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 …
Being real
image: https://www.pinterest.com/explore/the-velveteen-rabbit/?lp=true As Son #1 and Son #2 will tell you, I am a sap when it comes to children's books. I loved reading to those two little critters. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams was my favorite. At the beginning of this school year, one of my colleagues quoted the Rabbit, using the short …
Dear Ten-Year-Old Teresa
Am I the only one who thinks about this stuff-- Who am I? Why am I the way I am? How did I get to this place? What makes me different than everyone else? I have spent more than a little bit of my time trying to figure out the answers to those questions. I …
Happy New Year!
(Gonza Tacos y Tequila, Durham, NC- site of our faculty party) My new year doesn't begin in January. It begins in August. It has for all but the first five years of my life. For the last 38, I've been in charge, seated behind the "big desk" as a friend used to put it. Well, …
I miss Mayberry
Okay, if you are a Rascal Flatts fan then you know I stole borrowed the title of one of their songs. I don't think they will get upset when they read today's blogpost. I think they will be honored. I have been in a bit of a blue mood the past few days. I've recently read …
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? …
Another trip around the sun
It has been quite a year. And here is the best thing that happened during my 58th year on this earth. The birth of this darling nugget. It snuck up on me. It wasn't something that I gave a lot of thought to-- after all, it wasn't up to me! But what happiness my granddaughter …
Le 14 juillet 2017
Rue Montorgueil, Paris, Claude Monet, 1878, Musée d'Orsay (detail) Should I wish France Bonne Fête nationale or Joyeux 14 juillet or Bonne Bastille or ... just what? Does it even matter? I could sing La Marseillaise. The bloody version or La Marseillaise de la Paix by Chanson plus bifluorée. Bertrand of My Private Paris turned …
Lucky and Crippled Crow
Today's guest blogger is the Ex-Ex. I will let him tell the tale of our sixth day at the beach. So, when you walk on the beach with Sabbatical Chef you're supposed to keep your head down - looking for the perfect shell. I try. But I often get distracted by the waves, the sand …
Bits and pieces
I used to roam the beach looking for whole, perfect shells and sand dollars. I spent more time looking down than looking up. Now I just pick up whatever I happen to see that strikes my fancy. Bits and pieces. Odds and ends. Kind of like last night's dinner here at the house we are …
the sabbatical chef 