Dreaming of France -- Outdoor Dining

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.

Before I jump into outdoor dining, I want to direct you to Sim Carter's blog Chapter 1 Take 1, where she allows me to share the actors who would be my dream cast if my novel were made into a movie. Just one hint about the main character, Sadie:

Visit Chapter 1 Take 1 to see who the rest of the picks are. And thanks, Sim, for giving me the opportunity. 

What is it about al fresco dining and France that go together? Yes, I know that the words are Italian, but just a glance at cafés and restaurants in Paris and throughout France makes you realize how much the French enjoy eating outside.
Earl and I sat at an outside table yesterday having cocktails and hors d'oeuvres -- dates stuffed with goat cheese and wrapped in bacon to go with our gin and tonics. The evening was delightfully fresh, without the normal humidity we expect in July.
Time spent enjoying our outside dining reminded me of the many times we've enjoyed meals along the front of a French restaurant.
Here I am sitting under a canopy in a square in Aix en Provence enjoying a Kir Royale. My first drink in France when we traveled there last year.

We had a delicious lunch on the terrace of a restaurant in Marseille along the Vieux Port.

And, of course, we take every opportunity to eat outside in Paris.

This restaurant is on Ile de la Cité.

What do you think? Do you connect outdoor dining with France?

I'm also linking to Paris in July. Hope you'll play along with both Dreaming of France and Paris in July. We can't have too much France love, right?

Thanks so much for playing along with Dreaming of France. Please leave your name and a link to your blog on Mr. Linky below. I really appreciate your participation and I hope you'll leave a comment plus visit each other's blogs.

Nice

Every horrible act of terrorism breaks my heart.
It's true that an arrow into France wounds me especially. I know now that friends will caution me that I shouldn't move to France because of the danger.
I don't like to point out that. according to U.S. News, "Every day in the U.S., an average of 289 people are shot. Eighty-six of them die: 30 are murdered, 53 kill themselves, two die accidentally, and one is shot in a police intervention, the Brady Campaign reports."
Eighty-six is nearly the exact number of people who were killed in Nice on Bastille Day.
Terrorist acts can happen anywhere -- in France, in Dallas, in New York, even in Columbus.
We can't live our lives afraid that we could be victims.
All we can do is live the best lives we can. Embrace the life you have.
Squeeze every bit of joy from it.
Then if your life ends early, from terrorism or a car crash or a disease, you can know that you didn't waste your days hiding from evil people. You flaunted your bliss in front of their faces and let them know, "you won't intimidate me. I am here to make the world better."
One person who makes my life better is my friend Leah.
Leah is a writer and a painter.
I've shared her pictures before, but here are some photos of Nice in a more beautiful time.

What a beautiful beach. The sky, the sea, the glory of this photo. 

And this reflecting pool with the mountains in the background. Gorgeous.

Peace be with you, Nice. May the beauty of your surroundings help heal your wounded souls. 

I look forward to visiting you next year to pay my respects in person. 

Sharing a Review of Paris Runaway

Just in time for Bastille Day, or as the French call it Fête Nationale, Laurel-Rain Snow at Serendipty posted a review of Paris Runaway.

I love being online friends with voracious readers who so succinctly sum up the plot of a novel and are able to share what they liked -- or didn't like -- about my novels.

Luckily, Laurel-Rain enjoyed it.

Paris Runaway, an intensely engaging novel, kept me rapidly turning pages, losing sleep, and eagerly trying to figure out what would happen in the end. Would Sadie and Auguste find the kids and extricate them from disaster? What would happen with the developing connection between them afterwards? I definitely wanted to know, so I very happily kept reading…and now I’m awarding 5 stars to this novel.

 Thanks, Laurel-Rain!
Take a look at her blogs Serendipty and Snow Sparks and you can discover more great books, along with some Laurel-Rain has written as well. Laurel-Rain is also considered a top reviewer on Amazon, so it's always great to have her input.

