Wednesday, April 14, 2010

My poor, neglected computer. The best it’s gotten from me the last two weeks has been an absentminded pat on the monitor as I race by it on my way downstairs at six am every morning.
It’s been getting far more attention from the twins and Severin, who like to stand around and bicker viciously over it like three starving badgers fighting over the last bite of road kill squirrel. My answer to this was (as it is to so many of life’s questions) to make a schedule. So, the twins each get one hour on alternate days and Sev gets and hour per day…which leaves lots of time for other stuff, considering the fact that the kids are on a two week holiday right now.
Sev, resourceful kid that he is, REALLY found something else to do besides stare at a computer screen. He managed to get invited along on a trip to Paris to attend a videogame/manga/anime con (a 'convention' to all you n00bs). Lucky boy! He’ll leave this afternoon and be back on Tuesday.
The twins are also too busy right now to worry much about screen time.
They are:
1. Helping to varnish the wood on the addition to the house and the carport. (Three coats on over 80 square meters. Do the math.) This is mainly what Alexa likes doing. She's quite handy...but, oddly, doesn't like getting her hands dirty.
2. Planting flowers. This is Mallory’s thing, not Al's (see above info re:hands). If it were up to me, our yard would be a barren wasteland, but Mal has got dahlias, anemones, sedum and all sorts of stuff scattered about the place. Very cute.
3. Babysitting what is possibly the world’s cutest two year old. She’s the daughter of some friends who are staying with us right now. Along with their sweet, deaf and half-blind sheepdog, they have come up from the south of France for a working vacation. The emphasis is on the « working » part of that last phrase. Last night I came home from picking up JP in Geneva and Amina and Robert were still varnishing the carport (along with Tya). It was nearly 8pm!

Anyway, the twins adore having Yasmine around and find endless things to do with her. And when she gets tired, she loves it when Mallory gets a pagne and ties her on her back just like her mom does. You should have seen Yasmine’s eyes light up the first time she did it. She hadn’t realized that under all that blonde hair and pale skin, Mallory is secretly Burkinabé.

So, we’re all very, very busy. And it’s sure a good thing I finally broke down and bought an oven, as I’m cooking meals for a crowd lately. It’s SO great to be able to bake again!! It makes life so much easier!! In fact, when I think no one is looking, I like to hunch over it protectively and caress its brushed metal finish while whispering « My preciousssssss ». Unfortunately, Tya caught me at it yesterday and gave me a chastising « Don’t make me throw that oven into the fires of Mount Doom, young lady! » look.

It’s past 7am now and I need to get down the stairs and into the kitchen!! I’ve got to to prepare breakfast and then lunch for 10 today. Last night was couscous with merguez and alloco (fried plantains).

Today I’m thinking chicken and veg curry with rice.
And I’d better make pie. Maybe lemon meringue?

Goodbye for now computer, blog and interwebz pals. Hope to see you all again soon!

6 comments:

oreneta said...

Wish my kids were so interested in any of this.....

Kelly said...

Oh, new appliances! You sound busy but at least your house is full of people! Happy Baking!

Momma Bee said...

Wilkommen!Bienvenue! All that crap. Actually, I'm guessing this was only a fleeting pat on the cyberhead a la le computer, but we are grateful, if only briefly satisfied. You have some pretty amazing excuses. I usually have to resort to "didn't feel like it"!

The Pliers said...

Can I come over?

Your life in the Haute-Savoie sounds way cooler than life on the prairie!

Congrats on the lust-inspiring oven. I'm delighted for you. You'll have to do "before" and "after" cake reports!

Amitiés,

Joy said...

Hi Beth! It's lovely to see you back here, even if only fleetingly. (It's also lovely to be back on the interwebz, even for only a moment while we wait out the ash in Frankfurt!) I hope that the remainder of your visit and the spring break progress smoothly, and that your (lemon?) pie was delicious... Mmmmm, pie... :D

Beth said...

Hey pals!!
Ms. Pliers- you are SO invited ANY time you want. And I promise not to make you work on any of my home improvement projects (unless you want to:-)
Joy-Good luck with your travels!! What a mess!!
BTW:I ended up making TWO lemon meringue pies and they were much appreciated by all the workers here. And today I made strawberry shortcake, which was nice. LOVE my oven!!
Rocky- Maybe when they see stuff start to happen in the house, your girls will feel more motivated? Let's hope so! You can get a lot of work out of teenagers, if you can get them going on something useful!