Bits and bobs

A few things I'm looking forward to...

Hair conditioner that actually works.

Having my knives, and really all of my kitchen stuff.

Cream cheese and crackers days with my mama.

Walking outside barefoot.

Kitties that I can pet and cuddle.

Putting pictures of the pretty places I've seen in a pretty photo album to show you.

Worst blogger ever

When I went to write my last post, I noticed that I never posted pictures from my trip to Switzerland and Germany! I couldn't believe I'd forgotten and actually had to double check, not wanting to look like even more of a jerk by posting the same thing twice. 

I'm sorry there aren't many captions or anything with these pictures... and that the pictures are three months late in being posted... but here they are: long overdue pictures from my trip in January to visit my cousin Sheryl in Switzerland and my lovely friend Magda in Germany.

Go for a walk with me?

These are pictures from the walk I've been taking almost every weekend this semester. What can I say? I'm a creature of habit and this walk is my favorite. Plus, trees and other plants have been blooming like mad so it's especially pretty and green now. I'm actually a little late in getting these posted, so for those of you who like to know about plants and trees (you know who you are :), some roses and clematis are now blooming. Like, a lot.

Anyways, I wanted to get these up now because I'm on spring break and will, hopefully, have many more pictures to share with you soon...

Short and, more importantly, sweet

As the end of the semester approaches, its pace definitely seems to be getting quicker. And I can't help but find myself listing all of the things I can hardly wait to have or see again when I get back. That's not my only list, though. The list of things that I'll be sad to leave behind is getting longer.

One of the nicest things - something I think will be one of my fondest memories of living in France - is going to my nearby boulangerie-pâtisserie on weekend mornings and hearing, "Bonjour, madame!" An exclamation point isn't the correct punctuation because it doesn't really describe the tone of the petite, friendly salutation of the lady behind the counter. There's nothing falsely exuberant about the way she greets you when you enter her business. Aunt Dede described it best when she said it's like they're singing to you. 

Making sense of things

So here's the thing: I'm not good about keeping up this blog. And after talking about it, Colleen and I identified the main reason for this. It's not an earth-shattering revelation, but it is worth explaining because I think it's a pretty significant aspect of my time in France.