Bisou Française

Wear your Best.

2011-08-12T05:41:00.000-07:00

If you had the sterotypical American mom, she told you to wear your best underwear in case you were in an accident. Like it will really matter to the paramedic that you have the best undies. Depending on the accident, they might have to cut them off of you and then where would you be. Right one nice pair of skivvies short.
Well in France, you certainly need to wear your best. Not because of the ever fear that disaster could strike at any moments, but it's the rule of the line. The clothes drying line. I am not sure about all French people, but my French relatives dry their clothes on a line (even in the winter) and only use the dry under emergency situations -- ie several days of rain. Well if you live in Paris, this emergency situation could be more common. So in order for your in-laws -- well mine anyway -- not to see your old cotton undies faded with time, I have to break out the nice pairs. Last year I specifically went underwear shopping before my European departure, since I wasn't sure I wouldn't be laughed out of the country. This year, so such luck, but that's ok. I think I am doing ok. There was that one close call though with my FIL insisting on helping me hang 'the kids' clothes. While I am sure he was being nice, I had to quickly pick out anything that looked scandalous to hang myself.
Fashion standards are alive and well -- even for the unmentionables.

The Unsupportive Family

2011-08-08T13:19:00.000-07:00

I am not sure when people lost all compassion, but I am finding family that are completely rude. My Uncle H= recently passed away. He was my dad's sister's husband, also the dad of my favorite cousin L. L is 5 years older than me, but because our parents were close, we spent lots of our childhood together. Lots of Xmases, Thanksgivings and random sleep overs. I used to think that her parents were really cool -- they had a pool table in their basement and she has a Garfield phone. Well it was the 80s... Anyway, Uncle H had cancer and had been battling it for almost 4 years -- the last few months had been really tough. My sister, V, went to live with my cousin to help her to take care of her dad. Because of this, there were some family strife, with my Uncle P, who is my dad's younger brother, who was letting my sister (19) live with him. He needed his dog taken care of and my cousin needed someone to care for her dad. When I asked Uncle P's wife, why couldn't they understand what L was going through, I was told flatly, well (a) he doesn't seem that sick to me and (b) he's not my dad anyway. I guess a man who can't walk or feed himself is totally normal. Wow, gotta love family.

About 3 weeks ago, Uncle H passed away and yesterday was the memorial service. I had been pretty sad about the whole thing and somehow it came up with A's dad. He said well was he your dad's brother, and I said that he was my dad's sister's husband. His reaction -- why are you sad, he wasn't even your real Uncle. A's mom asked me yesterday what Antoine was doing and I said going to my Uncle's funeral and she said, 'Oh, I didn't know that your Uncle died already'. That was it. Do people not get sad about death anymore. I recently read a story about a little girl that died by suffocation because her family would put her in a "box" when she was bad, and I just was so sad about it. I didn't even know the girl, but I had a tough time getting over it. Maybe, I am just strange. The first 10 times I saw the movie, 'Up', I cried each time the Ellie dies. It's just too sad.

So maybe our society is just too bombarded by death, that there is no sense of sadness because of it. That's a real shame.

Winning the Propoganda War

2011-08-07T05:33:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the message that is heard to loudest is the one that sticks. Even if that message is (1) ridiculous and (2) wrong. But it is the law of propaganda. Without 50% of American might not support the war with Iraq or radical muslim would have have attacked the world trade center in the first place. The problem with propaganda is that it is often exaggerated statements with 1% truth that are used to move the masses into a direction. There has been an anti-me campaign going on the last week or so... With my poor French, I am unable to fight the good fight and make my message stick.

Here is the story in brief. A's dad hit our son (A's and mine) for touching his car with a toy. A's dad knows that we don't do that, but I was annoyed that he didn't even tell the little boy (3 years old), what he had done wrong. So when I asked him if he was going to explain to him what he did wrong, he went into a rage. The boy had already been told before (doesn't matter that 3 year old don't retain information like adults) and anyway A and I were too soft on our kids and they have no discipline. Then A's brother gets involved. Well he already told my son about playing on the cars and didn't I know that scratches on car cost a lot of money to repair. On a side note, I do in fact know. My car was hit by another car in the parking lot of the store, and it had a huge dent, which cost about 1000 Euros to repair. Surely the scratch would cost less... However I didn't say that, they was no much yelling and I couldn't think. The problem could have been quickly solved if A's dad would have just said -- 'No touching the car' Takes one second. Well I couldn't take it anymore, A's brother was bullying me and I called him a bad word -- not even a really bad one, well that was just too much for him. He just explored. I thought he was going to hit me, his eyes filled with rage. It is like no one ever said a bad word in his presence. I was really scared. I am certainly not perfect, but not a Soprano either...

The worst was not the argument. It is the propaganda that follows. The He Said/She Said game to make everyone in the family take sides. But actually (1) I am not really part of the family and (2) I can't speak French that well. So I lose. Now I am the wild crazy mother who went to a rage at my father-in-law and my brother-in-law, had to defend his father for fear that I might kill him or something -- because I am a crazy American.

So now I have 3 weeks in France where everyone thinks that I am a she-devil. Oh Joy.

My New Favorite Airplane...

2011-07-30T14:14:00.000-07:00

I had the chance to take the new A380 from Washington to Paris. I was really excited when I learned that DC would be on of the cities in the US, where AirFrance would first have 1 flight a day using the A380 and I made sure I booked that one flight. Don't get me wrong. I hate flying and I am not all that into airplanes -- but I have been in some old crappy planes before and something shiny and new was just what I wanted for 8 hours of crying and not sleeping.
This plane actually has USB charging station at your seat, the biggest seat TVs I have ever seen on an airplane and so on and so forth. It is not like I thought I was in first-class while it coach or anything. But when you are in an airplane for 8 hours, I think that little things can make a big difference. For example, I usually spend a fair bit of time waiting for an available restroom, well not this time. Are there more towelettes on the A380? I don't know. Maybe. I didn't take a tour of the "up-stairs", but I did hear that it was very nice. Another "fun" feature was that we got to see ourselves taking off and landing. There was plenty of room for my luggage and the kids could easily sleep with their seat belts fastened.

If you fly out or into IAD or San Francisco, while going to Paris, check out the A380.

My Month in France

2011-07-30T12:47:00.000-07:00

Well readers, I have taken a hiatus from writing in my blog because I am so busy writing for work. I have been writing manuscripts to be in scientific journals and all of that technical writing means that I had to put my creative juices on hold for a while.

I have taken my children to France again for the month of August. In the hopes that last year was just a fluke and this year will be much much better, since the kids are older and we have done this before, I thought that I could do it right this time. I could create the formula for a great summer... So read on.
Adventures in Augusting in France.

Julia Child, my Hero

2011-06-15T20:36:00.000-07:00

I recently bought Julia Child's book, 'My Life in France', which describes the nearly 4 years that she lived in Paris and Marseille and the nearly 30 or years that she spent a month or so in France at her French country house. Julia had it right, I think. Why spend your time traveling, staying in hotels, eating out when you can just go to Chez Vous, with your own stuff, where you know that the sheets will be clean, the food will be delicious and the expense is just for travel. I often wonder if this is how I can reconcile my relationship with my lover, France. Could I find a country house in France and spend the rest of my vacations, going there? Being an expat for just a month a year? Getting my fill of yummy food and culture on a part-time basis? Are France and I meant to be "long-distance" lovers who simply see each other on vacation, b/c we have far too important "regular" lives to move to the other one's city? Hmm, it is an interesting though. Julia, who didn't move to France until after she was 35, did it. She even became fluent in French. I was thinking that I was too old and that my little brain would never get it. But I guess if Julia can do it so can I, no? And maybe in a few years (when I am over 35), I too could get a little country house, to fix up and just be for 1 month a year? Not that I don't do that now, but it is my father-in-law house in my husband childhood room. There is not even a place for me to hang my clothes -- the room is filled with old junk, I just feel like redecorating the whole time I am there. It's will never be "mine" and certainly not the place where I can go to relax. hmm the possibilities....and if you get a chance, you should read Julia's book, it is brilliant.

SOLD for $4000 -- 4 weeks in France

2011-06-12T10:42:00.000-07:00

So I had been monitoring ticket prices to France for about 2 months now. For the last month I was checking every day or so. For a long while, I thought it would cost me $5000 for me and the 2 boys to fly to France to see Bonne Maman and Grandpere. $723 each way plus tax times 3 people. No discount for kids. Zut. I was about the cave in and buy the ticket, but then a friend told me that actually ticket prices would be dropping in a couple of days. "Wait until Wednesday morning", she said. So I waited. Wednesday came and the prices were the same. Thursday morning though, magic. Now it was only $562 each way. How did that happen? It was still pretty expensive considering with taxes that was still $1300 per person -- but was much cheaper than $1620 per person. It's seems to be all about perspective. Sort of like gas prices -- paying $3.80 at the gas station seems cheap, compared to the $4.10 I was paying a few months ago... So we are going for most of August, 4 weeks total leaving the last week of July. Our new au pair arrives from Grenoble arrives the day after we return. Kids start school the following week.... However the belle familie isn't exactly content.... Pourquoi? Well turns out the kids and I are missing the baptism of the boy's little cousin. Well we can't do everything. We didn't know the au pair could only arrive the last week of Aug or 2 weeks later, we didn't know that it would cost $500 more for the 3 of us to leave 4 days later, we didn't know that school would start that early... We just didn't know. Besides, 1 hour in a church and 3 hours of eating, what little 2 and 4 year old boys would be happy with that? Zut again.
I guess it doesn't matter, can't make everyone happy...

Hotel Scandals

2011-05-19T18:36:00.000-07:00

This past week, the head of the IMF, who is French, got involved in a sex scandal with a maid from the hotel he was staying at. In fact, he is actually being charged for forcing "sexual acts" on the maid. The American media has already, tried, found guilty and sentenced him. The French media however, is predicting a set-up, a conspiracy, it is almost like 2 completely different new stories.

So A, is in the hotel business, so I asked how often does a guest think that the housekeeping staff is for their personal pleasure. According to him, he has only hear such a story one time, in over 10 years. There has been a few radio shows that have taken calls from housekeepers and it made it sound like this sort of thing happens every day.

I am not sure what to think, but if this were to happen to a politician in the US, he would be dead. That American politician could have done that with a consenting adult and still would have been dead. I wonder how the French will think about this guy at the next presidential election. Will he be the lead of the socialist party, like was expected a week ago? Or forgotten.

Rejected Again

2011-05-08T15:11:00.000-07:00

Just a little update on my attempts to work and live in France. I sent in all of the paper work for French citizenship about 2 months ago. It must have been the finally the right paperwork, but I haven't heard anything.
I applied again for a permanent job in France through the CNRS. What's my problem?? I am too young. For scientist, accomplishments are measured in papers and the person that got the position have 50% more papers than me, but also 10 years of experience. So perhaps next year, I will still be too young but just as accomplished ;)

In the meantime, I continue to speak French to the children, which is a great way to practice. However, I am worried, that the things we say to kids -- you need a nap, let's go potty, your being a bad little boy, where are my kisses, are not the same things that you would say to an adult.... Although, my stay-at-home mom friends complain about the same thing, ie having no adult conversation.

Missing le beaux soliel

2011-05-05T05:39:00.000-07:00

Well, I went to France and for the most part it was fabulous. The first couple of days in Paris was colder than I was expecting, but not a cloud in the sky. The city of love had better weather than back in the USA and I was loving the sun. I took walks to the Luxembourg Gardens and sat in a reclining chair with my feet up, I had yummy dinners and kebab lunches. Then like a woman on the lam, I left Paris to the south of France, my true love. I went to little villages, hiking along the sea, to Monaco and Nice, to my favorite boardwalk and had some really good meals. I even got a little tan and was feeling pretty good. It was exhausting. Trying to fit all of your favorite things into one little trip is really hard.

Top Reasons Why you Won't Mistake me for Parisian

2011-04-13T02:29:00.000-07:00

1) Shoes
Yesterday I wore heels for 1/2 of the day and have 10 blisters on my feet. Today, I have 10 band-aids on my feet and flip-flops
2) Walking
Parisians, seem to walk everywhere so gracefully, even with 20kg of luggage. I never seen them in the metro with luggage, but I wonder, are they really walking 5km with their bags? I might take a taxi to get to Gare de Lyon. None of the Metro's have elevators and my bags are too heavy
3) Hair
My has to by tied down, it can't stay perfect down. How do Parisians do it? I think my hair would be flying everywhere, if it weren't for the clips that hold it in place
4) Food
I need food, I can't just eat a small snack after walking 5km with my luggage, I need food. I probably eat a lot earlier than the average Parisian, but at 8pm, when I am at a cafe or restaurant, I order dinner, not just a drink and appetizers.
5) I like to get there fast.
It look me 1 hour to get to the gare de Lyon yesterday by Metro. It's 5km away, how is that possible, no wonder everyone walks everywhere, it's faster.

On a side note, I love taking a connection at London Heathrow Airport. It was the best experience, no running, no lost luggage and there was a Starbucks next to my gate. I highly recommend it.

