Life has accelerated, between the kids finishing school, nonstop guests, nonstop illness in at least one member of the family at any given time, and packing up for the annual Freeze Family Migration. We leave in 36 hours!!
Inga's best friend and her mom have been visiting for the past 2 weeks, from our town in the US. It's been lots of fun--she's basically another Freeze child, as we like to joke.
My roommate from my 5-month study abroad in Jerusalem came and visited with her husband and 17-year-old daughter. I hadn't seen her since Dio was a baby, and before that not since we were in undergraduate! It was fun to catch up on life after all these years.
They left late last night and Inga's best friend and her mom are coming tomorrow for 2 weeks. Then we leave for the States! It's going to be a crazy few weeks.
Ivy got a voice lesson from her and had a severe case of the giggles! She could hardly sing.
Last night I wasn't feeling well around 10 pm and by time I got in bed, I had a high fever. I was super sick all night, so much that I couldn't sleep. I stayed up reading until about 4:30 am and finally got about 4 hours of sleep.
Eric is sick, too, but with a cough rather than a fever.
Somehow I kept going today and even did a lot of video editing. It actually helps to keep busy to stay distracted from feeling sick and tired.
Thursday, June 25, 2026
I've been off the radar for the past few weeks between running a breech retreat, then a breech workshop, then getting on an airplane and presenting two skills workshops at ICM in Lisbon, Portugal. Then I came home and got sick!
Dio and Inga have their big exams tomorrow: the bac de français oral for Dio and the brevet for Inga.
I managed to play for a marriage proposal in Eze. Can't let life get too boring, right?
Eric and Inga left early this morning for an all-day tournament in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat . Eric came back mid-day to bring Ivy to her game in Cannes, then they went back to watch Inga's last game. Her team played 5 games and Inga scored 5 goals! Ivy's team lost 2-1 after being ahead 1-0 for all but the last 5 minutes.
I've been getting ready for the upcoming breech retreat next week. The first two guests arrived today and one more is coming this evening (I'm hosting them in the two apartments downstairs).
Zari has her first yacht job tomorrow! It's just one day but still--very exciting. She's helping out on a boat going to/from Saint-Jean and Monaco during the Grand Prix. She was told to wear a standard yachting uniform--skirt and white polo--so we went shopping today. While we were at Decathlon, I also bought her 2 pairs of hiking pants and new running shoes.
She's nervous because she doesn't know what to expect. But the person hiring her knows that she's new and I figure that they'll tell her what she needs to do! It's a fairly small boat and from what she's been told so far, she will mainly be there to greet guests and assist the captain.
My brother left yesterday and is visiting Paris for a few days before he goes home. He's single and available if there are any older men interested 🙂 Every year the goal is to find him a "sexy French boyfriend."
My violin's fingerboard is touching the body of the violin, which is not good! I don't know how long it's been doing it, but the strings are super far away from the fingerboard ("la touche") and I don't remember it being like that last year.
I brought it to a local luthier. He was really puzzled because there's no cracking or loosening that would explain why it's happening. He did find some other areas of the violin that had come unglued, so he fixed that. I have to bring it back after he gets back from vacation to fix the fingerboard issue. It involves a bit of major surgery but he's very good and very affordable.
His shop was stuffed full of violins, violas, cellos, half-made instruments tucked in every shelf or corner, violin cases piled 4 high and 4 deep. And a very cute cat that let me pet it for a bit.
Ivy came back from a week-long "classe verte." Right after getting off the bus, she said, "Can I go back?" She loved it! They had lights out at 9:30 pm with pretty strict rules about going to bed. As a result, she said she slept super well and always woke up spontaneously at 6 am.
I did some sanding and priming in the staircase and got Zari to do a bit as well.
My brother leaves tomorrow...our local ice cream shop will miss him. I don't even know how many times he's taken the family out for ice cream! We said that next year we should create a bingo card for all of the flavors at the store (close to 100) and see if we can come close to filling it.
Zari's friend and I made lemon cheesecake today. Zari was going to help but we had some free time while she was at a job interview.
Speaking of which...she got called for an interview for a job working as an assistant to the police (patrolling on bike)...and once she got there, they realized she wasn't a French citizen and were sad to have to tell her no! They were super excited about having someone bilingual and I think they would have given her the job.
We had a huge thunderstorm roll through this afternoon, making it feel like late evening. I love hearing the rain and thunder with the windows open...
It cleared up in the evening, with a gorgeous sunset. Zari kept stopping to ask me to take pictures. Of course they look even more stunning in real life.
Zari has an interview for a police job she applied for! It would be full-time in July and August, serving as an assistant to the municipal police, patrolling mainly on bike. Hopefully she makes the next cut. It's this Thursday. She's also been doing training for the bike tour company, which at the moment means going on the tours to learn the routes and the scripts.
I've made great progress towards getting German citizenship by declaration, and I've confirmed that my grandmother's case falls within the requirements! I have someone who is helping us fill out all of the applications, which we hope to send off in the next 2 months. This means me and all 4 kids could become German citizens!
