Franco-Fridays: Trip-Planning, His + Her Style

The thought of going to Paris with a group from our church left me feeling kind of giddy by itself, but about 15 minutes after the trip got verified I was cleaning up Ella's bedroom when KJ came in and said, "Hey.  Is there anywhere else you'd like to go in France?"  "Um...[quizzical look] what are you thinking, KJ Pugh?  Normandy?"  And that was the beginning of planning an extra few days in Europe, which turned into an extra week.  

And because I just don't know that much about France I really couldn't come up with any other places other than Normandy off the top of my head.  KJ said, "I was thinking it would be fun to rent a car and drive to Switzerland.  You wanna see the Alps?"  And then I knew the one place I really wanted to go if we went to Switzerland:  Reichenbach Falls.  You know it?  It's the falls in the Sherlock Holmes story, The Final Problem, where Sherlock and Moriarty struggle and fall.  You may have seen it portrayed in Sherlock Holmes:  A Game of Shadows.  (I told you that 40% of my enjoyment in a place came from reading a book about it.)

So here's how KJ and Lynn start preparing for a trip:

KJ starts out by studying Google maps.  Lynn starts wondering which shoes she should take.

 
View Paris 2013 in a larger map

Lynn decides that learning French would be a good idea and goes to the library, bringing home audio CDs and guidebooks for France, Paris, and Switzerland.  KJ reads the guidebooks, and Lynn listens to CDs in the car.

Lynn makes a Pinterest board of photograph inspiration and tips on packing light.  KJ studies a map of the Metro and researches affordable rental cars and hotels.  Lynn starts to think that it's a good thing she's traveling with KJ because otherwise she might look cute and take a lot of nice pictures, but she might also get lost.

In other planning news, it looks like our Paris team is complete, and I am really excited and thankful for the group of people God is putting together. 

On Uniforms

We've been doing some social studies lately, talking about the different kinds of houses people live in around the world, the different types of clothes they wear, etc.  Yesterday we were talking about work and how some people wear special clothes for their work. 

Do you know anybody who wears a uniform for work, Ella?  I was expecting the usual policemen answer.

Yes! 

Who?

Pastors.

What's a pastor's uniform? 

A suit?     

Thoughts

Thoughts from Parenting
Last week I planned an outing for the kids that accomplished some errands for me and some fun things for them.  Ella knew the first part of my plan but not the full extent of it, and she was upset and crying because of one thing I wouldn't let her do.  She was speaking in absolutes, just like I do when I get upset.  I just NEVER get to do what I want!  [pitiful face]  She responded well to my instruction and recovered herself, and we had a fun outing, and the Spirit within me connected some dots for me, too. 

How often have I cried, felt sad because I couldn't do what I wanted or because some other felt need wasn't being met the way I thought it should, and all the while, the Lord has these wonderful, kind, and gracious plans waiting for me.  Ella was partly upset because she thought something was being withheld from her, and I thought to myself, "Do I EVER go to the store without bringing her some small treat?  Don't I plan fun things for her all the time?  Doesn't she know how good I am to her?"  And don't I know the same truths about my heavenly Father?  He has given me the best gift in His Son.  And doesn't He show a million kindnesses day by day?  I am always having my own heart revealed through shepherding my children's hearts.

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all,

how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

- Romans 8:32 -

 

Thoughts from Television

A couple of days ago I was exercising during James' nap-time while I caught up on some television-watching.  Somewhere in between some bicep curls a woman comforted another woman who was crying over the end of a relationship.  She said something to the effect of:  The relationship you had was alive and vibrant, and now it's dead.  You're a scientist.  Have you ever seen something dead come back to life better than it was?  I just thought, no, I haven't seen it, but I believe it, and I put my hope in it.   

Science and the things we see can only take us so far.  I was overwhelmed again by the hope of Christ's resurrection and so thankful that life is made up of more than what we see.  Our hope is so sure and so great.

Though you have not seen him, you love him.

Though you do not now see him, you believe in him

and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,

obtaining the outcome of your faith,

the salvation of your souls.

- 1 Peter 1:8-9 -

Small Happenings

Yesterday was one of those rare Mondays where I didn't feel overwhelmed by a mountain of things I needed to do after the many comings and goings of Sunday.  I'm sure this was due to my staying home from church Sunday morning with James.  I don't like to send him to Sunday School when he has green snot pouring out of his nose.  It doesn't seem kind to the teacher or the other kids.  We stayed home and played Rummikub, and then he fell out on my bed by 11:15, a combination of getting up in the night AND too early in the morning in addition to the dose of Benadryl I gave him.

So we spent a pretty quiet day yesterday.  James' nose is still running, and he's got a cough, but I think he's on the mend.  It's probably not the best thing for him this time of year, but the kids spent a lot of time outside playing yesterday.  I took them out in the morning for a bike ride, and they were out in the backyard on two occasions throwing balls and picking grass and weeds.  Again, that's probably not the best for his spring allergies, but they were having fun.

We had a really wonderful time catching up with David and Hillary over the weekend, as well as being with the friends who came to the book party.

This is their second reading of what could genuinely be a helpful book, but it is also an extremely gross book.  But in our struggle with James and #2 in the potty, I've said this to him a lot.

Everyone does, and it's good to do it, James!

I just couldn't feel inspired to do housework last night, and things were mostly clean, so I played the piano and then sat on the kitchen counter reading my first P.G. Wodehouse book aloud to KJ while he conquered the world in a computer game.  And I just have to say, Wodehouse is a comic genius.  Seriously.  It's a pleasure reading to KJ because he laughs in all the right places. There just seems to be a certain wit in the writing of British gentlemen in the 40s and 50s that is not easily replicated. 

