March is coming in like a lion

It's snowing like mad. And it's supposed to continue. We got about 6" overnight. We've probably gotten another 4" today. Who knows how much it's going to snow overnight. I just hope we don't have any more leaky roof incidents.

On another note, YS is doing much better. Thanks to you all for your prayers. Today they went to the Conseil de l'Europe, or European Council - different than the EU Parliament they went to Monday. Then they went to the Heineken brewery - and got to taste beer. So, how cool is that for a 20 year-old college kid? Yeah, he had fun.

Tomorrow is a long day. They're going to Struthof Natzwiller - the only concentration camp in France (because it was part of Germany during WWII) -which should be pretty moving. Then, they trek 90 minutes in the opposite direction to the Ligne Maginot, (Maginot Line) in Schoenenbourg. That will be pretty interesting, too. All the old battlements are still there, and he already knows a lot of the history of The Line, so he's interested in seeing it.

Friday they go to a pottery where they make the forms, or pots, for making Kougelhopf, which they made yesterday. From there, they will go to a farm where they raise the ducks for foie gras. Now, PETA, don't come knocking on my door. I didn't plan this trip, and it's France for crying out loud. They eat that there, and they raise the ducks there. Maybe seeing how they fatten these duck's livers will make activists out of these kids. Of coure, no visit to a foie gras farm would be complete without sampling the goods, something YS isn't too keen on now that he knows that pate de foie gras is made from duck or goose livers. They do get to have a big feast though, then on to Paris on Saturday. Things are looking up. I mean, really, it IS France, after all.

I'd better go shovel the driveway before The Spouse gets home. I'll tell you about my DirecTV upgrade tomorrow. Suffice it to say, I now have two DVRs, so I can record 4 programs at once. How great is that? Mostly, it's so The Spouse's Duke basketball recordings don't clog up my TiVo so I can't record MY stuff. The install was very interesting. Tomorrow. The snow is calling.

France update

I talked to YS this morning. He sounded really down. No wonder I was in a bad mood yesterday. I honestly think I can sense when things are not going well for him. No, it's not the girl thing. That's not even an issue any more. He did really poorly on the presentation he had to give - the lowest grade in the class - and he's really upset about that. He had to give a 10-minute presentation in French to his class. It had to be on some aspect of Alsatian culture. He chose to do it on beer. He went to the internet station at the hostel to print out some of the stuff he needed for his presentation, and the printer was broken, so he ended up not even having everything he needed. Apparently, according to his professor, he used English too much, (he said he said "right", "yes", and "okay" when he'd get stuck), his presentation wasn't well organized, and he didn't conclude it very well. He gets really nervous when he speaks before a group (he doesn't take after me at all in that area), and having to speak in French just amplified the problem. He was supposed to memorize this speech, too, in French, with just one semester of French under his belt. He thinks teh professor is expecting too much of a beginning French student. Though he can understand a lot of French, he is still a beginner, and there is a lot of vocabulary he simply doesn't have yet. He has been struggling a lot, and his professor, according to YS, doesn't do much translating for the beginning kids. They went to the EU headquarters yesterday, which he said was amazing, but the guy giving the tour gave it all in French, with such complex language that even the advanced students had problems. And then they were tested on things they learned. It didn't go well.

Additionally, he is actually missing home and the mundane aspects of college life in his dorm. In a week he will be in Paris with a professor who will be speaking English, seeing things he's only seen in photos - the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre. I think things should improve a lot then. On the other hand, they do have a hefty workload with that professor, so who knows. Curiously, he said there is "nothing to do" in Strasbourg. He and a few fellow students went out last Friday in search of a disco or some place fun to hang out, and found nothing. They did end up at a Greek restaurant, and had some great food, but no dancing, no night life, which surprised them. I assured him that would be quite different once they hit Paris, but he heard the same thing about Strasbourg when they were in Saverne, so he isn't holding out any hope that Paris will be better. Of course, we all know it will be amazing. Not only that, but my understanding is that a lot of people speak English in Paris, so he won't be quite so limited in communicating with people.

I think the bottom line is, he's tired, he's frustrated with his grade thus far (this is the language portion of the course, so it's ALL about speaking and understanding French), and he misses home and his computer. His professor did say that every student would get depressed at some point; that the struggle to communicate, and the homesickness would affect them all eventually. Maybe he's hit that point. He's really frustrated with not being able to get online when he wants and post photos, email, etc. He did say he and the other two guys walked to Germany on Saturday. Yes, walked to Germany. It was a 45-minute walk to the Rhine, so off they went. They ended up in a hailstorm and got soaked to the skin, but they walked to Germany. I have no idea what they did once they got there - if they just turned around and walked back or what - but that was his Saturday outing. Tomorrow is the Heineken brewery, which he said he is not even looking forward to now because he doesn't think he'll understand half of what the tour guide says, and also the Parliament. I think they leave for Paris on Saturday. He is looking forward to getting a new professor, seeing some sights in Paris, and hopefully having more interesting days. The weather hasn't helped - it's cold and rainy right now. So, send some prayers, good thoughts, whatever his way.

Good morning, Sunshine!

Maybe it was just hormones. Perhaps the lack of sun. Whatever it was, the grumpy mood has lifted. No, still no word from YS, but I'll survive. I have to stop worrying about him. I just have to trust that God has him in His hands. My friend, JoAnn, and I remind each other of this. God is in control. If we want what's best for our children, how much more does He want what's best for them? I think the struggle is that we know that sometimes God allows things to happen to our children, because it is for their good, that we would probably try to protect them from. It's scary to give up control to Him - something with which I struggle daily. I never considered myself a control freak. The Spouse is. The Daughter is. But moi? No way! I'm a "go with the flow" sort of gal. (Is that uproarious laughter I hear in the background?) I guess it really depends upon the situation. When it comes to my kids, apparently, not so much. I like knowing where they are, what they are doing, how they are feeling, and if anyone is being mean to them. And if someone is being mean to them, well, you don't want to know what I want to do. That trucker the other night? That's nothing compared to what you'll get from me if you are mean to my kid. I will kick your ever-loving butt from here to kingdom come. Mother bears have nothing on me. Fortunately, I have not had to show this side of myself very often. It's not a pretty sight. Anyway.

So, the sun is out. I hope it stays out today. I will take my ear muffs so I can go for a walk at lunch today. It's cold, and my ears just ache when I walk in the cold, hence the ear muffs. I'm also feeling better health-wise. The cold I caught - the first in two years - only lasted three or four days, thanks to Zicam. The Spouse didn't use the Zicam and he is still struggling with the cold. I got the cold about 5 days after he did, and I'm almost completely over it. I used Zicam for the first two days. And I have gotten two really good nights of sleep, thanks to Tylenol Nighttime Cold Medicine. I don't know what's in that stuff, but I slept like a baby last night and the night before. I actually feel rested this morning. It's amazing! Heck, I might even hit the gym this morning. In fact, if I am going to do that, I need to get off the computer, so, "ciao!" for now!

I'm grumpy, and I don't know why

I'm rarely like this, but for some reason, I'm in a bad mood today. Maybe it's because YS had said he would be in touch this weekend, and he wasn't. On top of that, when I call his cell, it goes straight to voice mail. There are a couple of things I need to talk to him about - namely he has to decide which study abroad programs he wants to apply to for next Jan Term - and the deadline is March 11. Since he's abroad with limited computer access, I am going to have to do some of his legwork, hence the need to discuss things with him pronto. Also, he had a little relationship thingee go kind of awry. I don't want to divulge too much as you never know who is reading this, but he suffered yet another setback in the affairs of the heart department. A girl acted like she liked him, made all the advances, then suddenly, for no apparent reason, wouldn't even talk to him. He said he felt like he was in high school again. He finally pulled her aside to find out what was going on. She said she didn't think it was a good idea to get involved while on the trip (so why did she start it?), has a tendency to move too quickly and things don't turn out well when she does that, blah, blah, blah. So, then why not say that, instead of just ignoring him? I get so tired of seeing this nice, sweet, tender-hearted boy get run over by flakey girls who mess with his heart, then stomp on it like it's made of rubber, and will just bounce right back. He's so afraid of even remotely letting girls get close to him, that I worry about him. His self esteem when it comes to girls is just dismal. He was so happy when he was telling me about this girl, and how much fun they were having, and that she was the instigator, so he figured it was safe, and he still gets his heart broken. And there's not a damned thing I can do about it. I hope it doesn't ruin his trip. He said it wouldn't - and he told me that as he was headed out with a bunch of kids for the night, so he was having fun - but still....

Aside from YS's situation, work is making me grumpy too. I have too much to do, no help, and constant interruptions - as usual. But today it's making me grumpy for some reason. So, I'm going to go. No sense in blogging. I'm not very good company today. Sorry. Oh, I was happy with most of the Oscar wins. Didn't watch the show, but wish I had. Actually went to a movie in a theater - a rare event - and it wasn't really worth the $9 ticket price. Breach. It was okay, just not a thriller or suspense movie like the previews lead you to believe. Not theater worthy. There wasn't anything else to see. Well, I kind of wish we'd gone to see Wild Hogs instead. It looks funny, and I could have used the laughs.

