When Giving and Receiving are the Same Thing

Published on by Andy Smallman7 Comments

What’s better? To give or to receive? Since both are necessary for either to happen, in some ways they are the same thing, right, just like a coin has two sides? Aren’t quite sure what I mean? Take a look at this video and I bet you’ll come away thinking that Lucas received quite a bit in his giving.

In the spirit of this blog’s history I’m including this photo from Ella’s birthday two weeks ago. The Bertails in Nantes sent her a little gift. I caught Ella just after she had opened the card Christine had made her. Click on it to enlarge it and get a better view.

Today’s Question: When have you given something and in the process gotten something in return?

What Constitutes a Date?

Published on by Andy Smallman4 Comments

(Welcome to the new “French Sabbatical Blog.” I’ve made a lot of changes, including writing four new “pages,” each of which you can read by clicking on “About,” “French Sabbatical,” “A Story,” and “Meet Andy” above. While I’ll continue to post each day here, it’s not my intention to have every posting be about something my family has done that day. For instance, today I want to tell you about Melinda’s and my “first date.”)

“This is not a date!”

So said Melinda to me as we walked from the Seattle Center to my car. We were heading to Longacres, the racetrack in Seattle, having just seen a concert. Melinda knew I had connections at the track that would allow easy access to the horses. Since she’d taken up riding, she was interested in seeing some thoroughbreds in training. But she wanted to make it clear to me that going to look at horses did not indicate romantic interest on her part. “This is not a date,” she said. “Um, okay,” was my eloquent response.

Of course we were married less than four months later, what happens to be exactly 21 years and 1 day ago. Sometimes I ask Melinda if we’ve had a date yet.

Today’s Question: What constitutes a “date?”

21 Years!!

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Now our marriage can legally drink.

For some reason when I just THINK about that statement it sounds like it would be a funny thing to say out loud. But when I do say it out loud it doesn’t seem to work like I think it should. Hmmm…

Anyway, yes, it’s true. Melinda and I got married 21 years ago today, almost to the minute, in fact (I’m writing just before 4pm and the judge made the marriage official at about 4:30pm). How about that!

I took today’s picture a couple of weeks ago, having seen the artwork on the outside of a building in Seattle. I dedicate it to ma chérie, Melinda. 🙂 Later tonight we’ll be heading out for a “prix fixe” New Year’s Eve dinner at Carmelita, a popular vegetarian restaurant in the Phinney Ridge neighborhood, not too far from our house. As nice as it is, there is no way it can match last year’s New Year’s Eve dinner.

Say, consider this a heads up. Tomorrow I’ll be changing the theme and renaming this blog, perhaps even slightly changing how I use it. It’s all part of the relaunch of Melinda’s and my Kind Living project. Stay tuned!

Just The Four of Us!

Published on by Andy Smallman3 Comments

For the first time since Chloe has been back, we all sat down to have dinner together, just the four of us. Certainly, it was nothing fancy, the last of the leftover ham, potatoes and green beans from Christmas Eve, but it was nice to all be sitting together. With the hustle-bustle of the holidays it’s been a challenge for us to have quiet time together.

That’s not to say it hasn’t happened. A couple of nights ago, in fact, Chloe and I had fun together playing a couple of games. I suggested that she should take one of them, Cranium Conga, back to school with her. It’s so silly it could be an ideal game for playing with college dorm friends.

Say, I spent some time today working on Melinda’s and my Kind Living project, an outgrowth of the kindness work I’ve done over the years. I’m planning on offering an updated version of my popular Practice of Kindness class in January. Comment here if you are interested in participating.

Cheers at the Pink Door!

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First, the important news. The early report from Mia’s surgery is that it was successful. I look forward to hearing more.

Now, to the mundane news.

This afternoon Melinda and I drove to downtown Seattle, specifically to the Pike Place Market. We wanted to go to a store called the Paris Grocery. Yes, it’s supposed to be a French-like grocery store in Seattle, and we hadn’t yet visited it since returning home in July. While I bought a small amount of smoked duck and was pleased to see duck confit available (the same brand that I bought earlier this week at Metropolitan Market), we weren’t overly impressed with the store. I’d say that less than half of the products there were French imports. Many really had little or nothing to do with France! Still, it was a good start to a pleasant afternoon together.

Leaving the Paris Grocery, we explored the market for a while before heading to the Pink Door for a little late afternoon drink. It was Happy Hour and on the special menu were oysters. We each had three, washed down with a satisfying beverage (as seen in today’s photo).

