Christmas Vacation!!

Well, we're off! (Almost! :)) We're finishing up on our packing and planning on leaving in about three hours... our train should be pulling out of the station in just under seven hours. And twelve hours from now, we'll be THERE!

So, I hope you all have a very Merry and Blessed Christmas!!

I will be back. :)



MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Two Hundred!!

Wow!!

This is the 200th post on this blog!! Hard to believe...


And here's the current number of hits (that is, since the counter was 'installed' which wasn't until awhile after the blog was begun), just for kicks. :)


Thanks for reading! Stay tuned!

Baby Photo Shoot

The baby girl (7 1/2 months) where I work is just TOO cute sometimes! In the last six weeks, her range of vocal, as well as facial, expressions has increased dramatically. (She has a belly-laugh-slash-baby-giggle that is adorable!) I sat her down the other evening and within a matter of minutes had snapped this series. Enjoy!










"You don't say!"


And the best one of them all...

*drumroll*

(Another) Happy Feast Day

Happy Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe!!

This is usually a celebrated feast in my family... but right now, I feel about as far away from Mexican food, culture, and traditions as one can get!! Nonetheless, a very happy feast day to you all!

More Observations on the French Way of Living

(Manners Edition)

Please bear in mind that these are generalities that I have observed and are by no means to be taken as statistics out of an etiquette book! :)

* In France, it is bad manners not to have both hands on the table (in direct contradiction to the American version of table etiquette)! Children are constantly reminded, "Met tes mains sur la table."

* On the other hand, it is NOT bad manners to put your elbows on the table. This is preferable to having your hands beneath the table, in your lap.

* In France, it is bad manners to put your portion of bread on your plate. It must be placed on the table next to your plate, except on very special or formal occasions when it is placed on a little bread plate provided for just that purpose.

* This portion of bread (and YUMMY bread it is too!) must be torn into bite-size pieces before being eaten. To bite directly off the piece of bread is considered eating like animals. (They have a point...)

* In France, it is bad manners to push food onto your fork or spoon with your knife. Knives are for cutting and that seems to be their sole purpose. The aforementioned (and ever-present) bread - in bite-size pieces, mind you! - must be used for the task.

* In France, one does not take a drink of any sort with their soup (first course). This seems to be very wrong. In some cases, glasses are not even put on the table until the soup has been cleared away.

* And when it comes to restaurants, do not tip your waiter (should you happen to be in restaurant in France, that is). The tip is factored into the total before you're billed and an additional tip is not expected.

Donc, voilà!

It's incredible how much can differ between two "first world," western countries!!

Happy Feast Day

Happy Feast of St. Nicholas!!!!

Nearly Noel

20 days until my 21st Christmas! How the time does fly!

This year will be the first Christmas I've spent away from home... but, fortunately, I won't be entirely without family. Rose and I will be spending Christmas week in the Swiss Alps!! I bought the train tickets yesterday. We'll arrive there the evening of December 23rd. It'll be so nice to see snow again (it's been in the 50's around here). :)

I'm way behind on Christmas shopping (the little I'm able to do this year, what with very little time to go shopping and very little money to go shopping with) - as in, I've hardly started at all - but I have ideas! :)
And in the meantime, I'm trying to make a good Advent of it...

Hope your Advents are off to a good start! God bless!

~Until the next time~