A Cold in Paris

(In honor of September 11, I post a photo I took last Saturday at the track meet SEAT DecaNation that I went to...our flag was flying right above my head. Thoughts and prayers to the Wullenwaber family in memory of Luke, and the Randall family, with Mooch in Iraq.. today)

Hello everyone. It’s been a couple days…I haven’t been wanting to write every night, and I’m sure that’s how it will go often. Especially during the work week, some nights I don’t get in the studio til 7:30 or 8 and I just want to do nothing before I go to bed. Sunday I had a lazy and relaxing day in Bougival. I went for a good walk, finding out how to get in good 40 minute walk right here in the neighborhood, with a big hill included! I should do that about 4 times a week and I’ll be golden. Monday was my first day driving the kids to school alone, and it went very well! The trip each way is 15 minutes…and it’s not like driving from mom’s house to St. Stans! It’s basically a 15 minutes commute. I drop the kids off, return home, pick them up for lunch and go home, take them back to school and come home, go back again at the end of the day…so there will be a lot of driving in my future. However, some of those trips will be eliminated when I start my French and Aerobic class…I will stay near their school in the morning and not have to drive back home. And sometimes if it’s nice weather I will bring a picnic lunch and we’ll eat lunch at a park near the school…so it won’t always be a lot of driving. I still have a few more aspects of driving here to get down…like the ‘round-abouts’ and letting the person on the right have the right-of-way, getting used to narrow roads and bikes, etc. But all in all, it’s good. The only real part of taking the kids to school so much that I don’t like is the PARKING! There is not a parking lot for the school, and there are about 4 schools in this area…so lots of cars on every surrounding street, so it’s a game of chance if I get a good spot. There always is a spot somewhere though…it’s just crappy when it’s so far away from the school. Not crappy for me to walk, but for the kids it’s like dragging them to school…sometimes I just have to say “au revoir” and walk quickly to get them to come…haha. Lukily there are a couple times during the day I can ‘park illegaly’ for about 5 minutes just to drop them off. It’s interesting because we (all the kids and mom’s) stand outside the school gate until it opens, then I have to walk each child to their classroom. Actually, we saw bye to Ines at her building, and then walk over and I take Tiphaine and Matthieu right to their class. I help them hang their bag and they also wear these adorable little ‘painter’s coats’ (if you will) over their clothes when they are in class…I suppose to protect their clothes from any stains. So I make sure they have those on, and then they’re off! Tiphaine has been giving me a kiss on the cheek to say goodbye. It’s pretty cute. I think I am the only au pair at this school…at least a young one, because everyone else appears to be the mother of the child, and not an au pair. But they all seem friendly, and I guess I fit in. The teachers know that I am an au pair so they realize who is picking up the kids…

Unfortunately the last 2 days I’ve been sick with a cold. I have not had a good night of sleep, as my throat is itchy and my nose runny. Ugh. It makes the morning difficult to get ready so early. Today I kind of ‘scrubbed out’ but still managed to look cute somehow. Lol. I went to the pharmacy after taking the kids to school and bought some cold medicine so I hope that kicks in soon. I didn’t have to work this afternoon after the kids’ lunch, which is great. I had originally planned to go into the city to play today…but it’s a little chilly and with my cold and lack of sleep, I opted against the fun. I think it’ll be really difficult to work if I’m not feeling well or so tired. So hopefully I’m rested up for tomorrow’s full day of work. At least at the moment I’m not having to WORK hours after hours because I am just driving the kids to school. It will be more hectic when I start my classes, as I’ll have less time to prepare their lunch. They start all their ‘activities’ this week and next week as well…like gym and dance. So I’m lucky to have this afternoon free, and Friday as well. I just want to feel better!

Before going upstairs this morning for work, I checked my bank account and didn’t like what I saw, and am REALLY upset at the cell phone company I’m currently using for an Intl phone. They have made a few mistakes with my billing, etc, AFTER I’d been on the phone and was under the impression it was all set and fixed. So, that + being sick made me upset when I went upstairs. Virginie and Jerome are very understanding when things come up that make me stressed, so luckily I talked to them for a minute…of course they can’t resolve this issue for me. I had to wait for this afternoon to CALL the company and of course, LEAVE A MESSAGE…ugh. Internet in the house was down this afternoon as well so I couldn’t email them, or my banker in Lewiston, which I am hoping to do to solve this. Anyways, after saying bye to Virginie and Jerome this morning and taking the kids to school, I came back home and there was a BIG BOX for ME in the kitchen! It was from my sister! She sent me a few goodies (can’t WAIT to watch SNL: The Best of Cheri Oteri DVD) and then there were gifts wrapped for each of the 3 kids. It was so cute, I displayed the gifts on the table in the living room so they’d see them when they got home for lunch. They were very excited and happy to get princess crowns and wands, nail polish, stickers, and an animal art project type activity for Mattheiu! They loved it all…CARS stickers and Disney princess stickers. And the girls have never had nail polish, so I told them they had to wait to ask Virginie if they can use it. Hehe. Anyways, that was fun for them and I told them they could have a little party with the princess crowns with their girlfriends.

Next Monday I’m going to see Gwen Stefani in concert! I’m incredibly excited, obviously. The kids actually are loving her songs that I play them, so they know I’m going to her concert and want to come with me! Lol. I’m not sure what I’m doing this weekend, but most definitely getting out of the house and exploring, as long as I’m feeling better. My mom recently sent me a ‘book’ type thing with 50 Paris City Walks…so I can take my pick and go for a fun walk in Paris and see more sites and neighborhoods. Well, right now I am sniffling in a Kleenex (une mouchoir) and watching t.v. I have 5 channels on my t.v., so I watch the news and the rest are American programs and movies, all in French! I watch Friends, Will & Grace, Desperate Housewives and ER all in French. Actually, I really just have the t.v. on for background noise in general…I listen to a cool radio station in my studio. It plays cool French music, modern, some reggae, and then a whole variety of American music. Sometimes I listen to c.d’s too, or my iTunes on my laptop. Despite not having ‘company’ here right now in France, at least I have a variety of entertainment! Well I’m signing off for now and resting.

A bientot