Ok! So I'm caught up!! Here are October pictures and news.
Daniel: growing like a weed, eating great and stays pretty healthy. He is getting good grades at school and works really hard at home! The middle school schedule seems to agree with him. Socially however he isn't doing all that great. Though he seems to be making friends in his classroom, he has been getting picked on pretty bad by the 9th graders. One of them even got suspended a whole day for hurting him. Yesterday Daniel came home with a bruise and swollen eyelid. Got a rock thrown at him. The biggest issue really is that even if Daniel doesn't hit (because I told him not to...and I think I regret that) he uses his words to fight with. He can be pretty hurtful!! Since I had always taught him not to hit anyone, he learned to defend himself verbally, and so now it's instinctive and it's getting him in trouble with the older kids. He does still have a long ways to go, and has to learn how to talk so not to hurt people. It's hard having a kid who's "different". We know him, love him and understand him. But I know he isn't like the other kids, and trying to raise him to conform to society is no easy task. Part of me feels that he shouldn't have to change, he should be allowed to be who he is...on the other hand, not teaching him to "blend in" will make him a social outcast and hurt him. I got to tell you, he is a challenge, makes me work hard at being a parent, but he is SO interesting!!! His differences make him stand out from other kids and I love that. Teaching him to stand out all the while blendig in is no easy task!!!!!!!!
Chris: Doing great at work. He enjoys his job and the people he works with. I think he is learning a lot too. The French is coming along slowly but surely. We got him an ugly little throw away car to get to and from work. Ugly, old, but reliable. The most exciting thing is that we bought a motorcycle, a Harley of course! Now don't ask me what is is...all I know is that I like it, it's pretty! (Chris says it's a 2006, 1200 sportser) It's red! Not fire engine red, like a deep darker red. We went and bought helmets yesterday and I got riding gloves.
Me: still crazy busy trying to get everything settled...home, school for D, paperwork for C, etc... I just can't wait until things settle down a bit!! We got me a cute little family car, newer and low mileage. I've been shooting a few pictures but not as much as I'd like. It seems that I'll be earning a little money working for the owner of our building; showing apartments, cleaning up the hallway etc... It'll be nice since it'll keep me available for everyone, give me time to take pictures and stay on top of running our home. Speaking of which...we're freezing right now! They haven't turned on our heat yet. It's been pretty windy and foggy and Chris is not liking it as much as he did this summer. I still love it up here, I love being away from the city, I love how beautiful it is, I love how Daniel can be out all day and I don't have to worry, etc... They took our cows away and replaced them with the ones that were on top of the mountain pass. We can see every one around us being busy to get ready for winter.
well I think that covers it. Here are some pictures of the cows being taken away and of an awesome sunrise right outside our window.
The cows and the bull looking at the truck thinking "Oh I think not!!"
I am back! We were without internet for a long time, but I guess most of you know that...duh! Ok, so here is a quickie post to bring you up to date:
*Chris: frustrated, bored, homesick, doing his best...might finally-actually-probably-as-sure-as-the-best-maybe-we've-had-hopefully will have his first day at work today...tune in for more info.
*Daniel: started middle school! Holy crap!! where did the time go???? Doing well, loves our new place and his new friend. Spent most of August outside coming in only to eat and sleep. He's grown SOOOO much!!!
*Moi: trying to keep everybody fed, clothed, happy and busy. Love our new surroundings, just can't get enough! I am ALWAYS thrilled to come home to our peaceful side of the mountain. I'll be welcoming a little peace and quiet when Daniel is in school and Chris is at work. I'll take the time to ressource myself, do finishing touches to our home, process all the pictures I've taken over the last month, take pictures of our place and blog about it all.
Cats: fat!
TTFN
I have not been really good at posting news lately. So here is a quick run down of what's going on. I'll try to post some pictures before Friday.
Obviously most of you know by now that Chris is here. He got here on the 18th, just in time for my bday! On the 19th we went to my sister's who organized a surprise party for me...I guess you all knew that since I posted the link for the pictures. Since then we have packed a little, hung out a lot and gone out to do some touristy type activities. My cousin gave Daniel a pocket bike, and so there has been many male bonding moments of messing with it, teaching Daniel how to ride it and scaring mom half to death.
