Friday, December 5, 2008

I hear ya...

So, I went to finally upload the pix that Sam took of our Thanksgiving food before it went on the table. While he's super duper good at portraits, he's not the best at still life, so I didn't expect much... But I expected more than I got... NADA!!! I went to look at all the pix he took and there were only two. If I hadn't snapped a few shots while peeps were dishing up, I'd have NO pix to show you!!! When I asked him what went wrong, he said he got busy. Okay, I believe that. But dude, it would have taken all of five minutes to get shots of all the scruptiousness. So, while you'll have a glimpse into our feast, I'm sad to say, you'll not get many closeups of the magic that was my first Thanksgiving. I did what I could to zoom in on a few of the dishes and blow them up, but they're going to be fuzzy and distorted anyway. Just picture the most delicious-looking, smelling and tasting food you can imagine and paste that right in here and you'll probably have a pretty good image of what we experienced. *giggle*

Anyway, I came in here to give multi updates because November was sort of a blur, right?

Still no toilet paper, no deodorant (not even perfume cuz I don't need it), no paper fem hyg stuff and no shaving. And no problems. I get some funny looks sometimes when I tell people (because one of the reasons for doing it is to show others how damn easy it is), but I would expect that. It doesn't trip them up for long and they do seem more impressed than grossed out after I give them a moment to digest it... so to speak.

I am NOT doing the marathon. *PAUSE FOR CRYING FIT* I haven't run for three weeks and am STILL SICK!!! I talked to my coach and a few other vets at my running club and they said, dude, going into a marathon undertrained sucks the big one. They said that I'll have more fun and still get a flash ass medal if I just scale it down to a half and then wait at the finish line to run my other peeps in. I HATE to agree. HATE it!!! But, it's true. I should have known better than to train for a WINTER marathon. Winter sucks and I invariably spend most of the season sick. What was I thinking? Oh well. I'll do the half with my old buddies, my sis and my Rach (even though she and I will split ways--as if she won't have left me in the dust long before that--after a few miles) and I'll wait at the finish to run my peeps in (probably drunk because they always have free beer at the finish and since I'll be there before anyone else...mwah ah ah!!!).

I would say, "Oh well, I have the Paris marathon in the springtime!" Um, but, I don't. I went online to sign up for an even that happens in APRIL and found on November 24th that it had filled up on November 22nd. So, there you go. SUCK!!! However, Paris is not the only city in this gods forsaken country. There's a marathon right here in Lyon in the same month. And there is one in Nice in the South of France. There's also one in Caen some time. And France isn't the only pretty place in this area of the planet, either. There are marathons in Barcelona, Rome and somewhere else down there in the south right around the same time. We'll see.

As for school... remember how I was going to come back from Houston and start school? Well, back when I did those classes before they were like dirt cheap. Sam told me that if I test into the "superieur" level (which is likely) I would only be allowed to take one very intensive class and I'd have to pay 1500 Euros for it. Um, that's like $2k... No thanks. Not just to make friends and impress people. Huh-uh.

So, I figure, after the turn of the year, I might look for a job teaching English part time or working in the library (I mean, even if they won't let me be a Librarian, they've GOT to let me shelve books, right? RIGHT? *crosses fingers*). Everything I bring in will go directly to the Farm Fund.

Okay, get this... On Thanksgiving, while my neighbor was watching me put the finishing touches on the meal, she told me that I should start a "micro business." She said I should find a small resto spot, rent it out and hold very select brunches and dinners featuring American (continents here... not just the U.S.) food. She said she can also see me holding tutorials either in my own kitchen or in other people's kitchens, where I go to their house and I show them how to make stuff.


*mouth gaping*

Okay, first of all... Can I say how utterly flattered I was? This is a FRENCH person telling me that not only is my food good--my AMERICAN food--but that it's good enough to be taught to the French. This is coming from a very strict person. Especially food-wise. I was blown away and a teensy bit embarrassed. Still, I'll take the compliment.

But it only made my wheels turn faster. I do so hope the farm turns into a place where I can offer something like that. Where I can not just grow organics and seasonals but also 1) prepare them for other peeps in the form of a resto, packaged food (jars, cardboard and aluminum) and fresh; 2) have facilities in order to teach other people how to eat locally and seasonally and of course organically; 3) write it all down so other people can do it, too. I know I'm not writing this down terribly coherently and that's because, like I said, my wheels are turning faster than I can forumlate words, but let's just say, I'm re-inspired. I'm near obsessed.

