsal tonight to drum up some interest.
Someone said, "Good job you're doing Jean-Sebastien Bach and not his son, Carl Phillipe Emmanuel, because no one wants to see anything by CPE Bach right now!"
*groan*
And that, my friends, is likely the only post you'll get out of me concerning the CPE and the strikes in France, except to say that it's been really interesting watching the events unfold,though I can say that since they haven't affected me at all see update below. I know many others in my sidebar haven't been so lucky. Ah, to live in the countryside.... Sorry. I tease because I love.
Also, I don't like the French tendancy to Frenchify common names of classical composers - even in the States we called him Johann and not Jean. But, that's how I heard the joke, so I left it.
Today was a very long day, and I'm pooped. Hopefully, pooped enough to sleep through the night, for a change. Nighty night!
Update: I'm seeing reports that they're calling for another strike next Tuesday, when I travel to Paris because my flight leaves the next morning. Can anyone confirm/deny?
Someone said, "Good job you're doing Jean-Sebastien Bach and not his son, Carl Phillipe Emmanuel, because no one wants to see anything by CPE Bach right now!"
*groan*
And that, my friends, is likely the only post you'll get out of me concerning the CPE and the strikes in France, except to say that it's been really interesting watching the events unfold,
Also, I don't like the French tendancy to Frenchify common names of classical composers - even in the States we called him Johann and not Jean. But, that's how I heard the joke, so I left it.
Today was a very long day, and I'm pooped. Hopefully, pooped enough to sleep through the night, for a change. Nighty night!
Update: I'm seeing reports that they're calling for another strike next Tuesday, when I travel to Paris because my flight leaves the next morning. Can anyone confirm/deny?
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
stitching and gift ideas
I finished up part 2 of my massive cross stitch project last night. I had a few stumbling blocks, like last time, but this time is different because I feel confident I corrected any mistakes as I went, so I believe this section is fault-free. Woo!
Meanwhile, I'm going to start gathering gifts to bring home this week (can't believe I leave in a week, it doesn't seem real!). I'm in a quandry as to what to bring for my great-aunt (who is at once both great and the younger sister of my grandmother) who will turn 80 years old when I'm there. I'd first thought to bring a bottle of Champagne, since that's where I live, and some chocolates that are made in this area, but it seems that she's not allowed to drink alcohol and the chocolates also have alcohol in them, so I'm a bit flummoxed now. Anyone have any suggestions?
Update: I just had the brilliant idea to call my Grandmother and ask her what she thought (duh!). Grandma saves the day: she suggests a small token from the Troyes tourist shop will suffice, and she thinks my aunt will appreciate the fact that I've brought something over from France. It turns out that she's on some kind of odd diet and can't consume chocolate (!!!) as well as alcohol. I say if you can't get to 80 and consume all the alcohol and chocolate you want, then what's the point? Anyway, thanks Grandma! Can't wait to see you next week!
Meanwhile, I'm going to start gathering gifts to bring home this week (can't believe I leave in a week, it doesn't seem real!). I'm in a quandry as to what to bring for my great-aunt (who is at once both great and the younger sister of my grandmother) who will turn 80 years old when I'm there. I'd first thought to bring a bottle of Champagne, since that's where I live, and some chocolates that are made in this area, but it seems that she's not allowed to drink alcohol and the chocolates also have alcohol in them, so I'm a bit flummoxed now. Anyone have any suggestions?
Update: I just had the brilliant idea to call my Grandmother and ask her what she thought (duh!). Grandma saves the day: she suggests a small token from the Troyes tourist shop will suffice, and she thinks my aunt will appreciate the fact that I've brought something over from France. It turns out that she's on some kind of odd diet and can't consume chocolate (!!!) as well as alcohol. I say if you can't get to 80 and consume all the alcohol and chocolate you want, then what's the point? Anyway, thanks Grandma! Can't wait to see you next week!
Monday, April 03, 2006
blue skirt
Because you asked so nice, here's the famous blue skirt I've been raving over the last few days or so. The next live appearance will be April 16, in a church in North Carolina. Reckon the girls will point and stare?
holy moly!
