tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-206428002024-03-19T04:47:50.067-04:00Stand and DeliverRixahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07908864785513937876noreply@blogger.comBlogger3116125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20642800.post-41364278793570369832024-03-18T17:50:00.001-04:002024-03-18T17:50:14.889-04:00Doors and doctorsWe almost have the new front door installed in Le Chateau. Almost being the key word...We mortised the lock (no easy feat--it's narrow and deep and quite tall), rebuilt the door jambs, filled with wood filler, sanded, primed, and painted. The final coat of paint is drying where the hinges will go, which means we can hang the door tomorrow morning.
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Eric and I had a coffee date with another family (Canadian/American/Taiwanese) who are doing something similar to us, but with much younger kids. They had questions about doing the back-and-forth life. It was fun to have a break from work to just enjoy being with other people and talk about how we love Nice so much 🙂
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Inga got pushed during a soccer game yesterday and hurt her shoulder. It was bad enough that I made her a doctor's appointment this afternoon (although I think it will probably be fine, given some time to heal). We saw a new doctor because the ones we usually see weren't available.
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He was super friendly and funny and told us all sorts of stories about his cousins who are physicians in the US. We commisserated over the state of healthcare in the USA and agreed that the system here is so much better, despite some of the bureaucracy involved with French life in general. He also speaks excellent English (not that we spoke it, but in the course of his stories it came out from time to time) so now we have a great doctor to recommend to visitors.
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He ended the visit by telling us we were welcoem to come back, but only if we sang the American and Canadian national anthems for him. And for Inga, he requested the Marseillaise.
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As usual, we came away with multiple prescriptions: xray, ultrasound, and 2 medications (tylenol and an anti-inflammatory). Anything less would be shocking!Rixahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07908864785513937876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20642800.post-49627233744538572712024-03-17T18:31:00.004-04:002024-03-17T18:31:28.405-04:00Only 2 more days...My parents' visit is coming to an end. What can we do the next 2 days? Not all that much, since we have school. But we will definitely miss them!
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My dad is determined to hang the new front door tomorrow. We have to re-build the door jamb and quickly, otherwise we will have nowhere to hang the door! So that will be the first thing to do tomorrow.
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I stayed home today while everyone else went out; I wasn't feeling well and wanted to give myself some down time. I did a lot of work on the breech book and a bit of planning/sketching for the front door.
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I'm looking for a lot of decorative elements to make it look like an old medieval-ish door. It's a bit of a compromise because to truly make a medieval door, you'd take ginormous slabs of wood, nail them together with massive hand-forged nails, and hang it on massive forged hinges that embed into the wall. Well, we have a modern, square door jamb so that wouldn't really work. It is using more contemporary materials (custom butcher block countertop, in fact!) but with an old twist. It's the best we could do with the budget and time constraints we're working within.
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Zari's box spring broke a few days ago. She has been complainign that the bed makes funny noises and dips down in the middle. I pulled it out tonight and the whole thing was just coming loose and falling apart. It was fastened with big staples that had worked loose--not exactly durable construction! So we pounded everything back into place, used a lot of screws to stabilize and strengthen the joints, and repaired a broken slat. Good as new, and probably better!Rixahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07908864785513937876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20642800.post-30408346102961610972024-03-16T17:47:00.008-04:002024-03-16T17:47:52.922-04:00L'île Sainte-Marguerite
We had an amazing day drop to L'île Sainte-Marguerite, an island off the coast of Cannes and home of the famed prison of the Man In The Iron Mask. We had to be out the house by 8 am--way too early for a Saturday, according to the kids! But we made it. We had a brisk 30-min walk to the train station, caught the 8:45 am train to Cannes, took another 20-minute walk to the far side of the port, and then caught the 10 am ferry. A short 15-minute ride later, and we had arrived.
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We first visited Fort Royal, home of the famed prison and also a museum about ancient Phonecian and Greek maritime trade, complete with all sorts of ancient shipwrecked items found just off the coast of the island (as in, an easy swim away!).
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We had a lovely picnic lunch outside the prison and then started exploring. We walked across to the other side of the island to look at the underwater ecopark, accessible by swimming and snorkeling. The kids really want to come back in the summer so we can do that! Then we walked around half of the island, taking some stops to play on the rocks and thick matts of dead seagress, which can reach several meters thick. It's soft and springy and makes a great place for napping. (Yes, I speak from first-hand experience).
