the one you've all been waiting for

As I was setting up the new blog template a few weeks ago, I was skimming through the archives, looking for examples of posts I'd written in my first year here, because I noticed that I was getting a lot of hits from search engines from people interested in specific details of living in France, so I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to put them on the main page. Reading back through my posts from that time, I thought, "Now, this is a blog I would read!" The posts I write now? Not so much.

I don't know what happened. It was either because after living here for two or three years, the newness sort of wore off or because I forgot to be on the lookout for interesting things that happen that I could share with you. Or I just got lazy. That's the most likely. I didn't used to be so afraid to share my thoughts here. That was the whole point of having an "anonymous" blog, so why wasn't I taking advantage of it? Granted, I do have a lot of friends and family who read all this, but I probably wouldn't be interested in posting something here that I couldn't tell them anyway.

I'm not really sure why I didn't want to write about what our big upcoming plans are. I suppose I was afraid of laying out all my cards. Also, there's the feeling that if I write about what I want to happen in the future, if it doesn't come to pass, then everyone knows of my failure. But I realized that this isn't true for two reasons - this is supposed to be a journal, right? Albeit, one that I let the whole world thousands hundreds tens of people read. But isn't that what a journal is for? To document what I want and what I'm feeling right now, so I can come back later and see what's changed? The other reason is, I don't really feel like "failure" is applicable in this case. Needs change, wants change, and if this plan we're hatching doesn't work out, then I'm sure whatever does happen will turn out to be for the best.

Therefore, I'm ready to lay it all out on the line. Are you ready? *deep breath*

I don't think it's a secret that not working for the past three years has been very difficult for me. I very foolishly believed that I would arrive in France and be gainfully employed within six months. (Yes, I know, I can hear you all laughing from here.) Once I realized that teaching English wasn't for me, I set out to find work that I actually have experience in, but after a year of being sent on interviews by Assedic (the French unemployment office) with no luck, I was at an absolute loss for what to do. My French was slowly improving, Stéph and I are speaking French more and more at home, but sitting at home and wringing my hands has taken a real toll on me. Luckily, we've been ok living on Stéph's salary, but not in the manner that either of us are accustomed to. We both enjoy going out and indulging in our reading habits and going on vacation, but we haven't been able to do this as much as we'd like. Plus, I need to get out of the house! I need to be social, both for improving my French and for my mental health.

I think you may remember that we seriously considered moving back to the States last year, but we both agreed that it would be too great of a risk for us. And I don't want to give the impression that I'm unhappy living in France - I'm certainly not. I very much enjoy the lifestyle, I love my in-laws, and I've made wonderful friends here, not to mention that I love Stéph's friends as well. It's not the country that needs changing, but maybe our way of thinking. And maybe the location.

At the beginning of this year, Stéph and I had a real heart to heart. We really needed to start thinking outside the box (I hate this phrase but in this case, it fits) about changing our situation so that both of us could be satisfied. We decided that moving to a larger city would probably give me a better opportunity of finding work, not to mention a wider range of things to do for getting out of the house (because seriously? In our town? We have two bars and a few brasseries and That Is All). But where to go? So we let the question settle for a little while until we finally came up with the answer: Paris.

Paris is the closest large town to us (and I should clarify - we were always talking about moving to a major city, or else we could have just moved back to Troyes), so we would only be a couple of hours away from our family. Plus, there are a lot of international businesses there, and hopefully I can find some work in one of them. So, it was decided. but Stéph has to request a region change, and we'd missed the deadline by the time we had decided, so we'll need to wait another year before we can move. For now, the plan is for Stéph to make the request this year, and we'll know next June where he's been assigned. Talk about a gamble - but it's one that we're willing to take.

Two things I should clarify, however. First - yes, I already have a job. I am thrilled to be working, even if it is from home. I realize that this is the dream job of a whole lot of people. But I still need to get out of the damn house. If nothing else, this job will tide me over, and may even save us if I don't find a job. We've decided that the move is still a good one for us, even if I continue to work from home.

The other thing is - we're moving closer to Paris, not to Paris. We're just not city people, Stéph and I. Not to mention that we simply couldn't afford it! Anything close enough that we can comfortably consider "commuting range" will work for us, and I actually love the idea of commuting into Paris and having a quiet home to return to. As we won't know where Stéph will be assigned until this time next year, there's no point in shopping for a new home just yet. That'll certainly make things interesting.

So there it is, the big secret. The funny thing is, we both know that a lot of people would love to get out of Paris, and here we go trying to move in! In any case, we feel like we're doing the right thing for us, and a huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders. Now we'll just have to wait a year and see if it actually comes to pass.

PS: I don't know why my expandable posts don't work anymore. Sorry for the massively long post.

what might have been

I was flipping around Craigslist this morning and saw an ad looking for a "chubby" Anglophone actress in her 30's for a short film shoot in Paris. Too bad my most recent headshots were done in 1996. I might have thrown my hat in the ring.

It's going to be a quiet week here in the country, gearing up for our vacation at the end of the week, which I'm very excited about. My in-laws rent a gite, or furnished apartment in a country setting, every year in the département of Pas-de-Calais, where they grew up. We'll go spend a few quiet days with them, visiting family, walking on the beach and Stéph will probably get some fishing in with his Dad while we wimmins go shopping. Then we're going to work our way down to Puy du Fou, a huge French theme park with a ginormous night show. Then we'll work our way home, probably stopping to look at a castle or two. There will be loads of photos taken, tons of yummy food eaten and plenty of miles walked to work off the yummy food. I cannot wait.

In between working and knitting up gifties, I want to give our apartment a thorough going-over, either this week or the week after we get back. You know, those backbreaking cleaning sessions were you get behind the stove and the washing machine. We haven't done it since we moved here and frankly, I don't know what we'll find. But I definitely want to take advantage of having Stéph here to do the heavy moving before he heads back to work in the beginning of September.

Good gracious, it's the end of July, which means summer is nearly half over. Where does the time go? Have y'all finalized your summer plans? Where are you going? What are you doing?

a curious conversation

Scene: Our Office, approximately 10pm last night

Stéph: I can't remember how to spell "garlic" in French.
Me: ... a-i-l?
Stéph: Oh yeah!

End scene.

That was like a Twilight Zone episode for me.

Am currently tearing my hair out over my latest assignment. I only have one word of warning - if I accidentally stumble upon the spoiler to the end of the last Harry Potter book, which should be winging its way to me even as we speak, there will be hell to pay. Ooooooooh, yes.

a three hour tour

Don't worry, we didn't get shipwrecked on a tiny island with a millionaire and his wife or anything.

So a few months ago, Stéph came back from his formation in Châlons and declared that there was a bar and a store I just had to see and one day he was going to take me there. I reminded him of this promise on Monday and we decided that the next day would be perfect for visiting for a few hours.

Châlons-en-Champagne is the capital of the Marne département, which is surprising when larger and better known Reims is also in the same département. Châlons has kind of a small but charming downtown area and the rest seems to be just residential areas. We had a really great lunch in front of the Mairie, eating outside on the terrace in the shade. I can't speak for Stéph but my simple salad of lettuce, lardons, tomatoes with loads of chèvre on toast and buttery garlic toast was wonderful! Possibly not the healthiest thing on earth, but it's the closest I've come to a BLT on this side of the ocean and I enjoyed every bite!

From there we went to Stéph's first "you gotta go" destination - The Red Bar & Lounge. This was something of a shock in a town that is not known for having any kind of a hip, young demographic. In fact, the only higher institute of learning there is a teacher's college, and most students commute, like Stéph did. This bar was a dream - very fun and hip interior, a very wide array of hot and cold drinks as well as many cocktails I recognized from my bar hopping days back in the States. In fact, Stéph mentioned that he often heard Americans hanging out and chatting there when he and his colleagues came in for a coffee before heading back to class. The atmosphere and the drinks list reminded me so much of some coffee houses I loved in Orlando and Greenville and I wouldn't be surprised to learn if the place was owned by Americans. We sat on a backless sofa surrounded by pillows with our cappuccinos (it must be years since I enjoyed a cappuccino!) and just hung out and watched the world go by. What a great hangout that place would be!

The next place I had to see was actually a little crafts shop that Stéph's colleague had told him about. It seemed to be the proprietor's house, with a car parked in the garage and we imagined that she probably lived on the first (second for Americans) floor. It seemed that most of her business was in patchwork (I know one person in particular who would have very much enjoyed their fabric selection!) but as for yarn, there wasn't much more than a few skeins of fantasy yarn and some uninspiring solid colored yarn. Too bad - Stéph had let me loose in the shop and there was nothing really that interested me! It was a cute little shop and the proprietor did say that she sometimes had some customers that came and worked on their projects at the large dining room table and enjoy a cup of tea from time to time. I was touched beyond words that Stéph even thought I'd be interested in it, and then followed me around while I inspected the crafty things! Yeah, he's a keeper.

