Birthday Extraordinaire

Last week I celebrated a birthday. Not a milestone birthday, but everyone made it feel so special. 

Starting with my friends Claudine and Ray who couldn’t be with me but made a giant sign in the sand. 

I began the day with a run then showered and met friends at the cafe for coffee and viennoiseries (breakfast pastries) but since it was my birthday, I got a l’éclair au café. Normally that would be an after lunch or dinner pastry. 

Next, we were off to Narbonne Plage. No sit-down restaurants were open but we found a bar that served paninis and fries as we sat on a swinging seat and sipped our Aperol spritzes. 

Afterwards we headed down to the beach for a walk and some sand time. It was sparking and not too windy. I only put my feet in the water. 

Next we drove to Narbonne and walked around the old city. The square was full of people soaking up the sun.

 A Roman road rests in the middle of the square, about 8 feet lower than today’s plaza. 

This is a picture of the road from a previous trip to Narbonne.  

This road originally ran from the Mediterranean to Briancon in the Alps. 

Next we explored the cathedral in Narbonne which is always striking. 

No filter. That’s how blue the sky was. 

We got home in the evening in time to chat with all the kids and mom and dad back in the States. 

Some amazing gifts included an espresso maker, an olive tree for the terrace, some luxurious bath gels, a blooming hyacinth, a silk scarf and robe, a sparkly green plant, a bottle of champagne and the pleasure of spending time with my amazing friends. 

Just another birthday in France. . 

Anniversary Outings

 On Wednesday, Earl and I celebrated our 31st anniversary. "Celebrated" is a bit of an overblown statement. 

The highlight of the day came in the afternoon, following a few hours of teaching. Jim and Theresa picked us up in their VW Golf with the snazzy red mirrors and we zoomed about 45 minutes south of here to Maury. Well, past Maury and the more heavily visited wineries there to MA, Mas Amiel, another winery, with a difference. 

The winery has jugs, known as dame Jeanne, setting outside in the sun. I'd always thought the sun was bad for wine, but apparently this winery has different theories. We would be the judge of that!

The dame Jeanne wine jugs sitting in the sun.

Vineyards and wine jugs and the hills beyond. 

We wandered in and looked around the showroom before walking up to the counter. Most tasting rooms have wine stewards who speak English, and this one did as well, although he got hung up a few times and we encouraged him to say it in French, thinking we would still understand. They usually ask what kind of wine we like. They serve the wine from weakest to strongest taste, so usually whites and rosés, first, followed by reds. Earl and I are red wine drinkers, but we have been won over by a few rosés lately. 

Post tasting. After each wine, we swish the water in our glass and pour it into the bowl. 

He started us with a mellow rosé. I've found that people frequently want a rosé in the summer, so knew we would buy a bottle for 8,90 euros. Then he moved onto fortified wines. Fortified wines are similar to port, they are mixed with other, stronger alcohol. The fortified white would work well as an aperitif. 

The four of us. 

The fortified red we tasted first, although it had Theresa's favorite label, purple and blue, did not win us over. A 2012 fortified wine was so smooth, but pricey. 

Then we moved on to the oxidized wines, those that sit out in the sun. They were labeled for their age --20 years old, 30 years old, 69 from grapes grown in the late 60s. The 20 tasted good. The 30 tasted like raisins. But the 69, oh, the 69, tasted like heaven in my mouth. 

The wine steward did a good job selling it, pointing out that it's like buying a good bottle of whiskey, you only drink a little and on special occasions. It lasts for years. 

As we were checking out, the steward gave us a gift of a bottle of wine since it was our anniversary. I figured it was a throw-away bottle they kept to hand out free, but Jim found it on the list and pointed out it was a 30 euro bottle of wine. That might not be much to spend on wine in the States, but anything over 10 euros seems expensive when you live in the land of free flowing, inexpensive wine. 

Chairs outside the tasting room. 

Us outside the tasting room

We drove home through the sunshine, admiring the mountains and the endless undulation of trees around us.

The lane leading up to the winery.

 We stopped to harass our friend Steve who we saw along the side of the road preparing for a time trial on his bicycle. It's fun to run into friends miles away from home. 

Then we walked to a nearby restaurant for a simple meal with Jim and Theresa, sitting inside because the weather had taken a turn to the chilly. 

Not a bad way to celebrate living in France and that day 31 years ago we pledged our love in front of our friends and family.  

Celebrating Successes

Just a quick post to let you know about the busy-ness of my weekend. Yesterday, Spencer graduated from college. We were so proud of him since for years he has been proclaiming that he didn't think college was for him.

He started off at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. He met some amazing people and definitely continued his interest in the environment, but he also went a little off track with partying as college students often do.

So after two years, he came home that summer and transferred to Ohio University. After two and a half years there, he graduated this week with a degree in Sports Marketing. He has a real passion for sports and is pretty good at talking to people, so hopefully he'll be able to find a job that suits his skills.

