My brother is en route and arrives tomorrow morning! We are looking forward to lots of adventures and treats and maybe even "quatorze boules de glace" (an ongoing inside joke about buying ice cream at Fenocchio's).

We have some family friends staying the night in Le Chateau before my brother arrives, and they invited me and Eric out to dinner. Eric had soccer, so lucky Ivy got to be the 4th person.

I had my last eye exercise appointment, doing a "final exam" and comparing the results with when I first started. Everything is within normal physiological limits now, so the exercise classes worked! I asked the practitioner why and how he got into that orthoptics and he used to work in wine making! But with the downturn of wineries about 15-20 years ago, he started looking for a second career and chose this one.

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Inga's back at school and back to normal. Phew. She forgot to bring her signed note, though, and I got an email from the school. Even if you phone in their absence, you still have to fill out a form in their "carnet de correspondence."

Zari has another big test tomorrow, as does Dio. He's been memorizing history facts about the American revolution and I hear him reciting things to himself about the "Boston Tea Party" but pronounced the French way.

Ivy's rainbow dress arrived today (used via Vinted) and it was way better than in the pictures. She's so excited for the "Boum arc-en-ciel"! She's been making loads of bracelets and necklaces and earrings to accessorize.

I have finished my "eye exercise" class and have the final evaluation tomorrow. He'll retest everything and compared to the beginning, but he's pretty sure I won't need any more sessions.

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Happy 51st birthday Eric!

We didn't have huge decorations or anything fancy. Somehow 51st birthdays don't get the attention that 50th birthdays do! But we did have a birthday dinner (homemade chicken pot pie) and 6 different pastries from Lac for a birthday cake. And we watched an episode of Andor together after dinner.

I went to Dio's soccer game this morning. He scored the first goal, a penalty kick (which I missed; I was still en route) and they won 5-0. They had a "goûter" afterwards where the coaches gave little thank-you speeches.

Eric and I got out this afternoon for a walk, plus I had my normal walk up to Cimiez. So I'm well over 13k steps even though I only walked to Cimiez one-way instead of round-trip.

I'm sewing several sets of stirrups for our obstetric simulators. Here are the scraps from cutting out the pieces. The fabric is left over from Covid, when we were sewing and wearing masks. (Remember having to wear masks outdoors? Yeah, that was a crazy time.)

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Escape game

Inga wanted to do an escape room for her birthday. More than 2 months after, we finally had time to do one! This was a WWI-themed game, in the trenches of Verdun. It was more like an escape compound, with multiple rooms and doors. (My German great-grandpa fought in Verdun and wrote about it in his auto-biography. I remember him describing it as a "hell.")

Inga is looking much improved and has an appetite again. She still looks quite pale and has dark circles under her eyes.

We went to the beach this morning intending to swim, but there was a strong wind and it was too chilly to go in the water. Inga and Dio went back home after about 10 minutes. Eric went spearfishing so he was in for a good while and he came back with an octopus and 2 fish. The rest of us stayed a bit longer.

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Inga is STILL sick! I tried to get her to go to school, but she absolutely did not feel well enough. I hope she's well enough to go out tomorrow--we have a free day with no soccer games, so we were thinking of spending some time at the beach and then going to an escape game (a very late birthday activity for Inga).

I went running (sprint intervals) and got loads of breech things done. Zari's exam went well.

I got a monitor for my work station. I can finally see things in great detail! It's so nice for photo and video editing. It only took me 10 1/2 years to get a proper desk and work area here...

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Inga didn't feel well enough to go to school, but it was the first day with out a fever since Saturday! I think she'll be back tomorrow. She's still really pale and lethargic.

I got another publication submitted today! (Technically, one of my co-authors submitted it...but it still counts!) We submitted to the BJOG, British Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

What else? Zari's test went pretty well, although she realized in retrospect she should have spent more time on anatomy and morphology and less on phylogeny. She has an ecological economics test tomorrow.

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Sick. Period.

