Internet and Vacation

Are you Addicted to the Internet? 36% Newbie (21% - 40%) You've started to learn that there is more to the internet than AOL. You've recovered from that email virus that wiped your hard drive and are thinking of getting DSL. You still tend to forward too many jokes and inspirational thoughts via email to your entire address book. The Are you Addicted to the Internet? Quiz at Quiz Me!

Voilà, that's me! A newbie! LOL


It's good to get away from computers every once in a while. We've made our final decision on where to go for vacation. Oh, oui, got to "reconnect" with nature. We'll be spending a week in Normandie then take a trip down and savor the sites, culture & flavors of the Bretagne region.

Could be tiring but surely be a memorable, fun and worthwhile vacation.

You too...

Coincidence?

I just thought of sharing this with you...

Yesterday at around 1:30 p.m., I and my son Koko were watching tv, quite anxious about the result -- on which city would host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games; Paris or London? At exactly 1:50 p.m., Int'l. Olympic Committee President Rogge announced that London will host the games.

"No!", we both screamed. We were so disappointed as we really wished the games be hosted by the city of Paris. My son, in particular, got so saddened I saw him wiped away his tears.

"Don't worry, by the year 2012, you'll be 22 years old. Old enough to be where you want to be. Who knows, that by that time, you'd be working in London, own an appartment which is just a block away from the stadium." I said while affectionately stroking his cheek. The thought made him smile.


Over dinner, we had the same discussion. This time with the hubby.

"So, we lost, eh?" the hubby said.

"Oui, but what can we do, London's been ahead of 3 to 4 points from the very beginning. Okay, I, too, am disappointed but I don't know, I'm kinda relieved." I said as I swallowed a bit of the chicken.

"Oh yeah? Why?"

"I don't know, I have a feeling that something's gonna happen. I can feel it. Mark my words, there'll be attentats (bombings) tomorrow. And we should thank God, Paris wasn't chosen." I responded.


This morning, the hubby called up telling me that once again, I was right.

"About what?" I asked.

"There has been a half dozen bombings in the underground/subway and buses in London!"

As of this writing, I don't know (yet) if it's because of the Olympic games or the G8 Summit. All I know is that there were indeed bombings in London, today.

"Oh, sh...! I've told you!" I was almost yelling.

"...yeah, and you should have just kept it to yourself!" He added.

Why did he say that? Ok, It's been going on for over a year now, there are things I think and swear will happen... happen. Hey, I'm not a charlatan or a wannabe fortune teller. Nope, far from it.

Okay, let me cite instances that seem a little strange to us...

Last year, I told my husband that I could feel my friend's husband leaving her to live with his mistress and that he'll be back 1 year after. (oopps, tzizmiz you might say, but let me finish...)

"You'll see, he'll be back after a year-long (s)excapade, just in time for his wife's (my friend) 41st birthday." I remember telling him that.

Just two weeks before my friend's 40th birthday, her husband left the matrimonial home. The reason, I was right, no need to elaborate.
And now, it's been a week that he's back and next weekend, we're invited for a birthday dinner, my friend's 41st birthday. See?

Another instance, when hubby's cousin announced that she was pregnant, I remember myself telling my hubby, "I am quasi sure that she'll give birth prematurely and that her husband shouldn't be away when that time comes!". The day her water broke, her husband was just starting to take a nap -- quite exhausted from a 3-day trip, just barely arrived from Mans (for its annual 24-hour motor race) with my hubby and friends (well, I was actually trying to convince him not to 'bring' his cousin's husband along). She gave birth 2 months before her due date, she was supposed to give birth this August.

I also "predicted" (see? now I'm beginning to use that word, hehe) about the hubby's brother passing the driving test but failing the Baccalauréat exams last year. That his brother's got no choice but to repeat a year and this time he'll pass. That's exactly what happened and he got the good news last Monday.

And now, these attentats in London...

Ok, ok, I know these are just coincidences but I guess, next time, I'll just have to keep it to myself and keep my mouth shut, eh? What do you think?

I'm beginning to scare my husband...

Une de moins

Today is Clémentine's last day of school. As I'm writing this, she is having fun with her classmates. Well I guess she's right now dancing to the beat of "gusta la Gasolina", her favorite (brother-influenced) rap song and surely singing it too -- "tabalakasoniyaw" -- well that's how she manages to pronounce it. Yes, they're having a fete! We, parents, were asked to bring CD's our children love to be used at the party. I brought this CD to school, not surprisingly, almost everybody had the same! So I think this song will be played over and over again as this seems to be everybody's favorite...ah, kids.



How time flies! I can hardly believe that she already finished her first year (classe des petits) of preschool. As though it was only yesterday that we brought her home from the maternity clinic... as though it was only yesterday that I craved for a steaming, spicy shark fin soup and dined at a Vietnamese restaurant 3 hours before receiving peridural. Oh yes, as though... but it's been 4 and a half years! Time passes so fast!



She's changing at an incredibly fast rate! She speaks fluidly, has known her alphabet since she was 3 and can count to 59... ok she's still having a hard time remembering soixante (60), hehe. She's going to be in the classe des moyens next school year, and this time she's got to go 4 whole days a week as it is obligatory (she only went 4 mornings a week during her first year). Oh, that surely be quite tiring for me as I would prefer her to have lunch at home. Since I don't work (yet), I'd rather have her here for lunch and know what she eats rather than letting her eat at the canteen, having no idea whether she eats well or not. Problem is, the preschool is a kilometer away from our place and to get to and fro, is by car. Got to be there before 8:30 a.m., fetch her at 11:30 a.m., bring her back before 1:30 p.m. then finally, classes finish at 4:30 p.m. (Sorry, can't help prevent global warming!)



Let me tell you about the French education system. Ok, here, it starts early. Kids between 2 to 5 years old, go to maternelle (preschool/nursery) for 3 years -- petits, moyens, & grands sections. At the age of six, they enter elementary school (école primaire), it consists of the first 5 years of school, that is, CP, CE1, CE2, CM1, CM2. Between the ages 11 to 14 they move on to junior high which is called collège -- 6eme, 5eme, 4eme, 3eme or simply 6th, 5th, 4th and 3rd. Then the next step is the lycée (high school) which is the final step before école supérieure or université (college). Lycée starts from 2eme, 1er, to terminale. And for the last two years of lycée, students will choose their specialty (as to what their future career would be) and on which they will be tested in a week-long final exam called Baccalauréat , equivalent to Philippines' NCEE. Oh yes, 15 long years before getting to college -- and how long will that be? Well, as we all know, depending on what course you'd like to take up.

Gosh, Cléms has just started... one year down, une (année) de moins, a lot more to go...