The Bold Soul™

Flux

One thing I can say for certain about my life: nothing is stagnant. Things are in a constant state of flux, although I don't consider this to be a bad thing. In fact, when things are totaly calm (i.e. boring) for very long, I get antsy and need a project. You know, like grabbing a pair of scissors and chopping 4" off my hair.

Right now, I/we have several projects going on at the same time:

1) We bought that investment apartment. Right now, all is very calm there, which is great. We have a good renter paying a decent rent, so for the moment there is nothing for us to do there other than help her replace a lightbulb that is too high for her to reach. At some point, once she decides to move out, there will be more work on my part, dealing with tourists and cleaning etc. But for now, this is one part of our life where calm is GOOD.

2) We are beginning to prepare for the Little Guy to start collège (middle school) in September, and this means making a decision about which collège to choose. We had thought to send him to the one nearest where we live now, as it has a good reputation. However, we found out that the majority of his closest friends will be going to another school down the hill, so the argument of keeping him with his buddies for a few more years just went out the window. That led us to our other choice of collège, one located in the same building as the lycée (high school) that all three of his older siblings attended, on the Place de Clichy. Which leads us to the next project: moving apartments again!

3) Yes, we have decided to break camp and move elsewhere. We've had 2 years of lovely views and being at the top of the Butte de Montmartre, but we are paying far too much because of the location, and the neighborhood lacks amenities for locals (not even a good boulangerie up here, everything requires a hike down and back up the hill). Plus, our landlords are absentees and very non-responsive whenever anything needs fixing; case in point, a radiator started leaking end of October and they have not made ONE move to fix it, so we have no heat in our dining room/kitchen. In the winter. And the g** damn noisy, disruptive renovations are continuing in apartments all over the building; just when one is finished, others begin, and I am SICK AND TIRED of all day banging, drilling, and interruptions in our water and heat. Enough already; we're leaving!

Well, we may have some good news, in that we have located a suitable apartment just across a small park from that school we like, there is every conceivable amenity (supermarket across the street, 2 boulangeries, good transportation for Georges' job and for the Little Guy to get back and forth between school and his mom's place easily, and not far at all from his friends for weekend play-dates), and the price is really perfect too. It's not locked in yet but the agent seems to think we'd have a good shot at getting it. So keep your fingers crossed for us on this one. Assuming we get it (we should know some time next week), I'll share more details, and we'll probably be moving some time in March (and we may have a few things we want to sell that may interest you locals).

4) My book. As you know, I have started sending out query letters to agents (only 2 so far) and last Saturday I had a request from one of them to read the book. So I spent the entire weekend and a nuit blanche doing my best to get the manuscript looking as good as I could, and sent it.

I only had to wait 3 days for a reply, which was very considerate of the agent. She was very nice and professional in conveying her decision to pass on the project, and she gave me a little bit of personal constructive feedback along with her rejection, which she says she never does unless she feels the author IS a professional (a nice compliment, plus she said she did like my "voice"). I was a little disappointed but not at all upset nor surprised; this is roughly what my instincts were telling me would happen: that the book still needs some work (Georges, who has now also read it, loves most of it but also feels there are parts where work is needed). So, I have now had that first real rejection but it was a "good" rejection, if there can even be such a thing, in that at least it came after someone actually read the manuscript and they were kind enough to give me some additional feedback, rather than a form letter. And I got some compliments along with the critique. Could definitely have gone worse.

All this does is serve to motivate me. I will begin this weekend to relook at the entire thing and consider where changes most need to be made to streamline it and make it flow better. But I'm closer than I was, and that's a good thing. Soon I will start sending out a few more query letters, and then a few more after that, and eventually some very smart, perceptive agent will JUMP at the chance to represent me: lucky me and lucky THEM!

So there you have it: my latest "flux report" from grey, chilly (but so far not snowy) Paris. New schools, new apartments, no book deal as yet, and for the moment everyone also healthy. 2012 is starting off well!

Hope the same is true for all of you. What's YOUR biggest new thing in 2012? What kind of flux are you dealing with right now?

My 2011 (short version)

Thinking back on the past year and all that I've done, experienced or perhaps NOT done, instead of writing a long missive, I decided a bullet list was more in order to capture the highlights.

Make of this what you will. ;)

• Memoir first draft finished
• Venice in May for my 50th and our overdue Honeymoon
• Paris and London in July with my best friend and my goddaughter
• NJ/NY in August with Georges & the Little Guy -- awesome from start to finish, even getting to stay 2 extra days because of Hurricane Irene
• Nephew's wedding in August -- such a happy time!
• Finally finding and then buying our first investment apartment
• 10 year Carte de Residence! Woo-hoo!
• Lost weight
• Gained weight
• Survived French classes at the Sorbonne
• But still cannot use the subjunctive tense
• Saddened by news of one school friend's suicide and another dying in a tragic accident
• Took a lot more photos thanks to my 2011 Tumblr blog. Will do another for 2012
• Did NOT end up in the hospital for any reason (so happy about that!)
• Have NOT yet found my perfect hairstyle or color. Pfft
• Memoir second draft finished (well... as of tomorrow. My right hand to God, it WILL be finished.)
• Finishing up the year in the south of France

If you add to this that I feel very blessed to be head over heels in love with my wonderful husband, to have three terrific step-kids in my life, that my family back home are all doing OK, and that I get to live in Paris... all I can say is, 2011 was a pretty damn fine year. And I'm ready for whatever the next chapter will bring.

