Who moved my cheese?

So, the 'household goods' have finally arrived from France and the unpacking commences.

First I am forced to comment that homes in Southern California do not have basements. Let that sink in a second...

So imagine, all of my Midwest friends, that your basement suddenly disappeared and you had to re-distribute everything that is currently down there. Are you getting a picture in your mind...

Secondly, the household goods had to have been packed by men. Yes, most of the kitchen items were packed together, but would it have killed them to say, pack one whole set of 12 glasses into only one box. No instead I open a box to find it filled with plastic containers, 5 glasses, assorted dishtowels and 3 plates. Another box contained 3 more glasses, pots and pans and a few bowls. Yet another 1 glass, the lid to one of the pans and most, but not all, of the silverware.

Now you know that that's now how my kitchen is set up. My kitchen is highly organized. Things weren't stored in different places. What did these guys do, just wander aimlessly around the kitchen and snatch things up will nilly? All of the boxes market 'cuisine' are empty and I'm still shy two plates of my good china, three glasses of the above mentioned set, the lid to my big frying pan, several coffee mugs and more. Tomorrow I'll start opening the boxes marked 'bureau' and I'm sure I'll find the missing dishes among my scrapbooking supplies.

The good news is that I finished my Christmas shopping, the bad news is that I can't find any of the stuff I bought among the towers of boxes...

Don't worry kids, I should finish unpacking by Christmas and I'll get stuff right out to you.

More later....

"What are the three terrors of the fire swamp?"

Well, in California they are freeways, fires and of course earthquakes. If one doesn't kill you the others will.

Well, the traffic you get used to. You get used to either avoiding it or you find a constructive way to pass the time while you commute. I've seen many a commuter reading the paper or chatting on the phone. One very busy and enterprising man was reading the Wall Street Journal, that was resting on his steering wheel, while chatting on his Blue Tooth and tapping away at his lap top (with an amazingly dexterous right hand), that was precariously perched in the passengers seat, all while sipping his Starbucks. Now that's what I call multi-tasking.

This weekend we sort of experienced fire. Waking early on Sunday to the smell of smoke from the Moorpark fire several miles away. You couldn't be outside for too long for the smell, and anything or anyone foolish enough to spend too much time outdoors soon developed sore burning eyes and was soon covered in bits of black ash. The sky stayed a creepy darkeling orange most of the day and we could only envy those whose skies looked very blue to the north.

As for earthquakes, well we wait, like all Californians for the fabled big one. Anything short of that you'll find most of us will just sleep through.

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Shower, shmower. With a kitchen sink this size who needs a tub.




Hi friends! I'm doing great!




I know it's in here somewhere.....

"Helloooo....hello.....llo....oooo"




OJ anyone?


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Well, no furniture yet, but maybe next week. I have a new gas efficient car. S is driving my beloved beast the short distance to work and back. My Honda will get me back and forth to San Diego to see the girls and kids more economically, but not as happily.

The other day I went to Target to get some items for the house and when I got out to the parking lot I had a hell of time trying to pack everything into the car. It was a close thing, but the other choice would have been to go back into the madness in the store and return some items. So I crammed everything in. It helps to come from a long line of pack rats. But it was a rude awaking to the capabilities of my new car. I love my new car, but I hate it.

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Ummmm, I have to buy actual gifts for the nieces and nephews this year AND wrap them. I cannot use the excuse of living in France to send out the easy gift cards, the little guys want actual boxes with paper and fun things inside..... I hate shopping..... I hate the holidays..... I really hate malls this time of year..... Enough whining?

Amazing feats of prestidigitation!

Ok, so we didn't go with the bungalow or the yellow house. On the third day we found a totally cool house that we really liked. Now in the two previous posts, as you may have noticed, the words 'bungalow' and 'yellow house' were links to the listing information for those houses. Actually the links may not work anymore if the houses have been sold. So it is with the house we bought. I wanted to link to the listing page because it had 7 or 8 great photos of the house, but since the house is off the market it is also off of the listing pages. Unfortunately we only took a couple of pictures of the house ourselves.

Below you will see a picture of the family room and the kitchen. What can I say about it, wood or stone floors throughout, crown molding in all the rooms. All new windows and French doors leading out to the patio from the family room. Fireplace, granite counter tops in the kitchen. 4 bedrooms 2 bathrooms. Good sized yard with landscaping and a fountain.

We asked for a thirty day escrow and all seems to be on track for a closing on November 20th. S will be home from France on the 12th and we will be checking into a Residence Inn for a week and a half until we can move in. S will start his new job on the 13th of November. We will have little by way of furnishings until the household goods arrive from France sometime around Christmas, but we'll have a bed for us and a Pac-N-Play for Aidy and a few dishes. We'll have to buy a fridge, but the washer and dryer were shipped from Illinois so we will be able to get by until the rest arrives. The house is in Camarillo and I'll forward the address to you all as soon as we close.




In the meantime Aidy and I are in SD with family and our lives have been busy with catching up with people and everyone wanting to get their first glimpses of Aidy. For Aidy's part he is really enjoying his cousins Nick and Michael, they're like the older brothers he never had. (Except of course for his biggest of all brothers, Matt, whom he misses A LOT!) They rough house with him and let him play with their toys. He loves seeing their smiling faces in the morning and will immediately look around for them when he hears their voices. They both have him in stitches regularly and work hard to outdo each other in hilarious antics to earn Aidy's giggles.