And, for those who are growing weary of seeing the book cover of Paris Runaway, here's another picture of Paris -- not from Bastille Day, because I haven't been in France on Bastille Day for 30 years, but maybe next year.

Tuesday Intros -- Finding Fontainebleau

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph of the current book you are reading.

This week, I'm reading Finding Fontainebleau by Thad Carhart. It's a memoir about an American boy growing up in Paris in the 1950s.

Here's the intro:

All these years later I can recall with keen precision the moment when the bottom dropped out, because that is exactly what it felt like: one moment we were flying, shaking a bit from turbulence, the next we were falling, in a calm, eerie quiet broken only by the sound of the four engines laboring uselessly. Then the air caught us again and it was bad: the plane pitched violently up and down, from side to side, every way imaginable. The passengers found their voice then, after the expectant dread of the free fall. This was active, maniacal horror, and people screamed. It was the first time I saw an adult -- many of them, in fact -- expressing fear without reserve. The woman across from us started to cry and yell, and there was nothing to be done but listen and watch with a kind of terrified fascination. 

This cliff-hanger opening leads to some calmer musings about life in post-war France and the experiences Carhart's family had adjusting to a move from suburban Virginia to Paris.

I look forward to seeing what everyone else is reading.

I'm also connecting with Paris in July.

Dreaming of France -- The Tour

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.

Every year, we look forward to watching The Tour de France. It's our July trip to France without fighting through all the tourists.
The first week of the tour was a little disappointing.
The start was scenic with Mont St. Michel in the background, but the bicyclists ended up clogged at the starting line, as no one had figured out how to get all the riders into that little circle in front of Mont St. Michel so that they could begin the race.

The stages were fairly flat and the riders chose to ride incredibly slow for at least two of the days. The endings have been close because the sprinters competed, but four hours of bicycling on TV leading to about a 30-second sprint can be disappointing.

Friday, the pace picked up and Saturday, the riders arrived in the Pyrenees, where you know the action will increase. Just the vertigo of spinning down the mountains with the riders excites me, not to mention the beauty of the ragged green mountains, the green pools formed by melting snows, and the patches of snow that remain.

The people watching the Tour are crazy too. I tell my husband that next  year I'll get him a Speedo bikini suit to wear while watching the tour alongside the route. People dress up in costumes. They wear crazy wigs and wave giant flags.
On Saturday, a costumed man ran alongside the riders as they struggled to climb a mountain. Chris Froome, the winner of last year's tour and the favorite for this year, reached out with his fist and clocked the guy in the side of the head. I can't blame him. The fans are a bit crazy. They need to give the riders room to ride.
This year, on July 12, the route goes through the area where we plan to move next year -- Languedoc.

 We'll be eagerly anticipating the release of next year's map to see which part of the country we can travel to and see the tour ourselves -- with or without a Speedo.

I'm also linking to Paris in July. Hope you'll play along with both Dreaming of France and Paris in July. We can't have too much France love, right?

Thanks so much for playing along with Dreaming of France. Please leave your name and a link to your blog on Mr. Linky below. I really appreciate your participation and I hope you'll leave a comment plus visit each other's blogs.

Book Review -- The Runaway Wife

The Runaway Wife by Elizabeth Birkelund transported me to a world I've never visited, to an oasis high in the Swiss Alps where a woman can be her true self, unworried about the world.
The book begins with Jim, an overworked financial investor who hasn't had a vacation in 8 years taking a vacation with a friend. They hike in the Swiss Alps and at a remote hut, they meet three

sisters who entice them to search for the women's lost mother. The mother was raised in the Alps, but she has never stayed gone so long. They fear for her safety with snow coming. She also happens to be the wife of a man running for the presidency in France. The press recently revealed that man had a mistress and a baby, so the wife disappeared. Every day, the man sent a helicopter into the Alps searching for his wife so he could bring her home.
Jim decides to take up the challenge, and what he finds changes his life and his dreams.
Here's an excerpt:

The melodic singing drew closer but was interrupted by a long, drawn-out cough. Jim had not noticed her coughing yesterday. He looked out the window. She was hanging laundry -- sheets, lingerie, a long white nightgown -- on a clothesline. Her slim body weaved in and out of the laundry so that he could never see more than a part of her at any time.
...
He could not resist returning to the window for one more glimpse of Calliope's dance among the billowing sheets and clothing. She looked like a woman at sea amid the sails of a ship.