So 2012... bring it on!

Reminder

Feeling a bit pensive today. The continuing cold and dreary November weather is probably contributing to my mood, but it's not the only factor in the reflecting I've been doing in the past 24 hours.

Yesterday while doing my usual thing on Facebook, I learned that a former high school classmate of mine was killed on Monday in a very tragic accident. Dave was just 50 years old. He was working as a supervisor on a construction job just outside a hospital. According to news reports, a 70-year old man was driving away from the hospital, enraged that the valet parking service had taken too long to bring him his car, and somehow he stepped on the gas and lost control. He hit my classmate and two other workers. Dave died not long after, at the hospital; the other two men were critically injured but are said to be improving.

I wasn't close with Dave in school, although we certainly weren't enemies, either. We just ran with very different crowds -- he was a jock, I was a band geek. But I remember him as a guy who always had a huge smile on his face, he was someone everyone liked. Sometimes, teenagers can be really unkind, but I don't remember Dave being that type of person. My recollection is that he was just a decent guy, having fun with his friends, enjoying his youth -- what's not to like about that? I don't think I ever heard anyone say a bad word about him.

Judging from the huge outpouring of emotion I've been seeing on Dave's Facebook page, over 30 years later people still feel the same way about him. His only child, a daughter, just got married in September; she must be devastated to lose her father like this -- it's much too soon. Those close to Dave are posting photos and memories of Dave online as they grieve together and prepare to say goodbye to him later this week. It's clear that he was beloved by many and will be missed by those who really knew him.

While I am sad and shocked at this terrible news and I wish with all my heart that Dave's friends and family find a way to cope with their shock and sadness, because I didn't know Dave that well, then or now, I can't honestly claim the same level of grief. But the reality of the situation is not lost on me -- the fact that someone, still in the prime of his life with so many good years ahead of him, can just be going about his normal day, doing his job... and then suddenly in an instant, his life is over. Just like that. I do believe everything happens for a reason, and while I can't profess to know the reason this had to happen to such a good man, the people he loved, and also to his two coworkers, maybe what I am taking away from this is a reminder.

A reminder to appreciate the life I have right now, because who knows how long that life might be. A reminder to cherish the people I love, because none of us are immortal. A reminder to be grateful for the body I've got, with all its problems and imperfections, because that living, breathing body means I'm still here. A reminder to take advantage of the opportunities I've got to experience more of what the world has to offer and to enjoy every day. And a reminder to smile often, be kind and decent to everyone... because life is too short to get sucked into pettiness and negativity, and because common courtesy, friendliness and decency can go a long way in this world.

Maybe that's part of Dave's legacy -- the knowledge that simply being a good person, a loving father, and someone who can light up a room with a smile, is more than enough.

Rest in peace, Dave Seeley. You'll be remembered... and missed.

Generation gap à Go-Gos

When I was a much younger woman, these were The Go-Gos I knew and loved:

 

I even once sang "Vacation" at a company picnic in front of all my colleagues; two of the guys I worked with were part-time musicians, and when the boss found out we all had some musical talent, he pretty much ordered us to form a band and entertain the troops, so to speak. My God, that was fun. Wish I had it on video!

 

And the Go-Gos were at their peak then in the 80s, and their music defined the era (hey, remember the opening credits of Fast Times at Ridgement High and "We've Got the Beat"?)

 

Nowadays, things have changed. In our house, THESE are the Go-Gos that count:

These little plastic characters, also known as Gogo's Crazy Bones, are the latest "collectible" craze according to the Little Guy (they've been around longer than he's been alive but they're hot with the kids around here). They cost 1.50€ for a pack of 3 (and you get some stickers in the pack as well). Instead of getting up and jumping around on a dance floor wearing a mini-skirt and over-permed 80's hair (yeah, that was me), I now find myself sitting on the living room floor, cursing my aching joints and back, while I play some strange game, a little like playing marbles, where the rules seem to evolve constantly.

Just more evidence of how my life has changed. The Little Guy's never even heard of the band, and he couldn't have been more bored when I tried to get him to watch these videos. Silly me.

It's fun playing with my step-son and making him happy. But I still prefer MY Go-Go's. You can dance to them.

Doublé

I think this is quite possibly the most magnificent rainbow I've ever seen in my entire life. I could see the entire rainbow, end to end, and as much as I like how the photos turned out (and I did zero photo editing because I wanted to show them as-is), they don't even scratch the surface of the beauty of the real thing.

