Spider On My Ceiling

Oh the dreaded Wednesdays! Actually today wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. Oh yeah I don't have automatic spell check on this computer so somethings may be pretty messy and my "Y" key ykinda sticks. Anyways, I woke up this morning to a jackhammer. LITERALLY!! I was sleeping peacefully and had about 45 more minutes until my alarm went off but NO they had to come extra early with their jackhammer to fix the patio! So anyways I got up, ate breakfast, got the youngest dressed (she's really starting to warm up to me). I took her in the stroller and we walked Ines down into the village for her music class and waited there for Ariadne. We waited for an hour so that Sophie could have a little meeting here at the house and we could walk Ines home after her class. We ate some lunch and then the oldest girls went to their classes and I put Aurore to bed. Surprisingly she slept through the jackhammer that was going ALL day. I took a little nap after reading my book. Sophie went to the cell phone shop to see how much it would be to get me a cell phone and I'm still waiting to hear the verdict. Ines and I worked on her English homework and I picked up Ariadne from her music class and we ate dinner. I read them one and a half books (a half because it was boring and they were whining too much for me to read another one). I'm making sure they know that when they whine they don't get their way. When their mom is home is much harder because she's nicer to them haha. I thought about going out again tonight but figured might as well stay home, get rested for tomorrow and go out this weekend. Highlights of the day:

Aurore, after she goes "pee pee" will always leave here bottoms (including panties) in the bathroom and run around. So cute.

She will walk around chanting, "bum dela bum dela bum," but when you sing it she always corrects you and says, "NO, bum dela bum dela bum." It's fun. She's a hoot when she's being nice.

I got some good reading in today.

Well that's about it, not a very exciting day, but tomorrow promises for more excitement I'm sure. Bon soir mes amies!

Charlie's and Peek-A-Boo

Today was my first day with just the two oldest girls at lunch. I picked them up and we came home for lunch. I made tomato slices with motzarella cheese splashed with balsamic and olive oil, vegetables and hamburger. It was so good! Anyways I'm still setting the boundaries with these kids and I'm making sure they know they can't get away with a lot of the things their parents let them get away with. So it was a bit rough but we did ok. I took them back to school and then went to Alisha's. We were going to start painting her studio today but the guys were putting in the windows and we didn't want to be in their way so I came home and took a nap. After my nap I picked up Aurore and a little boy named Philip. Neither of them speak English so it was a bit interesting but when we got home we just got on the swings and things went fine. I think Aurore is really starting to warm up to me. We have workers here doing work on the patio and what not so I think she kinda clung to me because I was her only familiar person. She and I played on my bed and I'd hide her under the blankets and then yell, "Peek-a-boo" and she would just giggle. She has such a sweet laugh. The older girls came home and we took Ariadne to track, while she was gone the youngest two and I watch Jack Johnson music videos on youtube.com because one has an animated monkey on it. I cooked dinner while Sophie was at parent teacher conferences.

After dinner one of the other au pairs from my French class, Lauren, had invited me and Alisha to go out with her. So she picked us up and we went to Charlie's Pub. It was a really clean place with a pleasant atmosphere thankfully. Of course I just got coke, so don't worry mom. There were some cute guys there but it was nice to just talk with the girls and exchange stories. Lauren is from Australia so I just liked listening to her talk =D. Oh my gosh I saw the most beautiful Dodge Charger in my life!!! It was black (my favorite color for a car) and tinted windows. I really want to find out who drives it! I think I'll marry him, thank you! Oh and I saw the moon for the second time tonight since I've been here!! The first being Sunday night or something. So tonight was a well deserved night out! Things are so much better now that I'm meeting more people my age, I love it!! Well I better hit the hay! Night, bon soir!