This weekend, Steph and I headed back to the country for a very special occassion: the baptism of Doc's daughter, Christine. It was a really beautiful ceremony, and it being the first time I've been invited to an "Important Ceremony" (ie weddings, baptisms, funerals, etc. though I can do without that last one for a while yet, thanks) since I've moved to France I found it all very interesting. Much to my surprise, I was able to follow the majority of the mass, and I found the priest to be a very energetic, entertaining sort of fellow who likes audience participation ("And why did you choose this particular passage?"). The lovely little Christine, who had been screaming bloody murder the night before until 5am, was a perfect angel and didn't blink an eye when being fussed over with water and oil.
Afterwards, we all celebrated at a nearby restaurant and enjoyed an outstanding meal with friends and family that had arrived from all over for the special event.
I took a few pictures (they can be seen on my flickr feed) and I even took a few videos of the ceremony. This was the first time I took any video with my camera, and considering I didn't take into account any of its video features when I bought it, and you can't use flash or zoom when the video is running, I am quite impressed with the quality I got. That means you may be inundated with boring videos from me in the near future....
Anyway, thank you very much to Doc & Marc for including us in Christine's special day!
Afterwards, we all celebrated at a nearby restaurant and enjoyed an outstanding meal with friends and family that had arrived from all over for the special event.
I took a few pictures (they can be seen on my flickr feed) and I even took a few videos of the ceremony. This was the first time I took any video with my camera, and considering I didn't take into account any of its video features when I bought it, and you can't use flash or zoom when the video is running, I am quite impressed with the quality I got. That means you may be inundated with boring videos from me in the near future....
Anyway, thank you very much to Doc & Marc for including us in Christine's special day!
Friday, March 31, 2006
friday rebounds!
As opposed to yesterday, everything went according to plan today:
* All things that were supposed to be purchased yesterday were successfully purchased today, including cute new brown flats (may or may not post some kind of photo of skirt and shoes tomorrow, time pending)
* Steph was happily surprised to receive a chocolate cake and presents when he got home from work among other things *wink wink nudge nudge* so I think I can reasonably say it was indeed a Happy Birthday
The only downside is that we both still feel like crap. This cold thing just will. not. die!
We're off to spread our diseases to other people in the country this weekend. Hope you're all doing something equally as interesting.
* All things that were supposed to be purchased yesterday were successfully purchased today, including cute new brown flats (may or may not post some kind of photo of skirt and shoes tomorrow, time pending)
* Steph was happily surprised to receive a chocolate cake and presents when he got home from work among other things *wink wink nudge nudge* so I think I can reasonably say it was indeed a Happy Birthday
The only downside is that we both still feel like crap. This cold thing just will. not. die!
We're off to spread our diseases to other people in the country this weekend. Hope you're all doing something equally as interesting.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
the clusterf*ck
In Which Everthing That Could Go Wrong, Did.
The plan:
1. Stop at store on the way into Troyes, where you're sure you won't find anything but it's worth a shot.
2. Go to store in Troyes where you have found clothes before.
3. Pick up gift for the little girl who's getting sprinkled with holy water this weekend.
4. Go to big grocery store, pick up a few groceries plus stuff to bake a cake for husband.
5. Fill up the tank, as you're already starting out at less than a quarter of a tank because your husband famously doesn't bother to fill up the tank until the light comes on (grr).
What really happened:
1. Stop at the store on the way into Troyes, find nothing as expected. Continue on.
2. Go to the store in Troyes, find a great skirt and sweater, go to the cashier to pay. Realize you don't have the bank card in your wallet. Husband must have taken it, but that's ok because you always have the.... check..... bo....um......
3. Put skirt and sweater on reserve, drive home on fumes, beat self up over the fact that you didn't do the money check before you left the house.
*sigh*
Well, I'll have to go back tomorrow, but them's the breaks. I am really pleased with the skirt I found, however. You know those trendy skirts that have the two-layer thing going on that look like costume rejects from Oliver! or something? Yeah, I bought one of those. In blue. Yeah, I'm trendy, bite me. I have no idea what kind of shoes look good with those skirts, however... any suggestions?
