Now I...I know I'm not in Kansas

How can I explain? The past few weeks have been a strange delicious stew of all things new. Alex and I are learning how to live together for the first time ever in a one room apartment in the middle of France. We joke a lot about this being our practice for retirement. 

I go to work in the morning, come home for lunch and a clean house, we take walks through the country side and stay in cooking and playing pinochle in the evenings. On one of our walks, we met a sweet dog named Tina and her owner Bruno. 

I gave Alex the puppy eyes that said I want a dog, and then Bruno picked up on this offered her to us for free and on the spot. He explained that his house was for sale and that he couldn't afford to have a dog around. We exchanged numbers in order to "think about it." Alex also thought that it might be worth it to ask Bruno if he would rent out his house while it was on the market. This might be a solution to finding lodging for all the Minnesota traffic on it's way here.

He had me write a note to Bruno, explaining that Alex doesn't speak French, but I do, and can we rent your house? Well, about 20 text messages later, we realized that Bruno had in fact "fallen in love" with me, and figure the hand written note from me explaining my boyfriend's linguistic inability was an invitation to a hot and steamy affair with a foreign girl. No thanks, Bruno. We said no to the dog and the house and to giving our phone numbers to strangers.

We had to put this geriatric lifestyle on hold for an afternoon of drinking at the pub:

The care packages I receive are so amazing, I can't express my thanks enough. The latest little box of goodies was from my girls, Bri and Laura, and included my favorite shampoo, peanut butter (a HOT commodity), and in protest of my nasty instant coffee, a French press and some good ol' Starbucks coffee. 

Overwhelmed by familiar tastes and smells from home, I've been thinking of you two every time I have a cup of real coffee, or, as Alex has dubbed it, "crack." It might have something to do with how I behave shortly after having ingested it, but I can't be too sure.

Kendra and I finally had our chance to watch Vicky, Christina, Barcelona, which happened to be about two girlfriends escaping their oppressive natal society for fantasies of being free-thinking ex-pats living in Europe. I can't wait to go to Barcelona.

Inspired by the art of the movie and the emotions that easily flowed with scotch, we embarked upon our own painting...

Sharing laughter and tears with my significant others, Kendra and Alex, and we all had a night of "art therapy."

It was very therapeutic.

I even think Kendra and Alex are starting to like each other.

In other news, my mom, Gabe, and Olivia are coming to visit! They will be here for almost the whole month of April, and I am so excited! I'm busy preparing for my brother Nicky's arrival in February, their arrival, all the while enjoying my quaint little life here.

When I first got to Gueret, I met an American woman in the post office who had invited Kendra and me to her house for dinner a few times, but it never seemed to work out. I knew that she owned a B&B, and so, in my search for accommodation for my family, I called her up to ask. She then informed me that it was her husband's 50th birthday and would we all like to join them in celebrating with a lamb dinner? Without hesitation I said yes on behalf of all three of us.

She picked us up in La Souterraine, and off we went to the vet to pick up a 3 day old lamb who Norma, our host was trying to resuccitate after its mother dried up and couldn't feed it anymore. We all thought about the fact that we were on our way to feast on lamb while simultaneously saving another's life. I was in the passenger's seat, holding the baby on the way to the chateau.

Dinner was a whirlwind of meeting people, eating amazing food, and holding on to our heads as they tried to spin right off. The chateau was not only enormous, but absolutely gorgeous and picturesque. They restored the entire thing themselves and the love can be seen in every single detail. The dinner guests were equally beautiful and interesting, and as we arrived home around 1:30 in the morning, Kendra turned around and posed the question, "What just happened?!"

This little one was breaking hearts all night. He posed in Alex's hat for a good 10 minutes.

kendra in her element.

Back in Gueret, life is quiet. I appreciate noticing in my body and mind how exhausting it can be to be a social butterfly. I'm energized by the experiences, and grateful for the pause.