When I started taking German in 9th grade, with my classroom name Gitta (a shortened form of my grandmother Brigitta), I never imagined I could actually become German! Thank you to the 2021 amendments to the German Nationality Act (StAG)!
Ivy left this morning for a week-long trip in the mountains with her school class. It's called "classe verte" (green class). She's rooming with her 3 best friends; they even bought matching pajamas for the trip.
She called me this afternoon during the few minutes of phone time they get every day (from a friend's phone--she doesn't have one): "Hi mama, I wanted to let you know that I'm not dead and I'm having a great time. Okay, I have to go, bye!"
Now that Dio's and Inga's schools have had the "conseil de classe" and given out final grades, very few students keep attending. Dio is going just to his specialty classes plus French. It's a weird system because school doesn't get out until July but essentially learning ends at the end of May, since most students stop going to class as soon as grades are posted. Why don't they either do grades until the end or just actually end school earlier?
I was up early this morning so I went for a run rather than trying to get back to sleep.
Zari got called for the next round of interviews for a job with the municipal police. She's super excited. It would be full-time in July and August and much of it on bike. She's also going to be leading bike tours part-time starting in a few weeks. Not as ideal as having a full-time job right away...but she's making progress.
Sunday, May 31, 2026
Inga and Eric came back from Poland yesterday, only to turn around straight from the airport and head to another soccer game! Ivy joined Inga's U15 team and they scored 3 goals between the two of them, for a win 5-2. This win means their team moves up to regionals next year!
We had a relaxing day today, with some time at the beach and then making homemade pasta with my brother. We went for an evening walk to the port to fill up our water bottles with sparkling water. I got in over 17,000 steps. Not bad for a relaxing day!
Friday, May 29, 2026
Morning run-swim with my brother, Zari, and Dio. My brother said, "During the run I was hating my life but now I'm loving my life" (as we're floating in the sea post-run).
Inga had her 2nd friendly match versus Poland; she played in the first half, which ended 0-0. Her team scored 4 goals in the second half!
Dinner was shrimp, salmon croquettes, fries, and sauteed green beans, with some fancy cream puffs for dessert that a friend dropped off as a thank you for lending her air mattresses. My brother also treated the kids out to ice cream later in the evening! We all walked to the beach to enjoy the ice cream and moonlight. It was truly magical with the full moon sparkling on the water.
Zari's friend from Toronto arrived early this morning around 4 am. She's super nice and we're thrilled to host her for the week!
I took some head shots of Zari for her CV and yacht applications. They turned out pretty well!
Eric and Inga fly back to Nice tomorrow and then turn around immediately to drive to Hyères for a soccer game! I'm the backup driver in case Eric's flight is delayed.
Wednesday, May 27, 2026
Morning run-swim with Zari and my brother...a good workday (mostly video editing)...cooked fajitas for dinner...dessert was patisseries from Lac, which we brought back home and cut into 1/4ths so we could try 4 different desserts each.
We've not been hit too hard by the heat dome currently over Western Europe. It's 27-29 C here, which is hot for June but not crazy hot (July & August are usually 30-32 C). We're actually one of the coolest locations in France right now!
Inga's team had their first friendly match yesterday with Sweden, which they lost 0-2. Bummer...Inga played about 20 minutes.
Sunday, May 24, 2026
Eric is in Poland so he can watch the 2 friendly games on Tuesday and Friday. Due to the flight schedule of the really cheap direct flights, he had to go today as there were no flights tomorrow and Tuesday's flight would have arrived after the game.
He got to see Inga today for 30 minutes during their allotted "family" time. She's doing really well and loving it, although feeling intimidated (in a good way) by the level of the other players.
Here's a sample schedule from yesterday.
Those of us still around went to the beach in the later afternoon. My brother has a friend who is staying with him for almost 2 weeks--he arrived today.
I have to get up super early tomorrow to take Ivy to a RDV point for an all-day tournament. She's carpooling with another family since I had lots going on with work and it would have been hard to take the whole day off.
Saturday, May 23, 2026
Inga is having a great time at the U16 soccer camp. The girls are "next level" and she has already made great friends with the francophone girls from Quebec, comparing French vs Quebecois words. She loves the amazing meals at the hotel. She is made to drink so much water that she is peeing all the time. Pictures of these compression cuffs she has to wear post-practice.
Eric heads to Poland tomorrow to watch the 2 matches.
We organized a beach afternoon with a big ice cream party afterward. Dio and 2 friends met up with a new friend (son of my friend back after school just finished) and they went cliff jumping past La Reserve. I sunned myself, swam for a while with Zari and my brother, and talked with my friend for a long time.
I did some sanding in the hallway so another wall is now ready to prime and paint.
My brother made a delicious dinner: deconstructed pan bagnat, an Italian pasta dish with a pureed chickpea sauce, and green beans sauteed with mushrooms.
I had meetings from 8-10:15 pm tonight! Glad to off the computer.
I went running today since I missed going yesterday.
Inga did her oral Blanc (preliminary oral presentation) today and it went well, although she got really nervous right before it started and worried that she'd forget entire sections or lose her train of thought. It's about sexism in women's football in France.
