Carepages.com

For those of you who are interested in following the progress of my Mom that have been using the link in my last post, you are probably wondering why there hasn't been an update since the 13th of June. That's just because that link only takes you to the update that was posted on that day.

If you would like to receive emails when an update is posted (although you can opt out of them if you'd like) then just go to carepages.com, type in your email address and a password, then search for the carepage for "MaryKommeth" (no spaces).

There are also pictures on the page of her and the torched car.

But briefly...

She is still not awake, but stable, and making slow signs of progress which is normal. We visit her everyday and talk to her and move her limbs around and have started playing some music that she likes.

(busy-ness) x (1,000,000) = me

(

Read the update now: http://www.carepages.com/carepages/marykommeth/updates/2194805?client_code=default&ipc=mur)

My Mom was in a car accicent...

This is an update from my Dad. I'm making plans to go home.

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June 11 news with a June 12 update.

June 11, 2009, Thursday afternoon, my wife, Mary, was returning home after a morning spent at a summer camp in Newton Co. for handicapped kids - she was assisting with art projects with these children and recording some of the activities in photographs.

She drove her car off the road, Brown Bridge Road, not far from home. I don't yet know exactly what caused her to do this.
She is currently in an Intensive Care Unit at Atlanta Medical Center which is one of the 2 large trauma centers for the Atlanta region.

She is not conscious, having head trauma, intracranial bleeding and she is intubated, breathing on her own but being assisted w/a ventilator.

Neurosurgery has put a pressure monitor in her skull to be able to monitor any swelling of the brain which if not quickly treated can cause severe complications.

In the ICU where she is, their goal is to minimize stimulation for her since any stimulation causes the pressure on the brain to increase naturally.

Mary has a fracture in the occipital bone in the back of the skull, a fractured clavicle (collarbone) on the right side, multiple fractured ribs, a punctured lung, cut spleen and a fractured patella (kneecap) on the right knee. Also scrapes and bruises.

I know this doesn't sound real but it is.

At this point, the best that the Doctors can tell me is that we will take it one day at a time. The 1st 48 hours are the critical ones for a head trauma patient.
She has good/steady vital signs including blood pressure. She is able to move both arms and legs on her own.

I believe that no matter what happens, God is in control & I'll accept what His will is for me and my wife.

I ask that you pray for God’s healing touch for Mary.

I’ll update again when I can & I hope to be able to use CarePages (www.CarePages.com) as a way to provide updates that will be easy for all to access.
I have made contact with Maria/Rocky and Susan/David so the girls know about their Mom.

Update on June 12.

At the end of the day it is hard for me to realize that this only represents a little more than 24 hours since Mary had her accident.
How quickly life can change.
Since the first 48 hours are critical for a head trauma patient I have to be patient and continue to trust and pray.

Mary is still unconscious.
This "coma" is the result of the trauma, not the result of any medication.
She has been able to move her arms and legs by herself - it reminds me of how one shifts position while sleeping. I did see a grimace on her face when the nurse changed the cervical collar around her neck. These are good signs. The intracranial pressure has been good. Her vital signs including blood pressure continue to be stable. She was administered 3 units of whole blood and has begun enteral feeding - liquid nutrition through a tube.

Mary was taken for another CT scan. I don't know the results because I didn't speak with any doctor on Friday. I understand from the nurses that it will be routine for Mary to have CT scans - probably on a daily basis - so that the condition of her brain can be frequently evaluated.

So, even though I'm reporting all of these things, it really come down to the fact that not a lot has changed for Mary after 24 hours.

I want to sincerely thank all of those who have called/emailed wishing their best thoughts and offering of prayers. To those who have visited at the hospital I also offer my gratitude for your love and friendship.

The offerings of support and "if there is anything your need please let me know..." have been wonderful. These are true expressions of kindness compassion and support. I wish I could take each of you up on those offers...that there really was something physical or material that I could ask you to do for me or for Mary. That would be easy for me and you.
But in a situation like this there really isn't that much that I need your help with right now (please believe me - I WILL ask for help whenever I think of a need.)
There really isn't anything you can do for Mary right now.

The harder thing for me to ask you for is your prayers. We use the words so easily - I'm guilty of this - but we minimize the time for actually doing this. So my harder request is for you to really think about those words, what they mean and then to find the time to make them true in your life.
Right now, and as we slowly travel the long difficult road that lies ahead, that is how all of you can help Mary and me the most.
Sincerely,
John Kommeth

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Spa-ahhhh

It decided to rain this weekend so David and I decided to show Rocky and Maria what we did to celebrate our anniversary last year... and it was a great success.

