Dancing around the holidays' totem!

It's been so busy lately that a week of holidays are just blessed and so welcome!
We leave tonight with guuuuud music, excellent books and a purrrfect mood!

Family there expect us and Martin's parents will join too for the week. Just enough people to take care of the shrimpette (yeeeepeeeeeeeee) ;-)
Apart from sleeping, I plan to make of Lola's week a *nappyless week* ...! A big challenge, I tell you (if you have any advice, they're welcome huh).

I'll also bring back lots pics, I'll have time for that too ;-)

(dancing around, drooling just thinking about all the chocolate we gonna have, laaaalalaaaaaaaalala****~~*^* *)


a happysunnybananas' mama photographed by the shrimpette again

Clear sky !

...so a generous, round, beauDiful full moon is expected tonight!
A purrrfect evening then to enter the mysterious lands of Bretagne ;-)
Have a happy one!

Music makes the people come together

...but not as much as I would like!

I've just missed Dead Can Dance's concert, and I won't be able to go and watch Juliette and the Licks in 10 days, same for The Presidents of the USA end of March...
I still have hopes for Apocalyptika in May though!

Worse, I've just learnt System of a Down will perform in June! Last time I saw them I was expecting Lola **~~*^* *
And they come back just for my new pregnancy, see! hehe... it's a sign!
But no more tickets for their concert! Arggggg
That kills me.
It was one of the best concert we had ever seen!


SOAD

But...but... I'm over happy I'm not going to see Slipknot (yuuuuck) next week! See, when you take things this way, it's kinda easier ;-)

(still sobbing for SOAD though)

Lithium

where are you???
Is your page lost in cyberspace!
Need a supa bloggers'team to save it?

Leonie

First time I've heard about a baby named this way. I kinda like the "old ring" in it :-)))
So here's a lil gift I've made for the 3 weeks old' Leonie. I wish the warmest welcome on earth to this lil angel**~~*^* *^^* ^*

Slow countdown

Finally I got my first rendez-vous at the doc!
This doc, an old very active lady, was really nice (and expensive grrmppph), it went really well :))
I'll see her again once again, and then all my rendez-vous will be at the hospital.

My due date is the 1st of November... I kinda expect a busy winter...!

After my rendez-vous, I joined another place where they sucked my blood to fill 7 bottles! So many tests I have to make... crazy!
Next step is the first scan in 3 weeks. Then we'll really know if all is fine, I try to be zen about it, but I'm not sure I really am. It's natural.

For now the only thing that bothers me a lil bit is feeling that tired (I hope the appropriate vitamines will help), feeling sea-sick every evening too... + living on the 5th floor without lift. Lola does her best but sometimes she cries for my arms. Gotta resist.

Talking of Lola, we haven't told her about the baby yet, we wait to be sure all is fine. But I fear she's heard somehow our talks. Or maybe it's a coincidence but...
... this week, she's had nightmares, one during which she kept screaming "no baby!", the other one when she kept asking "is mama ok?" ! ...
Strange, no?
And you know, every evening we have a lil ritual before she jumps into bed. She goes to take a blanket, install herself between Martin and I, and have a long cuddle with us. But not this week; this week she asks to "lie on mama's belly", she had never done that before..!

(Okies, I've typed enough, time for a nap ;-)

Enchanted Season

Births, flowers, smells, bees, trees, sun, warmth... I just couldn't wait any longer for some generous Spring!


Hampton Court Palace Show Garden 2003

Zillions of books

On Sunday, we went to the "Paris books fair", it was a very first time for me. Going to a show where there are no cows (not talking of human beings, huh :P) or no boats is just unusual for me.

I loved it! So many authors there signing their famous books, taking time to talk with people, giving their email adresses to discuss about the books, etc. It felt very friendly!

Again I got impressed with the number of children's books. And such beauDiful ones, i could have bought all of them! (only bought one for Lola though... story of a lil mouse looking for someone that looks like her... till she realizes her mama gets the same ears and tail and nose! :P)

I was also very proud to find my Herman books there! My publisher had a booth, a great opportunity to see if Herman would be well presented.
And it was!





