Heat and Miss

The heat.  I'm from Alabama so I know heat.  But once again I am surprised how hot and muggy Northern France can actually get.  Especially when there's no air conditioning.  We've had a hot spell for the last three weeks and though I'm really not complaining about the brilliant sun, the stickiness is not so pleasant.  My routine after waking up has been cracking the windows but keeping the blinds mostly closed.  Wearing light clothes is a given since my car only blows a bit of air on me and some companies I visit don't have a/c either.  We even put an umbrella up on the balcony to block some of the sun and some nights it's been too hot to eat out there! 

Luckily the hot sun has been useful for drying clothes while my dryer is OUT OF ORDER!  As I write this I'm waiting for the repairman and hoping there is nothing major wrong with it.  For all my recent railing about life without a dryer, I just can't go back to a no-dryer existence.  And I don't particularly want to fork out money on a new one considering the one we have is only three years old!

The miss is because a week ago my mom and sister left.  Two weeks went by too quickly, as I knew they would.  I feel they really connected with Juliette and it warms my heart to see her keeping a strong bond with her American family. I am also glad we were able to squeeze in so much fun with side trips and home projects and even a little kid birthday party for Juliette.  In the end I opted for a home party and judging by the kids' squeals, I think they enjoyed it.

And on her real birthday I made her a chocolate box cake that was so very moist!  And put her name on top, of course.

Five-year old Juliette is proving to be quite the spitfire.  As if she weren't already!  I've noticed she's been calling me "mom" or "mama" more instead of "mommy".  I figure it's from hearing my sister Jessy call my mom these names.

So for the time being we're just hanging out here, working (lightly), going to summer day care (in Juliette's case).  Summer languors on, punctuated by thunderstorms and trips to the park.   I'll try to finish some home projects (the perpetual "organize the house" goal that mom and Jess helped immensely with) and enjoy some down time. 

What are your summer plans?