So then we went on our last errand - Stéph said I absolutely had to see the Carrefour, which is freakin' ginormous! It's got to be one of the biggest - not to mention nicest, since I think it's only been recently built - shopping complexes I've seen here. It's basically a huge grocery inside a decent sized mall! We ended up buying a new car battery in case our zombie battery ever kicks it - seriously, that thing has been working for like, ten years! - and I was even very pleased to find that they had Cheddar! in their cheese section! In my excitement I nearly ordered 500 grams of the stuff (that's a pretty hefty block, more than a pound!) but Stéph talked me back down to a sensible 250 grams. We've already devoured half of it, on a very tasty steak salad I whipped up for dinner tonight. I think the rest of it will be destined for a new cold taco salad recipe I've found.

It looks like the next week or so will be just work, work, work but it looks like the end of next week will see us heading back out on the road for a real, honest to God vacation! Can you believe it? More to come on that soon...

how to enjoy a pleasant Bastille Day weekend in Paris

• Do not, under any circumstances, take your driving directions from mappy.fr, which will either direct you to take a heavily congested road on a Friday evening, rendering you capable of only gaining ten kilometers in one hour, or will give you insufficient directions, leaving you to wander around the wrong town for another hour, or both, which will make you two hours late and leave you only the time for a quick glass of water before running out the door again.
  
• Do catch a movie in version originale, or VO, such as the latest Harry Potter movie, with good friends who even think to purchase tickets five hours before the movie starts.
• Do not attempt to join the holiday crowds at the Champs de Mars, just under the Eiffel Tower, which will be completely packed without the space to move even one iota. Instead, retreat to the much more accessible Esplanade des Invalides, where there is much more space to lay out a few picnic blankets.
• Do make sure you are well equipped with stinky cheese, a bit of cold cuts, fresh fruit and veggies, delicious bread, lovely wine and, most importantly, plenty of sunscreen, as there is little respite from the sun beating down on your delicate head.
• Do not forget to bring plenty of water, or some of your lovely companions will be forced to take their scooter all the way home in search of more.
• Do bring plenty of games, although the sight of great big helicopters and plenty of men in uniform will provide plenty of eye candy.
• Do not forget your sense of fun and wander, and be sure to have on hand plenty of American sparklers and bubbles.
• Do enjoy the fireworks over near the Eiffel Tower, even if you can only see the tops of them over the trees.
  
• Do not panic when it comes to finding your way home in the overcrowded subway. Instead, make sure you have some handy Paris natives who can navigate the crowded streets and find alternative routes at the drop of a hat, getting you home in record time.
• Do heartily enjoy a few games on the Wii and vow that one day, you shall have one all your own.
• Do not be afraid that you have made a fool of yourself on an internationally renown podcast, even though you know it in your heart to be true.
  
• Do make sure one of your hosts is a wizard with cars and simultaneously fixes your car out of his own kindness and curiosity and saves you upwards of 200€.
• Do not forget to thank your gracious hostess for the best weekend you and your husband have had in a very, very long time!
  

time keeps getting away from me

This week has just been ridiculous. I had it all planned out - light work load, run around, see some friends, etc. etc. Getting sick on Monday threw all of that out of wack, doubling the time it took to write, difficulty sleeping, all that nastiness that comes with a massive head cold. I think I've just about shaken it out of my system, thank goodness. And I did get to run over to Troyes to see Doc and MP3 on Wednesday. But it also means I didn't get to do a lot of the things I wanted to before we go out of town. I wanted to make some goodies to bring with us and I also wanted to write about that big fancy decision that, after all this time, is going to be some kind of a letdown, really, once I get around to writing about it. But that's going to be a long post, and I want to really put some time into it. Sorry about that. I'll work on it when I get back.

So in about an hour, we're heading out the door to go to Paris for the weekend. If you're in Paris and you're looking for something to do on Bastille Day, well Stéph and I will be hanging out with them. And now I have to go pack!

it's the fever, I'm telling you

I nearly forgot to tell you! When I was in Paris last month, I had stars in my eyes the whole time I was at the blogger's picnic, because there were SOOOOOOOO many famous bloggers there. And then, Mickelino - you know, the Frog with a Blog? - interviewed me (ME!) for his Short and Shallow interview series!

I know I sound like an idiot. It's ok, you can say so, for I know it to be true. If nothing else, this documentary is a warning: Alcohol is Bad, mkay? You can see it here. I'll just be over here cringing.

But if you stick it out long enough, you can hear me warble Patsy Cline only slightly off-key.

what I wouldn't give for a shot of Nyquil

Aw, crap, I am so sick. And this week of all weeks! It really isn't fair.

Yesterday morning I had the very beginning of a cold, but it didn't seem too bad, just a light sniffle, so off we went to our friend N's house yesterday for lunch, and just like usual, we had apéros (before-lunch drinks and snacks) at 12:30 and didn't sit down to eat until 3:00. Then, Stéph and fellow guest JP went upstairs to work on N's daughter's computer, and when they were done with that, the four of us decided to walk to the center of N's little town, and Stéph got all excited because the (only) bar had Rapido, and we haven't played for ages, so we all trooped in and had a coffee and played a few rounds. Then we were going to walk to the grocery, but N remembered that the one in walking distance was closed on Mondays (and wow, I thought our little town is bad, at least our groceries are open on Mondays!) so we stopped at a boulangerie instead. By this time, it's apéro-before-dinner time (plain old juice for me, thanks) and next thing you know it's 9:00. At this point, I was feeling pretty worse for wear and I could feel myself getting sicker by the minute, but then Stéph and JP were in the kitchen whipping up a little dinner. Finally, we all sit down to eat again, and by the time the emergency extra frozen bread for the cheese course had been cooked and dessert was eaten, it was 11:30.

Last night was pretty rough. I didn't want to push my luck, so I had only had a couple of drinks during the day (yesterday was officially designated A Day Off From the Diet) but by the time my head met the pillow, it felt like it was stuffed with cotton. Then Stéph started his Snore Symphony in Three Movements (bless his heart, I know he doesn't do it on purpose, but all I can think of is bloody murder when he starts) so I moved to the spare bedroom.

And then, the weirdest thing ever happened.

I was actually getting a little sleep, when all of a sudden two cats started HOWLING, and they were so close they seemed to be on the balcony just outside my window, except WE HAVEN'T GOT A BALCONY. Ethereal cats floating outside my window? What the hell? I heard Stéph open the window in the bedroom, but he came in and told me that they weren't on the street. The only thing we could figure is that they were in our attic! The building just next to ours is a huge warehouse, and we figure they must have gotten through to our attic space from there. Luckily, we don't keep anything up there. And to tell you the truth, we're kind of relieved to know it's cats, because we've heard movement up there a couple of times before and we were thinking that we had some pretty damn big rats running around up there!

So after Cats In Heat: The Musical was over, I tried to sleep as late as I could, but no dice. Up early as usual. I guess it's my conscience screaming at me: "Get UP! You have work to do!!" Stupid conscience. I only managed one measly article all day, because this fever keeps making me stare off into space for what seems hours at a time. Ugh.

I am feeling much better now than I was this morning, but whether I'll be well enough to meet Doc in Troyes tomorrow remains to be seen. I sure hope so.

be careful what you wish for

Y'all, I am going crazy around here. Be careful what you wish for, 'cause I wished for a job and boy, I got one. All that free time I had for knitting, blogging, cleaning, cooking, living? Yep, *poof!* gone. I managed to get a lighter work load this week because I need some Going Out Of My House and Breathing Fresh Air time, so that means I can also catch you guys up, too.

So yeah, thanks for the lovely compliments on the new place! Like I said, I've been wanting to change it up a little bit for a while now, trying to decide if I wanted to pay for a make over, attempt something myself or even change blogging platforms. Finally, I stumbled onto this website, where you can just plug in your particulars and a template code pops up. It's really easy to use and I ended up spending all of Thursday evening plugging in links until I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. I'm still at a loss for how to make the comments show up on the main page, so if there are any smart coding type people who want to have a crack at it, please let me know.

I also seem to have caught a cold, and at the worst possible moment, too. Today we're going to have lunch (where "lunch" = arrive at 12:30, eat at 3:00, end up chatting until dinnertime) at a friend's place, then later this week I'm meeting up with Doc in Troyes, and you know there's always mischief and mayhem when we get together, and then this weekend we're going to Paris to party down for Bastille Day! Yes! Both of us! It's a miracle!

I have also made a Decision. I think you're gonna like this. Those of you that have stuck with me through the last year's less than stellar posting are going to appreciate it. Stay tuned...

Update: Oooh! I just added a Frappr map! The link's on the left side! Go forth and frap!

The New and Improved Dispatches From France

Man, I am worn out!! I've been wanting to do this for ages, and I finally found a template I could play around with. I've been wanting a three column layout for a while now. Don't ask me why.

