Catching Up

I've been meaning to update the blog for several days, but I just haven't seemed to find the time. Between running and dinner parties, sorting papers and teaching those last few classes, there aren't enough hours to accomplish all I'd like to. So this morning, before tackling my sorting / packing, I've sat down with a cup of coffee to let you know what Philipp and I have been up to.

The weather has been nice here, even reaching the mid 80s last Sunday. (more about that later) On Thursday of last week, which was yet another French holiday, Philipp and I had our first lunch outside in the back garden. It made me excited for many more outdoor meals in Cincinnati this summer and --of course -- in Charleston!

That afternoon, Philipp needed to move his truck, which he'd left outside the gate of the castle. And so I got my first driving lesson (for a standard transmission) in the truck! It wasn't too difficult, and I think I'd be able to get the hang of it eventually, but I still prefer my automatic. When the lesson was over, Philipp offered to have me park the truck in front of our place, but I didn't want to take the risk of getting too close to one of the neighbors' cars, so I hopped in the back ... and did a little truck rodeo ridin'!

Sunday, I ran La Course de Timo, a 10K race in nearby Seiches sur le Loir. The weather was hot and muggy ... already over 80 degrees in the morning. I wanted to improve my time from last year's race, and I started with the 50 minute pacing group. The course includes one small loop and three big ones. Here I am after the first of the big loops.

A loop later, my smile wasn't quite so big. Shorter distances mean faster speeds, and my body prefers distance to speed. Still, I wanted to push myself and try to finish in under 50 minutes. One of the pacers stayed with me (the rest of the pace group was a little in front) for the last two loops and coached me all the way. He continually encouraged me and gave me reminders to use my arms on the inclines, catch my breath in the descent, etc. In the third loop, we were joined by another runner who took over the coaching. I was so touched by the fact that these two guys were so supportive ... and they really pushed me to keep going.

In the end, I finished with a new PR (Personal Record) for the 10K, and memories of the kindness of strangers. My time for the course was 49:53, but it seems that the course was just over 10K. According to my Garmin, my 10K time was 48:11. I'll take either one! :)

After the race, Philipp's brother Dominique (who also ran the race ... in 43 minutes!), his wife and their son Maxence -- along with Philipp and I -- were all invited to the home of some friends who live near the town where the race was held. They have a beautiful home along Le Loir river. (not to be confused with La Loire, the more famous river which also goes through the area) After showers for Dominique and me, and a delicious lunch, we piled into a canoe, two kayaks and a row boat for a gentle paddle down the river. The afternoon was absolutely lovely.

So that's been the excitement over the past week or so. Now I'm full-force into sorting papers and my stuff, deciding what comes now, what comes later, what gets given away and what gets recycled. Tuesday morning is the big departure, and I have a feeling it will come too quickly.

So ... back to my boxes!

Let Me Entertain You

It's the beginning of the social season here in Angers. Time to invite all our friends and family over to see the castle and sit around the dinner table for a meal and one last chance to see each other. For months, Philipp and I have been saying we need to invite people over before we leave for America. But we're running out of time. So let the party begin!

Last weekend, we had people over Friday and Saturday nights. This week, it was Tuesday night. I'm enjoying the cooking and entertaining, but the cleaning is already getting a bit tiresome. It's a constant battle against the dust ... and the dust is winning! Fortunately, Philipp has now finished the grout of the tiled great room (major dust!) so things aren't quite as bad as they have been. Plus, we have wonderful friends who don't mind the mess ... they're so amazed by Philipp's amazing work on the castle!

So if my postings continue to be few and far between for the next month and a half, it's because I'm too busy cleaning, cooking, baking, doing dishes, ... and eventually sorting, packing, etc. But it's so nice for us to spend time with friends and family while we can. June 2nd -- departure for America -- is coming soon!

Forgive me

I've been a bad blogger. Again. Leaving my readers for more than a month ... without a word ... wondering where I am and what I'm doing ...

OK, I know there are only a handful of people who read my blog, and I know that not having any new posts to read for a while hasn't exactly left you heartbroken. But I do feel a sense of responsibility to you, and have felt bad recently, knowing that I'm letting you down.

So here's a little catch-you-up:

• The first couple weeks of February were exciting, getting ready for our upcoming vacation to the States. There always seems to be a lot to get done just before leaving town. (or country)
• We had an uneventful trip, but for fun (and economics) we decided to leave from London instead of Paris. The airline tickets were half the price, and the train to London (via Paris) was actually less expensive than the train to Paris!
• We flew into Charleston, and my Mom and Dad drove down from Cincinnati to join us. We rented a house on Folly Beach, and although the weather was a bit cooler than usual, we had beautiful sunshine all but one day.
• This was the opportunity to see my parents and to show them our future hometown. They enjoyed it ... the architecture and landscapes, the friendly people ... all the reasons Philipp and I are so eager to move there!
• I also had a few job interviews, and am happy to have made a few contacts there. It's still too early to know what openings will be available, but I've at least got my foot in the door.
• Once we arrived back in Angers, we had a couple busy weeks of getting settled in the castle, house guests, a weekend by the sea ...

