Saturday

Saturday = Nap with Daddy:


After our run in Jardin des Plantes, we went to Square Rene Legall to see if Michael would be the next Tiger Woods:

He had fun with this. But then decided to go around hitting all sorts of things with his golf club. Some victims were: random freshly planted flowers, the thorny rose bush limbs, and a pile of mulch.

I am still working on my depth of field. I took this at ISO100, f1.8, 1/3200th (I think...can't remember the shutter speed). So the golf club end is perfect in focus and everything else is blurry. This is what I am aiming for...but I wish the golf club was a bit lower or in front of Michael's body. But then again, I DID ask for him to hold his club up high so I could try to get a creative "kid with his toy" picture. Did not happen this time, but it is a start:

Happy Saturday!

Love,
P

Doing Stuff

I know it seems like a lot of our life is doing stuff that's out of the ordinary, like travel or go to the Louvre on occasion. But we also do stuff that's like what all other families do too.

For example, I believe in Texas (and in other states as well)...it is common to go to what is known as a "county fair" or possibly "state fair."

Parisians do that too...it's indoors and takes up the amount of space as 6-7 George R Brown Convention Centers, otherwise known as Porte de Versailles off of Tramway 3. However, there are no corndogs or funnel cake. I know, how do you call that a fair???

So we went Sunday, March 1st with Michael's best friend, Jonah and The Daniels! They checked out lots of sheep with their dads:


And of course, had some pictures with a tractor. In this case, the wheel. Notice our arms helping to stage the event:

Let's not forget the suckling pigs:
Oh yes...and of course, little pigs for the kids to ride on. This was especially funny because they had these little lights that would show up on the pigs stomachs highlighting what pork product you could make. Like "Saucisson" etc. Guess this exhibit was not meant for Jewish people.

Jonah and Michael colored a free picture of a cow while I went around stealing the kids games with the animal stickers to save as toys for our "travel toy bag."

We also found an exhibit where you could buy flavored milks. Like honey flavor and vanilla flavored. What was more impressive...was that it actually tasted like milk from the States because it was delicious and fresh and cold! Here in France, they have UHT milk which is ultra pasteurized and lasts longer. Also...it can be stored at room temperature. Also, it tastes like crap.

SO! We were quite delighted to find some good tastin' milk!! However, we were not quite as delighted as the boys when they found a talking yogurt container on a big screen TV:


That was March 1st. Then, on Sunday, March 15th, it was beautiful. Le debut du beau temps!!! So we went for a walk up Rue Mouffetard to Place Contrescarpe where we stopped at Amorino for some serious sugar. Otherwise known as an ice cream cone. A certain someone was pretty happy about this plan:

Here's my buddies at Place Contrescarpe...about a stone's throw away from the hotel we stayed at on our honeymoon nearly 7 years ago!

And now...we have made it to today! Jonah, Kirsten, her mom, Michael, and I went to Jardin d'Acclimatation for the morning!! It is a kids' paradise. While waiting for Kirsten's gang, Michael demanded to ride on the train...even though it would not be running for another 4 hours. Well, if you're gonna do that, I'm gonna take pictures:

Along our walk, we discovered a new xylophone exhibit! The kids, and grownups alike, REALLY loved that!

Kirsten and I were wondering outloud whether it was new and we decided it was because everything was nice and new. Not all beat up like normal Parisian things are. Here is Kirsten's Cool and The Gang jamming out. Jonah is in the back center of the picture:

Then we explored some animals. Semi exciting today. And went to play in their enormous 2 parks. Michael loved this trampoline and I loved this blossoming tree in the back:

Here is the Square des pompiers...emergency square! I just love that little chateau top in the background and that tree. Oh yes, and Michael running around is fun too:

Michael and his best friend, driving the emergency vehicle while singing The Wheels on the Bus. Hope they are not responding to YOUR emergency!

Every good square needs a lookout:

And 2 best friends playing together! We love it when they get together!

