07/07 4eme semaine/ 4th week

Semaine routine, a zig zag comme d'habitude. Passage en Californie pour plusieurs jours, puis dans le Montana avec vue sur le parc national des glaciers (photo du haut) au depart de Kalispell, pour finir finalement dans les "Hamptons" a l'est de la ville de New York. (photo du bas). Coince pour plusieurs jours sur la partie nord est du pays, c'est moins drole, car beaucoup plus d'humidite et d'orages a eviter en cette saison. Tour qui fut long puisque 9 jours cette fois!

La semaine de repos qui vient sera apprecie...

Lemme see.... Florence is starter crawling wherein she pushes her way around while dragging her whole body on the ground. Doesn't look very comfortable. In fact, she screams the whole time, so it's amazing to me the power of the Evolution instinct wherein she crawls in this painful way despite the great discomfort! Adapt or die, says Darwin!

Florence is also talking bunches. She's been talking for awhile but now holds entire conversations, with us and by herself. She also shows a lot more emotion now. making exclamation sounds when frustrated, angry, or just plain ol' worn out.

She's also practicing lots of tummy time to help her neck and upper body muscles develop. She can even raise up on her arms and raise her head, curling her back like people do during an exercise class.

And she's also reaching and grabbing, and regularly hangs on to me, reaches out for me, and even caresses.

What's funny is when she's worn out and tired. She rubs her face and eyes, stretches and bends. And after watching her do this all so often, late one night I realized I do the exact same motions in the exact same way. So, she is my kid! Cool!

Til later!

07/07 3eme semaine/ 3rd week

Florence pousse toujours. Avec ses sourires, viennent aussi des gargouillements qui sont amusants parfois. Pour a peine 3 mois depuis sa naissance, elle ne se debrouille pas trop mal. Elle a l'air toute triste sur la photo, mais en fait, elle a l'air d'etre un bebe heureux bien portant, et on soupire de soulagement. D'autant plus qu'on a de la chance: elle commence a dormir presque 7 hrs par nuit, ce qui nous rends la vie bien plus facile!

C'est la "monsoon" en Arizona, une periode de l'annee ou l'air est definitivement plus humide, venant du golfe du Mexique. C'est une saison parfaite pour le vol a voile, puisque j'ai reussi a faire une centaine de kms sans spiraler ou peu, avec un plafond a 13000 pieds, ce qui n'est pas souvent ici. les cumulus deviennent plus important, se rassemblent, et deviennent de superbes cumulonimbus qui atteignent leur maturite lorsqu'il commence a pleuvoir. Helas, il y'a eu un moment ou j'etais dessous, ce qui est tres mauvais pour un profil d'aile tel qu'un planeur! j'ai reussi a contourner l'orage, mais en fin de journee, lorsque je suis rentre avec le C172, au moment de cette photo, le ciel se noircissait davantage, et du SE au SW du terrain, le vent s'est leve, le sable se soulevait, reduisant la visibilite, couple avec de la pluie ou "virga" (pluie qui n'atteind pas le sol, tant il fait chaud au sol. 43C dans ce cas!) Superbe spectacle en tous cas...

This week was a great week. Why? Because my husband was home. He's my best friend in the whole world and, frankly, nothing works the same when he is gone. The clock doesn't quite tick right. The hours don't pass quite right. And even perfect clouds in a perfect sky on a perfect day seem, oddly, out of place. And, so, welcome home friend. I've been waiting....

And welcome to my newest friend in the whole world, my daughter. She, too, has become a solid raison d'etre, satisfactorily tugging at yee ol' heart strings wherein between the love for Richard and betwixt my love for her, as was said of the Grinch, my heart did grow so large that it is close to bursting. She's a card, a crack-up. Her "vocabulary" increases daily wherein she now has conversations, mostly, strangely enough, while sitting up. She has simple needs, like her parents, and is made easily happy. She is, in fact, a very mellow child, much like her father, though, perhaps, somewhere therein lies a bit of fiery Sicilian to boot.

