Just what have I been doing since June?

Yikes!  No wonder my father-in-law asked me if he'd been removed from my blog mailing list.  4 months?  It doesn't seem possible that it's been that long since I've sat down to write about our lives in Europe.

Why haven't I blogged in that time?  It isn't because "nothing has happened".  During these past 4 months of my silence, David and I have:

• been back home to the states twice, once in June and then in August to help move Sarah to Chicago for Grad school and DJ back to Purdue.
  
  
  
  
• spent 10 days in July traveling the Amalfi Coast, Sicily and Capri
  
• travelled to the south of France for a weekend visit
  
• enjoyed having two of our Hedge friends (Marcie and Dave) come to Europe and we visited Paris and the Bordeaux region
  
  
  
  
• just returned from a visit with our French/American friends the Lucks touring Dijon and Beaune.

  

  Outside the Hôtel-Dieu

  

  Enjoying our mustard tasting

  

  David mixing up our mustard

  
  

So maybe I haven't had the time to sit down at my computer and blog? No, but life has certainly been adventurous and full of fun.

There are so many things that I could share that I don't know quite where to begin.  David's comment to me was that I have "become French" and that is why I haven't blogged in so long.  He is somewhat correct in that I have become accustomed to so many of the things that I found so odd/frustrating when I first moved here nearly 2 1/2 years ago.

I accept the fact that as I walk down the French sidewalk pedestrians are not going to move over....I continue to "ram" shoulders occasionally, often eliciting a "gasp of surprise" (maybe even sometimes pain because they weren't expecting it).

I am no longer surprised when I show up at a restaurant or boutique and they are "closed" from 2:00 until 4:00.  Everyone needs a lunch break, right?

I know that a dinner out will be a two hour event.  There is no such thing as "fast food" here.

So what does shock/surprise me?  What makes me say "what the heck?".

Cute little Cameron going for his 3 month check-up and being told that he is "growing like a mushroom"? That is apparently a common French saying.  Are mushrooms weeds?  I don't know.

Baby Cameron in his Halloween costume...cutest Lobster ever

How about googling the "best rosti restaurant in Basel, Switzerland", driving 2 hours so that Marcie and Dave can try rosti (think hash brown potatoes) and then finding out that they aren't open at 3:00 in the afternoon?  Ok, so maybe we were at fault there, but really? We tried no less than 5 places before we found a hotel diner that was serving food in the middle of the afternoon.

Dropping off a birthday present for our downstairs' neighbor and being greeted with "I'm full of microbes"...yes, that meant that she was sick.

Vive le différence!

We have new friends (both just born and newly moved to Alsace).  Baby Noone (Cameron),  baby Lee (Andrew) and two new basketball families; the Weems (baby Kyrie expected in December) and the Coles (Kayda Belle).  Aunt Teresa is certainly getting her baby fix. Yes, I am old enough to be the parent/grandparent to all of these newcomers.

While some "new" transplants are able to adapt to the differences, all are not. (The aforementioned families are all adapting well)  I think that the term "ugly American" comes directly from people who are either visiting, or have relocated to Europe and expects that everyone will adapt to "his/her American" needs/wants.  It doesn't work that way!  How many times have I heard my mother say, "if you expect to live in America you need to speak English"?  While she and I have had many heated discussions on this topic, in essence, she is correct in the main concept...MAKE AN EFFORT.

Adapting to a different culture and a different language is difficult.  Does that mean you shouldn't try?  I think not. Be observant, be polite and humble, don't just bully your way through and expect things to go the way you want them.  I certainly don't expect that people here in France can speak English.  I am always THRILLED when they do, but it's ultimately my responsibility to adapt to this culture and this language while I am a guest here. Trust me, my bad French coupled with a smile and a humble spirit has gone a l-o-n-g way.

No, I canNOT have chips with my sandwich at lunch, they won't bring me a glass of iced tea and I certainly won't get a free refill.  I WILL be seated next to someone who is puffing away on their cigarette and probably has a dog sitting beside them inside the restaurant.

I can find veal, rabbit and horse at the market and inside the grocery store.  I can see a 60+ man walking through the market in tight leather hotpants.  It's an adventure and I am blessed to be living it!!