So yes! New digs! Some new features include some linky love for some excellent online comics I read everyday and some knitting sites I frequent. Plus, over on the right side, I dug up some older posts that you may find informative if you're a newcomer to France. Apparently, my expertise seems to be in going to the doctor.

It seems that the comments are only slightly wonky, in that they are, in fact, there, you just have to click on the comments link and go to another page to see them. If I have the energy and the inclination, I may look into that soon.

And so, ladies and gentlespoons, I'm going to go collapse somewhere near, if not directly on, my sweetly calling bed. Nighty night!

happy independence day!

Sweet! It's America's birthday! I hope all you crazy kids back home are celebrating with barbecues and ice cream and fireworks.

As for here, not only does it not feel like Independence Day (for obvious reasons), but it doesn't even feel like July! Not only is it yet again pouring down rain, but it's only 68°F! And that's in my house!

Stéph is celebrating his own sort of independence, as today is his first day of summer vacation. He seems to be celebrating by getting a nice, big cold. Poor thing, I can totally relate, as every year from high school straight on through college, I was always sick at the end of the school year. It's just the body's way of saying, "OK, that's ENOUGH already!" I hope this doesn't put a damper on our plans to go check out Les Soldes tomorrow, as we both are needing a few new things for summer.

Yeah, Stéph wants to go shopping! With me! Together! He must be sick!

an afternoon away

Have I told you lately that I love you? No, seriously, I mean it. Thanks for all your encouraging words in the comments of my last post! And as to the question if this is going to affect our mysterious future plans - nope, not at all. This may actually help us out. (Ooooooooooh the mystery!)

Yesterday, Stéph forced me against my will dragged me kicking and screaming encouraged me to step away from the computer for the afternoon. We went to the in-laws' for lunch (white string bean salad and a turkey breast rotisserie) and then strolled around their town's annual festival. Part vide grenier (literally "empty attic," families rent tables in an open space and try to sell their unwanted items) and part town fair, this one left something to be desired. While we can usually find something to at least get our attention, here it seemed to be little more than old shoes and children's games, and the rest were food booths and simple carnival games. Meh. At least they had a high-wire, but the guy crossing the wire was kind of a paunchy middle aged guy who simply rode back and forth on a couple of different bicycles, accompanied by screeching carnival music blasting out of the speakers.

At least I actually left the house.

Tomorrow is Stéph's last day of school, so we're about to switch roles - I'll be working and he'll be goofing off. It'll be interesting to see how that affects us. Actually, him being here is kind of good for me, because at the end of the day when I'm staring blankly at the computer screen with my fingers twitching over the keyboard, he's the one who says that maybe I should call it a day. If it weren't for him, I would either be putting off articles until the last minute, or on the other side of the spectrum, yanking my hair out between sobbing jags.

Meanwhile, it's July, but it feels like Spring still. Seriously, it's hovering around 70°F in my house right now. I shouldn't complain, heaven knows I'd rather have cool temps than hot ones, but I haven't seen the sun in weeks and I think it's starting to bring me down. Can't you tell?

vivi gets a job

Well, it's not a real job. I mean, I am making a little money, but it's not...

Wait. Let me start over.

About a year ago, a friend of my family contacted me to ask if I'd be interested in doing some freelance work. She herself had been so successful freelancing that she actually had too much work, and was exploring creating a team of writers and after reading a big of my blog (thank you, internet!), she decided that I could indeed string a few sentences together and would I like to be on the team? I said yes, of course, and never heard from her again.

Until last week.

Turns out she was waiting for authorization from her clients to contract out some of the work, which she got last week. I got my first batch of assignments and have been pulling my hair out ever since.

So, I'm freelancing. Some people call it technical writing, but that's kind of a misnomer because I'm not especially writing about computers or codes. I just have to become a mini expert about some subject and then write about it before moving on to the next subject.

So basically, I write term papers for a living.

I'm not going to lie to you, the first week was ridiculously hard. I was too slow and bit off more than I could chew and for a while there I really thought I'd lost the job immediately after I started it. I'm starting to get into a rhythm now and things are flowing a bit more smoothly. Now I just need to keep up the momentum. This is the first time I've worked in over three years, so admittedly I'm a bit rusty. I've been writing every day for the last ten days and already I find myself having to walk away from the computer for an hour or so to let my hands rest and my eyes uncross. But, I'm getting into a routine and slowly, things are falling into place.

Stéph has been an awesome cheerleader and I'm thrilled to finally be able to contribute something. It's starting to look like the possibility of us actually going on a real vacation on our own this year - which we haven't been able to do since we were married - is getting closer to reality. With that goal in mind, it's a bit easier to spur myself on.

I don't know if I'm going to do this forever, but for the foreseeable future, I'm going to give it everything I've got. Obviously, I can't tell you everything about my job, but just know that I'm busy, but I'm happy. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to get back to work. :)

a little sighseeing and a birthday wish

Monday I hopped on a bus and went north, up to the city of Reims, to meet up with Oiseau Anglais. We had an excellent lunch, followed by a little stroll through town. I'd been to Reims only twice before but hadn't had the chance to peek inside the cathedral, so Mme Oiseau graciously took me on a little tour.



This is the place where French kings were crowned, so you know, it has just a little bit of historical importance. After World War I, it was nearly bombed into oblivion, but luckily the locals knew what an important treasure they had, as they quickly set about restoring it. The inside is just as lovely as the exterior:



While we walked around the cathedral, Mme Oiseau pointed out the Carnegie Library:



Our own Andrew Carnegie donated the money to build this after World War I. Isn't it lovely? Too bad it was closed; Oiseau tells me it's just as lovely on the inside.

All too soon, it was time to get back on the bus and head home. I really had a wonderful time getting to know Oiseau and I'm looking forward to our next visit!



In other news, today is my sister's birthday!! I love you Junior, and I hope you have a most excellent day!

a clue to my current state of mind

I just got back from a really wonderful afternoon in Reims, getting to know a really lovely English Bird, and have only just realized that I've been wearing two completely different dangly earrings all day.

I'm afraid my new friend, and anyone else that noticed my "interesting" choice of accessories, must now assume that I am completely schizo.

Details coming soon.

a quiet fête de la musique

Yesterday was la fête de la musique, or musical festival, which was an all night event that happened in towns all over France. All of them, it seems, except mine. Elle ne bouge pas trop, notre ville, as they say, or in other words, our town is not exactly a rock n roll, happening place. I had a little compensation, however, because I was flipping through the tv stations last night and found the opera La Fille du Regiment on the Arte channel. I missed most of the first act but I was just in time for Dawn French's entrance at the top of the second act. As soon as she appeared, I was thinking, "Is it? Could it be her?" But of course!


Nicked from here

She was high-larious and I enjoyed the hell out of that opera. Stéph knew I was loving it because I kept him awake guffawing at the television. Oh well. I had to get my music in somehow!

Well I'd love to tell you more, but you see I have a little thing called A Job now, but you wouldn't be interested in that, would you? *evil laugh* But seriously, I'm very excited to be working from home but I've got a big assignment due Monday which I actually need to finish Sunday because Monday I'm running away for the afternoon for a long, long overdue visit with a nice English bird. As soon as I can get a break from running around in circles I'll tell you all about it.

less of me to love

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you probably already know that we've been trying to start a family for about a year and a half now. I always knew that I'd have trouble getting pregnant since I was diagnosed with PCOS about eight years ago. I had every symptom except the cyst part, which showed up last year, and we've been working on that issue ever since. For about six months, we tried to get the cysts to go away with medication, and while they have reduced in size, they're still bigger than the doctor likes. He would have liked to remove them, but there was one problem: I kept gaining weight. As long as I'm overweight, he told me, the cysts will only come right back. The only solution? Lose 20 kilos (44 pounds).

My reaction?

You son of a bitch! How dare you tell me I'm overweight! Do you have any idea what I've been through for the past three years? Are you trying to tell me that fat women can't get pregnant? Haven't you heard all those stories about those fat women who thought they had a stomach ache and turns out they were in labor? GOSH!

Of course, that's what I said on the inside. On the outside, I thanked the doctor and went home and made an appointment with a dietitian.

I knew I needed to lose weight. I mean, I DO have a mirror in my own home. I just take pains to avoid it, is all. And God knows I feel terrible and I'm busting out of all my clothes. If you ever need a reality check, just go shopping for "plus size" clothing in France. That will straighten your ass out pretty quick. Obviously, I just avoided the whole issue by not buying clothes for... well, ever, really.

So I went to see the dietitian. I showed her the results of my last blood work and told her what my goals were and she wrote me up a strict but healthy diet. My biggest problem is that my blood sugar levels were extremely high - diabetes runs in my family and I nearly added my name to the list. So out goes all the good things like dessert and alcohol and even my fruit intake is limited.

