Dreaming of France -- Chocolates

Thank you for joining this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.

Of course, one of my favorite things about France is the chocolates. I don't have a favorite chocolatier, because I've never had bad chocolates in France. The last time we were in Paris, staying on Rue Mouffetarde, we wandered into Jeff de Bruges' chocolate shop and stocked up.

Grace was in London last week, and I noticed that London has a Jeff de Bruges shop, so I requested she make a detour and bring home some French chocolates. Since I drove her to the airport, a 7-hour drive both ways, she was happy to oblige.

And this week, I get to indulge in a delicious chocolates. My husband warned me that we were supposed to eat the chocolates within a few days of opening them. Sorry, but that would probably require sharing way more than I plan to. Of course, I'm freely giving chocolates to my husband and to my children whenever they drop by. And I took a couple to the secretary of the English department at school.
But my favorite is to just savor a few chocolates everyday.
Thanks so much for playing along with Dreaming of France today. Please leave your name and blog address in Mr. Linky below, and leave a comment letting me know what  you think about my love affair with France, or your own passion for the country and its people and cultures. Also consider visiting the blogs of others who play along so we can all share the love.

Saturday Snapshot -- Cats and Runs and Chocolate

Join West Metro Mommy for this weekly meme of photos people have taken and share on their blogs.
Today I started off my day with a 10-mile run through my small city and on into the next suburb. For some reasons, there's a cornfield in the middle of the city, and a paved path going through it.

So I took the opportunity to run along the path and found a small brook. Probably, the brook isn't there except in the spring time as the snow melts -- a vernal pool.

I texted my husband around mile 7 and asked if he wanted to meet me at the coffee shop where I would end my run. So we met and bought hot drinks. As we walked home, me sweaty and worn out, we stopped at the salon, and they had time to give him a haircut, so I walked home alone.
When he arrived home later, he deposited a boy of chocolates on the table. "It's your birthday week," he reminded me.

Hope it's going to be a good one.

I made the bed the other morning, and the cat, who isn't allowed to sleep with us at night anymore because he disturbs me, had curled up on the pillows. He refused to move and was still there at noon.

So, my running is going well, my writing is going well, and my family is loving and supportive. Those are the things I'll hold onto as I enter my birthday week.

Babysitting

I have a confession to make that may make me seem like an awful, petty person:
I'm not crazy about babysitting. Sometimes, I even feel a little resentful. I think back to raising my three kids four hours away from the closest family.
But then I remember what it felt like to be a young mother at the end of my rope.
And, whether I'm there to play or to babysit, I always enjoy my great nieces.
In the midst of a stressful week (I think I'll be able to write about the stresses next week, and you won't believe how mafia-esque they are), I had agreed to babysit from 9-2 on Thursday. Then I had a mammogram. Then I had to go teach.
So, deep breath, and I got to their house at 9 with a coffee in hand.
For the morning, it was just me and Regan, who is 21 months old now. She has these big brown eyes and eyelashes so long that she had oatmeal stuck in them when I arrived. It was just me and her for the morning while her big sister went to pre-school.
Regan loves to play in the water, so I set her in the bath for about 45 minutes.

She played happily until an itsy bitsy spider came out the water spout. Then she screamed.
I took a tissue and squished the spider then threw him in the trashcan.
Regan was still hesitant.
"Spider take a nap?" she asked.
I agreed that the spider was definitely taking a nap.
We had to walk to pick up 4-year-old Caroline at preschool and I noticed that the preschool was near a chocolate shop.
Regan and I went to the chocolate shop.

Little kids aren't sophisticated enough to enjoy chocolates, so I got the girls suckers called PushPops, which made a sticky mess, but that's what indulgent aunts are for. I got myself a salted caramel chocolate.

When Regan went down for a nap, Caroline and I made no-bake cookies. Their whole family is gluten free, so I made sure we used gluten free oatmeal. Caroline made sure to get every bit of chocolate out of the bowl afterward.

In spite of my hesitation at the beginning of the day, I enjoyed spending that one-on-one time with the girls.