In order to aid her growth we've been doing so many things, like Richard conversating in French with her, us doing sit ups, push ups, and sitting up. She's reaching and grabbing things, mostly my arms and fingers. And to jointly aid her physical development and, frankly, just plain have fun we also do "Superman" wherein faster than a speeding bullet we fly her around the house holding her out like Superman, whilst she takes in all the bird's view. She doesn't mind it a bit. And she's a gentle, gentile lady, prefering soft, slow caresses to any form of rough housing. Though she will definitely not be anybody's fool. She always speaks her mind. Ah... I knew she'd have some of me in her!

And in between it all we've kept researching our prospective future home which we hope will give our little treasure a slice of Americana at it's best.

Well. Must go. Enjoying a little rare R&R time sans an awake bebe. A+!

07/07 2eme semaine/ 2nd week

Cette semaine m'aura vu a Columbus, Ohio pour retourner faire du simulateur, comme tous les 6 mois. Du fait que je "volais" le soir, j'en ai profiter pour visiter l'etat dans la journee, d'autant plus que la semaine a ete magnifique, beau temps tous les jours avec une temperature dans les 25 degres, ce qui change bien sur des 40C de Phoenix en cette saison!

Justement, a chaque fois que ca monte aussi haut, Kate parle de retourner vivre dans les plaines natales de son enfance, et j'avoue que je ne suis pas forcement contre. En effet, Phoenix, dans l'ensemble, aura ete plutot une deception. Certes, la meteo est bonne pour le vol a voile, mais il faut avouer que je fais principalement du local, donc je n'ai pas forcement la possibilite de faire des circuits de 1000Kms! Il y'a le fait que ca devient comme Los Angeles ici, avec son trafic, sa pollution, ses crimes, etc... etc... Cela fait donc deja plusieurs fois que l'on parle de retourner dans ce que nous avons vecu enfant. Normandie/Picardie pour moi, la region de Cincinnati pour elle.

Or il se trouve que l'etat de L'Ohio correspond exactement au climat du nord de la France. Cela ne m'enchante pas forcement lorsque le ciel sera gris, mais voila: il y'a Florence maintenant...
Voulons nous la faire grandir dans une megapolis, ou on passe l'ete a l'interieur d'une maison car les conditions sont trop dures a l'exterieur?
Nous avons trouves la ville de Lebanon, OH qui a une multitude de fetes et parades pour enfants.
Tous les jeudi matin, il y'a le marche, comme on fait en France. Au mois d'aout, il y'a un festival du blues. En septembre, la fete des pommes, en octobre, Halloween bien sur, et en decembre, le pere noel, l'illumination d'un enorme sapin de noel sur la place, etc...etc...

Mais qu'en est-il du vol a voile?
A 15 kms de la se trouve le terrain de Waynesville, site du plus vieux club de vol a voile au Etats-Unis. 200 membres, 50 planeurs bases sur place! Je suis alle leur dire bonjour bien sur, et l'acceuil fut sympa, ils ont meme avoue qu'ils ont besoin de pilotes remorqueurs ou meme instructeurs, ce qui m'arrangerait bien pour aller voler l'hiver!
Ah et juste a cote, il y'a un autre petit terrain en herbe, prive lui aussi, ou je vais pouvoir me louer un Stearman! et puis il y'a a cote le lac de "Cesar Creek" pour aller faire du jet ski, la riviere "Miami" pour la descendre en Kayak, et une multitude de randonnee a pied ou a velo.
Peut-on faire ca dans l'Arizona? Non. Se balader en moto prends 30 minutes pour sortir de la ville, et se retrouver dans le desert de toute maniere.

Alors, on y pense, on cogite, mais comme c'est faisable, on y pense serieusement. Aucune decision n'a ete prise pour l'instand. et puis de toute maniere, c'est pas pour demain: y'a deja 4 maisons a vendre dans notre rue! Affaire a suivre.

