A week (or two) in review

Well, so much for keeping this blog up to date, boy, time does fly! And I didn't even go anywhere. It's actually fitting that the post to follow my last one "spring has sprung" includes the mention that in fact we did see some snow. I knew it'd come back to haunt me when I said, "for the 1st time in my life I didn't see snow during winter" Well, it was just waiting for spring to arrive, silly me, why would I expect snow in winter?!? Yes, it snowed for one whole day, very tolerable. Unfortunately it was the wet soupy kind so snowballs were not easy to make. The kids' reaction that morning was of course priceless. As I opened the shutters in front, the girls yell "It's snowing", I continue opening shutters, now in the kitchen and dining room. The girls run over looking outside and say "it's snowing in the backyard too!!" This continued for some time as they noticed how it was snowing on the fence, the flowers etc..... Kevin was also excited but thought of a more practical use for it when he said, "Santa could have used this snow on Xmas eve". Yes how true that is. An aside, I've been wondering how many more Christmas's I have with him believing in Santa. He's certainly asking a lot more questions but seems to believe fully, I'm hoping I've got at least one more with all 3 of them believing. It'll be interesting to see how he'll be able to manage to keep that secret to himself and not tell his little sisters, but I digress........

What other exciting events happened?? Well, I went out to a St. Patrick's party which was in a village not too far from here. The community center was decorated as if it was a typical pub in Ireland and that included the no smoking! How wonderful to spend an evening out without the smoke killing my eyes and sinuses! (A no smoking law just went into effect in France the beginning of Feb) Delicious home made Irish Beef Stew was served and for entertainment there was a great band singing Irish/Scottish songs. They were amazing and had many in the crowd fooled into thinking they were in fact Irish but no, they're as French as the Eiffel Tower, they (just) do a fantastic job singing Celtic music. The main organizer of this annual event is an Irish woman who lives in the village. A fellow expat who really knows how to throw an fun Irish party!
On one of the walls was placed the following called "Irish Philosophy" I love it!


In life, there are only two things to worry about,
either you are well, or you are sick.
If you are well, there is nothing to worry about,
but if you are sick, you have two things to worry about;
either you will live, or you will die.
If you live, there is nothing to worry about, if you die, you have two things to worry about;
either you will go to heaven or to hell.
If you go to heaven, there is nothing to worry about,
but if you go to hell,
you'll be so busy shaking hands with your friends,
you won't have time to worry!


And here's yours truly, enjoying the festivities........

Another highlight during these last two weeks was an evening out to eat with my husband, alone.

A peaceful, enjoyable meal where I wasn't cutting up some one's food, it was heaven! Wow, I'm pretty sure this would be a record, two evenings out in one month. The times, they are a changin', thankfully!

Now of course all this wonderful karma would have to come to an end, and it did when we all got hit with some flu/viral thing which left us all coughing, aching, feverish, basically your classic NyQuil commercial. It's amazing how it passes from one right on down, in 2 day intervals, me being the last victim. I'm finally getting my voice back today. The kids were out the whole week of school.

We picked up Kevin's work when school got out this morning. At least he'll have spring break to catch up. It's vacation time here once again.

Which means it's T-4 days until we head to Disneyland. I'm pretty sure they'll have recovered from this latest illness in time to go. That's the only thing I kept thinking last week was at least this flu didn't hit the week we go to Disney. So far the weather is looking good for the two days we'll be there. Sunny and in the 60's. I can handle that! And in order to accurately record this trip, I finally found a new digital camera. I decided on a Canon Powershot and I'm really happy with it. A huge improvement over my old dig camera.

So now I'm off to start writing lists of what to bring and to do while we're at Disneyland. Yet another week that'll go by fast.

Spring has Sprung

These flowers you see here in our backyard have already been in bloom for more than a week. Nothing like some much needed warmth and sunshine to do the trick. Although it's true, winter decided not to show up this year, and the weather has definitely been mild, there's been a lot of rain and gloomy cold days. The kids are not used to it. (this bright, big orange ball in the sky) They walk around the house like Dracula with their arms over their eyes saying the sun it too bright. It's directly in the dining room in the morning so breakfast can be a little tricky as they try to find the perfect spot to eat where the sun is not in their eyes. They've asked for the awning to be put out or the shutters to be lowered but I refuse. We finally have some sun!! Another bonus to this is finally being able to go out in the backyard to play or eat their snack after school as they've done all this week. As there is no extra space here, at this time of year, I always feel like I gain another room in the house, yeah the one outside the house called the backyard!