When this appeared yesterday off our balcony, it was near the end of a rather tiring and stressful day where I'd been concerned about the health of someone I love very much. I had gotten some encouraging news about an hour earlier, however, and then the weather changed (in typical Parisian fashion) as a rain cloud burst in the distance, and this rainbow appeared. Within about a minute, it went from a brilliant single rainbow with every color in the spectrum so bright and clear that I wanted to jump off the balcony and slide down the rainbow and roll around in the colors, to an even more magical double rainbow. And it lasted a good 15 minutes, too.

I took it as a much-needed "All will be well, and all will be well, and all manner of things will be well" from the Universe.

Hope

The new One World Trade Center on the left, and Four World Trade Center on the right, both rising from the ashes of Ground Zero in New York. (I believe that Two, Three and Five World Trade Center are in progress but not to where you can see anything in the skyline. I think that Seven is done, or nearly done, but One will be the tallest and is already now the tallest building in downtown Manhattan.)

Sure feels good to see something finally filling that big void in the skyline, even as we remember the tremendous losses we suffered ten years ago today. To paraphrase Eleanor Roosevelt, no one can keep us down without our consent. The rebuilding and memorial proves this. Well done, New York.

In Paris, there will be a special memorial at the Trocadero at 2:46 pm local time, which is the time the first plane hit the Twin Towers in New York. I was planning to be there, but it's been pouring rain off and on all day, and the skies opened up for a full downpour just about 2:30 pm. I'm content to be watching the very moving events in New York on television instead. The trees and reflecting pools are really beautiful.

Peace, everyone.

Morning

Paris is definitely back from summer holidays. The quieter streets and nearly-empty cafés are once again filled with noise and bustle. Of course, there are still tourists -- there will always be tourists -- but the locals are back in force.

It's the end of the first week of school, and we feel closer to being back in a routine now. The jet lag is over and done with, although I wish I could say the same for my bronchite, which is lingering in a rather annoying way. I don't FEEL sick, but my cough causes people to look at me uneasily on the bus. Still, I've had bronchitis enough times to know that it's on its way out and I just need a few more days. My house is still pretty much a disaster zone; the cleaning lady got sick on her own vacation and was not up to cleaning for any of her clients before we rentréed, but she's due this morning and with some luck, I'll come home to a spotlessly clean house this afternoon.

This month, Georges will be traveling quite a bit, first with an 8-day trip to Vietnam, and then three days later he's going to Montreal for five days. This impacts us for the next three weekends (insert pouty face here) but there's nothing we can do about it. I just wish so many of his trips weren't schedule for weekends.

My plan, in the meantime, is editing and more editing. To that end, I got my lazy butt out of bed early today, and commuted with Georges on the bus, and am now comfortably installed in my favorite writing café with a pot of tea (for the cough). The fountains outside the Sorbonne keep starting and stopping; someone must be making some adjustments. I hear a lot of American accents wafting toward me from the other tables; yes, the tourists are still here, enjoying the "real" Paris rather than the summer Paris. A friend is dropping by shortly so we can catch up on our lives after the summer, and Georges will come by and have lunch with me later.

So much for my Friday morning. And with that, it's to work for me! Bonne journée à tous!

 

Back in the saddle

It's officially been so long since I blogged that Typepad forgot who I was, and required me to sign in again. That'll teach me.

So, we're back in Paris, having arrived last Wednesday morning, two days behind schedule thanks to Irene, that be-atch of a storm that nearly drowned parts of my home state plus several others. We were lucky to get a flight out when we did, but we were proactive about it and started phoning the airline daily once we heard the storm was headed our way, so we got rebooked before a lot of other people even started trying, I think. My nephew and his new bride were not so fortunate; they had been scheduled to fly out of Newark on Sunday morning at 6am for a connecting flight in Atlanta, en route to St. Lucia for their honeymoon. He rebooked them into a 5pm flight on Saturday afternoon, but that, too, got cancelled, and finally on Saturday morning they decided to rent a car and drive from New Jersey to Atlanta overnight to catch their connecting flight. This might sound crazy, but in actual fact they timed it perfectly skirting around the outer edge of the approaching storm and barely seeing so much as a light drizzle all the way south. They arrived at 4am on Sunday, with ample time to spare for checking into their 10am flight. And now they have a good story to tell, about how they got married on the eve of a hurricane and drove part of the way to their Caribbean honeymoon. Sometimes you have to take a calculated risk instead of freaking out about something you can't change.

Back on French soil, we spent last week coping with jet lag -- both ours and the Little Guy's. In truth, he coped better than we'd hoped, only waking up 3 times between 1 and 3:30am the first night but then sleeping until after 2pm. He said he only woke up once the second night, some time between 5 and 6am, so that isn't so bad, and at least he's old enough to amuse himself with a book or computer game, unlike a baby or younger child; Georges just set him up with the right "tools" and left him to it, and he went back to sleep when he was ready. He starts school today and I'm sure by now he's in good form. Georges and I, on the other hand, had a rougher re-entry, and this weekend was sort of a lost weekend for us in terms of us doing nothing but lazing around the apartment in our pajamas and sleeping super-late, finally emerging only to go out to dinner in the evenings. The weather was so great, it seemed a shame to waste it, but frankly we needed a vacation from our vacation, and this was our opportunity. Next weekend Georges leaves for a week's business trip to Vietnam and it will cut into our next two weekends, so I'm glad we got this little bit of time to ourselves.

