New Year's Greeting

38 years

Yesterday was our anniversary -- 38 years! My back was really hurting on Friday and I spent most of yesterday lying in bed. Luckily for me I have a laptop and and a lapdesk and I was not at all uncomfortable doing stuff on the computer. I've discovered "Radio Sure" (http://www.radiosure.com/) on the internet and am able to listen to US radio stations, like WHYY in Philly. I've also found a station of broadway musical comedy music. There are also French stations. I haven't done it yet, but you can record from the radio tool, too.
There was a good French TV show many years ago that analysed the news from different sources: Arrêt sur Images (http://www.arretsurimages.net/). It got booted off the air and became a subscription Internet production. I'm a subscriber and caught up on a couple of episodes of that. I have written about it before. I still think it's a good show.
Lastly, I finished my Christmas shopping, I think. On Friday, before my back went out on me again, I went into Paris (RER to get in, but all trains cancelled after that because of the strike, so I came home via metro and bus) to get some chocolate at one of those shops I discovered back in October: Michel Cluizel (http://www.cluizel.com/). Since then, I finished up on the computer.
I finished up an end-of-year letter to send with cards. I'll have to get up to take the computer to the printer and print them up. And I'm ready to start wrapping the gifts we've already got in stock.
Also via the computer, Paul and I have planned our vacation in February. Originally, the plan was to try to join the Lebelles living in China on their winter break in Cambodia, but it looks like they will be going to Australia, instead. Based on our pleasant experience with them for the trips to China and Australia, we got in touch with Voyageurs du Monde (http://www.vdm.com/voyage-sur-mesure/) to see about a trip around their dates and got a very nice proposal, but a bit expensive. Since we no longer needed to plan around their dates, we asked if there was a less expensive group option, but they had no groups at that time. So, we found another agency, Ariane Tours (http://www.ariane-tours.com/) and they have two tours that correspond closely to what vdm had proposed. Their tours also correspond well with the dates we want. Ariane Tours' groups are limited to 16 maximum, and that's acceptable. We are combining a Cambodian and a Vietnam tour for a full month from Feb 7.
This evening we are all going over to Louis and Gwen's for dinner. I always enjoy that. They've got their tree up and I'm sure it'll be a festive evening. I can vaguely see snow falling again, so I hope we can go. Paris and the suburbs get completely stuck with the smallest amounts of snow. Since the RER strike is still on, we'll need to be able to get the car out...

It's almost Christmas

Seems I just wrote about Claire and Aurelia leaving us after a two-week visit and in just two weeks, they'll be back with Geoff and Charlotte for a few days!
Emma had her birthday, but she went to celebrate it with a friend in Switzerland and we've hardly seen her since she went back to work. Before that, we all celebrated Thanksgiving together on Saturday instead of Thursday. In spite of my worries about the turkey, it turned out fine. Louis was just back from his training program in Aix; he was happy with it and met several people he got along well with, so he wasn't bored during his absence. Gwen was happy to have him home.
The weekend of December 5 and 6 was the AAWE Christmas Bazaar and I went in on the 4th to help with setting up and then returned on the 5th to work in the basement, heating the chili and making coffee. The stands did not look as full of stuff as usual and I didn't find much to buy this year. I remember, when the kids were little, I used to contribute and find lots of interesting clothing. I would have liked to find a few pyjamas for Aurelia, but no luck. I try to buy small toys and games for €1 to €3 to have to give on the spur of the moment, but there wasn't much choice. Still, I had a good time because it's so nice to see old friends at least once a year.
This past weekend, I was part of the team helping Celine move out of her apartment. It went really fast. She and other helpers had already prepared all the boxes and I got there just in time for them to start loading the truck. Because of my back, I proclaimed myself "label person". She and the kids are leaving for the States this week. I'm so sorry I hadn't met Derek's family before. I'm sorry to see them go.
The RER A line has been on strike for a week. On Saturday, on my way to Celine's, that meant I walked into Vincennes to catch the metro. I don't know what I did to myself on Saturday. My back started hurting on my way and I didn't do any lifting at all, but it was really horrible by the time I got home. I spent Sunday and today resting and I think it'll be fine tomorrow.
Most of the gift shopping is done. I still have to wrap the gifts -- tomorrow.

Claire's visit

Here it is, almost three weeks since my last post, instead of two. And how was I so busy during that time that I couldn't write a line? I wasn't busy; I just felt more like playing.
Claire and Aurelia came to visit for two weeks. They spent the first full week with us and then went to Six Fours to stay with Pierre and Gillette and introduce Aurelia to the family down there, especially Grandmaman, who celebrated her 100th birthday last June. The photo album above is the same, but since I added the pictures from her visit, I decided to link it again. You can see how much Aurelia has grown from the beginning of October to the end of November. Unfortunately, my camera is kaput. There must be a short circuit that empties the batteries when it's off and not being used. I thought I could beat that curse by opening the battery case when it was not in use, but the other day, just in the short time it took us to go to the park, it managed to empty the batteries. So, most of the pictures are from Claire's or Paul's cameras.
For the most part, we just allowed ourselves to be amused by Aurelia and enjoyed having Claire with us. I didn't miss my painting, though and have now finished my sunflower based on a photo I took at Giverny in August.
Oh my! I am sure I saved more.
Here we go again.
Aurelia is in the "rrrr" stage of communication, with plenty of smiles and squeals. In France, it's easy to move from "rrrr" to "heureux" so that's what adults repeat to the baby's delight (recognition of the baby saying something that we understand?) Anyway, you know how it goes, the more we say "heureux", the more the baby says "rrrr" and you can end up spending quite a bit of time doing that. I have always thought that this is how French babies learn to keep the "rrrr" sound alive for later use. Aurelia's "rrrr" seems to start with a guttural and end with an "eeee" and I understood it as "gris" and that amused her just as much. Needless to say, she loves arms and we grandparents, aunts, and uncle willingly obliged.
Back to the painting.... My sunflower is no Van Gogh, but I like it. While Claire was here, I brought up a painting that I never managed to finish and suddenly realized there was a portrait waiting to come out. I took it back to class on Thursday and Francine immediately saw my point and drew in a Matisse-like face. Now I hope I don't screw it up.
Today, we're having our Thanksgiving dinner. Louis is back from his 2-week training and no one is working today. Laurent is coming over and so is Rita. I'm very disappointed in the poultry lady at the market. She says it's the supplier who prepared the bird, but still, she's my supplier. Whose fault it is is beside the point; it's a terrible looking bird. I'm sure it was raised fine, it's the preparation that's lacking. There is no skin at the neck end. I've never seen anything like it. The lady skinned two chicken thighs to use as patches, but I still was not able to stuff the neck end and was not able to sew the patches in place because the turkey skin remaining was too thin. At the other end, when I stuck my hand in to get the innards, I found a chicken gizzard and two chicken livers. No neck. No fat. I use that stuff and am disappointed they are missing. And, again, not enough skin to really close the opening after stuffing the cavity. I'll let her know what I think tomorrow morning at the market. To make matters worse, I had left the turkey covered, in a big bag, outside overnight because there wasn't room in the fridge. This morning, we found the bag tipped over, the paper torn away and about half a turkey breast nibbled away. Some cat had a nice feast!
Must go now and finish the preparations.