HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY CASEY!!!!!!

Wish we could be there, Case-man! At least we get to start celebrating his birthday before everyone else.

First trip to....

We all went for a nice 2 hour drive this morning through the French countryside. Trouble is it was broken into 4 - 30 minutes drives to and from the same doctor's office. Audrey and I picked up a chest cold and a nasty cough so after a day or two of hoping it would go away we finally scheduled a visit. Now before you go thinking that our two trips were the fault of more French red tape, let me stop you. We were amazed and a little leary of how easy the French medical system is. Basically a trip the doctor goes like this. Ring the bell, walk in, maybe wait a little in the waiting room (we didn't have to), shake hands with the doc, tell them your name and age, hop on the table, get a diagnosis and a prescription, pay your bill (22 euros per person per office visit), then say "au revoir" and leave. I didn't even pick up a pen during the visit and it took all of 15 minutes to check out both Audrey and myself. The reason for the two trips was our fault. I mentioned that Audrey had been on an antibotic 2 weeks ago, and the doc wanted to know the type so she didn't double up. We forgot to bring the information, so off we went.

The trip to the pharmacy was equally easy and cheap. Nothing to fill out, no insurance card just pay for the drugs and go. Actually, French nationals have a card that make prescriptions really cheap. When you say "Non, je n'ai pas" (No, I don't have), they wince and apologize for the price. 2 rounds of antibiotics and 2 rounds of prescription strength ibuprophen = another 22 euros. Crazy how cheap it is.

Yes you could multiply every euro amount by 1.5 or so and make it seem more expensive, but we try not to do that as it'll make you not want to buy anything. That and it's not really Europe's fault that the American dollar stinks right now. Food is one item that is a little expensive over here, even without doing the conversion. It's worth it though. Gas is another. Ok, it's not a little expensive. It's really expensive. Americans not blessed in the art of unit conversion are bound to think they are getting a deal at first. The signs look good when you see numbers like "1.50". Seems like pre 9/11 again. Then you start to calculate. 1.50 per liter times 3.79 liters per gallon equals 5.69 per gallon. Then if you want to convert euros to dollars, it really gets bad. Somewhere between $8.50 - $9.00 per gallon is where you end up. Be sure to think about this whenever I post pictures of their tiny little cars.

One last thought, if you've got our vonage number, feel free to call. I finally got it working the other day.

And thanks for leaving all the comments.

Internet at last.

A mere 7 days after signing the papers, I have internet. I had to have a new friend hook it up for me, but I got it. He's another guy who's wife works for Cat, but he kept his job as an online IT guy for a company back in the U.S. A good friend to have. So, look for new up to date posts after reading these from the last few days. Also, be sure to check the website for some new pics once I get them downloaded.

FYI: From here on out, Dana's posts will be made in red.

July 27, 2008
Dana’s first blog entry!
Well, I decided to give it a shot at writing a blog. I am sure it will not be as detailed or witty as Matt’s messages, but I will give it my best.
As I sit here and write this it is Sunday night around 10:30pm. It seems strange to have been here for over a week now, but on the other hand it is starting to feel comfortable….the house any way. I still have a long way to go with the language part. Thank goodness for Matt. He is absolutely amazing. He is picking it up quickly and today was successful on getting us some terrific meat from the butcher store and cheese from the cheese store. I did okay myself today too, but all I had to do was buy the other groceries we needed at the store. So I just had to look at pictures and could ignore the French words and when it was time to pay, I simply just pulled out our new debit card and paid without knowing the amount the checkout lady told me. Scary, huh!! But it turned out just fine b/c we had a simple, but delicious meal of roasted chicken and sautéed zucchini and tomatoes. We then topped it off with some delicious dark chocolate and vanilla ice cream. Man oh man, have I missed Matt’s cooking.
As you may have read in Matt’s previous post, we put in a big day yesterday with our first hike at Chamrousse, so we decided to take it easy today and after our trip into town we stayed around home all afternoon. Our main objective was to gather up some of the rental furniture / items and stick them by the backdoor in anticipation of our sea container arriving tomorrow morning at 8:00am. We are hesitant to get too excited though as we think there might be a slight delay since the rental furniture is still here and sometimes changes are not communicated well (if at all!). But nevertheless, we should get our own stuff this week, which will just be an unbelievable feeling.
The best part about today though was calling home. Matt called home and talked with his parents and I just got off of the phone with mine. It was good to hear how everyone is doing and just to hear familiar voices. The kids enjoy talking to them as well. Lane had to be sure and put in his request today for mom’s cheese quesadillas and some banana bread and Audrey had to check up on Drew-Drew. The call was definitely needed for me today too as I kind of had a meltdown this afternoon after looking at pictures mom put together in an album for us. It is great how technology, such as cell phones (and hopefully soon our vonage phone and computer once we get internet) will help keep us close to home while we are physically so far away. I also have to give a big thanks to Aimee also as she helped my mood today with some peanut butter on toast…actually not just some peanut butter, but a lot of peanut butter. I should probably use it sparingly, but oh well!
So these are my thoughts for the day. I will be sure to turn the writing privileges back over to Matt as he is more interesting, but I will drop a line or two from time to time.
To all of you reading this…know we are thinking about you, missing you and keeping you al l in our prayers!