Well, it's been two months now and I'm not going to lie to you, it hasn't been easy. Of course, I'm allowed to bend the rules a bit for parties and get-togethers, but I have to jump right back on the diet train just after. But the truth is, the good outweighs the bad - I'm sleeping better, my clothes are fitting better and I even have the energy to walk around more than I did before.

I had my two month check up today, and I'm pleased to report that I've lost five kilos since the end of April. That's nearly eleven pounds. I am very pleased with my progress. As much as I'd like to hurry up and get this behind me so I can work on the plumbing again, I'm content with the slow rate I'm losing weight, which is the best way to keep it off. So yeah, there's less of me to love, but I think I'm pretty ok with that.

zoned out

I guess that pretty much sums me up right now. Despite the fact that I did have a couple of days of activity this week babysitting my niece, for the most part it's been more of the same - knitting, trying to inspire myself to do some much-needed housecleaning, grocery shopping, etc. Stéph is burning the candle at both ends as the end of the school year approaches, preparing to change schools again (but still in the same town, thank goodness!) which means more meetings and pre-planning for next year, plus sitting on a judge's panel for third-level oral exams in Troyes, not to mention peeling his own students off the ceiling as they're as ready for summer vacation as he is. He's already been to the doctor once for what turned out to be a stress related illness and I'll just be happy when the school year ends in three weeks for his sake.

There are a few very exciting things kind of swirling around in the background, but for now they remain Great Big Maybes so I'm hesitant to write about them, if for no other reason than I'm afraid I'll jinx myself. This is actually something I've been struggling with for a couple of months now: To Post or Not to Post. Stéph and I have made some really huge life changing decisions in the last couple of months and while we've talked about it with some friends face to face, I've really been gun shy about writing about it here. Maybe because once I write about it, it's Out There and it's like an open invitation to watch me fall flat on my face? Or, on the other hand, it's an open invitation to have you guys cheering me on, like you all have done so generously in the past. And isn't that why we blog in the first place? It's all well and good to say that we're just journaling our lives, but isn't it the feedback that keeps us coming back? I'm afraid that if I keep playing my cards so close to my chest, I'm not going to have anything left to write about except the weather and my latest knitting project. I'm not going to lie to you, I wouldn't even read that. So give me a little bit of time to figure all this out. At least I've been tagged for a couple of memes (one was over a month ago but I haven't forgotten!) so I can at least keep writing while I'm contemplating my navel.

And there is some good news - summer break means vacation! We haven't made a final decision on where we're going yet. We've been tossing around this crazy idea of going to Scotland and the even crazier idea of DRIVING there, but it looks like it's just going to be out of our budget for now. If we end up staying in France, possible candidates are Verdun, Calais, Pas-de-Calais (the département where the in-laws are from and where they go for one week every summer), Mont St. Michel, the Loire Valley and Grénoble. Then again, maybe we'll find a cheap package deal and travel somewhere in Europe, which is something else we haven't done together yet. In any case, we're going SOMEWHERE, by God, and pictures will be taken, oh yes.

In the meantime, I'm going to go back to pondering the mysteries of the universe. And maybe tidy up the office while I'm at it.

surreal moment of the day

So yesterday I was walking back from the grocery store and had just crossed the railroad tracks when the driver of a big truck that was parked on the side of the road leaned over and caught my attention.

"Excuse me, where is the factory?"

I turned back in the direction I had just come from. Looming above us, not 500 yards away from the railroad tracks, was a facility containing no less than one dozen silos and at least three ten-story buildings surrounded by nothing but fields and the dinky grocery store across the street. Blazoned across the top of the closest building in letters five feet high was [Factory] of [Our Town].

"Um... it's right there."

"Oh, is that it?"

"... Yes."

I mean honestly. But still, that was the second time since we've moved here that I've been asked for directions, so that's alright.

picnics galore in paris!

Man, what a weekend! I was invited to not one, but two fabulous picnics in Paris, happening on the same day. What's a girl to do? Why, make like a social butterfly and wing my way across Paris to do them both!

I started off by meeting up with Flare and making our way to the Parc du Champ de Mars to meet up with some knitters for World Wide Knitting in Public Day. We had an excellent view:



and I even remembered to take out my camera, although I only took a couple of pictures. Here's Sarah, who organized the gathering, and two people I was happy to meet, Vicky and Shana:



So after a couple of of hours of knitting (and sweating - honestly Paris felt like South Carolina on a typical summer day), I bade my farewells and slowly made my way to the north-east part of Paris, to the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont for the Paris Bloggers Picnic. What an event! I met so many fantastic people, I can't even begin to name them all, plus authors of blogs I read and hadn't met yet, plus old friends that I've made since I first ventured out to meet bloggers two years ago. I had such a wonderful time chatting and sipping wine and munching on delicious goodies that I forgot to take my camera out, once again. Well, I did manage to whip it out in order to document this:



One of the hosts, Mickelino and kylie mac gettin' it on in front of God and everybody! I was sufficiently shocked.

I had such a good time jabbering on Saturday that I completely lost my voice! Either that it was the shock of having two bloggers going at it in my lap. Anyway, thank you so much to Flare for being my gracious host this weekend and great big kisses to everyone in Paris! Let's do it again soon, y'hear?

on feet and fiber

My birthday just had its last gasp. Yesterday I bought some new sandals with some birthday money from the in-laws:



I wish to God I could wear thong sandals, but I just can't, which I learned the hard way. (Story time!) Thanks to genetics and taking dance classes from six years old through college, my feet were ruined (I almost typed it "ruint" like a good southern girl) by my late twenties. I had to see a podiatrist somewhere in my early twenties - planters warts being an occupational hazard of barefoot modern dance classes - who told me I was suffering from bunions and advised me to wait as long as I could before having them corrected, as the recovery is pretty rough.

Six years ago, after being fed up of weeping in pain after doing something so mundane as grocery shopping, I went to another podiatrist (nothing sinister there, I'd only moved) and pretty much told him that I wanted the surgery that very minute. So, to make a long story short(er), I had the surgery done on both feet at the same time, which entails breaking the big bone of the foot and resetting it with a rod and a pin, and left me in a wheelchair for six weeks and crutches for another month. I hated being dependent on others for such a long time, but it was so worth it in the end. In fact, a year later I joined an aerobics class and when my sister asked how my feet held up, it took me a minute to remember why she would have asked me!

So anyway, back to the thong shoes - the doctor told me that there was a small chance that my feet would go out of alignment again one day and the easiest way to avoid this was to never wear thong shoes again. Which I promptly ignored. Because, hello! Thong shoes are cute and inexpensive and comfortable!

All of that changed just after I got married. Stéph and I were walking downstairs out of my garage apartment and I slipped on the carpeted stairs. Stéph caught me just in time, but I landed toe-first in - yep, you guessed it - thong sandals. Broke my big toe in two places. Felt real good, too. I learned my lesson and endured all the jokes - married for one week and he's already pushing her down the stairs!

So, yeah. That's the thong sandal story.

Right, on to the fiber part of the title - I received a box from my sister today:



More of Mom's yarn. The blanket is only half done, but since I don't crochet I'm just going to finish it off and call it a lap blanket. I don't know what I'm going to do with the rest of the yarn, though. It's all acrylic (bless Momma's heart!) but there are some really fun colors in there. It looks like Mom tried to get rid of it at one point:



Speaking of yarn... someone asked me what's on the needles right now, and since my sister already knows what I'm making for her, I don't think she'll mind a preview:



Can you guess what it's going to be?

weekend on the run

This weekend we were busy, busy, busy! It's not very often that we're on the run like that, but there was a lot going on.

First up, on Saturday afternoon, we went to the in-law's for coffee to meet Stéph's German aunt and uncle. A little background for you: my mother-in-law immigrated to France with her mother and two sisters from Germany at the end of the war when she was six years old. They left behind two (or three?) sisters in Germany. The confusing part is no one's really sure why, so we just kind of acknowledge and move on. So my MIL and one of her sisters in Germany have either kept in contact or got back in contact, and now visit each other. Difficulty: German sister doesn't speak French and MIL only speaks very basic German. Fun, no?

So when we got there, MIL had run to the store, so it was me, Stéph, my father-in-law and the Germans. As soon as we established that we had no language at all in common (I managed to try a "sprechen Sie Englisch?" but got a "nein" back) we all just sort of sat down and looked around the room for a while. Finally MIL came back and we were able to talk a little, sharing pictures of the family in Germany over coffee and tea. We were soon joined by baby C and her parents, which was great but I'm sorry to say that C was terrified of Stéph's very-much-due-for-a-trim, scary beard. She was ok just staring at him from a distance with wide eyes, but when her father put her in Stéph's lap, she decided she didn't like it At All. Very funny stuff. Happily, C still likes me but she must be wondering what I'm doing hanging out with such a great hairy beast! (tee hee)

After running a bunch of errands downtown, we made it home by supper time and I got back to work. Work? Why yes! That's because we were off to see Doc and baby Mélanie Sunday afternoon and I finished up her gifts just in time!


