The Joys of Schooling

My desire to homeschool (a movement really unheard of here in this part of France) Lily at the beginning of the school year on a scale of zero to ten; -2

My desire to homeschool Lily after three weeks of school and a headfull of lice; +2

Her Grandpa said it best when he heard the news, "It just means she has friends."

And at the moment, praise the Lord, she is only one in the house to have them on her head. Head checks are now going to be a part of our nightly bedtime routine.

Sunday Evening

We're not the newest American Navy personnel in town anymore. And Phil has a new friend.

This is how Phil spent his Sunday night. Doesn't look amazing? A view of the Mediterranean, from house with a pool, watching a beautiful sunset, drinking a glass of delicious rosé. What a setting for a perfect man date....in France.

It always stinks when you wife and kids interrupt your special moment, but this view was too amazing and I couldn't stay away.

And neither could this kid. He feels more in tune with nature while taking in the views in his most natural state.

I can rant about a lot things about this place (read: our life in France), but I can only rave about the beauty.

Real Life

I'm having the best week I've ever had here in France! Is it because I got over my short, stubby legs and finally put on skinny jean, instantly making me feel more stylish? I don't know, maybe!

But aside from my huge fashion leap, here's what happened so far this week--

Monday, a friend invited me to her gym for a water aerobics class. I went to her class and afterward she helped me join the gym! A gym! A REAL, LIVE gym! Oh, I was so excited. They have classes like "Body Pump" and "Body Attack" and treadmills, weight machines and free weights. Man, I was jumping for joy as I signed the papers! (I had been to this gym in January with Phil to see about the prices...I was quoted a price of 85 euros a month. So we left and I sadly resigned myself to having squishy muscles for the rest of our time here. This time (with my French friend by my side) I was quoted a completely reasonable, "too good to be true," price. THAT is life in the south of France for you.)

Tuesday the same friend helped me sign up for kayaking classes. I'm super pumped because I can walk to the little "yachting club" from my house and for two hours in the morning two days a week I can learn more about kayaking and get a total upper body workout as we paddle in the Mediterranean Sea. While there, she introduced me to another "super sporty" lady friend who is also going to take the class. After the sign ups the "sporty friend" invited me to her house for a coffee. A coffee??? At a new friends house??? YES, YES, YES!

Wednesday a friend from church invited the kids and I over to her house for lunch. She has kids the same ages as my kids, and yesterday, they all got along swimmingly. My friend and I were even able to talk and relax on the couch while the littlest ones napped peacefully and the older kids played. It was FANTASTICALLY comfortable, and we have so much in common. Can it possibly be??? A kind, encouraging, same-stage-of-life, Mommy friend.

Finally, yesterday afternoon I went to the park with the kids. The same park I took the "What Not to Wear" pictures. But this year, as I walked through the gates, I counted ten other Moms I knew. It was crazy...and I almost started crying as I looked around and people were smiling at me and kissing me on the cheeks saying hello. Lily started playing with other kids and I was able to communicate with the other Moms (in French)--I even made one laugh (on purpose) with something I said.

So my heart is overflowing with thankfulness and praise. I am beginning to have a real life here...I'm beginning to make real relationships here...I'm beginning to have a "normal" routine. Last year I spent the year trying to learn French and feeling totally out-of-my-element. This year, because of that work, and because of the grace God gave me to learn quickly, I can begin to connect with people and do the things I love ---I can just be MYSELF (wearing skinny jeans or not) and there is nothing more real than that!

Starting Again

Back in France...back to the realities, both good and bad, that exist in our life here. This, combined with having such a fun-FAMILY-filled visit to the States, have made me a little melancholy lately. I was expecting the "lows" so I've been working hard to keep from descending too far into my self-indulgent "poor me" mentality.

To ward off descending into the abyss, before our suitcases were unpacked from the States, I booked a two day trip to Carcassonne in the west of France. We jokingly called it our "vacation for Scout" (since she was left in France for a month while we were away). The dumb dog got to walk around the beautiful "castle city" with us and even was allowed to watch a reenactment of knights with horses ( the French and their dogs...the dogs can go anywhere and everywhere). It was a nice enough trip with just our family and a perfect way to ignore the phone not ringing at our houses and the "what do you want to do now" question that sometimes creates major arguments in our living room.

After our little trip, we had a perfectly timed visit from longtime, wonderful friends from the US. Just having them around the house perked me right up. They were totally happy to be beach bums for two beautiful days (having just come off a butt-kicking hike through the Pyrenees in Spain), so they were easy to entertain and even more fun to cook for! During one very long dinner three bottles of wine were consumed between the four of us!

But now we're back to just us...in Toulon...work began again for Phil...school starts this week for Lily...playschool starts for Zack...and I'm still trying figure out what the heck I'm going to do with myself...I am so willing to work hard so I can improve my French...but for what purpose???

As I sat on the eternal, trans-atlantic flight back here I kept telling myself that this fall (as opposed to last fall when we were first arriving), should be different. We won't have to spend every evening searching for housing. We won't have to spend every evening trying to understand cell phone and banking contracts. I understand*a little* about the school Lily is going to. I understand *a little* about Zachary's creche. I can speak enough to get my point across*usually*. So, now what??? I'm stressing a bit, (and sometimes) a lot, about what "living", truly living, in France will look like for me. I must "profiter" from living here---a French word/expression that I love more than the English one (take advantage of/maximize). But how?

And where do I start?

