Fog knocked down the Eiffel Tower

Yes, it's true!

This morning when Zac and I walked out the front door of the building and turned toward the main street, we saw the thickest fog either of us had ever seen. I taught him what 'fog' was and what 'foggy' meant. Just when we'd reached the end of the buildings and looked toward the Eiffel Tower, it was nowhere to be found. It's honestly one of the strangest feelings. I almost felt as if New Yorkers did when there were no Twin Towers in the skyline. We stood for at least a minute just staring, thinking, we know it's there, but we can't see it. The view looked so wrong without the tower.

After I dropped him off at school, I took the long walk home rather than being herded through the stinky metro. The journey home includes a nice view of our beloved Eiffel. It was still significantly covered, but the base was visible. I captured it so that you can see how much was covered by fog. Oh and I think the fog is here to stay. We are supposed to experience another heavy dose of it on Friday morning, which happens to be the morning I am flying. Pray for me. Ha.

Weather Report

I am sitting at my usual Starbucks - at least the one I come to for free internet access. My toes are cold. I will be going to workout after reading here, but on my way I stepped in a puddle and drenched my shoes, which in turn drenched my socks. And that had me thinking about warm weather. I just checked out the 10-day weather report for Dallas. I am excited. The temperature should be a minimum of 20 degrees warmer in good ole Texas than it is in cold, dreary Paris. Surprisingly, I've actually come to like cold weather. I never thought I would say that. But there is something great about it. I say that only after learning how to layer, and layer well. That was something I didn't have knowledge of last year. Also, with cold weather comes beautiful lighting around the city and the mysterious presence of fog and steam from breath. And my favorite - the reflections of the lights on the wet ground. And so I've decided, I like Winter. Well, except for when my feet are wet. That'll ruin it every time.

Oh but before I sign off here, I must share of all the odd moments that I've been able to experience in Starbucks around Paris. The first one was when I was camped out for half a day reading and writing. A girl next to me, directly next to me, was studying with her friend. The shocking part was that she had her left foot propped across her right knee while peeling off skin from her foot. GAG!

Yesterday there was an asian woman with her sister and daughter. Her daughter was about three years old and making quite a bit of noise. Again I was sitting in the same place and they were next to me. I had two books. The nice hardback was sitting on the table while I was reading a paperback. As soon as the little girl took a drink of her hot chocolate, she decided to sneeze all over me and my hardback. I couldn't respond. If I did I would appear to be the Miss Trenchbull of Paris (my reference is from the movie Matilda). I let the mother clean up the mess while I continued to read and let the hot chocolate soak into my shirt. She said a few times to me "Ca va? Ca va?" to which I said "Ouais" without looking up.

And now, one of the oddest has happened. Three girls, probably ages twelve or thirteen, were just sitting at a table acting twelve or thirteen. You get what I mean. Well I look up and notice that one of them is straightening her hair. She actually had a hair straightener plugged into the outlet and was straightening her hair - in a food establishment! What is going on?

Just before that happened, a worker brought a tray to the table next to me with a sandwich and a coffee on it. A woman followed him. She didn't appear to be well. As I sat here checking CNN and FoxNews she smacked through the sandwich. I glanced at her and saw that she was taking the meat out of the sandwich and inspecting it before tilting her head back and dropping pieces of the meat in her mouth. Then she'd take a big bite from the sandwich and smacking loudly. I will say that the French have the best manners at the table than any other group of people I've come across, but you can find the occasional outlier.

You can probably gather that I come to Starbucks and you are right. It's my Third Place. This is a new proper noun that I am using which I first heard on the bonus features of You've Got Mail. The director made a reference to a book by Ray Oldenburg called A Great Good Place where the author states his theory of the importance of a third place (third to home and work) for people to keep their sanity, basically. And so Starbucks is my third place. If it wasn't, then I wouldn't have all of these disturbing stories to share with you!

Run Run Run

So I've gotten to where I love to run. I haven't been able to much lately because it's been raining as if the Flood is nearing. Just in preparation. But I guess that's just normal winter for Paris. Since the Venice marathon, Verena has mentioned running and I could tell that she was getting interested. I worked all weekend as the parents were in Prague visiting friends. I asked Verena if she'd like to go on my usual run with me. She was so excited and jumped at the chance. I assumed that her little twelve year old legs wouldn't be able to handle it, but let me tell you, she was a trooper. That gal ran like Forrest. She ran most of it and the whole time I was coaching her. I will say that it was a blast. I was teaching her about form and breathing. When it came to when she would need a break, I would make her run, then sprint, then slow down before walking and she did it all so well. She wants to keep going on runs with me and this thrills me!

While I was searching for running events in Paris (to no avail, nothing shorter than a half-marathon), I found the coolest website at www.mapmyrun.com. You must go! Now you can see the run that we did... NOTE: you can zoom in and even see a satellite version of the run.