And he talks about someday becoming a basketball coach or an athletic director, so maybe he'll even go back to college after he's had a break from it.

And that might have been the extent of the excitement, if not for some pressure from my in-laws. We planned to gather Sunday afternoon, once Tucker got off work, to go as a family to pick a Christmas tree. Although Grace and Tucker both have their own apartments now, Earl and I wanted the family to get a tree ad decorate it together since we plan to be living in France next year at Christmastime.
We thought we'd get a tree then go out to dinner at a steak place because Spencer loves steak-frites. Then my brother-in-law asked when the party was. We invited him and his wife to join us for dinner. Then his daughter with her husband and two children asked when the party was. We knew we couldn't host everyone at the steak restaurant, so we changed plans and are now throwing a party here at our tiny house.
Just Earl's family and one of our neighbors who has been supportive throughout Spencer's college careers.
That means I'll spend the day cleaning. I have pulled pork in the crock pot cooking with some onions and barbecue sauce. We'll buy chicken wings (another favorite of Spencer's). I'll make cheesy potatoes and salad. I also have brownies with white chocolate chips and will make a pan of fudge. Then we'll buy an ice cream cake from Graeters. The menu is made complicated by the gluten-free parts of the family. Otherwise, I probably would have gone with a pan of lasagna.

Saturday Snapshots -- Friends

Join West Metro Mommy for this weekly meme of photos people have taken and share on their blogs.
In spite of the hectic holiday season in December, we managed to gather as friends on a couple different nights.
This is a picture of us at Italian Market in Italian Village. These friends were the parents in my homeschooling group. They were my village that helped raise my children, assuring me, cautioning me, loving me.
Only one of these couples has a child they still homeschool, but that hasn't broken the bond of friendship.
It's so great that so many of us could enjoy each other the week after Christmas.

I hope everyone has an equally supportive group of friends that they see, if only occasionally, as we do. 

Anniversary Follow-Up

My week seems to steamroll after Tuesday and I rarely get back to my blog.
Even now, my 8 a.m. class is breathing down my neck, reminding me to get ready, to be "on my game" for that early morning class, and other essays waiting to be graded prod me from the computer file.
But...
I wanted to tell you about a fabulous anniversary.
Earl and I decided not to do chores on Tuesday. We both had the day off. We took our laptops to a coffee shop and wrote, sharing passages with each other.
That evening, we walked to a restaurant and for a drink.

Earl had his usual gin and tonic. This restaurant fills the glass with gin and gives a side bottle of tonic. I tried a new drink, strawberry basil mojito.

Of course, it was yummy because it was sweet and fresh on the warm day.
After our drinks, we moved on to the restaurant where we had reservations. We sat at a table in the back, away from the hubbub of the crowd.
I could tell  you about the goat cheese appetizer or the crab cakes entree, but I'll skip straight to the dessert.
Creme brulee -- 3 kinds.

You might notice that this picture only has two kinds of creme brulee. That's because we'd already dug into the first one. Called a "chocolate flight," it included white chocolate, light chocolate and dark chocolate and each one had a delicious hard crust that we dug through to the thick cream below.
That night, we walked home and collapsed into a good food coma, anticipating 25 more years of marriage.

A New Year -- 2015

With a new year comes people who talk about resolutions. When it comes to resolutions, I reflected on my circumstances and realized that I'm fairly happy with my life. 

The things I want to change would require wrapping my children in bubble wrap and ushering them through these tenuous teens and twenties. But I can't do that. I can't change anyone but myself.

The only things I want to do are more of the things I'm already doing. It makes me think of the Barbra Streisand song "Everything" from A Star is Born. Does anyone else remember that movie? It was the last movie I remember my sister seeing before she died. She loved it and bought the songbook, so I've had it since then, more than 35 years. 

Streisand sings about all the things she wants to accomplish -- "I don't want much, I just want more," is one of the lines. 

So I plan to increase my writing and my running. I hope to travel to Europe again as inspiration for my writing. 

Sure, there are things I could do to be a better person. I could eat more vegetables or volunteer more. I could vow to blog every day. I could grade papers the day I receive them, but I think I'll just continue on the path of enjoying life that I've begun. To be more aware of the joys all around me.

I know not everyone is as fortunate as me, and I need to be more cognizant of that, but I know so many people who have "everything" and they aren't enjoying life. They complain and find misery. I don't want to be that person. 

Last night, I went to a New Year's party at a friend's house. The beautiful home was filled with decorating touches I could never pull off, but more importantly, my old friends from our years of homeschooling were there too. Amidst margaritas and meatballs, I laughed until I cried, and after midnight struck, we danced and twerked. 

I hope everyone else has found some joy today as a  new year begins. 

Bonne Anneé! 