And later, the beauty of the Alps is reiterated.

He'd heard the term Alpenglow,  but this was the first time he'd witnessed it. The enormous bowl of the sky was lit from below by the amber light of the setting sun. The few snowfields nestled inside crevices in distant peaks glowed a deep mauve.

Doesn't that make you want to see it yourself? It does for me.
The entire time that the characters were hiding in the Alps, I wanted to be there to experience it myself. Very beautifully written.

As an author myself, I've been warned about the squishy middle of a book, the part that makes reader drop a novel and not pick it up again, but Birkelund does not have that problem. The middle of her book is enthralling.
The beginning of the book could have been stronger to lure readers into that middle, but I promise that if you stick with it a few chapters, you'll be rewarded.

Tuesday Intros -- The Runaway Wife

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph of the current book you are reading.

It's funny that the publisher contacted me about reviewing this novel, The Runaway Wife,  just as my own novel, Paris Runaway, was about to come out. I noted the similar title and the fact that they are both set in Europe.
I've read a book by this author, Elizabeth Birkelund, before and the writing blew me away, so it was an easy decision to read this one. The previous book I loved, also set in France, was The Dressmaker.  I'm about halfway through The Runaway Wife, so look for an upcoming review.

Here's the intro:

Jim Olsen, you are here. In Switzerland, walking on the rock ledges of the Swiss Alps. If this was not the end of the world, at least it felt like it. In this moonscape ten thousand feet high, in this land of rock and rock and more rock, and sky and sky and more sky, one misguided step and Jim could plunge from one of thousands of vertiginous, crusted cliffs. The only thing that reassured Jim that he was not on a planet in a far-flung galaxy was his ability, on this clear day, to pinpoint several small patches of green that resembled colored pieces in a stained-glass window -- these he knew to be farmland in the Swiss valley far, far below. 

I don't care for that first sentence where he's apparently speaking to himself in second person. I had to read it several times to figure it out, but the rest of the book is lovely.

I look forward to seeing what everyone else is reading.

I'm also connecting with Paris in July.

Dreaming of France -- Lavender

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.

This week, I'm also linking up with Paris in July, a  yearly meme hosted by a couple of bloggers who also love France.

Every day, my Fitbit urges me to walk 250 steps each hour for nine hours in a row. Nevermind that I might have already reached my 10,000 step goal. It wants me moving every hour from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. I've figured out that if I walk out my back door, down the alley, turn left and walk around the block to my front door, that's about 250 steps.
As I made that circuit the other day, I felt a nostalgia, a warm feeling. I couldn't figure out why. I made the walk a couple more times before I realized that it was the smell of lavender wafting to my nose as I passed a large lavender bush on the corner. I stopped to watch the deep purple stems covered with fat bees that buzzed fiercely. They were drawn by the scent too.

I envy my neighbor's lovely lavender bush, but I know that next year at this time, I will be inundated by the smell because I'll be living in southern France.
I wonder if the lavender fields are awash in bees busily gathering pollen to create their lavender honey.
Will I grow tired of the scent? I don't think so.
I have to admit that the smell of diesel fuel reminds me of Paris. My second trip to France, acting as an au pair, I got lost in the bus system, wandering the city with a 3-year-old and 4-year-old girl. We finally got on the correct bus, headed in the correct direction, but the smell of diesel fuel always takes me right back there.
Is there something that reminds you of France -- a smell, a sound, a sight, a taste?

Thanks so much for playing along with Dreaming of France. Please leave your name and a link to your blog on Mr. Linky below. I really appreciate your participation and I hope you'll leave a comment plus visit each other's blogs.