You can thank Lorraine for this one

Lorraine posited a question, to which I had to find the answer. The question was, "how many sons of presidents have been to war?" This question comes on the heels of the announcement that Prince Harry is going to Iraq. So, I googled a bit, wiki'd a bit, and here's what I've learned thus far. Pretty interesting stuff, and I may have to do further research on the older presidents to find out about their kids. What was interesting is that a lot of the presidents had no children, or only girls, and a lot of the kids died young "in the olden days", so the lack of a president's child being listed below doesn't mean his kid didn't serve in a war - it might mean they had no sons, or that their sons died young, or that there were no wars during the years their children would have typically served. So, here goes:

• President John Tyler's son, David Gardiner Tyler, fought in Civil War for the Confederate Army.
• President Zachary Taylor's son, Richard Taylor was a Confederate general in the Civil War
• President Abraham Lincoln's son, Robert Todd Lincoln, served in the Civil War.
• President Ulysses S. Grant's son, Frederick Dent Grant, fought in civil war alongside his father. He went to West Point, graduated in 1871, was in the military until 1881. He fought in the Bannock War in 1878, and in the fight against Victorio in New Mexico. In 1898, he went back into the army, and served as colonel in the Spanish-American War. He fought in the Philippine-American war for three years, and was in the army until his death in 1912.
• President Rutherford B. Hayes' son, Webb Hayes, served during the Spanish-American war, was wounded during the crossing of the San Juan River and the assault on San Juan Hill, and again in the invasion of Puerto Rico. He was awarded Medal of Honor for actions in the Philippines. He also served in WW1.
• President Theodore Roosevelt's son, Theodore Roosevelt, Jr, served in WWI as a major. He led his battalion in combat. All the Roosevelt sons served in the military. Teddy Jr. served in WWII, led troops during D-Day landings, and died of heart attack one month after Utah Beach landing.
• President Theodore Roosevelt's son, Kermit Roosevelt, served in WWI and WWII with the British Army and the US Army.
• President Theodore Roosevelt's son, Archibald Roosevelt, served in WWI and was wounded and discharged with full disability. He tried to join the Army again for WWII, but was turned down due to his age (48) and disability. He pleaded with FDR to intervene, which he did. He was given a commission as a Lt. Colonel, and commanded the 162nd Infantry. He was wounded again, and earned the Silver Star during combat in the Pacific Theater. He is the only American ever to be classified as 100% disabled twice, and the only serviceman retired on full disability from both world wars.
• President Theodore Roosevelt's son, Quentin Roosevelt, fought with the Army Air Service. He was shot down behind German lines in France. The Germans buried him with full battlefield honors.
• President William H. Taft's son, Robert A. Taft, wanted to serve, but was rejected by army for poor eyesight.
• President William H. Taft's son, Charles Phelps Taft II, dropped out of Yale in order to serve in the US Army during WWI.
• President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's son, James Roosevelt, was 2nd in command of the 2nd Raider Battalion of the Marine Raiders during WWII. He retired as Brigadier General, and earned the Navy Cross and Silver Star.
• President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's son, Elliott Roosevelt, was an Army photo reconnaissance pilot during WWII, and played a key role in D-Day landings.
• President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's son, John Aspinwall Roosevelt, served in the Navy from 1941-1946 during WWII. He received the Bronze Star.
• President Dwight D. Eisenhower's son, John Eisenhower, served in the Army during WWII and the Korean War. He attained rank of Brigadier General.
• President Jimmy Carter's son, Jack Carter, enlisted in the Navy at his father's suggestion. He served in Vietnam on a salvage ship.

And if you're curious as to the military service of our presidents, including wartime service, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Presidents_by_military_service

So, that's your history lesson for today.

Missing the kid

Today marks the 4th or 5th day since I last talked to YS. I'm not used to that. When he's at school, we talk at least briefly almost every day. Since he's been in France, we've managed to connect almost every day, at least every other day. But this week, nothing. I know he's busy, but not even a text message or short "hi, I'm alive" phone call before he goes to bed or when he gets up? I miss him. When I see that one of his fellow students has managed to blog two or three times this week, it makes me even sadder. Why hasn't he found the time for a quick email? I know, I know, I'm being silly. But I miss him, and I miss hearing about his adventures, and I'm afraid by the time he does call or write, he won't remember the details of his adventures to be able to relate them. Sigh. I know. Get over it. He's an adult. He's having fun with his friends. But I still miss him, and it's not like him to go so long without some sort of contact. It doesn't help that I'm sick and grumpy.

Edit: 12:00 PM - talked to YS at last. His cell phone is out of minutes, so he hasn't been able to call, and didn't realize he could receive calls still. He is having fun, and is very busy. I did conference him in with his dad so he could wish him a happy birthday. So, I'm feeling a bit better. He was on his way out with a group of friends, and in the background I could hear one of the girls helping him figure out what to wear. A good sign.

Getting it off my chest

You know how, when you're driving and someone cuts you off, or pulls out in front of you at the last minute, forcing you to slam on your brakes, and then drives 10 miles per hour below the speed limit, you wish you could tell them exactly what a dumb ass they are, but that opportunity rarely presents itself? Well, Wednesday night, I got that opportunity, and took full advantage of it.

As you head north out of our town, the road narrows from two lanes to one. This is a relatively new configuration. They keep trying to improve the flow of traffic through town while we await the building of a bypass that will take the majority of traffic out of downtown - a bypass that will likely not be completed for 4 or 5 years at the earliest. One of the things they did was to widen one of the main north/south thoroughfares from two lanes to four - two in each direction. The problem is, at the north end, traffic goes under a railroad trestle that is only two lanes wide. It can't be widened - well, not without much ado - because there is a river on the east side of the road and homes and businesses on the west. So, traffic must merge from two lanes into one. Most people handle this properly, letting people merge from the right into the left lane of traffic. But there are always those idiots who insist on flying up the right side, passing the line of cars on the left, and then forcing their way into the line of traffic at the last possible minute. Those are the guys you really want to tell off.

Wednesday night, I was the second car in the left lane of traffic. As I was driving along, I could hear the sounds of a semi's gears shifting, his engine whining as his speed increased. He was pulling alongside me on the right. The lane was ending soon, and there is plenty of warning that it is going to do so, so I figured the truck would slow down and pull in behind me. After all, I WAS in front of him. Imagine my surprise when he continued to increase his speed, and actually pulled ahead of me. The car in front of me was not paying any attention He was driving kind of slowly (probably the speed limit, but no one drives the speed limit there as it goes from 35 to 45 at the trestle), but not so slowly that the truck could pass him too, though I think he wanted to. I honked at the truck as he nosed ahead of me. I flashed my lights at the guy in front of me. The lane was ending. The truck driver put his signal on, as if that would magically part the traffic to allow him to butt in. I had no recourse but to stomp on the brakes to let this guy in. I had to come to almost a complete stop, and just prayed the car behind me was paying attention. I was livid. I was on my way to the grocery store, which would have meant turning left at the upcoming junction with the highway going north and the one going east toward home, but the truck continued on the highway going east, and I decided to follow him. I had a pretty good idea where he was headed.

In the meantime, I called The Spouse to vent. I told him I was following the guy. Sure enough, the truck turned into Lignetics, a company that turns sawdust into pellets for pellet stoves, and into those duralog thingees. I turned in too. This driver knew exactly where he was going, added proof that he knew that lane ended, and knew exactly what he was doing. I waited for him to pull onto the scale and get out of the cab. I stormed over, Spouse listening on the cell phone "just in case". I said to the guy "What were you thinking? You CANNOT pass on the right. That is against the law, and dangerous! I was ahead of you and you PASSED me and made me slam on my brakes to let you in!" The driver, a 30-ish guy, stocky, shaved head, said "I didn't pass you." Naturally, I responded that he definitely HAD passed me. He then said "the law says.....I had my turn signal on...." and made some other smart remarks. I informed him that the law says you cannot pass on the right, and turning on one's turn signal does NOT give one the right of way. He had such an attitude that I was infuriated. I told him I was going to file a complaint. And I did.

Gotta love cell phones and 411 connect. I dialed 411, and asked for the number for Richardson Trucking in Lewiston, ID - about 3 1/2 hours south of here. They gave me the number and connected me. It was worth the $1.85 it will cost me. I got the dispatcher and told him what had happened. He was familiar with the place in town I was talking about. I gave him the license number and told him where the guy went. He immediately knew who the driver was. He said "was he a mouthy kid?" That was a pretty accurate description. He told me they 'd had problems with him before, and that he would make sure his supervisor knew about the incident. Now, this could all have been BS, but it made me feel good. I don't want the guy fired - and I told the dispatcher that, but I do want him to think twice the next time he uses his size and brute force to bully other drivers on the road. Guys like that give truckers a bad name, especially guys with the attitude he had. It was so nice to actually be able to confront an idiot driver and feel like you got to tell them just how stupid and dangerous their behavior was.