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We made it back to the ferry dock right before 2:15 and so we caught that one back. They come every hour. The wait at the Cannes train station was long, since the first train we were supposed to catch was cancelled last minute! We walked over 22,000 steps in all.
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We got home and I had a breech live session about 15 minutes later. I listened to it on headphones while we all ate dinner.<div><br /></div><div>My parents are at another concert (they went to one last night as well). <br /><br />
Oh, and I'm still feeling quite sick! But I decided to just set that aside today because it was a very important, and very fun, excursion. I promise I will take it easy tomorrow. </div><div>
I have videos but it's too late to edit them tonight. The kids took my phone for much of the day and there are lots of weird/silly photos.
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We're going on a family day trip tomorrow! I'm quite excited as it's rare we have an entire Saturday with no soccer matches. We have to get up early to catch a train and then a ferry.Rixahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07908864785513937876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20642800.post-17675433106570119182024-03-14T17:13:00.003-04:002024-03-14T17:13:59.400-04:00SickEric and I are both down with a fever/chills/cold/aches. Dio came home early from school, complaining of being very tired, and took a nap.
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I've stayed in the same spot on the couch all day, except meals and bathroom breaks. I got a lot more of the book written, though!Rixahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07908864785513937876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20642800.post-28423284893207804952024-03-13T17:03:00.000-04:002024-03-13T17:03:04.460-04:00It's been a busy day in just about every area...soccer for Eric and the girls, breech work and renovation work for me, running errands for me (3.5 hr trip to Leroy Merlin). And now Eric and I are both feeling a bit sick. I should probably go in bed soon and rest.
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My friend and her daughter left super early this morning, catching the 4:45 am tram to the airport.
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I wish I'd been able to get outdoors today. It was a gorgeous day.Rixahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07908864785513937876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20642800.post-13856725973251708662024-03-12T18:07:00.002-04:002024-03-12T18:07:54.510-04:00Hike, cook, eat, walk, eatI went on a hike to Eze with my friend and her daughter. We were on a schedule because we had to get back for a lunch reservation. But we did the whole hike up and down, plus visited the botanical gardens, and still got home on time.
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We all hustled to put together a lemon cheesecake before our lunch appointment. We chopped, smashed, zested, mixed, and stirred like mad and got it in the oven right as we were heading out the door. Eric took care of turning the oven off 🙂
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijwsZSVL-pJcJHvOYnX7reuB7BuLvRDZNouuh0mRYqL7hagMXW7QblO5ObAICviLwUZZE1br3c4C3gaAKGBVkSXzh0tx-BU0hxFFaD_bq7HSIEMeFqUEN2y5WiSFKdp5E6gO2n1-QVAcNEetSfAwc-60UDw_US3-5ipTMkQgHTdAc1lypwrZjssQ/s1290/3.12%20Rixa%20Emme%20walking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1275" data-original-width="1290" height="632" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijwsZSVL-pJcJHvOYnX7reuB7BuLvRDZNouuh0mRYqL7hagMXW7QblO5ObAICviLwUZZE1br3c4C3gaAKGBVkSXzh0tx-BU0hxFFaD_bq7HSIEMeFqUEN2y5WiSFKdp5E6gO2n1-QVAcNEetSfAwc-60UDw_US3-5ipTMkQgHTdAc1lypwrZjssQ/w640-h632/3.12%20Rixa%20Emme%20walking.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Lunch was delicious of course. Then we walked home, changed, and walked over to my bank to help my friend get started with setting up an account. We hit the typical French resistance ("it's not possible, go away" in so many words) but then with some more talking, it all became possible. It's magic!
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We also had to walk to a hardware store. I am still on the hunt for some kind of finish that will darken wood without making it look horrible. I have already tried 3 types of stain and they were all ugly. I think I found a winner; it's a treatment that gives wood age and patina.
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Anyway we had dinner (fajitas, thank you mom!) and then lemon cheesecake, which had barely cooled enough to set up.