The plan:
1. Stop at store on the way into Troyes, where you're sure you won't find anything but it's worth a shot.
2. Go to store in Troyes where you have found clothes before.
3. Pick up gift for the little girl who's getting sprinkled with holy water this weekend.
4. Go to big grocery store, pick up a few groceries plus stuff to bake a cake for husband.
5. Fill up the tank, as you're already starting out at less than a quarter of a tank because your husband famously doesn't bother to fill up the tank until the light comes on (grr).
What really happened:
1. Stop at the store on the way into Troyes, find nothing as expected. Continue on.
2. Go to the store in Troyes, find a great skirt and sweater, go to the cashier to pay. Realize you don't have the bank card in your wallet. Husband must have taken it, but that's ok because you always have the.... check..... bo....um......
3. Put skirt and sweater on reserve, drive home on fumes, beat self up over the fact that you didn't do the money check before you left the house.
*sigh*
Well, I'll have to go back tomorrow, but them's the breaks. I am really pleased with the skirt I found, however. You know those trendy skirts that have the two-layer thing going on that look like costume rejects from Oliver! or something? Yeah, I bought one of those. In blue. Yeah, I'm trendy, bite me. I have no idea what kind of shoes look good with those skirts, however... any suggestions?
i feel happeeeeeeeee*
*bonus points to those who can name the movie this quote is from.
My goodness, is it Thursday already? This week has flown by in a haze of tissues and maximum doses of benedryl. Can someone please explain to me why, when my husband passes me a cold, it takes on some kind of mutant gene and multiplies by ten? Steph was sick for a few days but it never stopped him from going to work and at worst he maybe snored a bit louder than usual (if that is even possible). When I got it, at the peak I was shaking from fever chills and sleeping thirteen hours at a stretch. What the hell is that? Also, I've now learned that attempting to cross stitch while feeling under the weather will only be an exercise in frustration, since I screwed up one tiny section not once but twice and something that should have taken an hour ended up taking around four.
Well, today I'm feeling better, still stuffy nose notwithstanding, and it's a good thing, too, as I've got a lot of errands to run today. In addition to tomorrow being Steph's birthday, we've been invited to see a certain (very) young lady be baptised this weekend, and as I haven't bought any "dressy" clothes since, oh, I moved to this country, I desperately need to find something fitting for this weekend (which I can also wear on Easter when I go to the States in a couple of weeks). I hate, HATE clothes shopping so prepare yourselves for a real good whiney and depressingly sad post this evening or tomorrow.
My goodness, is it Thursday already? This week has flown by in a haze of tissues and maximum doses of benedryl. Can someone please explain to me why, when my husband passes me a cold, it takes on some kind of mutant gene and multiplies by ten? Steph was sick for a few days but it never stopped him from going to work and at worst he maybe snored a bit louder than usual (if that is even possible). When I got it, at the peak I was shaking from fever chills and sleeping thirteen hours at a stretch. What the hell is that? Also, I've now learned that attempting to cross stitch while feeling under the weather will only be an exercise in frustration, since I screwed up one tiny section not once but twice and something that should have taken an hour ended up taking around four.
Well, today I'm feeling better, still stuffy nose notwithstanding, and it's a good thing, too, as I've got a lot of errands to run today. In addition to tomorrow being Steph's birthday, we've been invited to see a certain (very) young lady be baptised this weekend, and as I haven't bought any "dressy" clothes since, oh, I moved to this country, I desperately need to find something fitting for this weekend (which I can also wear on Easter when I go to the States in a couple of weeks). I hate, HATE clothes shopping so prepare yourselves for a real good whiney and depressingly sad post this evening or tomorrow.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
spring fever - catch it!
It starts with a tickle in the back of the throat. Then it becomes more of a scratch. Soon you notice that you're sniffling every once in a while. After a while, you're just about to stuff a tissue up a nostril when you realize that you've got a headache coming on.
"Well, damn," you think, "here it comes, and I'm powerless to stop it."
This is what I've been doing for the past four or five hours - feeling my first head cold of the year come on. The timing could have been better, since I've got a bunch of stuff to do this week, but better now than when I'm about to board a plane for an eight-hour flight in a little less than three weeks.
