Ski and snow

Interlaken, Face.

Ode to being a mom...

I am so glad I don't have a friend like the one who wrote here! All our friends without kids are amazing and so understanding about everything to do with kids!

If you can't see it well, click on and see if it will enlarge.

Thanks, Gina, for sending the article!

Love,
P

Sensors

I have been setting off anti-theft sensors at the entrances of all sorts of stores all over Europe. Spain, here, and Germany. I always wondered why...thinking it was my camera bag. Then it started happening in Paris when I didn't have my camera on me.

Turns out, I have not been removing the tag that says, "Remove before wearing or washing" on some of my bras. AND not doing it on some of Michael's clothes. So we've been setting off sensors all over Europe.

NICE.

And if you have been looking at my facebook...there is some explaning to be done. I went to my favorite little papeterie near my house and was reading People magazine for free there (as it is 6.70 euro for ONE)...and I notice a rather burly looking guy standing very close to me arranging all the magazines around me.

I continue to read about halfway through the magazine and then I start to feel uncomfortable as he is quite in my personal space.

So I move to the TV guides and he moves with me...glaring at me...all the way, standing there...glaring, standing, and glaring, and standing.

So I calmly put my TV guide down, and give him as mean of a look as I can muster up since I am "stealing" magazines and I walk straight out of the store. Vowing never to return.

And it is a disappointment to me and I feel no guilt about it all. It's the "Barnes and Noble" phenomenon. Where I go and read all the things I want for free...but whenever I need to buy a book, I go to Barnes and Noble. No amazon, no nothing. Only Barnes and Noble. So I don't feel badly about my "stealing" of the magazines.

Same goes with this papeterie! If I want to buy my 7 euro edition of American Elle, I buy it there. For a while there, I bought a TV guide from them EVERY week. AND I buy my Interntaional Herald Tribune newspaper there. So I was quite upset to be "mobsterred" out of MY neighborhood papeterie since I had never seen that guy there in the 2 years I have been here. AND I have been to that papeterie a lot.

All for the love of celebrity gossip. Guess I'll just stick to the internet website.

Plays!

I took Michael to a French play today and he LOVED it. It was a story about a little frog who was looking for Frog Country. Come to find out, Frog Country existed in the audience and all the little kids were the frogs.

http://www.akteon.fr/spectacle.php?ids=71

It was precious and had TONS of instrumentation and songs so Michael just had a field day. One guy could play a mini accordion, 2 types of recorders, a mini piano, a tambourine, a guitar, and a kazoo. Some people get all the talent!

When we got up to leave, Michael looked at me and said, "MORE!"

Then, he proceeded to act like a heathen at lunch and refused to eat the noodles he asked for at the mall. I decided to have a nice lunch out with Michael so we could make a whole fun morning of it and instead he was crazy. And when mom gets woken up at 1am and 5am every night, the first irritated mom to show up is NOT a nice one.

P

P.S. I am going to start posting about Michael here too. I can't keep up 2 blogs. It's ridiculous.

Chuc Mung Nam Moi

Happy Chinese New Year! We happily welcome the Year of the Ox!

As Brian's Mom pointed out, Obama was born in the Year of the Ox. Here is what the Chinese Zodiac had to say about people born in this year:

The Ox is the sign of prosperity through fortitude and hard work. This powerful sign is a born leader, being quite dependable and possessing an innate ability to achieve great things. As one might guess, such people are dependable, calm, and modest. Like their animal namesake, the Ox is unswervingly patient, tireless in their work, and capable of enduring any amount of hardship without complaint.

Now, most of you know, I did not vote. But if I...

1. ...was Chinese,
2. ...didn't know anything about any platform,
3. ...could only go by the description of the character of his Chinese Zodiac sign...
   
   ...I'd say, I would have voted for Obama.

Very interesting!

No huge Chinese New Year events during these 3 days. However there are some this weekend and at the end of the week that I plan on bringing Michael to!

Enjoy yourselves! Eat Well! And May your year be full of prosperity, health, and happiness!

Love,

Phuong

Les Cheques!

So, we've been asking our bank for checks now for about a year. We've asked about 5 times and we finally got them. They were waiting for us at our branch. No notice or anything telling us they were here. We were supposed to just know.

Anyways, Brian picked them up and our checks have the picture of the Arc de Triomphe on them! HOW COOL IS THAT? We are going to keep one as a keepsake. Now, I'm trying to figure out how to write "VOID" on there without ruining what it looks like.

Preparing for Chinese New Year now! Cleaning and buying food that does not have any nut products or uses any nut oil in it. Not incredibly hard but I do have to take the time to read the labels.

So get ready, Chinese New Year is Jan 26-28. Don't spend any money on those days (except to gamble or eat), do not sweep or mop your house (or your money will just fly out all year long), and don't take out the trash.