July 28, 2008
We woke up this morning not knowing if the largest portion of all our worldly possessions would show up today or tomorrow. The movers wanted to bring it all today (Monday) but phoned on Friday to let us know that it was not in their contract to move out all of the rental furniture, which we know is not moving out until Tuesday. (Got all that?). Anyway, whilst the man from Allied Movers and Dana were discussing this dilemma, Dana lost cell service (happens a lot here in the mountains). We wanted to call back to make certain the arrangements, but Dana didn’t catch his name or phone number. He may have given it, but at our stage of acquisition of the French language, names and number do not necessarily standout from the rest of the syllables coming at you like a foreign version of the old micro machines commercials guy. So, we waited for him to call back and confirm, and we waited, and we waited. Finally on Sunday afternoon it was obvious that he was not going to call and we would just have to wait and see what happened.
Back to this morning. I got up and drove into the village for some bread for the day and a few croissants for breakfast. (Yes, we have already started buying bread daily, and yes it is soooo worth it) On the way back I noticed a very large truck parked at the bottom of the hill. So I decided to hop out and see if it was “our” truck. I’m not saying I expected this truck driver to speak English, but I’ve dealt with several truckers and I've sure never met one spoke French either. He didn't. Another truck driver first for me were the humorous presence of his Capri pants. Sure he had a lot in common with American truck drivers: cigarette in one hand, clipboard on the other, surly attitude about the size and slope of the road he needed to take. Somehow I don’t think these would have been enough for him to avoid being ridiculed if he were to walk into the local "Flying J”. I’d like to tell you we had a meaningful conversation about the plan of attack, but only gained two pieces of information from our 5 minute “conversation”: 1) It was “our” truck with our stuff. 2) He didn’t like me.
Turns out he was only the driver and that the movers were on their way with a smaller “shuttle” truck. Apparently not an uncommon practice in a country whose roads are older than our Constitution. Luckily, the movers were extremely nice and very good (although one did arrive wearing what could only be described as a purse. A man’s purse for sure, but a purse nonetheless. ) Fast forward several hours of work followed by one nice dinner in town and here I sit typing away on my good old couch. The place is still a mess and we’ve got some work left to do, but at least it feels a little more like home.
Speaking of work, I also push mowed the lawn today. Ok, I started it two days ago and had to give up and finish today. The reason I gave up was foot wear. I needed to wait on a pair of shoes that would make it possible for me to mow. You’re thinking I meant to say “make it safer for me to mow”, right? Probably waiting on a pair of steel toed boots. Nope. Golf shoes. Why did I wear my golf shoes to mow, because I don’t own a pair of those mountain boots with the huge metal teeth? Otherwise, I’d have worn them. Look, I’m in decent shape. Not where I want to be, but I can work with the best of ‘em when I want to. Well, my lawn kicked my butt. This lawn exists on no less than 4 different tiers with long stretches of very sloped path connecting some of these tiers. I’m not kidding, it was borderline dangerous. I was in constant threat of either slipping into the back of the mower, having it roll back on me, flipping it sideways, or having a cardiac arrest from the workout. Not to mention the danger it presented to the neighbors living directly below me. I’m not sure when I’ll mow again, but I’m guessing as long as I can still see Lane’s red hair above the dandelions, that’ll be good enough.