How to sum up our summer vacation? In a word: awesome. From our first week in Saint Raphael with Georges sister to our last days with my family in New Jersey, everything pretty much went off without a hitch (if you don't count that minor detail of a hurricane, that is). The Little Guy did really well adapting to being in an English-speaking environment, and my family just adored him (and what's not to love, he IS adorable!) He had fun with the dogs, the hot tub, the Jersey shore and all the games and mini-golf, the hustle and bustle of New York (although I think he preferred the beach) and the Bronx Zoo (which really impressed us grown-ups as well), and just being able to play outside in the yard with his dad and his new uncle Brian (my sister Sue's husband, who rated the Little Guy's newly acquired baseball skills as impressive!) I was just so delighted that he enjoyed himself so much doing simple things that I had enjoyed myself as a kid growing up in New Jersey: looking for lightning bugs, playing boardwalk games and body-surfing at the beach, walking barefoot in the grass. The next time we'll be able to bring him back to the States, he'll be older and interested in different things, so I'm glad we got this one trip with him as a child. We had fun watching him have fun on his first American adventure. And now my New Jersey family has met all of "my" kids at last!

What's next for me this month is editing... lots and lots and lots of editing. It's back to work, back to the book. I also plan to reconnect with my trainer and set up some kind of work-out schedule, because while I managed NOT to gain any extra pounds on my vacation (through no conscious effort on my part, believe me), my back and neck are telling me I really need to start working out again to stay limber and regain the progress I made earlier in the summer. Sometimes I feel guilty spending that money on myself when I'm not bringing in any income at the moment, but on the other hand I know it's even more important at 50 to take better care of myself.

I'll be posting some vacation photos to my Flickr account soon, and I'll let you know when they're ready for public view. I hope you all had a good summer, whatever you were doing, and hey... it's good to be back!

Still here...

So, I'm still here in New Jersey. We're near the end of our vacation, which has been unexpectedly extended by two days due to Hurricane Irene shutting down all airports in our area for the next 48 hours (we were due to fly out of Newark on Sunday but instead have rebooked for Tuesday -- luckily we had that kind of flexibility).

I'll beg your patience in advance for the content of this post... I'm a bit floopy in the head today, having had not much sleep last night: it was my nephew's wedding (which was wonderful, more later on that) so I went to bed at 1am, and my sister's dogs woke me up at 6-freaking-30 this morning. And then I couldn't get back to sleep so I waited until the supermarkets opened to go stock up on a few things (scored the very last pack of D flashlight batteries in the store!) in case we can't get out or lose power. Where my family lives, we're not in the hurricane zone per se but will have tropical storm weather, so might have power outages (the house is up on a hill so NO chance of flooding at all for us. And the house is new and well-built, so no worries). Still, it could be worse: we're with loved ones rather than having to stay in a hotel or be stranded at the airport, we were able to change our flight without penalty because of the hurricane, and my sister has a pool table if we need something to entertain ourselves (a game of billiards by candlelight?) I feel sad that Cape May and Wildwood, where we stayed just a few days ago and had such a lovely time, is right in the path of this hurricane, so I hope the damage will be minimal. Luckily we dodged THAT bullet.

I'll write more later about our trip but suffice to say, it's been really great, and capped off by the beautiful wedding yesterday and the ROCKING wedding reception afterward -- what more could I possibly want? I got to spend time with my family, introduce the Little Guy to a whole new world (and he's done really well being around all these English-speakers) and got to celebrate the marriage of my sister's oldest child. Life is truly good.

Now, if only the elements will allow the newlyweds to make it safely to Atlanta; they just left by CAR to drive down there (at least a 12 hour drive, I think), in order to catch their connecting flight to the Caribbean tomorrow for their honeymoon. Their original flight tomorrow was cancelled (as was ours), then the flight they'd rebooked for today was also cancelled, so driving was the only solution. They left here a bit stressed out but I'm sure it will be fine, and they'll have a great story to tell their kids some day about how they got married just before a big hurricane.

I have a feeling they won't be naming any of their kids "Irene" though.

Enough about me. Let's talk about me.

I came across this on my friend Linda's blog and thought it was kind of cool, so I decided to do the list myself. (OK so I haven't really had another other good blog material lately.)