As the month of new beginnings starts for everyone in my family, I'm praying and trusting there will be a new adventure for me to begin as well.

Within 12 Hours of Landing in the US, I was Eating This...

#1 combo meal--no mayonnaise, no onions, no cheese with an ice tea to drink!

A special order at a fast food restaurant (or any restaurant, for that matter), what a concept!

Things I'll miss for the next month

The promised list: Things I will miss about France even for just a one month vacation

1. Bread, bread, bread. We absolutely go to a bakery everyday and buy fresh bread. While there, Lily and Zack usually do get some sort of flaky, sweet pastry as a snack. (I demand from them and allow myself only one delicious bite of this buttery heaven). Wonder bread, just isn't going to cut it while in Ohio. I'll guess I'll go back to being a carbohydrate-phobic for a couple of weeks!

This is the inside of "our" little, corner boulangerie...please note the people in line...there is ALWAYS a line at this place no matter what time of day it is.

2. The scenery. The color palate here is so different from the lush, layers of greens of Ohio. Here we are surrounded by grey stone, brown dry mountains, and a turquoise blue ocean. The greens of the pine, cypress, olive trees are somewhat muted and speak to the fact that it does NOT rain in the summer for nearly four months. In case that sounds boring, the vibrant colors of purple bougainvilleas climbing up each house, the bright blue plumbago that spills over every wall take my breath away with their beauty.

3. The pace of life. Things move slower here...and most of the time, it annoys my "type A personality" to no end. But sometimes, like on Sunday afternoons when EVERYTHING is closed and you get to spend the day with your family at home or at the beach or at a BBQ with friends, it's sorta refreshing. At home I know we'll be going a mile a minute to see everyone...my family is very much a "go, go, go" activity focused group. And I'm so excited to be apart of that. I just know there are going to be days when I will miss my afternoon snooze.

And then there are the funny oddities of living in South France that have become endearing and a good, daily laugh-I will miss these things too.

like, women (OLD and young) wearing see through white linen outfits with black undergarments

like, cigarette smoke always blowing in your face

like cars stopped in the middle of roads, blocking a lane of traffic, flashing hazard lights, while the driver is inside the boulangerie buying his baguette without parking.

like man capris and man purses on the MAJORITY of guys

like hearing "Voilà" in nearly every sentence spoken by French people--an adorable verbal tick and one of Zachary's fifteen words!

I'm truly on countdown mode. Suitcases are strewn all over the house. Laundry is piled in every one's room. The refrigerator is nearly empty of all things edible. And I have lists in my purse, lists on the desk, and lists in my head that I don't have time to write down. It's still a toss-up as to who is more excited, myself or Lily. I'm dreading the traveling, but once we get there, I can not wait to take a in a deep, deep breath of everything that is comfortable, normal, understandable, and somewhat predictable. A sense of belonging, identity, knowledge of "the system", (things I didn't know I had in the US until I began living in another country), are priceless commodities that making giving up fresh bread for four weeks seem totally insignificant.

Something to Look Forward To

We have just two weeks left until we leave for the US. We are heading “home” (I call it "home" because Phil and I both grew up in the same city) for nearly a month of time with our families. When you live in one of the most beautiful places on earth, and you miss your family terribly, central Ohio can sound like an exotic, desirable vacation destination. And we are thrilled to be going there.

I will totally give away my "american-ness" with this list. My love of all things convenient, fast, and large. These are things I cannot wait to experience as "normal", because for the last eight months the things on the list have not been my "normal". And I can't deny it...these things really, really annoy me about living in a different culture!

1. Parking Lots. Oh, to just drive to the store and be able to get in and out without having to do circles around the block, parallel park, balance two wheels of the car up on the sidewalk, or maneuver through a parking garage built for mini-coopers.

2. Customer Service. The people living in the South of France are not known to be extremely kind or friendly--other French people have told me this. And they bring their "don't bother me, and I won't bother you" attitude with them to work...like in retail shops. It's super annoying and I have wanted to strangle a person or two when I've really been looking for something and need help finding it.

3. Huge glasses of ICE water! Refilled whenever I want them to be at any restaurant. I thought I didn't miss ice. But that was in winter. No air conditioning in the house and hot, summer days equal major cravings for huge glasses of ice water. At a restaurant, I'm served a 3 Euro Perrier. It just doesn't cut it!

4. I'm going to call it convenient food. We do have McDonald's here. (Phil HATES McDonald's). But on days when I don't want to cook, when we are running errands out in town, or life is just busy there are no real choices other than McDonalds for a fast, relatively cheap, quick dinner solution. I'm pretty sure I've lost those last five nagging pounds of baby weight due to this fact, but man, I cannot wait to drive into a Chipotle, Panera, or Five Guys when the mood strikes me and feed my family for under 30 bucks in under 30 minutes!

5. The twenty-four-hour-ness of instant consumer gratification. I can go to WalMart at 3am and buy motor oil, milk, bandaids and diapers if I want. Not that I will...but WILL BE ABLE TO!!! Grocery stores here are close at 8pm everyday and are closed on Sunday afternoons. A lot of stores are closed for two hours during lunch EVERYDAY. We have a little convenient store by our house, which closes for three hours for lunch-which is so not convenient for me!

I will post a list of "Things I Will Miss about France While In the US" this week. Truly, there will be things I will be sad to leave even for just a month! But the countdown for the "grandes vacances", as Lily now calls it, has begun, and we are giddy as can be to hug our Moms, shop with our sisters, drink a beer with our brothers, and run wild with our cousins.