So this is my 100th post! I can't believe that I've been blogging for about 2 years now. I can't even remember when I started but it was when I first moved to France and I was feeling very lost and had a lot of anxiety about living here. Over time I finally settled in and realized how much I loved it here. As I was talking with some friends earlier, none of us would have ever thought that we'd be living in France 10 years from then. Looking back at myself in high school, I could have never imagined it. I have to be honest and say that I'm very happy with everything right now. I have everything that I could ever want: a great boyfriend, an adorable puppy, a nice apartment, a good job, good health. I realize that I'm very lucky. Even though teaching English was never my dream job, I'm happy with what I'm doing now. And I'm especially happy that I have time to do things that I want to do, which I probably wouldn't have if I was living in the US. I couldn't imagine working 40+ hours per week and having no time to relax to travel for a week or two at a time. It's possible of course but much more difficult.
I'm really happy that we decided to adopt a dog as well. Of course it's not easy but it's such a great feeling when he wants to be next to you and to give you lots of love and attention. My work schedule is the reason why we could adopt the dog. If I worked a normal schedule, it would have been difficult and probably not even possible. Thankfully France is a dog friendly country. Something, that the US is definitely not. I can't wait until the weather gets warmer and we can take trips around the region with the little guy. I love going hiking and discovering old ruins or historic areas. Guess I'll have to wait a few more months...
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Winter blues...
This past week has been an interesting transition from life without puppy to life with puppy and it's very different. I'm not longer able to sleep in past 7am and life revolves around the dog. He's growing so fast too! He'll be fully grown before I know it.
Work is pretty slow lately, I haven't got many hours so it's good because I get to spend more time with the puppy but bad for my wallet. I hope that February will be better. I'm ready for spring to come. I'm already so sick of the winter weather. I'm not being very productive outside of work. Comme d'hab. I was hoping to start a regular exercise routine. I'm going to start going back to salsa classes on Wednesday and hopefully go to the pool on the weekends. And besides that, the only other project is to train the dog to make sure that he's well behaved when he'll be an adult. I'm trying to be strict with him as much as possible. He's a really good dog and he's starting to listen to me when I tell him 'no' and I've taught him 'assis' or 'sit'. I want to teach him both french and english commands. I'll probably starting enrolling him in obedience classes since I have no experience with training dogs. That'll be my project for the winter. I want to start reading more too. I just want to keep busy this winter so that I won't get depressed like every year.
Work is pretty slow lately, I haven't got many hours so it's good because I get to spend more time with the puppy but bad for my wallet. I hope that February will be better. I'm ready for spring to come. I'm already so sick of the winter weather. I'm not being very productive outside of work. Comme d'hab. I was hoping to start a regular exercise routine. I'm going to start going back to salsa classes on Wednesday and hopefully go to the pool on the weekends. And besides that, the only other project is to train the dog to make sure that he's well behaved when he'll be an adult. I'm trying to be strict with him as much as possible. He's a really good dog and he's starting to listen to me when I tell him 'no' and I've taught him 'assis' or 'sit'. I want to teach him both french and english commands. I'll probably starting enrolling him in obedience classes since I have no experience with training dogs. That'll be my project for the winter. I want to start reading more too. I just want to keep busy this winter so that I won't get depressed like every year.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
The new member of the family
Say hello to Ethan! He loves people and he certainly loves you! Read my other blog about raising him:
http://ckcpuppy.blogspot.com/
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Honestly snow, F*** off!
I hate winter. It makes me depressed, I don't feel like leaving the apartment, and I become antisocial. And to make things worse, it's been snowing non-stop for a week! Please someone make it stop! I'm hoping that in a few weeks that the weather will become warmer (because every winter there seems to be a trend of heavy snow and then a week or two after there is spring-like weather that appears out of nowhere.) Well, I'm hoping for the freak, out of nowhere weather. And to make things even more worse, I'm working fewer hours this month because many of my classes are ending so I'll have a lot of free time, and I'll be getting a lighter pay check at the end of the month...
But let's recap the weekend to change the subject!
Ok I asked for opinions about getting a puppy from several people including readers, family and friends and I think the unanimious answer was to wait a little longer. So, even though I considered your advice and thanks so much for it... I didn't listen. We're getting the puppy! On Saturday we visited a breeder who was only 10 minutes away from the wedding we were going to that night. I had contacted the breeder last week, telling her a little about us and what kind of dog we were looking for. Apparently she has a puppy that is really to leave the nest, who is about 10 weeks old and is looking for a home. So Christophe and I stopped by her home to visit the little guy, and I think both of our hearts melted when we saw him. He was soo tiny and cute, just the sweetest little thing you've ever seen and he loved attention. He wasn't shy or scared of us which was a good sign, and he seemed to be very comfortable in our presence. I think he'll be a perfect fit for our lives. We'll be picking him up either next weekend or the weekend after. I know it might seem rushed but don't worry y'all I've been preparing to have a puppy for a long time and I know that I'm ready. I was just waiting for the "yes" from Christophe. And we won't be in this apartment forever. The good news is that by the time we move, he'll be potty trained (hopefully!) and we can find a much bigger apartment for all of us.