How do you end a day of running around a new park? Headed to McDonalds for lunch! And here is Kirsten's mom taking care of the boys as they hold onto the stroller


Oh, I took all of these Jardin d'Acclimatation pictures with my 5 year old digital canon point and shoot camera! Boom, Roasted! I know, that made absolutely NO sense. Just wanted to see if you were paying attention after looking at nearly 20 pictures in a blog post.

Michael fell asleep after 2 minutes of being on the metro on the way home. It was an exciting day and he's napping right now! Looks like we'll miss tea hour/book/magazine swap this afternoon!

BUT on the serious up side? Brian's home early today!! MR. took a half day so we're going to run to the park with our sidewalk chalk and TEAR IT UP.

WORD,

P

2009 is a bad year for us?

It is true. Brian thinks I am superstitious...I am in a way. But here is what has happened so far to our family since January 1st.

• Entire family sick as dogs with the flu over New Years
• Michael and I sick over Chinese New Year
• Michael had his nut incident/hospital visit in February
• I went sledding and had this tooth injury in late February
• Thought the tooth incident would be ok...turned out had to have a root canal. Still working on this tooth healing by the way
• Notified by Air Liquide that we may be returning to the States early.
• Two months later, notified by Air Liquide that we will NOT be returning to the states early.
• And also 2 more personal reasons that aren't going well that I'd rather not post about.

It's only freakin' March 18th. That's A LOT of pretty traumatic stuff to happen in less than 3 months.

So I'm thinking this year, will be a no risk taking kind of year for me. Should have figured it out after Michael's nut incident...but that coupled with the sledding solidified the fact that it's a hard year for at us so far.

My tooth...well, after the root canal, it's still wobbly in there. The dentist says that he does not expect the tooth to be really stable until about a month after the root canal. But he's not doing a crown until he knows that there is not a fracture and that the bone is good. SIGH. So I go back next week to check up. If the tooth is still wobbly, he says it's not great...but we may have to wait some more. If it is better, he says he'll do the crown and it will most likely get better.

I HATE NOT KNOWING WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN WITH THIS.

OK, enough whining!

IT IS BEAUTIFUL IN PARIS RIGHT NOW!! SUNNY SUNNY SUNNY!! What a miracle!

AND! HAPPY BIRTHDAY THE MOM! Hope your day and your year goes well!

LOve,

P

Poissonerie

Michael and I visited the fishmonger at rue Mouffetard last Saturday. He loves to look at the fish when we go to market. This time we left and we had to go back a second time at his request. All the fish are whole and lying on ice on their sides. Michael looked at them for a long while then he looked at me and said "fish...tired." Yes, they're very sleepy, Michael, we won't wait for them to wake up.

rabbit

Phuong went to market and bought a quarter rabbit at my request. Michael is really excited about eating it, he and I have been talking all morning about eating the rabbit. Then Phuong asked him what he wanted to eat with his rabbit, rice or potatoes. Michael responds, "rabbit!" OK, mommy says, but you need a starch with your rabbit, potatoes or rice. "Rabbit!" Now P has to assure him that he will be able to eat rabbit, so he finally says potatoes.

Last night we went to eat at Dominique and Yui's place which was really fun. Yui made some really good fishball soup and an avocado/shrimp/grapefruit salad followed by a "quenelle" - fish wrapped in butter crust. Also fun for Michael was that they had a cat. He scared it into hiding but he would go into the closet and try to touch in its box. Then we saw the cat come into the living room and then Michael came in with a huge grin and tried to capture it. He was really cute.

Yada Yada Yada

So we haven't blogged in a while because I am depressed about my tooth. But that is neither here nor there...I have to get a root canal and a crown for my front right tooth. I guess...if I am going to knock a tooth out from its root, that sledding in Switzerland is the way to do it.

Any of you had root canals? 'Cause if so, I'd like to hear if it was just awful...or bearable...or a piece of cake!

I also went on Wednesday to get my nose checked out since the end of it is still hurting just a tiny bit when I pick my nose too rigorously or try to push it to one side or another. I went to my ENT (Ear/Nose/Throat) guy and he said nothing was broken and my nasal passages are still straight. So hopefully, I didn't do any other damage. But while he checked out my nose, he decided to check out my ears...