Happy Birthday, Spouse

Today is The Spouse's 57th birthday. I think I caught what Lorraine had via her blog. Ugh. I want to make The Spouse a really nice dinner, but I'm not sure I'm up to it. There is a restaurant in town, Panhandler Pies, that gives you a free meal, complete with a piece of homemade pie of your choice, on your birthday. I'm going to try to talk The Spouse into going there on his lunch break (at 3 or 4) today. If he agrees, Daughter and the Grandkids will meet us there and surprise him. It will also mean I won't have to make dinner. I can make him his special dinner this weekend. Regardless, Happy Birthday, Honey! I ♥ you very much!

Sad goodbyes

Several of my blog friends have noted the departure of a few of our blog buddies from blogopia. It makes me sad when people whose work I enjoy reading stop writing. I know there are lots of reasons for terminating a blog. Real life gets in the way. Situations in one's life that prompted one to blog no longer exist, or no longer serve as motivation to blog. Maybe it's just disillusionment with blogopia, the realization that "knowing" someone via their blog isn't necessarily really knowing them at all, a desire to step back from the "putting it all out there" mentality that technology has promulgated, or any other array of reasons. Nevertheless, it saddens me when communication is cut off abruptly, and seemingly permanently. Maybe I'm weird, but I like hearing what my blog friends have to say, or feel is worthy of posting on any particular day. And when I stumble upon a new blog that piques my curiosity, I like to go back and read the archives, to get to know the blogger a little better, to understand why today's post says what it says based upon what past posts have said. That's why I keep archives available on my blog, and why it makes me crazy when other bloggers don't. When I "met" charlie, of Highland Dreams fame, I read back as far as I could to get a sense of who he was. Thanks to charlie, I met S1, Amy, Lorraine, Dan, Iwanski, Diane, Therese, Alan, Allan, Grish, and a host of others. Thanks to Lorraine, I met JP, SCG, JLow, Eva, and the rest of you, and thanks to me, you have all met Rosemary. What a nice circle. But now charlie has stopped blogging - probably never to return, as have Eva, Edy, LA, and countless others. My blog roll needs to be modified, and I don't want to do it. I keep holding out hope these people will come back, will realize they are missed, they were appreciated, they brought something special to our day, and we want them back. But that's selfish of me. They have their reasons, and I must respect them. But I still miss them, and I want them to know that. So if you're still reading this blog, charlie, Evangeline, Legal Alien, Amy, and Edy - I miss your posts. I miss hearing your thoughts, your point of view, however different from mine it might be, your insightful comments, your writing. I know you have reasons for leaving, and I respect them, but that doesn't make me miss you any less. Bon voyage mes amis.

This is how you know you raised them right

I had a very brief phone conversation with YS this morning. He is now in Strasbourg. Saturday night, they had a big party with all the host families. They had the traditional tarte flambee, or flammekueche in Alsatian.

It starts with bread dough rolled out fine as a crepe. But instead of tomatoes, anchovies and mozzarella, this dough is spread with creme fraiche, a thick soured cream mixed with a delicate fresh white cheese called fromage blanc. It is seasoned with salt and pepper, and then thinly sliced white onions and bacon cut like matchsticks go on top. The true tarte flambee is cooked in an old-fashioned wood-burning oven, the kind used in the countryside for baking bread. The heat in a wood-burning oven is so intense that in less than a minute the tarte emerges still supple, yet blistered at the edges, with the topping of cream and cheese the color of old ivory. Tarte flambee originated with peasants of the Bas Rhin, and is a specialty in the area from Strasbourg northwest to Saverne. Years ago farmers used to bake their bread just once a week. While the oven was still too hot to bake the bread without burning it, they would take a bit of dough, roll it out and spread it with thickened cream. In just a few minutes they could make a simple and delicious midday meal. Sounds like something I could live on!

Anyway, they had this party, during which they sang songs, played various games, and had a great time. At the end of the party, YS went to Steve, his professor's contact person in Saverne, who arranges all the home stays. He thanked him for putting this all together, and told him how much he'd enjoyed his host family. While he was telling me this, I could hear his friend in the background saying "and he was crying!" YS admitted that, when he was talking to Steve, he did get misty-eyed. Then he looked at his host mom, who also had teared up, and he did get pretty tearful. He teased back to his friend, Chelsea, "at least I didn't bawl like you did". I guess all the kids got emotional when they said goodbye to their surrogate families, knowing they may never see them again, and appreciating all that they had done for them these past two weeks. It made me get choked up too. YS is a really good kid, with a very tender heart. I know he will miss his host family, even though the kids are off to a great hostel in Strasbourg, where they can all hang out, and joke around, without the sometimes awkward feeling that accompanies living as a stranger in someone else's home. It made me smile to hear that he had been moved to tears when he bid them adieu, and they were sad to see him go. He must have been a good guest, which means he has learned something from us, after all.

Sneak peek at Spring

Saturday was fun, but Mother Nature played a cruel trick on us. First, we went to Spokane, where I had booked a couple of rooms at the Marriot Residence Inn. Nice place! The rooms were nice, with nearly full kitchens (only thing missing was an oven). Daughter and her family were in one room, we were in the other. The plan was that The Spouse, Oldest Son, Daughter-in-law, Oldest Granddaughter, and I would go to the Gonzaga vs. Memphis game, which started at 3, then to dinner afterward (this was our Christmas/birthday present from OS and his wife), while Daughter, Son-in-law, and grandkids would go hang out at the mall for a bit, then come back to the hotel to play in the pool. The next day we were all going to Oldest Granddaughter's championship AAU basketball game. The cruel trick? It was 60 degrees in Spokane on Saturday! We figured that Punxutawny Phil was right for once. Winter was over.

The Gonzaga game was amazing! They really were not expected to win, especially since Josh Heytvelt wasn't playing (see news article), but the Zags took the game into overtime, and very nearly beat the Tigers. It was one of the best Gonzaga games I've ever seen. We had dinner reservations at a really great restaurant afterward, and had a really wonderful dinner at C.I. Shenanigans. I had Chilean Sea Bass, which was served with the tastiest mashed potatoes in the world and perfectly cooked fresh green beans. Before dinner, Daughter-in-law and I shared a bowl of crab bisque that was to die for. The Spouse and OS had the most amazing braised pork shank, which they called Osso Bucco (osso bucco is usually veal, but it just translates as "hollow bone", so could be anything), served with the same great potatoes and green beans, and DIL had a rib-eye steak. We had a terrific time. When we left the restaurant, it was still 58 degrees. Unbelievable, really. February 17th and it's shirt sleeve weather. When we got back to the hotel, the grandkids were all playing in the pool. We sat and watched for a bit, but The Spouse was battling a horrible cold, sore throat, and watery eyes, so we headed for bed kind of early.

Sunday we all got up and enjoyed the wonderful, free buffet breakfast at the hotel. The Spouse was feeling better. We headed to our cars for a short trip to the mall. That's when we realized we'd been had. It was nearly 15 degrees cooler - and windy. The weather forecaster had warned of impending winter storms, which were due to continue all week. So far, it was sunny, just cold and windy. We still held out hope.

We wandered over to the mall (just down the street), where the grandkids got a few new clothes (they have this habit of outgrowing things), then headed to the game. Oldest Granddaughter's team was undefeated this season. The team they played for the title had lost once - to them. We thought it might be close, but it was a blowout. These girls are heads and shoulders above all the other 7th grade girls. It's pretty amazing.

After trophies were handed out, the obligatory photos taken, and congratulations offered, it was time to head for home. Now it was really cold and windy. And the sky was threatening. We made a quick stop at Best Buy, where I bought the new laptop, then high-tailed it home. The sky to the north was growing gloomier by the second. Daughter called when we were halfway home to tell us it was pouring at home, and really windy. So long Spring. Today, it's snowing. I am so disappointed. On Friday, I walked 2 miles during half an hour of my lunch break with our new security person, and was looking forward to doing that regularly. Bummer. I guess it's back to Uggs and turtlenecks, for this week anyway.

France photos

I put a new slideshow on the left of photos YS has uploaded from his stay in Saverne. If you click the link below the slideshow, it will take you to my Webshots album, where you can view the photos in full size.

No Gay Paree for me

I had the good sense to email the professor who is conducting the Parisienne portion of YS's study program. I wanted to know how much time they'd be spending in class during the proposed week of our visit. In his current portion of the trip, their class time is limited to the mornings from nine to noon. Their afternoons are free, primarily to give them time to absorb the French culture and interact with their host families. They take a few excursions to castles, churches, and whatnot, but mostly they are free to explore. I suspected things might be different in Paris, and I was right. Said professor responded that they would be very busy, and that given the cost, we should wait and take a family trip at some later date. So, no Paris. To console myself, I bought a new laptop.

My old, heavy, archaic laptop died. Just up and dropped dead. No power, nothing. It's a PIII-600 old Dell Latitude that I bought used off of eBay for $450 a few years ago. I got my money's worth. I didn't even want to try to fix it. I started doing some research, thought about buying a Dell off their website, then decided, on the spur of the moment yesterday (the BEST way to decide these things), to stop in at Best Buy and see what they had. This laptop will mostly be for The Spouse to look up sports stuff, the grandkids to play games, and me to burn DVDs and store photos (so I don't keep storing them on the work laptop). It just needs to work and not be anything spectacular. And it needed to be cheap. Best Buy had a Gateway with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 1 GB RAM (I will upgrade that most likely), a 100GB hard drive, a 17" widescreen, a dual layer DVD burner, and Windows Vista Home Premium - pretty much everything I was looking for - for just $699. So, I am now sitting with the new machine on my lap, doing my blog. It's a pretty sweet machine. I was looking at a Sony Vaio, which they were out of, before I saw this one. They were the same price, same specs, but the Sony only had a 15.4" screen, and a bunch of software I didn't need. I have Office 2007. I have anti-virus. I have everything I need. I didn't want to pay for a bunch of bundled stuff, but I did want the 17" screen.