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Oh, and our fridge broke today. It's only 3 years old and we've already had it repaired like 6 times. The part is arriving in a week (assuming it's the right part).Rixahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07908864785513937876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20642800.post-74273894057104183942024-03-11T18:00:00.002-04:002024-03-11T18:00:14.789-04:00Busy day! I was laser focused on my book all day until late afternoon. I finally came up for air when my friend and her daughter returned from their outing. The occasional "break" was going downstairs to photograph my baby doll for the book chapter I am writing. <br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWOfRAQx5xLyBVd59iQAcbzoafsaoaOWYu0x83FKPNOF2OFIwpe8eh3_M8OWmRfTqyWbJdw_yem8G7-PWvJU6Nb54mNeZOPXOuAETZdQuAKAvSiqzJlxqjZFzSGJkYjGBrpjGz9D_5Y2xdyUvHMFMJCsUujOQT0LS3LBM3zSOcQZ3Ub8n6ZTkAGw/s4080/Flats%20hands%20side.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="2296" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWOfRAQx5xLyBVd59iQAcbzoafsaoaOWYu0x83FKPNOF2OFIwpe8eh3_M8OWmRfTqyWbJdw_yem8G7-PWvJU6Nb54mNeZOPXOuAETZdQuAKAvSiqzJlxqjZFzSGJkYjGBrpjGz9D_5Y2xdyUvHMFMJCsUujOQT0LS3LBM3zSOcQZ3Ub8n6ZTkAGw/w360-h640/Flats%20hands%20side.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><br />She and I wired the 10 kitchen outlets--it was a fun lesson in French electricity. <br /><br />
We're going hiking tomorrow morning, which will be so nice after an intense day of mental workRixahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07908864785513937876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20642800.post-58839025767696361892024-03-10T18:26:00.004-04:002024-03-10T18:26:45.682-04:00More rain, then sunWith rain most of the morning, walking up to Cimiez was not a great option. But the skies were mostly clear by noon. We had lunch, watched an episode of Doctor Who, and then we all got out for a nice walk. We were going to visit the chateau, but all of the parks in Nice were closed today due to bad weather!
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Instead, we walked around the cap de Nice over to the lighthouse, then walked along to the very tip of the lighthouse. When we were standing at the end, watching the waves crash against the boulders and concrete blocks, we got hit by a rogue wave and inundated head to toe! My friend and I got the worst of it.
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyid-qAP1mzX2qSrEdsbD_4kC417qqCbu0uJmbpb3vWu500rXq5ahsp7XiPhdYsIwQy_VXJRoZrYXs' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyK38Q6HJ5xTsCdd-hdb9hf1smcfhPUWE36CRCd9TRbvF3Mbfool8Pu-SBvo4YD_cMgPdACa53Zklo' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div><br /></div>Eric and Dio and my dad were gone all afternoon at a soccer match in Puget-Theniers. Dio's team was ahead 1-0. With 10 minutes left, Dio subbed out (he was tired) and the other team scored 2 goals in those last few minutes!
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We had a fun game during dinner that my friend introduced to us, involving asking any random/silly/weird question and trying to guess the most common answer in the group. Mine was, "what is the aweseomest substance a snakebite could inject, rather than venom?"
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Well it's late and school starts tomorrow about our 2 week break. Bonne nuit!</div><br />Rixahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07908864785513937876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20642800.post-35676764256964893122024-03-09T16:48:00.004-05:002024-03-09T16:48:25.545-05:00Friends arrive, rain comes again, lots of soccerMy friend and her 2nd oldest arrived today! She was the first guest to stay in Le Chateau and helped me with an enormous shopping trip to Ikea last year. It's fun to show her some of the changes: light fixtures, countertops, upholstery, and other decorations.
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Soon after they arrived, I had to leave to bring Inga to a soccer game in Mandelieu. I got the car out of the garage with some hair-raising maneuvering (it's definitely a tight fit!) and then we had lots of traffic jams on the way, plus intermittent downpours.
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It sprinkled on and off during Inga's game (tied 1-1). The wind was also blowing and we were cold! We popped inside the buvette during halftime to get crepes and to warm up.
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Ivy had a game at Cavigal at the same time, and Eric was gone all day in Monaco with the Wabash soccer team. They had a friendly match against the U17 team (winning 6-3). Then in the evening, he and the whole team at at Chez Palmyre, a wonderful restaurant just down the street that is owned by our neighbors.
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We've been working on homework and Zari is having to make choices for French university applications. It's so hard to narrow things down!Rixahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07908864785513937876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20642800.post-17705749258410850442024-03-08T16:26:00.003-05:002024-03-08T16:26:57.009-05:00More rain!
Eric and the 3 youngest kids are watching an OGC Nice game with the Wabash soccer team. They had to bundle up in tons of layers since it's cold and rainy tonight. I might go to a mid-day game when it's sunny. But no thank you for cold, dark, and rainy!