So we had the big lunch today. Not only that, but we got a call last night from Steph's sister who lives in Reims who wanted to stop by for coffee this morning on their way home from the in-law's. Yesterday was such a bad day (I will elaborate in another post) and the last thing I wanted was to have to get up early on the day of Daylight Saving and serve coffee with a smile, but we sucked it up and did it anyway. Once they were out the door, I could start working on lunch.
I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but it's been my experience that entertaining guests at mealtime is an affair consisting of several courses over several hours. Both lunches and dinners generally follow the same basic outline: an aperitif (cocktail, whisky, porto, etc.) with a snack (it seems that it's considered bad form to drink on an empty stomach) followed by the entrance, main course, cheese and finally coffee and dessert. You can see how having guests over for dinner can suddenly turn into quite a production, especially for me who can turn into Neurotic Host Who Wants Everyone to Have A Nice Time in no time flat.
I'm afraid I didn't take any photos of the dining extravaganza as I barely had time to sit down between the moment my sister-in-law and family left and the in-laws arrived, but it turned out to be a really nice afternoon, despite all my hand-wringing and worrying. They arrived, flowers in hand (photo to come) while I was still cooking up the main course but we all sat around the table drinking our aperitifs while I cooked. The entrance was a traditional, yet easy dish (and I wish I had photographed it as it would have had some really fun color combinations) consisting of grated carrots tossed with vinagrette and garlic and sliced tomatoes. The main course, which was a special request from Steph since it's really something the in-laws have never had, was a Southern delight of fresh fried chicken strips with mashed potatoes and green beans. Of course they know mashed potatoes as puree and green beans as haricots verts but the fried chicken was a new experience for them and I was so happy that they seemed to really enjoy it.
After all that Southern lovin' there wasn't any room for cheese (which is good since I hadn't bought any - oops) and after the dishes were cleaned up (during which I actually convinced MIL to stay in her seat like a good guest - ha HA!) we had coffee and a tarte pomme (apple pie) from the boulangerie around the corner. Just over three hours after they had arrived, lunch was finished and I was allowed to collapse on the couch.
And to think there are French women who cook like this for their families every day!! They must be out of their minds!
Anyway, yes, the cold is comin' on strong, and I hope it only lasts a couple of days so I can get on with what I need to get on with. Fingers crossed.
"Well, damn," you think, "here it comes, and I'm powerless to stop it."
This is what I've been doing for the past four or five hours - feeling my first head cold of the year come on. The timing could have been better, since I've got a bunch of stuff to do this week, but better now than when I'm about to board a plane for an eight-hour flight in a little less than three weeks.
So we had the big lunch today. Not only that, but we got a call last night from Steph's sister who lives in Reims who wanted to stop by for coffee this morning on their way home from the in-law's. Yesterday was such a bad day (I will elaborate in another post) and the last thing I wanted was to have to get up early on the day of Daylight Saving and serve coffee with a smile, but we sucked it up and did it anyway. Once they were out the door, I could start working on lunch.
I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but it's been my experience that entertaining guests at mealtime is an affair consisting of several courses over several hours. Both lunches and dinners generally follow the same basic outline: an aperitif (cocktail, whisky, porto, etc.) with a snack (it seems that it's considered bad form to drink on an empty stomach) followed by the entrance, main course, cheese and finally coffee and dessert. You can see how having guests over for dinner can suddenly turn into quite a production, especially for me who can turn into Neurotic Host Who Wants Everyone to Have A Nice Time in no time flat.
I'm afraid I didn't take any photos of the dining extravaganza as I barely had time to sit down between the moment my sister-in-law and family left and the in-laws arrived, but it turned out to be a really nice afternoon, despite all my hand-wringing and worrying. They arrived, flowers in hand (photo to come) while I was still cooking up the main course but we all sat around the table drinking our aperitifs while I cooked. The entrance was a traditional, yet easy dish (and I wish I had photographed it as it would have had some really fun color combinations) consisting of grated carrots tossed with vinagrette and garlic and sliced tomatoes. The main course, which was a special request from Steph since it's really something the in-laws have never had, was a Southern delight of fresh fried chicken strips with mashed potatoes and green beans. Of course they know mashed potatoes as puree and green beans as haricots verts but the fried chicken was a new experience for them and I was so happy that they seemed to really enjoy it.