And he decided to vacuum out my right ear. I have a tendency to build ear wax in my right ear by no fault of my own. He kept pulling small-ish pieces of ear wax out and saying, "This is incredible! It's so big! I have to go in again!"

Now, if the ENT doctor thinks it's incredible, you know it's no exaggeration of the truth. Then, he apparently got to a stoppage so big, he had to flush my ear out with water and out came a piece about the size of my thumbnail.

To which he stopped, showed it to me, and said, "You see this? This was in your ear. This is incredible because you have a very small ear canal."

Glad he thought it was "incredible." He must be in the right profession.

He did the same thing to me last year about this time...and the last time I had to get this done, on the same ear, I was at A&M.

Yea! 120 Euro to pull out my earwax. Should have just left good enough alone with my nose!

On a less disgusting note...

On Wednesday, I was cooking steamed salmon with ginger/green onions with Michael. And I let him do quite a bit. Put all the ginger/onions/salmon on each plate to steam, dump in rice to be cooked/etc. And while I was stirring the soy sauce on the stove, he hugged me really big...and said, "I love you Mommy."

Now doesn't that just warm your heart? I might have a little chef on my hands because he really really loves to cook.

Love,
P

Swiss blog order

If you would like to read the blog in (chrono)logical order, go to Switzerland 2009 and then read up or follow these links.
1. http://besancons.blogspot.com/2009/02/switzerland-2009-cbgt_28.html
2. http://besancons.blogspot.com/2009/02/jungfraujoch-top-of-europe.html
3. http://besancons.blogspot.com/2009/02/schilthorn.html
4. http://besancons.blogspot.com/2009/02/swiss-blog-order.html

The mouse hole

Rick Steves is always pushing his "through the back door" concept. It's quite good except for the fact that he's so famous now, we often find that his back doors and other recommendations are all filled with people holding Rick Steves guidebooks. Nevertheless, we like Rick Steves and are almost always satisfied with his choices. On this trip, we went though the mousehole.

We found the Chalet Berna online and they only spoke German. Correction, Swiss German. The son (30 years old) greeted us when we drove up. He had the thickest Swiss accent and looked a lot like Adam Morrison:

I had no idea what he was saying half the time. It took two times talking to him, once to his mom, once to the caretaker of the cows, and by the second time I talked with his mom, I had a pretty good handle on things. It seemed like everyone else I had to talk to spoke german German and were easy to understand so I don't know how we lucked into the thick accents.

Schilthorn

After visiting the Jungfraujoch, the following day we went to the top of the Schilthorn and had a buffet breakfast at Piz Gloria restaurant at 10000 feet. We woke up at 6:15, got four young boys ready to go, drove away by 6:55, and arrived with ten minutes to spare for the 7:55 departure. This allowed us to get the breakfast and lift ticket for the same price as a normal lift ticket.

Whereas we had taken the train to the Jungfraujoch, the path to the Schilthorn was all by lift. They had large cars holding around 40 people that were carried by cables strung hundreds of feet in the air over the mountains. We had to change in Gimmelwald, Murren, and Birg in order to reach it but it was worth it.

Once atop the Schilthorn, the views were amazing. The restaurant rotates so we go to see all the surrounding mountains and the Thunersee and Beatenberg. The weather was immaculate - we could even see Mont Blanc over a hundred miles away in France! The Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau were also up close (apologies to Corban on the right - the restaurant was rotating too fast).

The breakfast wasn't that great, but was still pretty good. When you're used to eating bread, jam and some cold cuts in a normal hotel buffet, getting all you can eat link sausage, bacon, endless coffee, waffles, and bad champagne was quite a treat. Needless to say, we didn't require lunch.

After gorging ourselves on American sized portions, we went out on the observation deck and took photos before hustling back in. It wasn't as cold as the Jungfraujoch, but the wind made us go inside asap. Still we got a few good photos.

