French apartment renovations, Day 578: More painting, Avatar, and the end of 2022

14,264 steps

Wow, I slept in until 9 am! Almost unheard of for me. I went running and then painted the 4th coat (3rd finish coat) on the mezzanine ceiling. I hope this coat finally looks uniform. If not, I'll have to swtich brands of paint and do 2 more coats. Please NOOOOO!

We all went to the coulee verte in the afternoon. It's been a very temperate winter so far. Daytime highs are often around 15C (60F), which is so pleasant. The kids played badminton and soccer.

We had a quick dinner of moules frites (mussels & fries) before heading to see the second Avatar. We went to a new theater that was 4 tram stops away. We decided to walk there and would have taken the tram home...but the next tram would have been such a long wait that it was faster to walk home, too!

I enjoyed the walk. Ivy and Inga were babbling nonstop about Avatar and the streets were lively. It's New Year's Eve, after all.

French apartment renovations, Day 577: Painting & winter carnival

8,131 steps

More painting! I got the 2nd finish coat on the ceiling...but it might need a 3rd coat because I had to swtich brands of paint between the first and second coats. Both were flat white paint but they are slightly different, enough that the ceiling still looks patchy. Argh. I also edged the walls with the first finish coat.

The kids went out exercising while I was painting.

I had a Zoom meeting later in the afternoon, and then I went with the kids to a winter carnival. Inga was invited by a friend, and they had an extra pass. But the kids couldn't decide who got to go with Inga, so finally Eric decided that they could all go and I would buy tickets for the other two.

However, when we got there, Zari and Dio quickly decided they weren't interested. It was a typical carnival--bright lights, noise everywhere, crowds of people, churros and cotton candy. Half was outdoors and half was inside a truly gargantuan arena--bit enough for the enormous rides. So in the end if was just Inga and one sibling!

I treated Zari and Dio to a pastry of their choice on the way home. Dio chose a vanilla eclair, Zari a mini buche de noel, and me a pain au chocolat.

Eric had a pickup soccer game this evening, which was really fun. The kids got to bed about an hour later than usual, but , hey, "it's vuh-cation!" as Ivy always says.

French apartment renovations, Day 576: More painting, grocery shopping

I went running this morning, a bit late getting started but sleep is good, right? Then I painted the whole first coat on the mezzaine ceiling. It will need a second coat; there are some slight variations in sheen after primiping + 1 coat.

That brought me to 2 pm. Inga came back from her sleepover right as I was finishing up. I don't even want to know how late she stayed up. "But we slept until almost noon so I actually got enough sleep!" she said. Time for a late lunch and then grocery shopping with Eric.

Dio went biking with a friend, and they ended up going all the way to the airport and back.

Inga caught up on an episode of Boba Fett, and then we all finished off the season together by watching the last two episodes. Zari said, "I just want to see more baby Yoda."

French apartment renovations, Day 575: Painting, so much painting

We all slept in today--I was up maybe by 8:30 with most of the kids, Eric by 9, and Zari I had to wake up close to 9:30! Eric hasn't been sleeping well lately so he was so happy to feel well-rested today.

I went straight downstairs to work on the Communist apartment, not even showering first because I knew I would get dirty. I started with sanding, then did tons of painting, and ended the day with some spot caulking. The entire space (underneath the mezzanine and the two big bay windows) is primed. 2 more coats to go!

I had a little break in the afternoon after eating lunch and showering. I needed more paint stripper (décapant) but the place I usually buy it at no longer stocks it! Oh well...it was nice to get outside. I got my painting clothes back on and finished in time for dinner.

While I was working in the afternoon, Eric took all of the kids out to the coulée verte for a lively soccer match.

Inga is at a sleepover today. We watched two more episodes of The Book of Boba Fett.

Eric cooked tonight (paella) and we got to eat the crème brûlée that I mixed up last night. Yum.

I wish I had pictures but I haven't been recording my renovation work lately. I should remedy that...anyway it's just painting things white so it's not super exciting.

French apartment renovations, Day 574: Painting & parks

I got all the kids to come help in the morning. I didn't have quite enough tools for everyone, so Dio did about 5 minnutes of work and Zari went back up. Ivy and Inga helped prime the walls (Inga with a paintbrush, Ivy with a roller). After about an hour of helping, I sent them up and spent the rest of the morning painting solo.