Inga woke up with a fever--again! Poor girl. Day 5 of illness and not looking any better. I felt well enough to run this morning, but I've been feeling progressively worse all day. Body aches, general malaise, maybe even a fever coming on. Bleh.

AND...this afternoon...Inga started hollering for me from the bathroom. I was in the middle of helping Dio with a timed online quiz, but she was insistent so I went to investigate. Of all the days for it to happen, her period started for the first time. Between dealing with blood clots, washing out underwear and pants, showing her pads, and giving her a hot water bottle for terrible cramps, it's been quite the day. She got lots of sympathy from her siblings.

We'll have a Red Party like we did for Zari, once she's feeling better. Red Party = a party where everything is red. Think pomegranate seeds, beets, red bell peppers, red velvet cake, cranberry juice...

I need to go shopping for period underwear. I constantly extol the virtues of menstrual cups but Inga wants to first get used to just dealing with periods for a few months.

Zari has a huge biology test tomorrow. The class is called the Diversity of Life (Diversité du Vivant), or phylogeny and genetic classification. Inga and Ivy have been helping her study.

Dio was studying a huge list of French vocabulary and their synonyms earlier today, also with siblings' help. Much silliness and laughter ensued.

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Inga is still sick and no better today, maybe even worse. She has barely eaten except for juice and applesauce.

I'm mostly better but not well enough to run yet. Maybe tomorrow?

Ivy and a group of friends had an outing today to a taco shop and a movie. I love that we can send her on the tram and they can go off anywhere in the city by themselves. French taco stores are definitely *not* what you'd think. Nothing Mexican in these tacos at all! Ivy's had French fries, chicken cordon bleu, and cheese sauce.

I'm going to lie down in my bed. A favorite part of my day is when I lie down, pull up my covers, and just do...nothing. Ahhhh. Okay, maybe I'll read but that's it! Nothing else.

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Inga went to school this morning and looked so sick during the first hour that her teacher sent her to the school nurse. I got a call saying we had to come pick her up. Poor thing--she had a fever all day today and didn't eat much or move off the couch.

She had to do a few things in the late afternoon, one of which was a Spanish assignment to film her and a classmate cooking a recipe. Sickness is no excuse, unfortunately, in that class. She took "St. Doliprane" (acetaminophen) and managed to get it done.

Zari is studying for a huge biology final this Thursday, memorizing huge charts of the tree of life, from the first single-celled organisms all the way up to complex vertebrates.

Ivy is going to a "boum" next month, a big dance party hosted by one of her friends, and the whole group of girls are sending hundreds of messages already about what they're going to eat, wear, etc. The theme is "rainbows" so we found a secondhand rainbow dress. She's going to wear her rainbow socks and put rainbow hair tinsel in.

I'm still not feeling great, either. No fever but definitely no energy to exercise.

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Inga and I took a sick day. She was really sick and I was on the mend. She still has a fever this evening and I hope she'll be ok for tomorrow.

Zari had her last soccer game and, since they were down several players, they got massacred :(

Dio had a small birthday party for his friends. I prepared a big lunch for them, plus homemade birthday cake, in the Chateau and then they watched a movie. It was a self-sufficient party. I just popped in on occasion to see if they needed anything.

Eric and I went on two walks today. I'm constantly amazed by how lucky we are to live here.

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Successful soccer Saturday

Eric was gone all day at 3 soccer games: Dio (Beausoleil, winning 3-0), Inga (Cavigal, winning 2-0), and Ivy (Cavigal, winning 8-1).

I did more sewing today, finally redoing Inga's curtains with a rufflette strip on the top. We threaded stainless steel key rings through the rufflette loops and then put those on the curtain rod. I have one more thing left on my mending pile: a pair of sweatpants to turn into shorts.

I was thinking of going to one of the Cavigal games, but a) I was cooking dinner and b) I started to feel a bit icky. It's gotten worse through the evening. Inga came home and was also feeling unwell.

I made vegan mushroom stroganoff with button & oyster mushrooms, served over potatoes roasted in duck fat. Lemon cheesecake for dessert.

