Halloween

My blogs definitely needs a professional make over if its going to last much longer. It's ugly in my opinion. Unpleasant to look at. And who wants to come back day after day to read an ugly blog? That and I haven't been updating it as well. Fear not for I am back and I have had some interesting times in the recent past and I have pictures to prove it.



Here was how I spent my Halloween weekend:

We dressed up in whatever costumes we could find. Decorations were made with real leaves and pumpkins were bought at the market. We had mulled wine that turned our lips red and ate appetizers cooked in a microwave turned oven. We danced, we sang, and we played games. We carved a pumpkin but didn't have time to cook the seeds. We put a candle inside and turned off the lights. We gave her a name which has now been forgotten. We stuck cloves in oranges and smelled them. We watched Hocus Pocus. And it was such a fabulous Halloween week end. These are my friends.

can't think of the word

but are any of you the type of person who feels the same emotions as other people??
(And it drives me absolutely crazy when I can't think of the word I want, and it happens more often than not these days). So for instance, if one of your family members or close friends is really angry about something and the situation has nothing to do with you but you feel angry for the same reason? Or if someone close to you if really sad or upset about something and you feel the same feeling as them but you have no reason to have that feeling? (I know there is a word for this)

Thats me.

If someone I know is really upset, hurt, or even happy (yes, this can be a good thing as well) then I feel that emotion with them.

It's a really great thing until it gets me in trouble. Like when I don't like someone because they've done a friend wrong but I have never met this person or have a good reason not like to them.

But then again, it can be really hard. Like right now. When there is someone close to me going through a horrible time and I feel as though I am going through that hard time with her. I am clearly not, and thankful for that, but I can't help but be upset and sad and angry and confused all at the same time. And in the same moment have no words to express to my friend that will help her at all.

It's interesting how the older I get the more "adult" lives problems seem to get. Interesting.

Sometimes I think I've done a decent enough job of avoiding growing up, having chosen the live I have chosen since graduating university. And then there are times like this, sitting in my apartment, feeling all those emotions for a friend who's going through a tough time, when I realize, am I really old enough to have friends going through such tough times like this?

I'm sorry to be so vague but thats just the way its going to be on here. (It's not my issue to be sharing with the world wide web).

Anyways, just some food for thought if that is even food for thought. More like the deepness inside the soul of Kara tonight.

On a different, more light note... I realized (yes, it took me almost 2 months) that every time I walk home from work I pass the Arc de Triumph. I decided this evening that I need to be more aware of my surroundings and the many blessings I am granted on a more than regular basis and therefore I have decided that every night when I pass through the intersection at Avenue Wagram and look to my right and see the Arc de Triumph, that I am going to choose to be thankful for the many blessings in my life. Every time I see this monument, it is going to renew a spirit of thankfulness and positivity.

And yesterday, I had a friend come over for lunch (yes, I cooked) and she brought me a sewing machine (so excited) and a hammer and nails and a screw driver (which made my life 10 x's better) so now my painting is hanging on my wall and the chair I bought myself at Ikea a week ago can now be used as a chair.

And while I truly do enjoy a rainy Parisian day, I do not enjoy the fact the rain feels the need to enter into my apartment. Grrr to useless windows that do not do their job. :-)

Well, I hope you all are enjoying a fabulous Thursday. It's almost the week end and that is something ot be thankful for. And 6.5 weeks until I am reunited with my family after a really long (or sometimes it seems short) year apart. (Are ya'll ready for all my European-ness?)

Love, yours truly

meet the terrors in my life

I mean, the main men in my life... ha ha

These are the only pictures I have of these little guys. I figured I should introduce y'all since they are a main part of my life. The one with spiky hair is Henri (pronounced without the h and very french) and he is 5 years old and acts every bit of it. He is 100 percent boy and it drives me crazy sometimes. He hates being clean and fights me every night to take a bath (with soap) or brush his teeth. He refuses to use his knife, instead insisting on using his fingers at the dinner table and has picked up pretty well on how to annoy people on a regular basis (including me). The other boy, the one with longer straight hair is Ferdinand (pronounced very french as well) and he is a different creature. While all boy, he has a very sensitive side to him which usually means I get along better with him. He is also 7 and quite a bit more mature than Henri. While Ferdinand loves to wrestle and play all the boy games there are, his passions are dance (he loves classical) and piano. He has the most patience for me and my French and therefore we have the most deep conversations. He is opposite from his brother in the clean category and loves being clean and taking a bath with soap and brushing his teeth. He's honest, genuine and has a sweet little heart that I enjoy more times than not. He, however, can be more than a handful after dinner when he likes to go into overdrive and be the biggest pain in the neck and not listen to anyone.

