The Wanderer

And the first week of December has already been and gone! It’s going great here but I’ve never felt like I’ve NEEDED to do laundry as much as I have that feeling now. You know, I could do it but then I think logically, “When’s the next time a baby’s going to throw-up on my jeans or someone’s going to wipe his or her hand on my sweater at the dinner table?” and I convince myself that it doesn’t have to be done because there’s no point.

Tuesday, I cleaned the house and looked after the kids. It was also the last night I had with my mom since she was going to stay at a hotel for the following week. On Wednesday, I looked after the kids in the morning and we had lunch. At lunch, Anne asked me if I could make cookies with the kids and I said sure, thinking she meant another day. But then, she explained “Our neighbours are coming this afternoon so I wanted something ready.” An hour to make decorated sugar cookies? Yeah, I’ve done that before…alone! And making cookies with an 8-year-old and 12-year-old is VERY different than making them with a 4-year-old and 6-year-old. There’s a lot of crying involved, cookie dough ALL over the floor, flour covering my black sweater…I can easily say I never want to go through that experience again. I got everything done though and then my mom and I went shopping in Saint Quentin, where I got some new boots, yay! We had dinner at the Taj Mahal and then I went back home.

On Thursday, I looked after the kids as usual and then my mom and I went to the Langlets’ (the former family) for dinner. I think everyone was glad to meet each other and they even made my favourite meal. Friday, I went to school and as I was walking, I was thinking how weird it was that it gets sooo cold but you never see any ice. Not that I really miss the ice. I remember walking to school, hesitating with every step I took because I was scared that I would fall straight to the ground. And then I would finally get to school and some random person would come up to me and say, “Nice wipeout this morning.” Yeah, I think I like it better without the ice. I had lunch with my mom and we bought myself a jacket. That evening, the kids had a festival type thing at their school so Anne, Antoine, Alice, and I all went. It was absolute mayhem – I thought two kids running around everywhere was bad but this was about thirty. I then had to take the kids home while Anne stayed at the school to help out. Oh but wait, there was a Christmas tree that I had to carry home. And the Christmas trees here are like razor blades, I’m not even kidding. Good thing it was a small tree though. We got back and then I got to go out for supper with my mom. We ate at her hotel and the waiter was really nice, except for the way he tricked me into eating something that I wouldn’t normally eat. I was asking what something was and he went to the kitchen and came back, showing me these sausages so I was like, okay, that seems fine. I guess I kind of noticed something different about these sausages, maybe the texture or I don’t even know what. After I was finished, he asked if I knew what I just ate and then I was scared. He started to explain to me (while my mom had no idea what he was saying) that they took a pig, took out the intestines, cleaned them out, chopped them up, and cooked them. Well, that’s appetizing… it didn’t really bother me because I’ve probably eaten at least five new animals while being here; I really only found it quite humorous. But now, I’m not sure if I want to eat a lot of sausage in the near future.

On Saturday, we decorated the Christmas tree and then my mom and I went to Paris. I stupidly wore my new boots and by the time we got to the hotel, my feet were in absolute pain. My mom and I had supper at an Italian restaurant and luckily, my mom had brought her moccasins. So, while we went to the Arc de Triomphe and strolled down the Champs-Élysées, I can proudly say that I’m probably the only person who has worn moccasins. We went back to the hotel and the next day, we had brunch at the Moosehead again. Then we visited a lot of the Christmas markets, stopped at Starbucks, and walked around for a bit before going back home. Yesterday, I woke up really sick which is why I never got around to updating my blog. I went to school, played the piano for a while (my mom brought me a Christmas book ☺), and then I went to the Langlets’ to visit my mom. I was shivering the entire day and my whole body was in pain so I tried to go to bed early and get some rest. Today, I feel a bit better but hopefully I’ll get over it soon. Yesterday was also my three-month point so as of today, I’m in France without a Visa. My mom leaves tomorrow so it’ll be weird not having someone here again. I think it’ll take a week or so to get used to. I hope everyone has a great week! Love always