When I see the wonderful works of illustrators, I wish I had the time to work on more illustrations. There is so much I wanna explore!
Talking of exploring, time to leave you to make a lil painting for a colleague of Martin who enjoys a lot what I do (dancing around!) and who has just had a baby**~~*^* **^^* * I won't get rich, but happy, yes I hope!

Happiness in 2 words:

bed + holidays

And I run after both.
A week now I've felt so tired... I just can't go to bed beyond midnight... and I even fall asleep while reading stories to Lola in the late afternoon! Which is scary... when I wake up after 10, 15 minutes, the stormy Lola has had just enough time to empty the cupboards around and put what was in the fridge outside. She really has hidden talents..

But there's nothing I can do at the moment with these very unexpected lil moment of total tiredness. Gawd, gimme a body full of energy, noww.
Reaching my bed whenever I need isn't just possible.
As for holidays, well, I leave for a week soon (what a relief!)

Meanwhile, I expect a very busy week, lots of rendez-vous (=much organisation to know who can keep an eye over Lola when I'm away), and some heavy work to finish.
SIGH

Hopefully this is just the end of a *cycle*, soon I'll feel great again, ready to multitask :-)

Never enough time to read...

...but always a few minutes to answer Lithium's requests! This time, a few questions about books:

How many books do you read per year?
(Combien lisez-vous de livres par an ?)
about 15 I'd say. I keep buying second-hand books, I have tons of them waiting to spend time wiff me. But since Lola's around and since I've started working at home, it's a huge challenge to find the time to read, among a zillion of other things!

What's the last book you bought?
(Quel est le dernier livre que vous ayez acheté ?)
The 4 first tomes of the Amber chronicles by Roger Zelazny. Recommanded by JL if I remember :-)
A present I made for Martin's birthday.
We share the same tastes with books, that's very practical and just fantastic to share views all the time!

What's the last book you've read?
Quel est le dernier livre que vous ayez lu ?
I'm in the middle of The Red Queens, by François Cavanna, again. I'm addicted. Oh and at the same time I've started reading part of a story written by a *friend blogwriter*. Brilliant, so far!

Name 5 books that you really enjoyed
Listez 5 livres qui comptent beaucoup pour vous ou que vous avez particulièrement appréciés

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Set in 12th-century England, the hero is a carpenter who participates to the building of a huge Gothic cathedral. Apparently boring to death. It's been so much the opposite!

The Children of the Graal by Peter Berling
Middle Ages. History, fiction, fantasy. The Templars, the crusades, politics, religions. Huge book, incredible. And Peter Berling knows more than any one how to make of a pervert monk definatly a hero!

Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman
My first Fantasy books. Got crazy about them, the characters, the stories. I'm still in love with tasslehoff burrfoot and a few others!

Les Rois Maudits (the accursed kings) by Maurice Druon
One of the best historical series I've ever read. I have much admiration for these writers that are so good at "telling History". Somehow they help us to know *who* we are now.

A prayer for Owen Meany, the world according to Garp and Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving
Once I started reading the first pages of these 3 books, I just could not stop before the end. Irving's planet is very unique. But these 3 books are the only one I really luuuuuve. Not the same at all for his other books. Strange!


Who gonna be the 3 lucky ones who'll have to answer these questions? And why chosing them?
(A qui allez-vous passer le relais (3 blogs) et pourquoi ?)

Alinet, because I bet she gonna surprise me again!
Martin, because it's the only way I can find to make him update his blog :P
Esox, because, ermmm... here's a good opportunity to start your own blog, my dear! hehe

Let the sunshine in

You're still wearing your big boots and warm gloves? Then you can't be in France! Oh nene... because if we had -4°C with snow 2 weeks ago, we now enjoy a reasonnable 20°C with much sun!!!!
Incredible. Incredibly pleasant. It was not even spring today, it was summer! It took me much time to decide which shoes would make it, and THIS is the sign Spring is here, tapping foot, roaring and inviting!


