So we're here in New Jersey, staying at my mother's place for the first part of our holiday. My mother just turned 75 on Wednesday and fortunately is in overall good health but has had increasing problems with her knees in the past couple of years, and it affects her mobility. In other words, she can't always get around or do things as well as she used to. "Normal" aging, I guess, and it's unfortunate but it could also be worse. It just pisses her off that she can't do easily (or at all) what she once could do without effort, and I can't say I blame her about that.
Consequently, having Georges and I around this week -- when we have already had a pretty good snow/ice storm yesterday and more bad weather forecast nearly every other day for the next week -- has been a blessing for my mom. Because of course, Georges and I are out there shoveling snow and chopping through layers of ice on the driveway and sidewalks to keep them clear. And I'm yelling at Mom every time she attempts to pitch in and help us. Last thing we need is her down with a broken hip or something.
Before we came over here, we both thought we'd be at risk of putting on some extra weight, it being the holidays when everyone has a tendency to over-indulge, and also because we're in suburban New Jersey where you have to drive to get anywhere.
We needn't have worried. We're getting a great workout with all the shoveling and chopping and pushing and lifting of nature's frozen fury.
And Georges is racking up some serious son-in-law points with my mom. Being a Parisian, he has rarely in his life had to shovel snow and certainly never had to deal with this kind of volume, but he's pitching in with good humor and grace, and helping me do what needs to be done, always with a smile. He's just really good that way.
That and the French tradition of the bises in the mornings and evenings, which my mother thinks is really lovely, and I'd say he's well and truly "in" with my family.
