Summer, at last

Summer has arrived. We've had some tremendous thunderstorms and a few days of really hot sun.

Yesterday, the STC France board held its annual planning meeting in our yard. For me, the whole STC thing is slowly leaving my system. I'm still on the board and will volunteer -- at least until next year's conference -- but after that, I'll let go completely. I think it was a good meeting although we left with lots of unfinished business. Next year's conference planning is well under way and we decided to have just one big meeting before that, a career day in October. Must remember that it should not conflict with WICE's Money Matters for Women conference.

Last year, in October, I think, Francine was starting a new painting and I fell in love with it and said I wanted to buy it for Paul's birthday (end of Dec.). We look at it and see a casbah. She finished the painting, but since it was one of a new series, she held on to it for the gallery exhibit. But then she got caught up in Anne Le Musical (just ended its successful run) and never quite completed the series. So, at last, she decided to have Paul's picture framed, let me buy it and I will lend it back to her whenever the exhibit happens. Anyway, the framing is absolutely perfect and the painting is beautiful. It's opposite the couch and as the light goes down at the end of the day, the blues become gray and the white stands out even more. (No, I'm not putting a picture of it up, for now.)

I'm trying to find time and patience to scan old photos, but it's boring, so I always manage to find something else to do.

On Facebook, I've been enjoying Dick's pictures of Anja's and his trip in the Rockies with the Model T.

Last weekend we all (Emma, Anne, Louis, Gwen, Paul and I) went down to Toulon for Paul's mother's birthday. She's 100 years old. Claire, Geoff and Charlotte came in from England. It was a great little family reunion. Claire, Geoff and Charlotte stayed the whole week, in fact, in the annex at Pierre and Gillette's. Pierre and Gillette came up to Verrières on Sunday for their annual check-ups and to be here when Nadine and the kids arrived from China. I got to see them all in Verrières on Friday, when I went to have lunch with my friend from KDS, Pascale.
Pascale has gotten a raw deal from KDS and the whole thing just makes me sick. Most of my KDS friends are now ex-KDS and from what I hear, the whole atmosphere has changed. I'm glad, again, that I left when I did. Even if I felt pressured into coming to the decision to leave and realized, too late, that it was a form of harrassment, I was in no condition to stay and fight.