We all went to the chateau after lunch for some sunshine and fresh air. Eric and Dio napped, Ivy and Inga both had friends with them. I read a book.

I prepared dinner (roasted sausages & fennel with red wine & mustard sauce) and went down to paint for another hour. I came back spattered. So much painting to do...and we're just doing everything underneath the mezzanine for now. No point in painting the rest of the walls until we have the wood ceiling restored and painted.

We watched two episodes of Boba Fett after dinner.

French apartment renovations, Day 573: Boxing Day (which is totally irrelevant over here)

My Boxing Day was not full of gift-buying. It's not really a thing over here as it is in Canada. I went running in the morning, then walked to Ciffreo Bona to buy a 25 kg bag of MAP, which I then had to carry home in our shopping cart.

We told all of the kids they had to exercise today. Zari chose to go running, while the other 3 kids did PE With Joe.

I spent the afternoon working in the communist apartment, sanding down the bay windows and spreading joint compound in a few areas that needed touchups. Next, I spread paint stripper on two cupboard doors. While that was working--very stinky!--I did some touch-up sanding on the walls. Then the stripper was ready. It only ate through the first layers of dark brown paint, leaving a few more layers to go. I need to buy more paint stripper.

I had a Zoom meeting around dinnertime to talk about a paper I'm co-authoring with Stuart Fischbein.

Eric was tied up all day working on his video game writing book. The kids were begging one of us to go out with them, but we told them they needed to go themselves today. (I hope that I can get enough work done tomorrow morning that I can go out with them after lunch.) They decided to go to the chateau. Inga practiced with her new bow & arrow set and Zari made a short video.

We finished the evening watching the first episode of The Book of Boba Fett.

French apartment renovations, Day 572: Christmas!

I heard some kids stirring about half past 7. Not bad! I got out of bed at 8 am and even Zari was up soon after.

Eric always writes down a list of everyone's presents. The big hit his year were these origamic magnetic cubes that morph into all sorts of shapes. Inga is playing with one at the end of the video.

Some stress mid-day when Eric crunched the front of our car into a barrier that hadn't lowered completely...also some quiet time basking in the sun at the beach. None of the kids wanted to come so we just went all by ourselves. They were having too much fun playing with presents.

We had a Freeze family zoom gathering/trivia night. Fun but it kept our kids up way too late.

Dinner was mousse au canard, green beans, sourdough rolls, and Beef Wellington.

French apartment renovations, Day 571: Christmas Eve!

No renovations today--it's Christmas Eve! Eric and I spent the morning running errants, from Cannes to Saint Laurent du Var to Nice Nord. Some were renovation-related, some were Christmas-present related.

Eric had a few more trips in the afternoon to buy a few last presents and to purchase food for dinner...all seafood!

We walked around Old Nice to see the nativity and the Christmas decorations in the coulee verte. Then we ate dinner and watched an old Christmas movie, "A Christmas Story." (My family never watched these types of movies, but Eric's did. So our kids are getting a cultural experience, as am I.)

The kids have instructions not to wake anyone before 8 am. I'll probably be up but Zari said, "I will DEFINITELY not be awake at 8!" She groaned when I told her that 8 am was fair game.

French apartment renovations, Days 569-570

Last night I went in bed early to read and ended up not getting back out again. I sanded down the walls yesterday except a few parts that weren't quite dry.

Today was Christmas prep day. Zari and I headed to the butcher shop in the morning to buy a filet mignon (for Beef Wellington) plus meat for a few other meals. We got a jovial butcher who, after I had ordered the filet, asked how I was preparing it. I gave him a quick summary of how it's put together. Then he said,

"What time are you eating?"

"Sunday afternoon."

"Good, that works for me! I'd love to come eat it with you!"

We got a good laugh at that.

I sent Zari home with a heavy bag: filet mignon, 6 chicken thighs, and 3 kg of ground pork (for larb, which we ate tonight). I continued on to Lidl to stock up for the next few days.

After lunch, Zari and I went shopping because she still needed to find a present for Dio. We found something and a few little things for the girls. So she is now done! The 3 other kids finished their soccer camp this afternoon. Lots of pictures from this past week! Dio was a hit with the other kids--they all called him "Haaland." 

