A long rambling post....

We were scheduled to have a scan yesterday.  We arrived at the hospital at 1420 for our 1430 appointment.  We were taken aback to see our doctor also sitting in the awaiting room.  A little background:  Doctors at hospitals in France share offices.  The doctor that we were scheduled to see begins seeing patients at 1330. She obviously arrived to find that the doctor using the office before her was running behind schedule.  At 1430 the previous doctor finally left the office and our doctor came out and told the first couple to come in and told us that we were second after them to be seen.  By 1530 the first couple had yet to depart the office.  At this point it was too late for us to have the scan as there was still another patient ahead of us and we needed to leave no later than 1630 in order to return to Chatou to pick up Samuel from the HG.  We were both very disappointed to not have the scan. People tell us that this is normal for France.  Welcome to socialized medicine, where the needs of the patient are second to the needs of the system.

On to happier notes.  Julia picked up Samuel from the HG and spoke to the carers about Samuel's progress.  They say he does not speak recognizable words while in attendance but that he does quite clearly understand what they are telling him in French.

My wife tried to kill me at Thanksgiving.  Julia made the pastry for the pumpkin pies(Yes, we have two pies because the can of pie mix is made for two).  Julia asked if she needed to pre-bake the pie crust before filling the crust with the pie filling.  I told her that the can of mix said that the crust should be pre-baked but she decided to not pre-bake one of the crusts just to see what would happen.  Well, when I had a piece of the non pre-baked pie on Thanksgiving night I became quite nauseous and was up most of the night with an upset stomach and diarrhea(classic symptoms of food poisoning.)  I love my wife.

On Friday, after the scan fiasco, we went to the Marche de Noel(Christmas market) at the Chatou city center.  it was very small but quite nice and quaint.   Julia was able to purchase a fresh baked nutella crepe.  There was a kiosk selling books and we were able to find a french copy of twas the night before christmas.  It is called La mysterieuse nuit de noel in french.  It does not rhyme like the English version but it si the same story.  We will be able to begin the tradition of reading the story to Samuel in both English and French this year.

We were at the market from about 1700-1730.  At this point it was dark.  The sun sets here about 1615.  While we were at the market the market christmas lights were on and Christmas music was playing but the Chatou ville lights were not on.  It is the same here in that the municipalities place lights on the street lights and string lights across the major streets.  very disappointed in the French again.  Neither of us understand why the lights are put in place but not turned on, especially during the city sponsored holiday market.  Makes no sense.  When we were driving home the few lights on the major street that runs by our house were on.

We also purchased our Christmas tree on Friday evening.  It was delivered this morning.  Samuel is quite excited.

Useless trivia.  The names of the reindeer in French are: Fleche, Cabriole, Courage, Robuste, Nerf, Vaillant, Etoile, Comete, Eclair, and Tonnerre.

Our marriage may end on June 12th.  On that day the USA plays England in the group stages of the world cup.  Both flags will be flying from our terrace at the start of the game.  Only one will be flying at the end.  Which one will it be?

I am typing this from the office.  a few minutes ago Samuel brought his pacifier and inchworm into the office from his crib.  When i turned around I noticed that Samuel no longer had the pacifier.   I did not see it anywhere in the office so asked Samuel "where is your pacifier?"  He stood up, looked around and walked over to the filing cabinet and grabbed the pacifier off the top of the filing cabinet.  I then carried him into his room and placed him in his crib for a nap.

TTFN
-Dave