Here are the two men that occupy the majority of my life these days. While they have caused me great frustration in the last few months, I do have a few good memories with them and I am getting through to them and I think they have started to see me as the good guy as opposed to the bad guy which is what gets me through some days. They are a handful, a handful that comes in the size of a 2 cute little boys, but they're my handful. At least for a year.

things i learned this week:

1. That sometimes it is nice to get away from Paris for a few days. This town is absolutely magnificent in every way.

2. I could be happy being a stay at home mom (one day in the far off future) cooking 3 meals a day and doing laundry and catering to my kids.

3. I learned how to successfully laugh in the right place and say "ah bon" at the right time when being told a story that I completely don't understand. (ah bon= oh really?)
(Explination: Grandma likes to tell a lot of stories and she doesn't care who cares or wants to listen and since I am left doing all the dishes and setting the table and laundry with her then I got the pleasure of hearing EVERY story she could recall and I don't understand even slightly half of what she says so I had to perfect quickly how to know when to laugh and when to respond with other comments to make it seem as if I understood or cared. And I'm not trying to be mean here, I simply don't comprehend her enough to want to listen to her stories. yet. )

4. I am quite the American. I cannot wait to get back to Paris and show off my pumpkins and share a wonderful evening with my friends celebrating Halloween/fall, because I have a feeling our party will be more like a fall party than a Halloween party, but thats quite ok.

5. I was in a sort of love/hate relationship with my apartment before I left and after this week, I cannot wait to be reunited with my 11m2 and show her all the love in the world because she is soooo good to me. She provides me with a bigger bed, my own space that is ALL mine away from 4 kids who already drive me crazy enough, and she even gives me a wonderful view every time i look out my window. No longer will I be taking advantage of all that.

6. I hate the dollar to euro ratio but now that its the other way around i'm really liking the idea of saving money to spend in Texas. haha

7. Sleep is not overrated. Not even for a 5 yr old. (story: last night the kids annoying stayed up till 11pm  when I finally made them go to a room and turn off the light and be silent and hopefully fall asleep. In my opinion, 11pm is too late for a 5 and 7 yr old regardless of whether it is vacation or not and this even proved me right. The 5 yr fell asleep at 7pm and passed up eating dinner and probably won't see him again until the morning. So there. Booya! It isn't overrated!)

Tonight a funny thing happened. The Grandma opened the package of sausage (that was purchased from the butcher earlier) to find that they had only given her 2 when she had asked for 12. In french the two numbers sound semi similar but not similar enough to get them that confused. Fat story skinny is that only two people got to eat meat for dinner. And I have a feeling the lady who served her at the butcher today is going to get an ear full tomorrow. oops!

Well, I'm off to go take one more long hot shower. One of the ups to being in this home is that not only do I get my own private shower but its big (well, compared to the one in my apartment) and it has a steady water flow (contrary to the one in my apartment) and sprays hot water for a long time (opposite to the one in my apartment) so I have been enjoying my showers because they are not be taken for granted. Space, hot water, all those things, they are all such rarities and are like gold to parisians. Seriously. I'm not going to know what to do with myself when I'm in Texas and have a whole bath tub to myself. Might not ever leave it. But then again, I just might.

You guys have a great Halloween weekend! (will try to post a few more photos later tonight if I can)

Love, yours truly!

Barcelona Day 1, part 1

...And this was only a few hours upon arriving in Barcelona! It is taking forever to upload photos and so I must leave the rest of day one to another time. First off, I have to give Amy, my travel partner and friend in crime, the award of awesomeness for keeping up with my energizer bunny style of traveling. She had just arrived in Paris the day before and the very next day we woke up bright and early to catch a flight to Barcelona and we didn't stop for a break until dinner that night. I remember thinking how worn out I was, I can only imagine being jet lagged as well. Some of the highlights from these pictures were, actually, everything. One of my favorite things to do in any city is to get a birds eye view and we were so lucky to stumble upon the perfect place to do so at the Columbus Monument and for only 4 euros. I love being able to see what a city looks like for miles on end (or kilometres on end). And the views were spectacular seeing as how we were on the marina and beach and there were mountains in the distance and a great city beneath us. It was so nice to be able to sit next to the water and feel at peace as well. After living in Paris for a while now I totally appreciate the quieter and more peaceful places in the world on occasion, not that I don't come from an equally busy city myself. Barcelona reminded me a lot of Italy in a lot of ways which was interesting as well. The weather was amazing the two days we were here, pretty darn warm. It would've been perfect for going to the beach had we had time to make it there. I know, really pathetic that we didn't make it to the beach when we were in Barcelona but that just means its another reason that I must return sooner rather than later. :-)

Things to look forward to in the next post of pictures is the most amazing market I've ever been to in my entire life.



Have a great rest of your day, moi