End of Empty-Nest November

And so, the bliss that was Empty-Nest November comes to an end this afternoon when my youngest, 18-year-old Tucker, takes the bus home from college for Thanksgiving week.
And honestly, even when the kids aren't around to take care of physically, they're still in my minds and on my phone.
We've drunk a lot of wine. Eaten some delicious meals, and skipped cooking other meals when we didn't feel like it. We've had friends over and met friends out, at our whim.
We have enjoyed the extra freedom of not having the kids at home this month, but I do still miss them. I think I'll be ready for some bonding time when they arrive. Grace and Spencer will be home on Tuesday.
So for this, my last morning kid-free, I went for a glorious 6-mile run with weather in the mid-40s. It feels like spring compared to this past week of ice and snow.
I fixed myself a breakfast of raspberries and yogurt with honey, along with a cappuccino. And  one last splurge, I baked some chocolate croissants for Earl and me to enjoy while we spend our morning writing and trying to catch up on NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).

I'll still be doing many of these things once the kids are home, but I won't be my first priority any more. Every mother knows what that's like. And although it may induce a little guilt to put ourselves first, there's nothing wrong with it every once in a while, like during Empty-Nest November.

French Breakfast and Movie Review

I don't want to only post book and movie reviews during Paris in July, but I'm not in France so that does limit my experiences.
This morning, I brought France to myself by baking pain au chocolat and plain croissants for breakfast. I shared a pain au chocolat with my husband then spread homemade strawberry jam on my plain croissant, all while drinking a cafe au lait and watching the Tour de France as the bicyclists speed toward Nancy.
We have a connection to Nancy because a French boy from that town came to stay with us one summer. He brought us a delightful little book with pictures of the Villages de France.
This one is from the Lorraine region, where Nancy is also located.

But, back to food. At Trader Joe's in the freezer section, you can buy a 4-pack of chocolate croissants or an 8-pack of mini croissants each for $4.99. Set out the little frozen nuggets the night before. The next morning, they have thawed and risen. Beat an egg and spread across the top of the croissants before baking. They're very yummy and a good 2nd choice if you can't make it to France or French croissants.

Earlier this week, I watched a movie set in France. Even if I don't enjoy a movie set in France, I usually enjoy the scenery. This one -- not so much.

The Family, directed by Luc Besson and starring Robert DeNiro and Michelle Pfeiffer, would be the perfect movie to watch if someone wanted to move to France, and you wanted to convince them not to. There is not one redeemable thing about France in the movie.
The premise is that an American mob family is relocated to Normandy in the witness protection program. The mob in the U.S. is still searching for them to kill the whole family. As a matter of fact, the movie begins with an assassin walking into an apartment and killing a family of four. Then he cuts off the finger of the father and sends it to the mob boss in prison. The mob boss compares it to the fingerprints of the dead guy to DeNiro's character. Nope. They killed the wrong family and continue the search. And that sets the tone for the hilarity and violence that continues throughout the movie.
I'm not big on violence, but what bothered me more than the violence was the way the French people were portrayed. The grocery store clerk and two older French women made fun of Pfeiffer's character as she searched for peanut butter in the grocery store. So she blew it up.
The worst French characters were the high school students. None of them were attractive and that offended me. They also seemed to be typically American -- bullies, jocks, nerds and sluts.
The French were shone in a bit of a better light when the family threw a barbecue, but according to the son, they were only coming to make fun of the Americans. So they served hamburgers and Cokes.
The movie ended pretty violently with the family coming out to relocate again.
Apparently this movie is based on the French movie Badfellas, which must be a play on Goodfellas. It's supposed to be funny, but don't choose it if  you're dreaming of France.

Missed Wedding and More Croissants

On Saturday, my plan was to drive the four hours to southern Kentucky for my aunt's wedding.
My Aunt June, my father's sister, was marrying an old high school crush at the age of 75.
She's been married before and has had some tough times. Her first husband died when their little girl was only 4 or 5 years old. She remarried a man who had an alcohol issue and they eventually divorced. We thought she found happiness with an older man she knew in high school. They were married for a long time, but he was sick most of the time.
When Aunt June saw Paul at a high school reunion, they hit it off. They have only dated a few months but they were eager to get married, reminding family that they have a limited number of years to spend together.
So on Saturday they were married.

Grace and I had planned to go, but on Friday when I went to pick up Grace from college, she was sick with a fever, headache and upset stomach. She felt a little better on Saturday, but not well enough to spend eight hours in the car and I didn't want to risk getting all of our relatives sick. We stayed home and got updated on the wedding from my cousin Melinda and her daughter Morgan, who we love.
Morgan stood up with Aunt June. She's just so vibrant and beautiful.
I hope Aunt June and her new husband are very happy. They're starting with a two-week honeymoon.
This morning, Grace is feeling a little better so I made chocolate croissants from Trader Joe's. Like the croissants I blogged about yesterday, these croissants had to be set out the night before and they rose, ready to be baked the next morning. As I baked the croissants and make cafe au lait, Earl cut up some strawberries. Then we watched a House Hunter's International set in Paris. The single woman got a nice apartment in the Marais for $525,000. Terrific morning.