sunday

The irony of rain every Sunday in Nancy will never get old. It's deepening the frowning mood I'm in. There are loads of things I've been not doing for the sake of going to be early & spending afternoons out in the sun with friends.

I'm glad I did those things. For the first time in ages, I woke up rested. Even ahead of the alarm. Even on the day when we spring forward. But it has not put words on pages or statistics into my head. I need to get strict with myself.

There are four more weeks of classes, which is a bit alarming. These days, I find myself wondering, "But have they learned anything?" I hope so. I hope I've made them more excited, the few that come to my conversation classes. I hope I've convinced my law students that they can do it–they can go on to the second year.

I've also had lots of love from my family this week–a letter from my grandma, a note from my aunt, a mid-week call home. I've never felt as loved as I have while being in France. These are always an emotional high for me, but after that you jump off the cliff & spend a bit falling into missing them more than ever. These feelings make me wonder how & where I'll live the rest of my life. Always an interesting question.

And now I've just left my black tea steeping for 20 minutes. Are you not feeling sorry for me yet? Then obviously, you've never tasted Twining's "everyday tea" when it's sat too long. It's very much like drinking velvet, leaving all those little fuzzy pieces on your tongue.

On the bright side, The Dapper, a band of two boys who have a special place in my heart after spending a semester working on a documentary project, has released their third EP. They put all their music on their web site, where you can download it for FREE. Do that. It'll make any Sunday morning better & make you fall in love again.

There are lots of things on the bright side, & it's Sunday, a built-in fresh start to the week. Today is the day when we set goals for the week, set plans & to-do lists & expectations. So for once, let's do this: Let's have no expectations. I'm experimenting this week. No plans. No promises. No ways to make myself disappointed. Just doing one thing at a time until I do something else.

I'll let you know how this went next Sunday. In the mean time, I'll start posting about fun things, like this article that Joe found in the NY Times archives about where we live. I have a few Nancy history posts planned. Also, I have fresh cinnamon bread, which was what I spent most of yesterday working on. That loaf is heavy. Wish I could share it with you!

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