Dumpster diving in France

How many of you cringed at that title?  Remember, I grew up poor.  Like reduced lunch poor.  As a HORRIFIED teenager, I can remember my mom and aunt collecting aluminum cans and exchanging them for extra cash.  Our families used that money to spend on vacation.  I'm not referring to THAT level of dumpster diving, so relax.

Behind our apartment building we have trash bins.  One for "regular" trash, one for "recycling" and then one that belongs to "La Pharmacie" that occupies the first floor of our building.  David and I were on our way out on Saturday and took both our trash and recycling out.  Our recycling bin was piled twice as high as it should have been.  Most of the cardboard boxes were from the pharmacy, so I wondered what the heck was in THEIR bin.

I opened it up and it was filled with little pink "new baby" boxes.  (the sort of box a new mom might get during her first visit to a pediatrician's office) My curiosity got the better of me so I opened one up.  I was amazed to discover that each of these boxes had loads of "stuff" inside them.  A sealed pamper, lots of coupons, samples of baby soap, etc.  So, the poor girl in me said "hey, we are going to get the pampers out of these boxes and give them to our pregnant friend".  David, having been married to me for 24 years was not surprised and helped me to pull out about 6 boxes.

We took them back inside our apartment stairwell and pulled out the goodies.  It was like Christmas!!  Some of them, in addition to the pampers and coupons, had baby wipes and even full sized bottles of baby shampoo.  Upon seeing my excitement, my executive husband said, "do you want me to go get the rest of them?"  I LOVE HIM!

sorry it's blurry!

why wouldn't they give these away?

Could we afford to buy a pack of pampers?  Yes
Could we afford to buy wipes?  Yes
Could our friends afford to buy themselves pampers and wipes?  Yes
Are we too proud to empty boxes from a "trash bin"?  No!

I'm going to have to start looking in that Pharmacy bin a little more often!!

Speaking of my "executive" husband, we had a very special visitor in Alsace this month.  The CEO of Eli Lilly, John Lechleiter and his wonderful wife Sarah were here for a site visit and we had the pleasure of joining them for dinner.  What's a girl to wear when she is having dinner with the company CEO?  A nice dress and a pair of heels, right?  What about when this same girl has to WALK to dinner (about 3/4 mile) along cobblestone streets?  Yep, she still has to wear heels.  I am happy to report that not only did I make it without twisting an ankle, I also didn't totally destroy my shoes.

Not a tall heel, but hey, a heel nonetheless 

The next day was the big site visit for David and so I had the pleasure of taking Sarah out for lunch and a little shopping adventure here in Strasbourg.  I was so proud of David and his team.  Everything went like clock work at his plant….well, except for the cafeteria lunch that day….seems as though the cook didn't quite get the chicken cooked thoroughly and David only noticed it AFTER John had eaten half of his meal.  How does one gracefully tell his boss's boss's boss that he is about to get salmonella poisoning?  (Luckily, this didn't happen!)

Other big happenings this month involved a tuscan dinner invitation (thanks Matt and Germaine), attending a gender reveal party for our friends Stephanie and Martin (they are having a baby boy), co-hosting a baby shower for our friends Katie and Kevin (thanks Lynn and Katie Luck for helping to host!), attending a "farewell dinner" for our Spanish friend Ainhoa, an AIA General Assembly meeting, another "farewell dinner" with the Howards and Dobbins, David's league basketball tournament and Le Sig's championship tournament.  Did I mention that we've only been home from Greece for 15 days?

One highlight from the last two weeks was when our Le Sig friends, Matt Howard, Tony Dobbins and their wives Brittney and Allyson came to watch David's Lilly team play in the semi-finals of their league championship.  David and Kevin Noone were HORRIFIED that two professional basketball players were coming to watch an industrial league game, but oh my goodness were the other players starry eyed!  Allyson was entertaining us all with her "trash talking" and other sideline antics and the underdog Lilly team pulled out the win.  Of course, everyone wanted a photo with the Pros, so it was a great night.