Party!

First, here are some links where you can buy Paris Runaway in ebook or paperback.
On Amazon for Kindle here. The paperback should be available soon on Amazon.
On Barnes & Noble for Nook or paperback here.
Now, for those of you not on Facebook, I wanted to share some of the festivities from the launch party last night.
Yes, I was stressed all day, including a stiff neck.
Around 4:30, I decided to have a glass of wine, hoping it would help me relax. As I worked to slice four baguettes for the meat and cheese trays, my youngest decided it would be a good time to engage about the fact that my husband and I were abandoning him next year to move to France. But that will be a post for another time.
I made it to the launch and friends immediately jumped up to chip in and help get everything organized. Things went much more smoothly than I'd anticipated.
I served five different kinds of French cheese, along with salami, prosecco and capicola. We also had margherita pizza from Dewey's. For dessert, macarons from Pistacia Vera and madeleines made by Grace.

I served 4 kinds of white wines and 3 kinds of reds, all French, bien sur.
Friends provided beer.

Overall, I felt really loved and supported by both my friends and my family as people kept me busy all evening signing books. Grace was in charge of the book sales so that I didn't have to mess with the money or the credit card.

Earl worked hard serving wine and then cleaning up at the end. Spencer, who had to get up at 6 a.m. for work, woke up from a nap and made it to the book launch about half way through. He fetched me a glass of wine when I asked for it, so his support was really helpful. It was nice to have 2 out of 3 of my children there, and that is not a passive aggressive slam at Tucker. I didn't expect my boys to attend, so getting one of them there was a coup.

This might be the last book launch I have in the United States, but I'm planning to try to finish another book this fall, so you never know. I might have one more book launch.
Here are some pictures from the party.

I did a reading, and it went better than I expected. 

And when we got home and unloaded everything, I got a picture with my husband.

Thanks to everyone for your support.

Launch Day

I wonder who came up with the word launch to refer to a book publishing. Launch usually goes with rockets, and as much as I would love for my novel to make it to the stratosphere, I simply don't see that happening.
Nevertheless, today is launch day for my novel Paris Runaway.
I've never had a perfect launch day.
The day my first novel, The Summer of France, arrived, I had a broken nose.

For my novel, Trail Mix, the copy editor didn't finish by the agreed date and I was a nervous wreck trying to get all the changes made, even as the online version was released.

I've tried to be more relaxed with this one, but I still woke up at 4:30 because of a cat, and my mind immediately jumped to the things I need to do. 

The box of paperbacks I ordered are scheduled to be delivered today, hopefully before the party tonight. That could still go wrong, but I am picking up three dozen macarons later today at Pistacia Vera, so what can be horrible with 36 pastel macarons to cheer me up? 

A couple of early readers for Paris Runaway have posted reviews on Goodreads, and I hope they'll post on Amazon as well. Here's one:

Great adventure/romance novel!I felt completely immersed in French culture when I was reading this book. Kincer included so many fascinating tidbits that nobody would know unless they'd spent a considerable amount of time in France....This book is a fun, twisty ride that goes full-speed up until the last page.

And another:

  This was a fabulous beach read! I picked it up this morning and never sat it down until I was done. The characters were relatable and their adventure was a joy to watch unfold. If only real life teenage drama ended in a trip to Paris and an adventure with a sexy French man then the teenage years would not seem so bad. I highly recommend this book if you're looking for a fun, sexy read!

Those reviews make me feel hopeful.
Thanks to everyone for your support with my writing and my blog. Every comment inspires me to keep going.
I'll let you know tomorrow how the party goes tonight.

Tuesday Intros -- Paris Runaway

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph of the current book you are reading.
I suppose you couldn't technically say that I'm reading this novel, since I wrote it, but still taking the time to share the intro with everyone, in hopes that you'll want to read it.
This is a fast-paced, romance, adventure, women's fiction novel. I think that's enough descriptors.
Sadie flies to Paris to retrieve her 17-year-old daughter who pursued a French exchange student across the ocean. Joining forces with the boy's father, Sadie feels stirrings she'd tamped down since her divorce two years before. Sparks fly as the parents try to keep their children out of trouble, chasing them to Marseille and back to Paris again.