Ta da! More about the knitting here.

It was so just in time that the pinafore was still damp when I presented it to Doc! Anyway, baby Mélanie is just lovely, and Doc and I left the boys with the baby for a while so Doc could step outside and get some fresh air. The Au Pair That's Better Than Yours and I chased after the older kids under the shade of a big lovely tree and had a nice chat before Stéph called down to me from Doc's room to tell me it was time to go. It was rather like having Mom calling you in to dinner! Well, we did have an hour's drive home and it was getting late. By the way, Doc and Mélanie could be home as soon as today, so keep an eye out for them!

On the way home, Stéph suggested we stop for a cool drink, so about fifteen minutes out from St. Dizier we found a little brasserie with lots of tables in the shade. After the woman took our order, Stéph said to me that she had an accent from Eastern Europe. When she came back with our drinks, Stéph actually asked her where she was from! She said she was from the Ukraine and then asked where Stéph was from! (tee hee!) Actually she was very friendly and once we established that we were both Strangers in a Strange Land we had a nice little chat and she did everything except sit down with us! Then when we went inside to pay we met the rest of the family - her sister who has been here for twenty years and the other relatives that came later - and had another nice chat. It was a really nice little family run business and if it weren't so far away I'd be very tempted to go back and try some of their Russian and Ukrainian specialties. In any case I enjoyed myself very much with the little chat; that's one of the things I really miss about the States. If you catch me on a good day I could sit and listen to any old life story and plenty of Americans are more than willing to tell you theirs. You'd be surprised what you can learn!

Well, if you've made it down this far, you may just be as exhausted as we were when we finally got home last night. This week should be nice and quiet, with a lot of catching up to do, since I left everything at the wayside to get those gifts done. Plus, I think I'm gonna need a nap later!

a good day

My littlest French niece is eight months old and her mother recently went back to work. My mother-in-law usually watches her (she's on a waiting list for day care) but she's going on vacation for a week, so I got an email a few weeks ago that said, "C a besoin de sa tata!" (C needs her auntie!)

Yesterday I went to Troyes by bus to spend the day with C. My mother-in-law was there for the morning, C's parents came home for lunch, C's mom and I had a little time to catch up before she went back to teach an afternoon class and then it was C and tata time.

I don't have my own kids to brag on (yet), so you'll have to indulge me a little if I brag on my niece - that is the sweetest, best little baby I have ever sat for in my life! She doesn't get upset when maman goes to work (must be seen to be believed!), she doesn't fuss, she engages well with people but also plays happily on her own and only really cries when she's put down for a nap - but who wants to sleep when there's so many fun things to do?

I have to tell you, I normally dread babysitting, and that always freaked me out because I want to have kids more than anything else but if I can't stand a couple of hours alone with someone else's kids what does that say about my wanting to have my own? For the first time ever, I can't wait to go back and stay with C some more! And because C's mom does read the blog every once and a while (pardon my crappy French) : A la maman de C, merci bien de me demander de garder ton petit ange. J'ai passé une très belle journée hier et j'attends avec l'impatience le vendredi prochain !

welcome to the world, baby girl!

I just got off the phone with Doc's husband, who wished me to pass on the news of their third child's arrival!

Mélanie Danielle Michelle Poulot
4.8 kilos / 10.6 pounds
51 cm / 20 inches

Little Mélanie is under observation to watch her sugar levels, but she has already eaten and everything seems perfectly fine. She should be able to join Doc in her room in a couple of days. Marc told me that she looks like a little sumo! He had a poloroid picture that he was able to bring home to Muppet and Pooplette, who are already in love.

Congrats to Doc and Marc!!

more randomness

Hi there! Ok, I'm still funky (well, I was always funky, yo) but truthfully less funky than Saturday. While yes, living in France is a fantastic experience, day to day living and planning for the future can get you down no matter where you live sometimes, and I simply had a little freakout about the future. Then, instead of giving myself an ulcer, I actually did a little research on teh internets and now I'm feeling better. Yay internets! So thanks for the uplifting comments, you guys are the best!

(Also, confidential to David, since you didn't leave an email: I'm curious to know how you found me or if THS is just a coincidence and also: Go terriers!)

Anyway, the high for today is going to be 57. That's Fahrenheit, people!! Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, oh no, not one bit. It's just a bit odd. Good thing I didn't store away all my sweaters.

I am also in the process of deadline knitting, yet again. If I can afford another break between knitting rows and sweating bullets, I'll post about it over on the knots blog. In case I don't, I can at least show you what I've got so far:



The dress is going to be for MP3 who is making her grand entrance into the world TODAY! I can't wait to meet the latest Franco-American in our circle, and if all goes well we'll go see MP3 and Doc this weekend.

Oh man, I just read this book:



I don't like to be negative, so... the cover art is nice.

Oh screw it: y'all, I don't know if it is due to bad translation or what, but this is possibly the worst book I've ever read. It breaks my heart because the subject matter is really very interesting, but wow: the stilted, unnatural, laughable dialogue had me howling. It's a shame, really. I would have given up after a few pages but books in English are a bit thin on the ground around here, so you take what you can get. But this was bad.

And... that's all, folks!

unintentionally funny french

I just looked online to see if there is anything interesting playing on tv tonight and saw this:



It certainly is. *snicker*

i need a do-over button.

Hi. Yeah, I know, I haven't posted since my birthday. Speaking of, thank you all very much for the birthday wishes! I was very touched to receive at least one from a lurker as well (donc il faut dire merci bien aussi!).

These last couple of days have been a bit rough on the morale, which culminated with me breaking down in the car a little while ago on the way home from being out for the afternoon. I'm just having one of those lifetimes years months weeks where I've hit a wall. I'll snap out of it eventually.

In that case, it's a good thing I'm forcing myself to think of a few good things that happened this week. This way I can remember that at least the view was nice on my way to crashing into said wall.

SOME THINGS THAT MADE ME SMILE THIS WEEK

• My cousin Lisa sent me photos of her doing a triathalon. She completed it in under 2 and a half hours! She is such a rock star in my eyes, I can't even tell you.

• I finally got the yarn that I ordered online nearly a month ago. They packed a little sachet of lavender inside so everything smelled lovely when it got here. Thanks, packing people! If you live in France and you're far away from a yarn shop, like me, I can totally recommend leslaines.com, as long as you're not in a real big hurry.

• Just as it was getting hot, a huge system of thunderstorms has been blowing through the last couple of days. Last night, Stéph and I went the center of town to grab some dinner and were walking along just when the apocolypse appeared before us - swirling debris, trees bent in half, furniture flying, the works. Stéph grabbed my hand turned us in the opposite direction and yelled "RUN!!" We ducked into the nearest brasserie where we had a really good dinner and a good laugh as the apocolypse passed us by.

• Well, my birthday was this week. All the birthday wishes are still making me smile!
  

happy birthday to me!

Well, besides the fact that I have to remember to add a number to my age, I love birthdays! Especially mine. Every one should be a king/queen for the day on their birthday. If I have to insist, it doesn't make me too crass, does it?

A box from my sister came a couple of weeks ago and I didn't open it until today because I was sure I wouldn't have any other gifts to open. It was totally worth the wait!



It's a seal and wax! How cool is that? (Answer: freakin' cool!) I'm behind on writing some snail mail letters, too. Now that's some excellent incentive! Thanks, sis!

Remember when I thought I would only have my one little box to open on my birthday? (Full disclosure - Sis has sent a second gift, but it probably won't be here for another week or two.) Boy, was I wrong! Our friendly neighborhood post lady knocked on the door this morning bearing a huge box from Amazon. And what was inside?



OK, I have to be honest: putting a link to my Amazon wish list was really for a laugh, and I was completely surprised to learn that someone not only looked at it, but ordered something from it! And not just anything - Vogue Knitting is the Knitter's bible. It includes everything from the history of knitting to designing your own patterns. It really is priceless! I know because back when I first started knitting, Flare lent me hers, so I could be sure I was going to continue knitting before getting a copy of my own. I think I'm feeling pretty committed to knitting at this point, so receiving my own copy was truly a huge surprise! Plus, the Simply Baby book by Debbie Bliss is wonderful and full of adorable patterns, which comes in very handy as just about every female I know is expecting or has just had a baby recently, including my generous benefactor! Thank you so, so much, Myllissa!!

As for the rest of my birthday, I'll just be hanging out, playing on the computer or knitting one of the two or three projects I'm working on right now. I'm feeling better today, which is a relief, so I can enjoy lounging around without sinus headaches or coughing up a lung. Otherwise, I think Stéph and I may treat ourselves to the couscous restaurant this weekend. Today is about hanging out and eating leftovers - the kitchen is closed in honor of the cook's birthday! Ha HA!