The other night we were invited to Ardo and KM's for dinner. Ardo fixed us a fabo dinner with a 'to die for' cream sauce, I must get the recipe. Aidy was introduced to Sabby the giant cat. Sabby weighs nearly as much as Aidy and is the most unbelievably patient cat I've ever seen. Aidy was fully laying on the cat and had both hands firmly dug into the cats fur and Sabby just sat there and took it and purred away. It was amazing. I was afraid Aidy was going to get himself mauled, but Ardo sat by and assured me that Sabby wouldn't hurt him and he was right, Sabby was a real trooper. Belle, who is not pictured, on the other hand saw one little pudgy hand drift her way and she ran for it.




We did dinner one night with Z and her man Rich and their combined brood of 6 kids. Aidy, as the newest of the cousins was the center of attention. He was a bit overwhelmed at first by all the attention, but he was soon in the middle of the chaos and loving it. He has started full on crawling and is anxious to be on his feet and chasing after all of the kids, especially when they run up the stairs.

How many square feet in an acre?

Okay, so today we saw a gorgeous 1955 bungalow. The bungalow is smaller than the yellow house and the price per square foot is way higher, but the house has such great character. I fell in love with it on site. Oh boy is this going to be tough. Yeah we saw like 9 other houses too, and one other sort of stood out, but the 'yellow house' and the 'bungalow' are at the top of our list. Tomorrow we'll see more houses in Oxnard. I'm getting tired and they are all starting to blend together. It's weird to be looking at peoples houses while they're still living there. I mean, people whose homes are for sale should know to expect, you know, people to be looking through the house. So this basically means don't leave your dirty clothes lying on the bathroom floor. Perhaps do something about that bad, bad cat smell. Definitely clean the kitchen. Oh, and worst of all are those people who watch the house flipping shows and decide that they can do it too, except that they have no taste or attention to detail. And now some photos.

We're moving to California? WooooHooooo!!!!!

Aidy and his new favorite toy.

Aidy and his cousins. No.. you're kidding, these boys are related?!

Could this boy be any cuter?

Mystery at the Radison

Our first night in SD S was up at 3 am. Typical jet-lag adjustment. So he got up to do some work and then at 5 am he decided to take a drive around SD County. On his way out the door he nearly bowls over/is nearly bowled over by a man carrying a rather large flat panel TV.

S thinks this is slightly odd and a bit suspicious, and proceeds on his way. Later that morning when we go over to the hotel restaurant for breakfast, we see that the police are there dusting for fingerprints. Yeah, you guessed it, a very large flat panel had been stolen from the restaurant.

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We started our house hunting this afternoon. The morning was devoted to a tour of the area where everyone did their best to convince us that we didn't want to live in Oxnard. We toured neighborhoods in Camarillo, Oakbrook, Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village and west Simi Valley all of which have Blue Ribbon schools and great shopping. Yes, basically it was major information overload.

In the afternoon we looked at 9 houses in Oxnard; 2 of them were scary beyond all reason, 2 were not bad and then we saw the the yellow house. The yellow house tops our list thus far, the best stuff about the house isn't in the photos. Tomorrow we look at 11 houses in Camarillo and then on Wednesday we look in Thousand Oaks

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I miss my babies, one in Illinois and one with his grandmother in SD. I have some fine photos of Aidy and his cousins that I will post just as soon as I find my PCMCIA card adapter so I can download them to the Precious and upload them to my blog.

TTFN

...and then you found $20?...

You know those times when someone is mean to you and you just can't think of how to respond or what to say or do, but then hours or days later the perfect comeback comes to you. Don't you just hate that.

The other day I parked at the mall and because I have such a big rig, I pulled through from one space to the one ahead so that it would be easier to drive out when I left.

When I left the mall and pulled out of the space to drive away, I was, of course, then driving down the parking aisle the wrong way. I hadn't gone very far (and it wasn't far to the end of the aisle - maybe 4 cars length.) when faced with an oncoming car. The young woman driving the car had steered it right down the center of the aisle and she was not going to let me by. All she had to do was back up a half a car length back into the cross aisle to let me out. She mouthed to me 'You're going the wrong way'. Yes, but she was closer to the end of the aisle than I was so I smiled sweetly and waved for her to back up. She shook her head no and waved for me to back up. Ok, I would have to back up the entire aisle, like 20 cars or more. We exchanged 'waves' again and again she refused. Really not wanting to have a 'Fried Green tomatoes' scenario on my hands, even though I am 'older and have more insurance', I put the car in reverse. I was pissed, but I just couldn't see arguing over it. But still, that sort of confrontation always makes me seethe.

Then a miracle happened. I saw the perfect 'in your face' solution. As I slipped the car in reverse I'm thinking 'This will be fun, backing all the way down the aisle' on the heals of that I think 'I'll just back far enough to get over to one side to get out of her way', on the heals of that 'I probably only have to back as far as the space I left because that's probably what she wants', and then on the heals of that 'Hey, I'll just back into the space I left, she'll have plenty of room then!' Insert mental evil cackling here. I smiled sweetly at the little &#&$&%#&@*itch and backed back into the parking space that she obviously wanted and that I had just vacated and then I very sweetly waved her on down the aisle. The look on her face was priceless even if she did flip me off as she sped past, it was so worth it to trump her. Sometimes there is justice in the world.

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I'm trying to 'midwife' Aidric's arm through his sleeve and he's not being the least bit helpful. I thought that he'd be more cooperative in the dressing department as he got older, but instead he really seems to resist the procedure. When he was a baby, trying to put those long sleeved onesies on him was not fun, but now that he actively resists the process it's worse. Being a winter baby you'd think he'd remember the long sleeves, but he seems to be completely baffled. He stares at the sleeves and then pulls his little fist back in so that the sleeve flops over, the flopping sleeve-end makes him giggle and it makes the struggle worth while.