Things I Should Miss

2011-03-28T18:41:00.000-07:00

When I lived in France, there were many things that I didn't think that I could live without. But many of those same things, I hardly use now that I am back in America. It seems to silly to me now that I longed for:
1) peanut butter
2) maple syrup
3) fried chicken -- I do have this about once every 2 or 3 months
4) black beans, which I do like, but come on, they taste just like any other bean
5) macaroni and cheese
6) mint chocolate chip ice cream
7) anything Ben and Jerry's
8) lemon poppy seed muffins

Yet there are still some things that I was right to miss:
a) comfortable shoes -- I love you teva and clarks
b) crab chips, you have to be from MD to understand
c) ability to eat stuff and understand people.

Darkside of Vancouver

2011-03-20T05:55:00.000-07:00

I have been totally uninteresting for the last month. I feel like I am in the work, kids, clean, sleep, repeat mode. I even went to Vancouver and spent the entire time in the hotel. Well actually I do have one good story from Vancouver:
So on the first night in Vancouver my "conference roommate" and I decide that it is time for a little Karoke. I had a post-dinner meeting to attending until 9:30, so she did all of the 'fun night out' research. She finds 2 Karoke bars, both with great reviews online and were within walking distance of the hotel. So we have our map and our foolishness. Get to bar 1. Dive bar, no karoke and a few toothless 'regulars'. Then we started off on the road to bar 2. I began at some point that the neighborhood was getting shadier, but this was Vancouver, how dangerous could it be. At some point though, there are about 100 or so people standing on the sidewalk in this one block. That seemed odd, there were no businesses on that block, at least none that are open at night. Hmm, it wasn't until we got too close that I noticed that half of the people were selling drugs and the other half are buying them. Ooops. Well the worst thing to do at that point would have been to turn around and run away. So we charged on, walked through the 'drug' block to the other side towards this Karoke bar, which I didn't even want to go to any more since it obiviously was in a bad neighborhood. It was closed.

Although I have to say, the worst part of Vancouver at night seemed safer to me, than the worst part of Baltimore during the day...Needless to say, that when CR suggested Karoke the next night, I just had to say 'NO' ;)

TV Woes

2011-03-02T04:10:00.000-08:00

Somehow my TV, that I got in France, was involved in a head on collision with a toy truck and she didn't make it. So we decided maybe it was time to by a new TV. The thing I like about my old TV was that it took 110-220 power and accepted NTSC, PAL and SECEM input. So I thought, maybe I could find a replacement on the internet. So I bought one on www.220-electronics.com. And a few days later my TV arrived. The TV had the extra-special bonus of having a region-free DVD player. But my happiness was not to last forever, the DVD player didn't work -- on any DVD. So I called and they asked me to send it back. It has been several weeks later and they STILL haven't sent me a new TV and they WON'T refund my money. They claim that the TV they sent me was fine and that I don't know how to work a DVD player. I really hope my credit card company can help....

Cake Tasting

2011-02-21T12:49:00.000-08:00

My work building on on the 800 West block of Baltimore Street in Baltimore MD. On the 800 East block of Baltimore Street, there is Patisserie Poupon, a French Bakery. Given our similar addresses (replacing of a W with an E) we could have been at the same location. Last week for my favorite Frenchie's birthday, I went to Poupon for some yummy pastries. I got Millefeuille, Cassis Royal, Sainte Honore, Frasier and Opera. Instead of getting one big cake, those 5 little cakes, for a sort of cake tasting. It was really good, however, it was about 2X the price as those same little cakes in France. Why is that? Quality or Quantity? Is making cakes more expensive in the US? No. Are pastry chefs more expensive in the US? Pastry Shop real estate more expensive in France than in Baltimore? Does the French government subsidize pastries? But this price increase doesn't just apply to pastries, it also applies to baguettes, pain au chocolate, or croissants. Perhaps it is more expensive in the US, because of the lack of competition -- there is only one patisserie in Baltimore -- in the 10,000 inhabitant village, I live in France there was 5 or 6 Patisseries. Well I guess it is good they aren't cheaper b/c if it was, I would become obese.

April in Paris

2011-02-12T12:47:00.000-08:00

That could be a song title, but that will also describe my life, well atleast in 2011. I will be in Paris for almost 2 weeks this April with no family and not many other obligations. I will have to attend 2 concourses.

What is a concourse, you ask? Well this is the "Audition" for the coveted CNRS positions, that I have applied to. Everyone who is eligible gets an interview, no matter how lame their project is, so I am getting 2 auditions, which will probably be about a week apart.

How long is a concourse? 15 minutes. That is 10 minutes to present my 5-year project and 5 minutes to get killed by the firing squad of ~ 20 researchers. Bring it on.

So what am I going to do the rest of the time? Stay in Paris? go to Marseille? Explore another region of France? Go to Venice? I don't know, but I would love to hear your suggestions. I'm on a budget.

Embarassing Nightmares

2011-02-10T18:06:00.000-08:00

You know those dreams you have that turn our to be scary, but not really you might die scary, more like you might die from embarrassment. In the movies, the character finds himself naked on a bus or something. Here are some of my top nightmares:
1) Finding out that I am in a public place without shoes. I really hate wearing shoe, so I'm not sure why this one is so scary. But there I am at work or at the store and I look down and guess what no shoes.
2) Public restroom without walls. Just a big room with 50 toilets.
3) Losing a tooth.

And the weirdest and scariest ---

Not understanding when people talk to me because they are speaking French. Not sure how my brain seems to know perfect French, but it doesn't seem to understand a word. But there you have it. I am at a dinner party or something and everyone is speaking French and looking at me like I am from Mars...

So it begins...

2011-02-01T07:41:00.000-08:00

When every one decided to begin a paper trail with the French Government, there is always a back and forth. You give them the papers that they ask for. They ask you for papers that aren't on their official list. You try to find these new papers and send them what they need, they decided that something was wrong with the first set of papers and need corrections. You send them corrected paperwork. Then there is a problem with the second set of papers... And so on and so forth.

Here is their response to my paperwork:

Dear French-WantToBe:
We have received your paperwork. Unfortunately we can't process your paperwork without the birth certificates of both of your parents and their marriage certificate. Also your husbands birth certificate was older than 3 months old, and even though we didn't say that we needed his new birth certificate in our paper work, you should have known that you needed like everyone needs to carry a new electric bill around to prove that they live in France. Also we will need 2 copies of your passport, information about your previous marriages and whether you have children, because while your sons names are in the copy of the 'livre de famillie' that you provided, I will need a separate paper with all of their information and probably blood so I can confirm, that they are in fact sons of France.
Cordially yours,
M. French Functionaire.

Application In

2011-01-23T15:02:00.000-08:00

I finally send in my French citizenship application. After getting all of the right paperwork and writing my letter of motivation (See Dear France), we mailed it in. I have to say that there should be some new proof ofs....

Are you a real couple?
Not sure a bank statement, a cell phone bill is a big enough of a commitment as a child. My 2 kids should be proof enough that my spouse and I are a real company and I just didn't marry him to get in the EU line at the airport.

Will you be a burden to France?
I am assuming the reason you have to send in your CV, it's because they want to make sure that you won't go there without some skill necessary to finding employment. But really France, what about stay-at-home parents, are they not worthy of France? Is there some other proof? Not that I am stay-at-home mom, but I'm just saying

Are you divorced?
The application requires your Marriage Certificate that is dated less than 3 months ago. But Maryland doesn't date their Marriage Certificates with any date but the issue date. And if a couple get's divorced would the State know to stop issuing them a copy of their Marriage Certificate?

Anyway, I should hear soon whether or not the copy of my paperwork is acceptable. If so I can send in the real thing, good grief. Hmm, I am not sure this is worth using the EU line at the airport;)

Dear France

2011-01-19T19:21:00.000-08:00

Dear France,
Please accept me into your ranks? I will be a good citizen and vote and care about the general state of the country. I am a nice person. I love baguettes and sitting for hours drinking wine. Why would you want me in your country? Well I hope one day to be a productive citizen and am highly likely to cure a major disease, like cancer or something. At least that is what I tell the grant agencies in the US. I have been learning to make yummy French food, such as Galette des rois and roast duck. Also I am committed to my children learning French. I have tried to get my husband to sing the Marseillaise during dinner, but he doesn't know the words. If you accept me, I will learn the words!

Signed applying to be French.

Helping a Fellow Alum

2011-01-13T07:56:00.000-08:00

Here is another letter that I got about 2 months ago:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I found your information when doing a search on the University of XYZ’s Alumni website. I am a 2003 graduate with a BS in French Language and Literature. While studying abroad in Paris during my third year, I decided that one day, France would be my home. After many years in the corporate world, I decided it was time to chase my dream. Earlier this year, I left my job and have been desperately searching for a way to make this dream a reality by early 2011.

The reason that I’m contacting you is because you have successfully established yourself abroad. As you probably know, it’s very difficult to navigate through the bureaucracy of the French government to get a job or a visa (after all, which comes first??), therefore I have hit many dead-ends. As a fellow Wahoo and a resident of France, I am asking for your assistance and counsel in finding a job and moving to the Paris area.

My professional experience is in sales and operations, with over 10 years of service with XYC company; however, my interests and skill-set are vast. I ask that you please consider your network of friends, neighbors and business colleagues and what jobs they may have available. I am willing to start at the bottom, prove myself, and work my way up again. Right now, it isn’t as much about the position, but about getting to a place I know I should be.

My CV, which is attached, contains additional information on my experience and skills. I would appreciate the opportunity to discuss possible options with you and to provide further information about myself. I can be reached anytime via email or on my mobile phone: 1-555-555-5555.

Thank you in advance for your time and consideration,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I just have no idea what to say about letters like these. I have a PhD in Biochemistry. What do I know about business....I have no connections, etc.

No Access Pass

2011-01-13T07:39:00.000-08:00

Today I got another email from an American who thinks I can teach them the secret to getting a job in France. Here is that letter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi! I'm one of the American members of the Live-In-France Group in Yahoo and I'm new to Facebook and interested in connecting with Americans who are associated with France and French people (for many years I've wished I could be one of them!). I'm especially fascinated with the very fortunate American women who have been blessed with the qualifications to marry into the French nationality, as I'm a would-be Revolutionary War historian who knows a thing or two about the great patriotic alliance during America's fight for independence. Most of all, I'm interested in networking to somehow obtain a career connected with France, preferably the type that would enable me to become eligible to live there. Maybe you and/or other friends can hook me up? From what I've learned in that Yahoo Group, merely being proficient in the language and openly appreciating the culture (and being an overall nice, gracious person) is not enough. I noticed you're from Maryland. I've been told by family that through my mom's side I'm descended from one of the Maryland signers of the Declaration of Independence, however that's recently been disputed by someone in authority. In September I had a brief stop in Maryland to eat while on a bus trip to Washington D.C.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Americans who want to live in France,
I have no secret. The first time I moved to France I was not even a Francophile. I didn't speak or read or write French. I have no special skills when it comes to being French. I happen to be nice to a French waiter 12 years ago, who eventually married me. I wanted to move to Germany, I was studying German. I have no advice. Life is unexpected.

What Would Julia Do?

2011-01-10T13:28:00.000-08:00

Lately, because of the Xmas holiday, I have been wondering 'What would Julia do?' The Julia here is Julia Child. How long should I cook this duck? Julia, what do you think? How can I make a Frangipane for Epiphany? Does Julie know that one too?
Finally, I have a French cookbook, that I can actually read and understand (because it's in English), unlike all of the ones that A has in French. How long would Julia cook a duck, about an hour and a half. Oh yeah and she thinks I should stab the skin and rub it in sage. How original. Frangipane, I ask? Well no need to make "creme pâtissier', like A's textbook claims. I can make the same tasting filling with just sugar, butter, eggs, almond paste, vanilla and rum. Thanks goodness, because creme pâtissier requires lots of wisking.
I am not cooking everything in her excellent 2 volume book in a year or devoting my blog to cooking. But it is my new goto for French cooking. Thanks A and S for such a great B-day present. I will try to post the picture soon;)

Didn't I just leave?

2011-01-04T20:52:00.000-08:00

I applied for this year's CNRS competition. I am not sure what the future hold, but if you don't buy a lotto ticket you will never win the lotto.... So I bought a ticket. Much more like I spend a lot of time writing a proposal, had to find a bunch of files from the past, like my 5 year old thesis and fill in a bunch of boring paperwork, but I did it.

Now to apply for French citizenship. I need to write the motivation letter. Why do you think I should want to be French?

New Years Resolutions

2011-01-01T12:33:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of a new year, I have decided to make a few New Year's Resolutions.

1) I will potty train my youngest son and be totally free of diapers by 2012. 2012 the beginning of my diaper and diaper bag free life!
2) I will, of course, lose 10-20lbs. I am technically ok in the weight department. But I have had 2 kids and firming up would be nice.
3) I will learn to make a few signature dishes. One day, I want my boys to say, 'My mom makes the best XYZ' whatever they will be. But they will be better than anyone else's XYZ.
4) I will drink less beer and other loaded calories that I don't need.
5) I will complain less, I am starting to sound French.
6) I will get into shape. I was in shape last summer, but the winter has been unkind;(
7) I will figure out what I want to be when I grow up.
8) I will stop worrying about the little things a dirty floor and food in the kid's hair.

Well I thought there were going to be 10, but that's already a lot for one year, no?

Happy New Year Everyone. Bonne Année Tout Le Monde.

Dreaming of a Beach Xmas

2010-12-29T14:35:00.000-08:00

In case you don't know the old Christmas classic, it goes like this:
I'm dreaming of a Beach Christmas, just like the one I used to know where the the treetops glisten and children listen to hear ice cream trucks that drive by...

