Messy, dirty work today...so much dust that we could only see a foot or two in front of us!

But the electrical lines are all cut into the walls now...all the kitchen stuff given away...big Breton armoire carried downstairs

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Dio had a soccer game this morning, which I watched. It was a lovely sunny day. His team lost 3-1 but I think Dio played well.

Zari had a game in the afternoon--they lost 8-0!

I took a walk with Inga, Ivy and my mom. We stumbled upon the "vide grenier" in the port, which was fun. I think it happens twice a month.

I've spent so much time trying to give things away, waiting for people to show up and then them not showing up (and some who did, thankfully). This reminds me why I don't like giving things away to individual people! For the 30-40 messages I've sent, it's not worth my time.

We started a new series tonight: Silo. Last night we thought we were watching the 3rd-to-last episode of Travelers, since the first 2 seasons had 13 episodes. But no--episode #10 in this season was the last one! It took us all by surprise.

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Demolition!

Everything is disconnected and demolished. Tiles and wallpaper removed. Trying to give away the leftover cabinets & oven to avoid hauling them to the landfill. The subway tiles came off easily. It was so satisfying to pry them off, especially when they came off more than one at a time.

I've drawn a schematic of the electrical work that needs to be done. My goal is to get it done by Friday (when the cabinets arrive). We'll probably spend Monday prepping the room, sealing it off with a big tarp, etc. Then we can cut the wall channels on Tuesday, wire and patch up the walls on Wed & Thursday. It's optimistic but I think it's doable.

Ivy and Inga had soccer games today. Zari and Dio went to a sport activity, playing volleyball and chair soccer (similar to ballon prisonnier but with chairs and soccer balls).

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Au revoir à la cuisine

We're giving away our kitchen tomorrow morning! Everything is unhooked, cleaned, and ready to be taken away bit by bit. (We're keeping all appliances except the oven, which is a non-standard size and won't fit in the new cupboards).

Our "kitchen" is currently residing underneath the piano in Le Chateau. We'll be eating there with my parents for the next several weeks.

We took a trip to Ikea today to order the new kitchen. Those lovely green-gray cabinets are so new that they don't even have any samples in the store, anywhere! The employees haven't even seen them yet. We ordered them anyway with big hopes 🙂

The order arrives next Friday (yikes!) so we're super motivated to get everything prepped in time. The biggest task will be electrical--we have to run a few new lines for the other wall of the "L." And there are always unexpected hiccups.

I had a late-night breech consult (family in Australia, colleagues in the US, hence the weird time) while the others watched 2 episodes of Travelers. Soccer games tomorrow for Ivy and Inga.

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Freeze family vs the water heater

(we won)

I showered this morning and the water felt like it was getting colder. But since I was just getting out, I didn't think much of it. Then Zari showered and yelled that the water was cold. Sure enough, I checked the water heater (electric 80L) and it was dead. No lights, nothing on any of the buttons.

Time for some detective work. Since my electrical engineer dad is here, I knew we could figure it out.

Step 1: Test the connections to see if there is power coming into the heater (yes, 240 volts)

Step 2: Start testing all connections inside the mess of wires, following the flow of electricity.

We found that the power came into the first little white box but was not coming out of it.

Hmmm...my dad said, "It's probably some sort of fuse. Let's see if we can buy a replacement part."

With a little Dr. Google and Dr. YouTube, we found someone showing how to reset the little breaker inside the little white fuse. We followed the instructions and voila, it worked!

It's funny because 2 nights ago I was helping Inga with her physics homework and they were studying electrical circuits, amps, volts, voltmeters, etc. I said, "Hey Inga, today I got to use a voltmeter to help fix the water heater!"

Also, guess what is happening soon based on this picture? Shelf full of tools = kitchen renovation is beginning!

The goal is to empty out the kitchen over the weekend and begin demolition on Monday.

My mom took Zari on a hunt for the "best bakery in Nice." They visited a few places and came back with several different pastries to try. While I'm not sure they are truly the "best in Nice," they were delicious!

Ivy played at the Coulée Verte with a boy in her class, from the Canadian family who rented our apartment while we were gone. Then she left straight from there to go to soccer practice. Zari is still at her practice. Dio is working on physics homework (reflection and refraction). I helped Inga with a dictée and she has now done it twice and eliminated all but 1 error.