Cheers!

About Mia, Bellydancing and Warm Thoughts

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We learned last week that one of our former students, a young woman named Mia, has breast cancer. She’s only 29 so it’s been quite a shock to everyone who knows her. She asked me to share the news with members of the PSCS community, pointing out that she is having surgery tomorrow and would welcome supportive energy being sent her way around noon Pacific Time. I figured it couldn’t hurt to mention it here tonight, too.

I went searching through one of my PSCS archives to find a photo of Mia from when she was a PSCS student and located this one. She’s the third girl from the left, the tallest of the three students (the instructor is on the far right, face obscured). Yes, we offered a belly dancing class at PSCS. Among many things that make this photo interesting (to me, at least) is that it was taken in the back room of the old Speakeasy Café in Seattle. Great memories.

If you have the interest in learning more about Mia please take a look at the website Stefan, her husband, set up for people to follow her recovery. And if you’re available at around noon tomorrow (that’s 21H00 in France), send a warming hello to Mia, okay?

Tonight’s Dinner

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I have spent quite literally hours and hours today organizing and cleaning up my email. I’m looking at recommended links sent to me, including watching videos. Like I said, it is a several hours long endeavor and I still have much more to do.

Among the emails I found is part of an exchange I had back in July (from France) with the manager of our local Metropolitan Market. Knowing I would want duck confit in Seattle, I was trying to track down a place I could buy it. In our email exchange, the manager said that they occasionally carry it and could always special order it. He suggested I call the meat manager to get the full lowdown.

Since the message included a phone number, a direct line to the meat department, I decided to call today. And lo and behold, they had duck confit in stock today! Guess where I went, in between cleaning up email messages?

That’s right.

Guess what Ella and I had for dinner tonight? That’s right. As you can see from the photo, I served our duck over a bed of lentils with a side of green beans.

Heavenly.

Quiet Day

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It’s been a relatively quiet day in our house. Chloe has been the busiest, having had two babysitting jobs today. The first was from 9-4 and the second from 5:30-8:30. She has another full day tomorrow.

Ella has had the kind of school break day that I longed for (still do, truthfully) when I was a kid. She got up late, puttered around in her new bathrobe (the one that Santa brought for her), made some snacks/meals when she was hungry, and is now watching videos on YouTube.

Melinda spent a good chunk of the day by the fireplace, both with it having a fire and with it not having a fire. The “not” part involved her resetting the gas logs. The fire part included while she oiled the stonework hearth and, later, went online with her laptop (caught on digital “film”).

Me, I drove Chloe to and from her babysitting jobs, in between going for a long run and experimenting with our food processor to make my version of a raw bar. I also spent a good chunk of time catching up on email, PSCS and personal.

Very nice.

Granny’s Recipe Book

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As a Christmas gift, my mom made a recipe book for her grandkids of all the recipes she’s shared with them over the years. It was a HUGE undertaking for her and the final result was everything my mom had hoped for. They LOVED it. At one point tonight, having opened their copies, the grandkids were all flipping through the pages, laughing, smiling and reminiscing, and I said to her, “It’s the moment you worked for. It’s wonderful. Enjoy it.”

Some of the recipes date back to our days in Omaha, and each comes with notes about its origin. A more recent recipe, under the dessert section, comes with this note, “This is the recipe from Melinda’s good friend, Christine, who gave it to the family when they left France for home in 2011. She had served them and the whole family loved them – especially Andy who added the ‘crack’ to the title because they are so addictive.”

Yes, Christine’s “crack brownies” made the book.

Today’s photo is of Ella just as she finished unwrapping her copy.

Joyeux Noël

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Today’s photo is more intended as a greeting card, sent to everyone who reads the blog but with our French friends in mind. So to the Boudeaus and Bertails (and their extended families and friends), we wish you a Joyeux Noël.

The idea for this “greeting card” came from Chloe who orchestrated its creation while Ella was helping Perrin with some serious coloring work taking place. Meanwhile, Greg was busy cooking tonight’s dinner, a delicious ham (oh my gosh, I could just keep eating). Brenda & Melinda were working on side dishes and Michele was talking to her grandchildren. If Dwight wasn’t playing Christmas carols on the piano, he was keeping watch on the proceedings. Me, I did what I do best and have practiced doing for years. I stayed out of the way.

Yes, it’s Christmas Eve at our house with the Shaws, an annual event. Last year it just happened to take place in our house in Nantes.

Merry Christmas, everyone. I trust Santa is treating you well.