On the moving front, the Sycamore house is finally finished and ready for sale and we're off to California for house hunting on the 13th of October. We'll have one week to find the perfect home. That should be plenty of time right?

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It seems that the corn and soybean fields have turned brown over night and fall is definitely in the air. The leaves of the maple tree in front of the Sycamore house are turning yellow and red at the edges and the pear tree in the back is so heavy with fruit it is actually losing branches. The air smells cooler, even on the warmer days.

So of course this is the time of year when a visit to the local orchard is absolutely required. Something about that smell in the fall air just screams apple orchard. So the day before S headed back to France we visited Edwards Orchard in Poplar Grove. Aidric is too young for apple picking or eating caramel apples (though he did taste a little caramel and loved it.) or apple donuts but we thought he was old enough for the petting zoo part. He seemed to enjoy watching daddy feed the goats. He giggled at them, but in a sort of high pitched nervous way, and then he was very quickly done enjoying that adventure. We'll try again next year.



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Aidric has been enjoying spending time with his sister and new brother. With S still in France Matt is trying to make sure that Aidric gets good healthy doses of guy time.







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Aidric has a new front facing car seat on account of his being too long to continue sitting in the rear facing seat. He loves looking forward and being able to see the world. He also can share his seat with his best pal, a gift from his sister.

More Photos

A quick peak at some photos

All Dressed up and...What a gorgeos little kid in his tux.





Ava Lynn, the flower girl, is she adorable or what!





Ummm, can I get out of this monkey suite...please!





Aidric at his baptism, the day after the wedding. "Yeah, another tux, this one white. Am I stylish or what!"





Jess and her bridesmaids. Didn't all of my girls grow up to be absolute beauties.

The eagle has landed

So I'm wandering through the grocery store, just picking up a few essentials, you know, checking stuff off of my list when I suddenly see the Gray's Cream Soda. Put a 4 pack into the cart. Ooh, cottage cheese with pineapple, Oh, and a chocolate milk Chug, Oh, Pop Tarts, chocolate donuts, creamed corn, apple butter, Kraft singles! Intervention!!!!!!

King Bed?! Cool! So where are you guys going to sleep?

Aidric approves of his new brother, Matt. He's ok even if he is a Packer's fan.

"Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes."

"Why can't we get all the people together in the world that we really like and then just stay together? I guess that wouldn't work. Someone would leave. Someone always leaves. Then we would have to say good-bye. I hate good-byes. I know what I need. I need more hellos." -- Snoopy

"Don't be dismayed at goodbyes, a farewell is necessary before you can meet again and meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends." -- Richard Bach


Dinner at Mags last night with Eliane and Daniel too. All my favorites were served, foie gras, champagne and Mags got Marie from the Killarny to do a take out order of her famous whiskey chicken and potatoes. What a meal. We all had a great time and nobody cried, well, almost nobody cried. I'm going to miss those two wacky women. They have both offered to have S over when he comes back for home cooked meals. They picture him eating out at McDonald's every night, they don't know him very well do they?

Have paid for a 1/2 page ad in the AIT newsletter for next month. I've listed all the items we will be selling. Hopefully we'll get rid of all the stuff and put a tiny bit of green back in our pockets. It looks good so far as some items have already been spoken for. The list isn't long but it includes my car which has still not been sold. I really wanted to get it sold before I left, but what can you do.

We're off in the morning first thing and will hit the windy city by 3:30 tomorrow afternoon local time.

So see you all on the flip side.

Hmm

Do the shuttle astronauts get frequent flier miles?

Hot, Hot, Hot

It's so hot, so bloody hot! Did you know that fans don't cool the air, no really, they just move the hot air around. Pointless. When I return to the states I vow to find the shrine, cause surely there must be one, to the goddess of air conditioning. And I will leave her a massive offering of ice cubes in a fine crystal bowl, (The good thing about the goddess of air conditioning is that she eschews blood offerings.) in atonement for my taking her so for granted. Never again will I complain about the air conditioning being too cold, there's no such thing. This heat makes for cranky babies and cranky mommies (even 'The Precious' is being a little temperamental). Will have to put Jr. in the car and just drive around with the A/C cranked. One thing to be grateful for is that my car has a FABULOUS air conditioner.

Why even the wildlife is cranky. Just now I saw a large lizard savagely pick up its baby and carry it away...you know like a mommy dog picks her puppy up in her mouth and carries it away...wait, you don't think that that big lizard...lizards aren't carnivores are they? Ok, now I'm just depressed.

You've been Gilmored

You know what's sort of sad and sort of funny. I watch 'The Gilmore Girls' so much and also I play it so often just for background noise, that when the theme song comes on Aidric immediately turns toward the sound and starts smiling. When he sees Rory on the screen he gets completely sucked in and he gets a goofy grin on his face. He probably thinks that Rory is somehow related to him. On the bright side his real sister bears a strong resemblance to Rory so when he sees J she'll look familiar.

Typical!

So yesterday afternoon who should show up but the landlord. Yes, M. Babec and the painter/plasterer/wallpaper guy ring the bell to inform me that work on the house will begin today and is that alright with me.

Well, I know he received our letter that said we would be gone from the 20th of July until the 28th of August. I know he got it because I sent it 'recommandé avec avis de réception' and the receipt has arrived here already. Soooo...they're going to start the work when we are only going to be in town for a few more days. Let's just complicate my life shall we.

He's starting the work on Thursday, but will not work Friday because it's a holiday. Why bother, why are they doing this? Just to annoy me? Just to see how much stress I can take? In addition, could we, this weekend, move everything out of the baby's room because he'll work in their on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday doing the plastering, painting and wall-papering. Sure, cause I've got nothing better to do.