So, no Paris, but a new toy. I can live with that.

Is that Paris calling?

So, get this. The Spouse had to bid his vacation last February for the fiscal year June 06-May 07. YS had not been accepted into the France Study Program at that time. We decided on some weeks throughout the year - Thanksgiving Week, Week after Christmas, July 4th Week, and one other week I can't remember. Because every week he bid had a holiday in it, he got 4 extra days to bid, in addition to his 2 personal days and 2 floating holidays. He sprinkled those extra days throughout the year, with most of them falling between January and June 1, all on Fridays. Then YS gets accepted to the FSP two weeks later - and announces he will have Spring Break free. His Spring Break coincides with most of the public schools' spring break, and that week is no longer available. We toyed with the idea of me going to France and hanging out with YS, letting him show me around Paris and whatnot, but then he hooked up with some of his classmates for the trip to Italy - a much more intriguing week than hanging with his mother.

Monday, The Spouse's workgroup is told that there is now a week available in March for vacation, if someone wants it. The Spouse has 5 days he hasn't taken yet - Fridays he was scheduled to have off in February, March, April, and May. "So," I say to him, "it is possible to go to Paris for that week?" Maybe. He doesn't know when the week is yet. Naturally, I jumped online immediately and started checking airfares. The next day, he finds out the week is March 17-25. I find airfares for a little over $800 each. I'm ready to book the tickets! The Spouse is not so sure. He tells me that this is so sudden (he doesn't do spontaneous very well), Paris isn't even on his list of places he wants to visit (???????), he'd rather go back to Scotland (yeah, I want to do that again someday), blah, blah, blah. I'm like a racehorse in the gate, chomping at the bit, ready to run, and he's the jockey pulling on my reins, and I do not like it one bit. I've been with this man long enough to know that pushing him is not the way to get what I want, so I let it go - as far as he knows. In the meantime, I've booked the hotel (I can cancel it), which is the same hotel YS will be staying at, and I'm one click away from booking the flights. I asked YS what he thought, and his only concern is how much time he will have to be in class each day while in Paris. With this professor, they are only in class from 9 to noon, but he has no idea what it will be like with the next professor. So, he asked me to email the professor and see what he says. We'll go from there.

So, gang, I MAY be going to Paris in just over a month! Is that amazing or what? And if I don't get to go, it's okay. I will go some day, some day.

Valentine's Day Recap

The Spouse had his boss riding with him, so no romantic lunch together. In fact, since she was with him for the day, he didn't even take his lunchbox with him, so didn't find the note and chocolate bar I had tucked into it until he was on his way home. So, to make up for it, I cooked him up a tasty rib-eye steak, mashed potatoes, and veggies, lit a bunch of candles, got him a nice card, and had it all waiting for him when he got home at 7:30. I also got a banana cream pie for dessert - a pie he loves, and I can't eat (banana allergy), so it was perfect! We watched Duke beat Boston College, which made his night, and then I played "our song" for him, via YouTube. Thank you YouTube!




"Looking for love..."

What a catch

I talked to YS this morning - late afternoon for him. The group hiked to Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg this afternoon. It was QUITE a hike, according to YS, but the view was well worth the exertion. The first link is to the Wikipedia article on the Chateau, but this link is to the Chateau's official site (in French), with a photo album that is worth taking a look at.

But this post is about why YS is a great catch, and some day, some girl will recognize that. After class, he got the two other boys and suggested they run to the supermarket to buy flowers for the girls for Valentine's Day. The other boys thought it was a great idea. They wanted red roses, but at 3 euros a pop, 18 roses would set them back a bit more than they could afford. They found some nice pink roses, and a bouquet for one of the girls, whose birthday is on Valentine's Day, costing them about 9 euros each. YS then took all the flowers to his host home. His host mom looked at him quizzically when he walked in with 18 roses and a bouquet. He finally got the message across that they were for St. Valentine's Day (it's pronounced Valen-TEEN there). She put them in a room they don't heat to keep them fresh. He and the boys are going to get to class early and put the flowers on the desks of the girls and the professor (they got her one too), then leave and walk back in when everyone else does and act all surprised. Now, what a sweet guy he is, and such a romantic. He wanted to get them chocolates, but one girl is lactose intolerant and another has a nut allergy, so flowers seemed the safest bet. They went in search of cards, but Valentine's Day is not a big deal there, and there were no cards to be found. But still... flowers... the kid is on the right track.

I guess I don't fit in

I love my blog community. I have made "friends" with some really great people via blogging. I put the word "friends" in quotes because, for the most part, we don't really know anything about each other except what each of us chooses to reveal about ourselves in our posts and comments. There are some exceptions, of course (I know Rosemary in real life, and we really are friends), but most of the folks whose blogs are listed on my blog roll are people I've never met, and probably never will meet. And though I don't necessarily believe a friend has to be someone you've met in person, the level of intimacy we share - or don't share - with our blog buddies is certainly going to be different than that shared with someone with whom you interact in real life.

In our blog world, we can ponder our words before we "speak" them. We can spend as long as we want on a post, editing it until it has just the right ring to it. (Some of us don't bother exercising that option, and post like we speak - without editing or thinking. That would be me, by the way.) We can moderate the image we present to the blog world. We don't usually have those options in real life. Like it or not, in real life, we are judged on many levels - appearance, manner of speech, personality, and so on. We communicate via body language, tone, inflection, and myriad other means, things not necessarily spoken aloud. Some of us have a tendency to respond without sufficient time to consider our words, and in the process, hurt or alienate others.

So, where am I going with all this? Growing up, in real life, I often felt as though I didn't quite fit in. I was not one of the popular kids, though I was liked, and well-known, by most of my classmates. But I didn't do the things popular kids did. I didn't wear the clothes popular kids did. I was just different. Part of me embraced this "differentness", part of me longed to be "one of the crowd." In the end, I realized that being different was best, usually. Today, I am still different in so many ways. And most of the time, I thrive on that. But that adolescent need to belong gnaws at me more often than I care to admit. In certain situations, when I realize I don't fit in, I keep my mouth shut. Anyone who knows me in real life will find their jaw dropping in disbelief. "Gina, quiet? Yeah, right." Remember, I'm Italian. We're not known for being a quiet people. In fact, parlare prima che lei pensa, fortemente e con molti gesti, (speak before you think, loudly and with many gestures) is the country motto, isn't it? But if I realize, for example, that my point of view is the minority position, I zip it right up. I'm a coward. I want to be liked, so I keep my opinions to myself when I'm in "hostile territory".

Work is sometimes hostile territory. My political and spiritual beliefs put me in the minority. There are two other people, out of 40 employees, who have political and spiritual leanings similar to mine. Interestingly, my best friend is not one of the two. She and I have diametrically opposed views on both politics and religion, but we are friends who respect each other's positions and don't demean or denigrate them to each other. On the other hand, on a daily basis, several of my coworkers make snide, derogatory remarks about those of my political, and even religious, persuasion. I just bite my tongue. They know where I stand. If they don't respect me as a person enough to refrain from bashing those with opposing viewpoints in my presence, well.... it's not worth it. Besides, I hate confrontation on these topics. Everyone is entitled to his/her opinion. And I want to fit in, so I keep quiet. I'm a coward.

Even among my blog friends, I find myself in the minority. And like the coward that I am, I keep my mouth shut. I don't want to argue with my friends. I don't want them to stop liking me because I have a different opinion about politics, the president, the war, religion. I am back in high school, seeking approval and acceptance. What is wrong with me? Why can't I shake this need? Why can't I just be brave enough to speak my mind, voice my dissenting opinion, and suffer the consequences? I am a coward. And why do I have so little faith in my blog friends that I assume they will abandon me if I disagree with them? That is the real question, isn't it? Do I have that little faith in people, or in myself? Do I believe that whether or not I am liked is dependent upon my agreeing with them? I apologize to all of you for even entertaining that notion. It is a reflection on me, not you. But I do struggle with that fear.

So, in the interest of full disclosure, here goes. I am a Republican. I am a Christian. I am not a right-wing conservative who thinks everything the administration does, or has done, is right. I do think for myself. But I don't think everything the administration does, or has done, is wrong either. While I think the war has turned out to be a big mess, and a whole different kettle of fish than anyone imagined, I don't necessarily believe we were wrong for going there in the beginning, and I don't believe everything we hear in the media is unbiased or that we're getting the whole story. But I also don't even pretend to have any idea how to proceed now, unlike so many Hollywood stars. I will leave that to the military experts - and last time I checked, that list did not include Susan Sarandon or Tim Robbins.