We watched a Christmas movie tonight, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Zari was not impressed with humor from the 1980s.

French apartment renovations, Day 568:

10,562 steps

I applied smoothing compound (enduit garnissant) to the two big front bay windows. It should be ready to sand tomorrow. That took all morning. I was listening to the rain while I worked--which meant the 3 kids at soccer camp were out in the rain all day! They came home wet but in good spirits.

Zari and I went Christmas present shopping and found things for Ivy and Inga. No luck for Dio, though.

We watched 3 more episodes of Wednesday, so now we have just 3 more left to finish the season.

Eric and I were able to go on a walk after putting Ivy and Inga to bed.

French apartment renovations, Day 567

13,405 steps

We have officially re-started our renovation count. I worked all afternoon, grinding off old iron shutter supports, scraping loose paint off the window frames, and planing down the frames until they lined up with my laser level. Zari helped by vacuuming the floors. I'm amazed my hair or clothes didn't catch on fire with all the metal grinding I was doing!

We all exercised today in some form: Ivy, Inga, and Dio at soccer came. I went running my normal 5k. Eric did a quick run along the Promenade, and I told Zari she had to run without stopping to the Negresco and back. She grumbled but did it. She's been taking weightlifting this past semester and has developed more muscles, but she still needs to work on her endurance.

Once the kids were back from soccer camp, I brought Ivy to go Christmas shopping for her siblings. Inga was very sad because I had told her we could go, but she needed to shower and I told her I'd take Ivy while she showered. We debated about going once Ivy and I returned, but finally we decided to watch the last two episodes of The Mandalorian instead. Inga found presents online and got everything ordered this evening. Now it's just Zari left for needing to buy presents for her siblings.

Soccer and other activities

6,057 steps

Ivy, Inga, and Dio went off to soccer camp all day. Zari had an activity with some other teenagers, assembling and then handing out food & care packages to the homeless in central Nice. My day was quiet and fairly tedious: mostly bookkeeping and accounting.

I can't think of what else to write about for today! Oh, I also napped this morning because I woke up earlier than I would have liked. Tomorrow I'm determined to start some renovations and to go running.

World Cup & Lebkuchen

About 10,000 steps

What a game! I wasn't actually all that interested in it until the last part of the second half. France was down 0-2 most of the game. With just 10 minutes left, Mbappé scored twice, evening the score and amping up the energy. It went into overtime, with Argentina scoring again and then France. Then it went into a shootout, which Argentina won.

Our TV feed was about 20 seconds ahead of the feed outside in the pub. So we had fun cheering and then hearing the crowd outside erupting into cheers as soon as our own celebrations had died down.

We baked and frosted all of the lebkuchen dough during the game.

Eric woke up at 4 am and, after trying to get back to sleep, decided to get up and do something productive: grading. He crawled back into bed a few hours later, just as I was waking up. I had a quiet few hours and finally started waking the family up well after 9 am. It took several tries.

I think I'm mostly adjusted--this was the first night when I woke up at the right time.

I did my usual 5K run. It was sunny and temperate, enough that I took my jacket off after the first kilometer.

Ivy had two soccer games late morning through mid-afternoon. Dio and a friend went to a skatepark with their scooters. They said it was so packed that they hardly got to go on anything. So finally they gave up and came back home via scooter (it's a fairly long tram ride away, or a 45-minute walk). Inga got invited to go rollerblading and then to something called a Fête Foraine--basically a big carnival with lots of rides.

Zari was the only one who didn't have something going on. I convinced her to run some shopping errands with me so we could make Lebkuchen. We had to get some spices (cardamom, allspice) at the Asian food store and other ingredients at a nearby grocery store. I have a big batch of dough mixed up and in the fridge.

We watched 3 epsiodes of Wednesday--it definitely gets two thumbs up from everyone in the family. Zari said, "Ugh, if it turns out there is a love triangle, the rating will go down." (Honestly so much of Wednesday's character reminds me of Zari, or at least of things that I know Zari will find amusing--the biting wit, the disdain for social conventions.)