And the real kicker, they want to work in the house while we're gone...so if they're going to do that couldn't they just wait until we leave to start the work, they've waited almost a year to start the work, is one more week going to kill them.

Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wait, the really good part is that they want me to pick the wallpaper and paint colors! Why!??!! Like I care at this point what goes in there, I won't be back, except maybe to oversee the movers in September!

All I can say is ... Typical!

On coolness

It's summer and school is out. Aidric and I are sitting out on the back porch today, just enjoying the cool breeze that is miraculously blowing. With temperatures being what they've been of late, today's surprise clouds and the coolness they brought with, are a treat indeed. We are not alone in enjoying the day, there are four boys from a nearby house out here, they must be visiting their grandparents for a part of the summer.

Three of the boys have longish dark curly hair and the fourth has short cropped blond hair. I'd say that three of them are junior high age, just judging from their 'Too cool for school' disdain of the younger ones apparent fascination with bugs (or some other living creature - I'm too far away to see what he's pointing at and really, I don't want to know what he's found). They are wandering listlessly around the orchard and halfheartedly tossing a ball back and forth as they explore. You just know that grandma told them to get out of the house and out of her hair just by the set of their hunched shoulders. They reek of that old summer malaise 'We're bored' with a hint of 'We've got nothing to do' around the eyes.

Aidric however cannot seem to take his eyes off of them. Either he's fascinated by just having someone else besides mom around to look at or he's taking notes of how to behave when he's that age.

Well, the countdown continues, only a little over a week left, and I'm just trying to soak in some last bits of France.

Now that's progress!

So last night I was waiting for the uproar to begin, and when by 23:00 there was no uproar I assumed that France had not won the game. Then unable to stand it any longer I got up and turned 'The Precious' on to surf the web for scores. Well, the game wasn't last night, it's tonight, so I'll be battening down the hatches tonight. Too bad I can't watch the game on TV (she says sarcastically - as if I needed to clarify that for you.)

In other news, Aidric is turning over. I put him on the floor and first of all he squirms all over the place so he sometimes ends up under the coffee table, but today he flipped himself over onto his belly. After a while when he didn't like that position any longer he began to yell for help, he didn't seem to be able to flip himself back over so I helped him. So after a few practice flips he is able to flip himself onto his belly and then back onto his back. Of course you realize that that means he can now 'roll'. So I'm not sure I can be happy with this new development. If I don't keep a close eye on him he'll be rolling down the hall before I know it. Now that's progress?

That's all I've got for now, packing, washing and sorting continues and S is conveniently out of town this week. No really, it's a good thing. Less than two weeks and counting. Well, I have to go now, the kid is literally under foot.

Say it isn't so Jan, say it isn't so!

What in the name of Pete is going on?! Without Ulrich who will we cheer for? What's the point of starting the race without the favorites? Idiots!! All of them!

'Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened'Dr. Seuss

I find it highly amusing that men feel a compulsion to look under the hood of a car. These are really smart men who know lots of cool and brain busting stuff, but who know nothing of the workings of the internal combustion engine. Yet they feel a need to play 'the man' and look under the hood of a car. It's an insecurity of sorts isn't it?

(Not my man, he single handedly rebuilt an entire truck from scratch in his basement.)

I speak of other men. The men, for instance, who came to look at my car on Monday to see if it was worthy of purchase. They drove it around the block and then when they came back they popped the hood and stood there first staring and then reaching in and jiggling hoses and tapping things. I tried not to laugh but it wasn't easy.

Have you EVER seen a woman, oh I don't know...what...Oh, have you ever seen a woman go into a clothing store and examine the seams or examine the zippers to see if they were appropriately 'installed'? I mean, of course, women who don't sew. Or look at the box of frozen pizza and muse out loud as to how it was assembled and pre-cooked and whether it was properly seasoned and if the crust was over handled? Women do not feel compelled to feign knowledge of these things. And incidentally, by their not feigning this knowledge don't we assume they just have it, just by virtue of their being women?

So maybe if men didn't look under the hood we would automatically assume that they know what's under there and that nothing in the test drive made them doubt the 'sea worthiness' of the vehicles engine?

Well, at least the guys that came to look at my car didn't actually kick the tires, because that would have ended it all for me and it would have taken me several minutes to compose myself.

Oh, yeah, I'm selling my beloved Mercedes. I placed an ad on the AIT website forum on Sunday and had three responses by Monday. Plus there is someone at S's office who is also interested in buying it. So between them we'll hopefully have a buyer.

The selling of the car means that I'm really leaving. Really leaving and sooner than first thought. We had originally bought our tickets for the 27th of July, but changed them last week for the 20th of July. The fact that I have less than a month left is starting to sink in. Aidric has spent a couple of bewildering days with me setting him on the floor of one room or an other as I drag out suitcases and make piles of what to take, what to get rid of and things I'll take if I have room. This is tough because whatever I bring will have to sustain the two of us until sometime in November, I think. Everything else will be left here for the movers to pack in September sometime and we will not see it again until it is unpacked, when the shipment arrives at our final destination.

So the goodbye-ing begins and I'm sort of sad. I'll miss this house (sans creatures) and I'll miss our little town. The trolley looks like it might actually come in, the new downtown market square is almost finished, the new Picard store has just opened and they are finally resurfacing the main road to my favorite grocery store. And I read in my Newsweek magazine that Toulouse will be competing with Paris for the 2016 Olympics. Wouldn't that have been cool?