I am not an ultra-conservative fundamentalist Christian who believes that everyone who believes differently than I do is going to fry in Hell. I try to be the kind of Christian I believe Jesus taught us to be - one who truly loves his fellow man, who reserves the judgment of others to God, who strives to serve the Lord in all I do, and who fails miserably daily, but who continues to try. I am one who doesn't believe in pointing fingers at "sinners", and lambasting them for their sinful ways, because not one of us is free of sin. Adultery is no more sinful than cheating on taxes; and Christ forgives all sins. I am one who does believe that there is eternal life, and that through Christ, I am forgiven for my sins, my failings, and my shortcomings. I also believe that, as a Christian, I have a responsibility to Christ, and to everyone, to demonstrate His love, His mercy, and His grace in everything I do. I try, but fail in that regularly too. Thankfully, He understands.

So, blog buddies, there you have it. I've come out of the closet. I love you all. I think you are talented, interesting, amazing people. I respect you all. I enjoy our friendship. But I don't always agree with you politically. I am not jumping with joy over the Dixie Chicks' Grammy win, viewing it as a sign of their vindication. I think what Natalie Maines said, at the time and place she said it, was inappropriate. But I also think the nasty, threatening letters and comments made about what she said were disgusting and uncalled for. In my opinion, it is inappropriate for any entertainer to spout their political beliefs during a performance. I would not want to have paid for a ticket to Barbra Streisand's (and she's one of my favorite singers ever) concert, only to have her lash out at Bush. I am also not thrilled when entertainers use their stardom to push their political agenda, no matter what side they're on.

In writing that, I thought back to the Vietnam War era. It was not uncommon to go to concerts and listen to the entertainers speak out against the war. So, why do I feel differently now? Back then, when you went to a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young concert, you knew what to expect. You were aware of their anti-war stance. You don't go to a Barbra Streisand concert (and consider the demographic her audience likely consisted of), and expect an anti-Bush tirade. Well, you do now, I guess. If the Dixie Chicks had said what they'd said in the US, not London, maybe the backlash wouldn't have been so big. If she'd said it last week instead of on the eve of the invasion, no one would have batted an eyelash. It's all about timing, I guess. So, congratulations, Dixie Chicks, on the Grammy win. I'm going to hold out hope it was for great songwriting, and a great record, and not even consider the possibility that the award was politically motivated. You are great singers and songwriters. You have so much talent it's not even funny. Good for you. And to my blog buddies, thank you for being my friends. Thank you for liking me, even though I don't fit in. I trust my disclosure won't change a thing. I have faith.

A rare opportunity

I was going to title this post "The perfect morning", but as I was typing that into the title box, it started coming up via the "auto-fill" feature - you know, where it "remembers" things you have typed before and gives you the option of just clicking on that? Well, that meant that I had already used that title, so I had to come up with something different. But this really did start out as the perfect morning, if you can consider getting up at 5:45 AM on a Saturday the start of a perfect morning. You see, The Spouse had to work today. Apparently, FedEx is expecting a lot of freight in advance of Valentine's Day, so it's "all hands on deck" today - or rather, "most hands on deck," so he was "recruited" to work. The silver lining to this cloud is that he won't be required to work a Saturday again for at least a year, except for the Saturday before Christmas. That's almost as good as getting out of jury duty, which by the way, he also did. He was supposed to be on jury duty in March. They send this questionnaire with it, with a box to check if you've been on jury duty within the past 24 months. Since he is called every two years like clockwork, and I have yet to be called ever in 24 years of living here, I marked "yes". A week later, he got a card saying he was "disqualified" as a juror at the present time. Yippee! It's not that he doesn't want to do his civic duty. He does. It's just that the way they do it here is so bizarre. You call the night before to find out if there is even a trial that week. If there is, you report, often only to be dismissed immediately due to a last-minute settlement in a case. For him, by then it's too late to go to work, so he loses a day's pay. And this goes on for a month. So, yippee.

The perfection began with a call from YS. He was with his host brother, standing outside the home of one of the brother's friends. Apparently, the host brother is in a band. He's the drummer. There are two other boys and a girl in this band. The boys had all arrived and were awaiting the arrival of the girl. They were having a smoke while awaiting her arrival. YS said that, yes, the sterotype of French smoking habits is true. "Everyone" smokes, especially the teens. Fortunately, they don't smoke in the house. YS said that the only time the smoking has bothered him was when he was at the bar with his host brother and friends. They do smoke in bars. His eyes got really irritated. The lingering smell of stale cigarette smoke on clothing is almost impossible to remove. I'm probably going to have throw his clothes away when he gets back. Maybe Febreze will help.

The host families are paid 18 euros a day in return for having the kids stay with them. Of course, that was part of what we paid for the trip, so essentially, we are paying them 18 euros a day to have our child in their home. It's worth every penny. At the end of each week, the professor gives each student an envelope containing this payment - 125 euros - to give to their host family. YS gave his envelope to his host mother, and she told him to keep it, that he would need extra money during his long stay in France. YS called and asked me what he should do, because though he insisted she take the money, she insisted he keep it. I told him it was probably fine for him to keep it, and reminded him that it was money that we had paid, not that Whitworth was paying, but to talk to his professor about it, which was what he had planned to do. When he spoke with his professor, she told him that it was not unusual for the families to do that, and that some even took their students out shopping for clothes and things, and that it was okay for him to keep the money. Next week he will get another 125 euros, so he's got plenty of spending money - almost enough to cover his trip to Italy during Spring Break, but certainly enough to cover lunches the days he'll need to buy them. That was really nice of his host family, and he will use some of the money to buy them gifts before he leaves.

The Spouse left for work at 7AM, leaving me to amuse myself for pretty much the entire day. I have toyed with the idea of going to work myself, but it's 10:25 already and I'm still sitting in my bathrobe on my sofa, laptop on my lap (where else?), cat snuggled up next to me asleep, with no real desire to do much besides blog. I'm so bad. Actually, I have been working for more than an hour. I got called from work at about 8AM. The web site was down. I logged on and saw that the web publishing service wasn't running for some reason. Fixed that. A few minutes later they called to say the self-check machine was out of service. Another service on the same server wasn't running. Fixed that. For some reason, after the backup ran last night, those two services didn't restart. There was a change made to the batch file that starts the backup due to a new product that was installed yesterday. I submitted a trouble ticket to our software vendor advising them that this was happening so they can take a look at things and see what in the newly added command is hanging things up. After doing those little tasks, I spent some time trying to figure out why we continue to have problems sending email to some specific domains. Sometimes it goes just fine, sometimes it hangs up in our queues and never gets out. I can't seem to find a rhyme or reason and it's starting to piss me off. And that's how it got to be 10:30 AM with me in my bathrobe still.

So, I could be cleaning - dusting, vacuuming (Lorraine, Rosemary, any takers?) - but I don't feel like it. I'm going to sit here, blog, watch stuff I have Tivo'd that I haven't had time to watch, catch up on back episodes of Heroes, and then, maybe I'll do housework. I will have to go to the grocery store at some point, but that's not too bad a day. I may even get a chance to read! And YS said he'd call later. He's going to Strasbourg with his host brother and friends after dinner tonight (dinner is usually around 7 PM). I'm looking forward to hearing how that was. Oh, and I'm going to watch Sunday in the Park with George and Les Choristes. I am sure The Spouse will not want to watch either. The former is a musical, and I'm watching it because YS is doing a paper on Seurat and may need some input. The latter came highly recommended by YS after he viewed it in his Everyday French class. Au revoir, mon amis!

NOT on hiatus

I just thought I'd let you all know that I am going against the grain. I am not going on a blogger break. I am not taking time out to pursue other interests. I will be here, day in and day out, reading the blogs of all my blog buddies, posting on my own blog as often as possible, and basically just doing what I've been doing. Thought you all should know.

Why I could never write a cookbook

Lorraine, the chef extraordinaire, is always helping ruin my diet by posting tales of her wonderful dinner parties, replete with photos of the dishes she serves, and often recipes of same. I could probably create a cookbook from her archived posts. She even contributes to an awesome recipe blog called The Bon Vivant Gourmet, along with JLow, Seattle Coffee Girl, and Jessnbekahsmom. While I love to cook (isn't that a prerequisite for being born Italian?), I seldom follow a recipe. In fact, often I start out following a recipe, discover I don't have some ingredient or other, and then improvise. The only time I follow a recipe, word for word, is when I bake, which I seldom do. Baking requires precision. Cooking doesn't, usually. To me, cooking is like painting or drawing; you adjust the creation as you go, tweaking as needed to achieve the desired end result. It's inventive, creative, and fun. Baking is work.

Now, before all you baking whizzes out there post flaming comments, let me make this disclaimer: if you know what you're doing, you understand how flour, water, sugar, salt, and the various ingredients that "fluff up" the baked goods (leavening agents), interact with one another to create the end product, so you can tweak to your heart's content. I am not endowed with that special talent, nor do I care to be so endowed. I just don't find baking, for the most part (except for excellent bread, which I really enjoy making), a pleasant experience. But give me some chicken or other protein food, some produce, wine (for the cook, of course!), olive oil, herbs and spices, a few staples like pasta or beans, and I'm off and running. My dishes may not be as pretty in presentation as Lorraine's, but they usually end up tasting pretty darned excellent.