Well maybe that one didn't make the charts, but it should have. I can think of no better way to escape to cold cold winter than to escape to somewhere warmer. Winter hasn't even started and it has already been rough, with temperatures dipping below freezing for long stretches at a time.

Key Largo is actually a pretty nice destination. It isn't too expensive, has lots of beaches and activities such as canoeing, kayaking and diving. Lots of coral reef areas and great seafood restaurants. Not too far from Miami and the everglades. What more can you ask for?

Niagara at Thanksgiving

2010-12-27T14:22:00.000-08:00

Instead of roasting a 500lbs turkey and cooking all of the fixings of potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, green beans and of course pumpkin pie, my family escaped America and went to CANADA. We left our home near DC and headed north. We spent a night in Pennsylvania. On Turkey Day, we drove thorough a small snow storm and finally arrived at Niagara Falls by lunch time.

One full day in Niagara is plenty. After seeing the falls and "journeying behind the fall", in the winter there isn't much else to do.

The Niagara Falls are spectacular, but the town is a bit of a tourist trap with crappy expensive restaurants and lots of other overpriced diversions. We spent the next day of our trip, usually reserved for crazy Americans starting a riot at 4am over the newest hot toy, in Toronto. I really like Toronto and lunch in Chinatown didn't disappoint.

I ended the day with lunch with an old grad school friend and went back to Niagara. The next day was spent with butterflies at the conservatory and heading back home but first we stopped in Hershey, PA. It was a nice little trip.

Fell off the Planet or Sucked in?

2010-12-27T14:00:00.000-08:00

Dearest readers,
I haven't written in my blog for quite sometime. I think that life sort of sucked me up. All parts of my world have been overwhelming to say the least. But I am trying to get back on track. Stay tuned for some of my recent adventures...

French Cuisine should be protected.

2010-11-17T07:10:00.000-08:00

UNESCO has added gastronomy to it's list of 'intangible world heritage'. French gastronomy is viewed as a "social custom aimed at celebrating the most important moments in the lives of individuals and groups"

In an interview on NPR, the reporter asked, 'Does French cuisine need to be protected?' Apparently not, but just in case McDo and Picard start to gain strength in the country, better to protect the sacred French meal now. Gastronomy is not just about food, but also "how wines are paired with dishes, how the table is dressed, the precise placing of glasses, for water, red and white wine, knife blade pointing in and fork tines down..."

Well you don't have to convince me. While I might not get to make a 4 course meal every night, a little wine and cheese at the end of dinner is a delicious way to end a meal. If I tell my boys to stay at the table, they are getting 'cheese' they patiently wait (they are BTW 18M and 3Y). L knows good cheese from less good cheese. When given the choice between a Camembert and a vache kiri (laughing cow), Camembert is always chosen. Little Z (18M) often steals cheese from A's plate and can be seen giggling at his acquisition.

A couple of weeks ago, we had such a meal. Started out with Foie Gras with wine-poached pears and a balsamic vinaigrette sauce with a Sauterne wine. Then we has duck with rooted vegetables (carrots, turnips, potatoes and garlic) with a Bordeaux wine. Then we had blueberry ice cream with chocolate cake and other dessert goodies with Champagne. There was no cheese. But I am sure if any more good was eaten, we might have exploded. 6 adults, 3 kids it was quite a meal.

I feel like I am going my part to protect French culture;)

Giving Up Too Early

2010-11-14T11:51:00.000-08:00

When I was in grad school, I gained quite a bit of weight. I'm not sure how much of that was due to:
1) Stress
2) Cookies that were at every seminar and journal club
3) Trying different BC pills (the ones that made me cry also made me gain weight)
4) Cheap Beer

At some point I just gave up on my skinny self and accepted that I would be just a bit overweight. In this acceptance I gave away all of my cute skinny girl clothes. How sad life can be. It was almost the act of giving those clothes away, that made the lbs melt from my body. Well actually, getting pregnant seemed to be the secret to my weight loss. I was so sick with the 2 pregnancies that the lbs melted away, well they turned into a baby. So now I have little clothes in my new size. I have been buying clothes since Z was born - but finding clothes that do not look like I have jumped out of a Micheal Jackson video from the 80s is tough. What is wrong with 'classic styles'?? Maybe I am not a total Fashionista, I admit, I want to buy stuff that will last into next year. Call me practical. I would be happy to jazz up a plain sweater or t-shirt up with a junky scarf or socks.

I find myself looking for that great pair of jeans or sweater just to remember that it was lost. So now I have lots of clothes that are too big, how long do I need to keep them? Fovever? Who has the closet space for that. Maybe I never learn my lessons.

Still Waiting

2010-11-13T05:20:00.000-08:00

Sometime in September I got myself fingerprinted and sent away for my criminal report from the FBI so I could apply for French citizenship. Sad to say that I am still waiting more than 6 weeks later. The FBI seemed to have just taken my money. So I wonder how much longer it will take. When is the money taken step? When they are ready to send out my report, when they start to think about my report.

They claim 6-8 weeks... So still waiting.

French Missionary?

2010-11-10T17:21:00.000-08:00

You can imagine missionaries campusisng the globe looking for converts. Today I was accused on being a French missionary. Do I tell people that they should 'convert to Frenchism?' No! Never! I am not sure that I am the best cheerleader for the country. I don't like Camembert, I don't watch Rugby, I drink Virginia wine, sometimes I eat fried chicken from Popeyes. I am certainly not a poster-child for Frenchness.... So I like a good Bordeaux, know how to make duck and rabbit, and can sometimes have been known to say a French phrase or two.... But doesn't make me French and honestly I have never tried to convince anyone that France will bring them salvation. I am torn between two worlds -- old World Europe and New World North America. I can choose anymore easily than I can choose my favorite chocolate or my favorite wine. Wine and Chocolate are choosen based on the needs. If I am having steak and cheese, my wine choice will be different than if the meal is moules frites. Snickers is good for a chocolate, peanut and caramel craving, but dark is better with coffee... France and the US are like wines. I choose based on what I am looking for -- what do I want today? Steak or Mussels? Both are good and both have draw backs. Well this is not true of steak and mussels, but countries sure thing?

Maybe I should start my own church of Frenchness though, I heard that churches get a tax break;) Do you want to be a Frangilcan -- it's a church of indecision...

The Church of No Meat

2010-10-29T06:35:00.000-07:00

Anyone living in France knows that being a Vegetarian in France is tough. There are hardly any restaurants that have one dish without fish, meat, eggs or shellfish. And to be vegan, it's totally impossible. No animal products at all. Not even cheese, honey or gelatin? Zut Alors.

Not that I don't think that vegetarian have the right to be so, but in the US, they seem to be a quiet 'born again' movement. Recent converts to the no-meat church, try to recruit others, the way that evangelicals do. They bring out all kinds of arguments about morality, healthy, and an almost euphoric feeling that not eating meat will bring, similar to how I suspect Evangelicals talk about accepting the holy spirit. Vegetarians aren't content letting you get by with eating your hamburger or chicken soup for lunch, they have to try to use this as a teaching moment about how your soul is jeopardy. I think that evangelicals reserve that kind of scrutiny for teenagers trying to get into abortion clinics.

I used to share an office with a vegetarian. Last December my Frenchie had called me to ask me about how much foie gras we should order for Xmas dinner. Well this didn't sit too well with my officemate. For hostility usually reserved for genocide, I was called every horrible thing imaginable. We didn't speak to each other until the following spring. How awkward, spending 8 hours in an office with someone and not saying hello or how was your weekend. He also liked to start sentences with 'You know what your problem is' .

The most ironic thing, is that most of these people have a problem with people talking about religion or imposing religious beliefs onto them. But at the end of the day, whether we call it religion or vegetarianism -- strong beliefs are just that and trying to convert your friends, officemates and neighbors can lead to conflict.

31 fell flat

2010-10-19T07:15:00.000-07:00

October is traditionally a difficult month for me. My birthday is in October and for some reason this really put my dad in a bad mood. So as a kid, birthdays were filled with sadness and disappointment. I never had birthday parties and I was lucky if the day didn't end with my parents fighting. I guess as I got older, my dad couldn't handle the fact that he too was getting older -- even if he is only 20 years older than I am. As an adult I have tried to make my own traditions, so October wouldn't seem so depressing. It's the month that changes glorious summer in the mid-Atlantic to winter. In just 31 days we can go from wearing shorts and flip-flops to coats, hats and scarves. But over the years, the expectation of a magical day always leads to disappointment. Some years it's not getting cake or a present from the hubby -- but most of the time it's that the hope is too big. This year, I thought I would spread out the fun. Try to do something out of the routine everyday. I was doing really well at first. The first few days were actually not too bad. I even got presents and cake on my birthday. But then I lost a friend -- a young friend of 36, who was taken from us too early in her young life. Winter is setting in, pushing out the warm days of summer, too soon and the happy days of October are behind me for this year.

This has made me question everything in my life. Can I fix some regrets? Maybe leaving France was the wrong decision. While certainly dealing with striking crazies, isn't my idea of a swell time, the 9 weeks of vacation and the beautiful PACA weather is calling me back... France is that lover that you can't get over, even if you never really got along -- is the pleasure (weather, food, wine, etc) worth the pain (strikes, not being able to communicate, dealing with administration, low wages)?

Thanks for reading my blog. I value you all of my readers. Bisous

Refrenchification;)

2010-10-10T14:08:00.000-07:00

I have been with 'A', since 1999. He was very 'French'. Soon though, he started to pick up American habits. Said 'Though' for the Homer Simpson D'oh, told people to "Bite Me" and bought a pair of "relaxed fit" jeans. Even bought a flannel shirt and for a while had a Chevy pickup truck.
I began to wonder where did I go wrong, one day I am married to Pierre DuBois and the next day to Billy Bob Smith. After over 10 years, I have decided to implement my plan for "Refrenchification". Operation no more baggie jeans was crafted. I began to notice that all of A's jeans were holey and causually he mentioned that he needed some new ones. When I went to the mall this weekend, I found a couple of pairs that were the right size and he actually didn't take them back (even if at first he thought that they were too tight). Success! Well maybe he won't get his accent quite back, but we are on the road;)

The Billing Experts

2010-10-10T13:44:00.000-07:00

I often wonder why my family doctor's office in American needs so many "office adminstrators". In France, I waited in the waiting area, I didn't need to sign in, there was no receptionist, the doctor called me back when it was my turn, the doctor did everything from weighing me to taking my money and then I left. Here in the US, there is the 3 receptionist, the 5 billing people, the 10 nurses etc. No wonder the health care industry is the fastest growing in the US. With all of those "billing specialist", you have to think, well at least they will be my advocate to the insurace company. If you were to think that, you would be WRONG. I recently had a claim denied. I call my doctors office:
Me: Why did you send me a bill for my son's Jan appointment
Billing Specialist (BS): Your insurance company doesn't cover vaccinations.
Me: How is that possible, are you sure.
BS: Nothing I can do.
So I called my insurance company (IC):
Me: Do you really not cover vaccinations??
IC: Of course we do.
Me:Why did you deny my claim?
IC: Your doctor put some codes in incorrectly.
So then I called the doctor's office again:
Me: I talked to my insurance company and they said you 'put the codes in incorrectly'
BS: That's no possible.
Me: Well what do I know about it, I didn't go to Medical Billing school? Can't you call the IC yourself?
BS: No
Me: Did you put in that the vaccinations were for "Routine Vaccination"??
BS: OH!

I am so glad that my doctor pays all of those BSs to help me to navigate my IC.

31 days of my 31

2010-10-02T17:00:00.000-07:00

Just so happens that this October, I will be 31. Having 31 days, I thought that this was a bit auspicious. So came the idea of 31 days of my 31. I will try to live this October to the fullest. Shake things up a bit, let me hair down, break out of the routine. I am off the a good start.
October 1 -- Went for Margaritas.
October 2 -- Visited with my Aunt. ** Ok, this is exactly wild and crazy, but normal Saturdays are: Grocery Shopping, Clean, Kids Nap, Do House project, etc.
October 3 -- Go to the zoo with a friend. ** Well I haven't become a wild spring-breaker, also breaking this house project routine.
October 4 -- who knows?

Maybe an Oktoberfest or two?? Stay tuned.

Leaving it to 'The One'

2010-09-20T05:09:00.000-07:00

My verb conjugation in French is really crappy. So I have been trying really hard to make an effort. Sometimes I ask S and A about it. This leads me to wonder if they are really French at all when they have no idea. Do you think that I could find a certified French teacher for my next au pair;) So I listen. A and S are constantly speaking French to the kids. The funny thing I noticed is that "The One" is all powerful. One goes to the store. Did the one tell you not to hit your brother? One went to the zoo. No wonder I can think of how to conjugate verbs for 'we'. We never does anything, its always 'The One'. When visiting my MIL in August, I noticed that she does that too and I was very confused.
Her:One can go to the store.
Me: Who?
Her:One
Me: I got to the store or you go to the store.
Her: My BF and I go to the store.....

Perhaps all of this 'one' business will be good for my Jedi training. Until then, maybe I need to take a French grammar class....

