Ooooooooooommmmmmm

This week we are only a family of 3. Well, I guess 6 with the dogs and cat. My son and his entire classroom, teacher and 10 parents are having a blast in Yosemite National Park for the whole week.

They have done several miles hike at high altitude in the snow, visited a cavern in the dark, listen to native american songs, did ice skating on frozen ponds, etc...

So everything seems wonderful and all. Except for the parents left behind who can't help but worry a little. Just a smidgeon. After all they had to sign a consent form. And what a consent form it was. Here is an excerpt:

"Environmental risks and hazards include rapidly moving, deep, or cold water, insects, snakes, and predators, including large animals; falling and rolling rock; lightning and unpredictable forces of nature, including weather which may change to extreme conditions without notice.

Travel may be by vehicle, skis, canoe, on foot, and by other means, over rugged, unpredictable, off trail terrain, which may include boulder fields, downed timber, rivers, river crossings, high mountain passes, slippery rocks, ocean tides and currants, and waves. Participant risks include falling, capsizing and drowning.

Possible injuries and illnesses include hypothermia, frostbite, high altitude illnesses, sunburn, heatstroke, dehydration, and other mild or serious conditions.

Communication and transportation are difficult. Consequently, emergency evacuations and medical care may be delayed.

Personnel may be required to make decisions under difficult circumstances, based on perceptions and analyses that may be imprecise and subject to error."

Yup. Did I mention that every year there are quite a few problems in between humans and bears? I sure hope they are still fast asleep.
Ah, and for the cherry on top, we received an e-mail from the teacher over the vacation that explained to us that a 12 year old boy had died from a fall in Yosemite the day before. He was not with the same people that our classroom was going but you know.
So, a bit worried.
A bit.

But Yosemite is incredibly beautiful, go see these pictures. It is worth it, isn't it?

Or not.

Dude

We are watching the National Geographic Channel with miss A. She sees that the people talked about can see the Hollywood sign from their house.
" Man, they are so luuuuucky, they live in Hollywood."
A bit surprised Mark asks: " Why does that make them lucky?"
Miss A. " Dude, seriously, Shaggy lives there!"

Love, Love

And a happy Valentine to everybody :). I like Valentine's day here better than in France where it is mostly a lover's love that is celebrated. So restrictive!
So here it is from me to you: love, love!

I think I found out why people who love Mika really really love him ( no, this blog is not turning into a Mika fan club in spite of all appearances).
Right.
Last Thursday miss A. came back from school a bit upset because some of her classmates had made fun of her. She had dared to cut her hair short. Apparently 8 years old little girls are not supposed to have short hair.
How does this relate to Mika you will ask?
I think Mika doesn't care what people look like, dress like, who they love and how. You really have 2 choices in life. You either try to fit in or you don't. But in each case the price to pay is heavy.
I think that in the case of Mika he is actually able to project his right to be different to people around him so that they feel accepted...and loved.
Ok, I'm done! Now everybody goes and give some love.
And don't eat too much candy.
She says as she is opening the chocolate box.

Ah, one more thing: videos from the concert in SF are starting to appear on youtube. Here is a very good one.

Love Today

I didn't have my camera. Actually, I didn't even have my purse. The day got really messed up and we got there barely on time to hear the first part. Good thing I wasn't in charge of the tickets huh? Man, I really wish I had my camera it was an awesome show. I think Mika is crossed with a god hehehe...
I'm waiting for people to post videos about the concert. I could only get videos from the night before in LA, but the show looked very similar. Here we go for the details...

There was a girl-angel bursting out of a blue ballon, Mika appearing all in white with sparkly silver suspenders and a gold jacket, electricity going through the crowd as he is pointing at the sky, an inflatable 30 feet tall BIG GIRL, a piano that Mika played half sitting up because he couldn't stop dancing, a teasing war with his drummer as they played rythms back and forth on garbage cans, big ballons floating over the crowd, a giant squeleton hugging Mika, double D's as he called them :)( the big girls), A giant M, Mika's voice getting raw, a light and shadow show with a bad rabbit and a wolf, a giant squeleton hugging Mika, Mika lifting the crowd off their seat, the heat that nobody cared about, 100 billions confettis at least, an incredible finale with Lollipop where everybody in the show got on the stage and had a big huge party, a big burly guy in the crowd wearing pink bunny ears and a pink boa, my daughter standing on her seat singing her favorite song ( lollipop) as she is waving her glow stick, 2 men sporting matching red t-shirts saying " 2 hearts beating as one", Mika taking his shirt off and playing drums as the crowd roared, a gazillion teenage girls screaming, a 3 year old and a 60 year old dancing, my son clapping with the beat, the flowers on the stage, and oh Mika :)

I think he should be refered to as a public health service. It was difficult to go to sleep after that. I call it the Mika high...I'm still on it!
And that's good because today is Mark's birthday. I need coffee. Lots and lots of coffee. And Mika.

The grand finale:



I know this one is pretty bad but it'll give a pretty good impression of a Mika concert...here he is " Billy Brown" especially for Candy



Thank you Mark, awesome present :)

Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod!!

Guess, guess where I'm going to be tomorrow night at this hour.
San Francisco.
Huge theater.
Listening to whom??
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh (insert: 16 year old fan shriek here)

MIKA!!

Gift from my husband to me and the kids for Christmas. Awesome.
My children look wary after seeing me sing and dance in the living room.
I don't know why, hehehehe.

They don't know I can be worse. Yet.

Candy, I'll try to get a lot of pics and I wish you were there :)

It's Sunday

Finally, it's Sunday. I've been waiting for Sunday all week long. See, I've been suffering from withdrawal because Mark has been working over time. On my computer. Well, our computer I guess. I'm the one who whined the most for it though. I actually have one in my office but even considering the level of withdrawal I was going through I can't bring myself to use it because IT IS THE LOUDEST COMPUTER IN THE WORLD. I swear it's like sitting on an aerial landing strip.
Anyway, what did I want to say already? Mmmm, working over time. That's going to go on for a while. For me too. Shoot. But a lot of good stuff is happening and getting done so we'll just have to go through that first before finding a balance.
Oh, I know what I wanted to say: have you seen Juno? If you haven't you must, it's really good. Both hilarious and sad like real life. The writing is outstanding. Here is the word I'm looking for: smart.



Well, we finally got our daughter back. She had been at a friend's house since friday. Apparently she had no intentions of coming back. Mph.
And my son had his usual group of friends over for hours.
So, basically Mark and I have been completely ignored today by our children.
Hours giving birth. Years breastfeeding and playing with babies and toddlers. Hundreds of diapers. And then, first chance they get they ditch you.
Mph again.

I can't wait to go see your blogs and see what has happened. I hope your Sunday is good.