Popcorn Burns and Shocking School Supplies

I hated today. And for reasons that have nothing to do with the title of the post. Winter has come upon us with force and quickness. It snowed yesterday. Granted it was only for a few minutes and nothing stuck, but Thanksgiving hasn't even come and I am already shivering. Speaking of, enjoy the festivities and feasting for me. Today, not only was it cold, it rained. Two things I hate. Actually I don't mind rain if I am sweaty from running and just ending the workout. But that's about the only time. And I especially hate rain when I am wearing my glasses; cold, wet, and blind. I decided on my trip in Austria that I would stop wearing my contacts. My eye health is very important to me and I want to keep them and my vision. I wear my contacts only when I workout and I remove them immediately upon entering my apartment. I've adjusted and I don't mind them slipping off my nose every two and a half minutes. I can live with that if it keeps the whites of my eyes gleaming and youthful.

I arrived at the metro station early before collecting Zac from school. Instead of standing in the cold waiting, I decided to step into Monoprix and have a looky looky. Since the elementary student in me hasn't died yet, I did a beeline directly to the school supplies. On the endcap I noticed there were some new designs and they were all in English. If i haven't mentioned this before, I HATE IT. I want things in French. I live in France and I want French on everything. There is no mystery or coolness of stuff in English. I can't take English written stuff back to America and have people think I am cool. It much be in French. Then I could flaunt it and people would be like, "Oh what language is that?" and I would say casually, "Oh it's French." And they would act so interested and say, "Do you speak French?" And I would answer in the romantic tongue as if it were my native language. That's beside the point. The thing that really tripped me up about these school supplies was not the language, but that it was ALL Desperate Housewives products. Yes. I am not kidding. Can you imagine having your little first grader come home and say, "Hey Mom, Caroline and Emma have a folder and pencil bag that I want to get, can we go get it?", and you think "Oh, it couldn't hurt, let's go!" Then you realize what it is. And you know the material they speak of on that show, right? Well all of those things are actually quotes on the folders, pencils, etc. I have nothing more to say on the subject except that I am a little shocked.Now, the other thing I wanted to mention was how I can't shake my moronic tendencies. Not only do I do really odd things on accident, but I repeat them. Last year I was craving popcorn. I couldn't find microwavable popcorn anywhere, and even if I did it wouldn't do me any good since I don't have a microwave. So I do it the old-fashioned, renaissance woman way. I melt salted butter in a pan and pour in the kernels and let those babies pop. It was a success. Since I'm not the most proper gal I just eat it right out of the pot (only when I am alone). When I did this, the pot grazed my legs and sizzled the skin. It hurt. But I didn't think about it until the next day when I realized that it was a pretty severe burn. I have a scar now on my calf. A popcorn scar on my leg. It doesn't make me feel tough. And by now, it might go without saying that I did it again. Only this time not to my leg. AND this time, I was pouring my popcorn into a very fancy and chic plastic tupperware container. But when I poured it, the bottom of the pot clammered to my arm like a magnet. I have no idea how it happened. You know how the inside of your forearm has the most sensitive skin, yeah? That baby skin got sizzled. Here is the funny part, medication. I have no aloe vera. So I tried some lotion. No good. I washed it off knowing that the burn needed some vitamins and also to breathe a bit. I went to my refrigerator and looked at my veggies. I did some research and saw that tomatoes and zucchini have some great nutritional values as far as vitamins go. Cucumber would be best, but I was fresh out. And so I applied zucchini and tomato juices to my burn. It felt better. It looks nasty, but it feels alright. To be honest, it looks like a kiss from a sphere-face Pokemon character.And there are many more blog-worthy moments of the day but I think I'll keep them in my journal and in my head. Saving those for a book. I've been reading David Sedaris again and have come to the conclusion that I could be his female counterpart. I seem to have his same luck. We'll see.

Update Schmupdate

It's been awhile. There are times during the week when I think, "I need to write about that," and I don't. I must say that I do miss having this outlet to write. I had intentions of taking a break from this blog to allow time to write more, document more, reflect, etc. However, I haven't been as disciplined as I'd like. I am quite sure that once I find an external hard drive over Christmas, I will start back on here. Not as often as before, but at least weekly.

I have some great photos from my last holiday. I met up with Pellow in Venice and I ran in the marathon and it was amazing. I plan to sign up for another marathon in the Spring with my cousin, God-willing she's able to fly over. I think that might be the best vacation - in Europe with Cousin Kel. She brings out my craziness and my giggly side. And me with her.

Italy was breathtaking, Austria was just as amazing, only in a majestic way. I love the mountains. There is something that happens in my heart when I am there. The air, the view, the sounds. I love the mountains. It will always be a trip that I will remember for getting to know a good friend. Pellow rocks. I was able to clear enough space to make room for the photos from the trip.

Painter's Point - Konigsee (Germany) Vienna Opera house. Yes, where Mozart composed. Pellow and I saw the most beautiful ballet here.
I'm immature, this I know. But who can't laugh at this?
I love you Salzburg!A rooftop cafe overlooking Salzburg, Austria
La la la la la....
The Sound of Music house (from the back; they used a different house for the front)The Sound of Music gazebo

Last weekend I took a train to Geneva to see Jasmin. The family she works for was in Israel, so she and I had the house to ourselves. I didn't do much research on the city and I wish I had. If I did, I would have known that it's where John Calvin joined the Reformation and changed the world. I could write five blogs on how cool all of that was, but I'll spare you because I know my excitement isn't always transferable. I did go to the International Museum of the Reformation. I didn't go through as painstakingly as I wanted, but I plan to do more studying and research and take another weekend trip in the Spring to do it all over again.