On the road -- Step 1 Fingerprints

2010-09-15T06:03:00.000-07:00

I am applying for the 2nd time for French citizenship. This is sort of crazy, I don't even have to be living in France, I just have to be married to a French citizen for 4 years. Well I have put in over 10 years of duty, so I thought it was time to try again. I have been flirting with the idea of moving back to Europe and having French citizenship means that we don't necessarily have to live in France but we could live any EU country and work. I actually recently got a job offer in Paris, but A didn't want to move to rainly Paris. So I have my eyes open to southern-French opportunities, but maybe just being less than and 8 hour plane ride away from "les grandparents" would be good, considering the complete and total fall out with my parents.

So for my French citizenship the first thing that I have to do is get an FBI criminal report, which can take 2 months, and to do that I had to get fingerprinted. I have already been fingerprinted before (for my last attempt and for a job), so I thought I knew the drill. I just had to find a police station that does it and then go at their weird times (11-1), but not during lunch;) So my work has it's own police force and lucky me, it only costs me $20. Fingerprinting in the US, has become very modern, or at least where I went. No more are you using ink, but instead there is a computer program to take your prints and "mimnic" a ink image and you just print out the fingerprints. I was pretty good.

So step 1, wait 2 months for the FBI to send me a letter saying that I have no criminal record....

A perfect day in Aix-en-Provence -- 3 Years Passed

2010-09-10T08:28:00.000-07:00

My little L was born three years ago today. Before he was born though, I had a last perfect day of my pre-kid life. After a summer of being bare-foot and pregnant without a way of leaving my quaint little Provencal village, we finally got a car, which was my blue Skoda Roomster. So I was finally free to escape the house, the village and get out into the world on my own. At the risk of having a baby on the streets of Aix-en-Provence, where I knew no one and had no way of communicating, I headed to Aix anyway. I wanted to eat non-Provencal food, see an American movie and go to an English book store. So I went to Aix, on a beautiful September day and walked around the downtown, ate sushi, went to see "The Waitress" and browsed the 'Book in Bar', book store. The simple things life are the best.

Three years and two kids later my life is very different...

Rentree Reflections

2010-09-08T18:43:00.000-07:00

I am really sad to be back in the office after 5 weeks away (4 week of being in France and 1 week on travel for work). I think the time for vacation was the best. Being outside all the time, that's the greatest. On the east coast of the US, there are too many mosquitoes to go outside and they don't die until the weather is too cold to enjoy the outside. So my fresh air and natural light fix are not satisfied as they were in the west coast of France. I think that the French have the right idea about Rentree, not it's not to go on strike, but it is to always be planning for the next vacation. That's what I am doing. Only 77 days until Niagara Falls!

Rentrée

2010-09-03T15:13:00.000-07:00

When in France, September is the month were people comes back from their vacations and the beginning of September is spent kissing everyone hello and asking them about what they did. It is like in school where the first week is spent writing essays about 'What I Did on my Summer Vacation'. The French call it 'Rentrée' -- Return. Today what my Rentrée. I had left for France on Aug 1st. Even though I worked remotely for 2 weeks, besides a few emails to my co-workers, we really didn't communicate much. Then the beginning of this week I was at a conference, so today was my first day back at work. Turns out my tan has faded a bit, not so impressive;( Sadly almost no one else went away, so asking them about their vacations was meant with grime looks.
Before I left, I had to move all of the stuff out of my office so they could do some furniture rearragement. So besides catching up on email and seeing people, I spent some time reorganizing stuff.
I still have lots of candy to give out and plenty of projects to catch-up on...

I have to say, that it is kind of nice being away, but it is good to finally be back home to my pillow and my own bed;)

La Cow Parade

2010-08-28T13:43:00.000-07:00

In Bordeaux, they are cows all over the city. We spent a day trying to find them. Apparently, this same exhibition is a) either in Paris or b) was already in Paris...

Almost didn't go

2010-08-16T09:18:00.001-07:00

Had planned a pretty nice vacation in Provence and Friday it almost well apart. I was really sick, with a rapid and horrible 24 hour thing and couldn't possibly fly. So I canceled my flight reservation and lost the price of my ticket. Feeling still weak Saturday, from not eating, I had reserved myself to staying in Pessac. But A had such a tight agenda with the family and ting in Pessac would mean almost a week sans familie with A and the kids going north. So instead of staying, I did the totally irresponsible thing of buying a last minute ticket and going anyway. So I left Pessac for Marseille still feeling weak. Saturday night I arrived in Toulon a little late... Sunday, since I hadn't seen D, who so courageously helped us renovate our kitchen and not really feeling up to adventuring too far out, we ended up at the beach in Le Brusc. There we just rested on the rocks before heading to Marseille for dinner, where I stayed the night. Today I spent the day in my old town of Le Beausset. It's weird that this isn't my home anymore and I am feeling vey nostalgic. Just trying to have a relaxing, non-adventurous week without the kids. The one thorn in my side is that my GPS isn't working. It was working fine in the US, but coming back to France, where it was bought, it doesn't seem to want to work anymore.

Anyway, I am really sad that I have had to modify my grand plans because of getting sick, although I am happy to get a few nice days in the sun;)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Everybody Goes to Royan

2010-08-11T04:42:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon, we loaded the kids in the car and headed to Royan about 1.5h-2h from Pessac. Royan is at the mouth of the Gironde and so almost on the Atlantic Ocean. A's mom has a small house here and lives here part-time, alternating with a much larger house that her and her brother inherited from their parents. But the brothers live elsewhere and someone has to keep up the family home. Anyway, we arrived in the little house in Royan on Sunday afternoon. And where were the kids and I sleeping I wondered, I had assumed the guest bedroom. Mais Non. The attic. The attic? Are you crazy? The stairs leading to the attic are steep and dangerous for the kids.

MIL -- But I put a sheet on this thin twin mattress on the floor and set up a pack-n-play. Plus laid (not put on) a set of sheets on this thin 'futon mattress' on the floor for you.

Me -- See how getting down is dangerous for my kids and dangerous for me to carry them? And look how my head hits the ceiling and I look like the Hunchback of Notredame.

MIL -- Bof (meaning suck it)

Instantly my SIL set up the guestroom for herself and I was screwed.
To get over our disappointment we went to the beach, which we could have walked to, but we forgot Zach's stroller b/c while I was letting L using the restroom before the grand departure, they loaded everything into the car and were driving away slow enough so that we could hop on without slowing down. Reminds me of the trains in England.

To my surprise, we are not the only ones vacationing in Royan (from the anonymity perspective) . You can hardly go out without running into someone you know, well not someone I know, but someone that vacations here regularly. Many of those people you run into don't live here, but are vacationing here too...

Anyway while I thought I new MIL BF quite well, here are some new things that I learned:
1) He thinks that woman are not clever enough to turn on the cable box, it's too complicated.
2) When getting up in the morning at 5am to make coffee, he likes to turn on all the lights so that anyone sleeping in the attic will also wake up.
3) After his 5am morning coffee it's back to bed, let the mother of the boys he just woke up deal with their cries, he is tired.
4) He thinks that American eat ketchup with everything, never drink coffee, hate all cheeses and can't see light shining in their eyes at 5am.
5) He loves depressing WWII music.
6) Manners are for sissies, woman and children.

Because I am working during the day it is rather hard for me to spend very much time enjoying myself. Went the the beach twice, which is very nice. Otherwise besides a 30 minute grocery store outing that no one wanted me to go on by myself, I haven't really explored. Leaving for Pessac tomorrow and then Marseille Friday -- YIPPIE!!! D, A, V, B, A, M et al here I come;)

Le Weekend with the Belle-Familie

2010-08-09T01:26:00.000-07:00

The French call their 'in-laws' la belle-familie, the beautiful family. A sister-in-law is a beautiful sister and a father-in-law is a handsome father and so forth. My MIL insists that the kids don't call her "grandmere" (grandmother) but bonne maman (good mother). Grandmere and Mamie are what 'old people' are called, but bonne maman, well that is what is more acceptable to the baby-boomer grandmother. I guess for my grandma, it didn't matter, she was happy to be a grandmother and didn't feel the need to dye her hair for hide her grandmaness... But bonne maman would not be caught sporting her natural grey do, but rather a sort of brown/bronze color. For my FIL, Grandpere is ok. Who cares really, for men getting old is ok.

For the weekend there were many things to accomplish. First, we had to prove to the church that we were fine upstanding Catholics, so that my youngest could be baptized in 2 weeks. Then we had to have a big awkward meal together, so that my MIL and FIL could prove that having a meal together with their significant others is totally normal. On a side note before we arrive, my MIL and FIL negotiate, how many meal we will have with each and if there is an odd-number, then they negotiate a meal 'ensemble' (all together).

On Friday night there was the "preparation" for the baptism. Our preparer (not a priest) wanted to know, why did we want children, why did we want them baptized, what did baptisms signify anyway. "Why did I want children?", wouldn't that have been a better question 4 years ago when I had none? Answering these sort of philosophical questions in English is tough, doing it in French is impossible. I find that the Catholics in French are sort of 'a la carte' Catholics. They don't usually go to church on Sunday and really have no use for the strict rules of the Catholic church -- birthcontrol, sex before marriage, cohabitation before marriage, going to church. The Catholic church knows this and so instead of pulling out potential faux-believers who are prone to get married and have baptism in the Church, they sort of look the other way and ask for generous donations to make up for these indiscretions. So in order to further prove our worthiness, we were told we 'must' attend church on Sunday. Well this seemed highly annoying since we all had to bring our babies, who would surely cause the biggest ruckus ever during the 1 hour mass.
And so on Sunday we went to church. My MIL was sort of annoyed at this prospect of attending church and seemed disinterested in all of the standing, kneeling, singing and praying of the mass. However in a strange twist, she happily took communion and did the 'holy water sign of the cross' while leaving the church. Well I suppose we all have our comforts. Honestly, I am not a huge church goer either, but in the end, I believe, that children should be raised with some religious beliefs it seems better than the alternative (my brother and sister were never taken to church as kids and are seem rather likely to join a cult given the chance)

But before we could prove our worthiness to the priest of Pessac, Saturday night we had to engage in a rather awkward dinner. My FIL still loves my MIL and even though he doesn't believe in a 'one-woman policy', he didn't want the divorce. I think that 10 years later, he would take her back in a heartbeat. In the end, he got the house, b/c it was also his art studio and so whenever the MIL is there, it is like she is queen of the castle all over again.

MIL - 'Oh A what do we do about Z's baptism should we have it outside?, what if we bring in the table from the garden and put it on the patio?'
FIL - 'Oh what a great idea S, you are so clever'
SO of FIL - grimace look on face
SO of MIL - what about those 'Mets', I heard they are going to take the World Series this year.

But then the winds quickly change and my FIL is insulting the SO of my MIL and things take a nasty turn... the SO of my MIL is a constant victim of his children. Since they weren't raised right, they are constantly unemployed and needing his assistance. Poor him. But for a man that changes his car every 2 years, how were they able to learn the value of money?

The SO of my FIL is nice enough, but she too is a constant victim. Although I know one of her dirty little secrets, she is quite a firecracker when no one is around (except me, since that dumb American can't possible understand a word I say) and so I feel no sympathy when her and my FIL are involved in a passionate argument. When others are around she usually says nothing, waiting until they are alone or in the same room as me... She is sad that a man that cheater on his wife with her, doesn't want to get remarried and probably still cheats a little. SO of FIL -- 'How come he didn't change for me?' I guess all mistresses have this fantasy, but since her guy didn't leave his wife for her after 5 years 'together' why we she really expect him to change?
I guess I could say that it was better when I didn't understand and it is sometimes, but sometimes those arguments are almost comical (even though heated) and I just laugh afterwards, being happy that they made such as effort to spend one more meal with us...

Thank goodness the weekend ended with a hour at the beach and I was able to read a little, '1000 Years of Annoying the French' by Stephen Clarke, I am on the chapter about American colonization, which is pretty interesting because it turns out we learn nothing in the US about French colonization except that some fur trappers went to Quebec.

Amour and the French Woman

2010-08-07T13:37:00.000-07:00

Movies and books will have you believe that the French woman is a rare flower, a delicate thing that is complicated -- in "French Kiss", Kevin Kline says that, 'A French woman, says yes when she means no and no when she means yes, it's provacative'. In Stephen Clarke's book, 'Talk to the Snail', he speaks of French woman like a rare breed -- they want lots of 'I love yous', surprises, flowers, little presents, and to essentially be swept off their feet. What woman doesn't want that Stephen? Apparently according to the book, British woman, who are far too feminist for their own good, they don't want you to hold the door open and they will lead a man on unlike a French woman who knows that dinner at a man's house means...
But I am not sure if British woman are just trying to be 'provacative' to quote Kevin (who I think is amazing in that film, BTW) and what Stephen likes is the more direct approach. So which is it. Complex or Direct. Who knows, all woman are complicated and I think that no one will disagree there...
Stephen says that French men have to keep the romance going throughout the relationship because Frenchmen are notorious cheaters and all French woman know that. I guess Stephen has never spoke to my au pair (S), who essentially thinks that making suggestive comments to anyone other than your SO (significant other) is cheating and a reason to break up. When maybe Clarke doesn't know any Frenchwoman under 40? For what I know there are plenty of men all over the world that cheat on their wives and vice versa, but the real question is, 'Is cheating more accepted in France than the US or UK?' I don't have the data on that, but I do know that anecdotal chances where it was NOT accepted. If you watch a film like 'Le Divorce', you would think that all men with money and power have a mistress, (well we in America know that this is true of our politicians too) meeting their mistresses in the late afternoon. For my own FIL, he's vice is woman but not enough flowers and jewelry in the world was able to make up for that...
Stephen also claim that all French woman know how to cook.... Again he should try meeting someone under 40;)
In the end, there is nothing new under the sun and we are all human and woman are woman. Treat them with respect and offer a little surprise once in a while and you will see the rewards. There are certainly woman all over the world (even in American), that while wanting to be seen as equal and be respected still do the majority of the cooking, cleaning and child rearing. They want to be treated with respect but also seen as intelligent, sexy and provocative (not necessarily by playing mind games). Perhaps it's time to bring charming and chivalry back...