I spent the day shopping and walking with Mags and Paula today. This was probably the last time I'll ever see Paula, and even maybe Mags, as she's very hard to get a hold of these days. We had lunch at Place St. George at a little tea place that has the best chocolate cake you've ever tasted and lunch was a salad with scones of sun dried tomato and mozzarella. It was a quintessential French lunch experience and I savored every second of it. The days are moving too fast now and I'll miss the city with all its insanity. I learned how to park like the French and today I got a little too creative with my parking and I got a ticket. I guess there's a first for everything and maybe the ticket is just to make sure my Toulouse experience was well rounded.

That's all I've got today, just a huge mixed bag of emotions.

La Vie En Rose

This week Newsweek's cover story is "The World's 10 Hottest Cities" Below is the part of the article about Toulouse.



'It's Airbusville'

France's dynamo is a pink-brick city with a 17th-century feel, but its dynamism is powered by jets. Call it the Airbus effect. The industrial revolution had all but bypassed Toulouse when local engineer Clément Ader got a flying machine off the ground in 1890 (13 years before the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk). From that bouncy start emerged Europe's aerospace capital. Airbus accounts for a quarter of industrial employment in the department of Haute Garonne, of which Toulouse is the capital. Each Airbus job generates two more in related companies, making Toulouse a leading multinational company town, alongside the likes of Nagoya (home of Toyota) and Bentonville (Wal-Mart).



That's great when the multinational is flying high. Record Airbus sales in 2005 meant boom times. The Toulouse suburb where Airbus HQ is located, Blagnac, now has "a head of state visiting every trimester," marvels mayor (and Airbus alum) Bernard Keller, over the din of construction. Toulouse's own suburbs are growing even faster than the center. "Airbus used to build two planes a month. Now it's 35!" enthuses Claude Terrazzoni, head of the chamber of commerce, rattling off companies—Honeywell, Goodrich—that have set up to serve Airbus.



Some efforts have been made to diversify, for example by creating a European hub for cancer research, and wisely so. Now that Airbus has come up against uncertainty, as production troubles delay its new A380 superjumbo, Toulouse's vulnerability may be exposed. "It's Airbusville!" says Philippe Hugon, author of a history of Toulouse and chief editor of the local monthly Toulouse Mag. "A problem with Toulouse is its mono-industry." And that's an industry all too familiar with bumpy rides. —Tracy McNicoll

