Happy 2008!

I haven't been writing during my Christmas vacation because this is supposed to be a blog about France (or at least Europe) and not about the US but I did have a really good time and got to visit family in IL and FL. Florida was especially wonderful because it was 80°F (for any non-Americans that's about 25°C) and sunny everyday. I also got some lovely Christmas presents including 3 new cookbooks which will come in really handy for me and Clare when we need dinner ideas. I will tell one story about my trip home. When we were in Springfield, IL my mom and I decided to try out the hotel's Jacuzzi (indoors, obv.) We put on our bathing suits and went down to the pool area. There is a little foyer before you get to the actual pool that is locked to prevent ne'er-do-wells from using the pool. Hotel guests can use their key cards to get in. Or so we thought. Our card didn't work. Weird. "No big deal" we thought. We'll just reenter the main building and talk to someone at reception. Of course, the door to the main building had locked behind us and we needed our key cards to get in. Fabulous, don't panic, we're completely trapped except for a door to the outside. We discuss the best plan. We can't both go outside because then we might not be able to get in at all and we'd be trapped outside all night (Only to be found dead the next day. Very undignified to be found dead outside in your bathing suit in December) My mom decides to brave the elements, exit the only open door and run in her bathing suit to the front door. This was very brave for 2 reasons. 1. Neither my mom nor I have anything resembling a sense of direction and locked in the little room, we had lost our bearings. So, basically, she had no idea where to run. 2. She was in a bathing suit and a t-shirt, we were on the prairie at 9pm in December. It was about -21545° (n.b., that is an exaggeration in both Fahrenheit and Celius). Debbie Dahl is a trooper, however, and she ran out into the night to try and find the main entrance to the hotel (I'm not at all exaggerating about our senses of direction. They're terrible. We think we might be legally handicapped). My job was to wait vigilantly at the door and let her in if she needed me to. Of course, just then a helpful hotel guest spotted me and was going to help me escape from the pool foyer. So, I had to lean out the door and yell until my mom heard me and ran back inside. At which point, the helpful guest let us into the main building and my mom went to reception and got our cards fixed. After that, we took a well-deserved dip in the Jacuzzi. Fin.

In other news, 39 Avenue Corneille is now in possession of a lovely pet hamster!! I call him Hammy (short for Hamster, if you're slow) because we couldn't think of a name and I had to call him something. Blandine, being a true paysanne, insists that he be named a "D" name because 2008 is a "D" year and, therefore, all the farmers name any cows born in this year "D" names. Suggestions welcome!! The name has to be something that my roommates and I can all pronounce. Here he is:
running like the wind in his ball:

having a drink: