A crack in the road

Well, there we were trying to get through another bad cold and fever that the little monkey caught once again this winter.  She was on day three of the fever.  We were hopeful that after putting her to bed on day three all would be well and that her fever would break.  Well, it did indeed break, along with a curious most important bone in her body.  

The little monkey fell out of bed that night, so we think, as I met her in the hallway four hours after putting her to bed.  She was crying and screaming saying her arm hurt.  She wouldn't move it.  I asked her if she fell and she said "no".  We stayed up all night with her thinking it was a cramp or muscle issue because of the two pillows she had been sleeping on. I even gave her a warm cloth for her neck. (which by the way you don't do with a break)  In the morning we took her to the doctor.  They immediately took an X-ray and the results were shocking and immediate as well:  she had broken her collar bone / clavicle on the right side (of course her dominant side!).

So here we are on day two of the broken bone chapter of Allie's young life.  She has to wear a sling type straight jacket which we are not to remove (and really can't without rendering useless) for three weeks until we return to the doctor. She is to not go to school for three weeks and she is to stay quiet for two weeks.  HA HA!   Today, I caught her standing on a chair shouting "to infinity and beyond" after the Toy story movie, getting ready to jump.

We cancelled our trip to the Italian Riviera which was scheduled to begin Saturday...which completely puts me in a mood, but then things happen and you deal with them the right way.

You have mom/grandma come out!  

Slightly embarrassing French moment

My French teacher's sister was in town last week, and the two spent a fair amount of time going around Paris and just visiting in general.  So I asked her today:

"Est-ce que votre soeur en ville encore?" which means "Is your sister still in town?"

She looked at me kind of aghast and had me repeat it, and then say it in English. Then she looked relieved. Turns out I was off on my pronunciation of "ville".  You really have to put some emphasis on the two Ls or it comes out like "vie" (life) instead.  So I had accidentally asked her "Is your sister still alive?"

Oops. 

Things that are hard to find, revisited

Back in November, we did a blog on things that are hard to find in Paris. With a few more months under our belt, we figured it was time to update it.

red onions:  Well, it turns out with a little searching at a covered market close to work rather than home, we can buy a mesh bag of red onions for relatively cheap anytime we want. Not so hard after all. Cross it off the list.

inexpensive childrens shoes:  Still a problem. However, the exchange rate is improving nicely. I don't understand why. America is leading the way into the economic crapper and our currency strengthens relative to those of other nations.  Eh,  go figure. Either that's a signal of tougher times ahead for everyone else, or American exports are going to become difficult to sell.

spicy peppers (any kind):  go to Chinatown, I'm told. Jalapenos, habaneros, the whole family. Mmmmm.....a Metro ticket away.

churchgoers:  Nah, still none of those. But as we get closer to Easter, I'm sure I'll see more.

I do have a few things to add. You may notice a theme:

English beer:  I like English beer. I think the English and the Belgians have a lot to teach the rest of the world. But apparently not the French. A Brit in my office told me where I have to go to find a Boddington's, John Bull, or Sam Smith's, and it's all the way on the other side of town. C'mon! The friggin Brits are right across the Channel!! How hard can this be?

non-French wine:  Hey, we have American wine. Prepare yourself for a nice glass of Gallo! Are you kidding me? Also, consider this:  Fact #1: The largest producer of wine in the WORLD is Italy. Fact #2: Italy and France share a border. Fact #3: It's easier to find a straight male hairdresser than it is to find an Italian wine in our area.  I need to learn the French word for protectionism so I can rail against it. Maybe I should go on strike. It seems to be the thing to do here.

Oh well. In the grand scheme of things, these are small potatoes. We live in Paris. How bad can it be?

The Superbowl in Paris

Wow, are we late with this post. Anyway, one of the minor inconveniences of living in Europe is that U.S. sporting events  1) are sometimes tough to find and 2) usually air at laughably late hours if you do manage to find them.  There are ways to get around the availability problem. We subscribe to an ESPN affiliate here that shows football, baseball, basketball and North American hockey. And, through the gracious cooperation of Bob and Joanne, we can also use Slingbox to watch whatever the Los Angeleans are watching.

But the time zone problem is another kettle of fish. We can record things via Slingbox. However, it requires us to go on news blackout and avoid the internet until we watch the game.

That's what we did with the Superbowl. Troy took the day off on Monday so we could watch as soon as we dropped off the little monkey at school.  And watch we did. The first Superbowl we've ever watched while drinking coffee and eating quiche lorraine and beignets. 

As you surely know by now, the good guys won. But they didn't make it comfortable, and I couldn't help but feel a little foolish waving a Terrible Towel for a game that had been over for almost 12 hours. I like to think that somehow I helped Santonio Holmes make that game-winning catch by cheering for him at the exact same moment he was probably asleep in bed. 

Either way, the Steelers are WORLD CHAMPIONS!  Looking forward to #7 next year.