July 29, 2008 Morning
I need to vent. Saw a commercial this morning for a show. “Bob L’eponge” . I’ll give you one guess what this translates to. I don’t yet know how you would say “square pants” in French, but it can’t be that hard. My question is why they didn’t even try. Honestly, would this cartoon character, one of my personal favorites, have been half as successful if the fine folks at Nickelodeon had not included his surname in the title? Just saying Spongebob isn’t nearly as funny as saying Spongebob Squarepants. Plus it’s more educational that way. Kids can use it to learn shapes and articles of clothing (ok, a bit of a stretch).
I sure hope this is not a sign of the type of humor I can expect from the French. I am a bit worried though, I’d always heard how they love Jerry Lewis. Plus I’ve seen some pretty goofy stuff on TV so far. Most of the stuff intended to be funny looks like it has it’s wardrobe and props supplied by the local grade school. On the other hand, I gather that they like old reruns of “Friends”. The other day my tutor surmised that my name was popular in the U.S. because two of the three stars of “Friends” were named the same. How can you argue with that?

NOTICE: Topic Change

Doors. For some reason the French are obsessed with them. Our home is roughly 1800 square feet. Go ahead and guess how many doors we have. Exterior and interior together.




Ready.




Get this.



There are 19 doors in our home. 6 exterior and 13 interior. Even crazier is that almost all of those lock and unlock with a key, inside and outside. To lock up at night I have to walk around the house with my key ring. Wake up in the middle of the night to a burning house? Better know where your keys are. OK a slight exaggeration, there are a few egress doors that don’t require a key and they are on the bedroom end of the home. So, it’s not that serious. That is unless you come to visit and stay in the guest room. If you visit and stay be sure to ask for a key, as I could lock you in that side of the house if I so choose. You’re only escape being out a window to the deck.
Other oddities in our home: No soap dish in the showers, no towel racks by the sinks, no toilet paper holders on the wall, no clothes dryer, and then there is the toilet being in its own little room (a french thing). Of course, none of these are serious, but they do take some adjusting. In the middle of the night it’s rough to have to stop and think about which door to open when nature calls. However......maybe I'm going about it all wrong. After all, there is an exterior door in the master bed room.

The end of the first week (I borrowed some internet!)