David and I went to a place called Thermopolis (in a nearby city, Amneville), but we took them to a place called Villa Pompei that is just up the street from Thermopolis. This is what the outside looks like.

We didn't bring our cameras, so we don't have any pictures of the inside, but don't worry, we plan to go back! Villa Pompei is twice as expensive as Thermopolis, but we have decided that when we go back we'll go to Thermopolis insead. It was actually bigger (with more pools/hot tubs, and jets, and even a "waterfall"). So, we aren't really sure why there is such a big price difference...but it was greeeat.

After that, we came home and made some Cincinnati Chili for lunch and went outside to find the flamenco dancers that were supposed to be at Place St. Louis. They weren't there. We think that's because of the rain earlier in the day...it was canceled. Then we walked around to see if we could find anything else going on (since this is supposed to be some kind of "music weekend"). Instead, we ended up at the Museum of Metz.

Every first Sunday of the month (until September, so they said) the museum is free. So we went! We've been before but never through the entire thing. It's pretty enormous. We found a nice picture of Metz from the 17th century. For those of you who have visited us, can you find where we live? Most of the pedestrian streets of the city are still the same...and of course the cathedral is in the same place (hint! good reference point).

We also liked this painting of Metz. Notice the clouds...not much has changed, huh?

It's neat to see how the city has grown and changed, but also what has stayed the same. The majority of the stuff in the museum was from Metz throughout the years...found, or painted, etc, but they did have some things borrowed from other museums temporarily. It's like a Louvre for Metz. Seriously, it's big.

That was our weekend!

Stay tuned! In the near future you'll be seeing things about Italy... Austria (hopefully!)... and more spa-ing!

busy-ness

We've had visitors...

(Jay & Amy)

We've made some awesome food...

(Mongolian Beef)

I've practiced my dessert skills...

(chocolate cup cakes with almond icing - and flowers!)

I'm SO close to finishing the stitching on my Christmas stocking...

(this means I get to start David's soon!)

I've given tours of Metz...traveled to Nancy for the billionth time...and done a bunch of errands for my terribly forgetful sister...

And we have our tickets home! We leave France early August to travel to Ireland with my family, then on August 13th we leave Ireland, stop by Rochester (to visit more of my family) and then we arrive in Georgia on the 16th! Fun fun!

Bourgogne

Welcome to the premier of the very first production of Swafford.Dunlap Films!

The second weekend in May we took our first weekend vacation with Rocky and Maria since their arrival. We went to the Burgundy (Bourgogne) region of France, known for it's wine, and saw MANY vineyards, chateaux, and French countrysides.

We hope to continue the trend of making videos of our adventures. I'll try to keep them a decent length. This one is on the long side...a little over 9 minutes. Enjoy!

...and this little doggie goes "arf! arf! arf!" all the way home...

At 3am we load the car to bring Duncan to Frankfurt.

At 6am he will be in the hands of PetAir headed to Atlanta.

Super Dog!

Our little world traveler is off again! ...even though he hasn't realized it yet.

Duncan has a flight out of Frankfurt on Friday. (Well, it was Friday bu tnow the date is changing...maybe Monday or Tuesday, thanks to customs in Atlanta) We are supposed to get him there by 6am - yikes! And then he will arrive in Atlanta around 1:55pm local time. And, Metz has decided to give him a traditional Metz going-away present...rain! How nice.

arrivals and departures

It's not everyday that members of your family move abroad to live in the same city as you. We have been lucky enough to have this experience.

After a fun adventure at the airport and quick TGV ride...
...the Dunlaps are here!They are predictably jet lagged but hopefully we'll keep them busy enough to get over it fast.

In other news, it is official that we will be returning to Georgia mid-August. David needs to return to the Atlanta campus to use their lab again, but this time we will stay. This doesn't mean that David has finished his PhD or anything, cause he hasn't. But, returning to Atlanta might speed along this process because he'll have access to a wider variety of classes and people experienced in what he's working on.

This also means I get to try to find a job. Good timing huh? It's probably the worst time to be looking for work... I'm ready for a real job though.

Duncan will be returning to Georgia Friday, May 15th before the weather gets really warm :o( It will be sad to see him go, but he'll enjoy the Georgia summer sun and ability to have free roam of his invisible fenced in yard again. I know he misses it.