1. Started your own blog -- uh, yeah. In fact, I've started more than one.
2. Slept under the stars -- I'm sure I must have, although I might have been in a tent under the stars so I'm not sure if that counts.
3. Played in a band -- yeah, baby! I was in the high school marching and concert bands (xylophone) and the high school jazz band (piano), as well as in the school orchestra in college (xylophone). And in my early 20s, when I worked in the Info Technology group for a large insurance company, two colleagues and I got a band together to play for the team picnic... by direct order of our boss (once he found out we were all musical. I was the singer!
4. Visited Hawaii -- not yet. I wouldn't turn down an opportunity but for some reason, it just hasn't felt like anything that would interest me. Fiji would be cool, though.
5. Watched a meteor shower -- I think I saw one once. I also saw a comet back around '96.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity -- actually, yes. I think a lot of us think we "can't afford" to give to others when we haven't got that much ourselves, but there is always a way you can give SOMETHING... even a quarter to a homeless person in the subway.
7. Been to Disneyland -- yes. Well, not the original in California, but I've been to Disney World in Orlando and Disneyland Paris. And the mouse ears are the same.
8. Climbed a mountain -- no. And I don't plan to, unless I can do it in a car, gondola-ski lift or train (I've done all three of those).
9. Held a praying mantis -- yes!
10. Sang a solo -- see #3
11. Bungee jumped -- are you freaking out of your mind? I have enough back and neck problems, thank you. 
12. Visited Paris -- DUH! (But I think it's cool that this was on the list; just shows that so many people have Paris as one of their dreams.)
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea -- sure, from the beach... no doubt with my mother nearby yelling at me to get inside and under cover because DON'T YOU KNOW YOU COULD GET ELECTROCUTED OUT THERE?
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch -- if Web Design can be considered an art form (and I think it can), then yes... I'm completely self-taught and made a very good living doing it for a lot of years.
15. Adopted a child -- no, although I did seriously think about it once in my mid-thirties. Now, I get to be a step-mom which at this stage of my life is just as good.
16. Had food poisoning -- yes, thanks to a bad crab cake. Twice. And yet, I keep eating them. 
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty -- yes, when I was 11, I went there on a class trip. It is one hell of a climb. I don't remember anything about the view from the crown except the windows were small and dirty and we were mostly all too short to see anything properly.
18. Grown your own vegetables -- no, but I've been forced into indentured servitude weeding my mom's vegetable garden. I don't do well with plants.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France -- too many times to count now. She's small, but impressive.
20. Slept on an overnight train -- yes, going down to Saint Raphael. It's not my favorite when you are just sitting up in a regular train seat.
21. Had a pillow fight -- do you know a woman alive who didn't have one as a girl at a slumber party or with a sister?
22. Hitch hiked -- only once. Freezing cold January night, worked late and driving home had car trouble. Pulled off an exit on the interstate and got the car off to the side of the road where a couple of other cars were parked. Turns out it was an unofficial "park and ride" site, and an architect gave me a ride to the next town where there was a restaurant and a phone. I was scared, but it was either that or freeze to death -- no cell phones in those days. I was lucky; he was a decent man.
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill -- hell yes! I used to call them "mental health days". 
24. Built a snow fort -- I'm from the snow belt, so of course!
25. Held a lamb -- I don't think so, but I think I held a baby goat once. It was cute but rather stinky. I guess I'm not much of a farm girl.
26. Gone skinny dipping -- ummmm... yes. (Smiling my own Mona Lisa smile)
27. Run a Marathon -- I've never even run a mile. And don't plan to.
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice -- yes, solo (and I got such a look from the gondolier!) Planning to do it again in May when we go to Venice for my 50th. A gondola ride will be even better with my beloved at my side.
29. Seen a total eclipse -- yes, I think I have.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset -- of course.
31. Hit a home run -- have we not already established, I am not the sportive type?
32. Been on a cruise -- yes but only a 3-day cruise to nowhere off the coast of NEW JERSEY, and it was all business.
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person -- no, but that would actually be kind of cool.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors -- well, I grew up within driving distance of the birthplace of my parents and grandparents and have visited most of those. Now that I'm in Europe, I'm hoping to get over to Londonderry, Ireland, where I believe some of my ancestors came from on their way to the U.S. 
35. Seen an Amish community -- yes, I did a day trip to Lancaster, PA once. Really fascinating and the Amish farms are so beautiful and well-kept.
36. Taught yourself a new language -- I don't think I can say I taught myself French. Because I still can't speak it and I've had loads of classes.
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied -- what's "enough"?
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person -- not yet. On my list.
39. Gone rock climbing -- see all previous remarks on sports and mountain climbing. 
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David -- not yet, also on the list.
41. Sung karaoke -- believe it or not, NO. Not in public, anyway.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt -- no, but I have wanted to until recently when I read there is a HUGE volcano underneath and one of these days soon, it could blow and put 1/3 of the planet into darkness.
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant -- no
44. Visited Africa -- not yet
