Thursday, September 25, 2008

To know a person is to have walked a mile in their shoes...

so what does this say? Those are my shoes BTW. It has begun. T is the next Amelda Marcos!















Tuesday, September 23, 2008

My daughter, the washer woman...

This just proves my theory. There is a cleaning gene! And apparently its missed my generation but not T's. Last night during bath time, she started cleaning the bath tub and then she started washing her tummy. I thought it was just a fluky thing but she did it again tonight.



Now, I hear you saying she's just mimicking me washing the bath tub but she's never seen me washing the tub. Now, I do clean but she is usually with her dad downstairs playing xbox (okay she's watching him play xbox but she's not usually around.)



I swear its priceless, she even gets dust and cat hair (big surprise) off the edge of the tub. I don't know what caused this to start but if continues I'm thinking that I will have her start cleaning the kitty litter boxes!



T has also started to try to feed Gryffin and Phenix their kibble. They frankly could care less but she thinks its their treats so she goes running down the hall after the cats as they tear off to the bedroom to escape the toddling terror. We are also working on stacking things but we are getting more than a little frustrated.



On the Toulouse front, S dipped his toes in the Mediterranean over the weekend and found that it was cold. Go figure. They all also checked out a casino in Toulouse but the first attempt didn't succeed, they needed passports so they couldn't get in. The next attempt proved almost as disappointing; there were only slot machines, no poker tables. Poor guy, I somehow don't feel his pain.



Monday, September 8, 2008

Swinging single...literally!

Since we've been cooped up the last few days with the oh so pleasant weather, I promised Talia that today, come biblical floods or not, we would go outside.


Everytime we pass the local park in the car, she looks anxiously at the park and indicates as only Talia can that she wants to go to the park. She has discovered one of the true joys of youth. Swings.


These shots are from my phone's camera but you get the idea. The squealing in the video is vintage Talia.



Ah, Mom your finger is on the lens....


I'm going to spew!


Kapow!





Whee! (need I say more?)


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Update from Toulouse:


S had his first day at work. His onsite group didn't pick he and his team up until 10am (how European!) so he had to stay late. The local group wasn't exactly prepared for them so there was a lot of finger twittling. That sounds like most people's first day at a new job site. At least they got their section set up.



There was a trip to the cafeteria, which I'm told is quite fun. Wine with lunch! We had McD's! Life's just not fair. There was also another trip to the local grocer, this time there was no bad experiences. It went much better.


Salut!
K&T.




Saturday, September 6, 2008

T&P's new trick and an update from Toulouse


T and I have been battling the sniffles, the latest round of teething and unseasonably cold, rainy weather (thank you Gustav) for the last couple of days so we have had to find innovative ways to entertain ourselves because going outside just is not an option. We've read books, played countless games of sneaky peaky, shopped, watched TV, done laundry, napped etc.




We've also tried to involve whatever feline is willing to give us the time of day. Since S left, both cats have been rather interested in getting any kind of attention as their "routines" (read: feeding schedules) are all out of whack. They don't like having to wait until Mommy gets up to be fed. They are so hard done by. They are ruled by two things, their naps and their stomachs. Phenix more than Grffyin.



Anyone who knows Phenix, also knows that when the treat can is shaking, Phenix comes a running. She's been known to push the treat can thru our old apartment, up three stairs, down the hall and up onto our bed, just for a treat. She is nothing if not determined.



The other day, I thought I'd see what happened if I gave a cat treat to T in Phenix's presence. T shocked dear old Mom by giving it to Phenix (she put it on the floor in front of Phenix who in turn wasn't taking any chances and gobbled it up immediately). I know for a fact in the past, T has sampled the cat treats, much to Phenix's distain. Phenix just stared at me like "But, but, that was my treat!"



Given our previous success, I thought we'd try it again but this time I had my camera ready. Now the film footage isn't super bright (sorry, I had all the lights in the house turned on but it was really cloudy out and even with the drapes open, there just wasn't a lot of light) but you can see what happened.




Yes, you don't have to adjust your computer screens. That is Phenix eating treats straight from T's fingers. Phenix has got to be the world's fussiest eater when food is handed to her by a human but apparently that rule doesn't pertain to treats.



Normally, Phenix must first smell it, perhaps give it a couple of licks and then she *might* take it from your fingers. If I look out the window tonight I wonder if we will are having a blue moon.



Now, if we can just get Gryffin to come get some treats...that's a million dollar photo op!



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An update from the other side of the Atlantic. S arrived in Toulouse and is settling in. Apparently, Luftansa Airlines are now high on S's airlines to travel on. They give you free booze and the meals are pretty decent! This is in high contrast to Air Canada who are now removing life preservers and all but charging you to breathe the air during the flight. He still has some jet lag but hopefully he will be okay on Monday.



S's first trip to the grocery store set international relations back a few years I think. He wanted to buy some fruit and didn't realize how they price things. He went to pay for his items and the cashier kept asking how much were the apples. S ran back to the apple cart (he was careful not to upset it, ha ha) and returned and said they were 2.50€/kilo. The cashier then repeated the question, how much are the apples?



At this point, everyone was getting a little perturbed, in particular all those behind S in line. Finally he had to take everything back and use the weight system to get the price of the fruit he wanted to buy. They have weight stations that you key in a produce code and it gives you a sticker to put on each produce bag so the cashier only has to key in the actual amount.



On top of the fruit incident, he forgot his cloth shopping bag at the hotel. In France, they don't have plastic bags so you have to have cloth ones. S made a point of taking my big cloth bag with the giant Canadian flag with the government's website on it. Ton pis, mon cher, you also forgot Murphy's law.



A la prochain.


K&T.