So, we'll be busy this summer! Traveling with Rocky and Maria, our other visiting family, packing, and moving our lives back the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Maheen.

Katherine,
This is mostly for you.

She cracks me up.

Locked Out!

We took Duncan out for a walk this morning in the beautiful sunshine. Then when we returned to our apartment we saw one of our neighbors struggling to get in the door. It as just her key that didn't work. It looked like someone had broken off the end of their key in the door! Turns out the lock was actually broken. It has been getting more and more difficult to turn the key in the door, but now it's fixed! We had to seek refuge at Fred's place for a little while while borrowing his locksmith locating talents. ...Duncan enjoyed it...he's pet sitting a rat... We were a little worried at first that no one was going to come out to help us since it's a Sunday, but it all worked out.

Then we had lunch with Kathy and Peter. Vietnamese spring rolls, fried rice, and French pastries.

Scuba diving level 2 theory test is this week...time to study!

"We are in Sain!"

The title of this blog is in tribute to a typo I made recently. Though a typo, it may not be too far from the truth sometimes! It was supposed to read : "We are in Spain!" ...because we were!

We spent 5 days and 4 nights in Barcelona. We had a hotel along La Rambla, the biggest pedestrian street. It was filled with street performers, mimes, tourist shops, street vendors, and supposedly pick-pockets, but we didn't see any, thankfully!

The first day was full of sunshine and lots of walking to get our barrings for the rest of the trip. I got a sunburn! It was a nice change! Then, for the rest of the time we tried to plan out our days to maximize what we could see.

The only problem we had was with food...surprisingly. And it wasn't that we didn't like the food, because we LOVED it, but for some reason, all the recommended restaurants, on the day we wanted to go to them, were either closed or we couldn't find them. And the rest of the places were either not what we were looking for or too expensive. It was strange, we've never had issues like that. We did have traditional Spanish stuff like paella and tapas, but there were times that we had to resort to Hard Rock Cafe and McDonald's.

We also were able to see some flamenco dancing! People were always handing out brochures on the streets for different performances. We had the choice between Spanish guitar and a Flamenco show. Now, for everyone who knows David, you all know which one he wanted to see. But he let me pick, and we ended up getting the best of both worlds! There was live music with the dancers, and not just guitars, but a violin and cello as well so David was very happy. It was great, and we even had front row seats!! (...well, we paid for them, but still!)

We saw lots of interesting architecture, mostly from Antoni Gaudi, celebrations for Easter, the beach, parks, guys sell those "name brand" purses and sunglasses, and wallets, and belts, and pirated movies, etc etc.

Anyway, overall it was a great vacation...minues the fact that I lost my keys. Yeah...stinks. Chech out the tons of pictures we took.

Duncan seemed to have fun while we were gone too. We were told that he caught 3 hedgehogs! Maybe we'll keep the next one as a pet...as long as he doesn't kill it. Ha! He's so vicious. haha...

David's Birthday

This is probably the happiest 26-year-old you'll ever see!(Click on the picture for more pictures)

Yesterday, some of David's PhD friends got the idea to take a trip just across the German border to a US military base where there is a Taco Bell express. They brought back a TON of Taco Bell and really surprised David.

The guy who helped them get everything even sent a birthday card back with them for David.

Just another reason to appreciate the US military! ;o)

Videos from Munich

Kimber giggles to Munich


Glockenspiel in Munich

Monk.

Did you know that Munich/München means "monk"? I didn't either! It is Germany's 3rd largest city, and our longest getaway of the year so far.I uploaded all our pictures to picasaweb with detailed captions for most of them so this will just be a quick recap of a few things we did over the weekend.

We went to the BMW Museum...
...picked out the cars we want...
...had fun traveling with a baby...
...ate a lot of yummy food from famous places...
...saw lots of German things...
...took a free tour of the city...
...saw lots of buildings and learned lots of history...
...went to an engineering museum......visited the first concentration camp......and headed home.

On our way home we found Dr. Pepper. That was one of my goals on this trip. :o)

Check out all the pictures!

being brief

I helped decorate a surprise birthday cake! (all the pictures are on picasaweb)

It was fun! New hobby one day? I vote YES.We are going to Munich this weekend. It's for a beer festival, and that's why we're going...ha! You know I'm kidding. We will go to the festival to see everything and drink our favorite beer festival beverage, Spetzi, but then we'll be touring Munich for most of the time.