En Francais

Today was my beloved French class. I do really like it, I think mostly because I like to meet people. It's so nice having people closer my age to talk to. Alisha rides with me there and back with me and it's always an adventure with the two of us. Enrique, the guy I sit next to, always helps me out and is pretty easy to talk to. After class Alisha and I came here, ate lunch and the looked on the internet a bit more to plan our New Year's vacation. She came across this website called couchsurfing.com where you can find people who are willing to let you stay with them and show you around. It's sooooo cool. So we're finding people in Rome to stay with. It's free! I picked the kids up from school and then we went home. I worked with Ariadne on her english homework and talked back and forth with Enrique. After dinner I met up with Alisha as usual. We did our walking and saw the soccer boys =D. She just cracks me up. The papa at her house was making fun us, saying we were like an old couple that does their walking. He asked if we were going clockwise or counter clockwise tonight. He's a funny guy. We both were placed with such fun families. This experience has really opened my eyes to the fact that I would LOVE to marry a foreigner. I want my kids to be at least bilingual, if not trilingual. It just really gives them a step up in life. And I love how different things are here as far as the role of the father. Granted in the states there are dads that are similar to these like my dad and brothers but you don't see it as often. They are just so involved! So who knows! Anyways I'm going to call my nieces (the ones with landlines anyway) because I've been missing them terribly! I so appreciate how well behaved they are haha. Good night loves!

The Clouds Have Lifted

I woke up this morning to one of the most beautiful sights. Here it is either foggy and cloudy or one of the other. You can either see Geneva from my window or you can just see one of the mountains. Today you could see EVERYTHING! I did not realize how close I was to the French and Swiss Alpes! They are absolutely majestic! I was in complete awe. What a welcomed sight after rain and clouds. We had a late brunch followed by a hike up the mountain we live on (I can't remember the name). One of the girls complained and whined the whole way up and down but nonetheless it was a beautiful, CLEAR day! You could see the big water spout near Lake Leman. The fields were green and looked so soft and quaint. It really is a beautiful country! The Alpes were covered in snow and didn't look real. I'm sure when and if my brother Jonathan comes he'll want to a bunch of hiking of some sort. I took some great pictures that I will post in a few weeks when my cord comes. It was so wonderful. When I came home I took a nap, shower and watched a bit of conference before dinner. Conference here was six to eight and now ten to midnight. So I probably won't finish all of it because I have my french class. Good thing the Ensign prints it out :). Dinner was so good and we even had motzarella cheese to eat afterward (one of my favorites). Alisha and I walked around as usual and then went to her house to start planning out trip to Rome for New Years!!!! We're so excited and we can hardly stand it! Yay!! Now we just need to find guys to kiss at midnight ;). We'll probably stay there long enough to celebrate my birthday there too if we can have enough work off. Should be a blast. Oh and I found out I get to go to Paris in a few weeks. We have a two week break from school so Sophie wants to take me and the girls to see her mom and brothers. It won't be as fun without Alisha but it'll still be awesome. We'll I'm gonna finish watching conference and go to bed so I can get enough beauty sleep before I see the hot guy in my french class =D!! Bon soir!

Good Night, Baby

Happy Saturday everyone! I hope it was enjoyable. Today we celebrated Ines' birthday during lunch. After lunch I went to the market to buy popcorn for the girls and I to eat while their parents went out on a date. I'm so excited about being able to drive a stick now! Anyways, I came home and took a shower and got in my PJ's really early. The girls took their baths as well. We had a very early dinner of pizza and then started our movie. The popcorn wasn't as good as it is in the States but it was sufficent. After the movie Ariadne put Aurore to sleep for me because she doesn't usually like me :/. It was really sad because Aurore was upset because she missed her "mamo" and I knew I couldn't comfort her, but she was just in her room, not crying but more whimpering and it just broke my heart! Ines had hurt her foot so I brought her a warm rag in a bag to put on it. Ariadne missed her mom as well so I layed with her for a while and she played with my hair, almost like she was comforting me, and then held my hand for a long time. It was really sweet. As we layed their it made me realize that even though I'm thoroughly enjoying myself here, there is an emptiness somewhere in me. Not really sure what is causing it nor what will fill it. It's not this deep pain that is eating me, obviously, or I would have noticed it sooner. It's more of an irritation. Who knows. Life goes on. Now I'm gonna read for a bit and go to bed as well. Good night!

PEPSI and Stick Shifts

TGIF! I love Fridays because it is my first day off in the week. I don't have to do ANYthing! So I didn't, I slept in, took a long shower, read, took a nap and then eventually got dressed and ready for the day. The girls came home from school and Sophie came home from work. I played with the girls for a bit then we had dinner. Oh let me explain dinners in France. You don't necessarily wait for the whole family to get there to start eating. You start with something fresh generally, like a salad or vegetable, then to the main course once everyone is done with the first course. After the main course they break out the cheese. LOTS AND LOTS OF CHEESE! My favorite so far is the parmesan. I will never buy it in the plastic bottle again. It's so much better off the block. Then you can have dessert and what. They drink a lot of water during dinner and you almost always have bread of course.

