Im not French, Im a mom!

I remember the first day of French Conversation. It was college, 1983, and it started out perfectly, with the most adorable French teacher. She was here for a year, from France. She was young, maybe mid-late 20's, with big doe eyes, straight, shoulder length brown hair.

Bon Jour!

I dont remember her name. But, I sure do remember her outfit that first day. I have always loved, loved nautical stuff...and I can tell you with detail about the sailor outfit she wore, including the white tights, white pumps, navy sweater, it was tres chic.

I left that first day, excited for the semester ahead. It was a class that met 5 days a week, and with an authentic French professor, I knew I was going to really blossom with my conversation skills (it's all about the conversation, no?)

Day 2, and...ooh la la...maybe it was the college culture influencing my thought processes, but all I could think, was, "Wow, I guess she hooked up with someone and never made it home." Because, there she was, in the SAME EXACT OUTFIT. She was very demure, you know, she looked like a little French doll....never letting on that, she stays the night with people unexpectedly. Hmmmm.

Day 3 came, and there was an elephant in the room,,,, an elephant that looked like a French girl in a nautical ensemble that included white tights, white pumps, and a navy sweater. By now, her hair was greasy....I mean, she obviously had found some hot new American guy, and apparently could only pull herself away to teach this class, because she surely wasnt going home to change clothes or even take a shower.

Ill never forget day 4. Yes, same outfit, same white tights, and now, she had braids..messy braids. If she was in the midst of some hot love affair, couldnt they at least take it to the shower, because braiding your hair does not hide how greasy it has gotten, not at all.

Day 5 was like a breath of fresh air...clean hair, new outfit....and I wondered. Did she break away for the sake of hygiene? Had she been spoken to for letting her professorial responsibilities slide? Perhaps the fling was over...I wondered sadly.

Well, as the semester continued, I realized, that her appearance had less to do with a torrid love life of one night stands, and more to do with the French culture. Specifically, the cultural practice of not bathing regularly.

Yeah, I know. There went my whole ideal of this elegant language. The people dont shower (or wash their hair, or shave.)

I was 17, and the thought of going a day without a shower was not in my reality. I guess if you were stranded in an airport or something overnight, you wouldnt be able to shower, but....yuck! And, by the way, showering always included washing my hair, etc.

Fast forward to some decades later, and I might as well just pull out some white tights and braid my hair. I mean, my showering frequency, on a good week, is every 2-3 days. Seriously.

I realize Im going to lose friends with this post. It's not OC Housewives-ish to look greasy. Some of you will forego the hugs for a wave from a distance, I do know that. But it's ok. Im a mom now. I care less about what people think, and more about meeting the needs of my children...making lunches, folding laundry, taxi rides to schools and doctors appointments, lots of cuddling, and spending hours with my daughter finding all the Justin Beiber videos on youtube.

Sorry............

Sorry no post today, Im busy gathering up some ingredients to make this amazing cake.

What the heck is a blog?

"What is a blog?" asked my new, loud talking friend.

"It's like Seinfeld, in writing" I answered

....and that's the best answer I have, short of rambling on about the content of my favorite blogs.

I'm attracted to the intelligent writing, that can take the day-to-day happenings in life, and make them relevant, and meaningful, and funny. Brief, yet witty, impacting me, like a shot of espresso for the soul.

One of my favorite bloggers, Bossy is on a national tour, visiting cities all across the country, meeting up with her blog readers, primarily other bloggers.

I was honored to be her "host" for Orange County, and I hope she was comfortable in the non-lavish (spare room, mostly used to stash my scrapbooking projects) quarters, which have also been home-away-from-home to the famous blogger, Grandma J.

Bossy's tour is sponsored by Ford...so she gets to travel with her handsome auto (named Harrison, because, everyone needs a companion on the road, or at least it's good to pretend.) She also is sponsored by Burger King, because next to a good nights sleep, a girl needs a good breakfast sandwich....



Bossy came out in 2008, and we had a great time with friends at Las Brisas, in Laguna Beach. We met there again last night, 9 of us, and laughed, and ate, and enjoyed great company.


Part way through the night, A loud laugh bounded through the room, and then the man continued to talk in his same bellowing voice, (IMAGINE TALKING IN YOUR LOUDEST VOICE) ...well, that is what this guy did:


Recognizing great blog inspiration when I hear it, I wandered over near the mans table, hoping to maybe get a picture of the "world's loudest talking man" and as I did he shouted, "HEY, THOSE PEOPLE ALL HAVE NAMETAGS, I WONDER WHY THEY NEED NAMETAGS"

Well, this was my perfect lead-in, so I said, "Hey, we all know each other from our online blogs, and are meeting up...thus the name tags."

"Huh? What's a blog??" he said, his voice hushed with confusion.

So, we chatted about. I tried to explain blogging to the nice guy and his friends....but I dont expect non-bloggers to get it, I just dont.

For those of us that blog, reading others' blogs is enjoyable. It's a great way to get in some reading, some laughs, some inspiration. Keeping our own blog site is a great way to express our own creativity by sharing, our humor, our thoughts, our lives.

If you have a favorite blog site, share it here....and dont forget to share your own blog address too.

By the way, tonight, Bossy is meeting up with her readers in Los Angeles. I hope YOU are having fun!

AND, Im going to be posting a special give away on my Chocolate Blog, later tonight...stop by to win!

The making of an obsession

Stroll back in time with me, please....to BEFORE the Haiti earthquake. For some reason, my 9 year old son, Pooper, was interested in earthquakes. He liked to read about the, "ring of fire" and look on the USGS website, monitoring the latest quakes happening along the pacific circle.

Periodically, which means, almost every day, if not hourly, he would look quizically, and run upstairs. He would return a while later, very self assured, and tell me, "I knew it, we just had a 1.2" or "yeah, that was the 3.5 in Alaska that I felt"

He wasnt nervous, he wasnt scared, he just seemed very interested in the seismic activity occuring around the globe.

Fine.

Then one night....while others were sleeping, I was watching the late night news, and heard of the major quake in Haiti.

Fan-tastic-o! NOT!~ this meant that Pooper's new passion was not going to be dying down any time soon.

and then there was Chile....and all those other international quakes which Pooper has now memorized and placed in his tectonic files.

Easter 2010 has most assuredly cemented Pooper's future as a Cal Tech Seismologist. He was sleeping when the shaking began...but it was so strong, and lasted for 1/2 of forever, that by the time it finally stopped, he was gathered together with the family, away from windows and heavy pictures on walls. When it was done, Poopers coveted bowling trophy had been knocked off a shelf....certainly this has made a life-long impact on his psyche.

And, if that all wasnt enough....

Apparently, our playroom is on a fault line.