More when we return!

Project!

Boxes boxes boxes! I've gotten 3 boxes in the mail this week! One from each of our Mothers and one that I ordered.

Since I've gotten into cross stitching I decided to make Christmas stockings for us (thanks to Janice for the great idea :o) ...I'm copying her). My family never really did the whole Christmas stocking thing, so this is really exciting for me! I found 2 different patterns online that I liked and ordered them. Although, they both provide new challenges for me. One (David's) is just a pattern - so I have to buy everything in order to make it, and the other (mine) is not even a cross stitch. It's needlepoint. This is similar, but different! So...It'll be an interesting challenge.

That is a picture of my stocking needlepoint "kit". There is so much thread, and it's so much bigger than my cute little teddy bear! Which is finished by-the-way.

Like my grass? That is my personal contribution to the pattern.

Anyway...

Setting up is very time consuming. First I have to separate all the colors, then I have to separate all the threads! And there are a lot of them! And there are even beads and ribbons. I'll be taking pictures as I go, like I did before, but the progress may not be as evident since I'm working with a painted canvas (see first picture).

So "yeah!" or lots of free time to try new projects!

Rearranged.

We rearrange our apartment every now and then. Each time we move things around we like it better than the last time.

David went to scuba diving last night without me because if I had tried to dive my head would have exploded thanks to my allergies. So, I made use of my free time by rearranging!
We've had similar arrangements, but this one is kind of nice. We like the cozy feeling of where the couch is now, and regardless of that lovely pole in the middle of the room, you can see the TV from any spot on the couch.
In high school I would get bored with my room all the time. Sometimes I would be sitting in my room, trying to fall asleep, and get some idea about how I should move my furniture around. Then, no matter how late, I'd just start moving stuff! This happened the most at ridiculously late hours at night when everyone else was sleeping. But it was fun! I wonder if, when we have a real house, my rearranging habits will continue.

Can't wait to find out!!

He's growing.

I'm expanding the range of my talents. I'm cross stitching now. It's fun! This is the cross stitch I've been working on... my birthday present from Janice. Here are some progress pictures. It's fun to see the progression.
I've also already ordered some other projects to work on after this one. They are a bit bigger.

...we all fall down!

Originally, I was going to post on a different subject today, but something happened on my way to the grocery store that merits an entry.

Today it's raining (big surprise). And, if you've ever lived in France you know that people dress up to go just about everywhere. Where Americans would wear sweatpants to the grocery store, women here wear high heels.

So that sets the stage.

While walking, a girl came around the corner and slipped and fell. She fell straight down on her hiney!Well, instead of getting up, she just stayed on the ground, laid down (in the wet street!) and closed her eyes. ??? So these people started going up to her to see if she was ok. They were tapping her, shaking her, questioning her, and she didn't move. So then a bunch of people start getting out their cell phones and begin to call ambulences etc etc. And all of a sudden...she wakes up! (And very dramatically I might add) Now, remember when I told you she laid down in the street. She didn't hit her head, she didn't faint, she didn't break a leg... she was acting!

Ok, I get that she was embarassed, but come on! People were calling ambulances for her! Why the drama? Why not just get up, admit you fell, and next time not wear high heels...in the rain!

At least she gave everyone a good story to tell. Thanks girl that fell! I wonder if she'll admit to any of her friends that she was faking it. It was terribly obvious.

l'économie??

We have some terribly sad news. Our favorite bakery for baguettes...is closed! For the last few weeks it has been closed with a sign on the door that said they were closed for work. Either work on something inside or because they were doing work on the street and we thought it may have been affecting something in the bakery...

But, a few days ago, we saw THIS:
The "available" sign in the window...they're gone!

According to David "this is a monumental moment in our lives!" And I can't agree more. Now we have to walk a whole minute up the street to find another bakery...but we don't really like that one, so now we have to go a whole 5 minutes away to the next best one! It was just too nice to be able to walk down our 4 flights of stairs and around the corner for a fresh baguette.

So we were trying to decide whether it was because of the economy that they closed. Then we remembered...we're in France! Everyone buys baguettes! Bakeries are the LAST places that will go under! So...what's the deal?! Oh well. Life goes on!

'Twas my birfday

why the weird title? i really don't know.

Yesterday was my birthday! I am now 25. No, I don't feel different.

To start my day, I did what I do everyday... I took Duncan for a walk! Most people would think that is a terrible way to start off your birthday, but I like walking with Duncan. Especially when the weather is nice, and the weather was nice! The sun was even out!

