The New Year, phew...

Well, the holiday season is over and the kids are back in school. I was ashamed about how happy I was to see that bus pull up! Honestly, I find that I need a vacation after their vacation. Having Bob home was awesome, and Robs flying in made everything perfect. However, that many people home ALL DAY, eating ALL day, dirtying dishes and floors, and laundry!!! ah! Get out of my house!!!! haha...I mean our house! I know what you are thinking. "shut up you lazy slattern, you have a maid twice a week!" I know I know I know. Between sand storms and the revolving refrigerator door and piles of laundry, 9 hours a week sounds like a lot of help, but it isn't getting me out of working my arse off. So...phew. We had a quiet family Christmas and New Years. We took the lad around to the different tourist sites and shops. It was nice. I missed my family back home a lot and can't wait for the reunion this summer.

So now we concentrate on France. I am so excited about that. Clara is learning French in school from an awesome parent volunteer, and we are starting to narrow down our itinerary for day trips. I am just looking forward to GREEN and colored landscapes dotted with flowers and grapes and orchards. I miss creatures, too. Other than birds and stray domestic animals, all we have are bugs and rats. No rats around here, but the more urban areas attract them for obvious reasons. Restaurant dumpsters are the best spoils. So exploring the color splashed Luberon Valley and the fields of flowers and villages that inspired Vincent Van Gogh sounds like heaven right about now. I want to shop for fabrics and antiques and lavender toiletries and eat lovely non-curried food. I want to go where the wine and produce are local, not shipped in from Saudi Arabia. I also want to dress smartly and not fret over how much skin I am showing.I want to be FABULOUS in France with my little girls frolicking through the sunflowers, and by God I am going to do it!!! So welcome 2011, hold on to your beret.