A few things I like about January

In general I don't like January very much... no matter where I've lived, January is always chilly and wet... and the days are short... making for less time outside, less windows open, and less room to move because of all the extra clothing you have to pile on to stay warm. To be fair, you didn't have to pile on too much extra clothing in L.A... but it WAS sweater season in January, and the days were the same dark length.

It doesn't help that I have a cold, either... because my motivation to get out IN the cold is greatly depleted by the coughing and sniffling and tiredness. It's been like that for both of us all weekend, so today I made us get out and run errands... and we took Tag to the dog park for some romping in the snow.

Even if you don't know Tag, if you've read this blog you know OF him... that he's my beautiful, wonderful blue merle rough collie and I love him. :) Little did I realize when I chose to bring home a collie that he would receive so much attention and admiration, but he surely does! Everywhere we go he gets looks and I can hear people saying "Is that a collie?" to each other... sometimes they ignorantly ask me if he's "part collie" because they associate his color with another breed of dog. I take those moments to educate people. NO, he's not an australian shepherd mix... (rolling my eyes...).

Today at the dog park Tag was upstaged by an even MORE amazing dog... a Puli. I couldn't be mad... Pulis are truly magnificent in their weirdness and this one was no exception. I could only smile and nod at the dog's owner and tell him what a beautiful, unusual dog he has.

After getting out with Tag and running by the store for more medicine, home we came and have spent the rest of the day napping... and that brings me to the things I like about January. Aside from the warm snuggle time with Noah and Tag (who was codependent the rest of the afternoon himself because he had his flea and tick medicine applied after we got home... poor puppy), these are the things I like about January.

Homemade chocolate chip cookies

A ridiculously hard puzzle from S&S Beard, and a cup of coffee (decaf this late in the day)

Tag loves listening to Noah practice his banjo. Me too.

So January is not all that bad. It may be snowy and cold outside, but it's cozy and comfortable in here. I think we'll survive the winter just fine.

A snow sculpture

A week of rest and snow

We've been home for about a week now... it will be exactly a week at 3 p.m. today. We arrived home to the aftermath of a blizzard, to a world that was slushy and icy, melting and solidifying... the backyard was a maze of trampled, frozen snow. And for a week we have been nursing colds (yes, Noah has one now, too)... and refilling the bird feeder.

Tag and I made a couple of slippery hikes, and then, last night, it snowed again.

cuddling up to stay warm

Subaruby looks like an insect

empty birdfeeder... poor starving birds!

Okay, maybe it's time to take down the christmas decorations

Winter fairy

I made pretzels for the first time this week. It's an experiment I want to try again. Yum!

After a week, I think the colds are being beaten back. Life is returning to a recognizable pattern.

There's no place like home in the new year

First, a quote from the fabulous Neil Gaiman:

May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.

Now we are home. It was a long day of travel on the first day of the new year. We started with an early taxi to CDG, and flew to Berlin... where after a few trips through security (they wanted to thoroughly check out my camera... might have been an incendiary device, you never know) we were finally able to board our plane for the trip home. I took some photos of the breaking dawn from above the cloud deck... beautiful...

Souvenirs from this trip: photos and memories, olives, gourmet mustards, a fairy necklace, and a cold. Oh well... they can't all be keepers. Hopefully this cold will disappear now that we're home.


For the new year, I have made some small resolutions. First, to write more. And more. And more. I am so close to finishing my first novel now that I resolve to finish it by February and begin the editing process on it... as well as moving forward on the second novel.


Second resolution is a bit more nebulous... to get a handle on my anxiety. I have trouble with guilt and feeling like I don't measure up or like I'm doing things wrong (things, yes, very explicit, I know... by things I mean anything from keeping house, to not writing enough, to drinking, to you name it, I have anxiety about it). My resolution is to find that calm, quiet, centered place inside that I can easily extend to others but that I can never extend to myself... to just be...


Third is, like my dear friend Beth, to start keeping track of what I read and hopefully read more. Lori and I are going to put a piece of paper on the cabinet to list our books, and perhaps I will make it a digital list at the end of this year.


And now I'm going to stop making resolutions for fear I won't keep any of them... :) I wish you all a happy and healthy new year, full of laughter, joy, and magic...