En debut de semaine, j'ai visite pour la seconde fois le musee de l'armee de l'air, a Dayton. De superbes avions a decouvrir, dont mon prefere, le Walkyrie, mais que je n'ai pu prendre en photo car ils l'ont mis dans un autre hangar. Le reste des photos sont sur: http://picasaweb.google.com/jeplane/OhioJuillet2007

Ahhh. A little slice of Heaven to call our own.

I have moved many times. Many, many, many, many, many times. I have lived places that are still near and dear to my heart. I have lived in places that I couldn't care for; for example, Washington state. Ohh, it was awful. Rained two out of every three days. And the people had a severe lack for understanding irony. Painful to not be able to exercise irony....

Anyway, I digress. Tis the season to sweat. Just recently we had 112 in the shade. And with the monsoons rolling in it is NOT a dry heat. (Why do the people who always call it a dry heat only visit in Winter and never during Summer, hmmmmmmmmm??????) Anyway, I digress again. So, yeah, it sucks. I read on a National Weather Service board that there are only two other places in the WORLD which match the wretched climate of Arizona - Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Hmmm. Maybe that's why those guys are always crabby and starting wars. If it was 118 in the shade and I didn't have air conditioning or ice cream (I just assume Arabs don't eat ice cream) then I'd be darn crabby too. Anyhooo. I love the desert. It is a beautiful place, unique (save for Iraq and Saudi Arabia). But...it's hot. And, frankly, I can handle that. But it is not so much the weather but the place in which we live wherein we suffer this weather. A concrete jungle. Filled with Starbucks and Bestbuy and McDonald's. And we ask ourselves, on pretty much a regular occassion, is there nothing more?

Of course there is. We had been talking Big Bear for a long time, but it's expensive and the logistics don't work. Then we stumbled upon a place for a possible future which comes directly from out past. Ohio.

Where the corn is as high as an elephant's eye. Well, actually, that's Oklahoma, but the point is the same. I was born in Ohio. I grew up in the Midwest. I lived in smaller towns and we were surrounded by open spaces. Dressing up was wearing a new t-shirt. There were trees, birds, etc. etc. Sorry, can't be too poetic. I'm tired. Florence is in bed and I need to hurry lest I get no sleep tonight (and God help me if that turns out to be the case.) And for Richard, where he grew up in Northern France he says is pretty much the same as Ohio, climate and lifestyle. THe rolling countryside, the farms and cows, the apple orchards and small towns, the birds chirping and the deer lolling through the streams.

Anyway, I have a hankerin' to go home, as it were. And Ohio is just that environment to return to. But it's not just about that. Richard has been sorely disappointed by the glider ports here. Although Arizona is supposed to be in the top three gliding places in the US, the glider ports are pathetic, profit driven operations where comaraderie sorely lacks and support facilities are non-existent. In addition, We're both in hatred of the fact that our once little town is being so overrun with Californians relocating that we have, in effect, become California. Blah, blah. Sorry, severe sleep deprivation here so I can't keep my train of thought and can barely remember my previous sentence.

Turns out that just nearby this town is one of the most active glider ports in the US, with many supportive members where comraderie is the standard. Further...

Anyway. We want more. ANd we want it for us but, mostly, Florence. Lebanon (Ohio, not Arabia's Lebanon!) is small town America at it's best. And no country does small town like America. Homey. Family oriented. The Main Street. The town square. Pumpkin festivals. Farmer's market. Heck, they even have an annual sheep sheering contest (which I am grateful to find out about because when Richard originally told me about it I misunderstood him (his accent) and thought he said sheep killing contest. Thought it was a little odd to kill sheep in front of children but after all there are some weird customs in the world. Just ask Hilary when she sleeps with Bill.