Then I got ready to go to lunch with Janice! We went to a place called noodle. It was fun! We each tried some asian noodles with a sauce we have never heard of. Anyone know what saté is? Anyway, we had some egg rolls too, yum.

Then we did some shopping! I've been wanting to get an apron ever since I started deep frying things, and making homemade cookies, dough, and biscuits. So I got one! And I replaced our oven mitts, because the old ones were getting pretty ugly. I'm enjoying the colorfulness of them. Most things in our apartment are black or white or wood. I'd love to paint the walls but David thinks we'll have to paint it white again before we leave. ?? Oh well. The plan isn't to be here so long that I can't live with white walls!

Janice also got me a little gift. She's been doing a lot of cross-stitching and she bought me a small one to try. I think it will be perfect to cross-stitch a baby's name onto the side of this one day:
Isn't he cute? So, at first the directions were really overwhelming, but then I read them :o) And it wasn't too bad. This is all I've done so far.And I'm going to wait to continue until I ask Janice some other questions. I think it will be fun. I've got lots of things to do now, between scrap booking, cross-stitching, the dog, english lessons, and my other everyday stuff. I can't wait to add going outside in the sunshine to that list.

So after shopping we went to the grocery store, did some shopping, and then parted ways. I went home and played with the beast (this is what David calls Duncan). And started my cross-stitch, and tried to trick David into telling me what we'd be doing that evening. I was almost successful!

Eventually, David came home and told me what we would be doing, then where we would be going and to go put on nicer clothes. Then we took a picture so that everyone could see what we looked like on my 25th birthday. About the same, huh? (this is not meant to be an opportunity for you to make one of your comments Matthew! :oP ) We decided to take a picture in front of our map...but we failed to center it properly - sorry Mom! You taught me better than that. :o)

Off to the restaurant! Thierry Saveur et Cuisine (You can even view the site in English)
The atmosphere was really cool. Fancy, gormet, and we were the first people there for the evening so we had 3 people serving us. They must have been bored because they were always looking over at us to see if we needed anything.

I didn't bring my camera but you can see what it was like at the website. I did find this picture on there. This is a small view of the exact table that we sat at. I thought it was neat that it was one of the pictures on the site. We ordered a 3 course meal (menu) and everything came out to us looking beautiful. This is another one of those restaurants were the food is more or a decoration for your plate. But I'm impressed with how it can look so good and taste great too. I guess I just never went to restaurants like this at home. Or else the places we went always served so much food that there was no room for decorating. We didn't leave stuffed, but just full enough. That should be more of a habit for us. We can seriously put some food away when we want to!

Our appetizers was beef and foie gras made into a loaf thingie with some sauces around it. yummy. The main course was sole (fish) and calamari with rice and some other sauces... I think one was called dog sauce (sauce chien)! And for dessert we had french toast! It was not the French toast you are invisioning. It was fancy. Served with apples and a little melted ice cream (which I think was a huge mistake! There should have been a nice scoop of ice cream right on top instead!) But it was still really yummy, and now we can say we've had real french toast.

That's about all that happened on March 3, 2009!

YUM!

David has been helping a fellow PhD student, Fred, with his proposal presentation (he proposes today!). So, as a "Thank You" Fred wanted to take us out to dinner. :o)

We went to a restaurant that is pretty close to our apartment. À Côté. I'm pretty sure it is called this because it is right next to another restaurant that the head chef owns. We were lucky to have the Chef there the night we went too. His other restaurant was given a 1 star (the highest rating for any restaurant in Metz ...3 is the highest overall though). So around Metz he is pretty well known.

Most of the seats in the restaurant are bar-style so that you can see all the cooks cooking. It was fun being able to see our food throughout all its stanges of preparation. But, you'd think that I would know how to make all of it now, right? Ha. We saw it all the time, but sometimes it would pop up looking totally different than the last time we saw it. It was like magic!

I had fois gras, and David had calamari for appetizers, then I had a duck "burger" (nothing like a burger you would picture) and David had jarret de veau (veal). They were both delicious, but I have to admit, I think the duck was better. Then for dessert I had cheesecake (just like American cheesecake!) and David had a fancy milkshake-like dessert. It was wonderful. And it wasn't too much food because this is one of those restaurants where you don't get too much becasue they serve everything as if it were meant to be a decoration for your plate.