And...the biggest excitement is coming tomorrow...the World Cup final with France vs. Argentina! We are having a friend over to watch the game with us. He's French and his wife is Argentinean, and she has already arranged to watch with a group of her Argentinean friends. They cannot watch the game together--too much at stake :) We will, of course, be cheering for "les bleus."

I remember 4 years ago when France won the World Cup and the absolute madness afterwards. We wandered around the streets right after the victory. The most memorable moment was a buck naked (and very drunk) man sitting on top of a convertible that was slowly driving down the street.

Last day before holidays!

7,682 steps

I almost went running this morning. Key word: almost. Maybe tomorrow. I keep waking up 2 hours earlier than I'd like. Eventually things will even out.

It was still raining this morning but finally stopped after the kids went to school. By late afternoon, we even saw the sun peek out!

I ran a few errands, not that they were pressing but mostly because I was eager to get outside.

This evening the girls and Eric had a dinner event at Cavigal. Dio and I stayed home, cooked hamburgers, and watched some shows together (an episode of The Mandalorian and then a Mr. Bean movie).

Back to school

With everyone back in school, we're getting into our normal rhythm. But just for one more day--then we go on winter holidays for 2 weeks!

The kids came back from school with postive reports all around. I'm so thankful that our re-entry this time was smooth. We weren't sure until the last moment if Zari would be re-admitted to the same high school but it all worked out.

Eric, Inga, and I all woke up early. Eric in particular was up for several hours before he wanted to be, which meant he took multiple naps throughout the day. I had an involuntary nap after lunch. I just couldn't resist it.

It rained all day. The kids came home soaking wet for lunch and soaking wet after school. I haven't seen the sun since we arrived, which is abnormal for Nice. But I hope the rain down here translates into lots of snow up in the Alps!

We are going through our stuff as we unpack, trying to get rid of unnecessary things. With 6 people living in 65 m2, we can't keep too many things. (Ok, if we add in the attic bedroom that we can't stand up in, it's maybe 75 m2 / 800 sq ft.) We are giving away many of the toys: wooden train set, wood blocks, duplos, brain flakes, marble run, wood play food...crib bedding and baby blankets...a big bag full of clothes Ivy has grown out of....

I had to do some minor bricolage today in our own apartment. With our heat pump system offline, we had to use our old heating system, which consists of one wall-mounted electric radiator and two towel heaters. Yes, that is the entire heating system for our apartment. We don't heat the back two bedrooms except for whatever heat gets thrown off by the dehumiditer and the towel heater.

Our one wall-mounted heater was fritzing out, so I disconnected it entirely and removed it. Where the cable used to come out of the wall, we now have an outlet box installed, which we are using to power a freestanding radiator. I also pulled out an oil-filled radiator from our attic to help heat the living room. We're feeling fairly cozy now.

I also made another shelf in our shoe cupboard because we were out of space. OF COURSE it wasn't just an easy rectangle. It was a complex trapezoid with a rectangle cut out of one corner to go around some electrical conduits. But I got it figured out and it fit perfectly.

Jet lag & 4,501 steps

Eric and I were up by about 6:30 am. I had a good night's sleep and felt reasonably good today. Zari started school right away this morning, so she didn't get to sleep in. The other kids were out. We finally woke them up at 10:30 am and they were VERY hard to rouse.

She was nervous and stressed before she left the house, but all sorts of people recognized her and welcomed her back. She has several friends in her classes. I think she'll be fine.

Inga, Ivy, and Zari also had soccer practice this afternoon. I came at the end to help with grocery shopping (there is an Aldi close by). We now have a well-stocked fridge and pantry, complete with about 15 kinds of cheese, several varieties of cured ham, and a sampling of various meat terrines.

There's still so much unpacking to do. The house is messy as we're trying to put things back in their proper places. Ugh, it's so stressful to have such a mess. But we're slowly making our way through all of the bags and boxes.

We watched a few episodes of The Mandalorian. Eric and I have already seen it, but the kids hadn't yet.

Life will be even busier tomorrow--everyone starts school! They didn't have to, since there are only 2 days left until the winter holiday, but we wanted them to meet their classmates and teachers.

Rixa's epic voyage

This picture says it all...we are in Nice, finally! I am so sleep-deprived that my whole body is shaking. I sincerely hope that I can sleep tonight.

Breech tour du monde, day 34: On the way to France!