Problem is, unless I pay close attention, it's hard to recreate that dish since I made it up as I went. I ran into this problem just last week. I made a dish that The Spouse loved. The next day I made another one he really enjoyed. He said, "I'm not sure which I like better, this meal or last night's." Great. I didn't even remember what I had made the night before. How was I going to make it again? All I knew was that it had chicken in it, and I think I served it over pasta. So, that's why you will never see a cookbook entitled Gina's Galloping Gallery of Gourmet. Besides, cookbooks are for sissies, right? KIDDING!

Amusement avec des amis en France or Fun with Friends in France

YS called this morning. He was walking through Saverne, en route to meeting fellow students for an afternoon excursion and some studying. He spoke a bit in French to me. He said he is really enjoying French now; that hearing it all the time, and in context, makes it so much easier to understand than it was in class at school. He finds himself translating less and less, and actually thinking in French, which as anyone who has studied a foreign language knows, is the first step to fluency. He still struggles with comprehension with people who talk too fast, but overall, it's getting much better. Turns out, his host family has a 23 year-old daughter. She was visiting yesterday, and he had a hard time understanding her because she spoke so fast. Once she realized what she was doing, she slowed down so they could converse. I didn't get to ask him about her, as he was talking to his dad when he was relating this story, so I don't know if she lives nearby, is just away at school, or what.

He had a great time with his host "brother" the other night when they went out for a beer with his brother's friends. He shared his experience with his classmates the next day. Apparently, they all thought it sounded so fun, that most of them wanted to join him and his brother the next time they went out. He said it created a bit of a problem in that he had to pick and choose who he would invite and who he wouldn't. Apparently, the bar is small, and it would be weird to have 8 or 10 kids suddenly join him, his brother, and his brother's friends. They wanted to watch the France vs. Argentina football (soccer to us) game at the bar, but the bar has no TV, so that's out. I'm sure they'll have a great time, regardless.

Too bad he can't stay with the family for the entire semester. They will be staying in a hostel in Strasbourg after two weeks with the family. It looks like a nice hostel, but what a different environment it will be. Then on to Paris, where they will stay in a pretty nice hotel for about 4 weeks. The hotel in Caen is small, kind of like a Travelodge type motel, but just a short walk to the WWII memorials and beaches. Then back to Paris and a hostel, which means pretty limited amenities. In Nice, they are staying in an inexpensive hotel for two weeks. It's a pretty cheesy looking hotel. It's located well, not far from the beach, but the reviews on TripAdvisor say it's small, noisy, the staff is rude, and it's not all that clean. It will be interesting to hear his impressions.

And then, of course, there is his trip to Italy, with all that portends. Rome is notoriously dirty, and filled with thieves, pickpockets, etc. I do worry that these kids are so naive and innocent that they really aren't prepared for what they will encounter, and may not take the appropriate precautions. These are small-town kids from communities where locking your house or car is often unnecessary. I hope they're careful. From what I read, Rome, my beloved ancestral home, is a pit of vipers. Same for Florence and Milan. That's sad. I will probably worry non-stop while he's in Italy.

There is such a thing as too clean

My mom had the right idea. She had a lot of right ideas, but today I was reminded of one in particular. Mom was not a clean freak - far from it. Our house was clean, but not spotless. Floors were vacuumed and mopped, things were dusted, dishes were done, but I doubt you could eat off the floors, and it didn't sparkle. There was usually some sort of clutter on the end tables, generally consisting of books, newspapers, and magazines she and my stepdad were reading. I vaguely remember a pile of mail - probably bills waiting to be paid - on the counter by the phone; the same place my pile of mail lives. My bedroom, which I shared with my youngest sister, was usually cluttered, but not dirty. My other sister's bedroom, on the other hand, was spotless. Suzy Homemaker. That's why she got her own room. Mom felt it was inhumane to subject her to my slovenliness. My brother's room? A hazardous waste dump. You couldn't even walk in his room most of the time. In fact, he frequently entered and exited his room via his window (California, you know). Mom let our rooms be our rooms. If we wanted to live in a pig sty, so be it.

So, why am I mentioning this? The news this morning was talking about the fact that we have become too clean, especially moms of young kids. They are constantly washing their kids, and using antibacterial soaps on them and their homes. The Daughter is guilty of this behavior. As a result of all this cleanliness, we have weakened immune systems. Our immune systems are strengthened as we are exposed to germs. Sometimes we get sick from the germs, but in doing so, we build up an immunity to the germs, so that the next time we are exposed to them, we don't get sick, or as sick. Letting kids get sick helps build their immune systems. But we've become such a germophobic society, we're actually making ourselves sicker, our immune systems weaker, and the illnesses we're falling prey to are much more devastating as a result of our weakened immune systems. We need a little dirt as kids. We need to get sick now and then. We need to stop being so germophobic. Contrary to what you may think, you're not going to die if you don't wash your hands 100 times a day. In fact, doing so might make you die!

See, Mom was right. A little dirt, a few germs, never hurt anyone.

Boycott Viacom!

Okay, maybe we can get a whole wave of protest started that will wake Viacom up. As reported by Lorraine and JP, YouTube is removing hundreds of thousands of videos from its site, per Viacom's demand that they do so. The story can be found here. I am going to excerpt parts of it in case you don't feel like going to that link. As Lorraine has said, having these old MTV clips on YouTube is generating a lot of interest in bands that no one has thought of in ages. Apparently, YouTube tried to make that argument to Viacom, but they were having none of it:

Viacom, whose properties include MTV, Comedy Central, BET, TV Land and Nickelodeon, said it spent months negotiating with YouTube so that it could be paid for its material to appear on the site. That copyrighted material -- amounting to 1.2 billion streams, according to Viacom -- is uploaded by YouTube users, despite measures the site takes to stop the practice.

"YouTube and Google retain all of the revenue generated from this practice, without extending fair compensation to the people who have expended all of the effort and cost to create it," Viacom said in a statement. YouTube said it takes copyright issues seriously, but it added that media companies gain from having their shows displayed.

"It's unfortunate that Viacom will no longer be able to benefit from YouTube's passionate audience, which has helped to promote many of Viacom's shows," a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement.

And we all know how much interest YouTube generates for the subject of videos show on its site. Case in point:

YouTube has already struck partnerships with CBS, NBC and others to post authorized clips on the site. Last fall, CBS said that in the first month it operated a YouTube channel, it garnered 29.2 million views, and credited the partnership for increasing ratings.


Why is Viacom being so stupid? They think their stuff is more valuable than say, that shown on a broadcast network. Can you say arrogance?

James McQuivey, principal analyst with Forrester Research, said he expects the two sides to return to the bargaining table quickly. By demanding its clips be erased from YouTube, Viacom is making a point that its shows offer more value than YouTube's other partners. Viacom shows appear on paid cable rather than broadcast channels, for instance, and "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" are consistently on YouTube's top-watched lists.

On the other hand, YouTube and Google want to come to an agreement quickly because they don't want it to appear that media companies can play hardball and dictate deal terms, McQuivey said.

You go, YouTube! I'm boycotting Viacom.

Good news from France

Well, YS is really having fun in France. He was to go have a beer with the oldest boy in the host family after dinner tonight, which was at about 9:00 PM there. He was also told by his host family that he can call a US landline for free from their phone anytime he wants, so he called me at work, and his sister at home. I also found a very amazing prepaid calling card from nobelcom.com, that will allow me to call his cell phone for just 12 cents a minute on my end - less than half what I had been paying - and it will cost just 3 cents a minute for him to call us. Super groovy cool. I highly recommend this company if you want a low-price calling card - either domestic or international.

YS did call me this morning, and we talked for about 15 minutes. I was able to conference him in with his dad too, so we both got to talk to him. He was walking around Saverne, apparently lost for the moment. While we were talking, he saw the Chateau des Rohans, which is where they have their classes, so he knew how to get back from there. As he was walking, I heard him say, "bonjour" to several people. He seems to be getting the hang of things. The father is a lawyer. He doesn't remember what the mother does (he was just off the train and very tired when all the info was tossed at him, so barely remembers anything), or her name. I asked about the food. He said they eat a lot of vegetables. Their glasses are about 4 ounces, as opposed to the 12 ounce or bigger ones most of us use. He said the wine is served in a glass that holds about 2 ounces. It made him realize that, when it's in front of you, you will eat or drink what is there, without even stopping to consider how much you are eating or drinking, hence the tendency in the US to drink and eat far too much. He said the amount of food and wine served was perfect. Breakfast consisted of some sort of traditional cake with fried potatoes and some thinly sliced ham. He said it was really good. He has his own room, and broadband internet access. The class is going to a Mercedes plant Friday. It sounds just so perfectly wonderful. I am so happy for him!

Email from France!

Saturday, 9:31 AM PST

I don't know what prompted me, but I decided to check my email. Voila! An email from YS. He was with his host family. They had taken a 4 hour train ride from Paris to Saverne, and everyone was really tired. The email was short, but great.