It has been one of our goals to eat out a little bit more so that we know of good restaurants in the area to recommend to people. Plus, we won't live in France forever...but I WILL be cooking forever... Sorry I don't have pictures. I guess if you really want to know what it was like you'll just have to come visit us and we'll take you there! :o)

Videos

Until I blog again...some videos to hold you over:

Snowshoeing:
(The default quality of this video stinks, so, if you click the little "HQ" icon in the bottom right corner you can watch it in high quality and it's much better!)


Duncan:

Valentine's Day Weekend

David and I always seem to end up with interesting Valentine's Day stories. This year was no exception.

We took a trip to the Black Forest in Germany to go snowshoeing. We were invited by a lady from our scuba diving club who is a member of the Alpine club in Metz that planned the trip. We left Saturday morning at 6:30am, took a bus with the rest of the club members, and began hiking through the snow a little after 12:30pm. We hiked for 6 hours, about 10 miles the first day. The views were beautiful! The snow was fluffy! And the sun was shining! It took us a while to get our clothing layers right, but once we found the right combination it was great.

After the 10 miles we arrived at our hotel. The rooms were nice and we had an enormous balcony (too bad it was too cold to really enjoy it). We went to check out the pool and were unhappy to see that the pool wasn't heated. The water was freezing! So, of course, we skipped it! After nice warm showers we headed down for dinner. We had vegetable soup, delicious filets and potatoes, followed by a yummy sorbet and fruit dessert. Pretty good for a Valentine's Day dinner...and we didn't even plan it!

The next morning we set our for day two of snowshoeing. With healed feet and rested legs we were raring to go! A lot of the time we were following a path, but often we got to create our own. I liked it best when we were able to walk through the fluffy, untouched snow. The only qualm I had with snowshoeing was that I saw a lot of ski slopes and skiers. While we were walking UP they were skiing DOWN. And when we were WALKING down, they were still SKIING down. I was totally jealous. I wanted to ski so badly, but the cleats on the bottom of my 'raquets' wouldn't allow it. So, Matthew, this picture is for you:

The ski slopes we've been to are like the ghetto compared to everything I saw this past weekend. There were so many slopes to ski down that it wasn't crowded. You could ski wherever you wanted and on paths of completely fresh and fluffy snow. So cool.

At the end of our hike we stopped by a little German "cafe" (I guess that's what you'd call it...it wasn't a restaurant...). We had hot chocolate and an enormous slice of apple pie. It was delicious!

Then we got back on the bus and headed back to Metz. This is where is gets pretty interesting. Things were so normal the whole time that I new something was bound to happen. On the bus they had a microphone so that the 'leaders' of the trip could make announcements. For the majority of the trip back there was someone talking on the microphone. They were talking about future trip options (in extreme detail) as well as recaping the trip that we just took (also in extreme detail). And after that they put in a German music CD and turned up the volume. Then, after a while of the CD playing, the guy that had the microphone started whistling the tune and tapping on the microphone. So, all of the talking and noise making was kind of annoying. We were kind of hoping to sleep some on the way back...ha!

It was a great weekend. Check out more pictures here.

Awaaaaaaiting Summertime

I don't think I've ever been more ready for the summer! Maybe, when I was 16 and back in high school I would have had a similar motivation for the summer and a break from school...but this year my reasons are different. I've lived through the coldest winter that I've ever experienced. I was away from home for the first time at Christmas. Duncan is here now and he loves being outside and I'll be glad to have his company. And, I never really look forward to spring because of my pollen allergies. So, I have high expectations for the summer and all it may bring.

I'm trying to block from my memory the summer of 2007 here in Metz... because it was not really a summer at all. Rain, clouds, cold = not summer. But this year, it just feels like things will be different and I'm ready!

I've been searching for a special kind of picnic blanket since we came back to France in August. I even looked in Germany! Luckily, I finally found what I was looking for and it's even a little better than I had planned.The kind of picnic blanket I've been wanting has a special tarp-like lining on the underside of it. This is key here in Metz because the ground it always moist. Thanks to the new Intersport store that they put in near Cora I was able to find exactly that... and more!

They didn't have picnic blankets all by themselves so I had to get one that came with an entire picnic set! (for 4) Darn.

(Duncan is winking at you because he is really excited about our new stuff)

Goodbye winter! Hello sunshine! ...hello? ...sunshine? ...you there?

Gombo!

You will never believe what David and I found yesterday at what might become one of our favorite grocery stores...