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My dad and I installed the backsplashes this morning and it went very well. I was so relieved that I truly had measured everything correctly, down to the last millimeter. We'll let everything cure for 2 days and then we can finally have a finished kitchen.
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I went for a walk today and could hardly stay warm, and this was before the rain started.
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My parents brought Ivy and Inga to the Grotte du Lazaret, which my parents had never visited. They all had a great time.
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I have a friend and her daughter arriving tomorrow--so excited! I think we'll have Zari sleep down in Le Chateau on one of the daybeds and put my guests in Zari's room.
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It's a big soccer day tomorrow. I'm driving someone in one direction, my parents are taking another person on the tram, Eric is off in Moncao with the Wabash soccer team as they play a friendly match with AS Moncao, probably their U18 team.
Rixahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07908864785513937876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20642800.post-71780575697977627562024-03-07T16:27:00.000-05:002024-03-08T16:28:01.936-05:00Just 9 months lateWe were supposed to get our countertops and backsplashes in July 2023. Well, they finally arrived today! They are a light gray-veined quartz. A bit less veining than I would have thought from the pictures...but sitll beautiful.
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-BzygDH46C3JfMX99HzKpv1vSgOUA43z-dyHjB2lLwVSmbWq__0FUO-ukOlc8GTwrX5s-Mm5RBlO8cT2Y21SafAZHWEo5lwBzAhJmcCthVX5BagmghhuLxo1VspoDm4GW91gINgBQgNaQSSRXSbxQDCUYq-Usod0GV4cgcomljYjif5QMprWeLg/s2278/3.07%20countertops.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1101" data-original-width="2278" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-BzygDH46C3JfMX99HzKpv1vSgOUA43z-dyHjB2lLwVSmbWq__0FUO-ukOlc8GTwrX5s-Mm5RBlO8cT2Y21SafAZHWEo5lwBzAhJmcCthVX5BagmghhuLxo1VspoDm4GW91gINgBQgNaQSSRXSbxQDCUYq-Usod0GV4cgcomljYjif5QMprWeLg/w640-h310/3.07%20countertops.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />We got the 3 countertop pieces installed today. Tomorrow morning we'll put up the 3 backsplash pieces.
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I've done all sorts of things today, from going running to carrying and installing countertops, finishing the drawers in our sink, working on the breech book, running errands, installing the wood surround under the shower base, going to online meetings, making flyers...phew.
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Eric brought the Wabash students to the Grotte du Lazaret, a prehistoric site where homonids used to live several hundred thousand years ago. He then brought some of the more adventuresome students snorkeling! It's definitely chilly for swimming this time of year.
Rixahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07908864785513937876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20642800.post-11163967289000355542024-03-06T16:45:00.004-05:002024-03-06T16:45:30.651-05:00Wabash v Cavigal, Ivy still sick, fancy dinnerWow, yesterday was another day full with fun and interesting activities, and I realized as I was falling asleep that I forgot to write in my journal!
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Yesterday afternoon, we attended a friendly match (match amical) between the Wabash soccer team and the U18 Cavigal team. It was an intense game with very good levels of play on both sides. Wabash ultimately won 4-0, which I think everyone was pleasantly surprised about! They are a bit older on average than the Cavigal team, but the level of techincal play here in France is much higher than in the US, on average. So it ended up being well-matched.
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNvUWMcwM039BsTb-_vQb1wZUs4OHtuBfmBqA0nNuH8SorsoLSiCjGyEz3Rwg1EVRhpoTj2Nt3NVYJCJlSkQUH2-yiUaY5hyphenhyphennNQ_69TvBAMIMeTmriPDCmQV3t0sk-2TOOg7cy2pht_RabT6kRkmeKEL0BH1SmHiVyR1kxw2k9UlA2DwlpA3eb3A/s720/Wabash%20Cavigal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="720" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNvUWMcwM039BsTb-_vQb1wZUs4OHtuBfmBqA0nNuH8SorsoLSiCjGyEz3Rwg1EVRhpoTj2Nt3NVYJCJlSkQUH2-yiUaY5hyphenhyphennNQ_69TvBAMIMeTmriPDCmQV3t0sk-2TOOg7cy2pht_RabT6kRkmeKEL0BH1SmHiVyR1kxw2k9UlA2DwlpA3eb3A/w640-h480/Wabash%20Cavigal.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />All of us went to watch the game. It was also beautiful: cloudless, sunny, about 16 C.