An Artist's Cove

2010-08-06T07:30:00.000-07:00

When I first came to France in 1999, my first impression was that French people lived well -- my FIL lives in a huge (by American standards) 5 bedroom, 2.5 bath house that was built in the middle ages. It has a huge workshop and garage, a swimming pool and is perfectly lovely. At that time going out to eat was 100F ($15) for a 3 course meal with wine, you could buy clothes really cheap and the weather was perfect -- no humidity. So what if you didn't understand anything anyone was saying and you were paranoid that they hated you. Small price to pay. Well 11 years later, I realized that most French people live in matchbox size houses and since the Euro, inflation has driven the prices of things well above "cheap" -- to downright expensive. At least the weather is still perfect ;)

This August I am staying with my MIL and FIL so they can spend some time with the kids. I am working remotely in Pessac and am staying at the artist's cove (le maison de mon FIL). Could be worst;)

Garage/Workshop Wall

The Gate

Back Yard

Kitchen Cabinets, don't see that at IKEA

Armoire

Radiators

2010-08-06T06:58:00.000-07:00

These make me wish that I have radiators....

Did I Just Move to France?

2010-08-02T13:03:00.000-07:00

The last 24 hours has been a rollercoaster ride. I left Washington Dulles Airport about 1 hour late, which means that I spend 30-45 minutes sitting on an airplane at IAD, not flying. L was really good. We brought his car seat and although it was a nightmare to get on the plane, there were 7 hours of my life that were good because of that. S, who came with us as far as Paris, really helped me alot. Without her, I wouldn't have been able to eat or anything. Our plane was 1 hour late AND they were not able to check me through to Bordeaux. Which means that I had to stand in a 15 minute line with 3 people working the AF counter at CDG. The woman was not really helpful and she didn't speak English at all. But S took care of it and soon I had boarding passes that had my 2 year old sitting 16 rows behind me -- but I was too busy running across the airport with 2 kids under 3, a car seat, a backpack and one wheeled carry on, because the "very nice" woman, told me how my plane was boarding and that I should run. But S left me after immigration and I didn't have enough arms. I got patted down at security, very slowly, and Luc was too tired to walk. What a disaster! I was literally dragging my kids and baggage through the airport. When I got on the plan, every single steward/stewardess told me that when I travel with kids I should bring nothing on the plan. Cause who needs diapers, extra clothes, a blanket and a kids making sounds book, with their 16 month old and his almost 3 year old brother???? I really like carrying stuff and suffering. What losers.

I actually got off of the plane successfully and just when I feel like all hope is lost, 2 tired refusing to walk kids, car seat, backpack, wheeled carry-on and an escalator with no hint of an elevator, A's dad shows up and whisk my kids and bags away, so I can get the checked bags. He could have been riding a horse and not have been more impressive.

We got 2 good meals in us and the kids are finally sleeping. I should too, but it's 10pm here and still not too dark. Here's hoping to not waking up freaked out in the middle of the night ;0

Even though I will have A on the way back, I am not sure I want to relive the experience. I don't think I can cross the Atlantic with the kids again. Does that mean that I just moved to France?

No Miracle Please.

2010-07-26T18:46:00.000-07:00

Now that we have satisfied one sector of the male population by eliminating all non-miracle bras, I am wondering how we can satisfy the rest that are into legs, butts and everything else? I am not sure I like this brave new world where everything has to be enhanced. I think it gives men a false sense of what "normal" really is. Is there disappointment when the truth is found?

What if I want to save my miracles for something serious? And leave my bras miracle free? This is nearly impossible. I am not saying that we should all burn our bras in protest, I am just a little disappointed that I can't find the ol' faithful cotton no thrills bra anymore;(

I wonder if now that I am in my 30s, does that make me more conservative? This is not just an American problem, I have seen this in France too. Be careful Men, you are next. Soon you won't be able to buy pants without butt enhancers or t-shirts without miracle biceps....

Bostonian Woman don't get fat?

2010-07-21T08:16:00.000-07:00

In Cambridge, MA this week, I begin to see how the inhabitants of Cambridge might be more like Parisians that I thought before. Sure, they aren't fashionable but the walking and portion sizes might be the same. Most of the people I have met here, don't use their cars. They seem to take public transportation everywhere. I am attending a meeting, and at the end of the meal, I have noticed that all of the food is gone and no one is full at all. The amount of food allotted for each person, seems pretty small. Some of my male colleagues from Texas, where everything is big, aren't very satisfied with this arrangement. The jokes about 'Where's the Beef?' have been many. I don't have any data to corroborate that, but maybe French woman and Bostonian woman are more alike than one would think...

Prefecture in Toulon, Nicer?

2010-07-17T08:10:00.000-07:00

Today S and I went to the MD Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA, DMV in other states) so that S could get her driver's license. She is staying another year and won't be able to use her French license in September. This is the 3rd time that S has gone and it is very frustrating that they are unable to provide her with the right information. We called our Au Pair coordinator the last time and they send her a totally useless letter. The MVA only accepts from a list of documents that are totally unobtainable if you don't have any bills. There are lots of other useless documents on their list that seem impossible for any normal person to have. So third time's a charm -- NO. So I asked the woman what else Stephanie can do. And she gives me the list of totally useless documents again! Zut Alors. Why not just have robots run the place. So I ask her as nicely as possible what can S possibly do to get the right document -- you want to know the secret to establishing MD residency -- buying stamps online. That's right. If you buy stamps from the USPS, a government agency, when they send you said stamps in 1st class mail, you are now able to establish MD residency. What a crock. Buying something online from Amazon, totally useless, but buying stamps online keep to Driver's License euphoria.

The stupid cop protecting the MVA worker from me, pulled me aside as I was leaving and said that I would have to go through the same thing in France and I just don't know what it is.... I told him actually I did go through the same thing in France and it was easier, since I only had to go once.

In my French experience, I didn't have the right paperwork the first time either. But the woman kindly took all of the paperwork that I had and I left. Then some weeks later I got a letter asking for more paperwork, which I mailed back to the office and then viola, I got my French DL. I only had to wait one time in the obnoxiously long government agency line of annoyance. Today was the 3rd time that S has had to go to the MVA and waste another 1 hour in line, just to be told that she doesn't have the right paperwork.

So if you are foreign living in America and are having trouble establishing residency -- Just buy some stamps.

The Return to Pessac

2010-07-10T12:53:00.000-07:00

In 3 weeks, I will be returning to Pessac. Pessac is like a home away from home for me. There I not only have my own bedroom, but I have a history of 11 years of visiting my 'Belle Familie" and the region. Here are some things not to be missed:

1) Chateau Pape Clement
In the 14th Century the Papacy moved from Rome to Avignon, the Archbishop of Bordeaux, became the new pope in 1305. This pope, "Pape Clement" was one of the vineyards most famous owners and the vineyard still holds his name. The wine is pretty good too. I love Chateau Pape Clement because it looks like a renaissance castle, complete with tower.

2) The "Marche en Pessac" or the Local Market. In Pessac, the local market is on Sunday and is very very big compared to the ones in the small provencial villages. Pessac is much bigger than Le Beausset so I shouldn't be surprised that the market is. Here you can find all of the fruits, vegetables and shellfish that your heart can desire. At these markets, their are also cheap clothes, knock-off sunclasses and probably a table or two of wine vendors. Please bring cash, credit cards not accepted;)
3) In Bordeaux, there is a restaurant that serves one dish. No menu, if you end up at "Entre Cote" you will be getting a sort of flank steak cooked -- Well, medium or mooing, and french fries with a salad with vinegrette. You can choose your drink, which I recommend the house wine, and of course any dessert that might tempt you palette. For me it's profiteroles. That's one perfect meal:)

4) Downtown Bordeaux has a large pedestrian only area for shopping, restaurants, theatre and more. One can easily spend the day walking around going into the various shops, visiting the gardens at the mairie and my personal favorite the Monument aux Girondins, which is a beautiful fountain. Downtown Bordeaux also a "Mirror Fountain" , which is flat and shoots water into a calm mist, creating a puddle and plenty of opportunity for cooling off. Very fun for the kiddies.

5) Arcachon Bay and the Great Dune of Pyla. Not far from Bordeaux is a small beach town with a beautiful bay, great for an after lunch stroll. If you need more of a workout though, the nearby Dune de Pyla, the highest dune in Europe, is not too far and provides climbing enjoyment for all that visit. If you are anything like my little L, you too will finding yourself climbing up and rolling down this sand dune right next to the Atlantic Ocean.

Ode to Nutella

2010-07-07T04:52:00.000-07:00

Nutella is a truly amazing spread. In can replace jam, apple butter, peanut butter, maple syrup and many others for daily use. It is the French girl's Ben and Jerry's and for my sons the difference between between plain ol' bagel and amazing bagel, especially of it's on my plate;)
S loves nutella, let by herself she could eat a whole jar in less than one month... Here in the USA, small jars cost about $4, but I buy Nutella in big jars, 2 for $8 at Costco... I'm not sure if I know any equivalent in France, but this a place where you buy everything in large qualities. Some Americans do all of their shopping there, me only the essentials -- nutella, nestle powder, olive oil and diapers. S also loves chocolate milk. I buy 2 large jars of nutella and one gigantic canister of nestle every month or so and hardly get any of either. But the kids love her, so I guess we will continent woo her... Thank you Ferrero and Nestle you make a French girls morning every day;)

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Women hating women...

2010-07-05T06:58:00.000-07:00

While the idea of an misogynist man is annoying, misogynist women are the worst. These are the women that give the rest of us a bad name! They are moody, arrogant and very very catty. They hate any woman who is smart and successful. For the ones with no children, they call you weak for wanting or having them.

Yesterday I encountered such a woman. Perfectly beautiful 4th of July day and we were invited by A's co-worker to her house for a BBQ. She wanted us to meet her a the little beach near her house for swimming/jet skiing. Great! A got star service, 'here take the wave runner out by yourself and have fun'.

I have been jetskiing since I was 16, I practically grew up on the bay near DC. Spent lots of summers, fishing, crabbing, boating, jet skiing... I swim about a mile 2-3 times a week. I have a boater's license and spent more time on jetskis than A. But can I take one out alone. No. Too dangerous for me. A woman with children is obviously too weak to be out on the water alone. I have to go with a man. So he can watch me and make sure that I don't hurt myself or get lost. I was happy not going jetskiing anyway and the only reason I was going was because this woman was annoyed that I was fine not going and now that I go, I have to go with her or someone else 'qualified'. I hate going with A since I usually end up feeling like barbing afterwards...
If you have never jetskiied with crazy people twice your size, it can be more dangerous. They can easily have you flying off the back, and then if they go with you and land on you. Well let's just say that it's not pleasant. All of the "qualified" jetskiers were using the men's XXL vest. Me -- I think the one I was using was small -- used for the older kids.

In the end, I was happy to get out on the water, it has been a long time. But I didn't need to be treated like a child...

Banking on the rocks

2010-06-30T19:03:00.001-07:00

My relationship with France is on the rocks again. We were doing so well, live ex-lovers who call each other from time to time since they just can't give up on the friendship. I'm so excited about my trip but then something like this happens and I am not sure we can make it through...

My bank card expired and I will need it when I am in France to pay for stuff. Always better to use Euros than to mess with exchanging currency... I have been trying to get the HSBC to send me a new card. But they keep sending it to the wrong address. I have sent 5 letters with my new address and finally they said that they can't change my address with the all important EDF bill. So the thing keeping me from my money is an electric bill in France in my name!!! So annoying! Will the send my card the USA?? Where I actually have an electric bill. Um let me think -- no. The sad thing is that without the card I can only withdraw money from the branch in Toulon, since getting money from a branch other than my home branch is forbidden. I seem to ask about this very problem when I signed up with HSBC and they said that I could get my money anywhere, but in the end they are just like LaPoste!

Ugh. Our relationship has taken a nose dive France -- there needs to be plenty of seafood, wine and white roses before we are back to making up...

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Mediterranian Dreams

2010-06-29T06:26:00.000-07:00

I am not sure what a perfect summer day used to be, but now it is eating seafood outside with a nice bottle of Rosé... Well, I tried to recreate that this weekend. First finding some good shellfish on a Sunday is harder than I would have imagined living so close to the sea, but anyway. I ended up at Weis, a very unexceptional grocery store, where they had clams for 13 cents each. I got 3 dozen and a 1lb of mussels. The recipe I used was great.