Last Days

Today is our last day in Paris and we're not doing anything special. We're hunkering down, actually, because tomorrow's travel could possibly do us in otherwise. We have a 7:25 a.m. flight to Berlin with a layover and then a flight to NYC that gets in at 3 p.m.... and it's supposed to snow in Berlin, which could complicate matters... We're more than a little nervous about getting where we need to go. Can you blame us?

Yesterday started slowly, too. We did some shopping for a couple more souvenirs, which was definitely satisfactory... and then came back to the apartment to nap a little... and then Noah cooked dinner! We had tortellinis and salad and baguette toasted with cheese on it... yum!!! After that we got ourselves together and went out back to Montmartre to our favorite crepe place in honor of Lori's birthday... crepes and tea stuffed in next to dinner and then we were ready to meet Rita and her boyfriend down by the Moulin Rouge.

I know Rita from Davis, CA, so it was fun being able to connect with her here, too. We walked back up the hill to the Cafe de les 2 Moulins and had champagne and chatted until after midnight, when we decided maybe we'd better hit the metro and head back home.

So it's noon here now, and I'm thinking it's time for croissants and espresso. I'll see if I can persuade Noah out of bed!

Shopping, eating and a travel sloth

Today was a day of wandering about Paris aimlessly... well, not entirely aimlessly. After sleeping the morning away, we made our way to Chez Omar for lunch... a late lunch... the most amazing couscous EVER, actually. We sat in that restaurant and ate our couscous with stewed carrots, turnips, zuchinni, and garbanzo beans, and drank our wine... and it was good.

After that we wandered aimlessly about Paris. See?

Cool art on a wall in the Jewish district.

Marc and Sherris :)

We bought some tasty foods at Le Bon Marche... yum, some souvenirs and some things to eat now. We've been snacking since we got back to the apartment, even though we'll be going to dinner in 45 minutes.

Also, Noah has acquired a travel sloth. Apparently Marc has three and didn't know that Noah likes sloths... so now this cute little guy will travel around with us!

Travel Sloth!

I think tomorrow will be another day of shopping with more eating in, since we are in an apartment, and since Marc and Sherris are abandoning us for the coast. We'll spend our last 2 days in Paris here at the apartment pretending that we are actual Parisians... who don't speak good French... and are vegetarians... I said pretend, didn't I???

Our day with Marc and Sherris

So tomorrow looks like it will prove to be more exciting, but it was so nice to get out of hotel living and into an apartment! Marc and Sherris (Noah's dad and stepmom) called last night to tell us they had arrived in Paris. They (and now we) are staying at the apartment of a friend while here. We woke this morning and after wrestling with the hotel checkout and taxi calling process, brought croissant and pain au chocolat as a thanks offering to the apartment on Boulevard Montparnasse.

The hotel employees were nonplussed as to our request for a taxi. Montparnasse is 3 Metro stops from the hotel we were staying at... and they wanted to know why we didn't just take the Metro. I stared at them, and then at our two huge suitcases and our carry-on items... and we put our foot down. I'm sure I wouldn't have minded taking the metro if someone from the hotel wanted to come with to carry all this stuff for me!

When we got to the apartment, we followed all the intricate directions Marc left us for getting into the building, including putting only one person and piece of luggage at a time in the VERY tiny elevator... and we rang the doorbell....... nothing... so we knocked.... nothing... doorbell? After a minute, we pulled out the cellphone and called the apartment number. We could hear ringing inside... good sign, right place... but no one answered. Just as I was pulling out the computer to connect to wifi and find another number to call, my cell rang, and Marc's voice could be heard on the other line. They were still asleep! But good to know we weren't stuck in that hallway for the rest of the day!

After breakfasting (it was 11:30 by breakfast time)... Noah, Marc and I ran a couple errands to the Monoprix and to Air France to try getting a refund for our cancelled flight to Venice (no luck yet). Then we came back to the apartment to pick up Sherris and have lunch (it was 2:30 by this time) at La Coupole. Lunch lasted until after 5 p.m. and it was DELICIOUS. I had salmon... so good...

So after "lunch"... we went to look at another apartment Marc and Sherris may stay at on Il-de-la-Cite. Here's what Notre Dame looked like this evening.

The apartment we looked at was beautiful... very chi-chi. I like where we are staying because it has a homey feel to it...

I'll post more photos tomorrow, when I have more... and also because my editing site is having a problem this evening. Time for an evening snack and then bed.