"Well Im here with my host family. Its a bit akward because with the languague barrier; but I think it will get better pretty fast:I just got out of the shower, very refreshing!!! I still havent figured out how to charge my phone or whatever (he means add minutes to it), so if you know how just send me an email. Other than that...the plane over was long and the train here was about 4 hours, and pretty much impossible to sleep on. I will write more to you all when I get more time! Love you all, YS. BTW, this keyboard is really hard to get used to :)"

I just love technology! This morning, two more emails! I am pasting them "as is" because the lack of punctuation and misspellings are explained by him in the emails.

Sent at 11:45 PM PST: "well last night was interesting.....lol im off to the class in like 5 min or so, so this will be quick. my family has 3 boys, 2 are twins (not identicql) qnd one plqys drums in a band....all of them are right around my age. i guess you have to be 18 to drive in france they speak german just as well as they do french because it used to be german before WW2. well, ill try to call you guys soon, i hqve to go get a card with K and J (the TA). love you guys, YS PS....can you tell im having a hard time with this keyboard? lol i will have to send you a picture of it"

And then at 4:38 AM PST: "well, the first day of class was fun. we talked about everyones host families and whatnot...très intéressant! the oldest boy, je pense 19 années, asked if i wanted aller avec lui et ses amis ce sour pour avoir une bière. (the oldest boy, i think 19, asked if i wanted to go with him and his friends to have a beer.) j`ai une heure avant je vais aller à la centre ville pour une promenade autour de Saverne avec la classe. (I have one hour before i have to go to the city center for a walk around Saverne with the class.) je pense que je jouerai Xbox 360 avec Mark (je ne sais pas the spelling of his name) maintenant (i think that i will play Xbox 360 with Mark(??) now.) Au revoir et je vous aime tout, YS PS: i will probably write some french in the emails just to help practice...but not every email also, forward this to everyone....and send me their email addresses"

I am thrilled that he is with a family of boys his age. It sounds like this will be very fun for him. I wish they were with a family the entire time, but this part will last only 2 weeks, then on to Strasbourg for two weeks in a hotel, then Paris for 6 weeks, also in a hotel, then Nice, and Avignon. No other homestays, sadly. The nice thing about the homestay is that they clearly have internet, which will likely change once he is in a hotel. I'm going to take full advantage of his easy access to email while he has it. Hopefully, he'll send some photos soon. Gosh, I wish I was in France! It sounds like he's already getting used to speaking French, which is great. He was so concerned about what he felt was his lack of fluency in the language. I kept trying to tell him that once he was there, immersed in it, it would be a lot easier. It appears that is the case already.

Tres bien!

The Super Bowl

What a crazy game! From the first-ever-in-Super-Bowl-history-kickoff-runback-for-a-touchdown to the constant pouring rain to the final quarter, it was quite a game. We were rooting for the Colts, so we were very pleased with the outcome. We were all very disappointed in the commercials, though. I didn't think any of them were especially clever or memorable. Prince's ability to sing and dance in that weather was pretty amazing. All in all, a fun afternoon. The kids and their families were here, and we had many delicious foodstuffs, but the absence of YS weighed on us all. I don't know how families who had kids scattered across the country do it. We are such a close-knit family, and we do so many things all together, that when any part of the family is missing, it's sad. This will be a difficult 3 months, as YS will miss The Spouse's birthday on 2/22, daughter-in-law's birthday on 3/4, my birthday on 3/8, Grandson's birthday on 3/16, and son-in-law's birthday on 4/26, and birthdays around here are big deals. C'est la vie. Yay Colts! Congratulations, Peyton Manning, on being named MVP. Congratulations Tony Dungy, first African American coach to win the Super Bowl, and how cool that it's during Black History Month!

Au revoir mon fils

Preparations for departure

Friday was the most hectic day ever. I took the day off work to help YS pack for his trip. That entailed also running to the store to pick up all those last minute things he didn't have, such as new underwear, notebooks, colored pencils (for the art portion of the class), a gift for his host family.... you get the picture. Getting him to actually start packing was an ordeal. His trepidation about the trip was beginning to take its toll on him. As excited as he was, he was also very nervous. His newness to French, the realization that he would actually not be able to see us for 3 months, his concerns about living in a culture where something as simple as talking was going to require a great deal of effort, was beginning to wear on him. He just wanted to sleep. I had to light a fire under him. Additionally, The Spouse was having the day from hell at work (see previous post).

YS and I got his suitcase packed with room to spare. I decided we should weigh it, since the weight limit is 50 pounds, and this suitcase can easily hold more. We had packed several books in the suitcase, books he will need for his classes in France, and you all know how heavy books are. The suitcase weighed in at 68.5 pounds. Time to start paring things down. He decided he had more clothes than he needed. Isn't that usually the case - we all pack way more than we ever wear? We started taking clothes out. I had packed two bottles of body wash, so I took out one. At 1/2 a pound each, every little bit helped. We weighed it again. Still too heavy by about 8 pounds. YS realized he could check a second bag, though he had hoped to limit his luggage to just the one large (29") suitcase and his carry-on backpack. I dug out a Microsoft day pack that I have had for a few years. He put all the books into that bag, and that pretty much took care of the weight issue. We got the suitcase down to 49.5 pounds. His bedroom was a disaster with all the packing, unpacking, and repacking, but we were running really late and needed to go. The Spouse was frustrated with how late we were, wondering how packing a suitcase could take so long. If he only knew.

Saying goodbye

I had booked a hotel room in Spokane so that we could sleep a little longer. Sadly, The Spouse didn't get off work until 8:30 PM. It took us 30 minutes to get to the hotel, and we had yet to eat dinner. While we were having dinner, Oldest Son called. He and his wife had just finished dining with her parents in a belated birthday celebration (he turned 35 on the 19th) not far from where we were staying. They wanted to see YS before his departure, so they stopped at the restaurant while we were eating and visited with us for an hour or so. We finally hit the hay at 11 PM. Alarms were set for 3:30 AM.

We got up, showered, gathered up YS's luggage, and headed to the airport. We arrived at 5:15 AM. The other students were gathering, with their parents and friends, in front of the United ticket counter. The professor who was leading this part of the trip was there organizing everything and everyone. She handed YS the letter for his host family, and directed him to the ticket agent who was handling the students. The agent checked him in, checked his luggage in (and never weighed it at all!), and he was ready to go. We all stood around for about 15 or 20 minutes, awaiting the rest of the students. Then, before we knew it, the professor grabbed her carry-on and started walking to the security checkpoint. It was time to go.

All around, parents were hugging and kissing their kids. I had been doing pretty well keeping my emotions in check until we started driving to the airport. During that drive, I started to tear up, but managed to choke the tears back before anyone saw them. Now it was time to say goodbye, and I couldn't keep them in any longer. I hugged my son goodbye. He hugged me back hard, then his dad. He hugged me again and said "thank you for everything you guys have done to make this possible". That did it. The tears fell freely. The Spouse was teary-eyed too.

And this is where I have to say how much I hate the 9-11 terrorists. Naturally, I hate what they did on 9-11, but what I also hate is that, ever since that horrible day, you can no longer walk your loved one to the gate and wait with them until they board the plane. You can't stand and watch the plane fly off into the sky, which we did a dozen times when the older kids were growing up and had to fly off to visit The Spouse's ex-wife in the summer. You can't stand just outside the door to the jetway, awaiting your loved one's arrival when they return from a trip. You have to say goodbye at the security checkpoint, and watch them disappear behind a plexiglass (probably bulletproof) divider to wait for another hour or more to board their plane - time you could be spending together before their departure, if not for the 9-11 terrorists. I really hate them for that. Now, airports are no fun for those not traveling. It sucks.
Now what?

The Spouse and I drove back to the hotel, and slept. It was 6:15 AM. We got up at 9:30, went to eat breakfast, then went back and checked out. At about 10:30 AM, we got a call from YS. He was in Chicago, where he had a 6 hour layover. The students were free to roam about the airport, as long as they didn't go outside the secure area. He said everyone was pretty energetic, despite the fact that they had all gotten very little sleep the night before. A group of them were going to go eat. He would call later.

We were going to watch Granddaughter #1 play basketball. She plays on an AAU 7th grade team that is unbeaten. They usually beat their opponents by 30 or more points. There is a girl on their team that is 5'11" - at age 12 or 13! That is amazing to me. Granddaughter #1 is 5'2". If she makes 5'6" I'll be surprised. But the girl can play - and shoot. They won, but it was a really close game. Closer than it should have been, and the officiating left a lot to be desired. The number of missed traveling calls, fouls called jump balls, and flagrant fouls that were never called, was pathetic and had The Spouse in fits, but that's just how it goes. They won by 12 or 13 points, but easily should have won by twice that. Turns out, some people we know from town, whose youngest daughter graduated with our daughter, also have a granddaughter on Granddaughter's team, so they were there watching the game too. Such a small world.