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight -- oh, yes.
46. Been transported in an ambulance -- sadly yes, once... August 1996, fell at home and broke my left leg and ankle in 3 places.
47. Had your portrait painted -- nope. Anyone offering?
48. Gone deep sea fishing -- no, I'm not a fisher for the same reason I don't do sports. I suck at it. I have gone whale watching though... very cool.
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person -- no
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris -- naturellement! But the better views are from the top of the Tour Montparnasse, especially at night, or from Montmartre.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling -- scuba, no; snorkeling, yes. LOVED snorkeling, did it down in Martinique.
52. Kissed in the rain -- oh yes... on my first date with Georges. It was pouring rain after we left the restaurant, and we stood under an awning and kissed. Best date ever.
53. Played in the mud -- not lately. But yes.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater -- so cool! There was one about 20 min from our house, and my parents used to put my sister and I in our jammies beforehand because we'd usually fall asleep either during the movie or on the way home. I think I saw "Bambi" at a drive-in.
55. Been in a movie -- not that I know of. Just watching Woody Allen MAKE a movie was pretty damned exciting, though.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China -- no, but definitely on my list
57. Started a business -- yup! Been self-employed since 1998. Best professional decision I ever made.
58. Taken a martial arts class -- if you count Tai Chi, then yes.
59. Visited Russia -- no, but since Georges' father was born in Saint Petersburg, I'd say there's a better than average chance we'll go there together some time.
60. Served at a soup kitchen -- no, but I did work for a week at a Red Cross shelter after a hurricane flooded a town near where I used to live.
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies -- sure did!
62. Gone whale watching -- yes, near Boston. We saw several whales and it was amazing.
63. Got flowers for no reason -- yes! From Georges!
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma -- ok, here is where I hang my head in shame. I have a major phobia when it comes to needles and bloodwork of any kind, and I simply have NOT been able to bring myself to do this.
65. Gone sky diving -- I used to think I wanted to do this. Somewhere along the line I decided, "Eh."
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp -- yes, Dachau. If you're ever in Munich, I strongly urge you to go there; it's close to the city, easy to get to, and well worth the time.
67. Bounced a check -- sadly, yes. But never on purpose.
68. Flown in a helicopter  -- no. My sister got to once, as a child. She and a friend got lost in the woods while camping with the other girl's family, and the state police found them with a helicopter and flew them back to safety!
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy -- no, but I HAVE saved all my Little House books, plus several other childhood books.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial -- yes. Very impressive.
71. Eaten Caviar -- yes, and if it's very good caviar, I quite like it. Can't eat a lot though, too salty.
72. Pieced a quilt -- never
73. Stood in Times Square -- well, as a Jersey girl, I've been there a lot. Had fun over this past Christmas watching the expression on my step-kids faces when we took them there. Especially after the blizzard!
74. Toured the Everglades -- I may have been there as a very young child. We have photos of us at some tropical-looking park but not sure if that was the Everglades or not.
75. Been fired from a job -- yes, twice. Both times, turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me because I ended up somewhere 10x better.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London -- yes, in 2007 with my best friend.
77. Broken a bone -- oh yes; see #46. Very, VERY painful. My left leg will never be 100%.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle -- I've only once been on a motorcycle and not a speeding one. Never again.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person -- no, and I really hope I get to go there sometime.
80. Published a book -- yes, self-published. Working on that second one now.
81. Visited the Vatican -- no
82. Bought a brand new car -- yes
83. Walked in Jerusalem -- no
84. Had your picture in the newspaper -- yes
85. Read the entire Bible -- no
86. Visited the White House -- no. Is it open for visitors again?
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating -- are you kidding? I like my meat under cellophane; I don't need to know where it comes from.
88. Had chickenpox -- no, but not for lack of trying. My best friend caught it when we were around 11, and I TRIED to catch it from her (unbenownst to our mothers) by having her stick her arm out the bedroom window and rubbing it on MY arm. Didn't work. To my knowledge, I've never had it. When the vaccine came out, I got that because to get the pox as an adult can be very serious.
89. Saved someones life -- I don't know if I actually saved their lives or not, but I have Heimliched two people, one of whom is my cousin. On both occasions it turned out they were choking after drinking something that went down "the wrong pipe" but they really could not break for some seconds, and I had no idea there wasn't food stuck in there, so... I've always been glad I learned how to do that.
90. Sat on a jury -- yes, and it was very interesting, actually.
91. Met someone famous -- Olympic gold medal ice skater Kristi Yamaguchi
92. Joined a book club -- yes, and actually I've been thinking of starting one here in Paris
93. Lost a loved one -- yes... grandparents
94. Had a baby -- no
95. Seen the Alamo in person -- no. I can never remember it.
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake -- nope
97. Been involved in a lawsuit -- thankfully, NO.
98. Owned a cell phone -- what year is this?
99. Been stung by a bee -- yes. Luckily, NOT allergic.
100. Read an entire book in one day -- you betcha. One of them was a Harry Potter book, one of the big fat ones.

