Still There 4

Still There 3

Still There 2

Still There

Friday was uneventful: got up late again, went to the park, played board games, ate some more unbelievably! Atmosphere starts to go down a bit...
On Saturday though we had fun going to a cafe downtown that has been Mark's favorite hang out when he was a teenager. Why? Well he sums it up nicely: " it was open all night!". Good food and drinks, relaxed atmosphere, fun people..we all like it. And it is closing :( We talked to the owner and he just said he wanted to move on to other things...it has been 22 years. We took the kids this time and had chocolate fraps!







And apparently I can't post more than 5 pics in a post so I'll make several for that day since I took way too many pics again ;)

There

After staying up for most of the night catching up with my sister-in-law, Amy, and her fiancee, Matt,we staggered out of bed at 10 am. And after a nice breakfast of strong coffee and Pannettone from a Portland (where Amy and Matt are from) bakery, we set to work. Actually Matt loves to cook and he had decided on the menu and did most of the cooking. We feasted on :
-turkey
-vegetarian and non-veg gravy
-garlic mashed potatoes
-cranberry-orange gravy
-veg and non-veg stuffing
-green bean casserole
-brussels sprouts
-pumpkin pie, apple pie, berry pie ( half of them without sugar)

It was good and way too much but then that's the point of Thanksgiving isn't it? Matt is also an american football fan so we watched a game while cooking. I got all the rules and commentaries. Most of the time I couldn't see the ball hehe. Man, I don't know how these guys survive. That's really a brutal game. We drank a lot of wine and again stayed up way too late ;).
And I told you that house is brown!

The way there

I looooove road trips. I get to do nothin' since I hate to drive, except taking pictures, reading and occasional munching :)
The sierra looked lovely on highway 80 as usual with brilliant fall colors.



The summit is at Donner pass and just before you get a really nice overview.



The fog is coming but we are almost there!



There it is: Reno, NV, The biggest little city in the world! Stomachs are rumbling and the kids are on hypervolt mode.



The trip took 2h15 mns. Now, I know it doesn't sound important but in the fourth (!) Thanksgiving installment (!) you'll see how important it actually is.

Brrrrrrrr

We are back! A day late and in the middle of a blizzard. I think my toes are permanently frozen. Pics and everything-that-happenned tomorrow. Now where is that cat with the thick winter coat?

T -o

We are still not gone since I'm still dragging this on and on. I just talked to my sister for 45 mns and I was telling her that we watched Armaggedon last night. We agreed it was a sign hahahahaha. Ahem. "shuffling feet toward the suitcase"

Mmmmph

Well, I guess the day has come. Leaving fo my in-laws today for Thanksgiving. Ha, Thanksgiving, I'll not start on this topic. Curiously I have a big headache. We are supposed to leave in 2 hours and I'm in my pj's and nothing is packed. And of course on the days we are leaving and coming back there is going to be snow because otherwise it would not be fun enough right? We are going to Reno which is 2 hours 15 mns away. Just after you cross the high mountains. One time we got stuck for the night on the road beacause of snow. Did I mention I hate snow and cold?? Man, I'm in a bad mood. If only I can shut my big mouth there should not be the beginning of world war 3 this week-end. How likely is that?
Ah, yes did I mention that my in laws live in a world of brown: from the carpet to euh everything is brown. I'm not kidding. In my house every room is a different vibrant color and it's warm and hum pffffff. I need to go pack I guess.

Flicka

Since I'm at it with movies :) We went to see Flicka. You know: girl loves horse, horse loves girl. Perfect for pre-teens who love horses. A bit too much for my 7 year old daughter who was crying her heart out when she thought the horse would die. The only thing I really liked about it: the scenery. I love the Wyoming/ Montana part of the States and I'd really like to go back to the cabins we rented with Mark's family around the Yellowstone area. We had a great time! Cowboys tipping their hats, the best breakfasts ever, listenin' to the coyotes ( could be wolves actually other there!) howling at night on the porch, greeting the foal in the corral in the morning... Yellowstone is magnificent. Geysers, bears, buffalos... But maybe you'd like a few pictures?