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Ivy is now on her third day of fever, feeling worse today than the 2 previous days. Poor girl.
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Eric took the Wabash soccer team to St. Paul de Vence and showed them James Baldwin's house (or former house--it got torn down and turned into luxury condominiums). They rented several sets of boules from the tourism office there and had a great time playing.
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Eric and I went out to dinner with the two Wabash coaches and had delicious food. Sometimes I wonder how they come up with these amazing ideas and flavors!
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Lots of progress has been happening on both the breech book (working on Ch 10) and our bathroom (got the whole sink plumbed today, plus a thresshold shaped and cut for the new front door in Le Chateau). We also did some major organizing and decluttering, finally getting all of the bags of ski supplies back up in the attic ready awaiting the 2025 ski season.Rixahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07908864785513937876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20642800.post-17423915357432443542024-03-04T17:29:00.001-05:002024-03-04T17:29:21.935-05:00MonacoWe took a half day trip to Monaco, spur of the moment. Eric was busy in Monaco with the Wabash soccer team and we didn't cross paths. Their group went to the rock, saw the changing of the guard, walked around the Old Town (palace, church, etc), and visited the casino (where the students won 200 Euros!). Then they went to Le Diagonal of AS Monaco, a soccer training school and center. Apparently it was an amazing visit and experience. It's where Mbappe was trained and still comes back every year.
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We just did one thing: the Musee Oceanographique! It's an aquarium and an oceanographic museum. I haven't been for many years. The kids had so much fun rediscovering the museum and exploring the temporary interactive display about the North and South poles. We decided to buy annual passes since it was just the cost of two visits.
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We rode the bus there and back--going, it was nearly empty. Coming back, lots more crowded. Ivy was feeling sick during the afternoon in Moncao and complained about being cold. This girl is NEVER cold so we definitely knew something was wrong. She was feverish by time we came back home and spent the rest of the evening huddled in blankets.
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Eric had to go out again in the evening because the soccer team had a practice at Cavigal, in preparation for a friendly match tomorrow.
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It's quite late so pictures and videos will have to come tomorrow!Rixahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07908864785513937876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20642800.post-92201728388019866652024-03-03T17:30:00.010-05:002024-03-04T17:33:38.988-05:00Happy 13th birthday Inga!Inga's birthday was such a big day that I didn't have any time to write about it!
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After lunch, we headed to Caranval. We have actually never gone since we moved here in 2014. It used to be held out in the streets, but after the terrorist attacks, it became a closed event. I had never quite been motivated enough to buy tickets, wait in line, go through security...until this year. We finally decided it was time to go at least one time. We went to the Bataille des Fleurs. Ivy and I dressed up because why not??
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhLgaz3VldFvBURLm6pnJKiZy4HaLFc_x-BdXszmLRABQWcZzeVR8uO8N1wi-foiVV2yqwNtfdtT26ArXed1ug960Pz73HHurx2DvWXMn-sZcUvwOPoGZMrjdJAzFAc4_gcm5E7XaEcMCjujJhXRHcIwnOyVG5tIxDwyadQKIxu-3v6NaFpTc1Mg/s4080/20240302_153015.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3060" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhLgaz3VldFvBURLm6pnJKiZy4HaLFc_x-BdXszmLRABQWcZzeVR8uO8N1wi-foiVV2yqwNtfdtT26ArXed1ug960Pz73HHurx2DvWXMn-sZcUvwOPoGZMrjdJAzFAc4_gcm5E7XaEcMCjujJhXRHcIwnOyVG5tIxDwyadQKIxu-3v6NaFpTc1Mg/w480-h640/20240302_153015.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXtWOq5bGqvuzgjW-HHSLHXAFGx7BO94LK1JvFOL1RAKuM_xPfyg3fhifMdB5o6SRJfBe759blf6lpd3sjrnCu2HIrtMf4_8mDfeqVNIsPxEeIcUsEbzlVwOgNtiuuRIBOVqNqEPt5hAgXLiXVVwTQrx03DSDkIxBrZesQYgS0dYXN9BpTt1duow/s4080/20240302_153010.