Top 10 Things I have attempted to mime (Since I can't speak French yet)

1. Can you put these pedals on my husband's bike?
2. We would like cell phone service for my daughters' phones.  We'd like unlimited texting as well.
3. Sorry, I don't need the new dresser you are here to deliver.  My husband glued ours back together and I've already filled it with underwear.  So if you don't mind lugging the new one back down 4 floors, I'll just keep this one.  Maybe if someone had told me you were coming, I could have saved you the trip.
4. Can we remove our kitchen door?  We can't open our refrigerator or use several cabinets when the door is open.  We can't close the door because the dryer is too large.
5. Sorry my dog was yelping during your baby's nap.  He's confused about where we live and seems to have diarrhea and jet lag. It won't happen again.
6. Sorry my dog had diarrhea near your fence.  I only brought one bag for pick-up and it's difficult to scrape up that much dog poop when it's the consistency of oatmeal.  I'll attempt to never meet you face to face again.
7. Milkshake!  Yes, milkshake!!  The menu says you have a milkshake. so why are you acting like you have never heard of that word?  Just because I'm an American doesn't mean I'm asking for something you don't have.  Please, you have no idea how much I need that chocolate milkshake!!!
8. Is that chicken or fish?  Okay, just cut it up for me and I'll buy it even though it costs 12 euros because I have already pointed at it and you started cutting it up before I was really sure what it was....
9. Can you show me your selection of wi-fi boosters?  Also, we need a straightening iron.
10. We need a bigger taxi for 4 people, 2 crated dogs, 9 suitcases and 4 carry-on bags. Are there any taxi mini-vans?

I Got You, Babe

Remember that song, "I Got You Babe" by Sonny & Cher?  Well, they sang about a whole bunch of things they didn't have, but the most important thing they DID have was each other, which was really sweet, of course.  My family has been discussing (maybe complaining) like,"What??  Our cell phones don't work!"  "No TV!" and, "NO CAR??" How are we supposed to get anywhere??  "How can I cook anything without a microwave?" So, if there is some outside chance my family might read this post, I'd like to remind them of some of the things we GOT:

1. Navigo passes--beginning August 1, we can ride the Metro, bus, or train with a flash of the pass.  It's quick, easy and cheap.  Go where ever you want without any of the worries of driving, gas (it's about $9 a gallon here) or car maintenance.  
2. Every day fitness--we walk about 15 minutes to the nearest Metro station, plus walking our dogs several times each day, so we have all found that no matter how much of this fabulous food we eat, we are feeling super fit!
3. Zero Junk Food--yes, if you can believe, there is virtually no junk food here, so all our food is fresh, as in purchased the same day it is eaten.  I have to say, I feel great between eating fruits & vegetables and all the walking. 
4. A towel warmer...I know my Houston friends can't imagine...But, it's this rack that you put your towels on that heats up, so when you get out of the shower, you have a warm crisp towel.  It's pretty nice!
5. More family time--My husband is such an early morning person.  He loves to be the first one to work--always has.  But here, they start around 9:00 am (they work longer in the evenings--to around 7-8 pm), so he has time to see us all before he goes to work.  It's been really nice.  Plus, a shorter communte--he always rode the bus downtown Houston, which was about an hour and a half one way.  Now he takes the bus or Metro and we are only about a mile from his office in LaDefense`.  Voila`!

Okay, we are missing things from home--can't lie about that.  In no particular order, this is what we are starting to crave:

1. Flavored coffee creamer...I haven't found any over here yet.  If you come to visit me, I'd love a big Coffee Mate in Peppermint Mocha flavor.
2. Whataburger!!!!!!  (For obvious reasons)
3. A complete shower stall:  over here, they only have like half of the shower door/stall--it's a "wet"room, but gee, I'm freezing since I'm not really enclosed in the shower.  It's a really weird system.  Also, to get in my shower, you step up about 2 feet.  I'm hoping if I ever fall out, someone will be here to help me get back up. Not sure how older people manage.
4. Ice--they don't put ice in the drinks, but I did remember this from previous visits and nipped this on in the bud--went to the dollar store and got ice trays.  So at least at home, I can still be a Texan with a big ole glass of ice.  Thanks to my friend Lina Hardin for the tip on where to find the ice trays.  Priceless!
5. Backyard for the dogs--yes, no backyard to let the dogs roam around.  So every day, we walk them all around our block.  We do live close to the Bois de Boulogne, which is a park 2.5 times larger than Central Park in NYC, so we can also take them there for great walks.  
6. Paul says a comfortable couch is what he's missing (see earlier post about "extremely basic furniture"), so we're working on getting some new furniture.  I think it could be challenging though as all the living spaces are smaller, so the furniture is smaller=bad for us tall folks with long legs.  We need those Texas-sized couches that swallow you up whole.  

