Giant Robots in France

Last night, as we were watching The Godfather in bed while M was thrashing about on her air mattress in the next room, I heard a noise outside. It got steadily louder, and eventually we had to turn up the sound on the iPad so we could still hear the movie. It was roughly 10 o'clock, and there was some sort of marching band in the hotel courtyard. This is not an uncommon occurrence. We often have late(ish) night visits from screaming children, crowds of skate boarders and a few on roller blades, and occasionally there are bands that wander the city streets. It reminds me of New Orleans.

About a half hour later, we turned out the lights. As I adjusted to the pitch dark, can't-even-see-your-hand-in-front-of-your-face-blackness that is this hotel room at night, I heard another noise. It wasn't the band, because there was no accompanying racket. It sounded sort of like the scene in Jurassic Park where Jeff Goldblum (swoon!) is in the jeep and hears the t-rex's footfalls. It wasn't terribly loud, but it sounded like it was coming from maybe a half-mile away and it could have been loud there. This is the conversation that ensued:

Me: Do you hear that?

J: Hear what?

Me: Well of course now it has stopped.

Two minutes later:

Me: There it is again!

J: It's that band again.

Me: No it's not! That was music, this is more like evil giant robots.

J: What? It's just the band.

Me: No! I'm serious. This sounds like evil giant robots stalking around outside, coming for us.

J: You have an inflated sense of importance.

Me: I didn't mean us personally, just us as in everyone. They're coming to take over the whole world and they're making their way through the city.

J: Why would they start in a small town in France?

Me: Maybe there are simultaneous attacks all over the world right now and we're just in ONE of the towns that they're in.

J: Go to sleep.

Me: (In my head: Can't sleep. Giant evil robots will get me.)

Maybe not working and not having an outlet is starting to get to me.

The Most Romantic Thing Ever

"Though still in bed, my thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved, now and then joyfully, then sadly, waiting to learn whether or not fate will hear us ...

Yes, I am resolved to wander so long away from you until I can fly to your arms and say that I am really at home with you, and can send my soul enwrapped in you into the land of spirits ...

No one else can ever possess my heart - never - never - Oh God, why must one be parted from one whom one so loves ... Your love makes me at once the happiest and the unhappiest of men (*women) ...

My angel, I have just been told that the mailcoach goes every day - therefore I must close at once so that you may receive the letter at once ...

Be calm - love me - today - yesterday - what tearful longings for you - you - you - my life - my all - farewell. Oh continue to love me - never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved.

Ever thine,

Ever mine,

Ever ours."

... The Immortal Beloved Letters, Ludwig van Beethoven

Can you imagine feeling like this? In this day and age of email, cell phones, text messaging... Where this world of communication is literally at our fingertips... Can you imagine waiting weeks, sometimes months for a handwritten love letter from your heart's one true desire? I can't. To be so long without word from your soulmate would be sheer torture. Which is probably why pure love songs, sonnets, epic poems are no longer written anymore. It's sad.

Also, Beethoven's hair was pretty awesome.

Two Years Later...

Life goes on. You go to work, you cook meals, you don't post blogs even though you've told yourself you would. C'est la vie.

We're living in France. J took a job with a well established company and we jumped at the chance to have MJ learn French and be an adorable world traveler. J has been here for almost two months in an extended stay hotel. We got here three days ago. MJ seems to be adjusting fine, sleeping when she should be and starting to eat well again after a few days of picking at every meal. The bed in the hotel is much firmer than I'm used to (as in sacrificial altar firm) so I'm not sleeping too well. The food though... Man, the food is delicious. Of course with my limited (read: almost nonexistent) French, dishes come out looking different than I had envisioned them, but I'm fine with that. I had a 'salade oce

ane' last night that was the most delicious meal in recent memory. Crunchy romaine, sliced tomatoes, corn, cold boiled shrimp, smoked salmon and a creamy dressing.

I'm hoping that this little chapter helps us become a better family unit. I had to quit my bar job and I can't get one here, so I'll be on the same schedule as J. MJ will start school here, and I will be home to make her and J lunch and dinner and we'll just be able to spend more time together without me being tired all of the time. Here's hoping.

