Texans Take Paris

Monday, March 16, 2015

Back Home on the Range after Paris Fashion Week

Bonjour, Ya'll!

Just a short update with a more detailed post later--actually working on "What I Ate in Paris" (and what you should eat when you go) We just returned from yet another wonderful family vacation where almost all of us got sick and the only person who didn't, chipped her tooth on a Coffee Nip in Detroit (moi!).

All sarcasm aside, our week in Paris provided us with unexpected closure on an exciting chapter in our lives, so today, I share thoughts of those I think about and want to thank...

Thinking about what fun I had going to the Foire de Chatou with my ASP Moms
Excited thinking about several friends I met in Paris moving to Houston
Thinking about how families from different cultures who have enriched our lives so greatly
Thinking about how much I loved living in Paris, but happy to be home again in Houston

Just a few of my thank-you notes for the week:

Dear Paris XVI eme,
Thank you for a poo-filled week in the XVI! Your dog owners do not pick up the poop nearly as throughly as we do in Neuilly, but your location rocks!
xx,
Neuilly Gal Gone

Dear Models of Paris Fashion Week,
You need some biscuits and gravy, but good job balancing on those crazy shoes you wear. BTW, my daughter looks great in Dior.
Sincerely,
Future Model's Mom

Dear Moms of ASP,
You are a stylish and witty group of beautiful women. Thanks for tolerating my over-sized personality with my under-sized filter. I feel more chic just sitting at your table.
Bisous, bisous,
Ellie Mae Clampett

Off to catch up now...there are no buffalo roaming at my home on the range, but I do have a gecko inside my house, so jumping back in my saddle here in Houston.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Je suis Texan

Bonjour, Ya'll!

The Eiffel Tower's lights went dark to honor the victims.

“It is so short and jumbled and jangled, Sam, because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. Everybody is supposed to be dead, to never say anything or want anything ever again. Everything is supposed to be very quiet after a massacre, and it always is, except for the birds. And what do the birds say? All there is to say about a massacre, things like "Poo-tee-weet?”
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.--Slaughterhouse-Five

While I find the images printed in Charlie Hebdo pretty offensive, I applaud the use of satire and humor as a way to reach people who may not watch the news or read government policy. Just as we have "South Park" (which I don't really care for) or "The Daily Show" (j'adore!!), Charlie Hebdo used cartoons and satire to call out everyone...no one was immune and everyone was equally skewered. Our own "Mad" magazine is the same type of publication, maybe not quite as intense, but similar.

I wish I had some profound, ground-breaking thing to write about this attack, but probably like many of you, it leaves me speechless and amazed that someone could take hatred to a level such as this: to walk up to an unknown, unarmed person and shoot them dead. I cannot understand a hate like this. I also cannot understand how it must feel to live under this shadow every single day, the way my Israeli friends must.

So what do I believe? I believe there is a place for everyone. There is a land for the Israelis, the Palestinians and all the rest of us. I'm not sure how the Palestinians, the PLO, Hamas, ISIS and all others who want to exterminate our earth of the Jewish people don't yet understand the truth I believe from my Bible: the Jews are a chosen people and they will not be removed. Even if you aren't religious or a Bible-believer, throwback to that 6 Day War and many other battles when the odds were never in their favor, but the Israelis were unbroken and undefeated. These signs strengthen my faith in the Israelis as a people, a nation, and my God as Mighty.

I had the opportunity to have a conversation on this subject with a friend back in June, while still living in Paris. He is an Israeli, familiar with these complicated issues. He told me there would be a terrorist attack in France, but just when or how, the French hadn't uncovered the information yet. So for me, it was quite eerie and of course, disheartening, when I saw it all happening last week. I did feel relieved that several of our Israeli friends are no longer living in Paris, so I could breathe a sigh of relief to know they were safe. So sad I couldn't be there to march on Sunday at the unity rally. So proud to see many of my friends there supporting free speech, a free country and keeping the spirit of Paris alive and well.

Paris rally for unity--3.7 million strong!

"I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it." Voltaire

Au revoir, Ya'll! Holding you close in my heart & sending hugs from deep in the heart of Texas!!

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Sign of the Skull

Bonjour, Ya'll!
I've taken a brief hiatus from writing my blog to do a few things:

sell, donate, or trash all the things my lousy French movers refused to pack
pack up as much as insanely possible into my suitcase
move, move and move again: Paris>HTX

Yes, it's been a lovely and thrilling adventure...NOT!! But, after a couple of months of staying with friends and family, we did finally move into a rent house....on the same street as our old house! Yes, the charm of Minsmere Circle drew us back, not to mention a short-term lease on a nice little house. Thanks to my sweet neighbor, we have been able to settle down for a while. (Thanks, Jenny!)

