Life after graduation, starting with a summer in Colorado then a year in France. And not actually in French.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Thoughts on living abroad
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
A somewhat belated Thanksgiving
Thursday, November 11, 2010
The Louvre
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Vacation and all that jazz
The reason I have been sans internet is, well, ok, there are two reasons. Actually, after I took the GMAT Friday the internet was down at the house, but the week before I was on vacation with the family and thus, no internet. And since the last week has been pretty GMAT-centric, and therefore both boring and arduous, I’m going to go back a couple weeks and talk about vacation instead. The second reason is that once I got back from vacation it was super sketchy (and is still kind of so) and it kept (keeps) being on for an hour or two and lulling me into a false sense of security and then traitorously disappearing.
Anyway, vacation. The dad had to work, but the mom and the three kids and I went to Île de Ré, an island of the western coast of France where the maternal grandparents have a house. It was lovely – the house, the island, the extended family, all of it. The mom's older brothers were there, the married one accompanied by his wife and three sons (the youngest is 14 mo).
Mind, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses. Two of the cousins are twin 5 year-old boys. You may remember that the youngest of my kids is also a 5 year-old boy. Good kids, all, but let me tell you, 3 x (five year old boy) does NOT equal 3 children. The increase in energy and noise levels with each additional boy is kind of exponential … it’s like dealing with 9 normal children.
Here are some other, equally scientific facts that I learned from the boys:
1. The amount of sand contained in one pocket after an hour at the beach = 2 x (volume of said pocket)
2. The amount of sand contained in the shoes of three boys after an hour at the beach does not have an equation because it defies expectation, logic, the laws of mathematics, the laws of physics and possibly the law of gravity.
3. It is only possible for you, the babysitter, to be in one place at a time. When you are with 6 kids, however, it is possible for them, collectively, to be in 15 different places at any given moment, at least 4 of which involve some activity they are not allowed to do.
Looking back at what I’ve already written, I’m afraid I’m making it sound like I spent the entire week running around desperately, frazzled and at my wit’s end as the children apparated around the island. This was not the case. Mostly it was a great week, and it was nice to be away from the routine of normal life - and what a place to be for that! The island is beautiful, after all. Evidence below.
The houses are almost all like this – white, with the green doors and shutters. We were in one town and I got to visit two more, which is where the pictures of the harbors come from. Picturesque, non? And I tried all kinds of seafood: oysters (not a fan, I have say), mussels, shrimp, prawns and goodness knows what else. And while I didn’t love everything, I’m glad I had the chance to try it all.
So yes, I did spend a week with a fair number of children. But hey, I have cousins so that wasn't really anything new. And I did have the chance to explore a really lovely part of France that has a very distinctive culture and ... decor? style? Not sure what the correct word would be there. Regardless, it was very relaxing and I think I'll be going back at Easter!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Dear Art Nouveau furniture: Why yes, I would like to be a part of your awesome, thanks.
Transportation strikes
Friday, October 8, 2010
Game time
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Safety Info
Friday, October 1, 2010
New French cultural experience: Wednesdays
- 11.00 - Lauriane to pottery
- 12.30 - Lauriane from pottery
- 12.30-1.30 - lunch
- 14.00 - Alix to pottery
- 14.45 - Lauriane to rock climbing
- 15.00 - Aymeric to multi-sport
- 15.30 - Alix from pottery
- 16.00 - Aymeric from multi-sport
- 16.30 - Lauriane from rock-climbing
- 18.00 - Lauriane to catechism
- 19.00 - Lauriane from catechism
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Classes start tomorrow. I'm kind of way excited.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
And now I've been to Paris!
Wow, sorry anyone who's reading this, but I just realized how long it had been since I updated this. What with writing emails and now trying to be on facebook regularly, I loose track of what I have and I haven't kept up to date.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
In France!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Leaving!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Back at home!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Career choices and creepy fortune cookies
One of the best of these conversations was when a colleague took Co-Intern and me out to lunch. We went to this little Chinese place across the street from our office building and had a nice long lunch where the food was good (although Co-Intern might quibble a bit about that – her orange chicken was very, very citrusy, though not bad) and the conversation was better.
Our colleague is about 40, I would guess, and has a lot of experience to share, both personally and professionally. It was a lot of fun to talk to her, and especially to get advice (have I mentioned I’m a little desperate for that? Yeah, because I am). So we talked about working in a nonprofit vs. the corporate world (my personal opinion: just because it’s Christian nonprofit doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be run like a business – it’s just that the profit isn’t in $), about men, about marriage, about being a career woman and a mother. Fascinating, and definitely things I need to think about.
The only thing that wasn’t wonderful about the lunch was my fortune cookie. Apparently someone can read my mind – and I don’t mean that the fortune cookie had insight into my career decision struggles or secret fears. No, my fortune cookie actually read, “Someone can read your mind.” Thanks, creeper fortune cookie. But the worst part is that when I saw it I immediately though, “Oh great, must be Edward.”
Maybe my (apparent) belief in fictional characters indicates a lack of grounding in reality and THAT’S what keeping me from making career decisions (and partner in the apartment o’ awesome, the Edward thing is totally your fault).
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Life Crisis
But, for now, my event du yesterday: life crisis.
I don’t think I’m the only one who’s dealing with this right now. In fact I know I’m not. That does not make it easier. Yesterday’s life crisis was brought on by a talk I had with my boss’ boss about (surprise!) what I wanted to do with my life and career. Not that the talk went badly in and of itself, just that not having a life/career plan really comes to light when you’re having a discussion like that. And that’s pretty much what happened to me.
It does explain why I can’t pick which grad schools to apply to – I don’t know what I want to do with my career, so picking the program that will best help me reach that (nonexistent) goal is a little difficult.
With that conversation in mind, I have decided to change the way I approach the issue. Instead of worrying about what grad schools to concentrate on, I’m going to focus solely on figuring out what I’m good at, what I like doing, why I like doing it, and where those intersect. After that my hope is that an idea will come to me, like a bolt of very inspired lightning, and I’ll know how to make a career out of them.
Yeah, it’s pretty fool-proof.