And actually, two days ago Pellow wrote to ask what I had planned for the weekend because she was thinking of taking the train into Paris on Saturday night, then leaving Sunday night for Barcelona. I love that spontaneity. I can't wait to see her again!

I've got a countdown to when I will be going home. My homesickness has been lingering for a while, so it's nice to see that time has been kind. I've got less than a month to go and one suitcase has been packed for a few weeks now. And my apartment looks no different. That says that I have accumulated way too much 'stuff'.

Once again I've hit an anti-social phase. This isn't new to me. I will blame it on a plethora of good books at my disposal and the fact that 80% of my closest friends have moved away, not to mention the weather. Each day seems colder than the last and it just seems easier to curl up on my bed and read under the light of my little lamp and glow of the little IKEA tea candles that I can't get enough of. During those times there is nothing more I'd rather be doing, except maybe drinking margaritas at Chuy's.

The family is doing well. Just last night my boss asked how my French was coming along. All I said was that I've lost motivation. She said "Would you like for Basile and I to start speaking to you in French?" I gulped, swallowed, and said "Yes." I shocked myself by that response. She then said, "Ben, nous commencons maintenant!" And now I am nervous.

The kids are the same. Barth is still getting into trouble, not cleaning his room, not making his bed, and coming home late. But he also still, at odd times, yells, "Connie...I love you!" and it always makes me smile, no matter how furious I am with him.

However, I am not sure if I've shared the new little discipline system that I came up with. I know how much these kids love their bank accounts. It's a great system they have. Their father keeps the books. He's a banker and he is their banker, as well. I thought, "Hmmm, what would motivate them to stay in line and do what they are told?" And that's when I came up with the spreadsheet now known as Au Revoir Mon Argent, Goodbye My Money. Isabelle and Basile LOVED it! Now here's how it works. There are five columns for ways to mess up and there are euro figures attached to each. Each time they get a mark, it's two euros, except profanity is five euros. The columns are Bed Made, Desk Clean, Tardiness, Profanity, and Other. The Other category is basically for Zac because he does all sorts of wrong things, like blatant disobedience, putting towels in the shower with him, hanging out with and distracting the tutor
while he's working with the other boys, and that list can go on. All that to say that Barth's row is full of marks. Zac is behind him. Balthazar is close to perfect.

All of Zac's pants are too small. They are all at his ankles. He doesn't see that they are too small but it kills me. He just got new ones in the summer. I'm shocked how much he's grown, but I just don't see it. Verena has grown too. She's not too far off from being my height. We've definitely bonded over the last few months and I love it. Never do we argue anymore. Balthazar is busy studying. He has actually moved downstairs into his own flat. There is some massive construction going on in the house. Zac and Verena have moved out of their rooms and are now living together in Balthazar's room. The ceilings are being lifted since the top floors have the exaggerated vaulted ceilings. All the windows in the roof are being changed out, and also will be electric. Then the entire flat will be painted. It all will be finished by next Fall. It's crazy. It's good that Balthazar has his own place. Studies have been brutal as he's preparing for university. He's applied at three universities in London and also at Science Po in Paris. It will be a weird year for Verena and Zac after the summer. Balthazar and I will both be gone.

I guess that is all the catch up that I needed to do.

I LOVE holidays!

So here I am in my hostel cafeteria sippin' on some coffee creamed with chocolate milk and spiffed up with some sugar. I've been reading a ton lately, but the highlight has been spending time with my new friend, Jennifer Pellow, and all the places that have dropped our jaw.

We started off in Venice. Yes, I ran in the marathon. Now don't think I'm a stud because I have a lack of motivation when it comes to anything, so my training was non-existant. I actually didn't expect to run more that six miles. I just wanted to check and see what a marathon was like. I was too scared that I would get injured and not be able to enjoy the rest of our vacation.

Our hotel in Venice was AMAZING. I loved this place and the people were so very kind. So I ran a half marathon before giving in to a knee problem that had began around mile five. I took the sweep bus back into Venice and ran to the finish. All in all (including the mile and a half sprint to catch the bus in the morning) I ran a total of about 16 to 17 miles. That in itself was a massive feat.

After spending three fantastic days in Venice, we caught an overnight train to Vienna. It's bigger than I thought and not nearly as mountainous. Then after a couple of days, we caught a train to Salzburg. Now, now, now THIS is my dream place. I love this city. We changed our plans and decided to stay here for two nights/three days. I could go on and on about the beauty. I am looking out the window now and can see mountains AND the fortress, which was shown on the Sound of Music. We are literally, directly, across the street from it.