What we gonna have for the weekend

And by the way, here's a new form of talent to celebrate Spring today!
"Le Grand Cerf" by the Shrimpette is already available; and as the manager, I accept cheques, visa, cash above all! Cheers :P

Lyrics
Dans sa maison, un grand cerf
Regardait par la fenêtre
Un lapin venir à lui
Et frapper ainsi:
"Cerf, cerf, ouvre-moi
Ou le chasseur me tuera !"
"Lapin, lapin, entre et viens
Me serrer la main !"

T like Torture and Toostoopid

The other day, I took Lola at friends' for lunch.
These friends do not use the internet (yup, hard to believe but true!)... so they won't read this post (phewww!)

A few hours before going there, I had a call from them, checking if we liked any kind of food. Naturally I said "of course, no probbie!"

Once there, while drooling, tapping feet under the table, impatient, excited, and with the hands already playing with the fork and the knife... they proudly brought the main dish...
... which was... TUNA!!!!
Hahum...for those who do not know yet, TUNA is the kind of food that makes me jump up to the sky screaming I'm dying!

Well.... it was just TOO late for me to tell them their nice lunch was turning into a nightmare for me.
I should have told them, I know! But they were so proud and all, I just could not do that!

So I used any kind of sauce on the table to help me to survive... then I swallowed, praying it would be ok... but it was not. I was dying.
I finally used my pregnancy to tell I was not much hungry anymore (not pretty pretty, huh!)
Argggg

I left happy to breathe fresh air, alive again. Feeling fookin stoopid too... I won't do that twice, I swear it (spitting)!!!

All I wanted to know about meself...

...I get it in a click! :P
Of course I only keep in mind the qualities, which will simply make my day! ;-)

CANDYFROGGIE
C	is for	Cynical
A	is for	Articulate
N	is for	Natural
D	is for	Dainty
Y	is for	Yummy
F	is for	Flamboyant
R	is for	Rich
O	is for	Openhearted
G	is for	Gorgeous
G	is for	Glittering
I	is for	Impassioned
E	is for	Elegant

What Does Your Name Mean?

Queenie

2 weeks ago, Lola spent her days with the face painted as a cat, roaring after everybody.
This week, it's the Queenie time... she wears her lil plastic jewls and crown everywhere all the time, proud and posh, though still roaring after everyone. A real Queenie!

Scary reality

You remember when you were younger when you sat around with friends on summertime, preferably in the middle of the night, and started to tell frightening stories with a torch in the hands?
At the time I was specially frightened by the most classic story of the baby sitter finding the kids cut into pieces in the fridge (lol, it was even hard to type that sentence for me, can you imagine?!!!)

Of course, the scary part was that it was supposed to be TRUE.

Horrible images came back to my mind for days then.

And when I hear in the news stories like that 5 meters long crocodile who is supposed to have eaten 80 persons... it sounds so much as a legend, that finally I think all my childhood's horror stories might have been really true too!
Reality is this way at the end.
Much worst than what your imagination can create!!! (except if you're really weird, that is ;-)

Brrrrrrr...


by Jonathan Blair

Time for craving

Some would say it's just psychological: suddenly you're preggie and you imagine you start to crave for thousands of stuff!
I wondered the same.
Not for long. Your body starts to take control over the rest and gets capricious, craving for strange food, but often food that you need.
Like yesterday I only wanted to have yogurts. The whole day.

And last night... at about 11.00 pm, I started drooling thinking about a home made pizza. In less than 30 minutes I got it.
Home made by le Chef himself.

Being preggie's kewl... but being preggie + living with a real Chef is SUPA kewl.
I always complain about the side effects of expecting a baby, but suddenly I realize the male-ish position isn't so easy either (good luck Martin :P)

A 9 months ' topic

As Esox told me the other day... No more worries about finding topics for my blog, I have 9 months to talk about painful boobies and strange moods ;-)

Well, I cross my bits so that it happens this way.
You really can't tell anything before the end of the third month. So I wait. Wait for confirmations.
Wait. And I check too : check I still feel sick enough about everyday... it's kinda reassuring! lol
Wait and keep checking.