Of course, our family and friends--we're missing you, but enjoying keeping in touch through social media, texts, phone calls and letters.

"So let them say your hair's too long, 'Cause I don't care, with you I can't go wrong.  Then put your little hand in mine, there ain't no hill or mountain we can't climb.  Babe....I got you, babe..."

Close the garage windows so I can glue my furniture back together!!

It seems Paris is having a heat wave.  I hear from my friends in London that it is hot there as well.  So coming from Houston, what do you ask is a heat wave?  We are accustomed to temperatures up to 100 degrees (F) and above with that same amount of humidity--surely Paris temps will never top that, right?  Right!!  But, it has been in the 80-90 degrees (F) range since we have moved here, which to Houstonians, is COOL, actually, we pray for 80 degree days....BUT, there is no air-conditioning here.  BIG difference than in Houston, which is known as "The Most Air-Conditioned City in the World", at least I read that somewhere.  So, after sitting outside at swim team practice totally dying in the heat and humidity, you jump in your car with the A/C turned on high, and cool off.  By the time you get home, you and your wet swim team kids walk into your air-conditioned house and are freezing.  So, you get what I am leading up to:  we have no air-conditioning in our new home and we have been sweating our butts off for two weeks now.  This week it finally rained (Thank you Lord!!) to cool us off.  In fact, it's very nice in the evenings and especially the thunderstorms in the middle of the night.  Windows are open, rain is falling and you don't want to leave your bed.
During this heat wave, I noticed that my neighbors have these heavy aluminum shades that look like garage doors to me.  I wondered why they need this, there's no hail here, right?  Ahhh, finally figured it out--it is for shade to keep your place cool--I know, I'm kinda slow, right?  I wasn't sure I had any of those garage-door window shades, but voila`! Paul found the crank for them this morning!  I think we may now survive the heat wave!  Viva` la difference`!  and, the neighbors can't look right into my apartment.  Which is nice because I don't like having an audience while I'm trying to glue my furniture back together....which brings me to my next subject:
Company Furniture
When we moved, we could only bring an air shipment, which means for my non-ex-pat friends, not very much stuff.  No furniture, not many dishes or heavy things.  Basically, clothes and some personal items.  We could bring 2 big boxes weighing no more than 610 kg.  Our company bought us furniture, which our real estate agent described as "extremely basic".  Good description!  We have 2 chairs, a couch, a table, 6 chairs, a "china" cabinet, beds and several dressers & wardrobes.  (Most places don't have closets over here).  The furniture seems all very "Ikea-ish" but since I don't want to slander Ikea, let's say I don't know from where it hails, but it's not great.  All the dressers are falling apart with drawer fronts falling off.  So what to do?  We went to Castorama (the Home Depot equivlent) and bought wood glue.  Shopping tasks like this are fairly easy compared to getting cell phone service because there are pictures and French words, which are actually quite similar to English, again, Thank God!
So all in all, it was a pretty good week:  got the shades down, glued the furniture together and we've survived another week here in Paris.

We're Here, Ya'll!!

From June 28 until today, we have:
sold our house
sold our furniture
sold 3 cars
lost & found our passports
spent a night in Humble (our flight to Paris was cancelled)
spent a week in Fort Collins, Colorado, with Paul's family
spent 2 nights in Tampa, Florida where Paul had surgery to remove a tumor on his parathyroid
spent a weekend in Granbury with my parents & family
moved to Paris
visited with Houston friends the Royes, McKays, Ryne Nardeccia & Jennifer Egan
rode the train to Geneva, Switzerland & spend the weekend there getting French visas

Wow!!  Exhaustion overload!!  Hanging in there with us are our 14 & 16 year old daughters, Laura & Katherine, and our beloved Yorkies, Max & CoCo Chanel.

My photo from 5 years ago.