Anyway, I digress. Lebanon has a train depot that goes aroudn Ohio. It has celebrations for every part of the year, including the Thomas the Train rides, Santa rides, the Easter Bunny train, the Pumpkin train, the Harry Potter train, etc. all for kids to see the sights and ride with mom and dad to get a taste of the good life. Then there's the Christmas lights festival where the whole town is lit up and they light the tree in the town center. And in nearby Waynesville, population 2500, is a Sauerkraut festival (though I hate eating it). And at Christmas the town of Lebanon even offers free horse drawn sleigh rides, kisses from Santa, etc. And, heck, where else can you see a fireman dressed in a bikini and blond wig hanging out at the local pond... Don't Ask!!!!!

And there's the pond for swimming, fishing, tubing, etc. And there's fire flies. And there's 4th of July fireworks. And there's the main town center with homes on average 100+ years (big deal for the US) with original wood floors, 200+ year old oak and maple trees, etc. etc.

ANyway, sounds like a dream. Richard toured the places and we're all going to see this winter. Hope it all works out. Now if only the real estate market would allow us to move, that'd be just dandy.

All for now. Must go lie down or die.

And, yes, Florence is terrific, sweet, cute, brilliant, bionic, super powered, and just plain dandy.

Goodnight and goooooooood ice cream!!!!!!!!!!

07/07 1ere semaine/ 1st week

Semaine plus courte que d'habitude, car la compagnie me fait demarrer la semaine plus tot que d'habitude, pour aller faire du simulateur la semaine prochaine. Du coup, je n'ai pu qu'aller une fois seulement faire du planeur, et j'en ai profite pour aller faire un vol avec un copain du boulot, lui aussi sur Citation Excel, encore qu'il vient juste de recevoir un changement de flotte, et qu'il va faire du Gulfstream.

Florence, ca pousse toujours. Y'a des jours ou ca marche bien, soit elle dors plus, ou bien on a un bon rythme ensemble. Et puis d'un coup, on peut avoir une nuit d'enfer, ou rien ne va plus, 3 hrs de sommeil tout au plus, et ou on se demande comment ca marche tous ca. Florence continue de sourire; on se demande ce qu'elle deviendra plus tard... Caissiere a Auchan? Pilote de ligne? Elle semble deja curieuse, et calme tant qu'elle est confortable. Introverte plutot?

Hello there. And welcome to 1999. We're gonna party like it's 1999. Oooooo. Oooooo. (No, this makes no sense but it's a really, super cool Prince song and, frankly, Prince is the coolest dude in the Universe so I enjoy repeating it here.)

So, how's everyone doing? Some of you may have noticed that my correspondence has slowed a bit, perhaps only once a week. Well, this is due to dear, sweet Florence. She keeps me rather busy and, frankly, since I take this "job" very seriously my day is full of many activities I must partake in to ensure she doesn't vote Republican (just kidding, Dad!). This includes reading time, which is done in French and English. Richard reads some French history books and the French version of the Brother's Grimm. I am reading her Dr. Suess and Winnie the Pooh (my personal favorite).

Also on the agenda is tummy time which, one would think, would be so easy to accomplish but, apparently, since babies sleep only on their backs these days (at least in America) many babies are now terrified of being on their bellies. However, if they don't spend time on their bellies their stomach muscles don't develop well, their arm muscles and neck muscles, etc. so development is delayed. So, I am pushing our dear sweet to get used to tummy time and, alas, she is learning sllllooowwwly and now only screams a fifteen minutes instead of twenty (egad!).

Anyhoo... It is fun to watch Richard read to her in French (I don't even bother. With my accent she sound like a drunk Canadian). She always has her eyes wide open when he does, as if she is literally swallowing the words.

Lemme seeeeeee..... Unfortunately, at this moment Florence has had a marathon without sleep, mostly due to a late nap the day before and some bad timing on naps today (one which included Richard accidentally setting the motion alarms so that, after I put Florence down for a nap, upon stepping from her room after gingerly closing her door severely LOUD claxons sounded BUMPPP BUUUMP BUMMMMP and, alas, she was awakened again. And last night didn't go too much better, as neighbors decided to take their 4th of July celebration quite seriously which included setting off a lot of BOOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOMS! So, sigh, I'm just a wee bit tired..........................