Dio's having his birthday party tomorrow so I need to get everything in order for the lunch and make the frosting tomorrow morning.

Zari and I took a walk this afternoon. It felt amazing to be out in the sun. She's still feeling undecided, hating the idea of closing one door if she chooses the other option. Yes, that's life! You have to close some when others open and you'll never know if it was the "right" choice. Academically and socially Toronto is more interesting, but France is safe and easy. It's basically free and she'd be done in just 2 more years and she could start grad school at age 20. And she loves Nice. But...the opportunity to try a new country and get a North American university experience is also really interesting and exciting.

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Mending is dangerous business

I was mending a frayed spot on Zari's jeans (backed it with a thin woven fabric and did multiple lines of zig-zags well beyond the worn area. I managed to sew through my finger! Oops! Fortunately it was just through the fleshy part on the side. The needle punched in and out so quickly that I hardly knew it happened. So yeah, I gave myself a finger piercing today :)

It's unseasonably cool still--although I did turn the heat off about 1-2 weeks ago, it's not warm enough to keep windows open. (Okay, not for me. There are plenty of French people who open their windows even during the winter! I just don't fancy it being 15 degrees C indoors!)

I know we'll be yearning for cooler temperatures once July hits. But I had to put on 2 jackets when I was out this afternoon as soon as the sky clouded over.

We watched another episode of Andor tonight. Lots of soccer tomorrow...some time this weekend, I really want to see Conclave!

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Conclave!

In the early evening we set out to watch the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII in Europe. Turns out we were mistaken on the time somehow so it was already done and dismantled. So we walked home and came back to which smoke pouring from the Vatican chimney: a new Pope had been elected.

We kept the TV on as we prepared and ate dinner and were surprised than an American was chosen. Super interesting.

We were going to watch Conclave this evening but ran out of time. We'll do it soon, though, because it's the perfect moment.

Ivy and Eric were gone all day at a soccer tournament, which did not go well at all for her team. She came home sunburned and Eric came home disappointed.

We had confit de canard and potatoes roasted in some of the duck fat and a simple tomato-goat cheese-basil salad, plus Magnum ice cream bars for dessert.

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Tomorrow is a school holiday, celebrating 8 mai 1945, which marked the end of WWII. After dinner, Eric and went on a walk that took us past the war memorial. They were setting up for a big event, and on the way back a violin was playing accompanied by a military band. Very lovely music.

Ivy has a tournament all day tomorrow.

Dio's class had PE at the Vauban stadium this morning. There was a problem with the tram on the way home, so he had to run all the way back (after running around for hours!).

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I got a big breech project finished and published today. I also mailed Zari's Canadian passport application. I'm almost ready to tear off my scribbled over to-do list and start with a fresh piece of paper. So satisfying.

Zari is filling out financial aid forms for Canada. There's a bit of limbo between which province she's a resident of, given that she has never lived in any of them. The financial aid office said to apply for both ON and AB and see which one ends up going through.

Zari had school this morning and came home with a fever and chills. She slept most of the afternoon.

Dio had a field trip to les Gorges de Daluis, a deep red rock canyon not too far away. We've never been. It's sometimes called the "Colorado niçois," in fact!

Dinner was chicken leek soup and random roasted vegetables (whatever was in our fridge--eggplant, bell peppers, and zucchini). I also roasted some hot peppers and garlic, for making a hot sauce. Eric popped one of the roasted peppers in his mouth, thinking it was a slice of bell pepper. He soon regretted that life choice.

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Crêpe fête

An anglicized way to say crepe party, I know, but it's the expression we always use :) We had several people over for crepes this evening, with a full assortment of toppings: whipped cream & mascarpone, nutella, bananas, dark chocolate, orange marmalade, lingonberry jam, white sugar, powdered sugar, & lemon juice.

I had a busy day and neglected to go out and exercise/walk today. I need to do better tomorrow.