There were lots of skiers on the lift and we expected them to all get off in Murren, but they all went to the Schilthorn to ski down from the top. Look at this snowboarder, he's crazy. Off piste from the top. Just jumped the rails and took off.

Jungfraujoch - Top of Europe

On Tuesday we went to the Jungfraujoch, the highest point in Europe accessible by train. We drove in the morning to Lauterbrunnen,
and then took the cable car up past Wengen

to Kleine Scheidegg. Then we transferred to another train and rode through the middle of the Eiger to the Jungfraujoch. Phuong has a busted lip and doesn't like our pictures so here's one of the Atkins on the platform with the glacier and mountains behind them. It's cold.


It was kind of cloudy in the lower altitudes but by the time we made it to the top, it was beautiful...and freezing cold: about 3F with winds of 30+ mph. Here's a picture Albert took of me with the Monch in the background. Notice the ice on the pole on the left of the picture that the wind has blown sideways. Notice also the grating beneath us that blew ice cold air up our pants - no time for fill flash!

We also visited the ice palace inside the Jungfraujoch complex. The kids had a great time and so did we. Albert nearly broke his wrist trying to slide around like we do on the parquet here in Paris.

Switzerland 2009 - CBGT

In response to Phuong's post after this one. I'll tackle the first item.

We could only find one place in all of Bourg Saint Maurice, Chamonix and Interlaken regions that fit our criteria of being dirt cheap and near snow. We found it in Interlaken, to be more precise, Beatenberg. They only spoke (Swiss) German. We didn't have any idea where Beatenberg was or what the conditions (snow, temperature) would be like. I assumed that since it wasn't in the resorts of Murren or Wengen that we would be in the valley and wouldn't have any snow. Was I ever wrong!

It turns out that Beatenberg is on the north side of the Thunersee, up from which rise some mountains that crest at around 2000 m (about 6000 ft). We drove up the first night from Interlaken, which still had a little snow, and made numerous switchbacks as we increased our elevation. And as we went up, the snow level increased too. There was probably two feet on the ground when we arrived at our chalet in the early evening.

Although it wasn't a famous resort or resort at all, it was perfect with all the young kids. We had a snow and a hill outside the door, and a hill a few miles away with 4 easy slopes and a ski school - perfect for kids who had never skied before and intermediate skiers like us adults. So the chalet was great because Albert and Jenny's boys were gung ho about playing in the snow and since we had three feet everywhere we looked, we didn't have to make any special effort to drive to play in it, and we could warm ourselves whenever we wanted. Also we had gorgeous views of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau, the three grand peaks of the Swiss Alps in the Berner Oberland.

The second day (Sunday) we were there, it snowed all day, adding about a foot to what we already had as evidenced by the buildup on our cars.

Albert, KC (dad of another family from AL-Paris that stayed on the ground floor) and I decided to walk into town and buy some bread and other basic necessities from the one shop that was supposedly open. As it turns out, this shop was not even ten minutes from our chalet...in the opposite direction from the one we went in. Luckily, we found an awesome bakery/konditorei to get bread and cookies for the kids. We also stumbled onto Intersport, which rented sleds on the cheap (about 3 Euro a day), so we got two and sledded home with our loot.

Now, not only did we have about 3 feet of snow on the ground, our chalet lay on an amply sloped hill. The snow was awesome because the bottom had been compacted over time so when you sat in it, it made a natural chair so we made a grandstand area with several rows of seats. The soft overlayer of snow (about six inches) made for awesome chilled beer holders and we would sled, drink beer, and cheer on the sledders.



We had paved a path down the hill with a shovel and incrementally lengthed and straightened it by sledding. With every time down the hill, the sled run got longer and more compact. Here's a picture of KC going down on one of the initial runs:



Here's a view of the run from the side:


After some initial trials sitting up, we started to go face first down the hill using our feet as rudders to steer and then we'd hit the three feet of snow at the end. This stopped the sled instantly but our inertia would shoot us off the front of the sled and we'd happily crash into the snow. Then the gallery at the top of the hill would cheer us on.