We leave in a bit to go back to Vienna. We will stay one more night and I will board a place back to Paris and Jenn will hop on another train to Budapest. It's been one of the best weeks I've ever had. Lots of firsts, people.

Here's a fun one...I used a toilet that WAS a hole in the ground. Yes, Surprise. It was in Venice during my run, around mile 8. Emergency.

I've taken hundreds of photos and I cannot wait to edit them and share. Pray for some space on my computer to clear up. The sites have been breathtaking. Oh today we are going to Mozart's birthplace and residence. OH and I was IN the actual room that he performed in for the Queen of Austria when he was 6. I think this is amazing because I LOVE the movie Amadeus and this scene is in the film.

Alright, battery power is fading. Time for me to go. Thanks for reading!

Yes, I'm still alive...

Hello all. At least to those of you that still check in on this blog since it died a while back. Truth is, I was in Dublin for holiday and started thinking about how my time has been spent, if I have stress and where it comes from, etc. Well I had been spending a lot of my time blogging, as you know. It had, for a while, become a burden. I love to write, don't get me wrong, but the time constraints on editing photos and getting all the stories in print were just too much for a while, so I made the executive decision to stop it for a while. My computer is still full to the max. I've tried a few other solutions which have not really done much. I have been taking some photos, not nearly the amount that I used to, but I have some. I will say that it's been a great and relaxing couple of months.

I've started my French classes again at a different school, and it's been great. I love it. Hopefully I will improve dramatically. I have some exciting travels coming up. In about a week and a half, I will fly to Venice for the marathon. No, I am not going to run all of it. I have my reasons, 1) I'm lazy, 2) Early in training I started having a horrendous pain in my left achilles only to find out it's achilles tendonitis, 3) I'm lazy, 4) I had no idea how much a marathon actually was - on foot, 5) I don't want to risk injury when I have a week of GREAT travel and hiking ahead of me. So that leads me to the rest of my trip.

A few months back a friend of mine from my church in Dallas told me about a gal named Jenn that had just sold everything and planned to travel Europe for a few months. Since, Jenn and I have become good friends and have planned an incredible holiday together. She will also be coming to visit me in Paris in December before we both leave for Dallas for Christmas. So she and I will be in Venice for two days, then take an overnight train to Vienna where we will stay for two days in the city center, considering we will probably both be quite sore from the run in Venice. We will then take a train to Salzburg to take the Sound of Music tour and to look around the great city that Mozart called home. Having one night and two days in Salzburg will be good enough before we take the train back to Vienna to stay up in the mountains so that we can hike our hearts out. I might have mentioned it before, but I have been craving some good hiking since my summer vacation in Greece last year. There were so many great hills and ruins that I just wanted to trek through, but couldn't. Now I will be able to get myself up in the mountains, wooooo! We hope to take a short trip to the capital of Slovakia, which is Bratislava. We'll see how we are feeling at that point!

I will return back to Paris on November 2nd. Then on November 17th I'll take a train to Geneva to spend the weekend with Jasmin. I've been dying to get there since she moved last Spring. Another two weeks after that I will take the Eurostar to London to see Johanna in her new place and that's when we'll see Bon Iver at the Apollo Victoria. It's the same venue that Wicked is showing, there is just a one day break for this concert. I'm so incredibly excited about this. The blog cannot contain it.

Finally, on December 19th, I'll hope on a plane and fly home for two weeks. Oh it will be so nice. I can't wait to catch up with everyone!!!

I will take photos of all of these places and hopefully, one day, be able to post them all for your enjoyment.

GOOD NEWS...looks like I will be starting my amateur photography business here. To make a long story short, I took some photos for an American family (my friend is their nanny) here and they loved them, so they are helping me get started. The mother works at the US Embassy here and wants to put my ad in their newspaper. Let's hope it catches on!

Here are a few photos from the past two months...

A view from the Black Ruins in Wicklow, Ireland.There is a lot of beer in IrelandJohanna in her homeland, Stockholm.I'm a palla...or is it that I "palla"...you know, as an action. In Swedish, the word 'palla' means to steal an apple from someone's garden. Yes, and that is what I did - more than once.The Baltic Sea in Stockholm I had to say goodbye to my dear friend Alexia. She moved back to Canada and Paris hasn't been the same since. I just want her back here. I think she wants to be back here as well. In this photo, we were at the famous Cafe de Flore. It's one of the most lovely places on Saint Germain. Mom was able to see our new blue Eiffel Tower. It will be blue until next July. I miss the original, honestly.This was at the Ile-St Louis in Paris at nightAt the Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium with MomThe old cinema in Bruges, Belgium where Mom and I watched In Bruges. One of my highlights from the summer. It was so appropriate. After the movie was over, we walked around the city to find all the places that it was filmed.Taken from the top of the BelfryWe drank a beer in the oldest pub in Belgium, built in 1505.
Our walk from our hotel to the center of Bruges. I love this medieval city!And there you go!

Sssveeeden

I am in Stockholm currently and relaxing and having a great time with good friends. We just picked up Ellie at the station. She flew in from Germany. My favorite thing so far is picking apples off of apple trees during our walks and eating them along the way. Love it. I had my first experience in a sauna at Johanna's father's house the other day. We are about to go in again, only this time at her house. Yes, it's quite common to have a sauna in homes here.