Allyson, our #1 cheerleader/trash talker

Lilly team with Matt and Tony

Finally, we hosted a "deep fryer" night so that I could say "goodbye" to Matt/Brittney and Tony/Allyson.  (We are hoping that BOTH Matt and Tony re-sign with the Strasbourg team next season)  You can't get spicy food here in France, so anytime someone is willing to cook buffalo chicken wings you have a winner.  Our new deep fryer got a work out.  6 lbs of chicken wings, 2 pounds of homemade nuggets, french fries and onion rings.  What a great way to spend our anniversary.  They were horrified that we would host a dinner on our special night, but hey, didn't we all have our friends around us when we initially tied the knot?

Matt, Brittney, David, me, Allyson, Tony, Katie, Kevin

The girls…many fun nights playing games with these 3

The guys….rarely is David the short one in a photo

As I reflected on our last two weeks of craziness, I was struck by a single thought.  My foundational change in character.  I was once so caught up in what people thought about me.  I can still fall into that trap, but it is not my everyday concern.  Pride is an ugly thing and I wonder how many proud people wish that they could be "real" with those around them?  For me, I think it was my own insecurity about being seen as "less than" and so I always wanted to do everything myself,  I never wanted to accept help from anyone else, and so this then continued to feed my pride.  I am a success, look what I can do.  Do you notice how many time "I" appears in this paragraph?  It's really unattractive.

Isn't life much more meaningful when our story includes "we, us, them"?   Aren't we called to love others?  If we truly do, if we work hard at showing the love of Christ to all, I think our stories and our lives can only be filled with blessings.  That isn't to say that hardships will come, but when they do, we can be surrounded by the love that we have cast out to others and it returns to us multiplied, therefore diminishing the sorrow of our earthly trials.

Cast out some love today.  Don't be proud, "dig" into the dumpster of your heart and provide a blessing to someone in need.  It doesn't have to be painful and it doesn't need to cost you money.  You just need to be intentional.  Smile at someone, say hello to a stranger, hold the door for someone.  That's my challenge to you….let me know how your day becomes brighter after you decide to cast some love out in the world around you.

Easter travels

As I prepare to go home to attend Sarah's college graduation I am struck by the number of young people that died in her four years of undergrad at IU.  Many of you have no doubt seen the stories in the news, Lauren Spierer, Rachael Fiege, Kelly Hackendahl and the most recent, Hannah Wilson. These are just a few of the more notable ones.  There were many more and this is just ONE of the thousands of campuses around the country. All of these families sent their child off to college and they never came home.  Can you imagine? I canNOT.  I don't even want to consider it.  In fact, I want to publicly THANK GOD for His protection over my children.  I hope that you will take just a moment to not only be thankful, but to also hug your loved one a little tighter afterwards.

Sorry for that "Debbie Downer" moment, but really, that was what crossed my mind as I sat down this morning.

What's been happening with me since my last post over two months ago?  Quite a lot.  I'll share some of the highlights with you.

David and I spent Easter weekend traveling.  We visited Amsterdam, Ghent and Brugge (Bruges).  We arrived in Amsterdam and headed directly to the Anne Frank house.  We luckily had purchased our tickets on line and were able to bypass the very long line that was out front.

I have to admit, I have never read "The Diary of a Young Girl" (also known as "The Diary of Anne Frank"), but visiting her hiding place during WWII was at the top of my places to visit while in Amsterdam.  I had always imagined that they had only a single room, but quite the contrary.  There were several rooms above Anne's father's business that held the 8 people in hiding. Don't get me wrong, it was still an incredibly small space. They had to cover the windows with black out shades and couldn't move around during the work day so that they would go undetected by the employees below.  Certainly not a pleasant living situation.  I would share photos, but they were prohibited.

Next up we visited the Van Gogh museum.  Neither of us are big art lovers, but if you are going to be in the birthplace of a well loved artist, why not?  We did actually enjoy learning about his art, his mental illness and how his brother brokered his art. Insider tip: buy on-line tickets and skip the line!

My absolute favorite activity was visiting Kukenhof Gardens. While the gardens weren't in full bloom, they were amazing.  Even David enjoyed walking through the spring blooms.