Birthdays

Grace came home from university on Friday night so she could go salsa dancing with her friends from home. And we celebrated her birthday today before rushing her back to school for a mandatory meeting.
One of the hardest things about kids going away to school is not getting to spend birthdays with them.
Grace was in New York for two of her birthdays, and it's sad when we aren't together.

Her birthday celebration had a theme. We went to the restaurant Bon Vie and she had ham & gruyere crepes with fried potatoes. Yummy.

I'm the only one who decided a raspberry martini seemed like a good idea on Sunday at noon.
We convinced Tucker to come along and he actually enjoyed the food. The bread they served, he proclaimed the best he'd ever eaten, rivaling that of bread in France. He shared some of what we ordered and loved the fried potatoes with onions and the French toast with fruit.
He did, however, take note that there was only one TV in the entire restaurant and it was way over by the bar. That was a drawback to him.

Earl and I made Grace a vision board, sometimes called a dream board. I needed help from my friend Sheila to find the material and the batting for the board. She had them in her newly-organized craft room. I also had to go in search of staples for the staple gun and ended up with furniture tacks to hold the material in place. The pale green fabric has a damask design, which adds a definite French look to it. I had some teal ribbon that I thought would clash but actually added a nice pop of color. I hope Grace fills it with all the things she dreams of.

She also got a journal that quotes Audrey Hepburn on the front -- "Paris is always a good idea." And the journal has some France-themed quotes inside, like "Will exchange kisses for a trip to France."

A scarf, and a giant coffee cup along with a bottle of hazelnut syrup rounded out the gifts.
As I wrote in the birthday card we forgot to give her, Grace is the daughter I always wanted.
Lucky me.

Happy Fourth of July

Today is our Independence Day, but, of course, I'm celebrating Paris in July sponsored byThyme for Tea and Bookbath, so I'll need to compromise.
I've only been in France one time over the 4th of July and since it was my long trip to France, I was disoriented and babysitting two little girls, so I probably did not even notice that I missed 4th of July.
 I can only think of two national holidays that are celebrated here and not in France. The first would be 4th of July and the second would be Thanksgiving. I haven't been in France on Thanksgiving, but someday maybe.
In order to pay tribute to our holiday, I ran 4 miles before it got too hot, and I'm going to a cookout at my brother in law's house.
I can include a photo of myself, looking relatively patriotic in a blue and white shirt though. The picture was taken on the train from the Charles de Gaulle airport to Paris on our most recent trip there in 2010.
So I can claim a tentative link to Paris in July and 4th of July.
Here it is.

And since I've included the blue and white for 4th of July, I'd better include some red too.
So, here you go, once again, from Paris.

Now I've given  you red, white and blue for Independence Day and I've tied it all into Paris.
Hope you have a happy day, whether you celebrate or not.

Lonely Cinco de Mayo

I worked from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and forgot to take a lunch along. My stomach growled and around 2, I texted Tucker, suggesting we go out for Mexican food to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. I got no reponse. When school let out, Spencer texted me to say he was hanging out with Casey. I suggested Mexican food again. He seemed ambivalent.

My widely mixed heritage includes Scottish, Irish, British, French, American Indian and African, but no Mexican, so celebrating Cinco de Mayo was not a necessity. But the day was sunny with pure blue skies, the only break from rain in weeks with more rain on the agenda in the coming weeks. I could practically taste the tangy margarita that I planned to order with my dinner, allowing Spencer to drive us home.

The minute I got off work, I called both boys, my stomach really churning and my mouth watering. If we hurried, we could beat the crowd and sit in the sun. They both blew me off. Tucker said he had Mexican for lunch, Qdoba or Chipotle, no doubt. Spencer said maybe another time, and later came home with a Taco Bell cup. I guess they celebrated in their own way.

I stopped at Rancho Allegre and ordered a burrito. I asked whether they'd give me a margarita to go, but the lightly-accented waitress said, "Sorry, but it's against the law."
Whatever.
I came home and ate my burrito, chased with a pineapple Smirnoff Ice. Not nearly the bite of a margarita.
This isn't the first time that I've failed to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Mexico's independence day.

When Earl and I were living in Tampa, we worked with a fascinating group of people. One of our friends, Dave, left the Tampa Tribune for a job at the Miami Herald. As Cinco de Mayo approached, our friend Rosalva, a California native whose family came from Mexico, suggested we take a road trip down to Miami to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.

So we did. We piled into a car and drove the four hours to Miami. We all crashed in Dave's apartment, ready for the big Cinco de Mayo celebration. It wasn't until we were walking the streets of Miami Beach that we realized Miami's latin influence is Cuba, which doesn't celebrate Cinco de Mayo.

It wouldn't have been so bad if the assumption had been made by a bunch of transplanted Midwesterners, but the fact that Rosalva was the ring leader made it a little embarrassing.

Hope everyone else got to sip a maragarita today.