Sunday

Hello mes amis,

And happy Sunday! I woke up to the sound of pouring rain and promptly made an executive decision...to roll over and sleep a little longer. It was a good decision. :)

I enjoyed a relaxing morning, took a nice walk once the sun appeared, then met a friend for coffee (mint tea for me) and a little catching up. Afterward, a(nother) nice walk home followed by a healthy dinner (for once!) then a nice quiet night in. Ah, Sunday.

For all this and for my furry loves who are so happy to see me even when I've just been gone for an hour or so, I'm grateful today. (Of course, I'm always super happy to see them too!)

I should also be grateful for parenthesis, huh? ;) And you...what are you grateful for today? I'd love to know!

bisous

Tiny bubbles

Hi friends!

Happy Friday! I'm having a little celebration this evening, complete with a glass (or two) of chilled, bubbly deliciousness.

First I'm grateful for (and drinking to) the fancy footwork of Bouygues Telecom (a name I never felt compelled to learn how to spell until recently) for getting me back on the grid. Next, I'm grateful for the last Friday 4pm to 6pm class that I have to teach for at least 6 months (whew...the students aren't the only ones who struggle through those classes). And I'm also grateful for a day in which I did not use my umbrella even once. I had it with me, of course, but I never had to take it out of my purse. This I could get used to. And I hope to have the opportunity in the very near future to do just that.

Ah, the weekend. Rain in the forecast for Paris, comme d'habitude, but the temps have risen slightly, so at least it's not freezing cold rain. And I am sure that one day very soon we will see spring come back to our most lovely city bringing with it blue skies, sunshine, and warm weather. Fingers, toes, eyes, and anything else that can be are crossed!

Here are some lovely tulips for you. Enjoy!

bisous

At long last....internet!

Hey friends,

This is it!

This is the post that I've been waiting three months to write. And today is the day...the day that internet, telephone, and television service finally returned to chez moi. Can you BELIEVE it?! After all this time, I can finally add to my gratitude journal that I am thankful for having these three things. Of course, the internet is the most important followed by the telephone--like they say, you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone. But today I again joined the land of the connected, and all I can say is hallelujah and man am I grateful!

I'm also so grateful for the friends who have helped me through this pain-in-the-rear period by either letting me use their internet (or their internet passwords, ahem), letting me use their phones, writing letters for me that are way beyond my ability (legalese, etc.), or just being sympathetic to my (non-stop) whining over all this. Merci mille fois, mes amis!!!

What else am I thankful for today? Picard comes to mind. I've mentioned Picard before--the amazing frozen food store that has incredibly good frozen foods of ALL kinds. Really, I have to thank Monsieur or Madame Picard because they keep me well fed even when I don't have the time or feel like putting in the effort.

Finally, I'm grateful that I can come here and express my gratitude. And I'm grateful to those of you who share your gratitude lists with me. Thanks for hanging in there...I'm back!!! :)

bisous

A shift in the right direction

Hi friends! Or should I say strangers...

I keep waiting for the day when I can post that my internet problems are finally resolved, but that day still has not arrived. I am hopeful that this week will bring the right resolution to the main problem and all of the related problems...so fingers crossed everyone!

For some reason, this year got off to a rocky start, but recently I've started having the feeling that something has shifted and in the right direction. Overall I feel better about "things" in general. This is super-good news for me.

So gratitude...I'm grateful for this wonderful shift from negative to positive. So very grateful. I'm grateful for some sunshine and blue skies in the midst of all these April showers we've been having in Paris. I'm grateful for the end of another trying school year at the business school where I teach (grateful for the work when I have it, grateful for the break when it comes). I'm grateful for an upcoming (June) trip to see my sweet Mom and Dad! I miss them so much!!! I'm grateful for having found a delicious red nail polish that works on my pale skin. I'm grateful for my generous friend who shares Mad Men with me. And so many more things, but I'll stop there for now.

Thanks for sticking it out with me! Remember to keep your fingers crossed!

bisous