Our last quest in Amsterdam was tracking down some windmills.  Zaanse Schans is located just outside of Amsterdam and is home to 8 historic windmills.

 

We were amazed at the number of BIKES!  We were told that there are about 800,000 people living in the city and that there are over 1 million bikes!  I've never had to watch for bicyclists as I've crossed the street before, but believe me, if you don't, you will be hit.


Off to Brugge (Dutch) or Bruges (English), take your pick on the spelling.  It is a medieval village, which is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders.   It is also referred to as the Venice of the North.  It is a magical city full of stunning architecture and of course, good food.  After waiting in a line for more than 15 minutes, David enjoyed his huge serving of pomme frittes (french fries).  They were worth it!

We left Brugge and drove south to visit Flanders Fields and the Menin Gate in the village of Ypres. These WWI monuments/museums were both educational and somber.  The Menin Gate pays tribute to over 55,000 soldiers who went missing during the battles in the surrounding fields.  There were many cemeteries that were filled with headstones of the known soldiers who died in battles in the area.  It reminded me of Arlington Cemetery in Washington, DC.

We spent our last night in Ghent.  We had visited earlier this year, but were unable to see the Ghent Altarpiece, which is also called the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb.  If you saw the movie "The Monument Men", this piece of art was mentioned in the film.  I am happy to report that we were able to see (and photograph) the altarpiece and enjoy a nice dinner and of course a belgium waffle before we headed back home.

We have been kept busy during the rest of April with AIA (Americans in Alsace) friends and activities.  David and I were both able to meet the US Ambassador to France, Jane Hartley, during her recent visit to Strasbourg. She is a basketball enthusiast and was thrilled to meet Matt Howard and Tony Dobbins from the SIG while she was here. I think she would love to coordinate an NBA game in Paris…I could be wrong, but we'll see :)

 

We teamed up with our friends the Tuppers, (Matt and Germaine) and competed in a Scavenger Hunt around Strasbourg.  Our team, Blood and Guts, eked out the victory.  Just this past Sunday David and I attended a family picnic at our local park.  Guess who won the 3-legged race?

Nothing too out of the ordinary has happened during our daily life, you know, the same old "shoulder ramming" walks on the sidewalks because the French don't understand the idea of sharing the space, a huge rally in the streets (this time is was in tribute to victims of the Armenian Genocide 100 years ago)

and probably the most comical, being "quacked at" by the resident homeless man as I walk to the grocery.  Yes, I said "quacked".  Several of my friends know who I am referring to, and also know EXACTLY where he sits.  We think that he has "branded himself".  Must've been a marketing major before he became down on his luck.

Sorry that this post is so boring, but wanted to catch up my family on our adventures.  I hesitate to blog when there isn't really a unique experience to share with you, so hope that you will forgive me for the mundane.

I'm leaving on a jet plane, and I won't be back in France until May 24th.

A HUGE shout out to Sarah for finishing her senior year with a 3.9+ GPA….she could've been having fun her last year of undergrad, but she worked hard and we are so proud of her.  Looking forward to watching her graduate and start the next chapter in her life.  (Don't worry, I won't forget to hug her tightly and be thankful that I can)

Blessings friends!!

A totaled car and a week of ham

I sometimes forget that I live in France.  I go about my daily routine, checking Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and email.  I get iMessages from my kids and my friends and I FaceTime with my mom, David's parents, my friends and children. I will even call on those rare occasions that I need to get an answer immediately.  Really, if I lived in the states, I probably wouldn't be "as connected" with the ones I love as I am now.

That being said, there are OTHER times, when living in France "smacks me in the face".  Last week, for instance.  Sarah and a friend travelled north to visit 2 IU friends who graduated and are working in Chicago.  My "mom-radar" was on high alert, and I suggested she go another weekend.  Long story short, she was in a car accident Monday that totaled her car and she called me from the scene.  What can I do from France?  Simply praise God for His provision and pray that the girls would remain safe as additional cars around them were also crashing.  That's all I could do. Needless to say, for a girl of "action" that seemed too little, but that was all I could do for her.