Well this was all fun and games for the first day but after Sunday night, the track got really fast and there were two sizeable bumps at the end of the track before a ramp that Albert and KC made Monday morning, which got you a bit of air. When you went down the sled run on Monday, first of all, you went fast. Secondly, you hit those two bumps before the ramp and absorbed the sled into you midsection or crotch. Third, if you didn't let go of the sled and shoot off to the side into the softer snow, you landed back on the sled and crunched any part of your body that came into contact with it.

So KC, Albert and I already had a few close calls with the ole junk when Albert's wife Jenny decided she was going down the run headfirst. She hit those two bumps and the ramp and flew off the sled. When she got back up she was complaining about getting hit hard by the sled in the crotch. Later that night, she and Albert coined the term crotch banging good time. Voila.

After Jenny banged her crotch, Phuong mustered all her courage and decided to go down headfirst. There's no way you can get hurt, Albert told her. Albert, KC, and I figured that she had been watching so we didn't tell her about the bumps at the end of the track. Well, as it turns out, this was a large oversight. She hit the two bumps, flew off the ramp and crashed back in the sled and snow to the cheers of Albert, KC and I. Then I sprinted to the bottom of the hill.

In fact, she had not known about the bumps and had banged her face into the front of the sled which was stronger than she was. One of her front teeth was loose and her nose was bleeding. Luckily, nothing was wrong with her nose. I think she took the brunt of the hit on her upper lip, which was puffy for a couple of days afterwards and black and blue on the inside. This impact must have wobbled the tooth indirectly. Luckily, the tooth didn't move much and though it is still loose, we hope that everything will be fine with it. When I say loose, you can't move it that much and can't visibly tell that it has moved from its position before the hit, but it isn't fixed like the other ones.

And We're BACK!

No pictures yet because I need to download them from my camera and also get Albert's off his camera. But here are some quotes from our trip to spark your interest. Be warned, they are a little crass and all need explanation. Keep in mind that nothing is at it seems at face value.

"Switzerland 2009: A Crotch Banging Good Time."

"Girls bring their problems home. Boys bring their problems to someone else's home."

"If Rick Steves travels through the back door of Europe, then we must be traveling through the mouse hole."

More later...

If I Won the Lottery...

If I won the lottery, I'd buy this:

Nikon D300 - $1800
Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 - $1700
Lightroom2/CS4 software - $700-$1000

There goes almost $5K. What should I do with the other million(s)?

Hmmm....I think I am going to HAVE to start charging for my pictures...

What is the first thing you would buy if you won the lottery?

Love,
P

Mon Petit Artist

Michael draws a lot. I need to scan somethings in for you guys to see!

Yesterday, he drew 3 lines and as he was drawing them, he said this:

While drawing the 1st line - "Daddy"
While drawing the 2nd line - "Mommy"
While drawing the 3rd line - "Michael."

Then he erased it because it was on the dry erase board. But I thought it was cute that he knew who his family was.

Lately, Michael is listening to this one song on his French Catholic songs CD. Number 6, otherwise known as "Clarinet song."

So we've been singing this for the past 2 days:
"C'est si bon seigneur de grandir jour apres jour. C'est si bon seigneur de grandir dans ton amour."

Which translates to"
"It is so good Lord to grow day after day. It is so good Lord to grow in your love."

Not a bad thing to sing a lot of...

You're HIRED!

Today, someone used the word "hire" when asking me to take pictures of their newborn. The first time it happened, about 2 weeks ago, I just thought it was funny.

And then today, someone else said the same thing. "Hired."

Hired to take photos...since when did my hobby become a possible job? I'm still not charging...but maybe I should? I certainly don't think of myself as being good enough to charge...and am far from it!

But so far, I have 2 newborn sessions, 1 maternity session, and 1 toddler and 1 baby session that people want me to do.

WHAT? I can't barely keep my toilet clean and Michael has to help me do it! Some days, I can't even get to the dishes! How am I supposed to launch a bonafide business on top of this?

So even though it is a happy realization, it also is a hard one...to have to confront whether I am really going to do this...and if I might just fail.