We also got all of Daniel's back to school supplies...geez...being a 6th grader sure means having to buy a whole lot of stuff. We still have to order a few books, other than that, he's got all he needs! I was so excited to have it all done this early without the stores being totally over crowded with stressed out parents, cranky kids and their tired, hungry, whiny younger sibblings. Seriously, the back to school shopping is a kill or be killed adventure if you wait to do it in August!
Yesterday was Chris' birthday, we spent the day in Grenoble where we met with the Harley shop's accountant. He also got his "uniforms", Harley pants, a Harley jacket, and off the tourist trap shelf tshirts, 4 or 5 of them. all of them averaging 45€ each! What an awesome bday present huh?? After that we went and looked at motorcycles and then went to a really nice botanic garden for a picnic. We layed in cool grass under the shade of a huge tree, watched the clouds go by, fed birds and turtles, and walked through the gardens. It was great!! Later we went to the realtor's so Chris could sign the lease papers. We stopped at a mall to cool off with the AC, and on the way home stopped by a really big antique store/yard that had awesome stuff. It smelled a little weird inside and I suspect the owner to be older than most of what he has in there, but it was fun. To finish the day we had really good pizza for dinner. So all in all it was a pretty good day.
We will be without a phone or internet for a while, so don't worry if you don't hear from us. We will try to get to a computer so we can send news and check emails.
Today is the day we're going to finish most of the packing, yuck-o-rama! I hate moving, I hate packing, I hate the mess it makes and I hate living like that! There, it all came out and I feel better.
Ok, off I go to get started, as I said I'll try posting some pictures soon.
Well, I am having problems with my screen and it went off to screen repair land. Who knows how long it'll last... So don't worry if you get no news from me, all's well. Chris gets here tomorrow, we are very excited!!! We will be moving on August 1st, but we won't live up there until the 4th. I am not sure i'll be back online before then. Though I am sure i'll be coming here to my aunt and uncle's to get a quick fix and deal with pressing business.
love to all!
Columbine
Minette
beautiful sunset sky viewed from Daniel's room
a bit of Irish luck
my confused christmas cactus
Another sunset
So here's the latest! Chris is packing, he just bought his one way ticket. I found an AWESOME deal; $497 (351€). Couldn't believe it!! Everything else I had looked at was over $1000. Needless to say I had Chris get it before his morning coffee...and we all know how disfunctional he can be before the 1st cup of coffee!!! He's also been shopping around for prices to ship his stuff here. But the biggest thing is that he finally got in writing, from the Harley dealer, a promise of employment! He as to have an 85% average in school, which is no problem since he's in the 90s. So he'll start September 1st! YAY
ok, so my sister Magalie and I went to look at a place. It's about 20 minutes outside of Grenoble, in the mountains. Actually the building is an old hotel that was converted. We looked at 2 apartments, they are 90% the same. The 1st one was empty, the 2nd one almost empty. So I put the best pictures from the 2 apartments.
The building is at the bottom of a ski lift and has only 2 other structures within eyesight. The ground floor has a restaurant, lift ticket booth and ski rental store. The school bus stop is at the front door, and since the school bus comes, so does the snow plow!! Really it's just beautiful out there. NO car noise, mountains, forests, hiking trails, etc... The downside is having to drive 20 minutes to go to the city. The upside is the city is only 20 minutes away.
kitchen
the apartment I'm hoping to get (if Chris is ok with it all of course) has a kitchen that is a bit different, a bit odd actually, but my appliances would fit better.
Bedroom #1
Bathroom #1
bedroom #2
bathroom #2 yes it's also tiny...but it's got a stand up shower, so who cares!
the view...a picture is worth a thousand words
We have to move!! Someone is waiting to move in...squatting my plant until my place is empty
Columbine has gotten in the habit of watching tv...weird
Daniel with his lego helicopter. after a bad fall it needed repair...and while he was at it, he "improved" it
here is a link to the pictures I took at my sister's wedding: 
here is a link to the pictures Daniel took at the wedding: 
