September 13

Twenty years ago, almost exactly, I decided to sign up for French class in my freshman year of college. I thought it would improve me as a person and make my life better. I was so right! It was in that class that Carl and I met. The reason I didn’t write anything last weekend is that Carl and I were in France, celebrating twenty years of knowing each other. Just the two of us. Sonia made sure everything at home with the girls went smoothly, with the help of Grandma and Grandpa, our sitters, and our volunteers. We are immensely grateful! We had an amazing time. We stayed with family and friends and also got to see some friends who came over from Germany for a day. We walked all over Paris and Versailles. At Versailles we rented a row boat and Carl easily rowed us the length of the human-made lake. I attempted to row and after many garbled moments I did get some smooth movement. We spent some time in the beautiful countryside of France (Cercier, Annecy, Chamonix). We stayed with one of my dearest friends, whom I have known since I was 4. We ate amazingly delicious and decadent food. I bravely tried many foods that I hadn’t before or didn’t think that I liked (snails, frog legs, frois gras, raw fish pickled in vinegar, and duck with olives). Carl bravely went paragliding. We practiced speaking our limited French. Now we are enjoying a calm weekend at home and recovering from jet lag. 

It was absolutely wonderful arriving at home and having both girls climb all over me while saying, “Mom’s home!” They seem to have grown up more than just the 9 days we were away could warrant. They both seem more verbal. When I gave Sarah a writing worksheet to do and then put it away, she came to me later and said, “Where is the E worksheet?” That moment explains any socks you saw flying past you. 

Amy’s school started as did her new ballet class. She is at a different place for ballet because I wanted a class she could attend when Sarah was in kindergarten. Gymnastics started a couple weeks ago for both girls. 

I hope all of you had a wonderful couple of weeks.