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I woke up at 5 am, not on purpose, and was awake until the 7 am alarm clock. I woke up the kids and then went back to bed!

I had a very productive breech work day.

Best news, though: my parents arrived this afternoon! They unpacked, ate a late lunch, and then we went on a walk to enjoy the sunshine.

We're going to order our new kitchen cupboards at Ikea this Friday. Our top 2 choices are pale gray LERHYTTAN and a brand new door style in a soft gray-green called AXSTAD. The counters and backsplashes will be a quartz that looks like white marble with gray veining. I haven't yet seen the AXSTAD in person. As long as it isn't too in-your-face green, I'm leaning towards that!

What would you choose?

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I woke up drenched in sweat and super shaky...but not sick at all! It helped to get some food in my body (I had just done a 36 hr fast, as usual). I went walking with my friend and then ran some errands, so I hit my 10,000 step goal well before the end of the day.

Lots of breech research today, like yesterday. I wish I had a treadmill desk or a stationary bike or something so I can move when I have to be at my computer!

We're back into the school and soccer rhythm, which is much more reasonable over here.

My parents arrive tomorrow for their annual wintering in Nice!

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7 am came way too early! But I am glad to get back into a routine. I had grand plans to run, but then I opened the window and it was raining. Nope! Not today!

I did breech-related research all day and my head feels like it's going to explode. It requires a lot of focus but it also mildly boring and repetitive and that is a hard combination to sustain for 8+ hours!

Zari is working on her last application, due this evening. She's writing an essay about the history of the rue Droite for one of the essays.

I did some electrical sleuthing this morning and figured out which appliances are on which circuits, in preparation for our big kitchen renovation this month.

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Another application done, this one about 10 minutes before the deadline!

Zari is honing her college application essay writing skills. She must have about 20 different essays now. We're really good about helping her cut words until it reaches the limit--changing a phrase here, omitting a phrase there until it's exactly 150 or 200 or 350 words.

Zari had a soccer game mid-day and her team lost 9-1! Yikes. She had 2 good opportunities to score but neither went in.

I'm not looking forward to our 7 am wakeup tomorrow after 2 weeks of vacation.

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y=x turns into s(t) = A sin(2πft + ϕ)

aka the Freeze family used to be a slope and is now a wave

Do you get it?

One more day of winter break...then back to reality!

Dio and Ivy had friends over today. Eric went spearfishing and came home with 3 sea urchins but nothing else. Very disappointing.

I made curtains for Inga's tiny hallway room out of a vintage linen sheet I found at a thrift store. The sheet had been patched and repaired multiple times, including a straight cut across to remove the worst threadbare areas, then a French seam to put it back together. I darned a new hole and then turned it into several small curtains, further prolonging its life. It's a beautiful sheet with a hand-embroidered monogram and intricate edge.

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Down to the wire

Zari has 8 minutes to finish a university application. 7 minutes now! She better hurry.

We had a family over for dinner and games and conversation, with 5 kids Dio's age and down. It made me realize how we definitely not have been as social as we should have been!

I did sprints this morning; it definitely took some pep talks to myself to get me out the door! But I always love how I feel afterward.

Nothing planned tomorrow. Hopefully some sunbathing on the beach if it's full sun...a few kids are inviting friends over...

5 minutes and the clock is ticking. Hurry, Zari!

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Eric and I went to the sporting goods store, Spoc, which has a large used section. Eric needs new skis, since his old ones (bought used) are delaminating and separating layer by layer! I was shocked by how expensive skis are, used ones included! And new skis--may as well buy a used car. 🤣

Zari is working on 2 more applications that are due tonight.

What else went on today? Not a whole lot, honestly.

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Big deadlines

Tomorrow is the deadline for the Common App (used by many US universities) and Zari is finishing specific application essays for some universities. She's done great at writing and revising her essays, with lots of input from us.

I was hoping to go hiking today but Zari's applications took precedent. We all slept in a bit; I was the first one up a bit after 8 am and I stayed in bed for a while reading. I was in no hurry to get out of the warm covers.

I did sprints later on this morning and I'm glad I got out and made myself exercise.

Not a whole lot else going on today with most shops closed for the holiday. Lots of people out on the Promenade enjoying the beautiful weather.

The kids are starting to eat their gingerbread houses. Let's see how long demolition takes!

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