I also got my hair cut today. It's short. However the woman didn't layer at the bottom enough so it's a little "mom-ish" so I plan to do a layer job myself tonight. We will see how it turns out. I haven't taken too many photos since I've been here.

I arrive back in Paris on Thursday morning and Momma will be here Friday morning. I won't be able to blog for quite some time. Apologies...

Oh me lucky charms...

I'm sorry I can't help meself. I must use all the chiche sayings at the titles of me posts now. So Dublin has been fantastic. Honestly though, I wish I was staying out in one of the towns on the coast and only coming into the city for brief stints. During the days I've been taking the DART out to the towns on the coast which is breathtaking. I promise that you will probably think that photos are fake when I post them.

A couple of days ago I went out to Killiney, which is south of Dublin. I walked around for a while and found my way to Bono's house. Many stories regarding that journey, but I'll save it for the full blog post when I have photos. From there I walked to Dalkey, another picturesque town. It's been raining quite a bit, but it hasn't bothered me too much. Gives me some time to sit in cafes and read. Which by the way, the Bob Dylan autobiography is beyond words. Cannot tell you how great this book is, an absolute must-read.

Yesterday I went to the eastern most tip of Ireland at Howth's Head. Then I went back to the hostel and made friends with an Australian gal, who accompanied me to Whelan's, a well-known bar that's not too touristy at all. We had a great time and met some cool people. Get this, a guy from Texas actually came up to talk to us. What? Seriously, first person, said he was from Texas and I almost punched him. I'm looking for culture people!

Today I'm about to hop on the DART again down past Killiney to the Wicklow Mountains. It's considered the garden of Ireland. I can't wait. Hopefully I will get some hiking in. Usually I hop off these trains with no idea what kind of scenery will be around me. Never know how much I'll need to trek to find what I am looking for. As long as there is land and water, I am happy.

It's my last day here, must get going. I leave early in the morning tomorrow. Then one day in Paris, then to Sweden.

Me an Irishmun...

My first day in Ireland. It's fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.
I was only able to bring one book because I was so fearful of going over my weight limit, which was so not an issue. So I bought the autobiography of Bob Dylan. Wonderful so far. I walked around a while, sat at St. Stephen's Green Park to watch the ducks and swans, then read for a while. Then I found this perfect pub, but was too scared to go in. I really want to go in one night this week because it's supposed to be the best for live music. We'll see. After, I went to find the restaurant Naked, which is owned by Bono's brother and is organic and very 'green' if you know what I mean. I wasn't quite hungry, so I walked across the street to O'Donoghue's Pub for a pint of Guinness (my first) and sat and read. I couldn't finish it. Just couldn't muster up the belly room. Afterwards I walked over to Naked and had the most fantastic chicken burrito ever. So healthy and so tasty. I sat there and read some more. On my walk back over the river, I found a Marks and Spencer's store (my favorite store in all of the UK) and bought some groceries to last the week so that I can save mucho money. I will be eating cereal, sandwiches and fruit. Cheap cheap. That's about all for now. I love the hostel I'm at. Well only I didn't know that I would have to bring my own towel, so tonight I'm going to bed dirty. I know, I'm gross. But I'm going to run first thing in the morning, so I'll grab a towel while I'm out. The hostel offers free breakfast...bonus.

Tomorrow I plan to travel to the country and coast. Oh and I will see Bono's house! Until then.

Oh and I am just at an internet cafe so I won't post pics till after I am back. Shoot, it might be September till I get around to it. Sorry peeps.

Dublin

I leave for Dublin a day and a half. I'm about to start packing and studying the city. I just went to www.weather.com and saw that it is going to rain the entire time I am there. Wouldn't you know it? Of course. It kind of bums me out, but those wizards that predict the weather are often wrong more than they are right, so we'll see. I just want a clear day for when I go to the hillsssss and the coastttttttt. Can you tell that is what I am most excited about?

What a day!

I love days like this. Actually not sure if I've had one like it before. And those of you reading this at work, don't hate me. I do know how blessed I am.

I woke up around 10:30 because the sun was hot on my face. I rubbed my eyes and grabbed for a book and read for a couple of hours before going downstairs to start my day. My kitchen doors have blocked out how much cleaning needed to be done, so I tackled it. And I'm telling you, I cleaned like a madwoman today. Nooks and crannies, clean. Down to scrubbing my rug, good gosh, I'm nuts.

I listened to music, sang, had a few dialogues, and a few monologues (with myself, of course). The windows were open and blowing in a great breeze. My gardenia is in full bloom and filling my flat with fragrance. All good. I had to stop and get ready for a picnic with girlfriends.

I took the bus over to the Louvre to meet up. Yesterday we spent time sitting on the Pont des Arts and had THE MOST RANDOM men come up to us. Disturbing and appalling things. It's all for a later blog. I'm waiting on photos from the girls.