So now, I better go in search for motivational quotes about not being afraid of failure and how only losers are afraid to fail.

Valentine's Craft Playgroup

On Friday, Feb. 13th, I hosted a Valentine's Day craft playdate. Here's a picture of the attendees:

Pictured (L to R): Jonah, Kirsten with baby Ella, Michael, Laura, Shena, and Ulysses (sp?)
Not pictured but present: Oliver and Henry (Laura's 2 children)

The kids enjoyed it for about 2 minutes and 34 seconds. After which, they proceeded to do what they wanted! Then, the moms made valentine's themselves! It was great fun!

Now...onto Easter crafts to think about!

Love,
P

Blanquette de veau

Phuong made some blanquette de veau tonight. I've never had anything so good. I'd like to thank Julia Child and Phuong for taking the time out of their busy schedules to make Michael and I dinner while we have guy time.

Toilets

Michael has a fascination with cleaning the toilet. So much so, that if I find the house eerily quiet, I go looking for Michael in our toilet room.

This morning, here is the order of events:

8:00am: Brian wakes up. Plays on MyFamily.com
8:20am: Brian hears Michael wake up and leave his room
8:30am: Mom wakes up to Brian's voice bellowing: "MICHAEL, GET OUT OF THE TOILET!"

Have got 1 picture of the Valentine's playgroup yesterday! Will post when I decide to not be lazy and go and get it off the camera.

Happy Belated Valentine's day to those who celebrated it!
P

No Stinkin' Way

So, I read this on Yahoo! News today. Do you always have to put an exclamation point after typing Yahoo! ?

Anyways, this:
"First-time homebuyers who purchase their homes before Dec. 1 would be eligible for an $8,000 tax credit, and people who buy new cars before the end of the year can write off the sales taxes."

If this is true...wow...I can't get my hopes up. Someone in the government must have thought to themselves... "I think the Besancons are coming back to America and they have to buy a house and cars. Let's help them out."

I don't know who that person is, but I thank them. And I hope that Air Liquide can get it together and send us home in time for us to take advantage of all of this. We shall see won't we?

Love,
P

The Sun and All Its Glory

When living in Texas, you REALLY take the sun for granted. It comes out almost every day. It warms everything and makes everything seem happier.

In Paris, there is a reason why you see Parisians just sprawling out all over cafes come spring when it is warm enough to relax outside. It's because the sun is a widely missed phenomenon.

Despite our rather rain-less winter...there has been a difference between the sun I saw yesterday and today! Is there a difference between sunlight? I think so.

When I woke up yesterday, the sunlight was streaming in the window. Hard, fast, full of warmth and joy. That's what she said.

Oh sorry. Anyways, it was great! For the first time since I have come to Paris, I thought:

"OH MY GOD! THE SUN! THE SUN! Let's go outside! Let's get things done! It's time for a day full of fun!"

In full Dr. Seuss style. However, by the afternoon, it was cloudy again.

But for a little bit of time there...it felt like we were back in Texas. Full of warmth, happiness, and joy! Don't get me wrong, we love it here and our life here is great. But there is just something to be said for seeing a "Texas Strength" ray of sunshine that you took for granted while living there.

SO there is one difference between living in Paris and Texas.

Another? Being able to buy 15 travel packets of tissues for 1.67 euro. THAT IS CHEAP. I remember in Texas, I never bought those little travel packs of tissues because they were 6 for $2.50 and I thought that was outrageous. I just made my own travel packs by putting tissues from the tissue box into ziploc bags.

But here, I can really go crazy and buy the store-made travel sized tissue packs.

VOILA

family bed

When Michael gets hurt, he asks for a kiss on the booboo. Yesterday when he was brushing his teeth, he slipped off the stool and Phuong caught him, but he looked like he strained his groin pretty bad. It certainly would have hurt me in my old age. Then we put him back on the stool and he pointed to his crotch and said "kiss". We were like, no Michael no way. Then he went back to brushing his teeth.