Here's the intro:

Marseille, FrancePrologue
A gust of hot wind from the open door made the gray floor churn. I stood on the threshold staring at the billowing surface as I tried to comprehend how a floor could move.
A stronger breeze followed, and feathers, gray feathers, the color of the concrete surface, swirled into the air and then wafted down to land gently.
“Feathers?” I asked. “Was there some sort of slumber party in here?”
When I walked through this door above a run-down carryout in Marseille, France, I had expected to see my daughter Scarlett, and I’d already practiced the speech I’d give her for running away, across the ocean to Paris and then gallivanting to the South of France. But the feathers threw me. No Scarlett – just feathers.

 I look forward to seeing what everyone else is reading and hope you'll add this one to your to-be-read list. Here's the link on Goodreads and on Amazon. The book becomes available on Thursday, and you can enter to win a copy on Goodreads, or click the link on the top right of this blog.

Dreaming of France -- Samba

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.

I'd  never heard about this movie, Samba, but found it "on demand" in my cable television movie section. It was under comedy, which, when considering a French movie, is always questionable. But there were some laugh-out-loud moments and some poignant moments.
Here's the trailer, in French, bien sur!

As  you can tell, Samba travels to Paris and works, sending money home to his mother and sisters in Senegal. He lives with his uncle and everything is fine until he tries to get a work permit for a permanent job. After Alice helps get him out of detention, he lives life on the edge, borrowing or purchasing other people's IDs to try to get work and running from the police.
Our college-aged son joined us for most of the movie and we ended up discussing immigration and the similarities between the U.S. and France, along with some of the differences.
Omar Sy is beautiful and an engaging actor. He was, by the way, born in France, not Senegal like the character he plays.
We watched this movie for $4.99 on demand. Well worth it for some beautiful shots of Paris, along with some inner knowledge about the trials facing immigrants.

Thanks so much for playing along with Dreaming of France. Please leave your name and a link to your blog on Mr. Linky below. I really appreciate your participation and I hope you'll leave a comment plus visit each other's blogs.

Saturday Snapshot -- Summertime

Join West Metro Mommy for this weekly meme of photos people have taken and share on their blogs.

I wanted to share a photo I took of my neighbor's porch.
She's one of those clever, artsy people. She collects old furniture and paints it, turning it into masterpieces.
On a walk recently, I noticed her front porch had a new addition.

Isn't that adorable? A little bedside table with flowers spilling out of the drawers.

Here's a closer look.

And, I wanted to include a picture of me holding a proof copy of my latest novel, Paris Runaway. 

I would describe it as a fast-paced, action, women's fiction novel with romance. If that interests you, I'd be honored if you'd preorder the Kindle edition, which will be released on Thursday, June 30. 

The paperback should be available on Amazon and other websites soon.

Thanks for your support. 

My Latest Novel -- Paris Runaway

I'm so excited to share that my new novel, Paris Runaway, is available for pre-order on Amazon. And those pre-ordered Kindle books will be available on Thursday, June 30.
I think this might be my best novel yet, so I hope you'll give it a try.

Here's a blurb about Paris Runaway: When divorced mom Sadie Ford realizes her 17-year-old daughter Scarlett has run away to Paris all she can imagine are terrorist bombings and sex slaves. After learning her daughter chased a French exchange student home, Sadie hops on the next plane in pursuit. She joins forces with the boy’s father, Auguste, and the two attempt to find the missing teens. The chase takes Sadie and Auguste to the seedier side of Marseille, where their own connection is ignited. Since the divorce, Sadie has devoted herself to raising kids and putting her dreams on hold, but when her daughter needs her most, Sadie finds that concrete barrier to life beginning to crack. In her journey, she learns the difference between watching the hours pass and living.