I decided that this blog is more than just updating our friends and family back in the good ole U.S. of A. It’s therapy. It sure seems to help me deal with things. So, I decided that 7 or 8 days is too long to wait to blog; therefore, the collection of thoughts that you are about to read is from the last week or so. I’ll put the date on the top so you can make sense of it.
July 24, 2008
As I sit here watching “Le Petit Einsteins” with my son it hits me; They are really serious about this speaking French thing. It’s everywhere. Trying to buy shampoo? Good luck getting what you want, it’s all in French. Trying to figure out how to work your new wonderful Panini press? Better just wing it ‘cause the manual, well it’s all in French. Trying to use the completely different washing machine after living out of a suitcase for a month? Guess what? The buttons and dials….ALL IN FRENCH. That’s not even the worst part. Reading French is a walk in the park next to trying figure out what the lady at the appliance store is asking you. I usually admit my ignorance and say, “Desole. Je ne parle pas bien le Francais”. Problem is that this is usually met with a smile, a shrug and more rapid fire French . Great.
The word “Immersion” means a bit more now than it did a week ago. While it is certainly a great way to learn a language, most people fail to mention that it’s a huge, life altering, pain. Seriously, can’t we have “English day” once a week? Is it too much to ask? It is considered to be the universal international language; perhaps France didn’t get the memo.
Some of our new friends are getting ready to leave for a week in London. You can see the joy in their faces when they talk about it. They eventually mentioned how they plan on seeing the sights and doing some other tourist favorites, but they started the conversation by telling us how they intend to spend a significant amount of time at the movie theaters. Kung Fu Panda, Wall-e, and Speed Racer may not sound like much of plan for a London Holiday, but they seemed ecstatic about it. They’ve been here a year. I hope I’m still as sane as they are in a year; because after a week I can feel crazy creeping up.
In all seriousness, I am excited about learning the language. I think it’s a great opportunity. It’s kind of like receiving free tuition for French classes. The problem is that the class runs 24/7. Remember that crazy foreign language teacher that was always saying, “ah, ah, ah, a Francais” or “En Espanol”? It’s like they are standing behind you all day long. The good news is, it’s working. I suspect that in 2 weeks I’ll actually be able to follow along with the magical musical journey that is “Le petit Einsteins”!
July 25 2008
Wolves, bears, Red Deer, Sanglier (wild hogs), and other impressive beasts were all on my short list of animals I hoped to see here in the foot hills of the Alps. Instead I get lizards and slugs. Seriously, they are everywhere. Like clockwork, every afternoon, the tiny lizards come out to sun themselves on the hot rocks that surround our home. Likewise, the slugs come out every night and are outside my bedroom door every morning. These things must taste awful. There is no other explanation for a fat juicy creature to be able to survive while moving soooo slow. On the birght side I have seen a few new birds that I need to identify. I need to get a book on local bird species (even if it is in French).
Speaking of the outdoors, the kids and I went to a store today dedicated to hiking and mountain climbing. I found a map that included our little burg and the mountain it is tucked in to. It had every back road and trail that anyone could hope to ever walk. At first I was surprised at the accuracy and detail, but then it dawned on me that these roads have been here for hundreds of years. We also bought some other basic gear like a back pack, some water bottles, and a new hiking hat for me. Not wanting it to gather dust, the four of us hit the trail this evening. We just took off out our front door and kept track of our trail on the new map. On our short 3.4 mile loop we saw the following: 1) The most unbelievable distant views of two different valleys filled with picturesque French villages. 2) Up close views of two French mountain villages 3) A distant view of a different trail behind our house heading straight up the mountain. 3) Numerous Frenchmen on bicycles. They are everywhere. 4) 4 “paraponters”. Grenoble is famous for this. For no sane reason, people run off the side of a mountain with an already deployed parachute trailing them. They then sail above the valley for hours using the hot valley air to keep afloat. I understand most of it except where they land and how. It looks peaceful and even fun, but I just don’t know where they land and how they get there. This bothers me and I need to find out. 5) A shirtless 70 year old French farmer building a fence. I only mention him because he was worth mentioning. It was obvious that this guy had spent a lifetime working the land, and by “working the land” I do not mean riding in a tractor pulling a plow or scouting crops from the front seat of a Ford F-150 with coffee cup in hand. This “old” man was ripped. Six pack abs, two tickets to the gun show, the works. Dana and I were both immediately impressed and a little ashamed of how lazy we are.
Tomorrow we are planning on another hike. We’ll drive for a while to start this one. I want to go find a couple of lakes that I found on the map. Should be fun. I’ll be sure to post the details.
On to another subject. After the hike last night, I cooked for the first time since moving to France. Nothing great. Whipped up some sauce from red wine (easy to come by here) fresh tomatoes, onions and garlic and served it with some sausages on pasta. I’ve done it hundreds of times back home, but it has rarely tasted so good. Not sure if it was better ingredients, the first home cooked meal in a while, or a perhaps a combination, but it sure hit the spot.

