stories from 8/27

The armoire

So, as I mentioned before, we purchased an armoire on Saturday with the intention of picking it up later in the week. Here are a couple of tips for anyone about to do some antique furniture shopping in Europe (I realize it may not be many of you, but bear with me)

Tip #1. Make sure your vehicle is "big enough". I'm still getting used to my new VW Touran. I thought we had plenty of room since the armoire broke down into several pieces. "Big enough" is a relative term though. For instance, my Touran was big enough to haul the armoire, just not big enough to haul the armoire and James, the friend who foolishly agreed to ride along and help.

It only took about 2 pieces to realize we were going to have a problem. The owner of the antique store looked at us and said "Vous avez une autre voiture?" (Do you have another car?) When we said "non", he repeated the question, assuming we had just misunderstood. Nope, just idiotic Americans.

He then offered to lend us rope so we could hang it out the back of the open mini van. I didn't feel like seeing my new Armoire spilling out across 4 lanes of traffic doing 130 km/h, so we opted to make a phone call. Unfortunately, Dana was still a little sick, so his wife got to leave work early to come and get us. Fortunately, it was only a 45 minute drive, each way.

Tip #2. European rooms are small but furniture is actually quite large. I don't get it either. Next time, I'll take a tape measure. I don't want to say that the new piece doesn't fit in the new room, but it certainly dominates it. I just have to move the ottoman every time I want to grab a clean shirt. But seriously, that should only be once maybe twice a day, so I guess it's fine.

The first jog

I'd put it off long enough so yesterday I decided to pick up running again. The fact that we live on a and in the mountains became much clearer. I'm not saying I didn't notice the mountain before, of course not; however, it was much more evident after jogging on, or rather, up it. Now the course I jog is a circle so theoretically it should be the same as jogging on a flat course. Whatever distance I run up.....I get to run down. I did like the running down, but I guarantee that I don't go fast enough running down to make up for the pace going up. Not to mention the altitude. It'll be a while till I time myself. Wow.

The crazy part is that the French are out biking and jogging up the mountain all the time like it's nothing. Most of the time the guys you see are older than me, much older. Even into their 60s. It's crazy. Dana saw a guy going up the mountain today, a good 4 km from the nearest town, in a wheel chair. No big deal. Amazing

The play date

Me, 15 crazy kids and 7 women. That's how I spent my lunch today. A back to school "fiesta" for all the kids that go to Ecole Notre Dame. I'm not about to let the kids miss out on playing with other kids just because I don't want to go and feel awkward, but.... There is a scene in "Mr. Mom" where Michael Keaton has a beard, is wearing a ratty flannel shirt and is playing poker with the local housewives. My mind flashed on this scene a couple of times. Discussion topics ranged from school, to settling in, to mops. Your laughing now, but I didn't mind. Why? because I fear what they'll talk about once they "get used to me being around".

While at the party, I cleared yet another culturla hurdle. The double cheek kiss greeting. I assumed it would happen some day, but I wasn't ready for it today as I thought all the women there would be American mothers, and thus not cheek kissers. I was wrong. One invited mother was from the UK and caught me off gaurd when she grabbed my arms and leaned in. It may not sound like a big deal, but it's not like you practice it. I've seen it a million times since moving here, but for all I know it's like some secret fraternity handshake. I'm afraid if I make one wrong move or sound I'll be shunned for the next 3 years. Luckily, it's no big deal. Whewww.

Dana

If you call Dana in the next few days, speak up. She's got two ear infections and can hardly hear. It's getting better. She doesn't have much pain now so it's really just a little comical. For me anyway, she didn't think so today sitting in meetings today. It was in English, but in 3 different accents. I think she just nodded a lot.