Dat's why I just can't be hysterical about it so far. I'm cautious:)

I won't bother you with zillions of bloggies about it, but a few hundreds, maybe yes. I bet any of ewws would do the same anyway, hm? :P

Inspiration

Island
Nekkid
Tenderness
Eager
Receptive
Nightfall
Amazon
Ticklish
Impatient
Odour
Nest
Animal
Love

Witch
Obstinate
Moon
Eve
Natural
'
Sacred

Delicious
Apple
You

Love Blog

Despite the fact I just can't stand hearing my own voice (like 95% of people I think), I just could not resist trying to create an audiopost.
I've been well inspired, but I found it difficult to make (I always forgot what I wanted to say next!). And worse...in English!

I won't put audioposts regularly, just when I feel like opening my mouff for a few seconds :P

Okies, now turn your loudspeakers on... and grab a dictionnary just in case my blahblahs turn to be really obscure!

Cheers!

Miracle

When we heard about David's Hepatitis C a couple of years ago, it was hard to be optimistic.
Death was simply at the corner of the street.

Then he started to follow the heavy treatment... His only hope, his only tiny chance of surviving.
A heavy treatment that changes your life and spoil your routine; your body starts to take all the energy it requires to fight and you have to accept it. It is your priority.

Heavy treatment that requires endless patience. You always wait for the next results. The usual..."Are they going to tell me I can keep hope or that it's over?"

One thing is over now. His treatment.
And it seems he made it... He's kicking out this deadly virus!!!!
We can hardly believe it... a miracle!

I'm so so so happy ***~~~**^* * *

Tapping foot, waiting for the weekend

...because I feel like a puppet whose threads have been cut, you know?
I'm tired, my belly hurts, my back hurts, I have physically no energy.

The fault of that wet snow and heavy sky, I tell you!
I'm so happy we don't have to drive 800 km this weekend!!
(yeeepeeeeeeeeeeeee)

I just wanna dive into my bed with warm socks on my feet and sleep like 10 hours in a row **~~*^* *

(asking the sleep's boss here : "Lola do you think that might be possible, hm?")

Bloody episode

Yesterday, Lola's mouff started to bleed. Just like that.
A young mama who hasn't had experienced fights between kids, lil accidents, etc... never associates blood with fragile angels (one's child ;-).
The worst was that I just could not see why she was bleeding. She apparently hadn't bite herself, eaten anything, etc etc.

Then it stopped (relieved sigh).

And in the evening she started to complain abour her mouff, started to cry with pain... Then fever, burning cheecks...

We finally found. The big molars were joining the party!!!!
One was already a bit out, 2 others were just about to come out.

I would have never thought you could bleed from that. It must be so painful! Great we forget...

Lola spent her night with us. I thought she'd wake up every 5 minutes. She slept like a .. baby!
**~~*^* *^^* *

(warning: deep title today) When Death reveals Life

Last weekend, we heard about the death of our direct neighbour (in Bretagne). An old lady who was between 80 and 90. Her husband has had a heart attack and is in hospital right now.
Poor man :(

A couple of months ago it was our young mason, now our neighbour.
We hardly see anybody when we go there, because we spend our time working in the house. Yet, we *know* when something has happened. We always come across someone here and there who will tell us if anything happened in the hamlet and village. I start to appreciate that communication, with its weaknesses (gossips?) included. Eeeeck ;-)

And when I compare this with my life in Paris, that is so different. It's been a year I wonder if my neighbours below have been momified or not. I just don't hear them anymore, and stooopidely I won't knock at their door to ask. I do not care that much either...
But it is sad that people here live so close to each other and yet remain total strangers.

For years I was convinced this "city" kind of relationship suited me. I live on my planet, you live on your planet, and that's perfect to me.

But now when I look at people's loneliness in Paris, I'm changing my mind. Old people become ghosts, people just don't look at them anymore.
In the countryside, at least around where we are, there is always someone who will come to check if all is fine, there will always be a village's celebration where everybody will gather sometimes.

I hope we'll find a good balance once we live there.
I don't want old blue-haired ladies comment each time I'll pee in my pants because of a good joke!
I don't want to see the curtains shivering each time I walk in front of this or that house.
I don't want to spend my time talking of the weather with the people there... though I know it's part of the *game* ;-)

We'll see, I'm ready to make lil efforts to integrate meself... not bad for a Parisian, hey?!! (proud smile)