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So we’re starting to get into a regular routine back here in Seattle. It’s been two months now since we left France (really!?) and three weeks since school started. So you’d think a regular routine wouldn’t be too hard to have established by now.

Tuesdays look something like this. First, if you don’t know, Ella attends PSCS and, of course, Melinda and I work for PSCS. So we leave the house together at 8:15 and arrive at school around 8:40. School is from 9-3:30, and then Melinda and typically have some after school work to get done. We typically leave by 4:30 and are home by 5.

Soon after 5 the three of us go for a run in Ravenna Park! That’s right, Ella is running, too, as today’s picture somewhat implies. I took it just as we were about to start off today. After the run it’s dinner, dishes, and, perhaps, a little PSCS work for me. Then at 8 the three of us watch an episode of “French in Action” on VHS (so retro!). At 9 I read to Ella, then it’s any prep work I have left to do for school on Wednesday. After that, beddie-bye.

Now if we could only get a routine for the other 6 days of the week…

Chloe sent us a couple of photos via email from Quest, including this one. From all reports, she’s as happy as could be at college. She tells us she’s working hard, but enjoying it. She’s made lots of new friends, is very happy with her roommate, and is pleased with college life. She was even part of a group that ventured into Vancouver on Saturday to watched the Seattle Sounders soccer team beat the Vancouver Whitecaps. Sounds like fun.

The only thing that hasn’t gone well for her? Her cell phone. That’s right. Cell phone troubles continue to haunt our family.

The day Melinda and I drove her up to college we tried to help her get a Canadian cell phone. Together, we found a plan that we all agreed was perfect for her, especially for the price. Money was put down and all was set up. Or so we thought. As the days passed Chloe’s phone would not activate. Ultimately, Melinda determined that the particular phone Chloe has was not compatible with the service provider.

You’d think that would have been told to us at the time we attempted to activate the service.

Anyway, LONG story short… Chloe went in to get her money back, was told everything was in order for a refund and, after nearly 3 weeks, still does not have the reimbursement

Tell me, do we have bad cell phone karma or is this the experience everyone has??

That’s Melinda’s dad, Dwight, blowing out the candles on his birthday cake. He turned 77 today and we just returned from a family birthday party at Melinda’s parents’ house. It was tons of fun. Michele, Melinda’s mom, puts on quite a family party for birthdays. She gets the best food items from around the Seattle area. Tonight’s dinner consisted of the tenderest pork chops, baby broccoli and a delicious homemade salad. On top of that, she had crab cakes as an apéritif and this cake for a dessert. Rosé wine complemented the pre-dinner festivities, and an aromatic Pinot Noir complemented dinner. A fine time.

In attendance tonight were Melinda, Ella and me, as well as Brenda, Greg & Perrin (Melinda’s sister, bro-in-law and niece), not to mention Dwight & Michele. Perrin is 4, soon to be 5, and is quite the social butterfly. As the evening wound down, we were treated to a view of Perrin in her very fashionable trench coat. She looked like the stereotypical American spy, like a character from the old TV show “Get Smart.” Given her size, Brenda referred to her as Agent 43 (half of “86,” the secret agent number for the star of that show). Very funny.

I think Dwight had a fine time, surrounded by family. Looking around, I hope something like this can be had for me when I turn 77. Family, great food, humor, and grandkids. Sign me up, please!!

It’s 10:30 on a Saturday night, a beautiful, balmy one in Seattle in late September. Melinda and I just returned from having a beer with our friends, Deb & Jutta in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. We went to the Stumbling Monk, which serves excellent Belgium beers on tap.

Deb worked as a teacher at PSCS for 7 years before stepping down to help Jutta begin her private physical therapy practice. In fact, this picture was taken under the sign at their business, Central Physical Therapy & Fitness, just a few minutes ago, a short walk from the pub (and where we parked our cars).

Having a beer with Deb & Jutta is one of those things we imagined in France we’d do once we got back to Seattle. Spending time with good friends, just hanging out, enjoying conversation. It’s so basic, right? As you get busy raising kids and working hard, sometimes these things fall through the cracks. Interestingly, one of the last things we did before leaving for France was have a beer with Deb & Jutta. Except that time we were celebrating the opening of their new clinic. Standing under their sign tonight was a good thing.

Every couple uses certain phrases and nicknames, a sort of language unique to you and your partner as well as to those you let into the “inner circle.” Among the favorite references for Melinda and me dates back to a fantastic moment in a 1988 American Vice Presidential debate. It was the young buck Dan Quayle, running mate to eventual winner George Bush (the first one), up against elder statesman Lloyd Bentsen, running mate to Michael Dukakis.

Now Quayle was young and inexperienced, and the moderator asked a question about his qualifications to assume the presidency should he and Bush be elected and something happen to Bush. Quayle, not the quickest thinker on the planet, compared himself to John F. Kennedy. Bentsen kind of stared Quayle down for a second before saying, “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.” Go take a look. It’s worth the 30+ seconds.

Anyway, now any time something doesn’t measure up to our personal standards, Melinda or I will say, “Senator, that’s no…”

I came home from the grocery store tonight with this “pudding.” Neither Melinda, Ella nor I were willing to finish one.

“Senator, I’ve eaten chocolate mousse. I know chocolate mousse. Chocolate mousse is a friend of mine. Senator, that’s no chocolate mousse.”

About a month ago I made reservations for Melinda and me to have dinner tonight at Maximilien, considered one of the top French restaurants in Seattle. I’m on their email mailing list and they sent out a message indicating that tonight they’d be celebrating their 14th anniversary and all entrees would be priced at $14 (some are regularly as high as $40). I placed the reservation and then told Melinda. We were both excited all day.

Part of what makes Maximilien so nice is its location. It’s right in the center of the Pike Place Market with tables that overlook Puget Sound. So we had our dinner tonight while watching the ferries come and go. It was quite lovely.

In terms of what I had imagined tonight’s dinner would be like, it didn’t quite measure up. I guess I was thinking this would be a lot like going back to France. Don’t get me wrong. The food was excellent (I had duck, for Pete’s sake, AND chocolate mousse). The Bordeaux wine hit just the right spot. But the first language of our server was Spanish, he told us, and the people in the restaurant, well, they just weren’t… French. The conversations we overheard were in, well, English (including one man saying he’d never vote for a woman or a person from Texas for president).

Clearly, I set my standards too high. Indeed, the company was first-rate but we repeatedly lamented how much we wished the Boudeaus or Bertails were with us.

All in all, it was another night that highlighted how much we appreciate having had an entire year of living in France. Wow, what a gift.