Category: Summer 2015

So on a Tuesday night in which we have visitors from France, it’s about time for me to break out the Calvados (French apple brandy). Of course, the French visitors BROUGHT the Calvados from Normandy, the only place in the world in which REAL Calvados is made. So don’t keep me occupied with blog posts, I’m anxious to go have my taste!

Meanwhile, regarding the Ella update… She had her official OCI orientation today. She took the bus to school and returned home weighted down with multiple textbooks, along with her official clothing that she needs to wear each day. Classes begin tomorrow so she’ll be super busy. She has “Fundamentals of Restaurant Marketing” and “Restaurant Service Practical.” She sent out an email that included this particular photo of her in her outfit.

I don’t know about you, but I think she looks pretty darn good.

Oh, regarding Celeste… She went to the main Seattle School District office today to be tested on her proficiency in English. She did quite well, scoring on the cusp of needing an ESL tutor. That’s impressive! In other words, I think her English is better than mine. It’s just understanding those nutty idioms… I mean, who uses “bubble” as a verb, as in “bubble” in your answers on this standardized test?

I’m presenting three photos as educational material.

Photo #1 is of Celeste in Ella’s room at our house in Seattle. More apt is to say this is Celeste in Celeste’s room, the place she’ll be staying for the next five months. Yes, Melinda and I couldn’t resist the chance to have another teenager move in the day after Ella moved to Portland. Follow along in the upcoming months if you want to learn more about Celeste and her experiences in Seattle. This photo is primarily posted for Bérnard to see.

Photo #2 is one Bérnard, Celeste’s dad, sent to me from Nantes. This is a mighty important photo for me and for many reasons. Indeed, it’s of Bérnard. But add in all the representative things Bérnard included in this selfie – it’s at the racetrack (the place I began running in 2011), the starting gate with the city name, the grandstand in the background, the track itself, AND the fact that Bérnard is wearing an Emerald Downs t-shirt. This photo is primarily for my father to see.

Photo #3 was sent to me this morning via text message by Ella. She took it while waiting for her bus to take her from her apartment to her school where she had her first meeting today. This photo touches me for many reasons, not the least of which is Ella keeping me looped in to her goings-on in Portland today. Although she won’t be doing this for long, of course, I’ve always appreciated her dedication as a teen to keeping me updated of her whereabouts via text message. I present this photo primarily for me.

There, do you feel suitably educated?

Well, we’ve just returned home from helping Ella move in to her apartment in Portland, 3 hours south. And, well, it’s kind of a big deal to help your youngest child move out of her childhood home. I mean, well, I just walked around her childhood bedroom and it seems so empty. And, well, I also just found her senior year high school ID card on a kitchen counter (I put it up on a bulletin board).

So here are two more pictures for me to enjoy (you’re welcome to enjoy them, too). The first is of Ella at the student entrance to the Oregon Culinary Institute, her new school. Yesterday, we rode the bus from her apartment to OCI. I snapped this shot upon our arrival.

The second picture is one I took while Melinda was supervising the hanging of items on Ella’s apartment walls today. Ella is standing next to a piece of art I got her for her new apartment. Yes, it’s the Flash meets Devo. Pretty cool, eh?

Just like Ella, my little girl.

“May there always be sunshine…”

Before explaining this post’s title, let me just say there are many things to like about this photo. First, it was taken by Celeste in my house in Seattle. Second, both Melinda and Christine are in it (if you have a hard time locating Christine, just keep looking – click on the photo to enlarge it for better viewing). Third, Melinda is looking quite adorable, what with those paper towels in tow and all. Fourth, those are two, count ’em two, Pagliacci’s pizzas we are having. And fifth, well, just look at me.

Enough on point five.

Now about the title. Tomorrow we take Ella to Portland where she begins a 16 month program in culinary arts, specifically baking, at the Oregon Culinary Institute. So tonight was her last dinner in Seattle until Thanksgiving. Per her request, we ate our pizza while watching episodes of Parks & Rec, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and Brooklyn Nine Nine.

This all came after I took Ella and Celeste to see the movie Inside Out. We cried, all three of us. What a good movie, a perfect one, what with the imaginary friend and all, for Ella and me to see on her last day of childhood…

First, let me just say that July 23rd has been a good day over the last five years, this being the sixth in succession with a French theme in my life. For more detail, I invite you to look at what I posted a year ago on July 23, 2014.

In terms of this year, 2015, Christine & Celeste arrived today from Nantes. That makes it a VERY, VERY good day. Christine, as you may recall, is Melinda’s best friend, a person we met five years ago on our sabbatical. And Celeste is Christine’s 15 year-old daughter, who was 10 when we arrived in Nantes. She was the first of the Bertail children we got to know back then, coming over to swim in our pool. I dubbed her The Little Mermaid then, and for a number of reasons she will always occupy a soft spot in my heart.

Christine will be here in Seattle for about three weeks. Celeste will be staying until December, living with us while attending an American public high school. In today’s photo, she is sampling root beer, something not readily available in France. She said she liked it. Was it the truth, good manners, or the jet lag talking? I bet we’ll know by December.