So we sat and relaxed and ate and talked. Collette is a friend of Ellie's. She's also Australian. She's been in Europe for a couple of months on a tour. We spent time together just before she had to depart back to her native beach land. The sun was hot and beating down showing no mercy for those of us that dressed for fall/winter weather. Johanna was the photographer of the picnic photos.Thanks Joha for being my personal historian...Afterwards, Joha and I walked a bit before sitting near Tuileries. I had a song I wanted her to hear so we sat and spent some more time talking about how ridiculous our lives are. And when I say ridiculous I mean, it's just crazy. I'm still not used to things like leaving a conversation and saying, "See you in Sweden." Huh? That's what Ellie said to us as we gave bisous today before parting.Then I decided that I deserved some flowers. I rarely do this. It's just been an odd few days and felt that having flowers in my flat would be the most perfect thing. Then I walked to the fleurist down the street and picked out three different roses, two dozen total. I LOVE this place. Once you pick out the ones you want, you take them inside and they arrange and wrap them for you. Oh I love France! I walked home, listening to some tunes.I grabbed a vase from the family's flat, then went upstairs to give my flowers a home. The vase was too small, so I put some in an old Coke bottle I had and spiced that up with a ribbon. I picked up my Whole Foods bag and left again, this time for Proxi for groceries because my fridge was hurtin' for some food. I filled up the bag with all the good stuff, including wine. There is something about having a clean apartment, full fridge, fresh flowers, and a night off.Now I'm about to sautee some eggplant, onions, peppers, zucchini, and tomatoes and lay them on a bed of rice. Drink it with some wine and watch a good movie. I'll finish the night off with some coffee and reading on my sofa. And there you have it.

Slowly, but surely...

I went through all of my photos and did some Spring cleaning. It was excruciating. However, I've made enough room. Little ole me can't figure out how to put photos on cds, so until then, I need to lay off a little on snapping my camera button. As for now, I have enough room to download what I have. And what do I have? Oh, only 488 photos dating back two weeks beginning with Bastille Day.

It might take a couple days for me to post all the blogs, but I'm gonna do it. Scout's/Brownie's Honor.

Always a disaster waiting to happen.

Now I am a bit of an animated personality. I might enhance or elaborate to add some excitement to a story. However, not as much as people think. Odd things tend to happen to me. Now I have a child around me these days that has the same problems. I can attest and say that he spills something EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. You probably saw the video a while back where he explained it for you. This usually happens in the morning with either the orange juice or milk. If not, then for dinner there are many opportunities with water, dressing, or sauces.

The morning after we arrived back from London, which is also the morning before the family left for Greece, a major spill happened. Oddly, my reaction was comical. I just looked back, completely calm, and just laughed and said "Pick it up. WAIT, I have my camera!"

I just had to take pictures of what I deal with daily. He's got butter fingers, what can I say. It's in the hair, on the face, all over the table, on the floor, etc.

It's Official

Marathon Talk - Most votes for the marathon were for Greece. Unfortunately flights were either all booked up or too expensive. Dublin was crossed off because I'm going there in a little less than two weeks. Venice is the choice. I've just finished the registration, so this gal will be running a lot of miles, and even more kilometers, on October 26th of the 2,008th year of our Lord. That means I have two weeks less to train. Eeek.

Lucky for me, I have a new friend that will be cheering me on. She's a gal that sold it all, left Dallas and set out on some travels and is calling Florence home for a bit. I've just added her blog to my list, so go see her - Jenn Pellow. She's stellar, you'll see.

As for me, no more chocolate, no more sodas, no more candies and lots of running. Less than three months, holy cow!

FREEDOM!

I'm happy. I'm stress free. I have officially been on holiday for two and a half hours. I would normally go home, hop online to chat with friends and family (which I did), go for a jog (which I didn't), and hop in bed and read till I fall asleep. But tonight isn't a normal night. I gave myself some freedom.

So I'm happy. I just popped the cork of my Normandy Cidre. I've got a baguette to go along with it. I'm plopped on my couch/bed/lounge watching Blood Diamond. I know, not exactly a feel good movie for a feel good night, but it makes me happy. I've heard great things about it and bought it at a cheapo price. There aren't video rental stores here, so I'm pretty much obligated to purchase any movie I want to see (and purchasing is always cheaper than going to the cinema).

Tomorrow I have plans to go to the market to stock up on fruit and veggies for the week, then head over to Bois de Boulogne to layout, read, picnic, chat, and laugh with a good friend. Time is no factor. It will be a sweet week and a half in Paris. It will be my last days with my closest Paris friends Alexia and Johanna, whom are both moving back to their homes of Canada and Sweden, respectively. If my blogs turn a bit sad and morose, it's because they've left me.

But as for now, I am happy. Content. I like that descriptor better. I'm content.

He makes me laugh...