So there's a glimpse at what we've been up to lately. And now, we're quickly approaching the end of our time in France. It's hard to believe! But I promise to add some more blog entries before it's time to go.

Joyeux Noël!

It's been a busy few weeks here. As I may have written, we sold our little house several months ago, and the signing date was December 15th. It was sad to say goodbye to our loveley little home, especially knowing Philipp had done so much wonderful work to improve it. The castle isn't quite ready yet (Philipp and a friend bought an apartment in a castle - a ruin - next to the apartment we used to have, and are turning it into an incredible home!) so we're with his parents for a few weeks. I'll post castle pictures when it looks a little less like a work zone.



But for today, I want to share some Christmas photos! We had a lovely time with the entire Cosneau family ... all 26 of us! Here are a few highlights:

getting festive by the Christmas tree

decorations in the dining room

the traditional "bûche de Noël", or Yule Log Cake, for dessert

... and the day after Christmas, we worked off some of those sweets with a little Wii boxing!

Where in the World is Kerry ???

I'm sorry I haven't written anything in so long! I've been travelling (Angers - Berlin - Paris - Cincinnati - Virginia - South Carolina - Cincinnati). I've been running (4:19:48 in the Berlin Marathon!). I've been going to weddings (Vivian and John on October 7th, Jodi and Neil on October 13th). And I've been preparing (Philipp and I will have our American wedding on November 3rd). So although I'd love to show pictures of my adventures, tell stories of all I've seen and done, it will have to wait until things calm down a bit.

Thanks for visiting my blog ... be sure to check back ... but not too soon. ;)

Working Weekend

Today I want to share some photos of our working weekend. We returned to Ste. Marie, where Philipp's parents have a house. Actually, they're in the process of moving to a new house, so Philipp spent the weekend building a new bedroom in the (huge) garage of the new house. At various points of the weekend, some of the family members also worked very hard helping out. Here's a "before" picture:



You can see that there is an existing bedroom to the right. Our mission ... to close off the space on the left, insulate, create a two-sided closet, and install a door. A lot of work for one weekend, but we got a good start.

Philipp began with the electricity. He ran wires around the periphery of the space to install outlets and switch plates later on. Then we prepared the drywall. Here in France, since most homes are build with concrete block, rather than wood, you glue the sheets right to the walls. Philipp had bought drywall backed with Styrofoam to serve as insulation. It looked like snow whenever we cut the drywall or shaved off parts of the Styrofoam! My job was to mix the MAP (the glue, although it seems more like plaster) and put the globs up on the walls. I had a fun job. We put up most of the ceiling before a pause for lunch, and were very happy to see that it was still stuck up there when we returned. (For ceilings, you use screws in addition to the glue.)

Next there was the wall to build, including the two-sided closet. Philipp let me use some of his power tools, which was exciting. I used the drill, the electric screwdriver, and a saw. Here I am sawing a piece of wood. Please ignore the fact that I'm wearing flip-flops. A true Girl Scout would not wear open-toed shoes when working with power tools. :(



Because the space is now enclosed, it was very difficult to take a picture of the room as of Sunday evening. Here you see that the drywall is up. We used the left-over pieces for the section under the window.



There remains a lot of work to be done. The joints, painting the walls and ceiling, prepping the floor and installing the linoleum, baseboards, outlets, ... There certainly is a lot of work involved!



This is a picture of Philipp mixing one of the first batches of MAP, before I learned how to do it.


As I said, I had fun using Philipp's power tools, but my favorite part of the weekend was watching Philipp work. I am in awe of his ability to completely transform a space. He knows each step and what needs to be done at what point. The rest of us who helped simply took instruction from Philipp, because he was truly the leader of the project. I am excited to work alongside with him someday in our own home!


So that's all for now. I'll share more photos when the project is done. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Busy, Busy ...

Oh, my goodness. Has it really been more than two weeks since my last posting?? I'm not very good at blogging quite yet. Mainly, I've been getting used to my new schedule ... which is quite full ... as I've started teaching! I'm working for Ecolangues, a private language school, and also for the Chamber of Commerce. All my students are adult professionals, in private classes from one to three hours at a time. I've felt a bit overwhelmed, as the classes all started in the same two weeks, and I'm teaching about 25 hours per week. But I'll get into my groove soon enough.

Along with teaching and prepping lessons, I've been going along with day-to-day life. My garden has suffered a bit, but I did manage to get some new plants in the ground this morning. And the peas I potted are getting bigger! (I bought them at the market, and opened a few of the pods to find they had sprouted!) Philipp and I have had friends over a couple times, gone on two movie dates (Pirates of the Caribbean III and Ocean's 13 ... both dubbed into French!), and we both wonder where the time is going. It seems to be flying by!

This evening, we're off to a birthday party for Aurore, who is one of Antoine's (Philipp's brother, the designer) models. She's extremely gracious and friendly. (and tall ...) She's studying music, and wants to improve her English, and hopes to go to the US to work as an au pair someday. (If anyone knows someone looking for an au pair, please let me know!)

Since we have to leave in about 20 minutes, I should close this entry. I need to bring in the laundry off the line, and I'd like to have a few minutes to brush my hair, etc. Then we'll be off in the Smart!