So, you ask, what has been happening? Well, there's been a heck of a lot of house hunting. Lots of folks offering to help and sending messages about houses coming up on the market for sale or rent--really appreciate it, too. But, where is the entertainment value of this blog? Here it is my friends: "Adventures in House Hunting".

Lucky for me, I have my excellent realtor named Honey to guide me through this fantastic journey. No joke--her name is Honey and her sister Holly often comes by to help. On a good day, the girls' Mom, Shelly, also comes with us. (It takes a village, people!!) And what have we seen you ask? Well, we've seen many well, "interesting" homes. Just a few I'd like to highlight here for your enjoyment. Addresses changed to protect the innocent. Oh, and I give names to all the houses to keep them straight in our ever-expanding file...pretty sure we've seen over 50 houses by now.

"Sign of the Skull"
This treasure is filled to the brim with all sorts of huntin' and fishin' gear, not to mention many, many dead animals. The interior is brown, wooden and more brown. The kitchen sink was even brown.

The first skull that greeted us at the front door.

Skulls, skulls everywhere!

A specially crafted desk displays a foxalope?

Antelope chandelier: It's a Texas thang...Ya'll wouldn't understand!!

MEOW!!

Gone fishin' homeboys!!

The Party House
So I found out there was a custom builder that had an interesting signature to all his houses: a phone booth with a real, working pay phone. Remember the Brady Bunch episode where the parents installed a pay phone so the kids would all share the phone? I think these houses might be from that same era. This builder is really wonderful, but I really don't need a house with a pay phone. This house also had a huge party room complete with disco ball & soda fountain.

Party on, Laura!

Wow, how great is it to have these kind of super choices??

The Angel House
Here is another cool house we found. We loved the floor plan and location (small cul-de-sac on golf course), but it has an interesting feature we haven't quite figured out how to incorporate into our decor:

That's right--it's a rotunda painted with some angels. Painted quite beautifully, I must say.

We were DEFINITELY interested in these:

But sadly, they sold either WHILE we were inside looking at them, or a few minutes before we could make it to see them. The count is now up to FIVE houses sold at the moment we were looking at them...So the search continues...stay tuned!

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Working on a Dream

Bonjour, Ya'll!
I'm back in Houston. Yes, back after only one year.
In Houston.
Maybe for forever.

And, I'm feeling very sad about this. So I haven't been able to come up with a cheery, funny post about some crazy thing that happened to me, like that time when I got lost and walked 10 miles through a couple of towns. There are so many words in my head about this, but getting them on paper is hard.

On or about July 15, Paul was given an assignment back in Houston. I just renewed my visa about 3 weeks before. The girls just finished their first year in a new school, in a new country. We just survived one of the most stressful years of our lives. We just took a breath and bought a new rug. We were really excited about starting the next year in a place where we would know our way around and feel at home. Katherine was finally happy there. Laura had a boyfriend. We were the ones saying goodbye to friends instead of the ones selling all our stuff. We just relaxed for a moment.

Sometimes I feel like it never happened. Did I really sell my house, cars, furniture and clothes and leave Houston? It's weird moving to a place you already lived before. Like when you try to register your kids in school, and you don't have an address any more. It feels so surreal.

Back in 2008, Paul and I took a vacation to Paris. As we stood at Trocadero watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle, I told him I wanted to live in Paris some day. (I know, totally cliche, right?)
But it did happen. We DID move to Paris and we lived there all last year. In spite of what people told us, we liked it. We REALLY liked it. And, yes, sometimes French people are rude, but there are many, many nice French people, too, and it was a great experience for us.

But today, I'm feeling a little like this:

So, here I start another chapter of my big fat redneck life. I don't know if anyone will want to read about my life here in Houston. Maybe it won't be funny or interesting...ya'll will have to let me know.

So I leave you now with this, from one of my favorite musicals, "Dreamgirls" because it is SO hard to say goodbye not only to Paris, but to all the wonderful people I met there.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

What I did When it was Supposed to be Summer

Bonjour, Ya'll!
The months of May and June have really flown by. In the US, we usually finish the school year in May, which brings craziness with all the "end of year" stuff. With all the holidays here, my kids only went to school 2 full weeks in May--viva la difference! So school here was not out until June 21st. According to French law, even though our school is American, we must adhere to the French school calendar up to 76% of the time, so lucky us! Lots of holidays! So here's a quick catch-up to what we did with some of those wonderful holidays in May and during the gorgeous weather we've had in June.