A call from Chicago

By now, it was after 3 PM and time to head home. At about 3:30 YS called. They were getting ready to board the plane for France. They had eaten at Chili's, walked around some, then mostly played cards and some games on his video iPod. I cried again when I told him I loved him. This has been almost as hard as shipping him off to college his freshman year. At 5:49 PM, I got a text message from YS. "Just now leaving...plane delayed...love you guys." His plane had been scheduled to leave at 4:15 PM our time. It was now departing 90 minutes late. Later, I would learn that the extreme freezing temps in Chicago had caused the delay. The water on the plane was frozen, they were de-icing the plane, and a latch was broken. They had to sit on the tarmac for over an hour. Since the water was frozen, the bathrooms were unusable. Fun.

The rest of the day

The Spouse's new glasses were finally in (it only took a month to get them!), so we stopped at Eyemasters in Coeur d'Alene to pick them up. Daughter called. They were in CdA too, and were on their way to The Olive Garden for lunch. We decided to meet them there. We had a really nice visit with her and her husband, great food, and then we all headed home. Everyone - Oldest Son and his family, and Daughter and her family - was coming over to our house the next day to watch the Super Bowl. Oh, did I mention - the roof is leaking again? I don't know that it is a new leak so much as the wet insulation freezing in the cold, thawing when the day warms up, and then dripping down onto the ceiling, then freezing again at night, thawing during the day, etc. It is driving The Spouse crazy. We have raked the snow off the roof more times than I can count. I can't wait until it warms up enough for the roofer to get on the roof to determine the source of the leak. It's the worst in YS's bedroom. It is really frustrating.

At 3:15 AM Sunday morning, YS called from the global cell phone I got for him. He was in Paris, on a bus en route to the train that would take them to Saverne. He had all his luggage, was very tired (a 9 hour flight), but safe and sound. Yay! He would call later if he could. It was 12:15 in Paris. Bon voyage et au revoir mon fils. Nous vous aimons et nous vous manquons.

No love

I should never take a 6 day break from posting. See what happens when you do? No comments. Yesterday's post sits there, alone, sterile, no comments. How sad. Don't you just feel its pain? Doesn't it make you just want to go and hug it? It's crying out for love, and getting nothing. So sad. So very, very sad.

Today we're making lists, packing, crossing things off the lists, running last minute errands, basically going crazy. And of course, The Spouse's day at work is the worst it could be. Thanks to all the insane weather all over the country, especially in and around Memphis, freight will be coming in in waves as FedEx planes are able to take off. That means multiple waves of freight will be brought up to The Spouse to deliver, and it will be a very long day. We are spending the night in Spokane tonight because YS has to be at the airport at 5 AM (see yesterday's post). That's the hell of flying out of an out-of-the-way city. Every flight anywhere leaves at 6:30 AM and gets in at 10:30 PM. Add the 90 minute drive from here to the airport, the expected arrival 2 hours pre-flight, and it makes for ridiculously long days - or short ones, depending upon which end of things you look at. Anyway, I've got to get busy. Now, how about some love, okay?

Frantic, Frenzied, Frenetic February First; France Flight Fixation

Two days until Youngest Son leaves for France. Chaos reigns, both at home and at work. This has been my week:

Monday - When we went on our REI shopping spree for clothes for YS's trip, we bought him two new pair of pants. They are made of fabric that is lightweight, wrinkle resistant, and that will dry quickly when washed. Of course, they couldn't have both pair (one khaki, one charcoal) in the same exact size. The khaki pair is the right length, the charcoal pair is two inches longer. Task 1 for Monday - take charcoal pants to be hemmed. Task 2 - call bank and order euros. Task 3 - get new tags for Audi. Task 4 - file forms for obtaining e-rate funds from the feds for our telecommunication and internet access expenses. These funds represent a 60% discount on the fees we pay for telephone, broadband, and ISP charges, and are given to schools and libraries across the nation. The amount of the discount is based upon the percentage of students receiving free/reduced lunches in the school district. The amount we receive annually is beteween $8,000 and $14,000, but it's a royal pain in the bum to get this money, and it has all sorts of strings attached - the kind of strings to which libraries are reluctant to agree. Deadilne is 5PM today. Task 1, accomplished. Pants will be ready Friday. Task 2 - the bank wants a $10 fee, on top of the exchange, to order euros. That's 10%! Forget that. He will buy euros at O'Hare during 6 hour layover, or wait and get them from ATM in France. Task 3 - unaccomplished. Task 4 - accomplished with much frustration and swearing. Also had to spend an hour working at the information desk as we were short-staffed. Today of all days.

Tuesday - Supervisors' meeting at work to discuss filtering of internet computers and compliance with CIPA/NCIPA (Childhood Internet Protection Act/Neighborhood Childhood Protection Act), or lack thereof, all relative to e-rate funding. Spouse's boss was riding with him for the day, so he was going to be inaccessible. He has to be out today. It is my best friend's 60th birthday. We always take each other to lunch for our birthdays, so she and I go to lunch at 11:30. We go to the Beach House Restaurant, hoping to watch the bald eagles that usually perch in the leafless cottonwoods in front of the restaurant this time of year. But the lake is frozen so far out that the eagles are somewhere else, somewhere where they can get closer to the water, and the fish they eat. It's a beautiful, sunny day, though, and lunch is terrific (I have pasta pescadore, which is fettucine with mussels, clams, and shrimp. YUM!) On the way back to work, YS calls to tell me he realized he can't fit everything from his dorm room in his car (he forgot to take his subwoofers out when he was home last weekend), so I need to go over to help him ASAP. I drop BF off at work, gather my belongings, and head to Spokane. I arrive at 3PM. YS has not packed a single thing yet (studying for his final kept him up all night). We dig in and start packing. Fortunately, his RD (resident director) has approved the kid YS wanted to move into his room, meaning we don't have to move his refrigerator, microwave, stereo, TV, or sofa home until May. Even his posters are staying. This kid is a good kid and YS trusts him with his stuff. And even better, the housing director, after a conversation with the RD, has agreed to assign YS the same room next year. Apparently, he had studied abroad and had come back to a "horrible housing situation", so he sympathized with YS's concerns, and was willing to bend the rules a bit. That's a big relief, as YS was stressing about next year's living situation. By 5:30 PM, we were packed up and on the road. The Spouse had a very long day. He didn't get home until almost 8:30.

Wednesday - YS has a dentist appointment at 8:30 AM, then a chiropractor visit at 10:00. He is supposed to unpack his stuff from school and start packing for his trip. I get to work and am instantly set upon by staffers complaining they can't get online. Some can, some can't. I haven't even made it to my office yet. I am carrying my purse, my lunch, my backpack, and I'm still wearing my coat. The staff thinks that if they restart their computers when they can't "get online" it will somehow magically solve all their problems. It doesn't. They're online. The problem isn't that they're not online. It's that they can't get to Yahoo. That's why some think they are online and some think they are not "online". Some have Yahoo as their start page, most don't. Those who don't, are "on the 'net", those who do, don't think they are "on the 'net." So they restart their computers, and then complain that it didn't solve the problem. Grrrrr. I explain the problem, then head to my office.

I had gotten a call at about 7:30 last night from a coworker. My boss's mother had passed away. It had been coming and expected for some time. She wasn't expected to last until Christmas, but she did. She didn't think she was going to last the night just a couple of weeks ago, but she rallied again. Today would have been her 65th wedding anniversary. I think she was trying to make it until today. She almost did. She was 80-something. She had time to make her peace with everyone, to plan her funeral, and her family was able to prepare for her departure. But are you ever really prepared? My boss will be sad for a long time. I am sad for him. I don't know when the funeral is, and though I didn't know her well, I will go to support my boss and his family - unless it's Saturday, when we are taking YS to the airport for his trip.

YS slept most of the day. No unpacking was accomplished. I will take Friday off to help him finish, to go over the list of things he needs to take, to do last minute shopping for items he will need. We will spend the night in Spokane Friday, as he has to be at the airport at 5:00 AM, and it's a 90 minute drive from home to the airport. I'm wondering where we will wait until he boards the plane, since with the new security measures in place, the only people who can go to the gates are those with tickets. I am sure all us parents will want to spend time with our kids before they leave for three months. The Spokane airport is not setup very well for waiting anywhere but at the gates. It's going to be strange. I'm starting to miss YS already. He is getting very nervous about being gone for so long, and not being fluent in French.

Thursday - Follow-up doctor's appointment for me at 9:40 AM. Nothing big - just pre-menopausal female crap I've been dealing with for a few months. I saw him for the first time in years (I've been doing my annuals with a nurse practitioner) about 6 weeks ago, because of some of these stupid female pre-menopausal issues I was having. Turns out I was anemic. I started taking iron supplements. I don't think I am anemic now. I have the world's best OB/GYN. He delivered YS. When I delivered YS, my best friend at the time was also pregnant, delivering her daughter exactly one week later. Her daughter is also a student at Whitworth. We don't see each other a lot any more - work and family obligations took us in different directions - but when we do, it's as if we just had coffee yesterday. She now works for the OB/GYN (she's a nurse), so I get to see her, and that's another perk of going to see him. Then, to work, working on projects that seem to be never-ending, getting last-minute stuff accomplished in preparation for YS's trip, then home to help with unpacking/packing, laundry, etc.

As I said, Frenzied, Frantic, Frenetic February First.

And in the news, this: French smokers say c'est la vie to to ban. That's good news for YS. He hates cigarette smoke.