Beautiful Blogger Award

My friend Jen, beautiful woman, soul sistah, fellow lol cat speaker and colleague without whom work would be dull, nominated me for a blogger award, which is so nice, considering I don't post that often -but hey, this is a good push to write more often! Thanks, Jen!

Here are the rules:

1- Thank the person who nominated you for the award.

2- Copy the award and paste it on your blog.

3- Link to the person who nominated you for the award.

4- Share 7 interesting things about yourself.

5- Nominate 7 other beautiful bloggers.

7 interesting things about me -well, "interesting" might be quite an overstatement...

1- I love to-do lists. I am so obsessed I even make lists of to-do lists.

2- You can bribe me with sour candies.

3- I can spend hours reading. Actually I do spend hours reading -magazines and books. I protest (Joe calls it nagging, I believe) a lot when Joe watches sports but truly enjoy the opportunity to read while he watches TV.

4- I know how to behave but lose all control during the football (real football, not the one sissies play with helmets and shoulder padding) and rugby world cup. I then become a rather loud French supporter.

5-I wanted to be a movie or documentary producer and studied film for a year at UCLA. I didn't like how fake people were and decided to pursue international relations instead. There went all hopes of having loads of money in my bank account.

6- I do not like anything with chocolate, lemon, or raspberry. Well, Snickers and Twix are the exception.

7- My favorite food is bread and butter. Followed closely by wine/cheese/bread. Actually I'll eat anything with bread.

Now on to my nominations:

1- Nancy, who should definitely blog again -because she's witty and insightful.

2- Sarah, whose blog is simply beautiful and inspiring.

3- Jane, emergency nurse and women's champion. She's one of my role models.

4- Sarah, incredible mother of 3 boys and gifted with amazing creative skills!

5- Heather, blogging about her life with her husband, awesome boy, and crazy dog.

6- Heidi, blogging from the OC, and living the life.

7- Kristi, superb writer and political soulmate.

Leaving On a Jet Plane

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I have been so busy at work and have crashed at home.

Fortunately, I am taking a break from the office starting next Saturday -though I won't be on vacation. I will be traveling for 3 weeks to the Philippines and Indonesia. I am so excited about this trip! I am looking forward to meeting new people and seeing the great work my organization is doing on the ground. I hope to post a few (hopefully) interesting posts from there.

That Was One Good Sunday

This weekend was very good. On Saturday morning I spent 2+ hours at Barnes while Joe was at a workshop at UW. We took the dogs to the beach in the afternoon because -miracle of miracles- the weather was actually good. We didn't do much during the evening but relaxed, which was pretty close to perfect since I have been feeling super tired lately. I mean, I turn off the lights at 10:30p, people. I am becoming a grandma -for all of you readers with children, no offense. I'm going to go to bed at 7:30p when I have kids, it's already decided!

Sunday was glorious!

#1- I went to a church which might become my home church: Ste Therese. The choir was lively and the people were of all ages and ethnicities. The sermon was good and given by an African priest. Most of all, I felt good in this crowd. I felt among "my people." I love the Catholic rites, and the fact that the masses are the same everywhere. I like shaking people's hands and wish them the Peace of Christ. I like taking communion.

I really tried to go to a church other than Catholic but I never felt like this was the right place for me. Don't get me wrong: I pretty much disagree with everything the Catholic church stands for but I am Catholic. That's part of who I am. Being Catholic is as true to me as being French. I might not like my government (I really do not like my government) but I am still French. If you want change, sometimes you have to be the change from within. So I have decided to go back to the fold and go to church in a liberal (the Catholic version of liberal!) Catholic church. I found it, I think.

Next Sunday I am going to another church, St Joseph, on Capitol Hill, and then I'll choose between the two.

#2- Joe and I went shopping! That was long overdue. I don't have enough clothes. When I say this, I mean that I have enough clothes compared to most people on the planet, but I don't have enough clothes for work. So I went to Express and bought a new pair of pants and a pair of jeans. The jeans were on sales and I got them for (special wink to Heidi)... $12. That's right, twelve dollahs. I was pretty happy about that! Then we went to Macy's to buy a pair of shoes with heels -because one day I would like to dress like a laydee!- and found one pair for $15 (regular price $70). I was one stocked woman!

Today I am wearing my usual grey pants/ greay sweater / NGO shoes. The usual. But I know that I have different clothes in my closet and that makes me happy.

#3- The Saints won! For once in my life I was interested in football. NOLA deserved to win and the Saints represent the heart of their city. It was good to witness this victory.

Pretty good Sunday, I'd say.

Now it's Monday and I have a hard time waking up, even with a double shot latte.

Oscar Season

February is back! That means that the Oscar nominations are out and it's time for Joe and I to rush to the movie theater to watch as many nominated movies as we can (in the biggest categories only). We have already watched half of the nominees for best picture: Up, Up in the Air, Inglourious Basterds (I hope that Christopher Waltz wins for best supporting actor), District 9, and the Hurt Locker. So far I am on Team Hurt Locker. It's a beautiful movie about EODs (Explosive ordnance Disposal Teams, aka the bomb squads) in Iraq and it captures the difficulties and the adrenaline-induced-addiction of being a soldier there.

Next up: Avatar, the Blind Side, A Serious Man, Precious, Crazy Heart, and An Education.

Bets are open as to who will win in the main categories. Stay tuned as I give you my picks!

Want to read more about children in emergencies?

Then read this: http://ow.ly/XZs7.

Vlad The Man!

That's how Joe calls my brother. Vladimir is 20; He's sweet, funny as hell, patient, smart, and I love him more than I love anyone else on earth. I wish he could just move here with us. Then my life would be perfect!

2010

I am back! I deleted this blog at the end of 2009 because I felt I didn't have anything to write, yet I find myself thinking "I could write about this and that" so I am back.

The end of 2009 was a bit of a rollercoaster. I learnt I was pregnant but miscarried a couple of weeks after. Since then I have felt a bit depressed, a bit empty, but also positive that 2010 will be a good year and that I have to embody the Ubuntu philosophy. So 2010 will be a year of being good to myself, to others, and to the planet, which turned into 3 resolutions

- Be good to myself: cook healthy meals and work out (I have started working out at work during lunch time and we follow the "Insanity" workout, which is... insane!).
- Be good to others: become an advocate on behalf of a cause.
- Be good to the planet: buy organic food as much as possible and recyle (yes, I know... who doesn't recycle these days? Well, until recently, moi!).

I will try to keep updating this blog often, but I don't want this to become a burden. Still, keep checking in.

Of course, I have to mention Haiti. Please consider donating to an organization of your choice. Joe and I donated to the organization I work for, but there are a lot of good organizations out there that are doing a lot in Haiti -and have been there before the earthquake hit. The people of Haiti need your help.