A few early readers have left reviews on Goodreads.

"This book is a fun, twisty ride that goes full-speed up until the last page." Goodreads review

and

 "This was a fabulous beach read! I picked it up this morning and never sat it down until I was done. The characters were relatable and their adventure was a joy to watch unfold. If only real life teenage drama ended in a trip to Paris and an adventure with a sexy French man then the teenage years would not seem so bad. I highly recommend this book if you're looking for a fun, sexy read!" Goodreads review

I can't wait for everyone to be able to dive in and tell me what you think about it.
If you plan to buy my novel, and I'm so grateful if you do, I'd really appreciate if you'd pre-order. The more purchases on the day my novel is released, the higher the ranking of my book. The higher the ranking, the more people who see my book and buy it.
Sigh! It's all about marketing, which takes a lot more work than the actual writing of it sometimes.

So, if you want to buy Paris Runaway, you'll find it on Amazon here.
Amazon in the UK, you'll find Paris Runaway here.
On Barnes and Noble, you'll find Paris Runaway on June 30, but can't purchase it early.
And the paperback should be available for online purchase soon on Amazon along with Barnes and Noble. Until then, you can find the paperback here.

As if I'm not asking enough, if you read my book, I'd really appreciate a review on Amazon and Goodreads. And friend me on Goodreads too. I'd love to see what else you are reading.

Raising Adult Children

A lot of times, I write about my frustrations with my children,  now ages 24, 22 and 20. No more teenagers, yet this summer, we all find ourselves together living within our small house.
As the children grew, the house began to feel smaller, of course. Tucker is 6-feet tall and Spencer is 6-foot 4-inches tall, while Grace is 5-foot 10-inches. Everyone in the family towers over me. And if we get in the living room together, everyone's long legs jut into the middle and make me feel a little claustrophobic.

We convinced Grace to live at home until after a trip to London this fall. She has an apartment ready to move into when she returns, if she returns. She's hoping to find work in London. We told her it didn't make sense to rent a place if she might move. Getting through a summer with her brothers in the house is  proving to be a challenge though. The boys believe they have an innate right to choose the television stations, even though there's another equally good television in the basement.
And the two boys can be intolerant of Grace when she's dramatic. That's why she's an actress though.
Yesterday while I was at work, Grace and Spencer got into a fight. This wasn't the first time.
Grace had said hurtful words to Spencer earlier in the summer, and now Spencer had a chance to fling them back at Grace.
As I talked to them both individually last evening, I realized what they didn't -- the words had hurt each of them.
I mean, Grace knew she was hurt by Spencer's words, and Spencer knew he was hurt by Grace's words, but neither of them realized how hurtful they had been to the other.
"He's holding onto that pain a month later," I explained to Grace.
And I also let Spencer know how deep his shot had landed on his sister.
Last night, as Spence headed to bed, he stopped by Grace's bedroom. I didn't hear his apology, but I was encouraged that he'd reached that place of maturity. He didn't want her hurting.
And that's my hope for the future with my kids. They realize how important they are to each other, even when they're fighting. Their opinions matter. Their judgment of each other matters, even when they say it doesn't.
Tucker has vacated the house for 10 days, going on a hiking trip to Utah with some friends.

He texted me throughout the day, and night, as they drove. "To Illinois."
"In Nebraska where the time changes."
"Driving straight thru instead of stopping."
"Just got to Salt Lake City."
With five of them in the car, they drove overnight.
Sometimes it's easier for Tucker and me to communicate when he's far away. He's still in that stage where I might not get more than a grunt or nod out of him in the morning or when he comes home from work.
As I was walking this morning, I heard a song.

And it immediately took me back to a time with Tucker. 