Breech tour du monde, day 33: Traveling home (back in the USA)

I am in the strange limbo where tomorrow is today and my internal clock is discombobulated. I made it to Chicago and am waiting for my last flight. Then I may (or may not) sleep tonight and we head off at noon tomorrow for France!

Breech tour du monde, day 32: Traveling home (Auckland to Indianapolis via Chicago)

I got in after 3 am last night. The plane was late, plus it took a long time to pick up bags and go through biosecurity. I spent the night at the staff guest house at Nga Hau Mangere Birth Centre (one of our teaching locations), quite close to the airport. It was a little house next to the birth center with two bedroom suites and a shared living room and kitchen.

I was the only one staying that night and appreciated a comfortable bed. It still took me a while to fall asleep, and I was up earlier than I would like.

I had planned on going out for a run or a walk, but it rained all day! I stayed in, talked to Eric and the kids, and did video editing until my Uber came at 5 pm. I decided not to get any food until I arrived at the airport, since my schedule was already so mixed up with the time change from Australia to New Zealand.

I'm waiting to board the big flight to Chicago. Already quite tired...

Breech tour du monde, day 31: Traveling home (Adelaide to Auckland)

We're still afternoon here, but I won't have the opportunity to update once I'm on the airplane. I left my friend's house at 11 am and had an easy transfer to the airport. No rush, no stress. I flew to Melbourne and am now waiting my connection to Auckland.

I'm glad I double-checked my departure information because last night it said 4 pm and today it said 2 pm!

Here's a picture from our hike in the national park yesterday. This was near a waterfall lookout point (the waterfall was dry!).

Breech tour du monde, day 30: A sunny day off

I woke up in the middle of the night to a nightmare about the kids being kidnapped and held for ransom. I was up for a while after that, reading, and finally fell back asleep as the sun came up.

We had a nice walk in a national park nearby through eucalptus groves. We didn't spot any koalas, unfortunately.

At lunch we met up with a mutual friend--my host's midwife and someone I have known for a while and who I last saw in person in Ottawa in 2009! We caught up and basked in the sun. Especially me. I have been so cold this past month that it was amazing to soak in the heat.

Late in the afternoon, I strolled around the little downtown village nearby, full of quaint little shops and cafes. I might go back tomorrow when everything is open.

Breech tour du monde, day 29: Last day of teaching!

I am done! I'm so tired that I will leave you with some pictures from old textbooks that one of the midwives brought with her today.

Tomorrow will be fun: visit a state park in the morning and meet up with a midwife (and my host's midwife) in the afternoon.

Oh--David and I got to cross something off our bucket list today: we saw a real kangaroo in the wild! It was sitting on the side of the road. I would be very disappointed to visit Australia and not have seen a kangaroo.

Breech tour du monde, day 28: Arrival in Adelaide

We had a trouble-free travel day from Perth to Adelaide. I was up yet again around 4 am...but since we are jumping forward 2.5 hours, it works out perfectly in our new area!

I'm staying with a friend who lives up in the hills above Adelaide. We met via our blogs when I was pregnant with Zari and she was pregnant with her 3rd and last child. We met for the first time in person 5 years ago when their catamaran was stranded in a little island, Frioul, off the coast of Marseille. We had a lovely day there seeing their little boat, walking around the island, and swimming (I remember that the kids swam but it was a bit too chilly for me, and I huddled under a towel).

She gave me and David a tour of their Japanese-inspired house and gardens. They have a little stream running through their backyard, which then slopes up to the ridge of the hill. It's all very forested and secluded, but quite close to the center of their little town. I may go have a walk when I have some free time to explore the shops.

What an interesting world we live in, where friendships can start halfway around the world, meet somewhere else in the world, and pick up again another halfway around the world.

I made a dark chocolate tart for dessert...it's fun to cook just because I want to, not because I have to!

My last day of teaching is tomorrow, then I have one day off to rest and do something fun. I'm starting to get VERY excited about going back home--it's now a reality rather than something quite far off.

Breech tour du monde, day 27: Small group, good times

With only 11 people today, we were spoiled. We got to give everyone tons of hands-on time and do all of the activites together, rather than splitting up and switching stations. I enjoyed having the break from pushing a baby out for 10 hours straight!

