My morning started this way a couple of days ago. A spider donut left on my desk by an advisee. Thank you, Girlie and Dunkin Donuts. One of my French friends commented--"Not Halloween yet." The whole month of October is Halloween here in the good old U.S. of A, mon amie. C'est normal. Then The …
Category: main dishes
Fall is calling
My favorite season? Fall. No question about it. I look forward to cooler weather (I am a jeans and sweater kind of girl), nights with a nip in the air, college football games, and changing leaves. I have already spotted evidence around school that fall is on the way in. Knocking softly at the door. …
Going back in time: A life resumed
I wrote the following post in February 2009, two months after returning from my six month sabbatical in Arles, France. I was feeling a bit nostalgic this morning and started looking back through old posts. I didn't have many readers then and the blog (and my writing) was just a baby. At that point, I …
Les photos de Fanny
I would like for you to meet my French sister, Fanny. We have been friends since we were introduced by Olivier in... let's see, March 2010 (thank you, Google photos!). Fanny was Olivier's son's English teacher at the collège (middle school in France) in Villeneueve-lez-Avignon. Olivier and I became friends through a website called French …
Once a mom…
...always a mom. These two little critters are now 29 and 24. When I look at photos like this one I want to turn the clock back. Please? Just for a little while? What would I do differently? Nag more? Worry less? Check homework more often? Read more stories at bedtime? Feed them more vegetables? …
The end is in sight
It is the eve of my exam. Wonder how much the kiddos have studied? Foreign language exams are last this year... the only thing standing between my students and 10 weeks of freedom is me. And pages of verbs, adjectives, object pronouns, etc. You get the picture. Hope you aren't having flashbacks. We still have …
Critters
I started looking through my photos from the January and March trips to France (yet once again) and found an theme: critters. I did not realize I had so many until I started looking for them. Of course, what would it be like in Paris without pigeons? Bertrand, our guide par excellence, said that you …
Baguettes et Beurre vs Biscuits and Bacon
It isn't a competition for me. Really, it isn't. I have been back from my annual spring break trip for almost two weeks and it has taken me this long to get to the blog. I go through a sort of grieving process and a bit of withdrawal every time I leave France. This year's …
A Paradox
According to Merriam-Webster's Learners Dictionary: paradox noun par·a·dox \ˈper-ə-ˌdäks, ˈpa-rə-\ Popularity: Top 1% of lookups Simple Definition of paradox : something (such as a situation) that is made up of two opposite things and that seems impossible but is actually true or possible : someone who does two things that seem to be opposite to …
A Life Well-Lived
Saying good-bye in any language has always been very difficult for me. Au revoir, ciao, adieu, arrivederci, salut, see you later, see you soon. They all mean the same thing. I hope that I will see you again. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Yesterday, we said good-bye to Dave Gould in a packed school auditorium. A …
the sabbatical chef 