Aucuns Vols Faciles

(No Easily Flights)

Trip Update:
Nous avon (we have) acquired enough frequent flyer points to cover notre (our) round trip billets (tickets) to Paris ensuite été (next summer).  Je (I) can only imagine this is what it feels like when your stock vests.  It is actually kind of funny after spending mons (months) trying every random survey, trial membership and mailing list to acquire enough Delta miles to cover our flights and with one simple carte de credit (credit card) nous earned both of notre billets (our tickets) on British Airways.

But bout nuit (last night) nous realized a petit catch in notre (our) plan.  Though British Airways flies out the Charlotte aéroport (airport), which is only une heure et demi (an hour and half) away, one can not book a vol (flight) using reward points from this aéroport.  The closest aéroport that nous can book from is in Atlanta, Georgia, cinq heures (five hours) away.  Not all is lost Daniel has cousins there, who may be getting a phone call for a favor et (and) nous will just add un jour ou deux (a day or two ) to the trip.  Je sais (I knew) this was being way too easy.

Oh and Delta has recently reconfigured their reward flights so the it takes substantially plus (more) miles to qualify for a international flight.  The strange silver lining to this nuage (cloud) is that is only vingt pour cent plus (20% more) miles to qualify for a first class billet (ticket) on the same vol (flight).  So who knows nous may be fly out on BA and back first class on Delta?  It would mange (eats) up most of notre miles but je bet nous pas (we will not) being taking a trip like this for awhile.  Je vous tiendrai courant (I will keep you informed).


Aujourd'hui (today) I had one of my worst jours (days) of Frenching to date.  I always score badly on the écrit (writing) section and it is not unusual to have to work that section trois (three) times before je receive a passing score and that is fine.  Je ne peux pas ( I can't spell) in English why would je think it would be any better in Français.  But, aujourd'hui je (today I) scored a zéro! Je have never scored that badly, don't get moi (me) wrong j'ai eu (I have had) some really bad scores but never a zéro.  Ce jour (that day) off really did not pay off.


Tonight's Picture:

La pauvre femme n'a pas des mains.

De ma visite au musée. (From my trip to the museum)

Pervious Picture:

The fake cherries and eggplant sit in the real flowers.

Et en tant que toujours (and as always) feel free to french back

Mémoire d'Etsy

(Etsy Store)

So je suis (I am) sure some of vous avec (you have) noticed the side bar with the pictures of ornaments et (and) lately bijoux (jewelry), et si vous n'avec pas (and if you haven't) mon marketing plan has failed.  The pictures are a link to mon mémoire d'etsy (etsy store).  J'ai vend (I sell) ornaments et ayez (and have) since Christmas dernier (last).  Je started the shop when j'étais (I was) between travail (work) right after graduate school.  Je decided since j'ai eu le temps et étais (I had time and was) trying to save argent (money) je would make ornaments for the famille (family) members nous (we) were going to exchange gifts with.  Ma mere (my mom) has been making these simple hand stitched fabric ornaments for gifts for ans (years) now.  Since j'ai (I was) going to be making a bunch of them and came up with the idea with plenty of temps (time) je figured je would see if je could vend (sell) any.

Mon primiere (my first) sale happend really rapide et ils acheté (fast and they bought) half of the items je had listed.  Super excited je listed beaucoup (a lot) of ornaments to have only un (one) additional sale that season.  J'ai (I have) had only trois (three) sales since then oh and deux (two) of those were famille.  Je will admit j'ai only half kept up with it.  Semaines ou mois (weeks or months) will go by without moi posting a new item et (and) then je will post trois ou quarte (three or four) then do nothing for semaines again.

Je sais (I know) much of que (what) makes a shop travail et (work and) how to make it more successful, je just don't commit myself to it.  Mon (my) hope was to travail on it over cet été (this summer) et hopefully still will.  Je did stitch deux plus (two more) ornaments aujourd'hui (today) so those maybe clogging up votre (your) facebook feed soon as well.  The plan was to expand beyond the petite hand sewn ornaments since je started, since je actually know how to sew and build things all the time.  Je believe if je ever just committed to doing the site then je would get around to figuring out que (what) else je could do.  Always ouvert (open) to suggestions.


Tonight's Picture:

Les cerises et l'aubergine fausses s'arrêtent en vraies fleurs.

Of course ils sont de ma mémoire (they are from my store).

Pervious Picture:
I cook in the kitchen


Et en tant que toujours (and as always) feel free to french back.

Écriture de Lettre

(Letter Writing)

Ma belle-mere m'a  écrit une lettre en français. (My mother in law wrote me a letter in french). This was tres (trés) sweet of her as this is exactly what je was hoping for en écrit this blog.  Je did put off écrit her back for several jours (days) as je knew it would take beaucoup de travail (a lot of work).  Et il était. (And it was). Je spent le meilleur (the better) part of une demi-heure écrit elle (a half hour) back.  Et c'est un email trés peite. (And it is a very little email).  Mais l'a écrit que j'ai fait. (But wrote it I did)

Daniel et je (and I) have realized notre été dans (our summer in) Paris has a huge amount of logistics to work out.  Norte vol et hôtel (our flight and hotel) seeming least of all. So I am trying to start working out some of those details.