The store is called "Grand Frais" because they have a large variety of fresh vegetables and fruits, etc...

We went there in hopes of finding some asparagus, since they NEVER have it at our grocery store downtown! While we were there we were totally impressed with all the stuff we found. The biggest surprise was that we found okra. Yep! The vegetable that every french person we've ever asked (and some of the Americans...usually of northern decent) have never heard of. ...the vegetable name that couldn't be translated by our awesome french/english dictionary. ...the vegetable that made our dinner last night awesome...OKRA!

On the sign above it it said that it was called "gombo." So, now we know. And I'm sure we'll be telling all our french friends about it, and then making it so that they can try it. We also found corn meal for preparing it. It was delicious. I'm very happy. :o)

Stay away from the back of the bus...

Today I had an interesting experience. It was one of those experiences where you wish that you were the kind of person who has no problem setting someone straight when they do something wrong/disgusting/irresponsible/annoying... especially when they are, what I like to call, the French Hoodlums of Metz.

After going to the Intersport to purchase my new picnic set (so exciting!!) I got on the 11 bus line heading back downtown. Because I had a decent sized shopping bag with me and because I wanted to read during my 30 minute ride, I went all the way to the back of the two-length bus to sit in peace. I sat, got my book, and started reading.

A few stops later the bus began to fill and a girl walked towards me. So, I moved over a little closer to my bag so that she could have some extra room. She sat down, followed by a guy-friend and they started talking...a lot louder than most French people (they are usually pretty soft spoken...but again I remind you...hoodlums).

Then they started wrapping up, what I thought was a cigarette. They do this all the time...homemade cigarettes. And they have to hurry because as soon as they get off the bus the MUST smoke, or they'll die. Anyway... she made hers and then pulled out a lighter... Then the guy gave her a hard time about something and she stood up and cracked a window (it's still below freezing here...not cool). Then she started flicking the lighter... so I looked up, saw she was about to light her "cigarette" and gave her this look that meant "Don't do it...you can't smoke on the bus...plus I don't want you to smoke right next to me..." Then, she looked directly at me, put the "cigarette" in her mouth and lit it (while still looking at me). SO, she was basically saying: "Ha! Try and stop me!" At this point I had to control my strangling reflex. Then she leaned over and spit on the floor...YES, spit! inside the bus!!

So, I took my bags, and got up and went to the front of the bus. At this point I'm sure she thought I was going to go talk to the driver. I hope she was nervous. I should have talked to him. So, my advice, when riding a bus in Metz, especially if you are going through the Borny area: Ride in the front of the bus, with the nice old ladies.

Oh, by-the-way, the "cigarette" was really weed...and stunk...how classy! There you go people. France isn't just all about baguettes, the Eiffel Tower, beautiful women, and fancy clothes. So don't be jealous that I live here...seriously.

Happy New Year!

Sorry for such a delay. I had these big plans to make a Christmas video and "Apres Noel" blog entry etc etc. Well, how about Happy New Year! Happy Chinese New Year! Even though it was a few days ago...

So, most recently, we were invited to celebrate the Chinese New Year with some of the Chinese students at GTL. The year of the Ox! It was a great time. This is a video of one of the Chinese guys singing a song after we ate. The night before, he had performed at an 'official' Chinese New Year celebration they had at the University of Metz in collaboration with the Chinese consulate here in France.

I also tried to make the video a button that links to my picasa website, where you can see more pictures. If it didn't work there is a button you can click on over there. (--> under "Links") There are also lots of other new pictures you should check out. The captions should be enough to tell you all about them!

So, roughly, since my last entry, we had a great anniversary (went to some thermal baths...it was great!), had a great Christmas, had dinner with a french couple from our scuba diving club, after Christmas, have started "theory" courses for certification in level 2 in the French scuba diving system, and plan to go snow shoeing in February.

David is taking a class this semester (only 2 more after this one!) and has made a good amount of progress organizing his thoughts and plans so that he can make significant progress towards proposing, thesising, and graduating.

Duncan and I are getting mentally prepared for the weather to warm up! I have found a picnic blanket and set that I plan to buy so that we can spend lots of time outside once it's warm enough.

I also found a scrapbook so that I can start scrap booking about our time here in France. I got a photo printer for Christmas, (thanks David's family!) so this was my main motivation to get started before we've been here so long that I have too much to try to recapture. Well, I'm back to blogging, so stay tuned!