Flushed Away

All right, I wasn't too excited to go see this one but it turned out to be really funny. The kids giggled the whole time and we had a good laugh.My husband thinks that maybe the french people won't like this one too much because of the frogs...

School

Very busy these days...not only with the usual children, work and house stuff but we also have to make an important decision. Our son is in the Rapid Learner Program and we have to decide where he is going to go next year for school. He'll be 12 and the choices are:
-International Baccalaureat which is considered the best of the best. It focuses a lot on languages and art. Big drawback: you don't have a life in there. It's work and a lot of it. They focus a lot on test scores and there is no time for sport, music or whatever else you are interested in.
-High Achiever program. Available in most middle-schools the classe are more challenging and they go beyond in their way of looking at a problem.
-Staying in his school for 6th grade in the same program. I love that program and would love for him to stay but the school is not sure they will have enough students for a classroom next year.

I find it very difficult to choose a "path" for my son's life when he is only 11. Will he be mad at us later if we don't put him in this international baccalaureat program that would for sure put him in a wonderful position when universities will be recruiting? I don't want to commit him to a life of all work no play. A lot of the children in his classroom are going though... He wants to stay in his present school that he loves and he certainly doesn't want more homework and he wants time to play soccer.
I asked him what he wants to be when he grows up and he said: " I want to make video games."
Me: " Euh, ok...Nothing else? Really? Nothing?"
Him: "Nope."

Shoppin' at the Mall

Now, I'm quite happy that I don't look like most of the mothers of 2 children at my kids' school. Or that people look surprised when I tell them my age. And that they laugh histerically when I say that I like to knit ( not well or often but still, it counts!). However when I find myself shopping for pyjamas and underwear at Victoria's secret in the midst of 14 year olds, chatting on cell phones and with their friends and chewing gum at the same time I do ask myself questions. When these same 14 years old are buying push up bras for what looks more like mosquito bites than real breasts, I laugh. When I'm standing in line at the cash register and that I see them buy for more than a hundred bucks worth of stuff I think it's unfair ;). Well at least I don't have mosquito bites ha!

Pumpkin Soup

A favorite all winter long! This recipe is quick, delicious, beautiful and makes everybody feel warm and cozy :)

1 lb ( 500 g.) piece of peeled pumpkin
1/4 (50 g.) cup butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
31/2 cup ( 800 ml) chicken stock
2 cups (500 ml) milk
pinch of grated nutmeg
salt and pepper
1 1/2 oz spaghetti, broken into small pieces ( 1/4 d'un paquet de 500g )
6 tbsp grated parmesan

1- Chop the piece of pumpkin into 1 inch cubes.
2- Heat the butter in a saucepan. Add the onion, and cook over moderate heat until it softens, 6-8 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin, and cook for 2-3 minutes more.
3- Add stock and cook until pumpkin is soft, about 15 mns. Remove from heat.
4- Puree the soup and return to pan. Add milk, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Bring the soup back to a boil.
5- Stir the broken spaghetti into the soup and cook until pasta is done. Stir in the parmesan.

The french quantities are approximate, which is always how we do it anyway. If you are cooking the soup in advance, cook the pasta in it at the last minute so that it doesn't absorb all the water.

Bon Appetit!

Marie-Antoinette

We saw Coppola's Marie-Antoinette a few days ago and I loved it. Visually stunning of course, but I also thought the acting was very good. I had never seen Kirsten Duntz in a movie and I was surprised how much I liked her. She really conveyed very well the boredom, isolation and superficiality of Marie-Antoinette's life. There are many angles you could choose to portray Marie-Antoinette's life and I loved that sophia Coppola chose to show the life of a teenager (she was 14 when she arrived in France) and what she faced arriving in another country. The modern music, which apparently upsetted so many french people, enhanced the movie really well . Very well done and highly recommended! My only grudge: the ending...