Side Note: Since we (the english speakers)  spell Paris the same way the french you should just read it with the français pronunciation for me. (Pare-ie) Merci.

Additional Side Note: So je suis allé dehors ( I went outside) to escape loud fille (girl) dealing with a mid life crisis only to have her follow me dehors to smoke.  Last temp enfants (time children) cette temp (this time) mid life crisis.  Is there no relief en mon cafe (in my coffee shop)?

Tonight's Picture:

Je fais cuire dans la cuisine.

Pervious Picture:

The weather is hot and sunny on the dock.

Un An

(One Year)

A couple of nuits (nights) ago over cafe (coffee) in what has already become our neighborhood coffee shop, Daniel et je (and I) started planning notre (our) trip to Paris.  Well more we started planning planning notre trip to Paris.  It is exciting but a bit daunting.

Side note:
My quiet aire de travail (work space) at the coffee shop has been overrun with peites enfants (little kids) alright so maybe there are only trois (three) but je find it trois un trop grand nombre (three too many). How quickly suis devenu vieux (I have become old) and crotchety.  Have je mentioned they are clogging up the salle de bains (bathroom) when je suis dans le besoin (I am in need).

Aujourd'hui je (Today I) learned tense, future and past.  This was a peite (little) encouraging as the program has advanced enough I am no longer parroting vocabularity but working on more complex thoughts. I am also trying to use plus français (more french) in casual conversation, and am pleasantly suprised by how often je can make a complete thought entirely in français. Though je think ils (they) would still turn me away from enrolling in kindergraten as under developed.

While the program is much more focused on creating complete sentences there is always new vocabulary in each section. Aujourd'hui, j'ai appris aujourd'hui (today, I learned today), I just wrote that sentence to make me laugh. I also learned dictionnaire, "Oui est le dictionnaire?" (Where is the dictionnaire?) Which I thought was silly, "Oui est le contrôle de charme?" ("Where is the spell check?") Seems much more helpful dans ces jour et âge (in this day and age).

I have mentioned a few times how learning a foreign language really makes tu (you) think about ton (your) own language. As I was reciting my new words enveloppe et email (envelope and email) it makes it kind of obvious quand (when) some words came in to being.  Sure email is a concept that occurred when globalization was well underway and it makes since that most romantic based languages will use the same word for it, but how about envelope.  Are the words just taken from one another or did this become a common word while the world was growing smaller?  I know all a bit off track for me.

Je will wrap up this post before it becomes any plus (more) random et stream of conscious like.

Tonight's picture:

Il fait chaud et il fait de soleil a le port.

Plus photos de (from) Norwalk! 

Ma Maison (Ma Maison Provisioire)

(My Home (My Temporary Home)

So as an excuse to use my chambres de maison (rooms of the house) knowledge je have decided to give a photo tour of notre (our) apartment.  Nous also got a nouvel appareil - photo (new camera) a couple semaines (weeks) ago.  Le nouvel appareil- photo est parce que notre vieil appareil-photo était cassé. ( The new camera is because our old camera was broken.  Quand je (when I ) heard about it j'ai regardé le mari ( I looked to the husband), qui a regardé au chien (who looked to the dog), qui a regardé (who looked) like she didn't care.

Either way nouvel appareil-photo et nouvel appartement:

Notre cuisine et salle á manger. (Our kitchen and dinning room)

 So it really isn't a salle á manager it is a barre de petit dejéuner (breakfast bar) and the only table space that nous were provided with in the appartement but it has deux chaises grandes (two tall stools).  Strangely it has caused nous pour mangent plus (us to eat more) meals at a "table" than we normal do, which is on the couch.

Mon aire de travail (My work space)

Nous brought the card table from home et j'ai acheté le chaise bon marché (and I bought the cheap chair) from Target. These are the only normal chair and table in the appartement.

La salle de séjour. (the living room)

On a whole pretty happy with it, though why tu (you) would need a massage chair, je ne sais pas ( I do not know.  Nous have a projector which is fun.

Notre salle de trois saisons. ( Our Three Season Room)

Think half sun room half screened in patio.  Either way it is lovely, and (et) the only fenêtres dans le appartement (windows in the apartment).  The plan is to get chaises et tables bon marché pour elle (cheap chairs and table for it).

Mes lanters de papier 

La chambre á coucher (the bedroom)

Nothing special just a chambre á coucher.  Tu can tell all the design of the appartement was left to the common areas.

Salle de bains (Bathroom)

Bain et toilette (Bath and toilet) are in another room, but this was the good part.  Deux éviers (two sinks)!  If this does not seem exciting to you, you have obviously not been sharing a salle de bains with someone for the past cinq années (5 years). And there is even more closet space than you can make out in the mirror, from now on all of my closets need to live up to that amount of storage.

That is notre maison. Je suis (I am) sure more Connecticut photos, some maybe even outside of the appartement, to come. 

Pervious Picture:

A picture of my when my husband was supposed to be photographing the flowers.