Random snipets of life

This is a post I started about a month ago...no better time than the present, right?

Since I seem to be in nesting mode, with an amazing amount of energy for someone who sleeps so little, I am finally getting around to it.

Baby boy is due in two weeks from today. I have kindly requested that he wait for 1) my mother's arrival on Tuesday and 2) the appointment i have with a prospective childcare provider on Thursday. His room is finished which makes TWO complete rooms in the house with nothing else to do in them except figuring out storage and buying random bookcases. Yes, the house has been moving along over the past couple months.

We managed to turn this:

De 2007-02 M - chantier

into this which is now Suzanne's room (which is bigger than our own!). Bamboo floors, white walls, green trim (she wanted a green room!)...but getting the floor level was quite a task since there was a 8 cm difference from one end of the room to another. Jerome used a mixture of cement, wood boards and lots and lots of elbow grease to get the floor more or less level. But you can still roll a ball from one end of the room to the other...nothing's perfect, right?

Suzanne is well aware that she'll have to share her reading nook with her brother. She's very amenable...for now.

As for other milestones, Lola has come to live with us. She is no Leon, but she's pretty cool anyway. Poor old Roger seems to appreciate the company and has been teaching her the world with an occasional bitch slap. We were catsitting her brother Charlie for the past

3 weeks; He left yesterday (thank God because he was pretty annoying and kept pooping in the shower), leaving Suzanne with a case of intestinal worms (thank you!) and me just trying not to think about whether I have them or not because I can't take anything (although my morning meal consists of raw garlic and carrots). I pity anyone who lives with more than 2 cats - it was a nightmare....

As for life in France? Well, I have been on official maternity leave since July 1st, and have no complaints. The only issue now is trying to find childcare for my unborn 6 month old son come January 2010 when I have to go back to work. We are on the waiting list for the municipal (and a couple private) crèches. But in typical French fashion, they won't tell us if we have a space or where until a month or so before then. Nice. So I plan on beginning the nanny search. Unfortunately, timing is all wrong for Suzanne's nanny so I have to find someone else. A tough act to follow. We thought we'd found someone but she was too expensive and unwilling to negotiate. By too expensive, I mean 4€/hour. It's laughable by American standards, especially since the CAF (Family service stuff) will help us pay and I know that some people in the US stop working since good childcare can cost the equivalent of an entire salary. But here, the official price range for a state certified, independent childcare provider (we are looking for someone who will have 3 kids and bring them to activities a few times a week which is what Suzanne had) costs somewhere between 2 and 4 euros an hour. Are you laughing yet?

And what does nesting bring? Yesterday it was a German plum cake and 5 loads of laundry. Today, it's fresh bread and a chicken tajine with preserved lemons and purple olives and only 3 loads of laundry so far (and it's just after noon). But somehow, the nesting doesn't help me file the papers that have been sitting on the desk for the past month...

As for me, well...pictures speak louder than words:

De 2009-07 Prés du Hem