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3060" data-original-width="4080" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXtWOq5bGqvuzgjW-HHSLHXAFGx7BO94LK1JvFOL1RAKuM_xPfyg3fhifMdB5o6SRJfBe759blf6lpd3sjrnCu2HIrtMf4_8mDfeqVNIsPxEeIcUsEbzlVwOgNtiuuRIBOVqNqEPt5hAgXLiXVVwTQrx03DSDkIxBrZesQYgS0dYXN9BpTt1duow/w640-h480/20240302_153010.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-gHRJgV55hiH4sK-zgaV1RkivsarZPJRfZFYEJ6262FK0B42jbLKnHAn6dLp_nV4FLyfMu8CnnMq4lPf5ZEO3gwCsBdNTIAlMFWybXesu8WeKvPpYJGVbN-b7y1pFkB6JRUe0pwFKpaH-CExfEfSuxr2SMdUvauSfjFYjdBKWJIkByaKzVAV5TA/s4080/20240302_102052.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3060" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-gHRJgV55hiH4sK-zgaV1RkivsarZPJRfZFYEJ6262FK0B42jbLKnHAn6dLp_nV4FLyfMu8CnnMq4lPf5ZEO3gwCsBdNTIAlMFWybXesu8WeKvPpYJGVbN-b7y1pFkB6JRUe0pwFKpaH-CExfEfSuxr2SMdUvauSfjFYjdBKWJIkByaKzVAV5TA/w480-h640/20240302_102052.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj398OpaZXLzDipa_OC-WU68fmUP14TxcdAM7uXlwMViF0bOL0Gi-it3Yz2rzFaGmhZmODRv1WnEwaFwokjHGDkqilu7cWVvensvrxPWm9iHxSEK4TK7fWvsCuMfZev_gJQyVXLJC8IgSKJes29YzYOLVHKbMBKwRjl3semG9iP3fK-gc42YChiFw/s4080/20240302_102019.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3060" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj398OpaZXLzDipa_OC-WU68fmUP14TxcdAM7uXlwMViF0bOL0Gi-it3Yz2rzFaGmhZmODRv1WnEwaFwokjHGDkqilu7cWVvensvrxPWm9iHxSEK4TK7fWvsCuMfZev_gJQyVXLJC8IgSKJes29YzYOLVHKbMBKwRjl3semG9iP3fK-gc42YChiFw/w480-h640/20240302_102019.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />We had to leave early to make it to the movie theater--Inga wanted to see Dune 2. (We got ready for it the night before by watching the first Dune movie!).
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We got home, had a late dinner and birthday cake, and then headed back to to the the burning of the king on the beach. We accidentally arrived 30 minutes early, which turned out to be a good thing otherwise we wouldn't have been able to see anything. Right before they lit the king on fire, it started raining!
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Today was a massive tempest--rain, hail, thunder, huge waves. There were huge bursts of thunder in the middle of the night. Gusting rain today, so much that you got wet in all directions at once. Eric took his Wabash students around to see the Musée Masséna and came back soaked.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxEj2Uwsv7VR6SU8lsRqEE1E4-Ze8kA2RFYsSV0nPDkXY0V5qlGdNRTodWlYBKExS7OX8BSy4Rys-o' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div>Rixahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07908864785513937876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20642800.post-63573629875055714902024-03-01T17:29:00.001-05:002024-03-04T17:30:11.271-05:00Chamonix ski week, Day 6: Change of plans...and back in Nice!We originally planned on skiing a half day and then driving back to Nice in the afternoon/evening so that Eric could be in to prepare for the soccer team he is bringing to Nice. But...we woke up to rain! It was probably snowing higher up, but there was zero visibility on the ski cameras. So we decided to just pack up and head home in the morning. We were on the road before 10 am. I'm glad we did; it gave us some time to unpack and settle in.
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I drove in our car with Eric, Dio, and Zari. We got home at least an hour earlier than my parents and Ivy and Inga. They had more stops, plus Ivy puked, plus my mom was driving a bit slower (understandably--it's in a foreign country and it was raining).
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Right when we got home, I built some big shelves in our basement storage area so we could put our cartop carrier and all of the skis up on the shelf and off the floor, making more room for our bikes. I got the whole thing done, with some help from my dad!
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We have loads of laundry to do...so many things to put away...
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Oh, and tomorrow morning we will officially have THREE teenagers because it's Inga's birthday! How did that happen?Rixahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07908864785513937876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20642800.post-69485833989417906562024-02-29T14:43:00.002-05:002024-02-29T14:43:30.635-05:00Chamonix ski week, Day 5: Sun and avalanches!We decided to do something different this morning and headed to Brévent-Flégère, a pair of south-facing resorts high above the city of Chamonix. We have skied there in previous years, just in one small area of Flégère and never in Brévent. Because it is in full sun all day, we knew the snow would be soft.