July 26, 2008
Yesterday’s “hike” of which I spoke so fondly, has been reclassified. Journeys of its nature will be called walks from here on out. Today’s journey would be classified as a hike. The difference between the two classifications being not the distance, but rather the vertical nature and the terrain involved. We started the day by driving to Chamrousse, home of the ski resort during colder weather. A book that I had bought described a hike including two lakes that was supposedly perfect for kids. That was what I could deduce from the maps and pictures anyway. The rest of the provided information was a mystery as the book is in French (see my post from 2 days ago), but how important could it be? I assumed that with a map, the aforementioned book, a well marked trail and 2 different types of GPS units I could figure out the rest. The good news is that the we did head in the right direction, toward Lacs Robert. The problem was that the mystery information, was apparently telling me to take the cable car up to the top of the mountain before starting the hike. Instead we saw a sign in the parking lot saying “Lacs Robert 3.2km” and followed it. What is it like going 3.2 km up a mountain with 2 young kids? Well I can’t really tell you, I can only tell you what it feels like to go 2.2 km up the side of a mountain. After 2 hours of climbing that’s where we stopped. We had a blast but next time we’ll take the cable car.
OK. Really funny story! Andy will appreciate this one having witnessed basketball in Europe. Then this evening we went to a cookout with other Cat ISE’s (International Service Employees). (Actually we’re still here, and since I still don’t have internet I’m opting to check internet vs. be sociable.) A couple of different people asked if I was going to the new basketball coach to which I replied “I guess so”. I only said this because of a short translated conversation that I had with the head mistress at Ecole Notre Dame where I briefly mentioned that I had played basketball and that I was also a high school coach. I came away from the conversation thinking it would be great to get to volunteer some time helping with the basketball. Apparently the head mistress went away with a different impression. Apparently a successful fund raiser for new basketball equipment was held and news began to travel. Long story short, the “ex-pro basketball player” has arrived in the little mountain village of St. Martin D’Uriage. Sounds like the beginning of a sports movie.

I'll be back

I have some fresh news, but not much. My main reason for this blog is French beauracracy. We are moving into our house tomorrow and will set up the high speed internet as well. However, you must have an adress for 8 days before they will turn on the internet. Not sure what I'll do for 8 days but our slogan so far for us and the kids has been "just roll with it". Everything is just enough different to get you slightly out of your comfort zone. Luckily our kids have been pretty good with it. They had a bit of an ordeal when the "jus de orange" at the restaurant came with enough pulp to keep the straw from settling to the bottom, but luckily they regrouped when the ravioli and pizza showed up.

Since my last update we have done a few interesting things. On Sunday we visited an enourmous market. If you wear it or eat it, I think you could have found it here. From perfume to peaches, from boots to blueberries, they had it all. We bought hats for the kids, some peaches, and some grapes. The fruit was excellent. Had we been heading back to the flat for lunch I would have picked up one of the 50+ chickens spinning on the rotisserie in a food cart. We then stopped at a bakery for some pain du chocolate and a baguette. As you can see from the pic, we observed a great french tradition and nibbled off the point on the way home.

Then today we actually got to see our house and do a walk through inspection. We are all very excited to move in. I can't wait to post pics from after we move in.

Before that though, I go lost while driving the kids through Grenoble (Dana was at a French lesson that had to be cancelled. A whole other story.). Tough to do with a GPS unit talking to you the whole time, but I did it. Ok, I wasn't really lost, but confused enough to run one red light and make one very illegal left turn. In the end it was Audrey who spotted the road I needed to turn on. Who knew she was even paying attention. Seriously though, without the GPS, I'm not sure if I could turn around here without getting confused. I'm sure we'll get the hang of it, but it is very odd to drive on roads that do not run in an eventual straight line. Crazy.

Other than moving in, we have some big hikes planned for the weekend. I'll be sure to post some pics after I serve the 8 day waiting period.

The First Day

Well we're here........now what. Seriously though, its always an odd feeling when you wait and wait and wait on something and then it finally arrives. We dedicated so much time and energy on getting here that it was almost surreal to finally be here. When we arrived the other day it was the middle of the afternoon and although we were tired we knew that we needed to stay awake. Problem is that we were all close to self destructing and neither Dana or I wanted to make a decision on what exactly to do. Luckily a co-worker of Dana's called and offered to show us around and take us to dinner. It was a welcomed invitation and a fun evening. The kids struggled to behave during dinner, but all in all it was a good evening. After supper we all crashed into bed and didn't get up for another 11 hours. That felt good.

With a good night's sleep to fuel us we hit the streets of Grenoble to explore. Our first destination was the famous "bubbles" which take you up to the Bastille, an old military fort. It was a great outing. The fort is big with room to run and explore and the view, well it speaks for itself.

