This is just the sweetest thing...

Find more videos like this on Daily Pics

I'm home from the USA as of Friday morning about 10:30.

The visit with my family at the beach in southeastern NC was wonderful, though I didn't get to spend as much time with my son as I would've liked. He had to work all day on Wednesday, drive the 4-5 hours to the beach, then drive back on Thursday to go to work again on Friday morning.

We left the beach on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and I went back to my mother's place for a couple of days. On Tuesday, my sister picked us up, and we went first for lunch, then for a drive to some of the places my mother lived as a child. The houses were no longer standing, but you could see where her first childhood home had been, and some of the homes of relatives she'd visited were still there. We also visited the cemetery of the church where her family attended. Just as we were driving up, we ran into a lady whose grandfather was half-brother to my grandfather. After a few hours of this tour, we took Mama home, and I was off to my sister's where I'd stay for the next two days until it was time to go to the airport.

Arriving at my sister's, I was able to get in touch with my dear friend who's been my pal since we were seven years old. I hadn't managed to get up with her at that point, so when she offered to come and spend Wednesday night with us, then take me to the airport on Thursday, I accepted happily. My sister and I spent Wednesday gallivanting from one craft store to another, with a few other stores visited as well. Then on Wednesday afternoon, we came home to find my niece and her four-year-old son already there. My brother-in-law soon arrived home from work as well. When my friend arrived close to 7:00 p.m., we talked over old times and folks we all knew (over dinner), then quite a bit about genealogy and the links between my family and hers. About midnight, we finally went to sleep, getting up at 7:30 a.m. to do the final packing, checking, and double checking before our trip to the airport. We made a stop at Greek Fiesta for lunch and enjoyed it tremendously. Then it was finally time to say good-bye, and I was headed for Toronto, while she was headed for her home on the NC coast.

For the homeward journey, fortune smiled upon me as I had no long waits, and for the flight from Toronto to Paris, I was seated next to a delightful lady from Toronto. She was on her way to Nice for a Mediterranean cruise. As it was her first visit to France, I gave her an impromptu French lesson. We talked all the way from boarding in Toronto to passport control in Paris, with the exception of a couple of hours between dinner and breakfast. We probably would've talked then too, but we both slept a little instead. This trip seemed much quicker than usual, in part due to the tailwind, but also in part thanks to my new acquaintance from Canada. (Thank you, Carol!)

Once back in Paris, I walked to the train stop and again was lucky not to have to wait - no more than five minutes. When I arrived at the Gare du Nord, I simply got off the train, walked across the platform, waited no more than ten minutes, got on the train, and was in my little Wrinkle-in-the-Outskirts in practically no time! My DiGi was there at the local station to pick me up... home again at last!

A big "thank you!" to everyone who put up with me, put me up, chauffeured me around, or allowed me to chauffeur them around! Same time, next year?

If my dad had lived until today, he'd have been 90 years old.

A Poem for My Father

(reprinted - if you've been with me since my early days on 360°, you've already seen this one)

It's true... I'm moving over to Multiply.com - following DiGi there. I've been surprised to see how many of my "old" friends are already there. But as you know, I'm sort of out of the loop these days. There simply isn't enough time to do everything I want to do.

So what *am* I doing?

1) Working hard. As I have been since about March... for the most part, since our new director took over, I haven't been short of work.

2) Taking naps on the sofa before going to bed. I get comfortable to watch a little TV while dinner's cooking, and suddenly DiGi's waking me up and telling me to come to the table.

3) Studying my beading/jewelry-making forums, and making things. I've made quite a few pairs of Christmas tree earrings, plus a necklace that I rather like, among other things. These forums send sometimes 100 emails a day, and I try to read everything and delete most. I'm learning and absorbing. And since we've renewed our contract with the company where they have a crafts workshop, I've been exchanging ideas with the members and catching up on old times. (It's nice to be there, though I do miss my Tuesday classes that I did for a year near Melun.)

4) Making plans to visit my family in the USA. It's been a year! And yes, I've started packing, even though I've still got 19 days to go.

5) Trying to keep up with Flickr. Photography is a passion for me, even though I'm strictly amateur. If I don't have my camera with me, I feel really naked. I've bought a smaller one, but now I can't get the link between camera and computer to work. I'm pondering how to deal with that. Meanwhile, I'll probably take the time tomorrow to go to a photo shop to get the shots I've taken so far loaded onto a CD so I can use them!

6) Shopping for groceries every Saturday, shopping for clothes for DiGi (and keeping my eyes open for what's new for me, too), going through the closets and taking out the things we never wear (and probably won't ever be able to again...)

7) Cooking, washing clothes, doing dishes, etc. I'm lucky... DiGi helps me - sometimes simply by being patient or agreeing to make do with something pre-packaged.

8) Going to Paris if I get a few hours free when the weather is tolerable - doesn't happen very often, but how I love that city!

9) Changing the clocks back! It's Daylight Savings Time in Paris! [Note added at 5:29 a.m. on Monday morning: It *was* DST... now it's Standard Time. And which clock did I forget to change? The one that wakes me up! So I got up at 5 instead of 6 a.m.]

10) Reading a series of books about the history of Paris and where to go to see the sights: Around and About Paris by Thirza Vallois - a three-volume series with each arrondissement addressed in order... a description of the history, then a verbal walking tour. Some maps, but not many photos. Love it!