Click the Links!

July is about over, but  it has been reasonably fun for me. And now you can have fun, too- just by clicking all of the assorted links that appear in this post!
Not that they're really all  actually fun...but some are quite entertaining.
I promise.
So...
We've  had some visitors from Australia. It had been ages since we'd seen Stephen and Adrienne, so it was great to get together again.
They looked just the same- but their two daughters had certainly changed over the last 14 years or so... So grown-up and lovely!

Mallory and I made some pasta together a couple of times.... It was tasty and was the latest episode in the long and glorious pasta-oriented history of my paternal ancestors (I used to make noodles with my Grandma Lillie when I was a little girl)

 Our cats laid around a lot (Which is what they do when it is NOT July, as well.  So, not much of a surpise there)




Severin and Max made a video parody for Valentine's 19th birthday.  The original is to be found here and their rather funny masterpiece is to be seen here.

Valentine had a lovely party with her friends. Karaoke and Jungle Speed were featured activities and a good time was had by all.

In a late-breaking birthday event, Valentine got a shout-out from one of her favorite YouTube personalities. (Can one really call a naked plastic baby doll a "personality"?  Let's just say, "yes", shall we?)

As for the rest...Our old neighbors from Ouaga (Tony and Kirsten, for fans of the African chapters of my saga) stopped by for a day as they drove up to Germany.  Hopefully they'll stay a bit longer on the way back down next month.

Robert and Aminata have been here this week...


And tomorrow we're leaving for the north to go visit my MIL for one week.  We'll be staying here.

That's it!

Taylor Swift vs Avril Lavigne Death Match

To mark the end (FINALLY!!) of the school year here in France, a friend of the twins held a party last night. The theme was the eternally (and apparently internationally)  popular "Dress as your favorite celebrity" concept.  This allows teenage girls to dress up,  wear lots of makeup and look all awesome without seeming to be trying too hard.
 I know this is a true thing, as I did it myself back in the day.  In one particularly memorable incident in 1978, I think I was supposed to be Olivia Newton John .   Don't mock me.  She was quite the style icon back in the day.

On second thought...go ahead and mock away.

Luckily, my daughters have much better taste than I ever had.  They decided to go as country star Taylor Swift and pop rock girl Avril Lavigne.

As I quickly rummaged through teh interwebz looking  for a couple of pics to accompany this blog post, I immediately was made to understand that there is much online bickering about which of these two young ladies is "more awesomer".

The facts?  Well, let's see...Avril Lavigne's name means "April vineyard" in French. 
So, she's got that going for her.
Also, she looks a lot like my daughter Alexa!
I guess that makes her awfully awesome....

But then we have Taylor Swift, who grew up on a Christmas tree farm - and  that gives you special powers beyond that of other humans. Christmas trees provide a lot of happiness, so I'm pretty sure that being associated with them earns one mucho good karma.  

On the other hand, she once dated one of the Jonas Brothers and wrote a song about him. Sadly, that may cancel out all xmas tree-related cred accrued.

Then again, Taylor is about 6ft tall and could crush Avril like a bug.

So there's that.....

I don't know...it's all mildly confusing, which is no doubt why thousands of teen girls are ready to spill blood over this question.

Luckily, my own little Taylor and Avril get along quite well..

This morning's verdict on the party? 
"Meh" pretty much sums it up what the girls had to say about it.

But at least they had a fun time getting dressed.  Me trying to glue false eyelashes onto Mallory was priceless, I assure you.