After all that Southern lovin' there wasn't any room for cheese (which is good since I hadn't bought any - oops) and after the dishes were cleaned up (during which I actually convinced MIL to stay in her seat like a good guest - ha HA!) we had coffee and a tarte pomme (apple pie) from the boulangerie around the corner. Just over three hours after they had arrived, lunch was finished and I was allowed to collapse on the couch.
And to think there are French women who cook like this for their families every day!! They must be out of their minds!
Anyway, yes, the cold is comin' on strong, and I hope it only lasts a couple of days so I can get on with what I need to get on with. Fingers crossed.
Friday, March 24, 2006
i don't even like eggs that much
I did my weekend shopping at the local grocery this afternoon. When I got to the cashier, I realized I hadn't checked the eggs to be sure they weren't cracked. I opened the carton and sure enough, one had a little crack in it. The cashier was wrapping up a transation with the person in front of me so I just said that I was going to go exchange the eggs. She asked me why, and when I replied that one of them were broken, she motioned to give them to her so they wouldn't go back on the shelf for someone else to pick up (duh). With that, I scurried to the back corner of the store (where items you need when you're standing at the cash register are always magically placed), scurried back with a new carton of (checked) eggs, and this should be the end of a tale in which I crow about my confidence in speaking to the cashier (I always stutter and can never think on my feet in French).
Oh, but no.
I was putting my items in my bag and I picked up the last item - the new carton of eggs - and promptly and spaztasticly flipped them onto the floor.
"Truly, it wasn't the eggs," said the cashier.
"Oh, but yes it was," I replied, now trying not to burst into maniacal laughter.
The cashier came around to clean up the spill (there's no "clean up in aisle five" in these parts) and I scurried off for yet another carton of eggs, before the cashier could stop me. When I got back, she simply replaced the one broken egg from the first carton with one of the eggs that somehow managed to survive the fall unscathed. The end, right?
Come on, you know me better than that.
It was raining by the time I got outside, so I made a quick dash to the shopping cart hook-up, hoisted my bag out and snapped my cart in place, dashed to my car, set the bag in the backseat and jumped in the front seat. As I approached the exit of the parking lot, I had to make a left turn. The bag shifted enough that one sole item flipped out of the bag and into the floorboards.
Yes, you guessed it.
So I ended up with five eggs anyway. Good thing I needed exactly five for the dining extravaganza I'm planing for the in-laws this weekend. Next time, I'm not even gonna look. Taking my chances has to be better than the egg dancing I did this afternoon!
Oh, but no.
I was putting my items in my bag and I picked up the last item - the new carton of eggs - and promptly and spaztasticly flipped them onto the floor.
"Truly, it wasn't the eggs," said the cashier.
"Oh, but yes it was," I replied, now trying not to burst into maniacal laughter.
The cashier came around to clean up the spill (there's no "clean up in aisle five" in these parts) and I scurried off for yet another carton of eggs, before the cashier could stop me. When I got back, she simply replaced the one broken egg from the first carton with one of the eggs that somehow managed to survive the fall unscathed. The end, right?
Come on, you know me better than that.
It was raining by the time I got outside, so I made a quick dash to the shopping cart hook-up, hoisted my bag out and snapped my cart in place, dashed to my car, set the bag in the backseat and jumped in the front seat. As I approached the exit of the parking lot, I had to make a left turn. The bag shifted enough that one sole item flipped out of the bag and into the floorboards.
Yes, you guessed it.
So I ended up with five eggs anyway. Good thing I needed exactly five for the dining extravaganza I'm planing for the in-laws this weekend. Next time, I'm not even gonna look. Taking my chances has to be better than the egg dancing I did this afternoon!
Thursday, March 23, 2006
haricots noirs a la maison
So I finally made some black beans and rice for lunch today. You know, the very thing I've been obsessing about making for about two months or so now?
