Strawbree fields

"Yes of course I'm still alive..." I reminded a friend in an e-mail today--an e-mail full of funny q's and z's because I'm still in France and trying to readjust to the old azerty keyboard. It has been a few weeks of those sort of readjustments as we rediscover home again.

We've been perusing Paris and Seb has been working tons in his Prospective New Position which has somehow sort of just turned into The New Job (TNJ)while we were here. They love him and he's having a good time learning the ropes at TNJ. TNJ is still with The Company, the same one he works for in Mexico, but he's now in a slightly different sector and of course back in France where it seems things are a little saner. He truly likes TNJ and everything there has been wonderful so far these past few weeks. I'm really happy for him because everything has been so difficult these past six months, something I'd love to blab about on the blog (but can't of course). Suffice to say it's something I think few people would have supported as long as he did and it explains a lot of why everything in Mexico has been so difficult. I'm proud of him for holding out so long in the face of everything. I love him so much and it's been hard to see him in such a difficult situation for all this time. I'm really glad it's all over even if it does mean we have to leave our cushy, Mexican lifestyle behind ...boo-hoo.

Paris is well Paris...not much else to say there other than it's pretty and there's always lots to do but it costs a fortune to live in and there is no way we can live directly in the city even though it would be fun and is terribly tempting. We are currently sort of attracted to the far perimeters of the city though and we think we've narrowed things down to one or two villages in the 78 that we can afford and that we like. All we have to do now is check out schools on Wednesday in one of the villages we like to be sure the kids don't all have shaved heads and blackened eyes,--little "rebels without causes." And then we have to see if they have a few boulangeries and a market day. It's okay to live outside the city but I like having access to the essentials à pied in a French town, a big priority for me. Finally it really can't be too country-isolated where we go either because if I have to be referred to as l'americaine (emphasis on "la" meaning the only one) it may be a little too provincial for my tastes.

This last week of our three weeks in France I'm actually staying at mil's house and mil and fil are on vacation in the alps. It's really odd to be here without them but they offered and I jumped at the chance to escape the confines of the hotel with a toddler and baby. I was going mad like a bengal tiger pacing in a zoo cage. It's such a relief to be in a real house. My friend Dee and I (who came up north for my b-day...long story) have had a few laughs over mils drawer organization obsession these past two days. I will definitely have to take a picture or two. It's just not normal to have a junk drawer that organized! By the way we weren't snooping --just hunting for party supplies and so we had to look in all the cupboards of the buffets. Scary stuff.

Charlotte turned four months this week and she is still the worlds most smiley baby (when she isn't crying that is--she's very fifty-fifty in that respect). She is really tired of all this travelling around and so she has been quite cranky lately but still she's a doll ninety percent of the time. Seb and I took her to the nursing home to see his grandparents and we were so popular, or at least little Charlotte was, smiling and laughing at every granny and grandpa she met. It was such a sweet thing seeing these very sad old faces light up with joy when they saw her all dressed from head to toe in red and smiling that goofy grin of hers (she always wears red like Nancy Reagan--similar clothing tastes but not similar politics--or at least we hope not). Little S has taken to calling her Charberry or "Charbree" as he pronounces it. He corrects us every time we say her name and I think it's because of all her strawberry clothes. I guess from his perspective she looks just like a little strawberry or I'm sorry a strawbreeee.