Well, I did manage to call her brother and start him on the road to her rescue, but I would've preferred the opportunity to jump into my car and rescue her myself.  To have the ability to wrap my "mom arms" around my little girl and assure her that things would be okay.  God is a great teacher in the face of the unexpected. I had to trust His provision for MY daughter…after all, Sarah is His daughter too, and she is more precious to Him than she is to me…yep, let that sink in…hard to fathom, isn't it? So instead of my "mom arms", I prayed for the Holy Spirit to wrap His arms around my little girl and make her feel safe.

We are still trying to manage the "insurance" part of the accident, and Sarah has a sore back, but those are easy fixes.

Car kept from flipping thanks to the median

On a happier note, let me share some snippets from a recent dinner party.  "That's too much ice" said the Frenchman having received a glass of coke containing 3, yes 3 ice cubes.   I quickly took his glass to the kitchen and removed the ice….I even threatened to microwave his drink so that it wouldn't be "too" cold for his sensitive French tongue. "It's so wet" commented this same Frenchman upon tasting a wonderfully moist brownie.  Yes, it seems that anything chocolate needs to be dry and nearly stale to be satisfactory in this country.  Believe it or not, I LIKE this guy.  He is great.  He just happens to be French.  Good thing he snagged himself a beautiful American wife….

Mon ami, Guillaume is seated in the chair to the far right.  His lovely wife, Katie is seated next to him

Dinner party #2 and another conversation about life in France.  A Spanish woman said that she has to order one (un) or three (trois) croissants from her bakery because whenever she tries to order two (deux), the saleslady always tries to giver her a dozen (douze).  Yes, apparently, to the native French speakers, those two words sound the same when spoken from any non native French speaker. (2 sounds like "duh" and 12 sounds like "dues" to me)  A quick shout out to my friend Katie on this point….she asked for green beans for deux and walked away from the market with enough to feed douze (12).

My final "share" for this entry will be about my wonderful husband.  Anyone who knows David, also knows that he is very "thrifty".  Yes, moths have been seen leaving his wallet on the occasional time he might open it to spend money on himself.  Seriously, he just never "wants" anything.  Try buying someone like this a gift…it's nearly impossible.  Based on that, whenever he says the words "I need" or "I'd like to have", my ears usually perk up.

That's the back story, here is the "rest of the story".  We have made several trips to Spain and my husband's favorite restaurant is a local Spanish Tapas Cafe.  Whenever we travel, he looks for tapas cuisine.  What is his favorite?  Iberico ham.  He has threatened to bring back a ham leg of his own for the last two years.  Well, guess what is currently living in my storage room??  We had friends who were driving a second car back from Madrid and they offered to bring back an Iberico ham leg for David.  Now, we are talking about $250 worth of ham.  David asked me if I minded.  Did I mind?  HECK yes, who wants some animal's LEG sitting around in their house for several months?

Could I say no?  Absolutely not.  I mean, come on, he looked like a 5 year old kid sitting on Santa's lap asking for  his first two wheeler.  "Our" ham arrived last week.  Our friend, Oscar, came over to show David how to properly store and slice up his own personal ham leg.  We have to keep it in our storage room with the heat turned off.  Why, you ask?  Else wise, the fat will start to soften and ooze all over my apartment floor.  David is in Heaven.  He has sliced himself ham several times already.  He has even suggested a trip to IKEA so that we can get a "table" for his ham.

Ooh la la.  Dated and everything (10-2012)

Oscar "mounting" David's baby

First, you must slice off a piece of "fat" to use as a "cover".  This prevents the meat from drying out.

A "real" Iberico ham will have the black hoof and they are fed only acorns.

Turns out our fancy Cutco knives didn't quite "cut it".  Amazon to the rescue .
(Don't judge me….it was early in the morning and my hair hadn't been brushed yet!)

I am REALLY glad that my husband never "wants" anything.  In fact, I think I might just turn my "ears" off the next time he asks me "if I mind".

A quick THANK YOU to all of you who lifted up our nephew Sam in your prayers.  His wisdom teeth extraction went well and his behavior has improved dramatically.  Here is my smiling Sam to bless your day.

Swollen chipmunk, but happy

swelling is gone and he's ready for action