The Blog

For some reason this past week has been one that I have spent a lot of time reflecting in.  The majority of this past weekend I spent in my room, resting, reading, and watching television.  I finished reading the book Eat, Pray, Love which I couldn't put down  and made me seriously reflect on my own life and ambitions.  As I read the book I wanted to be the girl in the book leaving everything behind and traveling to Italy, India and Indonesia.  I wanted to live her adventure and then I realized I am living my own.  My life is an adventure and I AM doing what I have always wanted to do.  I get so many e-mails from home that tell me how lucky I am and from people who wish they were able to do the same thing...and so many times I have laughed at what they said and e-mail them back saying, 'ah, it's not so great and wonderful'.  But the fact is that it is so great and wonderful and its just that its so easy to get caught up in the daily day to day routine that I forget that.  Life should be like that anywhere though.  To be on an adventure you don't have to be really far away from your home in someplace new and exciting to you.  There are bad days wherever you go and the adventure ends when you let those bad days shape your entire week/month/year.  That is what I had been doing.  My job isen't the greatest obviously but that doesn't mean that I have to let it ruin the rest of my experience.  It seems that there will always be one aspect of your life that seeks to ruin the rest of it--maybe its not your job, but its your location.  I refuse to let one aspect of my life dictate the rest of it.  One part of the book that I really enjoyed was when the author went to Indonesia to learn from a great medicine man.  She wanted him to teach her his form of meditation and he simply told her to sit and smile for awhile each day--sit and smile, smile in your liver.  I liked this and so in the morning and at night--no matter what has happened during the day--I make myself sit and smile.  

Last week I was left alone with the three children and the grandma.  Of course I would fall terribly ill and experience one of the toughest weeks I can remember.  As a good friend said though, 'mom's don't have time to be sick'.  I like to imagine that in my future family I will be surrounded by a loving husband, children, and a dog who will comfort me when I am sick and be content when we order delivery every night and watch films together till I am better.  Somehow I made it through the week after having to sing the 'Babe song' (the song the farmer sings to Babe in the film) and 'You are My Sunshine' to Clarence a thousand times with a scratchy throat and after having used up every single tissue in the house (having to resort to going into rooms I don't usually go into just to steal the tissue box).  

The day after I had finished this lock down as I had entitled the week, I boarded a train at 8:00 am with my Australian friend and a bag full of brown paper packages tied up with string and made my way to Paris for a totally new Christmas experience--I had never spent Christmas with an Australian before.  Erin and I made it into Paris safely and found our cute little hotel and boarded another train for DISNEY LAND!  That's right, I saw Cinderella's castle before I saw the Eiffel Tower.  Our faces were both aglow with all our childhood dreams being fulfilled right in front of us.  What better way for two twenty-somethings to spend their Christmas holiday than in the land where dreams come true?  It took a little while for our dreams to begin to be fulfilled as we dodged children and waited in lines, but after finding Mickey Mouse we were on our way to fulfillment.  We defeated the empire in Star Wars, we kissed Mickey, we visited the Swiss Family Robinson's humble abode(so was their last name Robinson and were they Swiss?),  we ate hamburgers and french fries (french fries in France--finally!), we sensed the tea cups, we explored the universe and screamed our guts out on Space Mountain,  we ruined little children's views of the festive parades by holding our spot in front, and we rediscovered some of the magic of Christmas that seemed to be lacking in Belgium. One problem with the place was that I am convinced that Mickey and his gang do not speak French. Mickey is American and like most Americans, he only speaks English. These characters were imposter's of some sort. I want to return to Disney Land before I leave...

The next day (what luck!)  another Australian came to join us and we wandered around Paris for awhile, taking a boat tour, doing some shopping, and eating some amazing food. There really is a lot to see in Paris  We planned our Christmas eve meal--a little restaurant that served Tex-Mex and Indian food and bought our traditional chocolate Christmas log.  The time for dinner came and we headed to this obscure little restaurant.  It's not everyday you find a place that has traditional Indian pictures along with sombreros.  We ordered some tex mex, some Indian, and some wine and spent awhile enjoying the food, the decor, the interesting wait staff, and each other's company.  We barely noticed the time passing and had to leave hurriedly for Notre Dame to try and make it to the midnight mass...however we did not get there in time to get let in which while somewhat disappointing was not so horrible.  We watched from outside and stood with the hundreds (thousands?) of other people who were so unfortunate not to be inside and we welcomed Christmas Day with the bells ringing and the spot lights from the Eiffel tower filling the sky.  

Christmas Day we awoke slowly while the realization that we had to go home today set in.  We exchanged gifts and wore Santa Hats.  As the other two Australians left I spent some time alone in the train station watching people travel to and fro on Christmas, missing my own home and family.  I appreciated the amazing time that I had in Paris and was thankful that I had found two wonderful Australians to spend it with, but used that time to make up my mind that I would always find a way to be home with my family for Christmas.  There are 364 other days of the year to travel and have adventures on.  

So, because I am sick I went to the doctor because I was having trouble getting through an entire day and being that the medicine and everything here is different I wasn't sure exactly what I should be taking.  It was quite an experience as the doctor didn't speak English and I am pretty sure a lot went unspoken.  The grandma was there to translate, but I'm not sure she was doing a very good job as translator.    Either way I came away assuming that it has something to do with my sinuses and/or something that is in between my ear and my nose and has something to do with the trunk of an elephant (?).  She gave me four different kinds of medicines--two that go in my nose and two that I have to drink--which have seemed to help me immensely.  I can breath again and make it through the night without coughing the entire time.  

Christmas is approaching. I can't believe that it is less than a week away.  It is different being here for Christmas...the kids don't seem that excited about it--I keep trying to get them to watch Christmas movies with me, or listen to Christmas music, or make Christmas crafts, or make Christmas cookies--but they will have none of it!  This weekend though I plan to make Christmas cookies with them while listening to Christmas music and I will make sure they enjoy every minute of it!  I just have to find Christmas cookie cutters.  Even though the States really commercialize Christmas--it is really easy to find Christmas things there...here it's not so easy.  And there are no Christmas programs on tv!!  

In other news, I'm going to Paris on Tuesday. Something to look forward to!