Groundhog Day

Well, we hope Paris isn't listening to Puxatawney Phil, 'cause we sure don't want six more weeks of winter here! True, Paris is always lovely, and seeing the top of the Eiffel Tower disappearing into the mist looks just as romantic as when it sparkles at night. But Josie and I have a bit of cabin fever (along with all our other recurring illnesses!) and we're dying to get out into the park to run around in the sunshine.

Even in the chill of winter, our social life is warm and buzzing with activity -- still meeting lots of friends through Message, the ex-pat mom's group here in Paris, and have something to do almost every day... between French classes, play groups, Music Together etc. there's a danger of feeling overscheduled -- sometimes I just bag the scheduled activity, as I am today. Waiting for Josie to wake up from a long nap so we can saunter over to the Louvre for an hour or so. We got a family membership, which is terrific. Josie can take it for about an hour (while tourists take her photo!) and I can see a wing or two of French or Italian paintings. I figure at this rate I should be able to see most of the museum in a year!

Jeff has been very busy with his job, traveling to Jakarta, Indonesia, Mexico City, Barcelona, even Brussels later this week. He's finding it really interesting, traveling to places in the world that clearly need affordable, nutritious food... and he's racking up the Frequent Flyer miles as he goes! We're keeping our date night almost every Saturday, seeing movies or checking out local restaurants... we've even been to our first Parisian party! Well, it was mostly Brits, but fun anyway. We're looking forward to Lew arriving this weekend, and have lots of activities -- both educational and fun -- planned for him. As well as lots of delicious meals!

And what's new with Josie? Something every day. Almost every day she has a new word... cracker, baby, "love you" etc. She's running around full steam, climbing on the couches, and still singing and dancing up a storm. Not a bit shy -- she greets everyone in our local Starbucks, waves to other museum-goers, barks at our neighboring pooches. She's so much fun -- we're having a blast together.

I've been delinquent in posting photos and video, so there's an update "film" of our activities here, as well as lots of new pics in the Jan-Feb gallery. xoxo