I'll say, the last 2 things are NO PROBLEM in our household!

Review Meetings

My review went pretty well. I completed most of my serious objectives. My boss, Christophe, told me I have to be more assertive this year. Every one of you could have told him that. Other than that he seemed very pleased with what I did. We discussed the rumors as well that I would be sent back early, and he said that if it was mid-year and there was a manageable amount of money left, he would try to put me on the GPE group payroll so I could finish the year. So that was good news.

The START meeting was disappointing but good in its own way. They just wanted to inform us that they are actively searching with our home country HR teams to try and find us (all expats except upper upper management and experts) positions and move us back early. They didn't seem to have a real plan developed yet, but they told us they would get back to us in a month with something more concrete. In the meantime, I guess I just work as normal and wait for a call from the HR chief in the US. Then we have 2-3 months to move back is what it sounded like.

There were three of us there, and we were the last ones to have a meeting amongst the START bunch so there was a good reason for the rumors - they were more like meeting minutes.

I asked about what my manager had said and Sandra told me that the home country has priority - basically if they find a position for me, I'm going, and there's nothing Christophe, CRCD HR or I can do about it. I guess they can tell HR US not to look very hard for jobs, but that probably wouldn't reflect well on the HR manager in the US.

Fair enough, glad to know. While this isn't great news and they don't seem to have a concrete plan, at least they're telling us rather than hiding it and springing it on us without a moment's notice. I'm planning on going back in April or May. If we stay later, party. We can't go before March, I already bought my ticket to Phoenix.

Now I have some moral questions - should I take 2 months of vacation right now - which I will likely lose when I go back to the US? I'm taking a week in February - vacances scolaires - everyone takes a week in February.

My husband...in a nut shell

First of all, this is my latest fav pic of Brian. So cool, handsome, and happy:

Today is an interesting day for Brian. He's got a meeting about right now or very soon with his manager for his year end review. And then he's got another meeting about the START program (the one he's in that sends him over here to work). Which may or may not be a good thing. We're still wondering exactly what it will be about.

Anyways, you can check back soon to find out. I'm sure I'll blog about it.

We were in music class last Saturday. We go as a family. And as in any Children's music class, you start by going around the room and saying your name to a little song. And this one not only had you saying your name to a little song, but also tapping out the beat with your hands at the same time.

Needless to say...when it got to Brian, Brian did a STELLAR job singing his name. But when it came to tapping out the beat with his hands, not only was he COMPLETELY off beat with the rest of the group, but he was completely off beat with himself. So he's singing and tapping to God only knows what song and God only knows what rhythm.

AWESOME. Then we sing another song and the teacher says, "This is a good song to introduce duple and triple meter." Brian looks at me and says, "What's that?"

And I say, "You know...we are getting our money's worth out of this class because it is teaching both YOU and Michael about music."

Last night, we had this conversation while Brian is surfing espn.go.com (otherwise known as the black hole of man time on the internet...oh wait, that's myfamily.com for Brian).

Brian: You know, I don't really like the NFL that much.
Phuong: Oh yeah, why not?
Brian: Well, I like baseball.

OK. Didn't realize that you could only like one or the other!

Brian is funny. And even after nearly 7 years of marriage, he still surprises me with how funny/weird he is. I am glad he picked me to be his wife. Good thing he has a thing for Asian chicks.

Just a random post. That's all.

I will do anything to procrastinate doing my French Homework

Including blogging!

So...there are some rumors flying around about Brian's company sending the expats back earlier than expected. Very unsubstantiated. Like I said, these are rumors but they do inspire some reflection on our part.

Getting sent back early. I should be doing a little booty dance inside my head...but I am not. If they sent us back much later than expected, I would be desperate. If they sent us back on time, I would be ok. But...if they sent us back early? I had never even thought about THAT being an option!

And I don't like it. NOT ONE BIT. I started to get really nostalgic because you know what? The grass IS always greener on the other side. Here, I yearn for properly grilled steak, Piranha sushi, barbeque, queso with beer, and a good enchiladas suizas. And I think about America all the time. How efficient it is, how friendly, how clean, how the shopping carts are huge and have wipes next to them so you can wipe them down, and how you can drive places. Easily.

BUT. When you say I have to leave Paris...

I think...wait, so I can't have my croissant or baguette tradition whenever I want? Or have cassoulet made for me anytime I want? No Luxembourg Gardens to play? Excuse me? I still have to see Greece/Norway/Egypt...

So it is weird...thinking about leaving...the most hardest thing though isn't any of the above. It's the fact that we raised Michael here. That all of our young childhood memories of Michael involve Paris. How our boulangere just adores him and he knows which way to go to get bread there. How he loves the duck pond and the Medici fountain at the Luxembourg gardens. How he says, "Merci, Au revoir, and bouge pas." Every time I think of Michael as a baby, I will remember Paris.

