General beefs

1) The school computers are extraordinarily slow. It took seven minutes to get from the login screen to LJ. If I'd gone any faster, the darn thing would have crashed. I need a laptop.

2) I want to do a French play in the next few weeks, but I'm running into problems getting a spot for the kids to practise. I can't handle doing it in the portable again - too small. The gym is only available one day a week, and the phys. ed. teacher's preps do no coincide with my French periods. If I'm going to do a play, I must have at least two days a week for rehearsals in the gym. I can fill in the other time with reading/writing activities around the play, and pronunciation rehearsals (no student of mine will look at the word "paille" and pronounce it "pail")but two days a week is the bare minimum.

3) My creativity seems to go in spurts. I'm between spurts at the moment. That's annoying, because I may actually have time to do some writing this evening. That depends on how fast I get my fondue shopping done, on foot and by bus.

Enough depressing stuff. I have a music lesson to prepare for - half an hour from now. Why do I fly by the seat of my pants like this? I don't do it in any other subject, but music and art I do it practically all the time.

And it continues. . .

Winter, that is. The conditions outside are not pleasant, especially after yesterday's sun.

There's a French proverb I was taught by my host mom about this time eleven years ago:

Mois d'avril, ne quitte pas un fil.
Mois de mai, fais ce qui te plait!

Loosely translated, it means don't start shedding layers of clothing until May. I've just been unpleasantly reminded that it's not even April yet, let alone May, and Canadian weather is even more chancy than French weather at this time of year. I mean, the cherry blossoms will be out in Paris within two weeks.

Now why on earth would that thought make me homesick? I've never lived in Paris.

In any case, I walked over to the mall supermarket and bought my one kilogram of cheese, my garlic, and my bottle of chardonnay (they have a wine kiosk in the supermarket - very handy.) They didn't have any kirsch at the kiosk, though, so I'll have to find a way to pick that up tomorrow. I also didn't buy any bread yet.

Then I came home, on the bus. When I got here, I put on the kettle for tea, changed into fleece after-work lounging clothes, blow-dried my hair, and am now sitting bundled in an afghan in front of the computer, sipping properly-made tea with just a smidgin of milk in it, so as not to cool it down too much. Yesterday, my after-work wear included a ratty old t-shirt. Brr.

les mouches to eat

My daughter came home with a plastic fly-swatter toy that has fly candies in its handle.

I dumped the candies into a bowl and gave her the swatter, but that didn't fool her.

"'Nother mouche to eat, Mommy! Mange mouche, pease!"

This kid is just too cute.