Fresh mint, shallots, 1/2 white wine, many garlic cloves, parsley. I cooked them until they popped. Instead of having them with fries or just like that I had them over pasta. It was ok, but fries would have been better.
I couldn't eat outside either. Too hot, too many mosquitoes. It was great, really it was. Although I realized that 1) I like Mussels much more than I like clams, 2) French fries are better than pasta, and 3) Rosé from Provence is much better than the Argentinian white wine that I had in the frigo... 'Suppose to cool off this weekend, maybe I should just stick to crabs, corn and beer? Anyone have a good hush puppy recipe?

Accidental Citizen

2010-06-26T13:19:00.000-07:00

So today I got a paper in the mail saying something about how I didn't sign some paper and as a citizen of France living abroad, I need to sign some box so that I can get vote in the next election. What?!? I haven't even applied for citizenship again yet! Does this mean that I can get my French passport now? And my carte d'identity? I am the only one in the house without French credentials... All the men in the house have 2 passports, I am so jealous. Is it possible that there is some sort of paperwork error, when they denied me 6 years ago, the functionaire actually clicked the wrong box? Well if that's the case, I will be learning the Marseillaise, just in time for the 14 de Julliet.

Vive la France ;)

Baking Bread

2010-06-21T06:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend I got tricked into making bread. A had to choose between spending time with Georgette and his oldest son. Well he sort of chose both. He took L to the farmer's market and on the way out the door asked me if I could 'start' the bread. Here were my instructions:
500g of flour
30% of Georgette
45% of water
1 of the 'small' spoon of salt
1 coffee spoon of honey -- I'm thinking 'what the h3ll is a coffee spoon, is that teaspoon?'
Oh and try a mixture of different flours with oatmeal...

So after vacuuming and mopping the whole down stairs I got to work on Georgette. I am sure A was feeling all warm and fuzzy with Georgette and I making break together. Ugh. The first time I messed up. Turns out 45% of 500g is not 375. Where was my head? So I added too much water and then compensated by adding lots of flour and no extra Georgette. I did use some white whole wheat, bread flour and whole wheat flour... I am not really the kind of person that makes exact measurements when cooking, but I do know I used the last of the white whole wheat flour. So I set that batch aside -- still to wet and tried again. This time I did it better. I used 102g oatmeal, 248g of bread flour and 150g of wheat. 225ml of water, 150g of Georgette, 1 tsp of salt and 3 sec of pouring honey. That mixture was too dry. I failed again. Thankfully Z woke us from his nap and I retreated from the kitchen. As Z and I descended A and L came back from the market and A mixed by 2 failed attempts into one ball.
Four hours and 1 pool trip later as I was about to fall asleep on the couch, A informs me that he is calling his 'maman' and that I need to shape my bread.
Not sure at what point this was my project, but he says that I can shape little balls at 80-90g and big ones at 500. So I shape balls between 90-100g and big ones at 250ish... One I think was 275g. I am a rebel without a cause. Et Viola. more waiting. Finally at 6pm A said that I have to cook my bread, but I let tell him that I can't possibly take more of his fun away and I let him throw the bread in the oven.

So in short, I made my first French bread this weekend -- and it was 100 times better than A's first attempt ;)

Getting to know you;)

2010-06-18T07:32:00.000-07:00

Maybe I was tagged by Andromeda She is the funniest blogger that I read. I am lacking a little blogging motivation so this is great.

1. What did you want to be when you were little?
An actress, then a psychiatrist

2. What one place makes you the happiest being there?

There are are so many places that make me happy, in Southern MD, where my great-grandmother had a house on the water, on the Mediterranean coast, in the Le Beausset square for coffee on a Sunday morning and laying on the beach;)

3. Do you wish your first kiss was with someone else?
Sometimes...

4. What's one thing you wish you could tell your 16-year-old self?

I wouldn't even know where to begin. So many things. Not to be afraid, be more bold, ignore your parents, don't let people make decisions for you...HS will be over soon and you will ok.

5. What movie do you never get tired of watching?

Gone with the Wind

6. What movie do you wish you had never seen?

So many. All of the scary ones.

7. How much time do you admit spending on facebook in a week? How much time do you actually spend on facebook?

I probably spend 10 minutes a day -- but I have facebook chat on all day using 'Adium' my chat program for FB, MSN, Yahoo, Gmail, etc... Does chat count?

8. Who do you miss most at this exact moment?
My grandma.

9. Where are you going tomorrow? Why?
Tomorrow is a crazy day. We are having a house-warming at our house, so there will be shopping, cleaning, taking the kids to the park/pool and lots and lots of cooking.

10. If you had a gift card for plastic surgery and HAD to use it (witness protection or something), what would you get done?
Lift and Tuck. Love the kids, hate the consequences.

So if you are reading this and haven't been tagged before -- consider yourself tagged. Please post a comment so I will sure read your posting to get to know you better. And if you aren't blogging, just put it in the comments;)

There are your list of questions:

1) Where do you see yourself living in 10 years?
2) Boxers, brief or bikinis -- if you are woman, what do you prefer?
3) What is your favorite book?
4) What is your favorite book about living abroad?
5) What is something about you that would shock your readers?
6) Do you secretly wish that your blog will turn into a book deal or movie?
7) Where do you see yourself doing in 10 years?
8) What is your top travel destination that you must see before you die?
9) What is your favorite foreign film?
10) If your favorite bakery could only make one type of cake/tarte (pie) what would you want it to be?

Carry-On or Amazon UK?

2010-06-09T18:33:00.000-07:00

There are a number of books that I want to read. I love reading and can usually read a really good book in a day or so. I will be in PACA sans famille for about a week and can probably read 5 books easily. Then another 5 books the other 2 - 3 weeks ignoring my inlaw. Therefore I will need 10 books to read. Well, that could get expensive. But the other problem is do I buy them here and then transport them to France or buy then on Amazon in France/UK and just have them shipped.
There are a couple by Stephen Clarke. I love this guy, he looks like 1/2 the British men I know and is SUPER funny. I love Merde Happens, where my favorite character Paul West takes a trip across the US. Classic, so funny. Here is a small list of books I want to read so far:

Tail to the Snail
1000 Years of Annoying the French
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
The Story of French
A Short History of Nearly Everything
The Time Traveler's Wife
The Lonely Polygamist

I already have 'The White Queen', which I am trying really hard not to read before my trip.

I need 2 more ideas at least. And if you are in France and already have a few books, then I can bring you more for the trade;)

Quiche de Frigo

2010-06-06T14:02:00.000-07:00

I used to think that there are only a few ways be make Quiche. With ham and cheese or spinach... You can add anything to Quiche really. Here is a basic Quiche recipe:

6 eggs
2 cups (1/2 l) of milk, cream or half and half
pie crust
cheese
other stuff....

I have a 11 inch (28 cm) pie pan and usually get the Pillsbury pie crust usually by the eggs and cheese. In France there are a million different type of pie crusts that you can buy. Just don't get the yummy vanilla one (which is perfect for an tarte aux pommes) and you will be fine. If your pie pan is too small you will have to adjust the eggs and milk.

Preheat Oven to 425 F (220 C). Mix your eggs and milk in a bowl. I usually season with pepper, no salt as many things I add are already salty. You can also add paprika. Then pour the mixture into the crust. Now add stuff. Sort of push stuff down into egg/cream mixture and bake for 40-45 minutes.

Here are some ideas for stuff:

Ham (1-2 cups) and Cheese (2 cups), traditionally swiss cheese, but I accidently bought some Monterey Jack cheese recently and the family loves it.

Ham (1-2 cups), Broccoli (1 cup) and Tomatoes (1 cup). Cut the broccoli and tomatoes into small pieces.

Turkey instead of Ham. Sometimes when I am making Quiche, I don't have an deli meat or ham lying around and so I substitute turkey deli meat.

Tomatoes and Broccoli, you will probably need to add a little salt in this case.

Onions 1/2 c -- can be added to any combo above.

What's your favorite Quiche?

Baby Got Back?

2010-06-05T13:13:00.000-07:00

I have been recently frustrated by some of my son's clothes. He is wearing a 3T (3A) and his American clothes just don't fit unless there is the adjustable elastic inside. Although I don't notice the same problem with his French clothes. So I started wondering do French kids have smaller waists than American kids, really?? But when I see other kids at the playground, swim class, and at the grocery store, the answer is NO. I have asked other parents about this problem and I think I might have discovered the secret. Diapers. Diapers really add to the 'backside' and kids need to have a little extra room to accommodate. The parents of potty trained kids see this as a much much bigger problem than the parents of those kids still toddling in diapers. For my little one, his clothes fit almost perfectly.

So now I wonder do French parents potty train their kids earlier than American? If you read this Link is says that the average kid is potty trained at 30 months, where the range is between 18 and 60. While 30 months seems pretty normal, as my son was potty trained at 27 months, I wonder about the upper limits for that. I know what in France, parents have a real incentive to have their kids potty trained at 36 months. Without that, they are ineligible to begin preschool, which is all-day and free for parents. So if you want to save on child care then your kid will be potty trained by 3. But in the US, does that mean that the average kid must wear pants with big waists to accommodate the kids not yet potty trained?

But wait, maybe I didn't consider one factor. Maybe American kids clothes aren't really sized for the average American kid? Americans in general seem to be taller than the French. This is very anecdotal, but I rarely see a guy short than me in the US and in France it happened all the time. My son wearing the same size in France and US, perhaps the average American kid his age are wearing 4T and therefore no longer have the extra backside? Although the doctor does seem to think that he is 50th percentile for height and weight... Oh well, in the meantime, I will have to find clothes with elastic in the waist.

Already a Bad Start

2010-06-03T19:44:00.000-07:00

So I have decided that I need to lose one more clothing size before returning to France for August. That way I can eat all of the croissant, pain au chocolat, tarte de citron and profiteroles that I want. If I am in Le Beausset, I will visit my old friend Isabelle, who works at the Boulangerie. Boy do I miss Isa. So losing weight... Part of the master plan of losing weight is (1) eating less, (2) cutting the grass, when it needs it, which I have done the last 2 weekends and (3) swimming 2 nights a week and sometimes on the weekend. I did swim Sunday and Monday for about 1km. But Sunday and Monday were still part of last weekend, so they obviously don't count. I had potential nights to go. Well Tuesday A had to work late. So not my fault. Wednesday, I had to work late followed by being stuck in traffic. Thursday = thunder storm. However on a small happy note, I did jog in my sandals to the parking garage because of the rain. Good thing that I was clairvoyant and wore my 'nipples don't show through bra' or else it would have been one interesting wet t-shirt contest in the parking garage. Well maybe I didn't get that wet, but I was pretty wet. Well, anyway, the pool certainly closed down the minute the lightening hit the Maryland skies... So that only leave tomorrow night. So I could make up by swimming 2 km or 2 miles tomorrow night. Or I have failed in my first week on my new exercise regiment. I am not even sure if the grass will need to be cut this weekend in addition A is working too this weekend and so availability for grass cutting the swimming goes way down. I am so sad that I might only get to see Isa every other day while in Le Beausset... On a super happy note, I did find new motivation in oing lap swimming and it's music. For Xmas, I asked for a device that would allow my to use my iPod to listen to music while swimming. A few months ago, A got it for me (having a deadline for a present, like Xmas, is really had on A, eventually he gets around to it...) this device and I was able to try it out and it works great. If I didn't feel guilty about leaving A in the baby pool I could have swam another 1km....

Sex and the City 2 -- A Review

2010-05-30T06:28:00.001-07:00

Friday night, S (our aupair) and I went to see our old friends Carrie, Miranda, Sam and Charlotte. For non-fans of the show, those are the four girls of the HBO hit show 'Sex and the City'. After 2 whole years of marriage, Carrie is in crisis again, this time it's the 2 year itch. The 7-year itch is so 1950s in this age where 1/2 of marriages end in divorce and 10-years is the new silver anniversary. Not that I don't believe in divorce, it's just that I wonder about the state of society where like Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte, they waited until their 30s to get married and the have a crisis after just 2 years... Carrie wants to keep going out every night and be fabulous in her mid-40s, while her hubby, probably 10 years older than her, just wants to stay home...So what's wrong with a home cooked meal, every once in a while?? Well according to Carrie, that's boring. Then the girls head off to UAE for a fabulous Middle Eastern vacation. While the decedent vacation is just what the doctor ordered for the girls, Sam's radically libral sexual behavior gets the gang in trouble... Carrie, meanwhile, plays with fire in the form of ex-boyfriend, Adian, but quickly remembers that she spent 6 years lusting after Big and now that she finally has him, is she willing to throw that away over a few nights a week out?? Well I do identify more with Charlotte than Carrie, so maybe I am just not fabulous enough to understand;)

All in all, this movie is like a bag of Doritos. Once you open the bag, you just can't stop because their so good... But be careful if you think too much about the ride when it's over, you could give yourself a tummy ache. Just enjoy the ride b/c their are some really funny parts:)

In case any of the HBO executives are reading this, I have lots of ideas about a show about grad school...

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Bikini Philosophy

2010-05-27T13:13:00.000-07:00

I recently decided that it was time to give up my too big bikini for something that well 'fits'. I can't say that I have had swimwear that I have absolutely loved before. Each year, I try to find something that (1) stays on (2) keeps everything 'in' (3) doesn't look horrible and (4) is functional. Today's woman has 3 options to start -- A) One piece. Can be modest and hold things in place. But for a long day of swim wear wearing, the one piece just isn't functional -- potty breaks...