The other day, I woke up before my alarm and I heard Michael push open the door to our room. I saw the door open, and then I heard some grunting as he tried to climb into bed. Then hear more grunting and I see Phuong rolling. Then I look over and see Michael settling down into the space he had created by pushing his mom out of the way. Then I went back to sleep and missed my bus.

Phuong said a couple of weeks ago, she woke up in the middle of the night. Michael was asleep between the two of us. She said she saw me pick up Michael's stuffed animal dog and make it dance around on him like I was trying to entertain him and I was saying doo-doo doo-doo as I moved the dog around next to him. Then as quickly as I had done that, I put the dog down and went back to sleep.

Tomorrow we're having guy time. We'll probably go to the zoo or dinosaur museum, shop at Hugo Boss, and eat at "Breakfast in America". Mom's going to scrap and watch "Emotion" or maybe "Frisson" if Underworld or 13th Warrior is on. If she's lucky.

Don Juan and Kelli have decided to take a trip to London so we'll probably meet them there. And we'll have to have a few feats of strength, especially since Wild Bill won't be there to humiliate us. Michael will compete in booger picking, farting, and jumping. The boy is really proud of his jumping ability.

DONE!

I have merged Michael's blog and ours together! So everything will be right here from now on.

I also merged his previous posts into this blog. I started to double check every post, but then got tired of doing that and Michael got up from his nap. So I am just going to have to trust technology!

I am pretty proud of myself for figuring this technology thing out. Now...onto Photoshop CS or Lightroom? Anyone have a preference?

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Squirt bottle

From Brian:

Vannah gave me a squirt bottle so I could efficiently iron my shirts. Michael has since found it and taken quite a liking to it. Unfortunately, or fortunately for me, he has not figured out how to use it. Well, that's not true, he does know how to use it, just not in which direction.

From P:

I had the following conversation with Michael today at lunch about his dreaded Doctor Cohen:

Michael: Nut!
Mommy: No, it's not a nut. It's a seed from my clementine. Are you allowed to eat nuts?
Michael: Doctor
Mommy: That's right, if you eat a nut, you have to go to the doctor.
Michael: Doctor Cohen
Mommy: Do you like Dr. Cohen?
Michael: No (pause)... Candy
Mommy: Oh yes, Dr. Cohen does give you candy. Is it a good thing or a bad thing?
Michael: Bad thing
Michael: Metro

Well, at least MICHAEL knows he's not supposed to have candy. And as with everything in the whole wide world, it all comes back around to choos choos or metros.

Today, MIchael found a tiny little splotch of snow left on the ground at the park, he laughed, and then proceeded to throw it at my head. THANK YOU DAD for showing him that little trick.

Yesterday, we had a playdate with Jonah at Kirsten's house. We had fun, as always!

Today, planning for special date night has commenced. I am thinking steak with these fancy mini potato gratins, haricot vert wrapped in bacon, and an upside down pineapple cake with a nice bottle of Saint Emilion....mmmm....heaven....

Allergist

So we went to visit a French pediatric allergist yesterday at 6pm. The doctor is well recommended in the mother's group I am in, Message. And he has written a book on allergies and has a website:
http://allergienet.com/

According to Michael's skin test, he is:

Very Allergic To:
Pecans

Allergic To:
Peanuts, cashews, Pistachios, walnuts

No Reaction To:
Almonds, hazelnuts

Which explains why he can have nutella and not have a reaction. As well as the muesli I had been giving him and not have a reaction (it had hazelnuts and almonds in it). What is strange is that he has had a peanut before and been fine.

To be certain, the doctor prescribed for me to take Michael to a pediatric lab to get blood drawn to confirm what he is allergic to and what he is not. Until then, no nuts for Michael, obviously. After it is confirmed that he is not allergic to almonds and hazelnuts, it is best to slowly re-introduce these back into his diet so that he does not develop a new allergy to them.

He also prescribed an antihistamine for me to carry at all times. And an Anapen, which is the French equivalent of the Epipen. The doctor even had an epipen in his desk so he is very familiar with the American practices.

And he probably printed out about 15-20 sheets of paper for me to bring home about what to do in what cases...summary of the visit...prescriptions...etc. Very informative.