This post was brought to you by the punctuation marks ! , ? , and ().

officially sick

Well, four days of Actifed Jour et Nuit didn't do the trick. I was supposed to go spend the morning with my mother-in-law in Troyes before having lunch with Stéph and the in-laws before an afternoon appointment, but at the last minute this morning I was forced to make a choice - try to get in to see the doctor or suffer on for one more day. I figured that if I could get an appointment for this morning, it was a sign. And the sign said, "Go to the doctor, do not pass go, do not collect $200." Or something like that.

So I called the in-laws to say I wasn't coming, changed my appointment to the end of the week and walked down to the doctor's office, only five minutes away. Official diagnosis - sinusitis, my old enemy. I used to get it twice a year like clockwork, but it's been ages since I've had it here. Anyway, in typical French fashion, I came away with prescriptions for three medicines to attack three different symptoms: a decongestant, in powder form, taken with water and tasting like powdered orange, taken three times a day, sinus headache medicine, 1-2 pills three times a day, and the dreaded antibiotic, taken once in the morning and once at night. Total cost: €4,10. Usually it's less but the powdered decongestant is only half covered by insurance. Hooray French health system, once again.

So here I am, all drugged up and no place to go. I think I can see some crashing on the couch and snoozing in my future.

i hab a cohd in mah noth...

...and in other places as well. I hate being sick, especially when I have things to do, really especially after a period of not having things to do. It's times like this that I have to make a special effort to remind myself of the good things in my life, least I be dragged down to depression and bitterness. Thus I present to you...

SOME GOOD THINGS I LEARNED THIS WEEK

• Actifed Jour et Nuit works pretty good for a common cold. Too bad you only get enough medicine for four days in a box.
• I found out someone I went to high school with is living in France and has been reading this humble blog, not knowing it was written by me, but he knows now! (Hi, C!) The world really is smaller than you think.
• Speaking of friends from high school, my BFF Carrie is launching her stationary business in a really huge way - she and her business partner are debuting at the National Stationary Show in New York City. Together as Two Trick Pony they create handmade silk screened cards and they are GORGEOUS. Check out the website and if you're in NYC, stop by and say hi to Carrie (she of the black and white hair!) and tell her Vivi sent you!
• I am really grateful for the cooler weather we've had this month, even if it's responsible for my getting sick. I've had a reprieve from panicking about the heat of summer - thank you Mother Nature!

You know, this is something I should really do every week. We'll see if I remember seven days from now!

vivi goes to the embassy in paris

I know, poor me, right? I just HAD to go to Paris for the day. Sounds terrible, doesn't it? I laugh with my girlfriends back home about this all the time. I try to tell them that going to Paris for the day is about as exciting as going to Atlanta, but I don't think they believe me. Maybe they're right. It is Paris, after all.

But I really did have to go. I had to have a paper notarized in order to close my father's estate, which means going to the American Embassy in Paris. I believe there are two other embassy offices in France, one in the south and one in the north (or is it east?), but the Paris office happens to be the closest.

The office for American Services recently moved around the corner from where it used to be (the new address is 4, rue Gabriel, metro station Concorde), but now you have to present your passport and reason for being there before you get within a mile of the place. Plus it seems that newly installed President Sarkozy was going to be driving by later in the day, so the whole Place de la Concorde was streaming with police and barricades. It was really kind of a surreal experience, although every policeman I talked to was very nice (I got a little turned around when I got out of the metro and had to ask for directions... twice).

I was met by Sarah, whom I haven't seen in an age and we had an excellent chat (thanks again for meeting me Sarah!). Then we were met by Aimee and the sweetest (and biggest! wowza!) two month old around, the famous Max! We said our goodbyes to Sarah and Aimee and Max and I made our way into the Embassy.

Getting into the Embassy is no less trying than getting on an airplane. First you have to present your passport and reason for being there (Aimee was acting as a witness for me - it was all I could do not to go around singing "Can I get a witneeeess"). After Max's stroller was tested to be sure we weren't carrying around illegal weapons (just your garden variety diaper bombs, thanks), we advanced into a maze of steel barricades until we came to the door, where we had to show ID again. Then we advanced to a screening room, where we showed our IDs again and reason for being there as they went through our bags and held our electronics and we walked through a metal detector. Finally we made it to the big room.

When you arrive in the big room, the first thing you do is go to the computer console and get yourself a number by tapping on the reason that you're there. Your options, if you're American, are passport related or notary/authentication. You're sitting in the same room as foreign nationals who are applying for visas and passports so it is important that you get the right one, or you may end up in front of a clerk who isn't a notary and then you'll have to start all over. Then you sit and wait for a good long while. I'm so used to Hurry Up and Wait that I don't even get upset about this anymore. I just make sure I've got plenty of time to waste and I have something to keep me occupied. Aimee and I chatted away and played with Max while people all around us were getting nervous and indignant and stomping out of the place when they felt they'd waited long enough. Oh well, the better for us!

When your number is finally called, you give the clerk your passport and your paper and then you're sent to the cashier to pay for the service. Having a paper notarized is $30 plus $20 for each additional paper which in my opinion is highway robbery but when you're the only show in town I guess you can charge what you want. Then you wait for them to call your number again, and then in thirty seconds flat you sign the paper and you're free.

The office hours for these services are only from 9:00 to 12:00 and we didn't get there until after 11:00. I was worried it would be ridiculously crowded but in fact I would suggest going later in the morning because by that time some folks get frustrated and walk out which means you might get out of there a little quicker. Definitely plan on being there at least an hour.

As for the rest of the day, we mosied around, had lunch in a park and went to Bon Marché for knitting goodies and food goodies before I had to head back home. I also gave Max a couple of things I whipped up:



Thanks Aimee and Max for helping me out and hanging with me yesterday! We'll have to do it again real soon!

we went to a party!

Ooh, and what a party it was! Doc hosted the annual group birthday party, celebrating the birthdays of her hubby, Marc, my Stéph, another friend from university days, and me! (By the way, my birthday is a week from Wednesday so you still have time to check out my Amazon wish list in the sidebar! HAHAHAHAHA!)

We started early by having Katia, the Muffin Man and Kyliemac stop by our place for lunch before we hit our final destination. We had spaghetti and ragù sauce and a nice big salad before we piled into our cars and drove to Haute-Marne.

Once we arrived, we found that Antipo and her darling children had arrived just before us, so all of us Anglos, including Doc's newly arrived niece/best au pair ever all settled in to the kitchen surrounded by yummy nibbles and chatted, like you do.

The weather was glorious, Mother Nature seemed to want to cooperate for once, and there was plenty of activities to keep us busy, including badmitton and nerf balls and soon I had Kevin and Pauline throwing and catching baseballs like good little Americans!

Finally we settled into eat, and man, did we eat! Doc outdid herself, as usual, and the food table was groaning with all kinds of different salads (including my "famous" rice salad!) and baked beans plus just about everything you can throw on a grill, including sausages and hamburgers and barbequed chicken and brochettes. Dessert was lovely with peanut butter cake and pound cake with divine homemade whipped cream and a malted chocolate cake.

The next morning we sat around the kitchen table and had a bit of breakfast while Kyliemac made me a pair of dangly earrings for my birthday right before my very eyes! Katia and the Muffin Man gave me two gorgeous cookbooks that I can't wait to tear through. Then the living room became a recording studio for the famous parisian podcasters Katia and Kyliemac and if you're familiar with their show, you may be very jealous to know that they also gave me a fistful of magic pens! Truly my cup runneth over!

After a lunch of leftovers we finally packed the car back up and headed home. It really was a wonderful weekend and I want to thank Doc and Marc for their hospitality and Antipo, Katia and Kyliemac for coming out to the country to celebrate with us! My cup runneth over indeed.

and we're back

Man, I'm telling you, if it's not one thing it's another. When we first brought the new computer home, we couldn't get it to connect to the internet and, long story short, finally figured out that we simply needed a new cable to connect the two computers together, because the old one had chosen that exact moment to go to the great big cable heaven in the sky. Then my computer started losing the connection and then started restarting itself until one day it wouldn't start up anymore. That time it turned out that the processor was bad, straight from the manufacturer. Once we got it back from the shop, everything seemed fine until my computer started disconnecting more and more frequently until it wouldn't stay connected for more than five minutes at a time. This time it turns out that the filter had gone bad. Here in France, you have these little filters that plug into your telephone connection in the wall and you plug your computer into that. Everything seems fine once again but I swear if anything else goes wrong I'm going to chuck both computers out the window and invest in a copying machine and just mail you all weekly updates.

Anyway. Hi!

