Belated Christmas Greetings

I hope everyone had a good Christmas. I know I did. Here is a picture of my mom's/my Christmas tree. It was nice having a normal size tree this year.

I was lucky last year because I got to spend Christmas with my family in Germany, but it was nice being around my brothers and parents for Christmas.

It was also fun looking at all the lights. I especially like the lights on this tractor. Yes, I am definitely from the country.

I Made It

I made it home with everything! Customs did a lot of snooping, but left everything alone...well, kind of. They unwrapped most of my presents and put customs tape all over them, but they didn't touch the stuff that could have gotten me in trouble. Amazing. I just want to take this opportunity to thank them for not fining me.

I went shopping the second night I was home until 9 p.m., just because I could. People actually smiled and talked to me. I know I will get tired of this soon, but right now I am loving it. I have been to Wal-Mart twice and I do love that store. They really do have everything. And they are open all the time. If I want buy hairspray at 2:35 a.m., I can.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas preparations as much as I am.

Home!

It's Sunday, this Sunday at 2. Arrival time is 9:20 p.m. CST. Everyone send my plane, pilot and security workers good thoughts, please. Let's all make a quick wish that my very illegal suitcase makes it Stateside.

I am looking forward to going home. No, that is the understatement of the year; I need to go home; I have to go home; I want to go home. Aside for all the normal reasons for wanting to go home (family, friends, driving, clean clothes, normal sized bath tubs, soy, absence of public transportation, etc.), there is the added bonus getting out of Paris for a while. I have rarely spent more than 3 months in France without a break. Last year, I went to Germany a lot, Italy, and London. 3 months living in Paris is about this country girl's limit; all the little annoyances become huge, unbearable frustrations. I have been in France waaaaay too long this time and I need a good break.

Amsterdam

As predicted, I had a blast in Amsterdam. It is a fun city. I got to eat at a Japanese restaurant twice. I glad I got to go and I think everyone had a good time. It was a rather unique way to celebrate a birthday (not mine).

Unfortunately, I did not take many pictures. It was too cold and wet to get my camera out much and we spent most of Saturday in the Van Gogh museum. It is a beautiful city though.

Hope you had a good birthday, Deb! Thanks for the invitation.

An Almost Non-Christmas Post

I am really excited about Christmas and not just because I am going home. Paris really does Christmas fantastically! There are a ton of lights everywhere; I live right by the mayor so the streets around me are so pretty. I can't wait to see Amsterdam (going on Friday and I expect to have so much fun I won't be able to put any of it in print); I bet it looks amazing.

I went to this antique (junk) market last week and got some stuff. It was literally right out my front door and I couldn't help myself. It was cool seeing all the old French stuff as well as vintaged Americana. I was able to buy a few things for Christmas, but not a lot. I kept thinking I would find something amazing, but I guess all of the amazing stuff was gone.

Phew!

Wow, what a busy few weeks! I have been running around like a madwoman lately! Last weekend I celebrated Thanksgiving 3 times. First there was the Thanksgiving lunch with my students (a fantastic time was had by all). We ate Lebanese, Armenian, French, American and Moroccan food and I think all my students enjoyed themselves. Then, that night I had Thanksgiving with a lovely American/French family. Yeah, Thanksgiving twice in one day is a bit much. I spent about 3 hours in the gym between lunch and dinner. Just to make sure I was properly sick and tired of Thanksgiving, I spent all night Friday and all day Saturday cooking at the American Church in Paris with other expats for their Thanksgiving dinner. I chopped onions for 4 hours nonstop on Friday, and for some reason, on Saturday was in charge of the turkeys which would not cook. Frantic and panicky are the only two words I can think of which describe how I felt most of Saturday. I can’t remember the last time I ate so much, but it was a lovely weekend.

In between, I taught a record number of classes, had a Habitat meeting, became editor of a book and formally disciplined two students. I am superwoman.

This weekend was spent making tests and shopping. The tests part was boring and dull but the shopping was great! Friends and family will be so excited if my luggage makes it to the States (quick prayer to the airline gods for a safe and expedient delivery). I had so much fun shopping for everyone, trying to get them Paris stuff without hitting the souvenir shops.

The only bad thing is that I have decided not to put up a Christmas tree this year. I am going to Amsterdam this coming weekend and the next weekend I am going home so it would be really silly to put one up. At least I keep telling myself that, but I am a little unhappy. It will be my first Christmas without a tree. I have told myself that I will just go and look at as many trees as possible, so Saturday I went to Galleries Lafayette and saw their beautiful tree.

I hope everyone else is enjoying the season as much as I am!