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The two resorts are connected by a gondola that goes across a valley. We headed up on the Flégère side, traversed over to Brévent via a very steep and slushy red run, and then skied all of the reds on the Brévent side. We skipped the blues since they would be too easy and too crowded. There was one big black run at Brévent that we also skipped, since the snow was so bad.
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We headed back to the Flégère side, getting frustrated at the long wait times for the return gondola and the little chairlift that brough us back up to the base level. We did one last red run and then took the gondola back down to the valley. Lunch time...and time to head back to Les Grands Montets, where the snow is still amazing (higher elevation and north-facing = great snow).
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We had a fantastic afternoon of skiing the upper runs. The most exciting thing of the day was seeing an avalanche happen in real-time just across one of the valleys. I heard a big booming, rumbling noise and saw the avalanche start pouring down. Now we've officially seen two avalanches in Chamonix: one of rocks (back in 2016 when we were hiking in the late spring) and one of snow.
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My parents took a day trip up to the Aiguille du Midi, which they quite enjoyed. We tried to go a few years back--it was included in our ski pass--but the weather was so bad that it was never open the entire week!
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We have a half day of skiing tomorrow and then we have to head home early. Eric is bringing the Wabash socccer team over to Nice during their spring break, and they arrive at 11 am on Saturday. Driving back to Nice at 4 am that day would be cutting it close, so we decided to head back on Friday afternoon instead.
Rixahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07908864785513937876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20642800.post-3269272130201654252024-02-28T15:39:00.001-05:002024-02-28T15:39:06.763-05:00Ski week in Chamonix, Day 4: More clouds!We thought we would have a mostly sunny day, but instead we had clouds most of the day. They moved a lot--sometimes lower, sometimes higher, but never entirely gone.
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But it was a great ski day anyway. We had a few runs where we couldn't see anything.
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In the afternoon, we traversed and then hiked waaaay high in order to find fresh powder with no ski tracks.
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Eric thinks he may have cracked a rib 2 days ago. He was traversing on top of some big boulders along a very narrow path and his skis slipped off. He fell onto a big boulder, bounced off it, and then landed in the powder. It hurts a lot when he sneezes, does jumps, lies on it, etc.
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Zari was feeling under the weather this morning, but she still came and ended up staying the whole day.<br><br>
My parents went on a few hikes today. One of them ended up having too much snow--they would have needed snowshoes or crampons.
Rixahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07908864785513937876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20642800.post-24087492155826326012024-02-27T17:03:00.001-05:002024-02-27T17:03:33.331-05:00Ski week in Chamonix, Day 3: Plan A & B
By yesterday evening, I was tired and sore and wondering how I could handle another day of skiing. And then I woke up somewhere around 3 or 4 am and never got back to sleep. I was Grumpy Rixa in the morning. But things improved. I had plenty of energy all day and even felt better than the day before.
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We started out by going to a different resort just up the valley (all part of the same ski pass). We usually ski there once every year. We went up the gondola to the base, took the main chairlift up, and promptly decided that we were Les Misérables. It was horribly windy and cold. The snow wasn't great, either, and there were still long lines. Ugh.
So we headed straight back down after just one run. We drove back to our favorite resort because we knew the snow was good and it was protected from the wind. We ate an early lunch on the way so that we could ski the rest of the day without interruption.
There was a heavy cloud cover starting at 2200m altitude, just above the middle area of the resort (where the first gondola ends and the next set of gondolas and chairlifts depart). We knew what that meant--skiing blind!
We first stayed right under the cloud over, taking the smaller chairlift runs and doing fun jumps, etc. Then I convinced the kids to go all the way to the top via gondola and ski down. They reluctantly agreed, and once we entered the dense clouds, they wanted to back out. Nope, we were doing this!
We broke out of the clouds just as the gondola reached the top. (Cue angelic singing--it was amazing to see). We traversed over to our favorite area, still largely unskied. We had a few glorious moments of deep powder skiing...and then we entered the Clouds of Doom.
We could hardly see each other and not at all where we were going. Fortunately we had skiied off-trail enough in this area to know that eventually we'd find our way back to the run and that we were pretty unlikely to hit any cliffs or drop-offs. We still had to be careful about avoiding rocks and tricky spots.
