Good bye?

Unfortunately last week we received very big, and not very good, news. Nothing life-threatening, but still, news that pretty much changes everything, our whole life.

News I know I shouldn't be discussing here, while still not really being able to think about anything else.

So I think that after nearly five years, the time has maybe come to say goodbye? I have some grieving and reeling and slowly rebuilding our comfort zone to do,  and in order to do that I think I need to take a step back from my online life.

I'll probably leave this content online for the next little while, then print it out and delete it.

Thank you so much, so much, for everything. I'm not disapearing; reach out by email if you want to!

#ri5

M and I are taking part of another Instagram Rallye, starting tomorrow. Nine days to post 30 pictures, each on an assigned theme. Absolutely crazy and fun, with very inspiring people.

We chose one of the categories, one of the perks of having won the Jury Prize last time! We had to submit three ideas, and still don't know which one was picked up - Star Wars (LP), Belgium (me), and Jackson Pollock (M).

How come I didn't know this?

Jesse and Celine are back!


And apparently, the film is the most perfect of the three.

I'm nearly teary just thinking about it.

All kinds of awesome.

To push (someone) in the oven

Apparently, reading Hansel and Gretel made quite an impression on little F. She hated the wicked witch so, she couldn't wait until the part where Gretel shoved her into the oven. It was a big relief and story climax for her; phew!

Then, I don't why or how, but she started saying it all the time, in her cute little 2-year old not perfectly understandable language: "Pousse dans four!"

When the witch in Sleeping Beauty appeared, F wanted to shove her in the oven. When a little boy was being devilish on TV, in the oven. The villains in Astérix? The oven!

And so, what started as a joke, with LP, M and I saying it as well while imitating her babyish tone, has somehow caught on. "Pousser dans le four" has become a commonly used, perfectly normal verb in this household. It's what's going to happen to the crows if they try to scare away the other friendly birds from our winter feeder, for instance. And speaking of large black birds, it's also what's going to happen if the Baltimore Ravens beat our beloved Patriots next weekend. You better watch out. There's no messing with F and her complete absence of kitchen mercy.

Be mindful of our children

Meet Oscar

Oscar is our (not so gold anymore) fish. He's (we're not even sure if it's a he, actually, but we always assumed) over FIVE years old now. Yes, we've had him since LP was 1, all the way back then. The goldfish is a lot older than our daughter.

Oscar is, without a doubt, the toughest little fish on the planet. We do not neglect him, per say, but I'm afraid we don't pay much attention to him, either. We feed him and change his water, altough probably not as frequently as we should. When we leave for a few days, he just stays put (someone comes and feeds him every couple of days when we leave for extended periods of time).

Until recently, when people asked the kids for the fishie's name, they would raise their shoulders. He didn't really have one. Then, LP decided on Oscar.

Real-life Oscar is my grandmother's 87 year-old boyfriend. He came for a visit last June and really enjoyed it (he said he could "sit outside and watch people hit the ball all day"). Oscar is also tough, a true survivor, with a wonderful mischevious spirit. I guess he's also one of the oldest people we know -hence the connection LP made.

At our family's Christmas party, I happily told Oscar the kids had named their pet fish after him. My sister and I, but fortunately not Oscar, whose hearing is probably not what it used to be, then caught LP blurt out, totally innocently and full of good intentions: "That's because, just like you, he has lived for too long!"

Maybe winter isn't so bad after all

This is the natural ice skating rink a neighbor discovered, a few houses down from ours. There's a little slide, too. We're basically the only ones using it. We've been going every day.

January

New beginnings.

Bangs!

As always, a feeling of relief over the Holidays being over, with their overindulgence, hard-on-the-kids absence of routine, and increasing uncomfortableness over so much packaging, so much clutter, so many expectations and doing things just because.

Fantasizing about living in Northern California again, and about a Zero Waste Home (and lifestyle).