The other night while Zac and I were eating at Subway, he did something that made me laugh to tears. He had no idea why it was so funny and I didn't either. But it's one of those things that he can do fifty times a day and it still gets me hunched over in giggles. Now, I have figured that it is good for his English to make these videos and then listen back to them. So one of the videos today was to tell about our funny moment. There is another one that I will post tomorrow. While I was washing clothes he said he made one for me to watch while he is in Greece since I won't see the family for a whole month? How will I manage? Honestly I get sappy after not seeing them for a week. I might be a mess after a month. Enjoy the video. Remember that "nounou" is French for nanny (pronounced: newnew).

Tidbits

Rainforest Cafe. One word: over.rated. Seriously, the final sum was 23,50 pounds and that wasn't including tip or drinks because we only ordered tap water for drinks, which cost nothing. That's a whopping $48.00. Now we both ordered burgers and they were horrible. Without a doubt frozen patties just heated up and fries out of a bag from Sam's or the English equivalent. Horrible. I might start a Facebook group against this trap of a restaurant.

Website. I like this one called The World's Healthiest Foods. I just happened upon it just now as I am eating another bowl of pineapple. My tongue feels as though it is disintegrating. I assume this is the sign that I am eating too much of this luscious fruit. I googled "nutritional contents of pineapple" and it took me to this site. It's a great one.

Random Info. Did you know that if T-rex was tripped, then the fall would kill him? His front arms were so tiny and his head so large. His body would just smash because nothing could break his fall. Just a little something I learned today.

Ex.haust.ed

I feel so old. It seems that I can travel and tour other cities with no problem after staying out all day long. However, when I'm dragging a seven year old along, the story changes a bit. I am absolutely exhausted and we are not even halfway done. What shall I do?

So far we've seen the family's house when they lived here. I snapped a photo of Zac on the front steps. We've seen Wall-E and it was good. I slept through a bit of it, but it was cute. I sat in front of a girl, who was obviously on a first date with a guy, and kept laughing at every little thing and commenting on every other thing. Giggle giggle. It was funny at parts, but not THAT funny. I would prefer Kung Fu Panda for sure, but there was one line in Wall-E that really got me thinking, "I don't want to survive, I want to LIVE." I've been trying to answer that question of "What is to Live?" for a few days.

Last night we went to see the theater production of High School Musical. People, I was stinkin' impressed. I really enjoyed myself, despite the jughead in front of me. Nice man though. They had cheerleaders on stage and I had to laugh because I thought, "Hmmm was I really perceived that way?" but again it brought back a significant amount of nostalgia. I love musicals. This one was good. Nothing will ever beat Wicked though. Les Mis was also good, but again, Wicked takes the cake.

Food. The first day was enough to make me swear that I wouldn't ever eat again. Knowing that isn't possible, I just taught Zac the difference between healthy food and non-healthy food. He loved it. At dinner the other night with our host-family, he interrupted me and pointed to his sparkling apple drink and said, "Connie, this is not healthy." Our first day included croissants for breakfast, Subway for lunch (he had a loaded meatball sub with cookies for dessert), another chocolate croissant for gouter, then KFC for dinner. It was horrible. With all of the great stores here, we are able to run in and grab ready-to-eat things. I've eaten about a whole pineapple a day. The fruit is fantastic. So that's what we do. Fruit and sandwiches, unless we have a dinner somewhere. Which reminds me...

Yesterday afternoon we were so tired. We took the Tube to Covent Garden to visit the London Transport Museum, but we planned to find a Starbucks for gouter (remember, sounds like "gooh-teh"). We found our Starbucks and read inside for a while. Then Zac protested that he wanted to read more. My brilliant suggestion was to find a bookstore and get some more books then find a park. We found a travel bookstore where I purchased a Dublin book. Then we saw the Waterstones. They didn't have any French books, which was great because ole Zac needs to read in English. We got him the Kung Fu Panda novel and another one that's called My Mom is Going to Explode. I got a couple too. On our way out I spotted a Mexican restaurant. Laaaaaaaaa! I told Zac that we would have to eat there for dinner. He was hesitant. I urged. So we found this park that the cashier told us about which was so idyllic. After we read for a while, we made our way to the restaurant. The waiter tried to speak a little Spanish to Zac and of course Zac gave him a quizzical look. I told the man that Zac was French. I said that I spoke some Spanish though. For the rest of our meal we had a combination of three languages thrown at us and sometimes they were combined in one sentence. It was bizarre. I'd call it Spenglais. Yes. The food wasn't great. Or maybe I'm finally getting over my addiction to Mexican food. Could it be?

Today, once I get myself up and going, we are heading over to the Museum of Natural History. Zac has never been to anything like it. The father of the family that we are staying with is a volunteer there. He will be giving us a tour. Lucky us, right? He is a business consultant and has one day that he is able to volunteer. Pretty sure this is his passion. Then we are going to relax in Hyde Park this afternoon before going to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner. Easy day, easy day.

Sorry I haven't been able to post any photos. I must say that I've got some really great ones that I am excited about posting. Once I return from London, I work for one day, then my vacation starts! I don't have anything much planned for the first week and a half, so I'll definitely get caught up on the blogging, I promise. It'll be a beast, but I'll do it.

Until then...ciao.

