back to the world

This is it. I am officially back to full health. Well, this is mostly true. I've maintained a terrible cough that usually involved a lot of yuck & pain in my lungs. We're monitoring this, blaming the cold & postponing a doctor visit, as I truly feel like I'm back to my old self.

But here's the thing. I'm feeling a bit bad about my old self. She's gotten a bit frumpy & frazzled. I'm using Christmas break to get her back into shape. Here's what the next few days look like. Hopefully it gives you a few blog post ideas to look forward to.

My Christmas break basically starts on Thursday. Classes resume Jan. 24. I have work to do in the mean time & classes to make up on Dec. 13. Other than that, I'll be putting myself to work bettering my French & learning a lot about a lot of things... & finally doing my yoga again. This is what my time looks like up to Thursday (except for teaching on Wednesday).

1. Uploading pictures from our awesome weekend, featuring the fête for St. Nicholas, the patron saint of Lorraine. Most of my friends hadn't heard of or experiences St. Nick's Day. Turns out I've got the only mom cool enough to throw some candy & the signature mini-calendar into the stocking for Dec. 6. My sister & I grew up with those small calendars on our cork boards, & it was fun to see the pictures mature with us (princesses to puppies to tropical islands).

2. Buying boots & a yoga mat. This is the main reason I'm sick. I thought I bough waterproof boots. I was stupid. I was also soaked through both pairs of socks & sliding all over the sidewalk today, for the third day in a row. This along with having no energy to exercise, no yoga mat & no time to make healthy dinners has resulted in me feeling sick & looking a bit faded. My friends found serious boots for less than 40 euros, a miracle in this country. I'm going to hit that up ASAP, which will probably double-feature as a life-changing event (dry feet) & my first time on Nancy's public transportation.

3. Finding recipes. We'll be getting our little oven this weekend & having our last visit with Lauren & Michael for dinner. (If I haven't mentioned, they're gracious enough to give us their oven.) This means we need an extra special dinner for their visit, which may even include–dare I say it?–USING the oven they'll bring us. I don't know how to contain myself. I also don't know how I'll get anything else done.

4. Possibly cooking my first duck? One of my students suggested that I take a duck that she & her father got while hunting. She said the gift would include a recipe, which I would be honored & excited to have. We'll see how that turns out!

5. MAKING MY MOM'S CHOCOLATE FUDGE!!! The recipe is in my inbox, waiting for me. I found a brownie pan in my shared office (along with bowls, a measuring cup, tea & a bike repair kit) all left over from those who worked here last year. I remembered getting an e-mail that boxes of goodies were around for us somewhere, all open for the taking, but it took my ages to remember the e-mail & find the goods. Goods found, equipment sent for fudge-making. It's a good thing.

6. Visiting the Canadian bagel shop. That's right! Nancy has a Canadian bagel café–lattes & tastes of home! We're hitting this up when  get me some boots made for walkin', & I'm pretty sure it will become a regular occurrence. I'm a huge fan of assimilating, but after years working in a café I need  some bagels. STAT!

So there we are. My longest day (4 hours of teaching, 4 hours of student presentations & 2 hours of English pub night) are complete, & my requirements are quickly dropping toward zero outside of the apartment & friends. I like!

If you're bored & feel like seeing what else my Christmas break has in store, I've decided to put my to-do list on my listography instead of killing trees with how often I'll rewrite it. (That said, I know I'll rewrite it. Probably tonight.)