Newsweek International July 3/July 10, 2006

Mélange

I've neglected posting for quite some time and in that time have mentally lined out stories. If I wait to properly flesh them out, they'll never get posted. So here you find the basic gist of what has been going on here. These stories and events are in no chronological order, rather they are in the order I happen to remember I wanted to tell you about them.
Animal Kingdom It seems that in addition to our eight legged creepy crawlies, we have now become a must visit destination for other local populations. (Aside from the miniscule spider currently crawling across my screen,) In the past we have had a local cat or two drop by, dogs have found there way into the garage and we've even had a late night visit from a couple of wild boars. (Yes we live in France not Africa) And now the past month has seen visits from either 3 different lizards or the same lizard 3 different times. Yes, in almost 3 years of living here, I have never had a lizard in the house until this last month. The first sighting happened when S and I were in the office. He was working and I was rocking Aidric and reading to him from my current book (not a Stephen King.). I looked up from my book and noticed that there was half a lizard sticking out from behind my bulletin board, the back half of him to be precise, his head and front legs were behind the bulletin board. (Poor guy, he must have been the worlds worst hide and seek player.) I sort of screamed, but didn't because I was holding Aidric and didn't want to frighten him. (Never, until then, had I fully comprehended a 'strangled scream'. Stuff you read in books but you have trouble understanding exactly what it might mean. Now I know what one is.) S started to laugh at me, the sound I made must have been pretty funny. Then he noticed me pointing and doing my fish out of water imitation as I tried to find the words to explain what I was seeing. When I got my voice back I stood up and said with as much dignity as I could muster after my girlish hysterics, 'Please get rid of that.' Then I left the room to change Aidric's diaper. When I returned it was as if the ugly episode had never happened. No sign of the overturned furniture and scattered papers that I expected to find to give witness to the chase that must surely have occurred. Just S sitting on his side of the desk, assuring me that it had been handled. I was gone for only 3 minutes, but ok, if you're sure. The next week while S was in South Africa, I walked into Aidric's room to change him when a dark something caught my eye next to the window. Yep, there it was, another lizard (or the same one, I think it was the same one.) The windows and shutters were closed, and had been for a couple of days and the lights were off. So what I don't want to think about is how long had that thing been traipsing around the house? Where else had it been? How did it get in? All questions best left un-asked and un-answered. I took Aidric to my room and set him on the bed and returned to his room with a broom. The simple plan was to open the windows and shutters slowly so as not to frighten the thing (or myself) then gently shepard it out the window. The lizard was in the corner of the ceiling and two walls and as I gently shooed at it with the broom, it fell to the floor. Of course, because things can never go according to plan. Once more I issued a brief strangled scream, but kept my wits about me. I kept the broom on it in the corner and reached for a small box that just happened to be lying at arms reach. Now, when S removed his lizard he said he just lay a piece of paper in front of it and the obliging little creature climbed on and S was then able to dump it out of the window. So he says, but it sounded a bit too easy (not to mention far fetched) to me, but I was hoping for an equally equanimous specimen. I set the box on one side of him and brushed with the broom on the other side, in the hope that it would cotton on quickly and get into the box. The little monster moved quickly toward the box and just as he reached the edge of it he turned and headed back toward the corner. I tried the gentle sweeping toward the box over and over, but with the same results, lizard gets tantalizingly close to the edge of the box and then turns back to the corner. Once in a while, just to spice things up, he made a move to climb back up the wall. These attempts were quickly dealt with with downward sweeps of the broom. Hours of this back and forth dance, (Ok it only seemed like hours, it was probably minutes...Ok, one very long minute.) and the stupid lizard refused to get in the box. Just about at my wits end, I raise the hand holding the box to brush at some hair that has strayed into my face and I notice that I've been holding the box with the opening toward the floor (Doh!). I flip the box over and set it in front of the lizard who obligingly gets right in, after shooting me a meaningful 'duh' look. I dump him out the window and the adventure ends safely for both of us. TWO DAYS LATER, I get out of the shower to find that the stupid lizard has come in the open bathroom window. I wave a towel at it and it scoots right out, I'm sure he just left right away to avoid me embarrassing myself again. Perhaps he's gotten the message now that he's not welcome...she says hopefully. And no I did not get pictures, when your life is in danger the last thing you think of is picking up a camera and documenting the event! On Sunday, Father's Day, we had a bird in the house, don't ask. And today a huge, beautiful pheasant in the back yard. We're thinking of charging admission.
The men in their Sunday-go-to-meetin' clothes
Daggers We have been lucky in that M.co has been good with the support services with this move. France requires that people living and working in France who are not French jump through an ever changing array of hoops in order to stay in this goofy country. So, from the beginning we have been required to apply for and carry work (for S) and residents visas. Our first such visas were good for 6 months and there after have been renewed for only 3 months at a time. This means that at any given time we are somewhere along the application process. With Aidric, however, the paperwork is a bit different. First of all, contrary to popular belief, he is not a French citizen. The law changed a year or two before his birth, in an attempt by the French to stem the tide of incoming undesirables. The law used to allow that a foreign child born in France was automatically a French citizen and that that child had the right to have his immediate family live with him in France. You can see how that system could be abused. So now a foreign child born in France has no such rights or automatic citizenship. In order for Aidric to claim his French citizenship he has to live in the country for 5 years (I think)consecutively before he turns 16. However, in order to be allowed to stay in the country, and/or travel in and out of it, instead of a visa he must have a card that identifies him as a French born foreigner. So this time instead of the usual dealing with the immigration company and picking up our visas at the local Mairie, we actually had to present ourselves and the baby at the Prefecture in Toulouse. Having never been to an American immigration office I cannot compare it to that, but let me compare it to your local DMV office on a really bad day. People begin lining up at 8:30 for the office opening at 9:00. There is a room with about 100 chairs that fill up quickly and everyone else lines up outside the door. As you come in the front door you can take a number and either sit in an empty chair (fat chance of finding one) or stand against the walls and wait for your number to be called. Add to this the problem of some of our French friends having alternative hygiene practices and on top of that some warm late spring temperatures and you'll have a good idea of what we're dealing with. On the day we were to file the paperwork we agreed to meet the immigration company representative, a very nice grand motherly French woman, at 10 am at the prefecture. We arrive to a find her waiting for us by the main reception desk and the line for the immigration services office is already stretching down the hall. She tells us that she has spoken to someone and that they will come and get us when it's time. We actually have an appointment for this. I wonder what sorts of strings must be pulled to get an appointment. After waiting for about 15 minutes a young woman comes to get us. She leads us past the long line, around the side of the office and in through a back door. A back door door that actually brings us in to the front of the line in front of, and in plain view of, the multitude of waiting humanity. Chairs are brought and we all sit at this woman's desk where she and S and the consultant begin to sort through all of the paperwork. I am only there because Aidric has to be there and once it is established that he does indeed exist we become superfluous to the process. The sounds of a few screaming, cranky kids wakes Aidric and he begins to cry. I pick him up and look around for the source of the noise when I notice the stares, no make that dagger like glares of those who are waiting. The thing I notice is that by and large the majority of those staring at us are of North African or Middle Eastern descent. Are you getting a clear picture of how the situation must have looked? You have no idea how awful I felt at that point, imagining what they are seeing and thinking. S and the consultant were completely oblivious to this and I for my part tried not to look around too much after that.
Drool Aidric is cutting some teeth. The process really began when he was about 3 months old; right around the time my mom was here. It was just a little drooling and crankiness then. Now, however, it is major drooling and major crankiness. Drooling to the point that the front of his shirt is saturated most of the day requiring him to wear a bib to protect his clothes. So much drool that when I hold him I'm covered in slime. Between the drooling and the heat the kid must be constantly dehydrated. I'm going to have to make sure he gets plenty of water to compensate...wait, will that just make more drool?
A380 The Airbus A380, I'm guessing, must have a certain number of flight hours put on it before it can start commercial flights. It circles over my house about every 25 to 40 minutes. Its engines make a distinctive sound so I always can tell the difference between it and the hundreds of other planes that pass overhead. Also it flies over very low and slow, you'd think something that big moving that slowly would fall out of the sky. No point here, just an observation.
Ardo& K-M Ardo and Kay-Marie were here for a few days. They came to see us on the tail end of a business trip to Venice. We did some tourist stuff, but mostly just hung out because they wanted to get to know Aidric a bit also because K-M is pregnant and too much activity is exhausting. We visited Carcassonne and did some shopping in town and S dragged us all out to see some rubble. Ardo made a flan for a Mexican dinner I was having the Friday after they left. I sort of made him make it. I'm a mean big sister that way, I made him cook on his holiday, but let me tell you it was a hit. Damn the boy can cook, the flan was cooked to perfection and was a taste treat not to be missed. Even people who have claimed in the past to not like custards, liked it. When I grow up I want to be a chef too.	Aidric and his Uncle Ardo.
Coming Attractions So J is getting married on August 19th and Aidric will be baptized on the 20th. Just an FYI.
The Tour The teams are in the country, we've seen the vans on the highways. Suddenly cyclists are everywhere in their team jerseys, Even people who aren't competing can be seen cycling in team jerseys. One stage of the tour will be finishing in Carcassonne this year. S will be in South Africa at the time. I would go but me and a baby would be too hard in the crowds. However, if one of you all would like to join me then I'd consider going. Hint, hint...