As for our money situation... We have one fonctionnaire in this house which means a guaranteed monthly salary, plus my salary and I usually do pretty well. We'll be able to provide everything this little guy needs! I'm so excited :)
But let's recap the weekend to change the subject!
Ok I asked for opinions about getting a puppy from several people including readers, family and friends and I think the unanimious answer was to wait a little longer. So, even though I considered your advice and thanks so much for it... I didn't listen. We're getting the puppy! On Saturday we visited a breeder who was only 10 minutes away from the wedding we were going to that night. I had contacted the breeder last week, telling her a little about us and what kind of dog we were looking for. Apparently she has a puppy that is really to leave the nest, who is about 10 weeks old and is looking for a home. So Christophe and I stopped by her home to visit the little guy, and I think both of our hearts melted when we saw him. He was soo tiny and cute, just the sweetest little thing you've ever seen and he loved attention. He wasn't shy or scared of us which was a good sign, and he seemed to be very comfortable in our presence. I think he'll be a perfect fit for our lives. We'll be picking him up either next weekend or the weekend after. I know it might seem rushed but don't worry y'all I've been preparing to have a puppy for a long time and I know that I'm ready. I was just waiting for the "yes" from Christophe. And we won't be in this apartment forever. The good news is that by the time we move, he'll be potty trained (hopefully!) and we can find a much bigger apartment for all of us.
As for our money situation... We have one fonctionnaire in this house which means a guaranteed monthly salary, plus my salary and I usually do pretty well. We'll be able to provide everything this little guy needs! I'm so excited :)
Monday, January 4, 2010
Ring in the New Year 2010!
Happy New Year everyone! Unfortunately for me there was absolutely no celebration for the New year because our airline didn't think it was important to wish us a Happy New Year, nor give us a small glass of champagne. Yes, we "celebrated" the new year on the airplane coming back to France. I was really disappointed that I didn't get to celebrate the beginning of the new decade but oh well, we can't have cheap plane tickets and have an awesome New Year's eve party at the same time I guess right?
I'm going back to work today and trying to get over my jet lag. I think I fell asleep around 4am last night (10pm US east coast time) but I finally dragged myself out of bed at 9:30 this morning.
Spending Christmas at home this year was great! I was really happy to be able to share our Christmas traditions with Christophe (it was his first American Christmas). We stuffed ourselves a little too much though over there (restaurants, greasy food..too much food!) and since we've been back, we haven't been all that hungry. It was so nice to see my friends too even though it was kinda short. I was really happy to be able to come home this year and spend the holidays with my family. Christmas isn't the same without them.
So that puppy I've been wanting, I've been begging and making the poutty face and last night Christophe finally cracked. He said that we could get a dog!!! But now that he actually said yes, I'm really imagining the dog in our small apartment. Since I don't work full time, I have plenty of time to take it for walks and to train it but now I'm a little nervous. I've been wanting a dog for years and now that it's actually possible I'm putting the reality into my imagination. It'll also be my first dog. I know that the best place for a dog is a house with a yard but we're going to be moving around a lot because of Christophe's placement so we wouldn't be able to get a house for a while. But what do all of you think, especially those of you who have dog or have owned a dog in the past? I will be the only one taking care of the dog until the summer because Christophe won't have time for it and our apartment is a little small but if I have the time and the motivation to get this dog, should I still get it? It's all I've been thinking about for months and I really think I'm ready. Here's my future puppy (hopefully):
(Image taken from The Daily Puppy)
I'm going back to work today and trying to get over my jet lag. I think I fell asleep around 4am last night (10pm US east coast time) but I finally dragged myself out of bed at 9:30 this morning.
Spending Christmas at home this year was great! I was really happy to be able to share our Christmas traditions with Christophe (it was his first American Christmas). We stuffed ourselves a little too much though over there (restaurants, greasy food..too much food!) and since we've been back, we haven't been all that hungry. It was so nice to see my friends too even though it was kinda short. I was really happy to be able to come home this year and spend the holidays with my family. Christmas isn't the same without them.
So that puppy I've been wanting, I've been begging and making the poutty face and last night Christophe finally cracked. He said that we could get a dog!!! But now that he actually said yes, I'm really imagining the dog in our small apartment. Since I don't work full time, I have plenty of time to take it for walks and to train it but now I'm a little nervous. I've been wanting a dog for years and now that it's actually possible I'm putting the reality into my imagination. It'll also be my first dog. I know that the best place for a dog is a house with a yard but we're going to be moving around a lot because of Christophe's placement so we wouldn't be able to get a house for a while. But what do all of you think, especially those of you who have dog or have owned a dog in the past? I will be the only one taking care of the dog until the summer because Christophe won't have time for it and our apartment is a little small but if I have the time and the motivation to get this dog, should I still get it? It's all I've been thinking about for months and I really think I'm ready. Here's my future puppy (hopefully):
(Image taken from The Daily Puppy)
Isn't he adorable. So give me your feedback, considering our situation, is this the right time to get a puppy?
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