After that I tried to use my map and my memory to get us to a cafe Dana and I had previously visited. The trouble with this is that the two did not agree. Surprisingly it was my memory that won the battle and eventually got us there. The problem with that was the it required us to go to a certain street that I remembered, which invariably took us 10 -12 blocks out of the way. It worked out for the best because otherwise we would have been to early for mealtime, a perpetual problem of Americans in Europe. I found out that our French CDs were actually some use as our waiter spoke no English. To the surpise of Dana and myself, I was able to order our meals and drinks in perfect French (ok, it wasn't anywhere close to perfect, but I spoke French and got what I ordered, how much more perfect can it get?). As for the stereotypical rude French waiter, well thus far, I can't support it. As Dana was paying the bill I took the kids to play by a statue. I was trying to snap a quick pic of Dana when the waiter ruined it by posing with her. Bottom line is that his kindness is the rule thus far and not the exception.

Our evening meal took place on "Pizza Row". This steet is full of italian joints which all feature wood oven pizzas. Anyone American worried about what they will eat when the come to visit can rest easy. The plain cheese pizza got Lane's stamp of approval and Audrey gave the same for her mushroom pizza. Mine was a little more french as it added Roquefort cheese to mix. This meal took place with our "host" family the Radelines. Their daughter, Kaitlin, was a big hit with our kids. That is until Kaitlin tried to give Lane the standard European greeting. Lane doesn't do kisses. Audrey on the other hand was ready to have a sleepover.

Well thats all for now. If you like reading, be sure to leave a comment. It lets me know someone is paying attention and results in my devoting more time to this. Also check the website for some new slideshow.

Au revoir.

Viva la France!

Well, we made it and we're exhausted. Still don't have the house, car, phones, or basically anything but we made it to France with the kids and we're all still on speaking terms. Not much else to tell right now. I'll update w/ pics in a few days.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good is that we have our visas in hand and our flight leaves tomorrow at 6:27 pm. The waiting is finally over and we are finally moving to France. Dana and the kids did a "Moving to France" dance on Michigan Avenue today, I abstained (more on that later). Best thing about downtown Chicago is that no one gave them a second look. Ironically, after all the wait time, obtaining the visas from the consulate was a breeze and took only about 20 minutes.

The Bad is that we are leaving behind friends and family. As exciting as it is to go, it is very tough to know that you may not see close loved ones for a year. We are also leaving behind Kensie, our black lab, for a while. It's just too hot for her to travel right now so we will have to have her sent over later. All in all, we've kept it together pretty good, but it's not been easy.

The Ugly? Well, unfortunately, that's me, Matt. I've recently started a huge push to get back into shape. My ultimate goal is to run a marathon in Greece on the site of the original marathon. Now, I am a long way from form yet, but I do try to run or do an exercise bike everday. Well, at some point some movement did not agree with my lower back. We were downtown this morning when all of a sudden I noticed that walking was extremely painful. Unfortunately, our plan for the day was "walk around Chicago" I stuck it out, but it may not be pretty tomorrow. Dana may be moving all 12 pieces of luggage by herself.

Well, this will be my last blog update from the U.S. and as of the next writing this blog will finally live up to it's name!

Not yet part 2!

Delayed once again. The move date is now July 17th. The good news is that we've actually received word that our visas will be ready to go this time. Sooooo, the good news is that we get to celebrate Independence day before we leave. Unfortunately, we won't get to see Bastille Day on the 14th. I was looking forward to seeing how they celebrate their independence.

As for hotel life, well, we've had enough. We checked out the other day, which means that we will just live like gypsies for the next 2 weeks. Right now, we have plans to stay at no less than 4 different homes of friends and family. We just drive around with everything we own in the back of my truck (well, everything we own not already on a slow boat to France, that is).

The good news is that we've sold almost everything that needs to be sold. The house, our car, the lawnmower, and other misc. items are all taken care of. We'll turn the truck in the day before we leave, but I still need to sell the topper on the back of it. The difficult part about that is that, as I mentioned before, it is serving as a storage unit right now. The delay also means that we'll be able to move right into our new house, we just have to get there.

Hopefully, I have something interesting to write about soon. Once we move, I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories. Then, in August we have a short trip planned to Paris, including seeing the Lion King. "Seeing" being the operative word, because hearing and understanding it will be a challenge. I'll have to watch the video again before I go to help with the translation. Anyway, that's all for now. I promise to update soon.

ps. thanks for leaving comments. I was happy to find out someone, anyone is reading what I'm writing.