must blog....

It's getting harder to find the time to write this but there is even more to say! Now I am jotting words and notes on random pieces of paper so I won't forget the tidbits about what we've done, discovered, thought and the list gets longer and the scraps of paper multiply and I still haven't blogged. But for now, though it is late and I have a new book and bed calling to me, I am going to try to at least recap a few things before the clock strikes midnight and my coach turns into a pumpkin. Not that there is anything monumental to write about, only just the little things that make one day different from the next!

I must say that our 2 most exciting finds of the week were the "bus de mer" (a boat-bus that crosses the La Rochelle port) and a dumpster being loaded with the remains from the IUFM (Institut de Formation de Maitres, I think that's what it's called, it's the teacher's college) which must have been from the 50s because we found very vintage-y teaching tools like fridge magnet type things in french cursive letters, geometric tiles for pattern making and geometry, old wooden puzzles, and cigarette tins that looked like they had been used as a school project because they were covered with a super-cool vintage contact paper that had been hand cut to cover the front of the tin. Anyway, Miette, Jules, and I trash picked and brought our favorite treasures home, cleaned them up and i think they will be some source of creative inspiration for me! After that, which was last weekend, we were heading toward the Mediatheque and just when I thought the kids wouldn't make it walking any longer, we saw that we could hop on the bus de mer and cross straight over there! The kids thought it was amazing, and as Julian is currently obsessed with anything having a motor (or fire), he was riveted by our little boat adventure, taking mental notes on every detail.

I've been noting the funny names everywhere that until recently I hadn't really noticed until one day, riding a bus, I looked out at the bus stop and noticed it was named "Patte d"Oie" which is more or less, goose-foot. Can you imagine an american bus stop being called goose foot? I need to write them all down, because there are funny names everywhere but the only other that pops into my mind at the moment is a kind of apple we just bought called "clochard" which means a bum/tramp/homeless person.

Yesterday we finally celebrated something resembling Thanksgiving. We met another american guy who is here doing his master's degree but did the same job as me last year and decided to get together and do "the meal". He and I were the only americans (and the kids of course) but there was also his russian friend Svetlana, his german rommate Felix, his french friend Juliette, and my australian friend Stephanie. i made mashed potatoes and brought bread and cheese, he made an apple pie and turkey, and there were also peas, corn, salad, and the closest berry-jam that france has anywhere near resembling cranberry sauce. We feasted and talked and felt at home with each other at by the end of the night, I felt closer to home and in the spirit of Thanksgiving. We even went around that table and said what we were thankful for before dinner. (Miette said she was thankful that daddy was coming soon and that we won't be staying here forever and also, she added, that we had enough money because everything was so expensive here.... heehee, I guess she's overheard enough conversations about he weak dollar....)The kids even watched Frosty the Snowman.

Today we woke up to the La Rochelle marathon passing outside our front window (All-ez, all-ez, all-ez!!) Next we went outside so Miette could try out the rollerblades she checked out from the Ludotheque in the church parking lot out back. When we came back, we dove into our respective books, mine being a new one Ryan sent me about motherhood and creativity called Mamaphonic, and Julian had a rare nap. We had a lovely evening stroll in the foggy moist air of the day and wandered back home as the sun set.