We were all relieved when we spotted the red poles marking the run. We still had to ski very slowly since we couldn't see anything at all! But we stuck together and, despite me having a weird moment of vertigo while skiing while essentially not being able to see anything, we made it down.
We did the middle chairlift runs again until it was time to head home. We all had plenty of energy left so we skied the last long run all the way to the very bottom. It went from winter skiing at the beginning to slushy spring skiing at the end!
We went in the hot tub, ate dinner, watched Doctor Who, and (poor Dio) did some homework. I handwashed laundry in the bathroom sink and I think we're set for the rest of the week except a pair of socks here or there. Rixahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07908864785513937876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20642800.post-88650215430368841062024-02-26T15:03:00.001-05:002024-02-26T15:03:32.353-05:00Ski week in Chamonix, Day 2<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JqHPHQIJEWg?si=DggvaCuIyNXxxlzR" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>Rixahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07908864785513937876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20642800.post-47576051117960881572024-02-25T15:00:00.000-05:002024-02-26T15:02:07.371-05:00Ski week in Chamnoix, Day 1<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-SBwlLoCyCY?si=w8ZIif-Tx-W0VWa8" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>Rixahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07908864785513937876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20642800.post-91256908920239232272024-02-24T16:54:00.005-05:002024-02-26T15:01:44.215-05:00Hello from Chamonix-Mont-Blanc!We made it here with some delays and other (mis)adventures...first off, my mom got all the way to the rental car agency (a 30-40 minute drive) and realizing at the ticket counter that she could did not bring her passport and could not rent a car. Eric had to drive her back to our house, pick up the passport, and drive her back, then drive back home again. Then we had a number of traffic jams. But we got in just after 6 pm, in two cars and all in one piece.
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The apartment we are renting is near our favorite resort. And the most fun thing--it has a balcony with a hot tub! Eric forgot his swimsuit, though. I have a pair of running capris that I offered to lend to him. I spent a long time in the tub with Ivy, Inga, and Dio.
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On the down side, there is no washing machine. We'll be doing a lot of handwashing. I cannot understand why you'd have apartment with no washing machine! We can barely go a day without doing a load of laundry. We certainly did not have space to pack 7 days' worth of clothes, plus all of the coats, snow pants, boots, skis, poles, etc. And food for 8 people for a week. It was truly a huge load that we packed into the cars.
Rixahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07908864785513937876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20642800.post-10695744136619220062024-02-23T17:26:00.000-05:002024-02-23T17:26:14.825-05:00We're mostly packed for ski week! The goal is to leave tomorrow morning around 9 am and we'll see how close we get to that goal...
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I did a bit more hanging-out-the-window-on-a-harness this morning. Some meetings, some video editing, lots of errand running.
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And a fun break mid-day to eat at a restaurant with my parents and someone who contacted us after reading the CNN article.Rixahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07908864785513937876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20642800.post-80913011465674162442024-02-22T17:29:00.002-05:002024-02-22T17:29:08.799-05:00Just another morning, no big deal, I strapped myself into climbing equipment and stood on a window ledge a few floors up to do some repairs around the windows.
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My dad was very concerned when he heard what I was going to do. "Don't worry, I am over-engineering everything!" I used 1-ton towing straps as my support and caribiners rated at several hundred kilos. "I will be fine."
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Ivy had a fantastic time at the school Carnaval. Zari has been expressing a desire for a costume and finally she pulled everything out of our bin (not many choices here). Nothing was quite right. So she got creative and made herself a newspaper costume. Pictures tomorrow if I can remember!
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I had several hours of breech meetings in the afternoon.
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It rained all day, sometimes just a sprinkle (when I went running this morning) and other times a downpour. Poor Dio was a soccer practice and came home squelching.Rixahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07908864785513937876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20642800.post-72329715790244031152024-02-21T17:02:00.001-05:002024-02-21T17:02:08.684-05:00Ivy's school is celebrating Carnaval tomorrow. She and I went hunting for supplies to make a flower crown. We found the perfect flowers (artificial, sorry!). She helped me make the base out of twisted electrical wires, then she painted it with gold paint. Then she and my dad attached all of the flowers.
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Eric got all the ski clothes out of the attic. Our living room is now overflowing with coats, snow pants, gloves, and hats.
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The box hiding the water/electric is totally done! I put the last coat of poly on this evening. Now on to converting an antique dresser into a sink...Rixahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07908864785513937876noreply@blogger.com0