Man, what a disappointment. I don't know what I did wrong, but they came out super bitter. Well, not so bitter that we won't eat the leftovers, but not nearly the savory delight I had in Nancy a few weeks ago. I suspect that my bean-to-spice ratio was off, but I don't know since I'd never made them before. Anyone out there have a tried and true black bean recipe they could suggest?
On the other hand, the chicken, whose recipe I simply made up at the last moment because my dear husband insists that lunches and dinners include meat or he'll starve to death (*eye roll*) came out suprisingly well and will definitely be added to my ever-growing recipe book.
Man, what a disappointment. I don't know what I did wrong, but they came out super bitter. Well, not so bitter that we won't eat the leftovers, but not nearly the savory delight I had in Nancy a few weeks ago. I suspect that my bean-to-spice ratio was off, but I don't know since I'd never made them before. Anyone out there have a tried and true black bean recipe they could suggest?
On the other hand, the chicken, whose recipe I simply made up at the last moment because my dear husband insists that lunches and dinners include meat or he'll starve to death (*eye roll*) came out suprisingly well and will definitely be added to my ever-growing recipe book.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
around the blogosphere
This may seem like a cop-out post, but sometimes you just find such cool stuff you want to share them, you know? Here are four blogs that I would like to bring to your attention because I've been enjoying the hell out of them and I'd like to share.
First up, Kim is an American going to university at La Havre and she is writing some very interesting posts about the current student strikes happening all over France. The strike situation is one I haven't written about for a variety of reasons but I may try to tackle soon. Anyway, Kim's view is very interesting and it's fascinating to see it from her perspective.
GC Philo is an American teaching English as a second language in southern Spain. I've been reading his blog for months but only got off my ass and created a new "Spain" button for my sidebar today. The title of his blog is Not Safe For Work (I put the alternate title in my sidebar because I am such a wuss!) but just do a finger-scroll and read his extremely-well written and entertaining posts. I really look forward to his weekly updates - and hey, he just got engaged! Go congratulate him!
Gnumoon is a photographer at App State (where some of my cousins went to school, so Woo!) and recently worked the Nine Inch Nails concert there. The photo gallery from the show can be seen here. Is it just me, or does Trent look a little more... beefy than he used to? Hm. I've seen him twice - Orlando in a teeny tiny club in 1989 (still my favorite concert ever) and in Charlotte in 1991 or so with the band Pigface. From the way Gnumoon talked about the concert, it sounds like his shows are just as intense as ever.
Once again, my Bloglines list is increasing, thanks to Boing Boing. My newest addition is Geoffrey Chaucer Hath A Blog. Verily I say unto thee, it ys quite goode.
And by the way - I'm going home for a week for Easter! Bought the ticket yesterday! Woo!
First up, Kim is an American going to university at La Havre and she is writing some very interesting posts about the current student strikes happening all over France. The strike situation is one I haven't written about for a variety of reasons but I may try to tackle soon. Anyway, Kim's view is very interesting and it's fascinating to see it from her perspective.
GC Philo is an American teaching English as a second language in southern Spain. I've been reading his blog for months but only got off my ass and created a new "Spain" button for my sidebar today. The title of his blog is Not Safe For Work (I put the alternate title in my sidebar because I am such a wuss!) but just do a finger-scroll and read his extremely-well written and entertaining posts. I really look forward to his weekly updates - and hey, he just got engaged! Go congratulate him!
Gnumoon is a photographer at App State (where some of my cousins went to school, so Woo!) and recently worked the Nine Inch Nails concert there. The photo gallery from the show can be seen here. Is it just me, or does Trent look a little more... beefy than he used to? Hm. I've seen him twice - Orlando in a teeny tiny club in 1989 (still my favorite concert ever) and in Charlotte in 1991 or so with the band Pigface. From the way Gnumoon talked about the concert, it sounds like his shows are just as intense as ever.
Once again, my Bloglines list is increasing, thanks to Boing Boing. My newest addition is Geoffrey Chaucer Hath A Blog. Verily I say unto thee, it ys quite goode.
And by the way - I'm going home for a week for Easter! Bought the ticket yesterday! Woo!
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