The book... haven't heard anything from the Agent of My Dreams yet. I sent my book on Sept 26th, so his 90-day exclusivity deadline is approaching. I can't help it, I spent a lot of time one day this week Googling the hell out of him. I'm trying to find anything I can on him. The cool part was that I found quite a few authors he already represents, so I'm going to find their books and browse their blurbs to see what they're about. I found one or two of the authors on Myspace and am going to ask them how long it took him to let them know they were taken on. *crosses fingers*

I went to the movies last night! WITH PEOPLE!!! My Brazillian friend and her French husband met me at the cine close to our apt and we went to see that Ed Norton/Colin Ferrel movie (I don't know the name in English) and afterward drank beer and talked in the cine bar. It was AWESOME!!!!! Then, as we waited for the bus, a dude came up and stood near us. My friend's husband, G, said, "Can I help you?"

The drunk guy said, "No. Thanks. I'm waiting for the bus. Like you."

G says, "Okay then."

Drunk guys says, "I wanted to go to the casino over there but they wouldn't let me in because they said I'm too drunk."

We all said, "Noooooo, really?"

He said, "Yeah! Yeah!"

G said, "Actually, you do appear to be a little tipsy."

Drunk guy says, "No, no. I'm not tipsy. I'm DRUNK!"

He told us that he had been drinking whiskey all day and that he had been tested by the police earlier in the evening and that his blood alcohol was three times the legal limit.

G said, "Well you better not drive then!"

Drunk guy looks around at us, then back at G and then laughing says, "Are you some kind of dick? I'm waiting for the BUS!"

We all laughed.

My phone rang and so I started to talk to Sam, telling him that yes, I was on my way home and to stop mothering me. But while I'm on the phone, drunk guy's bus comes. He leans in and says, "Je t'embrasse!" Which means, "I kiss you" literally, but more like, "see you later, sweetie." So, I made air kisses and said, "Have a good night." He looks at me, furrows his brow and says, "No, I mean it. I kiss you," and leaned in. I pointed at the phone and whispered "My husband." And the guy said, "shhhhh" and nodded his head like he was in on the game. But then, before walking away, he said, "oh, tell him I kiss him too!!!" Then exploded into maniacal laughter on his way into the bus.

It was hilarious (maybe you had to be there and have had two beers to think it's funny, but to us it definitely was).

Well, I can't hang out much longer... Though I feel like there are a kazillion things I've forgotten to chronicle, my sister-in-law (the really scary/critical one who is nice sometimes but around whom I never let down my guard) and her husband are coming to spend the weekend. Her middle son (who is 21)and his girlfriend are coming as well. This weekend is the Fete des Lumieres. It celebrates the night that the Blessed Virgin Mary came and saved the city of Lyon from the plague. It's a four-day celebration that peaks on December 8th. I experienced it once ten years ago (and was nearly trampled by the millions of people) and thought it was incredible then... You should see how much it has evolved. It's ridiculous now. It started out as everyone in the town putting a candle in their window to pay tribute to Mary... Now it's all projected lights and spectacular shows... It's CRAZY. Go here to see pics:

http://www.lumieres.lyon.fr/lumieres/sections/en

Anyway, so, they're coming which means the whole apartment has to be spic and span and I have just BARELY recovered from Thanksgiving, yo. So, I'm gonna be at that all day.

So, guess I had better get to it. Listen, I promise I'll TRY to get the T-day pix up before the weekend ends.

Oh, Oh, OH!!! I forgot to say that we bought our Christmas tree yesterday! I won't go into the whole leaning tree fiasco except to say that they don't usually put the tree in a stand like we do in the States, but rather take a chunk of tree trunk, hewn in half, dig a hole, scrape off the end of the Christmas tree and JAM it into the chunk of wood... they did that... and the tree LEANS like the Tower of Pisa. ANYWAY, we went to a store called Botanique that I've ALWAYS loved for its plants and garden-y stuff, right? WELL... they've gone organic!!! And they have a little "bio boutique" in their store on the other side of the park. I can WALK to their store with my double stroller and fill that bitch up with huge sacks of organic flour, local herbs, etc. etc. etc.... I'm so excited that I won't have to go to the Wal Mart equivalent anymore to buy my organic packaged stuff!!! woo HOOOOO!

Now, I just have to forgive them for the crooked tree. I'm gonna stick it in a big ass pot and fill it with sand. So there!

Okay... off to clean... stay tuned for pix.

2 comments:

Simon Anderson said...

Try an English marathon in the spring. I'm doing 3, but the one that would impress you the most would be the Windermere. It's beautiful! Oh well, time to go out and get my long run in for Paris.

Hope you're running again soon.

Joelie said...

Simon...England...hmmm... not a bad idea! Should be nice and cool but not WINTERY like it is right now... Hmmm...Thanks for the heads up on that one. I'm JEALOUS of you for having your Paris registration!!! Thanks for the well wishes and finish strong on your runs! Good luck!!!