B) Tankini. Certainly over comes the problem of the one piece in many ways. But when you are swimming, you can easily get tangled into the part of the swim that covers your stomach. I can certainly slow you down if you are doing laps. I guess that's why you don't see tankinis on the speedo website.

C) Binkini. Not really modest, but no swim suit is truly modest. In Europe, this could just be a bikini bottom for a woman. But that woman, is usually overweight, pale, and over 50. I might be a law that she also probably had 10 children and spent way too much time in the sun. In this country, I think that every woman must wear a miracle bathing suit, given that when I went bikini shopping, I found that most of the suits supported so well that they even provided shape and padding for excess cleavage. I don't really see the point. While most men will say that they are 'boob men' most are happy with anything. Given the opportunity, they aren't as shallow as we think they are. Besides, I am married and don't care for 15 year boys to be ogling over my cleavage. The other thing that I really hate about most bikinis is that they use your neck as an anchor. Not cool.

Time to give a shout-out to Speedo for actually selling something that I would actually buy. Thanks Speedo. Can't wait til it arrives, maybe I actually bought something that I will like??? I hope so!

A tale of 2 backspashes

2010-05-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

In 3 weekend afternoons, we were able to complete the backsplash in the kitchen. Hooray! On the 4th day we did lights and fans. The kitchen already had lights and fans, but there was one fan that was in the wrong spot. I define wrong, as strategically place so that it hits the cabinets as it spins. So we have to move the fan to the location of one of the lights and vice versa. Viola. No more hitting cabinet problem. We also installed a fan in the dining. So not French. Ceiling fans. That's so American. But I live in a country that is hot and we need air movement. We were to install the shelf I got at Ikea, now I am wondering what did I actually want to go there.

So the backsplash behind the stove is this 'faux-metal' thing that we got at the Home Depot (Leroy Merlin) and it was super easy to install. I did it myself. The other backsplash is multicolor slate tile, that we also got at the Home Depot. We installed that together, although A made all of the cuts. I really suck at cutting and always cut the wrong thing, each time! I measure 6 times and still somehow it is wrong. I have to say that I am really pleased with the outcome.

We are almost done with the kitchen. Hooray!
Ok maybe now A can build the brickoven of his dreams;)

The Damsel in Distress or the Ballsy Woman

2010-05-20T05:33:00.000-07:00

There are so many ways in which woman have it a little tough. We are either weak sappy messes or we are b*tches. Walking the tight rope between those is often tough. In an episode of Desperate Housewives, Susan's MIL declared that a woman should be 'a chef in the kitchen, a maid in the house and a whore in the bedroom'. But I wonder, does that also mean being a 'doormat at the entrance'? Can you be all of those things and still get the tile you want in the kitchen and not be label as being 'b*tchy'? How about at work? Does not wanting to be belittled and walked all over by your coworkers make you 'a control freak' or a 'hurricane'? What if you have ideas too? When woman exhibit the same behavior as a man there is a negative connotation. But the for man, when he is a 'go-getter' or being 'aggressive', those attributes are positive and rewarded.
I have to say though, that working for men is A LOT easier than working with woman. In woman circles, weak woman are eaten alive. Professionalism means being stoic, solid. No place for weakness. The competitiveness is suffocating and in the end there is only one survivor. It's like playing basketball with Micheal Jordon, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, etc. Dream team or not, no one will pass the ball. While there may not be an 'I' in Team, why does that matter? Modern woman should do it all. Take care of the children, clean the house, make the dinners, work 16 hours days and be a whore in the bedroom.
Time to get back to sisterhood. While I can play the part of the 'Damsel in Distress', please don't tell me not to 'worry my pretty little head', good ideas are all around us.

Great American Railroad

2010-05-12T08:53:00.000-07:00

I had the great pleasure of riding the Great American Railroad recently. I often wonder why people in American don't take the train. I now know. The first problem is that it's expensive. It cost $200 round trip to get from Baltimore to New York and took 2.5 hours. That's about 300 km, so it averages about 120 km/hour and about $0.33/km (round trip). Wow that's great. Really. It is probably actually cheaper to fly and faster. No wonder people don't take the train. In France, on occasion I would take the TGV from Marseille to Paris. That is 776km. The typical cost those tickets were about 80 Euros and the trip would take about 3 hours. That trip averages about 250 km/h and 5 centimes/km. So in short it costs 6 times more to go 1/2 the speed. Awesome. I think I would take the train everywhere if it were faster or cheaper. The nice things about the train (now) is that there is less hassles than at airports AND it can go downtown to downtown. Usually connects to things like metro... But at that cost/time I wonder why Amtrak finds that their service is so great. Is it because European countries subsidize their rail more than we do in the US? Is it that they have to charge more because they have less business? The trains I was on had plenty of available seats. If they lowered their prices would they fill up the seats? The other super annoying thing was to change my ticket. In France you can change your ticket at a machine. Here in the US, you must stand in line and they get charge a gigantic fee for the change... I tried to change my ticket and they wanted an extra $100 for a train leaving in 30 minutes. Obviously the train wasn't full... So why should I have to pay that much $$$ for a seat that is going to be empty anyway... I just hung out at the station for an extra hour, watched TV on Hulu and took the next train....

Come on AMTRAK, you are the future, time to step up.

Doctor Bills

2010-05-11T18:20:00.000-07:00

I recently went to the doctor for a regular visit. The visit cost me about $30 and it cost my insurance $190. Was the doctor's 20 minutes really worth $220? That's like $660/hour. This same examine in France costs about 45 Euros. The gov't reimbursement is about 17 Euros, making it about 28 Euros out of pocket. With an even exchange rate, the costs are about the same for me, but for my 'insurance' the costs are about 11 times more. Was the doctor 11 times more helpful? 11 times more knowledge about, did she use 11 times better equipment or was 11 times more gentle? No. She wasn't any of those things. But she did have 11 times the staff that the French doctor had and probably pays 1000 times the mal-practice insurance. Only some French doctors even have staff. Most just have waiting rooms and come get the next patient when they are done with the last one... No multiple examination rooms. Sort of like a psychiatrist office... Not that I know anything about that. You pay the doctor directly. No need for billing people. The way that it usually works is that the govt reimburses the patient directly through direct deposit and you don't have to file paperwork since the everything is electronic via your "health card". Although I guess if we did that in this country we would lose more precious American jobs... Viva privatization of insurance.

Herding Cats

2010-05-11T09:56:00.000-07:00

Well I wish I was actually herding cats....

Am I insane or what?

2010-05-05T07:22:00.000-07:00

When I started to plan my summer vacation, I was looking for one thing. Quiet, book reading in the sun. Sounds perfect right? Well then I realized that I actually couldn't take a month off of work. No problem, I will work the first 2 weeks in France and then go on vacation the last 2 weeks. So I bought the ticket. Me and the boys will arrive the 1st and be there almost 4 weeks. A will come for the last 2 weeks. Although A really wants to spend time with the fam and after 2 weeks of the ILs, I am like no way. Maybe I should spend some time with all of my PACA friends? So I looked into it and will probably go to PACA toute seul for the 3rd week and come back the 4th week to spend some days by the pool in Bordeaux -- or maybe at the beach on a coast where they actual have waves (but the water is nearly frozen).... So I started planning this fun, relaxing trip in the southeast. But wait there is a geek conference in Lisbon -- can I fit that in too?? Oh and the baptism of Z, which I will have to meet with the priest sans A, who only speaks French. Yay. So here is what it looks like. 1) Go to France with Kids -- spend 10 days on West Coast. 2) Abandon kids to MIL for one night and go to Lisbon (A arrives the next day) 3) Spend 3 days in Lisbon 'working' 4) Go to PACA (Provence, Alps, Cote d'Azur) to see friends and read on the beach. 5) Return to West coast, baptize Z and spend some time by pool/beach.

Am I insane? Is that too much? BTW, I still need book ideas.

Shoes

2010-05-03T05:14:00.001-07:00

I bought my first pair of Clarks 6/7 years ago. They were a classic clog. I can't say that we fell on live instantly. It was one of those relationships that look time to develop. He had to strech a little and mold around me. I now have 5 pairs of Clarks. I got 2 yesterday. I have flirted with other companies, Dansko, Teva, asics... But there are just more occassions to sport Clarks. Some of you reading this (D) might think that I am insane. Shoes should be about fashion and not comfort, but I think my new Clarks are both:) At least I don't have hammer toes or bunions...

Now I just need to find a good pump for dancing... Leather sole anytime soon Clarks?

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Books and La fête des Mères

2010-05-01T12:03:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day in the US is next weekend. In France, they celebrate the last Sunday in May. Last year we didn't celebrate Mother's day anywhere. We were in France for the US Mother's Day and in the US for the French Fete des Meres. So this year, we should probably celebrate both just to be sure.
Sure, I am not Mother of the Year or anything. But the last year was tough. New baby, potty training L, moving to the US, starting a new job... I feel like I need an extra fete, just for surviving. I told A that he could get me books. I plan to read one book every day or so when I am on vacation in August. That's means I will need 7 books minimum.

I like Ina Caro's 'The Road from the Past: Traveling through History in France', it is such a great book about traveling through France and gossipy monarch history, like who married who and what mistress they had and how when they died, how who took over.

So please, I am looking for book suggestions.

Cheating -- is that a cultural definition??

2010-05-01T11:45:00.000-07:00

Americans have this idea that the French are more tolerant of cheating, not just tolerate really, but totally accepting. If a man decides he needs a mistress, no big deal. In Suzy Gershman's book, C'est La Vie: An American Woman Begins a New Life in Paris and--Voila!--Becomes Almost French, she has an affair with a married 'Count'. They meet for drinks at a local hotel and he asks if she wants to be his mistress. This scene is replayed in the film 'Le Divorce', where Kate Hudson's character, gets asked by her sister's uncle-in-law if she wants to be his mistress. I am not really sure why though, while Kate has a great body, her hair is horrible in that movie. Then there is that French politician whose mistress and illegitimate children were very publically accepted as his funeral.

So recently, I had heard through the grapevine that a friend from college had cheated on his wife and now they are getting a divorce. How horrible, they have a small child, I thought. But then I found out the 'cheating' consisted on some suggestive IMs. Divorce and custody battles over some 'suggestive emails' with an ex-GF. Well maybe he was no longer interested in his wife and wanted a little excitement. When I need some excitement, I search for pictures of Matthew McConaughey shirtless;) So anyway, our American friends have confirmed: thinking of or being suggestive with another human being is cheating as long as it is exciting to you. French friend though well it you are going to be called a cheater, you might as well have had some real fun.

So I thought, well typical, Americans are prudes. But then I was talking to 'S', the au pair living in our home, and she is of the American school of thought on this. Well she doesn't like Chevre, mushrooms or shellfish, so I am not sure of her 'Frenchness'. She had explained that once she had a boyfriend that was on an internet dating site while they were together and that it was cheating. She is pretty sure that he didn't go out with another girl, but could have gotten or sent message from/to them. Well after 11 years together if A really wants to put his picture on Craigslist Casual Encounters, as long as he isn't actually having any, why do I really care. I guess I am of the 'It doesn't matter where you get hungry, as long as you come home to eat' stance. I think 'woman' who answer though ads are just hairy obese men anyways;)

I am not sure if this makes me more French or more American. More conservative or more liberal. What is conservative anyways, a high divorce rate or letting some mild chatter slide. There is not even a base to reference on 'suggestive talking' and 'thinking', would that be a strike, a foul ball, or maybe an 'injury' that causes the person unable to play?

Suzy and Kate can have their Parisian Hotel encounters. The fantasy with Matthew McConaughey shirtless will never let me down;)

Dreaming of Vacations

2010-04-30T19:29:00.000-07:00

Well A's sister finally got back home. Well I say finally, but actually she was only here a couple of extra days, but was stressing like she was here a month or something... Can your job really fire you for being stuck in America by a volcano in Iceland? I really need a vacation myself. I took a week off of work a while ago, but worked on the house. I need a vacation that involves the sun, sand and very little clothes. If I still had 9 weeks of vacation, all of the fun times I could be having ;) Life needs more vacations and happy hours. Well I guess I can work on the happy hours and dream about vacation... Here are some pictures from past vacations: Rocamadour October 2008 and Arches National Park October 2006.

Permenant Houseguest?

2010-04-19T04:28:00.000-07:00

So my SIL and her boyfriend are visiting us from France. They have had a nice 2 weeks visiting DC, Baltimore, New York, etc. Yesterday they were suppose to fly home -- no way said the volcano in Iceland. You must stay in the US and extra 'who knows when'. The SIL is pretty cool about the whole thing, she is actually on vacation another week. Her BF however, has to go back to work tomorrow and is freaking out a bit. I am not sure how long this migration to the US will be but last night I had some ideas... 1) They could just get jobs in the US, probably they could get some sort of volcano asylum or something. He works for TurboMaker and they have a factory in South Carolina. Do I hear 'transfer'? 2) They could move to one of those French Island in the Caribbean, learn how to make rum and have a 'new life' 3) They could take a boat back to France. 4) Relax. I think that A was trying to convince them to immigrate their whole trip. I said that they could probably get well paying jobs in the US, live cheaply for 2-3 years and go back to France will some money for a down payment on an apartment (only 160K Euros). AF said that they can probably fly out Wed. They will probably do that. But it is always fun to dream about having a 'new life', no?