And so I find it hard to leave.

I better get back to my French homework now. My french teacher has me doing exercises from the French exams they give to French students to get into La Sorbonne (college). So I DO NOT WANT TO EVEN GET TO IT. It wil depress me.

P

Tower of Power

Michael is doing this right now. Who would have thought boxes from grocery delivery would be a toy?

groins

I played four plays and called it quits because I couldn't run. I'm just glad I didn't pull two hammies and two groins, which would have been the outcome had I played any longer. I'm just old.

Love You

Yesterday, I was eating dinner with Michael. He looked at me and said, "Hug. Hug." So I give him a hug and while I am doing that he says to me, "Love you."

WOW.

football!

I'm off to play football in 30 minutes.

Last week I played for the first time. Two hours and a half. I couldn't move all week. My groins were about to explode. My hammies hurt and I was all bruised up on my knees and elbows from diving and sliding on the frozen tundra of Les Invalides. It was above freezing that day but the ground was frozen and there was still snow on the ground. So I'd like to think my muscle problems were less about being old and out of shape and more about the fact that I did the splits every play from a lack of traction on the ice. But it was fun nonetheless. I think I'm fairly fast which is a sad commentary on the physical ability of the other guys we play with.

So pray for my groins today.

Walnut

Phuong was making dinner Friday evening and Michael and I were sitting in the kitchen waiting. I had bought a bunch of nuts - walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts - and a nutcracker. So I took one of those walnuts and with excessive force, destroyed the shell and splintered the nut inside. Since there were small walnut bits everywhere, I decided I would give a bit to Michael. So I told Phuong, hey I'm going to give Michael a bit of walnut. As she's busy cooking, she says, I don't know, well whatever. I reply, well we have to find out sometime whether he's allergic or not.
Two minutes later, he's pointing at his tongue and telling us it hurts. Then he starts getting red in the face. 5 minutes later, his lips were all swollen. So we were like, well, let's go to the hospital (St Vincent's is only 3 bus stops away) and if it clears up, we can turn around and if it worsens, then well, we'll be there. By the time we get to the hospital his head must have inflated by 25% or so it seemed. His cheeks were all red and puffy, and his lips looked like those of Bubba in Forrest Gump. Good thing there were no tripwires at the hospital.
We checked in, had his vitals measured, and then he from either pain or fear of doctors - probably a little of both, started wailing until he got his first round of medication an hour later. I'd say he got a dose of oral medication around 8:00 or 8:30 and then around 9:30 they put an IV in his little hand to administer another medication around 10:00 to make the swelling go down. Then we had to wait until the swelling and redness went away completely before we were allowed to leave. Michael and I fell asleep around 11:00, and the doctor finally came in just before midnight to tell us it was fine to leave. He was late, but there was a young newborn that was really sick and he was spending most of his time and rightfully so attending to it. In the end we made it home around 12:30 and Michael was fine. He was a bit red yesterday with a small red rash and today he is fine.
The nurses and the doctor at Saint Vincent were really nice and helpful. We did allow the intern to put Michael's IV in his hand. I think she did ok, maybe she took a little bit longer than the older nurse, but she didn't have to fish around for five minutes for the vein like the person in Arkansas did.
The staff were really funny though because they must have told us ten times, no more nuts for the boy! Maybe they thought we didn't understand. At midnight they finally found out we weren't tourists so that's certainly a possibility.

Adventures...Adventures...

Yesterday, Michael and I took a field trip. Michael has a little book with flaps. And under the flaps, are pictures of artwork like the Venus de Milo...and his favorite...The Mona Lisa.

He has been asking to see the Mona Lisa for weeks and he knows it's in the Louvre! He points to the picture of the Louvre and will say, "Louvre...Mona Lisa."

So. I took him.

BUT FIRST, I took him to BHV (crazy store here) and we had lunch at the cafeteria. When we walked in, a whole gaggle of kids walked in with their teachers. Apparently, BHV is a popular field trip destination in Paris. I grew up going to NASA and Jesse H Jones Park. The kids here go to BHV. It's just sad really considering BHV is like Dillards, Home Depot, and Office Depot rolled into one.

I digress.

So we had lunch there, I shopped for some cheap Le Creuset items and walked down Rue de Rivoli. I am looking for a sparkley t-shirt for a friend. All this while Michael is napping.

I digress yet again.

SO...after this, I took napping MIchael to the Louvre. I shopped all in the Carrousel du Louvre. Michael is STILL napping. So finally, he wakes up and we stop to look at the Winged Victory, which is also in his book. He says to me, "Statue...big...up high." Yes, that's true.

Luckily, we were able to avoid all the stairs by the Winged Victory and found the Mona Lisa after making only 3 turns. If you've been the Louvre, you know that you will take many stairs to go see the Winged Victory up close, then you will make many strange loops through much Italian Renaissance before you stumble upon the Mona Lisa.