You are being watched

You never know when someone is watching you. Someone could even been peeping out at you from a random cobblestone when you're not expecting it.

I'm writing at the cafe today at Place de la Sorbonne, and had a surprise visit from Kyliemac, who was in the neighborhood. Then, I got a chat request on Facebook from an old high school friend who now lives in Taiwan with her husband and two kids; she teaches at a school there. We got to reminiscing and marvelling at how a couple of country bumpkins like us ended up living in big cities so far from our roots, but we're both happy with how our lives have turned out.

With that, I'd better get down to some actual writing before Georges comes over to join me for lunch in an hour and a half. Because I know I'm being watched.

Of course, being watched by my husband? Always a very good thing.

MOMA

So far this week, we've hit shopping malls several times (still haven't made the usual pilgrimage to Target, but since I got a gift card for Christmas, we'll be there for sure this week), eaten way too much (and haven't even had our Christmas Day dinner yet) and also made the first of two or three trips into the city (that's New York). We took Georges' kids in and spent the day walking around mid-town, seeing Rockefeller Center and the tree, checking out the spectacular view from Top of the Rock observation deck, and seeing all the neon lights in Times Square. 

Georges and his daughter decided to skip a museum, but his son really wanted to go to MOMA so I decided to tag along with him. Here's a selection of some of my favorite paintings:

We liked this last one, because it's a common expression in French... only it's probably spelled "Ouf!"

It's also how my last name is pronounced by the French. :)

 

I'll be home for Christmas

I'm flying back home to New Jersey today, to spend two weeks with my blended, multi-cultural family. Georges is coming with me, and this year for the first time we'll have his two oldest kids with us. His daughter will have a little reunion with my family (if you recall, she was at our July wedding in 2008, but she's never seen NJ and NYC in winter -- she got herself a good warm coat and boots), His older son will be making his first trip to the US (fresh from 5 days in Barcelona with his architecture class!) and it will be his first opportunity to meet my family -- and to be surrounded by people speaking English very quickly, which will be a bit of a challenge for him, and a taste of what it's like for me being here in France (I will be loving THAT). And we'll introduce both kids to what it's like to have Christmas in America: shopping malls (and the insanity of finding a parking space), shoveling snow (assuming we get any... and we just might), NYC, tacky Christmas lights, giant Christmas trees (my sister has an 18-foot ceiling in her family room so they have a pretty big tree), Christmas cookies and eggnog, and more. And just so we don't completely ignore French tradition, we're bringing a couple of foie gras with us, and some cookies from Alsace.

So, while I'm airborne, reconnecting with my family and friends, and finishing my Christmas shopping over the next couple of days, hope you'll enjoy this video while you're taking a break from your own holiday shopping. It's Josh Groban's "I'll Be Home for Christmas", which he recorded in 2007 and dedicated to the American troops. This has special significance for me, as my nephew Steve is now a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army, and he's got leave from his training in Georgia to join us (and his fiancée, Kristen) at the holidays. Next year? It's anyone's guess.

More snippets

The torture French course continues and has been taking up way more of my time than I had anticipated. It's very nearly turning into a full-time job, if you count the daily commute across town to the 5th and the 3-5 hours a day of homework. And I haven't even started phonetics lab yet; that's tomorrow. On Friday I have to give what I hope will be my only oral presentation during the course (not counting that part of the final exam is oral). I have no idea whether or not I'll do a good job on this "exposé" but at least I'll get the damn thing over with. I'm also getting tired of making trips to the bookstore every other day, as I try to get the "right" grammar books to help me catch up on my deficient past education in French. About every other day, I'm having a horrible day where I melt down, and then on alternate days it seems not so bad and I feel like I'm actually learning something, or at least I feel less stupid.

Suffice to say, the French work is sucking my brain out through a straw. Time for writing MY book? Uh... not so much. I don't know yet what I will do about that. I want to give myself a couple more days to get used to the new routine and then I will try to at least devote 1 hour per day to my book. It's not optimal, but it's better than not writing at all.

Saturday was the third anniversary of the day Georges and I had our first date... the famous 26-hour first date! It was also the Fête des Vendanges here in Montmartre and we had the Little Guy with us, so instead of celebrating our anniversary we invited our friends and their two little boys to come up the hill and join us for the "big" parade that winds its way from the Mairie of the 18th all the way up to Sacre Coeur. The parade last year seemed a bit better but they had these "grandes têtes", and some of the wine afficianado groups were passing out free wine samples... we liked THAT! Sunday I stayed home to work on my French homework (thank God I have Georges as my private tutor, he really knows his grammar) while he and the Little Guy went out to a movie and lunch together. The weather was divine all weekend, too, so we couldn't have asked for more.

We still wanted to celebrate the three best years of our lives, though, so we snuck out for dinner alone last night. We didn't go to the same restaurant but chose another one just down rue des Abbesses that we also like. Now that the oldest child has settled into his own little studio apartment, we actually can have more date nights, more time on our own, and it's really nice.

French strike? Day 2 this week, and the fifth day unions and students have been on strike over this whole retirement age issue, and naturally the teachers often go out on strike. So I'm hoping for NO strike tomorrow... because MY teacher will be there teaching (although some of the students have been absent), and I can't afford to miss even 5 minutes of this French class. And if the Little Guy's school is closed again... well, all you parents can relate to the mad scramble for child care that happens sometimes. The strike otherwise isn't affecting us personally, other than we leave a bit earlier in the mornings because the buses are overcrowded and running slower than normal. With any luck, the striking factions will give up and let it be; I don't think the government is going to budge on this particular retirement reform issue.