He also said that it was ok if Michael ate things that were processed in a factory that also had peanuts, etc. This is because the fats that are in the nuts that cause the allergic reaction are not present. Hmmm...Ok. I'll have to take his word on that.

I am to check under the "Ingredients" label. If there are no nuts there, it is ok.

Voila,
P

Catch Up

So we had a great weekend!

On Saturday night, Brian and I went out on a date! It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! We had a fantastic time. We went to a place in the 6th called La Petit Cour and it was a little hip, but not too trendy. The wait staff was as warm as French wait staff could be. And the food was GREAT! It was not the standard heavy French food we are used to! It was a bit hip and fresh with different combinations. Here's a link to the place:
http://www.bestrestaurantsparis.com/en//en//en/restaurant-paris/detail/la-petite-cour.html

The chairs were not SO red nor the walls SO yellow as in the picture. Here is what we ordered:

Phuong

Carrot/Cumin soup with light orange mousse

(I swear it tasted like chile con carne...DELICIOUS even when you are expecting carrots. Just wish I had chips)

Veal medallions with a lobster cream sauce and zucchini

Risotto au lait

(Like sweet rice but with risotto)

Cafe

Brian

New York Steak with Mache salad

Assorted cheese plate

Risotto au lait

Cafe

We had amazing conversation and just thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! Our sitter put Michael down for bed so we both got a break from bedtime!

You saw what we did on Sunday already. See previous post.

Monday, it was cold/wet/snowy so we stayed inside. Brian had to brave it to go to work!

Tuesday, Brian took the day off! We took Michael to gymnastics and Brian had a great time watching Michael bounce around! Home for lunch/naps while Mom bought some groceries/snow proof hiking boots at Italie2.

And then I made homemade spaghetti and meatballs (courtesy of my Gourmet magazine) while Michael and Dad went to the park! The meatballs were amazing and Brian made sure to throw lots of snowballs at Michael during "guy time."

Then, my sitter came and Brian and I went on ANOTHER date! We took one of our Paris walks around Bastille in the 12th and it was ok. Definitely should have said on the card, "Best done after 8pm" because it was pretty dead around that part of town. Seemed like a cool night place though!

Now we are on Wednesday. So far, I took Michael to visit the bilingual Montessori I want to send Michael to. IT WAS AMAZING. But sadly, about an hour away. UGH. And at 6000 euro a year, we are glad we won't be paying for it!! EEK!

So now I am trying to decide. Here are the options:

Private Catholic ALL French School which is REALLY close to my apartment, but was not as nice. The staff is great, and the school itself was fine...but it looked like a place where they just keep kids and entertain them while they are there. It is also an all day kind of thing. 8:30-4:30 4 days a week. Wednesdays are off or half days.

OR...this amazing bilingual Montessori which will have great experiences and discoveries for him. Plus, you can see the are about teaching kids numbers, colors, and learning through sensory activities. It says so in the brochure! :o) It will be 4 half days a week (9am-12am)

Let's face it...we're talking about pre-school here...they're just needing to place and glue pinto beans to stuff. But Still...you want the best for your kids....

Where would you send YOUR kids???

Love,

P

Big Boy Bed

Michael's been talking a while about: "Jonah" "Big Boy Bed"

Well, he's now part of the big boy bed club!
Michael is taking his nap right now in his big boy bed. Brian built it for him today! There's still egg crating at the foot/head of the bed and his mattress doesn't have a sheet because I have it in the wash. There is a stupid story about that, but I don't think it's worth blog space.

YEA! Michael! Big Boy Now...sniff...sniff...

Well, I got these shots of Michael today. Not exactly astronomical, but I like them. And they are quite innocent enough at first glance:

Until I tell you that he was right here when I took those pictures:

Don't worry, Brian was spotting him to the right. Don't want any "good golly, THIS is how they take care of Michael??" comments. Or Social services come knocking on our door...

It's a bright beautiful sunny day in Paris. If Paris was like this the first winter we were here, I might not have fallen into a deep depression...

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!