Yesterday was another national holiday in France, commemorating the end of World War II. This is the second of three national holidays in May and when these days land on a Tuesday or Thursday, many folks "faire le pont," or make the bridge, which means they make a big old four day weekend out of it. Stéph couldn't make the bridge, but he doesn't teach on Wednesdays so he has a nice weekend in the middle of the week anyway.

This morning Stéph and I went to Troyes to do some shopping, or as I like to call it, "Stéph's mad dash through four different stores to see how fast we can get home again." Drives me crazy, that does. Anyway, we hit the bookstore and I found Frank McCourt's latest so I've started rereading the first two so I can catch up. I'd forgotten how good and yet how very sad Angela's Ashes is. Then we raced through the mega grocery to pick up paper goods and drinks for the big PARTAY we're going to this weekend, and then we went to buy some chairs that actually match our dining table (very exciting), and all was done before noon. I also managed to procure some knitting needles that I needed for my current project, but all I could get was aluminum needles, which I find I don't like very much. The sound of them rubbing together is like nails on a chalk board. Ah well, the price we pay, eh?

Some folks have asked me to express how I feel about the outcome of the recent French presidential elections and I hesitate to reply. I can tell you honestly that if I had the right to vote this year, I am still not sure who I would have voted for in the final round. Part of this is because I'm still dealing with language barrier issues, so there are perhaps some points I'm not very clear on. Another part is that, like a good Independant, I can see good points on both sides. In any case, I'm hoping that in five years when elections come up again I'll have French nationality and I'll be able to make my voice heard, for better or for worse.

But really, I don't like to talk about politics here. That probably comes from growing up with parents who rarely told me who they voted for, though I could guess (and they often cancelled each other out). I don't mind discussing politcs face to face but I don't feel comfortable putting it all out there in this kind of format. Guess I'm kind of funny like that.

a desperate message

Internet connection has been horrible to non-existant for two days STOP Am currently between knitting projects again and must wait until Wednesday to procure new needles to continue STOP Will soon be climbing walls out of sheer boredom STOP May have to resort to actually cleaning something STOP I can't even post about the new president of France STOP Maybe that's a good thing STOP Don't you just love telegram format STOP Once I get going I find it's hard to STOP

to market, to market

Jiggedy-jig indeed.

Every Friday, our town hosts a marché in the village square. Depending on the season, one can find anything from fresh vegetables and fruits, rotisserie chicken, cheese, fish and sausages to sewing machines, crafting notions, flowers and clothes. It's really quite small compared to some I've seen (a couple of years ago, while visiting relatives in northern France, I went to a marché that covered an entire small town!), but it's nice to get out and have a look when the weather is nice and it makes a great change from the same old offerings at our small grocery store.

Today*, for the first time in I don't know how long, I got up off my lazy butt and actually went. After a pit stop at the post office, I walked across the street to the area blocked off to traffic and started checking out the wares. The first couple of vendors were selling clothes (of questionable quality, if you ask me), meat on rotisserie, including chicken, rabbit, duck and turkey, and a cheese vendor who also had a few butchered products, notably for me, skinned, whole rabbit. I still haven't gotten used to seeing naked rabbits stretched out for all to see in the butcher's glass counter, but that's a post for another time.

After that I came to my prefered vegetable vendor (of which there are at least four). I like this vendor because they leave plastic bags out on the piles of vegetables and fruit so you can choose your own and then hand them over to the vendors to be weighed. Most vendors don't like you to touch their wares and help one person at a time, which is time consuming, and I've got to touch the tomatoes before I buy them. That's just the way it is.


my purchases

Then it was past the seedlings of herbs, veggies and lettuce for those with their own gardens, another chicken rotisserie vendor (this is the one I've bought from in the past), the candy vendor (get thee behind me!), the seafood stand, a couple more veggie stands, a sausage stand, a goat cheese stand and I arrive to the crafty vendor.

The crafty vendor sells a little bit of everything - thread, scissors, beads, notions, oversized cross stitch kits and just about exclusively 100% acrylic yarn. I checked the yarn just in case there was anything interesting, but I've actually got enough yarn right now to keep me going for a little while, so I just bought a spool of brown thread for finishing my knitted purse for €1 and then finished up with my favorite vendor: Scary Spice the fruit vendor.

Scary Spice looks just like who you imagine, circa 1996, with fabulous hair and cool eyeglasses, and calls everyone ma cherie and instead of goodbye says "see you next time!" and asks customers she hasn't seen in a while "where have you been? I missed you!" I recognize a good salesperson when I see one but I love her just the same.

She had some gorgeous fruit yesterday, although ridiculously expensive, but considering the only fruit available this week in my crap grocery store is apples**, it was worth the price to me! I bought three nice big peaches and a couple of pears, for more than all the vegetables I bought put together.

A quick stop to the boulangerie for our daily baguette on the way home brings market time to a close for me. This whole routine is something I definitely want to get back in the habit of doing because there is not much more satisfying than strolling home with a basket full of fresh fruit and veggies and a fresh stick of bread on top.


* I started this post last night but I was so tired all day that by the time I started to write it was all I could do to stay upright, so I gave it up to finish today. Seriously, I was so weak it was like someone dropped a piece of kryptonite in my pocket. Freaky.

**Don't get me wrong, I love apples, but I don't want to eat them exclusively every day for weeks on end!

Also: I'm sorry I didn't take any pictures of the marché, but I already feel like "that crazy foreigner" in our little town and the addition of taking pictures of "normal daily activities" would probably send me over the edge.

Also also: I finshed my knitted purse! Check it out!

random listy goodness

1. We threw the new computer back at the company who built it. OK, not really. But it's back at the shop and heaven knows when we'll get it back. Luckily, we have my old computer, which was simply replaced for being old and slow. It's back under the desk and humming smugly along.

2. While we were in Troyes, Steph had a haircut (with... um... interesting results) and I walked a few blocks away to the sewing shop for a zipper for my new bag. It was such a beautiful day yesterday and my walk led me through the oldest neighborhood of Troyes, complete with cobblestone streets and labyrinthian lanes, and I was kicking myself for not bringing my camera. My jaw nearly hit the ground when I got to the sewing store and discovered their selection of yarn! I picked up a few skeins for a gift I've been planning for my sister.

3. Speaking of yarn, if you've been following along with my messenger bag project on the Knots blog, you may be interested to know that it's been felted and I'm still waiting for it to dry two days later so I can sew it up. I way over felted it and it's small but still definitely a bag, just of the shoulder-carrying variety now. Meanwhile, I'm in between projects and I'm climbing the walls! I have yarn and needles on order for more gifty projects, and I have a pattern I've ordered that I'm waiting to be delivered to my email, and I have random skeins of yarn that are calling me and I have no idea what to do with them.

4. Did you know that my birthday is in three weeks? I've just put my Amazon wish list back in the sidebar for your convenience (good gracious I'm getting to be a greedy old hag in my old age!).

5. I saw a shooting star last night. Whenever I see one I smile like a loon for ages after. I never saw a shooting star before I moved to France. I always feel like someone's saying "hi" from heaven when I see one. I'm also a sentimental old hag, what can I tell you?

6. Steph went back to work today after a two and half week Spring Break. The first day back to school is always weird after spending 24/7 with him for a while. I also feel like now I can get a bunch of stuff done, because when he's here we end up just goofing around together while the house falls apart. Spring Break is over for both of us, then!

7. I've been in something of a slump in regards to this here blog. I've been living here in France for almost three years and some of the newness has worn off, so some things that really struck me as odd and worthy of sharing back in the beginning has become so common place that I forget that maybe you'd like to hear about it. There are plenty of things about living here that still make me go "huh!" I've just got to remember to write about them. I'm kind of hard on myself, thinking I should be doing all this stuff, and I don't know how much of my lack to do these things is the result of simply trying to get on with life (has it really only been six months since we lost Dad when I was still trying to figure out how to go on without Mom?) or just plain old selfish laziness. I'm still trying to work that out. And make grandiose plans. And then carry them out.

8. Speaking of grandiose plans, remind me someday that I have a story to tell you about the differences between Reaching for the Stars and Doing What's Expected of You. Over the next couple of years, Steph and I are either going to achieve a cool dream or fail spectacularly. One day I'll tell you all about it, I swear.

9. This list is way longer than I expected. Sure is random, though. Reckon I'll go start the End of Spring Break Laundry Festival. Huzzah!

happy labor day!

Hurray, it's Labor Day in France! We're going to celebrate in the traditional way by throwing my new computer out the window.

No, not really. But my computer died last night. My brand new computer that has only been here for five days. This is so typical of our luck that when the computer started reseting and shutting down all by itself I just laughed. What else could I do? Happily my old computer was just sitting around doing nothing, so we hooked it back up and here we are. The new computer is going back to where it came from tomorrow with a stern warning to not come back in less than perfect order!