We leave early tomorrow morning for Adelaide, which is my last stop before I fly home (via an overnight in Auckland). I can't believe it's already coming to a close! It's a bit silly that I've been in two countries halfway around the world for nearly a month and I still have only done something touristy for one afternoon (hiking). Ah well...

I was up again at 4 am. That's fine, though. Our next stop will bring us 2.5 hours forward, which means 6:30 am. That's usually when I'd be getting up for a workshop!

Here is another picture from Brisbane. Sorry, no time to take pictures today! I hope some attendees will send me theirs.

Breech tour du monde, day 26: A perfect way to wake up in Perth

I was up by 4:30 am. Soon after, I got a message from BWB's treasurer: she had received a piece of mail from a charitable foundation and was wondering what she should do about it. I guessed it was a donation for our organization and told her to open it and let me know what was inside.

A minute later, she sent me a picture of a letter giving us carte blanche to use the funds where the need was greatest....and an ENORMOUS donation. A "holy forking shirtballs" kind of donation! (Nod to "The Good Place")

I quickly messaged our Board of Directors to share the news. We're buzzing with ideas, most of which involve using the donation to train providers in resource-poor areas of the world.

We'll make an official announcement soon, once we have sorted out how we're going to use the funds.

Today's workshop was fabulous. Wonderfully engaged attendees, great discussions, lots of laughter.

We taught in an old Girl Guide hall, straight from the 1940s or maybe even earlier. I felt like I should go out and build a campfire and pitch a tent. The back half of the hall was a cross between a quonset hut and a military bunker.

I don't have any pictures from today's workshop yet, but I do have more from Brisbane.

Breech tour du monde, day 25: (Mis)adventures on the way to Perth

I barely made my flight to Perth this morning. I got to the gate as they were doing the final boarding call. David, alas, did not make it. He was behind me during checkin, but by time he brought his bags to the drop-off counter, it was too late.

He had to buy a new flight ($$$) and come a few hours later. What a day.

It's hot, dry, and sunny here. I went running after I got checked into the airbnb. It was a high of 29C (85F) and I only lasted about 4 km before I needed to walk. I maybe could have kept running but I felt sapped.

Here are a few photos from yesterday's training with a very enthusiastic midwife.

Here's hoping I don't wake up at 3 am tomorrow...alas, it's pretty likely given the time zone change.

Breech tour du monde, day 24: Brisbane, day 2

Our main classroom is situated above a Hindu temple. Incense and chanting were wafting upward throughout the day. The weather was beautiful, perfect for opening all of the windows and allowing the breeze to blow through.

We had a lively group with many midwives who were obviously close friends. One came from 4,000 km away in Darwin!

I woke up early again, but I managed to get back to sleep until a more reasonable 5:30 am or so. We change time zones again tomorrow, so I'll be back to waking up at 3 am 🙁

I have to stay awake long enough for our laundry to dry. Then it's time to pack and get everything set for an early departure (6:45 am) and a 5-hour flight to Perth.

Breech tour du monde, day 23: Marathon training day in Brisbane

Today's workshop was one of our larger groups, although we were missing a few attendees. I woke up at 3 am again--ugh. It was difficult to make it through the whole day. It gets light outside around 4:30 am, which made it impossible to fall back asleep.

I'm now sitting in bed at 8:45 pm and feeling completely exhausted. But I need to stay awake a bit longer in the hopes of resetting my internal clock.

We have another big group tomorrow, probably bigger than today's! Then we fly across the country to Perth.

Breech tour du monde, day 22: Rain rain rain in Brisbane

I woke up at 3 am and read for a while, then finally got back to sleep until 6 am local time. It's been a quiet work day. I caught up on emails, ran payroll, made new flyers, and did other breech-related tasks most of the day. We also had a breech live session, which went very well.

It will be very intense for the next 10 days: teach 2 days, travel 1 day across the country, repeat a few more times. Then I fly home and then I fly to France! Yikes!

I was able to talk to everyone back home while they were eating dinner.

We had an impromptu visitor this evening by someone who works with a materntiy care advocacy group here. It's amazing how we get to meet all sorts of people whose work intersects with what we are doing!

On a whim, I submitted photos to the My Heritage AI generator. Here you go!