Well, it's time to get back to my daily French grind... and I'm not talking about coffee. But can I just take a moment to say how WONDERFUL, AMAZING and MIRACULOUS it is that these 33 Chilean miners are being rescued after 69 days, and in such overall good condition? As I write this, 12 men have reached the surface and so far it appears to be going extremely well. I hope that mining companies and governments (Hello, China? Over 2,000 Chinese miners died last year alone in mining accidents) are taking note of how beautifully the Chilean government has handled this entire thing, and hats off to all the experts from all over the world who participated in getting these guys out and back to their loved ones. Most of the time, when you turn on the news, all you hear is bad tidings, but this is one day when maybe the news is all good. What a miracle.

#13 about to go up has just come up in the "capsule"... Lucky 13! Viva Chile!

Photo: Reuters

You are never alone

So Georges is away on business for 9 days, in Vietnam of all places. For an American, it just feels so strange to say "My husband is in Vietnam this week" as casually as I might say that he went to London or Rome -- which would actually be very cool, although he never has to go to those places on business because they aren't connected with la francophonie. Instead, his work has taken him to some rather unusual places since I've known him: Dakar, Armenia, Moldova, Haiti... and now Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon). Well, at least it's interesting and he's not stuck in an office all year long.

Fortunately, these trips only come up maybe twice a year. I don't mind the ones that take him to Montreal because we can piggy-back a trip to New Jersey when that happens, but otherwise I don't much like the time away from each other, since it's usually always for at least a week. Plus we were just apart for more than two weeks when I had to go back to New Jersey to take care of my mother.

When I found out he was going, I thought I could at least make the best of things by enjoying the solitude. La fille has been living in Lille for the past few months, at university, and her older brother just found his own studio apartment here in Paris. So I was figuring on having some quality Me Time plus some extra time to spend with my girlfriends. You know, I spent more than 4 decades as a single lady, and one of the things I liked about being single was that I could do what I pleased, when I pleased, without the need to consider anyone else's schedule or needs. Being single gives you a license to be selfish, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, not in this context.

Then, three years ago this week, that all changed very suddenly. It was like one minute I was single, and the next I was not only fully committed to another human being with all my heart and soul, but to his three kids also (and for a time, that psycho cat as well). Suddenly, I was part of a team instead of a solo act. And oh, did THAT take some getting used to. I had to learn to share not only the bed, but also a lot of other things (apparently, kids kind of just take what they want without asking, which is why I am perpetually in search of things like my tweezers, or running out of yummy snacks I bought for myself but that someone else got to first). Yes, I still have days, or at least parts of days, when my time is my own (it's called SCHOOL). And I revel in that alone time. But to a large degree, my time is no longer fully mine to do with as I please. That's not a complaint, just a statement of fact.

Case in point: Georges is away, but the Little Guy was here this week as he always is. And with Georges away, I got to be a single parent for a couple of days. Normally, this is no big deal, but wouldn't you know it: yesterday afternoon, I got a vicious migraine, one that completely ignored the special migraine medicine I took. And this all happened about 90 minutes before it was time to pick the Little Guy up from school. Just before I left the house, I was so sick I actually vomited. But I had no choice, I had to steel myself to walk down the hill, meet him at the school, and then take him to pick up his new eyeglass frames. By the time we got home, I was nearly blinded by pain and nausea, so I had to go and lie down quietly while he amused himself with the computer and TV. Then I had to get up, help him with his school and piano homework, and make him something decent to eat. Then keep him company until bed time. Luckily he's such an easy kid and he was very sweet when he learned I wasn't feeling well (he even felt my forehead to see if I had a fever!)

If I had been stricken by this nasty headache on a day when I was completely alone, I would have just curled up under the covers in a darkened room until it passed. But as a mom... well, you moms and dads out there know how it is. Even when you're sick, you can't really BE sick.

Now, I have other people in my life, and they rely on me to be there for them. While this isn't always convenient and sometimes I long for the days when I could just be selfish... it is also nice to be needed. And of course, loved.

Which is why, when I discovered that my older step-son, the 21-and-a-half-year-old who technically moved OUT of our apartment last Saturday? Was still planning to sleep in OUR apartment EVERY NIGHT THIS WEEK because he had no Internet at his place (at least, that's HIS excuse, but I can't help wondering if he is just nervous about sleeping alone in his new place)? I didn't exactly mind so much, because now I, too, don't like being completely alone, especially at night. So having one or both of the boys around in the evenings has been great. And although tonight, the Little Guy is at his mom's for the weekend, it turns out my step-daughter will be coming home for a couple of days. When I thought I would be alone nearly every night while Georges is away? Uh... not so much. That's life chez La Famille Bold Soul. Just a revolving door.

So whenever I am tempted to be frustrated by the fact that I am always picking up someone's little stray socks, or flushing the toilet behind both grown-up and small boys who don't seem to be able to remember to CHASSE! when I tell them to, or I am constantly running to the supermarket because they are eating us out of house and home... I try to remember that the alternative is being alone. All. The. Time.

Not alone? Is so much better.