In other exciting news,(ok yes sunny days are exciting here!) in a very last minute way, we've decided to go to Disneyland Paris over spring break. There was an offer with my husband's company for tickets to Disneyland plus hotel that truly was too good to pass up. There are several promotions going on right now as Disneyland Paris celebrates it's 15 year anniversary. Many of the offers are trying to attract customers during the low tourist season in spring. Well, it worked, we'll be there! Let's hope the weather cooperates! When I finished booking the reservations on the phone with Fabio (whose Italian accent was even stronger than my American one) I heard my husband tell the kids they were going to Disneyland and then the screaming and jumping up and down began. Even Fabio heard it and had to laugh. So for 2 days and one night, we'll be there, the Magical World of Disney. I've never been to the one in Paris so it'll be interesting to see how it compares. I'm sure it'll be great.

I'll be happy to take any suggestions, ideas (or "must do's") from anyone who is an expert at this kind of trip. One thing I'm sure of, I think a trip like this requires an update in the digital camera dept. Ours is a nice beginner model but we've outgrown it. For starters, there's not even enough memory for all the pictures I'm sure to be taking. Time to kick it up a notch, kids are only little once.

In other travel news, we booked our trip to Chicago in August. This will be a change, since we've been going in the fall when school wasn't an issue. Now as Kevin is in 1st grade, we don't have the option to go during the school year. I've already got a list going of all the must see/must do stuff for this summer trip. Top on the list would be a baseball game...Cubs of course! Although getting tickets might not be the easiest thing. Gotta start looking into that actually. And then there are the museums, they all love dinosaurs, the zoo, the lakefront. It'll be wonderful to get back, visit with family and friends and see Chicago in the summer.

This weekend is Carnaval here in town, and Kevin's grade school is coordinating the parade. They'll be dressing up as Knights. Weather looks like it'll be decent so it should be a fun afternoon.

And finally, is it a coincidence that just as I start a blog, my keyboard decides to get all goofy and will out of nowhere stop functioning? I can be in the middle of an email, post, whatever typing away and then in the next instant, poof! the keyboard won't work. I had this post almost finished yesterday when it happened. The only thing that works is to restart the computer. Well I was too tired and just turned off the computer instead. This never happened before. Jeez, nice way to give me a complex! I'm thinking as my computer is about as old as a dinosaur, a change is needed in that department as well, but that'll have to wait.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!!

International Women's Day

To women everywhere, "Happy International Women's Day!" Didn't know such a day existed? (Ok, maybe it's just me that wasn't up on this international celebration of women) Well, apparently March 8th is the day to celebrate women's accomplishments around the globe.
Read this to learn more. It was front page news here in our local paper, but unfortunately it has not yet been adopted as a legal holiday or jour ferié, (as they say here) but there is always hope! :)

In honor of this day dedicated to women everywhere, here's a little quiz to find out what European city you belong in. (Alright, I'm not sure if this quiz really honors women but it has an international theme and was fun to take!) I belong in Dublin, the description of which is shown below. It's a very accurate description of me but as for going wild on a pub crawl.....well?? maybe in my younger days and even then, I'm not so sure! (Lynn, you remember those days, was I wild??) Of course a pub crawl sounds a lot better these days now that they're smoke free in Dublin. We'll have to wait until 2008 for the bars here in France to be smoke free. I would say the bike ride is a little more my speed.

I've never been to Dublin but would love to go one day. Go ahead, take the quiz to see where you belong!

And finally to all the great women in history who struggled to make our lives easier today, MERCI BEAUCOUP!! As the saying goes......"You've come a long way baby"

You Belong in Dublin

Friendly and down to earth, you want to enjoy Europe without snobbery or pretensions. You're the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl... or enjoy a quiet bike ride through the old part of town.

What European City Do You Belong In?

Dreams do come true!

Five years ago this evening I found out I was having twins. It's a moment in time I'll never forget. I'll never forget the look on my husband's face as the doctor said, not even 20 seconds into the ultrasound, "I think I see two" I thought my husband's eyes would pop out. It was priceless! He was standing behind the doctor and so had a perfect view of the monitor. When he tells this story he likes to say he actually saw the two blinking dots (the babies' hearts) before the doctor said anything and said to himself, "I must be seeing double or else we're having twins". My reaction to this announcement was "No, that's not true!" Then I proceeded to pick up my head and turn slightly since the monitor was behind me and sure enough there were two beating hearts. It was an amazing sight to see to say the least. And then as I laid my head down again, I remember thinking, "I knew it". I was completely shocked and surprised and at the same time I was not surprised. It was a strange feeling. In fact two weeks prior to my appointment I had had a dream that I was having twins.
I immediately dismissed it since there was no reason to believe that. No twins in our families, no other reason to give me such an idea, I had never thought of having twins or wished it. On the way to the appt. I remember joking in the car saying to my husband, "don't forget I had a dream it was twins" To which he replied, "yeah let's just keep it that way". But I really didn't believe it until I saw the proof on the screen. The doc also said during the first ultrasound that he was almost sure it was identical twins even though it was still very early. That was confirmed at the second ultrasound when he was able to see for sure that in fact there was only one placenta.
The rest of the evening we were in a sort of fog, a state of shock. I was half laughing, or half a nervous wreck thinking about it. As we drove home in our car we realized we would need a bigger one, 3 car seats would not fit in the back seat. (big bro Kevin was 18mos old at the time)
The first person we told was Grandma who was at our house babysitting. It was so funny to see her reaction, she kept saying "really?" and then looking at my stomach. I wasn't showing yet and I guess she wanted some tangible proof which wasn't there. She must have looked at my tummy 20 times. Then began the phone calls to my family. There was much excitement and some speechless moments, they were so stunned. The rest of the evening was spent with my mind racing. I'm not sure how many times I found myself misplacing something because I was so spacey. I remember putting a box of crackers in the fridge and I caught myself putting the milk on the shelf in the kitchen cabinet.
Another classic reaction was Pascal's friend Claude who upon hearing the news collapsed onto the couch in a fit of laughter. He couldn't stop laughing! We were over visiting to see their newborn baby girl. She's their 3rd child and I'm sure he was loving the fact that his best friend would soon be in the same spot!
And when we went over to see Laura's future godmother, as we walked in she said to us: "how are the 3 of you doing?" Pascal immediately answered, "you mean the 5 of us" and she came back right away with "twins?". I was impressed she figured it out so quickly, since she didn't even know I was pregnant.
It was the beginning of a new, amazing adventure. I had a lot of moments of wondering if we'd be able to handle it, how we would manage but it has (besides the double crying) truly been a dream come true! Some of the best things in life are of the unexpected variety.

