Ratatouille

First of all, CONGRATS to my bro.....he just proposed last night to Andrea and we couldn't be more happy for them. I desperately woke up Mimi this morning to find out all the juicy details. As soon as I acquire a picture of the happy couple, I'll be sure to post it!

Today we just nested. I cooked most of the day. With winter setting in I just can't seem to make enough soup, and right now the butternut squashes are out. It's my favorite time of year for sure. The clean crisp cold air, soup, and a hot chocolate, YUM in the tum. I had quite a helper today in the kitchen:


Oh wait, it wasn't really Chance doing the cooking.....it was Ratatouille.

And we had Jack come play today. The boys made cookies and had all sorts of fun eating the dough and playing pirates.

Drivers BEWARE: Tuesday Afternoons

I now know the meaning of PTA mom.....it's getting to be too much and a little insane, and now I understand what it means to be constantly on the go toting your kids around to after school activities. And I only have one kid. Yikes. But the good news is Chance loves his current "Athletics" practice which is basically track and field for a munchkin. Last week they did the javelin throw and used starting blocks to push off for a race. Chance is close to the youngest and so not the fastest runner, but the funny thing was that he'd sprint down and turn around before the other kids did, and then he'd sprint back, and every time he actually thought he was winning by running faster. We have lots to learn. Athletics practice is at a sports field and too hard to get to without a car, so we joined Mobility, a pay as you go car service that is really handy. I just need to get a little better at driving it. This is what I look like as I've gotten off the train (well, sort of what I look like except me wearing anything close to a suit these days is unlikely)....I use my little card to unlock the reserved car, I find the keys in the glove box waiting for me and off I go...to get honked at.

The best part is that the cars are red, bright red, and say MOBILITY on them way too many times, which just screams NOVICE DRIVER ABOARD. This is the one that we rent every time, the oh so good looking Renault Modus.
You'd think I could do it since the Swiss drive on the right too but the rules are just so weird....like when you are driving straight down the road, one might assume that you'd have the right-away to cars pulling on to your street. WRONG. You must yield (sometimes) to cars approaching from the right, even when they are clearly coming in to your path. Round abouts are okay for now, I really like them actually, much more efficient than the 4-way stop, but it's the damn pedestrians that I need to worry about. Somehow I just need to pay more attention, AND QUICKLY, to the cross walks. You'll get fined if you don't stop, and more importantly you'll probably hit someone cause they are assuming you will stop. Boy I've got lots to learn but at least I don't have to worry about where I am going and how to get there cause my trusty TomTom takes me on the perfect route every time.