Zaconnie in London - Part 1

If I were to write about our entire trip to London in one post, it would go on for a few pages. I will try my best to organize our time into comprehensible segments. I will say that after weeding through the photos I took, I still had 371 for the week we spent there. It's absurd, I know.

It would be much easier to just post all the pictures, but I'm a writer and I love to write. There is truth to that statement, but I will be honest by saying it's really hard to write about it when it happened some time ago. I've become a bit apathetic to the whole thing. Sometimes blogging becomes a bit of a chore. But my blog is a gift to myself (as well as for the family) as a diary of my time here. So I must persevere.

Alright, now on to London!

Our train was set to leave around 9:00 am, which meant we had to leave earlier than my liking. But we were going to my favorite city, so no complaints. I arrived to the house and Zac was having a conversation with his father about his doudous. These are his little three stuffed animals that he sleeps with every night. He has specific places for each one. Two he tucks under his neck and one he holds in his arms. His father thinks that he needs to leave them home because he is getting too old to need them. Zac was a bit sad, but agreed. I gave him a hug and whispered, "I'll be your doudou." How did he respond? Hilariously. He is still having a translation problem with the word gentil which means kind in English. He said, "That is very gentle of you Connie, but you will not fit under my neck" and gave the saddest look ever.

We made it to the train station, where we had to wait in the immigration line and security scanners. I got a bit more questions as I was an American taking a seven year old Frenchie out of his homeland. The guy at the booth asked Zac in French what our relationship was. Zac said that I was his nounou and the guy looked at me and said, "He is a very lucky boy." Sweet, eh? We made it through to the other side and on the train. Two hours later, we were in London.My boss had given me a gift for our host family which was a French olive oil gift box that weighed as much as I did in eighth grade. Promise. I had to lug that and my suitcase through the Underground. Not fun. We finally made it to Marble Arch station, to our new home for the week. By this point we were sweating and sticky. But I knew that our rooms were at the top of the four-story house. More stairs.

The best part was when we first rounded the corner near the house and saw a Starbucks and Subway. Zac screeched. Needless to say, we decided to eat Subway for lunch. Hyde Park is just across the street so we had them bag it. Zac ordered his usual meatball sub sandwich with extra ketchup (gag). I told him at the park that if he got sauce on his new clothes or on my blanket, then he would never have the joy of tasting Subway ever again. He took me very seriously. I couldn't stop laughing because he knows how clumsy he is and he tried every position possible to keep from getting food anywhere.Once we were nearing the end of our meal, the wind kicked in. The poor kid was shivering.We walked back to the house to grab jumpers before heading out for some touristy activities. Which activies? Hmmm, roaming through toy stores, scanning Picadilly Circus (which Zac still can't pronounce). He said Piccaladilla Circle constantly.Hamley's, a famous toy store in London on Regent Street.Loved this wall! I still laugh just by looking at the photo.
Oxford Street, just near the house.
We found a place to grab gouter. You can find parks everywhere in London. You can in Paris too, but they are mostly gravel and not grass, which is a total bummer. Also, the parks in London are like Paris parks on roids. They are MASSIVE. I feel like Hyde Park alone is the size of Paris. Good gosh it's a fantastic place. Anyway, we walked to the famous and sat and ate before heading toward Buckingham Palace. We went through Green Park to get there and walked through some streets which were typical London residential views.Green ParkBuckingham PalaceAs we were walking, I saw these policemen. I asked Zac if he would like a photo with them and he said yes. I, of course, said "Well you have to ask them yourself. Use your English." He hesitated and said that he didn't care anymore. For a good two minutes I just stood there and told him he needed to. We looked in their direction a couple of times and I think they knew what was going on. The one on the left said, "Hey kid, you know you want to! Just come over here..." Oh it was greatness. He didn't have to ask afterall.
One of the classic Zac photos
This was his idea and he was so excited about it. He does get a few humor points.
By this point we were extremely exhausted. It was still pretty early, so we figured that going to the cinema near the house would be a nice treat. Zac chose to watch Wall-E and I agreed. I told him there wouldn't be any subtitles and he gave me a good grimace. Funny that the movie didn't have any words for the first forty minutes. After it was over, we walked just down the street to KFC. Mistake. I've never felt so horrible after a meal. It was good alright, but the food was so greasy. I am not sure if any of you have seen the Mel Brooks movie Life Stinks, but for some reason I've always remembered this one scene where the main characters were eating at a homeless shelter and one of them had a piece of corn on his face. His friend told him so the guy moved it, but just to another part of his face. So the guy told him again. Again, the corn was just moved to another part of his face. After like the fourth time, the guy gave up. Then one of their friends walk up to the table and says, "Fool, you gotta a piece 'o corn on yo face!" and then knocks it off himself. The looks exchanged between the two friends was hilarious. Now why did I tell you that story? Because it happened to Zac. He had corn on his face and I told him and he kept moving it to another part of his face. I finally gave up, but I also took a photo. And so you see the corn on his nose. So funny!We made it back to the house, showered, read, then slept. No air conditioning and no breeze equals not good sleep. Little did I know that it would be like that every night. Misery. But at least I was in London.