We got there and Michael reacted as most adults react. He looked at the picture in his book, pointed to the wall and said, "Mona Lisa!" and gave me a HUGE smile. Then he said,

"Outside. Done."

Ok, so that's it. We looked at the Louvre pyramid out a window and left.

VOILA!

And next...to keep you highly in suspense...Brian is going to blog about our Friday night date night which involved:
Walnuts, Hopital Saint Vincent, and 12:30am.

Food, Etc.

So...Michael has a fetish. He likes to put whatever is shaped like a ball in his ball popper, especially if it will fit. Look what we found recently:

Yup, that's a clementine.

Lately, Michael has had a standing lunch date with the letter "P." We eat pizza, pears, and peas and the letter P shows up to eat with us:

Next, I'm going to do the Letter A. Artichokes, Apples, and ... anyone have a good guess for something starting with the letter A that is a protein?

Michael's Stories

Michael tells me stories about things. Here are some:

Michael: Grandpa
Phuong: What about Grandpa?
Michael: Texas
Phuong: Yep, Grandpa is in Texas
Michael: Drive
Phuong: Oh yeah, what does Grandpa drive?
Michael: Big car.

OK.

Michael: Balloon
Phuong: Ok, let's play balloon
Michael: Mommy cry
Phuong: Did I cry?
Michael: Pop
Phuong: Oh yes, Mommy did cry when the balloon popped in her face because she's a scaredy cat. It was a fake cry, for the record.

Last Tuesday, Michael was the only one in gymnastics so he got to do all sorts of things he normally does not get to do. The teacher usually leads the kids in running around in circles, taking big steps, jumping all while she beats this little drum. Well, she graciously let Michael lead the 2 adults there for him and Michael ran around in circles really quickly beating the drum while the adults followed. Like HE was teaching the class. It was precious.

And then the other little whiny girl showed up. She apparently had fallen on some ice like 15 minutes ago and was still whimpy about it. Figures. GIRLS. This is the same girl that Michael ran smack into on the 1st day of class. Michael got up, and continued running like crazy. The girl stayed on the floor and cried for 5 minutes and had to get a cream for the welt on her head.

Very funny, but makes me glad I don't have a girl. Or rather, it is me rationalizing with myself and making me feel better that I will never have a girl. So for those of you who have girls, don't take offense. I'm just REALLY jealous.

FINALLY!

It has finally warmed up in Paris to a high in the mid to upper 30s. Thank GOD. Because before, it was too.cold.to.function.or.leave.the.house.

I'm sure Team Besancon Boston will be laughing at my shivering with the highs in the mid 20s.

We have not been doing much. Just trying to get back into our routine here with the cleaning/cooking/etc. So we have nothing interesting to report except the snow from last week which blanketed Paris and made it more beautiful than ever.

Today, I was walking back from the market with Michael and singing ABC's for him. And I looked up at all the pretty buildings and actually thought, "I am going to be sad when it comes time to leave here."

GASP

Chopper dead

Michael killed the chopper crashing it into walls and the floor. He broke off the rear rotor and that was it. That didn't stop him from flying it for two days along the ground just to make it move.

Snow Covered Paris

Click here to see some great pics of snow covered Paris. Scroll down a bit...it's the 2nd blog entry. You won't miss them! They are amazing:
http://www.sarahgardan.com/blog/

Tagged!

My sister-in-law, Kelli, tagged me in a photo search, I guess you can call it! It is fun, so I'm doing it!

Here are the rules:
1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer
2) Select the 4th picture in the folder
3) Explain the picture
4) Tag 4 people to do the sameNO CHEATING! (cropping, editing, etc!)

Unfortunately, no one is in the picture! But it is a picture of some wildflowers (duh) at a winery we visited in the Hill Country in Texas. I remember that it was a Saturday after I had worked a 70 hour work week to set up a tool and I had this one day off before I was back at work on Sunday. So we drove out to a winery and sampled some of their goods!

Now, I tag Kim Kropka, Gina Dickerson, AK Besancon, and Renee Nieh!

Love,
P

Chopper

Mom bought my brothers and I a remote controlled helicopter for Christmas. Michael loves it. The past two days, all he can say is chopper, chopper when I come home. He can really control it well too, or at least we can get it in the air. The landing rails broke so I hold it in the air in the middle of the room and he holds the controls sitting on the chair. Then he starts up the rotors and I let it go. It looks like a dying dragonfly and buzzes all around the room. I try to avoid it and then try to catch it before it crashes and burns. Michael sits in his chair giggling and trying to fly the chopper. Phuong sits in her chair praying not to take a chopper to the face.

Better

Most of us are feeling better. I hate to speak too soon about Michael since I did in the last post. Right after I posted the last post, his fever came back. We went to the doctor yesterday.

So we'll just see what happens today!