Oh--super exciting news that we can finally share!! Inga was selected to go to a training camp in Poland to represent Canada’s Women’s U-16 National Team! She leaves in 2 days. She'll be near Gdansk (Danzig), where my German grandmother was born.
Canada Soccer name 22 players to CANW16 camp in Poland
Canada Soccer’s Women’s U-16 National Team to play against Sweden and Poland
Canada Soccer has named 22 players to represent Canada’s Women’s U-16 National Team (CANW16) for a training camp in Poland, set to take place from 20–30 May. The group will travel to Gniewino, Poland before facing Sweden on Tuesday 26 May at 14:00 local time (8:00 ET / 5:00 PT) and Poland on Friday 29 May at 11:30 local time (5:30 ET / 2:30 PT) at Mistral Sport.
The camp is part of Canada Soccer’s continued work to increase international contact time at the youth level, providing players with experience against European opposition as part of the women’s youth national team pathway.
Technical Program Lead Danilo Veselinovic highlighted the importance of balancing immediate performance objectives with long-term player development, using international opportunities to support individualized growth and help maximize future potential within the women’s youth national team pathway.
“We are excited to announce a roster reflective of our commitment to long-term player development, incorporating bio-banding principles to support individualized growth opportunities and meaningful exposure to high-performance environments. This UEFA-initiated Development Tournament in Poland provides a valuable opportunity to assess and accelerate potential in alignment with both short- and long-term development priorities.” – Danilo Veselinovic, Acting Director, Technical Strategic Projects
Led by Jesse Acteson, the selected squad features players born on or after 1 January 2010, including seven with previous CANW17 experience.
“This camp is an exciting opportunity for this age group to get together for the first time and grow in an international environment. Facing quality opposition in Sweden and Poland will provide valuable experience. We're excited to see the group compete and grow throughout the camp." -Jesse Acteson, Women’s U17 Interim Technical Project Lead
Canada’s youth teams will compete at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Poland 2026™ in September, followed by the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Morocco 2026™ in October.
How did we get so old?? I don't feel like we're old enough to be celebrating 52!
We went out to lunch at a new restaurant called Zari. It's beautiful...but the food was very underwhelming (alas). But we had a lovely view of the sea and a super nice waitress. We asked her more about the origins of the restaurant's name, explaining that our daughter was named Zari. She brought us a book about the restaurant owners (Ukrainian) who have all sorts of restaurants, hotels, and resorts in Ukraine and decided to open their first restaurant in Nice.
The staff all wore lovely t-shirts, and I asked if we could buy one. She came back and said, "They're not for sale...but I can give you one!" We have a very generous tip to "pay" for the t-shirt.
Eric went spearfishing in the afternoon. His spear is slightly askew and it pinged off 3 fish instead of actually spearing them as it should have. Time to get a new spear.
I made Peruvian chicken with spicy lime mayonnaise for Eric's birthday dinner. We sent the kids to Lac to pick out a birthday cake.
Eric is out playing soccer with his men's league. Zari and I went for an evening walk. It started to rain but it wasn't very heavy and it was so beautiful walking around the port, seeing all of the lights, watching a huge ferry depart, fully lit up.
Ivy had a tournament in Villeneuve-Loubet, and her team won first place. They played 6 games.
I've been helping Zari apply for lots more jobs. I think she felt guilty seeing me do a lot of applications so hopefully this spurs her to take over more! I just want her to find something soon so she can earn enough money to pay for next year of university.
Inga is memorizing her oral presentation for the Brevet Blanc, and Dio is studying for a history test. Something about gender roles from prehistoric times to today, particularly changes in gender roles in France in the past few centuries.
Ivy came back this evening from 3 idyllic days in the mountains...trampoline, biking, driving golf carts, watching movies, listening to a huge thunderstorm with snow visible on the mountain peaks, eating tons of delicious food...
Dio walked to Monaco today with two of his friends. They hung out for a while and then caught the train back home. I love that where we live, you can just walk out your door and say, "Hmmm, I think I'll walk to Monaco today." In a few hours, you're there!
Inga had an away game, winning 6-0. She scored 4 goals.
I sunbathed and read at the beach for a while this afternoon. It felt amazing.
Ivy was invited for a long weekend to a friend's house up in the mountains. She and 2 other friends were going to catch a train together in the late afternoon. She already had another activity (hiking near Escarene) during the day but she was set to get back with time to pack and meet her friends.
Then mid-day, they changed the time to an hour earlier but I didn't see the messages. Plus Ivy was already gone. I only knew when one of the girl's moms called me at the tram station and said, "Where is Ivy? We are going to catch tram up to the train station!"
Uh oh. She was still in Escarene at that point, with Eric picked her and Inga up. They drove back home while I hurried to throw some things into a bag for her. I got everything except a toothbrush.
Then I had to get on the tram and pray that I'd make it to the train station on time! Eric and Ivy arrived 5 minutes previously and got Ivy a ticket. Eric met me at the platform and we ran together across the tram lines and down a staircase.
We arrived exactly when the train was supposed to leave. Fortunately it was 2 minutes late so we had just enough time to pass off the bags and snag a quick photo.