Zari worked on several scholarship applications: one was a 30-second video, the other a humorous essay.

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Rear window

I walked all over Nice in the rain today. To Cimiez and back in the morning (not realizing it was going to rain...). Then in the late afternoon we walked to our friend's apartment for a potluck dinner and farewell party. I've logged over 15k steps today.

The kids came home via car and...well...there was a "big problem," in their words. We share a parking spot with a friend and so we have to do this juggling of the cars when we park our car (pull his car out, back ours in, back his in). When Eric was backing the friend's car in, the garage door started to lower and smashed the back window. That was definitely excitement that we didn't need 🙂

I made purple risotto and meatloaf Wellington for the potluck tonight. We have plenty of leftovers so that's dinner for tomorrow!

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Dio had plans to have a birthday party with his friends, but they had to reschedule. That gave us some time in the evening to watch two episodes of Andor. He had a game in the afternoon (losing 3-1), which Eric went to.

Inga and I wandered around Old Nice looking in a lot of the little shops. She's browsing for a friend's birthday gift. Nothing struck us, but it was fun to see everything from the point of view of someone who would be here to look at charming shops and buy souvenirs. I'm usually hurrying through and getting annoyed at the slow tourists!

We got to bed well after midnight last night due to Ivy having a friend over. Plus everyone was having lots of fun hanging out together so I didn't want to shut the party down. But of course I woke up before 7 am and couldn't get back to sleep. Ugh. I'm constantly sleep deprived because the rest of my family stays up late. Since our bedroom has windows that overlook the living room, I can't sleep if other people are up (due to both light and noise). And there's really nowhere else for people to go in this tiny apartment!

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When life gives you purple turnips...

I got a surprise box today consisting mainly of purple top turnips. Yep. Not the world's most exciting produce. I'm really not a huge fan of turnips or parsnips so I had to do some research to find a recipe that looked good. I ended up making a Provençal gratin that turned out great. https://cookpad.com/fr/recettes/14418033-gratin-de-navets-violets-aux-tomates-et-mozzarella

I still would never buy turnips of my own volition but I'm glad I found a good use for them! I also cooked up some chicken breasts with olive oil and herbes de Provence for a bit of protein.

Zari has officially accepted Trinity College at the University of Toronto! Woohoo! She's very interested in living off-campus and cooking her own food, so we would love any good leads for housing.

I worked on a twin birth publication with my Italian colleague. It's very close to submitting now and we're super excited! Teaser graphic from the results (2 hospitals instated a training initiative to lower C-section rates for twins, and they studied outcomes a few years before and a few years after implementation). They reduced the CS rate fairly dramatically without negatively impacting maternal or neonatal outcomes.

What else of note? I also worked on a data collection form for our Afghanistan collaboration (https://www.breechwithoutborders.org/emergency). Many other things but they would bore all of you!

Ivy has her best friend over for an impromptu sleepover. I hope they actually sleep.

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May Day

The streets were packed today with people wearing enormous, bizarre hats; walking around in parades; and following a straw man wheeled about on a cart.

Can you get pedestrian road rage? I certainly felt it, trying to walk through the crowded pedestrian streets of Old Nice. Stupid tourists who walk at a slow amble and go right in the middle of the available space so you can get around them on either side!

Mid-afternoon we paused our other activities and went to the beach. It was so packed you'd think it was almost July! I had a quick swim and then had to head back for a meeting. The water was cool but really not so bad. There's a warm layer on the surface a few inches deep.

I had several Too Good To Go orders, one of which was a bust because the store was closed the entire day! But the others were great. For example, one of mine was from a tiny grocery store and for 4 Euros, I got 1 liter of extra virgin olive oil, 3 salmon & dill sandwiches, several tomatoes, a bunch of bananas, a pear, and several apples. At the bakery, another 4 Euros got me 6 assorted pastries (croissants, pain au chocolat, & chaussons aux pommes), 2 blackberry tarts, 1 huge chocolate chip brioche, 1 large salad, & 1 yogurt cup.

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