When Tucker was 11, his brother and sister had started school while Tucker continued to homeschool. He was at a swimming peak, and the two of us often drove to swim meets together.
Tucker would make CDs for us to listen to in the car, and this was one of the songs he included.
I remember listening to the song and dancing in the driver's seat, and embarrassing Tucker. But we laughed about it.
Every song I hear from that CD reminds me of those good shared experiences, and the kid who is in there and might, like a butterfly, emerge again.
Meanwhile, he's doing what he needs to. He works five days a week, he's taking college classes, he's playing soccer or Frisbee golf or working out, and he's spending time with friends.
Someday we may laugh again about something ridiculous, but in the end, I know he loves me, even if he isn't that 11-year-old anymore.
Maybe you can remind me the next time I'm kvetching about my kids, that there's good too. I just have to remember it.

Dreaming of France -- Golfing in France

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

Since it's Father's Day, I'm thinking about my dad and realizing that we won't be in the same country next  year on Father's Day since my husband and I plan to move to France next May.

My brother and me as we celebrated an early
Father's Day with my Dad before he
returned to Florida last week. 

And I know that I will return to the States to visit my parents, but I wonder whether they will fly over to see us in France.
They have traveled overseas before, but they went to New Zealand and Australia. They've never been to Europe.
So when my parents visited from Florida a few weeks ago, I broached the subject, asking if they'd come visit.
My dad didn't beat around the bush. He asked whether they have golf courses in France. He and Mom golf four or five days a week and they live just a few houses down from the clubhouse at their course.
Frankly, I couldn't answer their question. Although I've visited France 11 times, I've never looked for a golf course there.
"There must be golf courses," I said. "Aren't there professional golfers from France?"
And my parents agreed that France does have professional golfers.
So today, preparing for another Dreaming of France, I thought I'd see what my Dad can dream of in France. I searched for golf courses in the Languedoc Roussilon region of France where we plan to move. And, apparently, this region is a haven for golfers.

This map shows the top 15 courses in the area.
And from the prices, 40 to 50 Euros per round, it seems that the price is comparable to what people pay to play in the U.S.
Now we'll just have to figure out how to get my parents' clubs over to France, but at least I have a chance to see them in France someday.
Have you ever played golf in France? Is it very different from playing in the U.S.?

 Thanks so much for playing along with Dreaming of France. Please leave your name and a link to your blog on Mr. Linky below. I really appreciate your participation and I hope you'll leave a comment plus visit each other's blogs.

Latest Obsession

For my birthday, I received a Fitbit.
Now, everyone who reads my blog knows that I'm already a bit obsessive about exercising. I run, no matter the weather. I walk to the library, the coffee shop, the post office and sometimes even the grocery store. I also lift weights at the gym.
So maybe the Fitbit wasn't a good idea -- encouraging someone who already focuses a lot on exercise.
A fitbit starts out set at 10,000 steps, 5 miles, 30 minutes of exercise, 10 flights of steps, 2,100 calories.
Most mornings, I would hit 10,000 steps by 8 a.m. after my run. All the other goals I would surpass easily.
Eventually, I moved the steps up to 15,000.
Then the app on my phone got in the act. It started asking for 250 steps from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. (You can set that for whatever time parameter  you want. I moved it up to 7 a.m. since I'm  usually active then.)
It got a little awkward when I'd be pacing around my classroom trying to get to 250 steps. Or I might be having a conversation with someone when I would suddenly jump up and say, "I have to get my 250 steps." Then I'd run outside to walk quickly before the hour changed over. At the end of the day, if all nine hours had
One Sunday, as we were headed to a family reunion, I took my Fitbit off. My wrist felt bare but I didn't want to run away in the middle of a conversation with an 80-year-old relative.
I forced myself to leave it off for two days, even though I itched to put it on and get my steps in.

When I went back to wearing my Fitbit, I realized it wouldn't charge. A piece on the back that clips in had come loose. I nearly panicked. How would I keep track of my exercise?
What could have been a disaster, became a very easy fix.
Fitbit exchanged a few emails with me and said they'd send me another one. It's even an upgrade.

Soon, I'll be able to resume my obsession with my steps.