Shock and Awe

2010-04-14T07:01:00.000-07:00

The thing I think that is the most striking between the French and les Americains is shock value. Americans seem to be easily shocked by stuff that is completely normal. You see a nipple on TV or a politician has an affair and everyone is shocked. Who doesn't have nipples. Everyone has them and the thing about nipples is that seen one nipple and you seen them all.... The typical French response is 'Oui, bien sur' -- yes, of course. The know that politician can keep it in their pants and that people have nipples. The thing that I think is sort of comforting about the American attitude is when it's personal it is nice to have someone to commiserate with who is just as shocked as you are... Gossip is so much juicier, too. Why talk about your co-workers having an affair, if that is normal, nothing juicy about things that are normal. But on the other hand (again), it seems like the level of disappointment is lower when you expect someone to do something that isn't very nice or downright juicy. If you knew for example that your dad was a cheater, then no reason being disappointed when he cheats... Not even gossip worthy. Would be nice if the American news was a bit more French... I think that I could handle watching the news again.

Nearly Finished

2010-04-12T20:31:00.000-07:00

So I know I have been super bad about posting more pictures of my new wonderful kitchen, but since the kitchen is functional, progress has slowed to a crawl. There are still some knobs to put up, some countertop to finish up, a wood panel to screw in, etc... The hood is up and I still need to figure out what to do with my microhood as it won't fit. Anyway, I hope before summer it will be done and I can post some real pictures.

In the meantime, I thought I would share a picture of a pretty weird mailbox. Some American's are so weird. I am actually related to this one...

To Bisou or to Not Bisou

2010-04-09T13:51:00.000-07:00

The rules of Bisou are pretty simple. Girls Bisou everyone and Boys Bisou with girls.... But wait a minute sometimes boys Bisou other men. What are the rules on that??? How to men/boys know when they can/should bisou with other men/boys? Close family -- yes, but what about friends? How "friendly" do you have to be to bisou with another guy? A was recently "bisoued" by a friend that we met in November. We see each other every other month or so... How do you know when to take the relationship to the bisou level?

Also, I feel like the rules break down when outside of France. Sometimes French people will always want to bisou, but others don't and if you go in for a bisou, it can get awkward.

Sending out air bisous

Pâques

2010-04-03T19:05:00.000-07:00

Well we have been really busy trying to get the kitchen in order. I will post more pictures with it is all done. Completely done. That might be in a year when we get around to the finishing touches ;) Anyway, this weekend is Z's birthday, it is actually on Pâques this year. A's sister, also A, is here visiting us for the occasion. She brought us plenty of wine from Bordeaux and yummy chocolates for Pâques. I told A that he could have the chocolates if I could have the wine. Such a wino these days. Missing France more than ever. Wonder what I am doing here. Nothing is going according to plan. The Marseilles spring is so good. Nice warm days, lots of sunshine. Will try to think about how much I like arguing with people in English;)

Enjoy your Pâques and don't eat too much candy. If I remember I will post some of the chocolates A has been making.

Bricolage Kitchen, Almost Done

2010-03-26T08:16:00.000-07:00

Here is our progress over the last week:

Bricolage March 2010 Day 9

2010-03-23T06:44:00.000-07:00

We have almost all major appliances now. I have to say that when I first thought about putting this all together I was a little overwhelmed and it hasn't been all easy, but the IKEA cabinets are so flexible and we are able to change things on the fly.

Bricolage March 2010 Day 8

2010-03-23T06:40:00.000-07:00

Still working...

My favorite wallpaper;)

2010-03-17T09:42:00.000-07:00

Here is some wallpaper I found under the cabinets.

Bricolage March 2010 Day 2

2010-03-15T13:47:00.000-07:00

This is what the house looked like on Sunday.

Bricolage March 2010 Day 1

2010-03-13T19:29:00.000-08:00

Here is where our work began, stay tuned.

Men of Home Depot

2010-03-07T07:49:00.001-08:00

The Home Depot is the Castrorama of the USA. The king of the Bricolage stores. This is also also the home of what I like to call the 'Orange Light' district in my town. Like a 'lady of the night' asking if you want a 'date', the men of home depot ask if you need someone to 'install that tile for you'... While home improvement is not illegal, the 'Men of Home Depot' usually are. I am afraid that their would be 'johns' will pay them pathetic wages and have them working long hours. They are blamed for their place in society who wants to pay $$$ for tile installation or painting. These things can be easily done if one only had the time... In France hiring 'under the table' is done, but if that person gets hurt illegal employers pay for the rest of their lives. I am sure the American day laborers have no such protection. The question is 'Does hiring these work help or hurt?', since hiring them is taking advantage of their low wage status and if something happens they could be paying for life.

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The Calendar Year?

2010-03-03T09:35:00.000-08:00

I often wonder why the year begins in January. This is probably a ploy for people to feel happy when they would normally be a little depressed. Winter sucks. There is not much day light and really why do we celebrate a new year freezing our butts off. Well here in the Northern Hemisphere, it must rock being in the Southern Hemisphere...

Anyway I was thinking about the French calendar in the shower this morning and how it compares to the American one...

The French year begins September 1st.
*I actually think that we should change New Years Day to this day. Any one else with me on this one?

Anyway between September 1st and November 1st, the country is pretty productive, I would say that if you want anything done, do it as this time. But then in November things start to slack off.

November 1st and 11th are holidays, so some people try to take time off around this time, go on holiday, that sort of thing. December starts the Xmas season and the last 2 weeks of Xmas are shot -- no one works....Just as you are getting your new year underway, there are ski/winter holidays in Feb, late March/early April is PAX another big vacation season, leading us right into the May holidays (1st, 8th and 'Whit Monday') Who would want to work on Whit Monday, honestly? I can't remember what that holiday actually signifies, but I know that it is catholic and is not celebrated in America. Then you have another 2 months of productivity before 30% of the country takes the entire month of August off. Although some people actually take July 15th until Aug 15th or some variation on their month long holiday, bringing us right back to September.

The thing I love about this calendar is less about trying to do stuff -- like buying a car in August is nearly impossible or getting some administrative nightmare handled, it is the anticipation of the next holiday. There is always something to look forward too....

Here in the US, kids start school, practically in the middle of August, then we have plenty of fake holidays that no one takes off anyway, since they are so ridiculous until Thanksgiving. December is pretty much shot, but some people work on through...Only a few random Mondays off in the winter and spring, that most people don't take off, and then spring break which is really only for children and college students. A few more random days off and we are into summer. Where some people try to take vacation, but can't cause they only get 2 weeks for the whole year and it's too expensive anyway... Where is the anticipation??

France is calling;)

2010-03-02T14:55:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I wonder why I ever moved back to the US... I mean I love it sometime, but sometimes I miss France. Today I had yet again conflicting messages from France. We are like 2 very passionate lovers, always breaking up and getting back together. I feel like Rhett Butler in 'Gone With the Wind', if France would show my one ounce of love, I would go running back to her arms open. 'Yes, I love you too, I always have!', but no she continues to torture me. My boss needed her airline ticket changed and her assistant was having trouble getting it changed, since it was booked by a travel agent in France and they couldn't find the right number of the only person in the whole country of France that could possibly change this ticket. So looks like the ticket will never get changed because good ol' French administration. Probably was a travel agent strike this week;P
But then my old work called me and said very nice things and wanted to work on a project with me. Pulling me back. I really do miss the weather in Marseille. How do I know if we are meant to be? Should a relationships with countries be so hard? I think that France and I are going to start over. Maybe go on a few dates, try to have a few laugh before I consider getting serious again. I will see this summer;)
I guess is the worst part is that some of the things I thought I would have in the US, didn't work out. No BBQs with my family, who I hardly see now that I practically live in their back yards. All of my friends have better friends, kids who do activities and such. I guess after being out of the state for 10 years people have moved on... You know what they say 'You can never go home again' and it is TRUE.

Hair

2010-02-23T18:35:00.001-08:00

Today, I noticed an aweful lot of people with crazy old style hair. In my baby no-sleep haze, I have blocked out all of this weirdness but today I saw it. 80s feather hair, 90s poofer banges and a really bad perm. This had been right under my nose all of the time. If it were kids it would have been cute but sadly it was the older women in my neighborhood. I wish I could say that this was an American phenomenon, but while French women certainly wear more stylish clothes women of a certain age don't seem to have evolve very much in their hair styles... Why is changing our hair so hard? We do it for ever break-up? I guess I can be guilty too. Total mom hair. I gave myself my last hair cut. Will do better next time though, when I gotten a little more sleep and a little more time. Anyone know a good stylist in MD?

Cakes

2010-02-19T08:45:00.000-08:00

This week was A's birthday. Like the good wife that I always strive to be, I wanted to get him a yummy birthday cake. When we were in France, he craved 'Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream' cakes. Which were, of course, impossible to find in France. Here in the US, all other good cakes are impossible to find. I don't like a lot of cake in my cake -- I prefer yummy mousses, chocolates, fruits etc. Something like a good Opera Cake or a Marzipan cake that is so easy to find in Provence.

Well so we had to settle for a tarte aux fruite. L (my 2 year-old) said 'oo-la-la' upon seeing it.

Missing you French cakes;(

Guy Cadel

2010-02-13T12:11:00.000-08:00

Guy Cadel is the name of my favorite Champagne. Real Champagne, the kind that comes from the Champagne region in France. My favorite is the demi-sec. Brut is good too. So is Rose. Well in short they are all good. In a festive mood, I like Kir Royal, that is Champagne with cassis syrup. What a splendid before dinner drink, Aperos. My father-in-law always seems to have some on hand, just in case a special occasion occurs. I think our visits are special occasion enough. Or maybe he drinks Guy as table wine because he loves it as much as I do, and we only think that it's a special occasion. In France special occasions are everywhere -- 'No strikes this week, time to celebrate', 'It's Friday, time to celebrate', 'Some random Saint day, bring out the bubbly'. I wish Americans could find so many reasons to drink Champagne. If you are in France, the check out Guy Cadel, you won't be sorry.
http://www.champagne-guy-cadel.com/

East Coast Blizzard of 2010.

2010-02-07T06:47:00.000-08:00

The amount of snow that has fallen in the DC area is the most snow that has fallen since people started keeping track of that sort of thing. The estimates in our area are between 2' and 3'. Yesterday morning, we measured a little over 2'. The snow started falling on Friday morning and stopped Saturday afternoon. Today is Sunday and we have yet to see a plow. I think that there must be about a meter of snow on the road. I am not sure where the plow is going to put all of the snow.
Digging out in Laurel MD....

Missing the Marseillaise Winter

2010-02-05T14:45:00.000-08:00

You might find the term 'Marseillaise Winter' laughable if you lived anywhere in Europe north of Lyon and anywhere in the USA north of Georgia... Because you actually know that winter has days below freezing and that you need a coat to go outside. Ahh, if you have never spent the winter in Florida or Marseille, then you don't know how great a winter without coats can be. Where winter is like late-October in the DC area. I sure I only wore my coat twice the 2 years of winter-days spent in the South of France. Two wonderful years of no hat, no gloves, no windshield scrapers. I was actually in the VAR, so I even missed the big snow storm in Marseille last year. It was 50C in Le Beausset. Anyway, if you ever think that the weather outside is 'frightful', head south, where winter is just an extension of Fall turning into Spring.

Taxes in America are a JOKE

2010-01-28T06:46:00.000-08:00

Turns out Americans really don't pay enough taxes... No wonder there is a large national debt. I did my taxes last week. When I did the calculation for how much I pay in taxes, health insurance and other benefits... It was about 25%/30%, the same as what I paid in France. But then I did my taxes and I am getting back almost all of the money I paid in Federal and State taxes (about 15%).... I am certainly not working poor, so why no taxes? How do we pay for government services? Roads, schools, etc. So really I am just paying %10 of my salary for social security, health insurance, etc. Insane! I would rather have good schools, free university, better unemployment benefits and health insurance for poor people. Am I insane?

Americans don't even know what paying taxes means!

Well anyway, I will get getting a new kitchen with my taxes. Next year, I'll put the money in the kid's college fund.

Postcards from the US Capital

2010-01-26T08:07:00.000-08:00

My in-laws recently visited DC, they didn't buy enough post-card for all of their friends. So I made a couple from the pictures that they had taken....

Bricolage

2010-01-19T05:24:00.000-08:00

Some ideas on the kitchen, brought to you by Home Depot and Ikea

SCNF is in Trouble??

2010-01-18T13:37:00.000-08:00

SCNF, the French rail system, is in trouble. Quel Damage. I wonder if there are still proposed plans to create TGV line from Paris to Nice? I know some crazy expats in the Var who will be happy to know that crazy Parisian outsiders won't be flooding their town with tourist. I love to hear with foreigners become protectionist, what an irony. Aren't they invaders too? At least the Parisian are French and have the same right as anyone else to be there....

Apparently the rail system in France is losing money and will get rid of it's least popular routes. Strasbourg to Bordeaux -- CANCELED. Calling MP in Strasbourg, get to Bordeaux before it's too late.
There is a rather nice wine festival in July, but anytime of the year, Bordeaux can be lovely. I particularly like the "new port" or the fancy Harbor area, as I like to call it. In addition to great wine, the Bordelaise are know for many speciality dishes, including many duck dishes and fruit de mer. Please enjoy a bottle or 2 of wine for me.