Here's your sign!

When I was pregnant I became a Tums connoisseur. I mean it, everyone and my mother was sending me Tums, I couldn't find them here (more on that later) and the heartburn from month 5 and on was relentless. I was popping Tums like they were candy, and let's face it, they taste like candy.

Now, you all may not know this, but if you go in to your local big-chain-squeeze-out-the-independent-pact-with-Satan pharmacy (read Walgreens here), you'll notice that Tums aren't what they used to be, they come in all sorts of flavors. Assorted mints, fruits, berries and citrus (which seems really stupid). Every time I got a new batch of Tums in the mail, they were a new flavor combo I'd never seen before.

My mom sent me some in a bottle that informed me that the Tums within were Tropical Fruit flavored. So what are we talking? Papaya, Mango and Star Fruit? No, we are actually talking pineapple, some sort of berry and banana. Yes, banana! As if the chalky-ness wasn't bad enough, lets make it also taste like banana! Trust me, I ate every Tums in that bottle that wasn't yellow first and then when my new shippment of Tums didn't arrive in time I was forced to eat the banana flavored ones.

I found myself imagining the board room at GlaxoSmithKline on the day of the fateful 'banana decision'. A room full of football-hero looking guys and one nerd. The football-hero guys never let the nerd participate, they heckle his input and more than one of them has been responsible for the tape between his lenses at one point or other.

On that day stupid jock guy #1 says 'Come on men, we need a new angle, those Pepcid nerds are killing us.'

Jock #2 feeling the pressure to come up with that one brilliant winning idea over reaches and just blurts out 'How about tropical fruit flavors.'

'Brilliant!' enthuses Jock #1 'So what flavors will this new product include?'

Jock #2 visibly pales because he doesn't have any damn clue what 'tropical fruits' are (or even where the tropics are for that matter.) and then he quietly mumbles 'um..Strawberry,...'

The nerd interrupts in his please-don't-hit-me-but-you-know-I'm-right voice with 'Well actually strawberry is not...' but he gets kicked under the table per usual and his statement trails away.

Jock #3 says 'Pineapple'

'Good job men, what else?'

The nerd pipes up in a squeaky please-don't-kick-me-again-it-really-hurts voice 'Banana.'

The room is suddenly pin-drop silent all eyes turn to Jock #1 to see what he'll say, as the guy closest to the nerd prepares to kick him again.

'You know what, that's a good one, I don't think anyone has ever done banana before.'

The nerd glows with pleasure.

Now, all I can think of is that someone should have taken the nerd out long before that fateful day. All the years of abuse, all those years of his brilliant ideas being panned and he wastes his big shot with 'banana'. A lost chance for all nerdom that.

Anyway, I couldn't find the Tums equivalent in France. Well, to be perfectly honest, I didn't really look that hard. And the reason for my reluctance can be summed up in two little words 'Potato Chips'.

Yes, potato chips. Among the few American products that they do carry here are Lays brand potato chips. They come in your basic flavors like regular, vinegar and bar-b-que but they also come in other flavors. In my opinion, bizarre flavors, things like ketchup, cheese and onion, Jambon Serrano (that would be Serrano Ham) and ... wait for it... roasted chicken with thyme flavor. Oh no, you read correctly, it's true, roasted chicken with thyme. I bought some once to see what they tasted like and they tasted like roasted chicken with thyme. Near the bottom of the bag I was Violet Beauregarde-ing it and hoping for some dessert.

So in view of the potato chip flavor choices, I stopped looking for the Tums equivelent in the pharmacies. I mean really, I thought banana flavored antacids are bad enough and as much as I love Foie Gras, I don't think I can stomach a Foie Gras flavored antacid.

'If someone wants a sheep, then that means that he exists.' Antoine de Saint-Exupery, "The Little Prince"

The boy is getting really good at reaching for things. Not, however, to be confused with grabbing things, that skill is currently at only about 10% accuracy, though it's getting better quite quickly.

He loves this toy, and keeps trying to get his mouth around it. This is, mercifully, quite impossible as the top part spins and when he gets his mouth on it, it moves. Needless to say it's quite frustrating for him and I have to take the toy away after about 10 minutes because he really starts to wail.

To feed or not to feed is the question these days. Aidric's pediatrician says not til he's 6 months old. The French are watching with horror the obesity crisis in the US and so are holding back on starting babies on solids too soon, babies, they say, can get all of their nutrients with just breast milk/formula. Combine that with the increase in food allergies and you get some very cautious French pediatricians.

However, Sean is a stick and always has been and I was a cambodian boat child well into my 20's (Except for when I was pregnant) so I'm not too worried about the obesity thing. There are so many other factors to consider though, the varying opinions are mind boggling. And then if you decide to go ahead and introduce solids there are a plethora of opinions on what to start feeding first. Can I just say that I do not remember it being this confusing the first time around, or is J just lucky to be alive because I played it fast and loose while rasing her?

Aidric is doing plenty of traveling with us. We did a long weekend in Madrid a few weeks back and last weekend we visited Montpellier. We are suddenly very aware of how very little time we have left and Aidric's birth really threw a monkey wrench into our travel schedule. So we are getting in as many weekends away as possible while at the same time starting to make lists of things to sell, things to ship ahead, things to pack to take with and a whole collection of lists about the move itself.

Aidric is a stoic traveler, he takes it all in stride and seems to understand his parents manic love of seeing new places. Maybe he'll catch the bug too.
A view of Biaritz. Doesn't it look just like La Jolla! There were tons of American surfers there on this day.