Double Yikes.

Does anyone else think this is the most disturbing ad ever?

Yikes.

Man, the wheels sure came off at work last night. My favorite bartender is moving and it was her last shift. Drinking started at about nine, a full four hours before closing. I only had a shot or two before closing, but everyone else was getting into it full swing. Once we were officially cleared out of customers, we lured Laura outside on the pretense of hanging out, but it was really to douse her with a stock pot of iced simple syrup, raw eggs, lemons, cherries, olives, etc. There was also a trash bag of shredded paper involved. Ah, the way we show our affection for our co-workers. Hey, I'd be hurt if I didn't get it on my last day.

At any rate, there was an awesome impromptu dance party that involved lots of 80s music and Michael Jackson, and of course, lots of drinking. I'm not even sure what time I got home, but I'm pretty sure I'm in the dog house with J. In my defense, he was out until 2:30 a.m. last week and now there are questionable photographs of him on Facebook. Don't worry, we'll have a discussion when he gets home from work.

I just put MJ down for her afternoon nap, and she had a good ol' time on the back porch in her little inflatable pool before that. I had to beat back (i.e. kill) several disgusting looking spiders before I would let her out there. Ick, I hate bugs. I love the big trees around our house, but man, do I abhor the spiders that come with them. Blech. They mostly look like this one, but are funnily-colored and HUGE. Supposedly not harmful, but I'm not taking any chances.

The South

Just got back from three days in Savannah with J and Baby Girl. Wow, that was so much fun. We walked everywhere, ate tons of seafood, and took MJ to the beach for the first time. She seemed to enjoy it.

It's funny to see that the eighties haven't died out. We saw an amazing amount of Camaros and Mustangs, complete with permed mullet-having drivers. There was also quite a few overweight people, which after three days of Paula Dean inspired food, I completely understand. I haven't weighed myself yet, but I'm sure I've gained a couple of pounds.

I almost cussed a guy out at the beach. He was pretty young - didn't look more than twenty, and was following a toddler around. The little kid went for someone's toys, and the guy told him no, grabbed him by the arm, very roughly pulled his shirt over his head, and walloped him once on the bottom. Now was that really necessary? I mean, I think that sometimes kids deserve a spanking. But this baby wasn't more than three, and was just going after a toy. He didn't know it wasn't his. At that age, the world is your oyster and anything you're interested in is available to you, at least as far as you're concerned. Maybe I'm just overprotective.

Well, tomorrow it's back to the grind. Working at the bar Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, followed by who knows what next week. I love my job, but dang, three or four days in a row sure can burn you out quickly. At least I had a few days to recharge with the family. :)

Mosquitoes and Puppy Dogs

Busy, busy. J got up early to take his car to the shop and I stayed home to cook breakfast for MJ. We all went to Target and IKEA to pick up odds and ends - a bookshelf for toys, one panel of curtain we were missing, a dish-drying rack. We stayed out much too long and ended up with a cranky toddler that needed a nap. She crashed on the way home. We also tripped to Lowe's and the grocery store. Lowe's seemed like it was an easy trip. We bought some spare keys for the side door, and a mailbox, which J was going to install himself. Huh.

He asked for my assistance in holding the post he was hammering into the ground with all the force of Thor wielding his mighty hammer. Not such a bad thing, because I trust him, but he had poured warm water into the hole to soften the ground. I promptly get soaked in mud. Once he gets it going, I ramble through the yard to dig up weeds. I promptly get eaten alive by mosquitoes. Why is it that I was out for twenty minutes and get ten bites and he's out for an hour and doesn't get any? Maybe I'm just too sweet. (HA.)

MJ was super fun at the grocery store. She has a little stuffed beanie dog that she just adores, giving him kisses and hugs. His name is simply "Puppy Dog". Although J is extremely creative, none of her stuffed animals have acquired silly names. Our reasoning is that maybe she'll learn the proper names of animals quicker. We're probably full of crap.