In the picture above, the girls are holding dolls they received as gifts. I love these dolls because they are the exact same size the girls were when they were born. (7 weeks early) I discovered this completely by accident. One day while holding one of the dolls I put my hand on it's head and realized it was the same size as the babies' heads when they were newborn. To make sure I wasn't imagining this I actually took a tape measure and measured the head and then the length of the doll and sure enough the measurements matched perfectly with the girls at birth. They were so tiny!!

We've come along way in five years!

But I digress..

Random thoughts that have been wandering around in my brain lately: Why can't they (they being the powers that be) keep the American shows here in English or at least have the option to switch the program to VO like they do with many of the movie channels? Now of course the obvious answer to this would be "duh you're in France, hello!!!" Of course I know it needs to be in french but really they could give one the option couldn't they? Case in point....I'm watching the E! channel here the other night during one of our long bouts of stomach flu and they're replaying the Oscars. I'm listening to the french broadcasters translate their American counterparts while at the same time I'm able to hear just enough of the English. Result? My brain is so confused, I don't understand anything! It's like there's a battle going on inside my brain: "listen to the English, non listen to the french!, no no, listen to the English!" I finally give up and don't really hear anything and just look at the stars and gowns etc. It's just I'd really like to hear the stars speak in their native language! I know on the E! channel sometimes there are some shows that are only in English, I think "Fashion Police" is one. I don't really watch it too much so I can't say for sure. Just seems to me as a matter of principle, when it comes to the Oscars, one should be able to watch it in English.

I've come to believe the cartoons are in fact educational! Really! OK for language purposes only. We have the Carton Network and the kids love watching Looney Tunes. They're usually (unlike the Oscars!) in English so my kids can hear English on TV and learn some common expressions that they otherwise might not hear. And it's more than "What's up Doc?"
There's also Scooby Doo which my son really likes. I often wonder if french kids here would sit through a cartoon without understanding what's going on since it's in a foreign language? Scooby Doo especially since there is so much talking.
I don't think my kids would do it if they didn't understand. I'm also happy to watch them once in awhile. They're timeless classics!

We were watching a soccer game last night between Lyon and St. Etienne. As is fairly common here during soccer games the fans can become quite rowdy and really can add a whole other dimension to what should just be just a fun time. Well last night's game was no exception. Fans (or a fan) starting lobbing tear gas at the opposing team's fan area. It was thrown over to one area, where it was lobbed back. The wind took the gas out into the field where the players immediately started running off, covering the faces with their jerseys. There was at least a 15 minute delay in the game. It was amazing to watch. I was stunned! I kept saying "tear gas? WTH? Tear gas?!? Who are the lunatics who think it would be fun to throw tear gas around at a soccer game? First of all how are they able to get into the stadium with this stuff? Then I couldn't believe they wouldn't suspend the game right there and then and have the home team take a loss. Granted it's not the players' fault but that's probably the only thing that might make a difference. I guess an investigation is underway and they've found at least one person who was involved. Big deal. Maybe some fines for the home team? What difference will that make? I really have no desire to go see a match anytime soon. On a normal day, it's usually just bond fires roaring in the designated fan area. No one even takes notice although it's not authorized. Is there anyone watching the game while all of this is going on? Unbelievable!

Mount Vesuvius update....we're currently at 3 out of 5 (and I'm not talking about dentists who recommend....) no 3 who have been hit by the dreaded stomach flu here. Colleen and I are the last to remain standing. But for how long? Who is next? It's not a question of if but when.
Its been a long, sleepless 5 days here....