The men in blue on the road to Madrid



There were 10 of these number sculptures, 0-9, and yes I made the boys take a picture in front of every one of them. I won't post them all though.



The Parque del Retiro is in downtown Madrid. The park is huge and has something for everyone. We took Aidric to the playground for his first trip down a slide.



Aidric kicking back in the hotel in Montpellier. It was darn near 90 outside and poor Aidric dind't know what to make of it. He was a cranky kid so we got back to the room and the air conditioning.

Leave the Gun. Take the Cannoli

Dear Big Sister J,

How you doin'? Thanks for the new sweats. I luv dem, and they fit me real good, know what I mean?

Ma says I look like a wise guy on the Sopranos...Does that mean she thinks I'm smart? I think I look real sharp.

Couldn't find my gold medallion, I think someone lifted it. Don't worry I'll find the guy and take care of him.

Love,

Big Aidric

Strong upward trend...

Reality check:

1 gallon = 3.78541 liters

1.45 €/liter x 3.78541 liters/gallon = 5.4888 €/gallon

1€ = $ 1.23

so...

1.23 $/€ x 5.4888 €/gallon = 6.75 $/gallon

That’s right folks, we're already paying almost $7.00 for a gallon of gas in France and that's only going to go up. See, that's really why 'French Women Don't Get Fat'. It's because they walk everywhere. Of course they do it with class and sophistication in their ultra-pointy-sure-to-give-you-bunions fancy shoes. But France is set up for that isn't it? Small town village feel with grocery stores and butchers’ and post offices all within walking distance. You take your little rolling grocery basket and head into town and do your banking and shopping and posting and then head home. A cardiovascular and weight bearing workout all in one 45 minute outing. Something to think about folks. I'm thinking of a slogan like "Feet! The alternate fuel!"

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I took Aidric to the doctor on Thursday for his first round of vaccinations. In France the doctor writes a prescription for the vaccinations and you pick them up at the pharmacy and bring them with you to the appointment. Also prescribed are little analgesic pads that you put on the area to be injected an hour before hand to numb the area. So a pain relieving pad on each thigh and Aidric was set to resume his long forgotten role as human pin cushion.

He still screamed bloody murder though. And they make you hold your kid while they needle him so he looks at YOU with that eloquent look that says "Mommy, how could you do this to me?" Quivering bottom lip in full pout and actual tears streaming down his adorable little face with that hurt, bewildered and unbelieving look in his eyes. It's enough to reduce any mortal to tears...so you know me, I was crying too while trying to tell him it was all alright. He didn't seem convinced by my unconvincing stab at bravery. All this to be repeated again next month.

Anyway, current Aidric stats: He now weighs 13 lbs 11 oz. this is a gain of 4 lbs. 12 oz. since birth. He is 24.4 inches long which is a gain of 3.6 inches. This places him in the 90% range for (French) boys his age for height and weight. He’s a big boy by French standards. You wouldn’t think he’d be this big if you judged him by how hard it is to get him to eat.

He’s like his mom, he just can’t be bothered to sit still for a meal, or rather how I was when I was growing up. Eating was too time consuming and I had better things to do. Like read!

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We're spending the afternoon out on the back porch today for the first time this season. S is asleep in my 'chaise longe' and Aidric is dozing in his swing. I'm sitting at the table typing this and soaking up my 10 minutes of vitamin D. Well, considerably more than 10 minutes from inception to post of this (and every other) blog entry, but considering how pasty the winter has made me, I could use the sunshine.







P.S. For those of you waiting for return e-mails I appologize, I'm working on it. Shelly, Pete, Em, Tris, Ky, Shannon and 'handsome stranger' I'm not ignoring you I swear. I still love you.

Long Live Whats-her-name!

So I have to say first of all, I don't know who invented the 'Cradle Swing' but whoever did deserves every penny of the millions she's surely made off of the idea.

When my mom was here she said we should get one, that it would free me up a bit and that Aidric would love it. I said I'd look into it and then fate came into play by way of S's co-workers who gave us some cash for a baby gift. So we went out on Saturday and we found a really nice swing from Fisher-Price.

It's the Ocean Wonders Aquarium Cradle Swing and it is fabulous! It plays music or ocean sounds or rain sounds or babbling brook sounds and it rocks side to side or front to back and it has six speeds and it has a mobile that lights up and turns AND Aidric loves it. He falls asleep in it and he likes watching the fishies turn on the mobile. It is the greatest thing since sliced bread I tell you.





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Daddy took Aidric to the park today for a guys bonding day out. As you can tell from the photos below Aidric was really impressed and had a great time ;)







I guess some people are just really hard to impress

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On Friday Aidric and I met my friend Ellian for lunch in downtown Toulouse. Friday was the first day of the Easter Holidays and starting at noon everyone was trying to get out of town. Traffic was IMPOSSIBLE and downtown was a sea of people.

Now, these days I hesitate to go out much because of having to tote the diaper bag and stroller and all the stuff that comes with traveling with a baby.

Our stroller is one of those all inclusive mondo strollers where the baby's car seat snaps into it so I don't have to take the baby out of one seat and transfer him to another. The thing is so big that it takes up most of the room in my trunk. The basket underneath carries the diaper bag and my purse with room to spare for shopping and it's double canopy keeps Aidric warm and out of the weather. It's heavy and cumbersome, but let me tell you that after Friday’s adventures I'll never complain about its size again.

We had a great time just bulldozing down the sidewalk behind the stroller. I tell you what, at one point I was cutting through the crowds like a hot knife through butter, I was making such good time that there was a another mom drafting me with her tiny umbrella stroller it was great.