On that behalf, I shall sign off for now. You know, at this moment of about four hours non-consecutive sleep for the last two days which includes carrying Florence while running around the house for about 10 of t hem I can honestly say that I would forgo chocolate for a year if she was sleeep tonight................

To sleep, perchance to dream. Yeah, that Shakespeare was really onto somet'in..........

Adiueueueueueuueueue

06/07 4eme semaine / 4th week

C'est deja vieux, puisque ca date de 1965, mais Henri Salvador chantait "le travail, c'est la sante". Et c'est donc avec le sourire que je suis retourne au boulot cette semaine. (ou presque, qui ne veut pas jouer a la farniente?)
Travail de nuit cette semaine, comme des pilotes cargo, a partir de la cote Ouest a l'Est. Mon copi et moi etant tous deux de la region sud ouest des US, avons un peu moins souffert que d'autres de se retrouver a New-York, mais bon. Ca n'est jamais facile de dormir dans la journee, avec les femmes de menage qui frappent regulierement a la porte pour faire la chambre!
La semaine aura ete beaucoup plus dure pour Kate, se retrouvant toute seule avec un bebe, et qui aura beaucoup plus de mal a faire de choses simples... comme aller au toilettes par example!
Lisons plutot:

Buenos Dias!

This week was an interesting week, with Richard officially back to work, and Florence and I on our own with no retreat in sight, no relief coming, no Calvary to come to the rescue, no man on a horse wearing a white hat, no Red Cross, no Lone Ranger, and no American troops. Just us. Oh my!

It wasn't such a shock, because we had been alone already when Richard would go gliding, but, nonetheless, there is something about knowing there is no help in sight that can send the fear of God into one, especially coupled with zero sleep. Yes, I know many others moms in the area, but one is hard pressed to ask for help from someone who, herself, needs some rescuing. So, as Nike says, we just did it.

But, low and behold, we did survive, albiet there being some stormy days and nights wherein less than two hours of non-consecutive sleep was to be had. To add some spice to the situation, we have been trying to resolve some dietary issues with her and, in order to come to a quick resolution, I forbade any diary, chocolate, and peanuts from my diet. Having no time nor energy to shop for alternative foods (since most I eat has diary in it) I survived the week on a series of Wheat Thin marathons, granola bars, and waffles. The very fact of not eating chocolate alone was enough to have me knawing my own arm off as a means of comfort.

Just as troops destined to storm a hill, I began, over the days, to find my survival was best destined if I imagined that each new day would be the worst of my life, with no sleep, no food, and no rest. Doesn't help that Florence's favorite comforting activity is for me to run around the house holding her (nope, she doesn't like those carriers at all) and, sometimes, I have to be going at a full gallop, this being a reason we have been thinking of buying her a miniature horse. ;)

But, alas, the days passed and we arrived at Richard's return. Thank God! And, so, to compensate, I will now engage in all that I could not the week prior, including going to the bathroom. (Yeah, may not be your favorite topic of conversation to read in a blog, but imagine having no option to go for a week. Then it really becomes your least favorite topic of conversation.)

Anyhoo, our family is whole again. Thank God for Richard. I must admit, having done adequate sampling of men prior to our meeting, that he is a perfect specimen of manhood. Despite his own self-proclaimed shortcomings, he has handled the ups and downs of later-life fatherhood with humor, patience, and grace. He doesn't wince at the pending tsunami of changes and just looks forward to the day when he can know what his daughter is thinking. So, kudos dear husband and thank you so very, oh so very much for being in my life.

Children are a great thing to have, but in the midst of a loving, supportive marriage, they are more than great. They are the icing waiting to be whipped up in one's finger when no one is looking.

Happy Summer
(110 in the shade! Woowee for the desert!)