I swear I had more to write, but I think my brain is still asleep. If I remember I'll update later.

dancin' in the streets

We picked up my new computer Thursday, complete with shiny new flat screen monitor (woo Vivi joins the 21st century!) and a French AZERTY keyboard, which I'm still getting used to, but I know for sure where the backspace key is (heh). After a few fits and starts - the cable that connects our two computers chose the perfect time to short out, leaving us in a panic until we realized what the problem was, and you can hardly blame us when we've had so many computer problems in the past to jump to the worst conclusion in the beginning - we're both back up and running again and I'm slowly but surely adding on my favorite sites and widgets and programs.

Tomorrow our town is holding a foire commerciale, or commerical fair. If it's anything like last year, the long main street that runs through the town will be covered with tents and merchants offering everything from food to clothes to furniture. We're (finally!) supposed to get some rain tonight, which will hopefully cool us off and stick around for a few days, but if it's not too bad we'll go have a look-see. It seems that the town officials are preparing for the fair by testing the speakers that are hooked up all along the main road. As I walked around the corner to our usual boulangerie, I was treated to salsa music blasting out of the speakers. It was everything I could do not to shake my money maker as I made my way down the street - that music is crazy addictive!

On a last note - I was going to post this myself, but I haven't got all of my programs and thingies installed yet so I'm going to link to it instead - I saw this yesterday and had a good giggle over it. If you're in France or keeping up with French politics, check this out!

Guédelon

Steph has had in mind a particular French landmark as a place to bring his students on a field trip for a while now, so while we've got some time on our hands and the weather's been so gorgeous, Steph, his mother and I hopped in the car yesterday and drove for two hours to the Bourgogne region to check it out.



Guédelon is the site of a medieval castle in the midst of being built. Not renovated - built from scratch. Masterminded by the archaeologist and castle renovator Michel Guyot, the castle of Guédelon broke ground in 1997 and is projected to continue for another twenty years before it is finished. The workers are using techniques used in the thirteenth century (or as close as can be determined) and are supported by artisans such as...

the blacksmiths


the carpenters


the rope makers


and those you wouldn't think of as being integral but certainly are, including the potters


the basket makers


and the weavers


and you better believe I got all excited about all the yarn lying around that cottage! The weaver came out and did a demonstration of carding and spinning wool by hand and inside there were dyed skeins hung to dry. It was all I could do not to snatch one, so I contented myself with snatching photos instead.

In any case, it is truly a fascinating place! I can't wait to go back in ten years and even twenty years to see how everything has changed!

More photos can be seen in my flickr set "Guédelon 2007".

have you read these?

Ah, books, how I do love you. Kinuk posted this meme today and I figured that I haven't done a meme in a good long while, and why not on one of my favorite subjects? I will follow her example and not tag anyone in particular, so you are welcome to do it at your leisure.

bold - I've read it
italicized - I'd like to read it
Normal - have no desire/never heard of it (but I'll willingly listen to recommendations!)

1. The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King) [never finished it, long story here]
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel) [I'd like to read this series again]
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. The Bible [I've tried to read it through more times than I can count!]
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens) [I think this is the only Dickens I haven't read]
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery) [Thanks to Doc! ;)]
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According to Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

one down, one to go

The first week of Spring Break is almost over, and we've spent it like we usually spend the first week of vacation - resting. That's to say, Steph has been resting; not much has changed for me.

Monday, Steph finally went to the doctor for his coughing and was burdened with three different medicines. Pretty powerful ones, I might add. All was well until Steph started hiccuping at bedtime. He did his usual remedy for hiccups, which is to squeeze lemon juice on a sugar cube and suck on it. I don't know how it works, but it does for him.

On Tuesday, we went to a friend's for lunch and spent most of the day there. It was one of those wonderful lazy afternoons where you start chatting as soon as you arrive and you don't quite make it to the dinner table until 3:00 and at 7:00 you're wondering where the day went. I have to admit, however, that seven hours of French non-stop has me seeing stars at the end, but I digress: everything was fine until Steph started hiccuping again. And again. And again. I lost count of how many times he succumbed to a fit of hiccups, but they seemed to start up again about every hour or so. Finally, after we'd come home and were getting ready to bed, I wondered out loud if it was possible that the medicine was causing them? We grabbed each medicine's info sheets and there it was, plain as day. The next morning, Steph called the doctor, who told him to stop taking the offending pills, even though he only had one more day left on it, and warned him that the hiccups could last a couple more days before they disappeared. Poor man, I know how I feel after an hour of hiccups; I can't imagine how he's feeling after three days of them.

Wednesday was also Running Errands That We've Put Off Until Spring Break day. We left for Troyes first thing in the morning, had lunch with the in-laws, ran some more errands and came home beat. The best errand was for me - we ordered my new computer, which will be ready sometime next week. My birthday's coming a month early this year, woohoo!

Otherwise, it's been lovely and quiet. I've been knitting as usual, and have posted about what I'm working on here. The weather has cooled off a little to normal Spring-like temps, inviting us outside more and more, so we'll be taking some walks and going out to do a little sightseeing next week. Plus, Sunday is the first round of the Presidential Election. I'll have more for you on that next time.

on the town

Saturday we drove to Troyes to meet some friends for dinner. The place in front of the Mairie is a popular meeting spot in Troyes, so we weren't alone, hanging out on the low wall that sits just in front of the town hall. Despite the fact that we left later than we wanted, we still managed to be first, as usual, but the evening was clear and cooling as the sun went down, albeit a bit muggy and humid. Soon, everyone arrived from different directions and the ten of us ambled through the old downtown.

Our restaurant was one we've gone to as a group before, offering many different salads and lighter fare for summer and warm cheesy goodness in the form of tartelette, raclette and fondue in the winter. Since we were placed in the upstairs room, which was quite warm despite all the windows being thrown open, most of us opted for salads, but four brave souls went for a beef fondue, which is when a boiling hot pot of oil is placed on the table and diners take turns cooking their beef by poking them with fondue sticks and dunking them into the oil. Lovely in winter, questionable in warmer temps.

We had a lovely time at our end of the table, with Steph talking shop with his fellow teachers (once again I was the only one at the table who wasn't a teacher!) and politics. I very much enjoyed my salad, which consisted of lettuce, tomatoes, toasted chèvre on toast and thinly sliced ham, which was just enough for me. And then, just when the fondue was being delivered to the Fondue Four, Steph, who had just devoured his own salad brimming with seafood, looked at me and basically said, "hey watch this" and turned to the waiter. "Excuse me," he said, "my salad was very good as an appetizer, but is it possible to also have some fondue?" Well, it seems someone's got their appetite back!

It was rather a long dinner, last minute fondues notwithstanding, mostly because our waiter tended to forget we were there for long periods of time. At one point, someone even offered to call the restaurant from their cellphone to request a server to take our dessert orders. Oh well, at least the company was good.

We stumbled out at midnight, and four of us went in search of a nightcap. We ended up at one of our old haunts, The Middle Age, which seems to have fallen a bit in popularity as of late. It certainly wasn't crowded but the music was so loud that I couldn't hear the conversation, but I had my kreik (woo yummy cherry flavored beer!) and I amused myself by watching the dj, a middle aged thin man of northern African descent who entertained us with Kool and the Gang's greatest (and least) hits.

An hour later, as we made our way back to the car, Steph said, "This doesn't feel like April at all. It feels exactly like the end of August." I knew exactly what he meant - it wasn't stifling hot, but still warm at 1:00 am, and still humid and muggy. I know it's been raining just to the south of us off and on for the last week or so, but none of that rain has made it up our way. I surely hope we get a reprieve before summer sets in for good.

spring break!

Woohoo! Steph just started his two week Spring Break. We do have quite a few plans for the break, but most of them involve more Spring Cleaning than anything else. We're going to check out the damage in the cellar - not structural damage but damage to the stuff we're stored down there. It's wicked humid down there, which shouldn't come as a surprise since there is a river at the end of our lane. After we discover what's salvageable, we'll head upstairs and give our office a good going-through. There are literally piles of crap in every corner and it's time to go through them.

But we do have some fun things planned, including visiting some friends we haven't seen for a while, a little sightseeing and maybe even throwing a little money around - I'm getting my birthday present early this year, in the form of a new computer! With a new flat screen monitor! With a French operating system and a new French keyboard! I must be out of my mind!

No, I'm only kidding. Truth be told, it just makes sense, since English keyboards are missing French accents, but I can type in English on a French keyboard. It just takes a little time to get used to keys being in the wrong place (heh).

Meanwhile, the weather continues to be gorgeous. The heat is now officially off for the year and windows have been thrown open. I'm trying to enjoy it as much as I can now, because I know in a couple of months that I'm going to miserable when the summer heat settles in. We've been talking about taking another camping trip this summer. I think I'll request the mountains. At the end of July. That sounds like a plan. Or maybe it's time to visit the North Pole. Well, that's what I'll be dreaming of when it's 85 degrees in my house.