destiny's child speaks to my soul

dear readers,
if you miss me, please do not any longer. today i think you are better off without me. i have a little bit of gas, and i do not think you want to be near me.

yes, i did just say that, and no, i am not embarrassed. i think it's funny. everyone farts....even the french! i've witnessed it. and why waste time being embarrassed? im just trying to make you feel better. also, embarrassment is becoming a thing of the past for me because it seems to be a reoccurring phenomenon when you have communication problems.

today was great. the kids were at cantine which means they don't come home for lunch, which really means that i am free after i drop them off until i pick them up at 5:30. for the second time, i swore to myself that after i dropped the kids off, id return to bed, but of course that did not happen. instead, i went on an epic bike ride and it was so beautiful. and after, i finally went in this store that has all these random things. i've been looking at the storefront since i got here, but it has really weird hours. today, a la chance, it was open. i bought a palette for my paints, nail polish, shorts, and PANTOUFFLES! ive been searching for pantoufles! that's french for slippers. i also got brady a present. ithink my slippers are the first hting ive bought for myself for sheer pleasure. i've bought a lot of gifts, but these slippers are for ME!

then i bought lots of vegetables at the local veggie store because i wanted to eat veggies at lunch (charties style). i got back to the house, had a grande espresso, showered, stretched, talked to the housekeeper, and thennnnn inspiration hit: destiny's child. i brought my laptop in the kitchen and blasted destiny's child greatest hits while i cooked. i made a huge mess and ate with my fingers and loved every second of it. it was blissful. no one was home or else this behavior would have been apalling. but it was just me and beyonce on a lunch date. then i did my laundry to al green and hung it on the line. it was sooo great. i love soul and r and b. i have my momma to thank for that. after i took a great nap, but i set my alarm because the lady at the local high school told me to call at 3:40 to ask about french lessons. so i woke up, called, and hit another dead end. thanks for cutting my nap short. i called my dad and he inspired me to go talk to people because that's how ill learn. he said that even if people are rude, you still need to push and try and learn. im really learning a lot from him. i feel that during some really hard times he can really give good advice because he's been through a lot of hardship. like the hurricane...he knew what it was like for me to leave and live in a foreign place. and now, he knows how frustrating it is when people ignore you because you can't talk as well as they. it's amazing how much you learn about someone else when you go through an experience yourself.

sooo after my chat, i went to this art gallery that was so inspiring and i talked to the owner for a bit about where i could take art classes, adn he was soo nice. i was so happy to finally meet someone who really wanted to talk and didn't mind that my french wasnt perfect. there was a lot of collage pieces in the art gallery, and that's my favorite medium, so that was blissful. then i went to pick the boy up from school but realized i forgot his judo stuff so i had to go from school to the house, back to school, then to judo, then to get the girl, then home. but i wanted to go on another bike ride, so i guess this was a blessing in disguise. i really think i've ridden about 3/4 a tank of gas (in my jeep) on my bike. i think that if i would have driven all the places that i've ridden, i would have at least used 75% of my tank. eyguieres is a never ending butts and guts class, and i'm down.

i ate with the parents tonight (10 oclock!), but it was good. we had actual conversation about the french version of social security and the US version. apparently, france's isn't working either. i also heard about the trials and tribulations of work life and im happy im not in the real world work force yet. ooh when the kiddies ate dinner, i sat with them and the mom and removed the little peas from their pods. i liked helping the mom and sitting with the kids because i got to practice listening to them and speaking too. plus, i think the mom is becoming more comfortable with me. she's pretty shy, but i hear her being more jokey, which i like.

yeah, so today was good. i read another chapter in my french book (this is a legitimate french book...like a novel for adults so it's kinda a big deal ahah) every other page, i look up all the words i don't know. it's exhausting but really helpful. and then i reread the chapter. at this rate, ill be done in about 2 weeks if i read the chapter a day. ooo la la. beaucoup de travail! (a lot of work!)

a tout a l'heure, mes petites chouettes!
(until later, my little cabbages!)
chels