Anyways, after dinner we took Ariadne to her orchestra class and Sophie and I went grocery shopping. We spent over an hour there and went down pretty much every isle. We had a good time. Things really aren't too different here, they have some of the same stuff we do as far as food. Just a lot more bread and cheese. And the best part... I found PEPSI!! I was sooooooo shocked! It does taste a little differnt but not bad. I was pretty excited about it so Sophie bought me some. After shopping Alisha and I walked down to the soccer game that we found out was old guys when we got there so we walk back up to my house and got ready to go to Geneva. We got all dressed up and left. I drove my little stick car with nothing but a map all the way to Switzerland! I was so proud of myself! I KNOW HOW TO DRIVE A STICK! Quite the accomplishment haha! Our experience in Geneva was not what we expected at all! So we didn't stay as long as planned and just came home and slept.

Today the family is having a little party for Ines' birthday and then I'm watching the kids while the parents go out later tonight. Should be kinda fun. I'll probably miss a soccer game but oh well...

Arm Candy

Yesterday the kids didn't have school, they never have school on Wednesdays here, so they were home all day with me. Well actually we did a lot of running around and taking them to different lessons and what not. We went to the insurance place to get me put on the insurance for the car so I could start driving it. After that was all figured out we went to lunch to celebrate me surviving the first week. It seems so much longer! But in a good way. I mean I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. I guess the days are a bit more hectic or something and makes them feel like two maybe. I had a crepe with tomato, cheese and ham; not bad. Then I had one with lemon curd and that was interesting. I took a short nap while Aurore slept and the rest went to a lesson of some sort. After dinner Alisha and I met up as usual and checked the soccer field but the boys weren't there :(. So we walked around a bit then went home. On our way up to my house she stops, grabs my arm and says, "shirtless!" I knew exactly what she meant. I looked over and there was this GORGEOUS guy in his house in front of his big windows with his shirt off!! HOLY COW! The Lord sure does know how to make a great piece of art!

Today I had my first french class over in Ferney (pronounce Fair-nay). I drove my car all by myself!!! I did so well! I followed Sophie to the kid's school then ran back up to the house to grab some stuff they forgot. Then I followed her to my school. We were a bit late but no problem. So there was this insanely hot guy that I got to sit next to. He's from Columbia and is pretty dang hot! He's a nice guy and we talked a bit. I really enjoyed my class and there are some nice people. I like that it is very small. Alisha has her class the same day and so she rides home with me. We had to drop one of her kids off for his piano lesson and then she and I ate lunch here. We went to Val-Thoiry (the mall here). Jackpot! We saw quite a few hotties! She got some stuff she needed and we just shopped around. And holy cow are things EXPENSIVE! Shauna told me they would be but I can't believe how outrageous it is! The hair dye I use is literally three times more expensive here. Most things are AT LEAST twice as much!! So buying things online has become so much more appealing. Even with shipping somethings are much cheaper. I picked up Ariande at school and we finished reading her english book and I took a breif nap. I finished up dinner and after eating I called Alisha. Oh and Dimitri is bidding on a cord for me so pictures should be up next week. As I walked toward the center of the village I saw the shirtless guy again and yes he was shirtless yet again! I had to stop and "caught my breath". =D Tonight we found where the guys practice soccer. We stayed and watched from a halfpipe near by. Attempting not to look like stalkers we kept our distance until it was over and then kinda walked out with them but no one said anything. Eventually we'll get the guts to talk to them. I just hope when that happens it will be the ones that speak english haha! After walking past one of the cafes where we know a very attractive guy works we walked to my house and watched a movie.

We're a bit dissappointed because we were so looking forward to tomorrow night. We were planning to go dancing at this place we heard about but we couldn't find a place to stay for afterward. So I guess we'll wait til next weekend when one of the girls in my french class will be back in town. She knows a lot more about the area and hopefully would have a place for us to stay. So we'll see. I guess we'll see if soccer is going on. Yay tomorrow is pay day! Good night mes amies!