Franco Fridays: Books I've Read

As soon as I knew our trip to Paris was a possibility my mind started gathering everything I've ever read, thought, or seen about Paris and France in general.  I also came up with a mental pie chart of what I think will enhance my enjoyment of the trip.  It looked something like this.

 I made a pie chart???  Moving on.

There is a second part to the announcement of our mission trip to Paris.  The second part is that KJ is planning for us to stay an extra week because...we're already in Europe, right?  He spent the bulk of yesterday fine-tuning two possible week-long excursions.  One involves a small tour of the Swiss Alps, the other involves staying a little longer around Paris and going to Normandy.  We really can't go wrong. 

Our England trip was like a coming home to me, and that was caused by that 60 % of the pie chart.  I'd spent 20 years of my life in the world of the English novel.  My grandmother gave me The Secret Garden in 1990, and I think that was the beginning.  France doesn't have that same leverage, but here are the books I've read that influence my real and imaginary knowledge about France and its history.

First up?  The Phantom of the Opera.  I started reading the classics in 11th grade.  I had the piano music to the musical, but I'd never seen it and wasn't familiar with the story when I read the book.  It was scary!  I thought the Phantom was an extremely menacing and evil character, and when KJ and I watched the musical turned movie after we got married, I did NOT feel the mercy towards him that they wanted you to feel.  He didn't have that sad origin story they give him in the musical.  I went back and read the book again after watching the movie and managed to feel a smidgen of pity for him the second go-round.

The Three Musketeers:  Reading this book was momentous because for the first time since 6th grade, Gone with the Wind was replaced as "my favorite book."  I still remember how I laughed at the understated humor and how funny d'Artagnan's arrival in Paris was.  11th grade was a big reading year for me, because next came...

A Tale of Two Cities:  It may not be written by a French author, but I probably get most of my information about the French Revolution from it, if not all.  It the best book, so beautiful, and one of the first books I read that at the end gave me a feeling of perfection. You can't end a story on a more perfect or poignant note.

Les Miserables:  I had no idea what this book was about when I picked it out for my beach reading when KJ and I took our small youth group in Kentucky to Student Life Camp.  I remember laughing at the time because it was not a light beach read in the least, but we were in one of those discount outlet book stores, and it was a steal.  I still remember the moment I finished this book:  8 or 9 months pregnant with Ella, in a lounge chair in the little backyard of our townhouse in Louisville, really happy I'd stuck it out and finished, because like A Tale of Two Cities, it struck just the right chord in my heart at the end.

The Count of Monte Cristo:  I asked for this tome for Christmas the year Ella was born.  KJ and I had just started subscribing to Netflix and rented the movie, and I enjoyed it so much I wanted to read the book, find out what really happened, you know?  There are some significant plot differences, of course, and some of them I liked, a few I wished could have been like the movie.  I'll try not to spoil it if anyone wants to tackle that one.

Yesterday I fnished Twenty Years After, a sequel to The Three Musketeers, which I somehow did not realize existed, probably because my knowledge of all things French is rather scant, but I am learning! and really enjoying the learning.  I thought Twenty Years After was even funnier than TTM, with maybe some of the best one-liners in literature. 

So that is the book knowledge I'm starting with:  musketeers, King Louis XIII, a haunted opera house, wild bloodshed, many injustices, redemption, scheming cardinals.  Perhaps my biggest takeaway from these books is how long and fought for was freedom and equality in France.

Bathroom Before + Afters (kind of)

Over my "Birthday Weekend Re-do" I started my first attempt at painting a room, and as the Little Red Hen would say, "I did it all. by. my. self."  My husband refused to do this project for me, not because he's cruel...I'm sure I could have talked him into helping...but he really did want me to realize how long it took to do the projects I often task him with.  

Most of the rooms in our house are still "Builder's Beige," as my dear friend Molly once called them.  The only exceptions are James' room, which Molly and her sweet husband painted for me when I was pregnant with James and the kitchen and dining area, which KJ painted for me a couple of years ago.

I planned on helping KJ paint the kitchen, but KJ did 98% of that work.  I did help with a few small parts, but I was mostly afraid to mess something up once he got in a groove.  So I was excited to figure out how to do this by myself, because once I painted the smallest room in the house, there's nothing to stop me from tackling every other room in the place, besides time, money, and children underfoot, of course.

This is probably the best comparison picture I have.  There's not much natural light that reaches this room, so the lighting makes it difficult to get a picture with accurate coloring.  I started my update-the-bathroom project back in September with finally getting some pictures printed, a new shower curtain, and moving my "architectural interest" from the front porch to the bathroom.  I think the paint color ended up being a little closer to the exact shade of the shower curtain than I intended, but I'm still pleased with the results.  A fresh coat of paint in any color brightens up a room.

I used to have a little white shelf on that empty wall and on the wall above the towel rack.  I need to decide now whether to re-hang those, paint them a different color, or go with something altogether different.

I like my fresh little space.  See my shower curtain peeking out there?  Another fun pop of color.

If you're ever our guest, you can study a map of the London Underground while you shower.      

The Weekend

I don't normally have anything out of the ordinary going on during the weekend, but this past weekend was full of time with other women in our church, and how refreshing that was!  

But before that there were a few errands to run (library and Wal-Mart) and a stop to let the kids run and soak up some much-needed vitamin D.

Then it was off to T's for a girls' movie night.  Oddly enough, we watched a movie about Paris.

   "Every time I look through a camera I'm surprised.

It's like finding yourself in the middle of a story...

I think I've been taking pictures all my life,

long before I ever had a camera."

- Sabrina - 

I came home late humming, La Vie en Rose, and went back to T's early the next morning for a ladies Prayer Retreat.  It was a sweet time of fellowship and being reminded of the importance of prayer.  More prayer has a made a difference in my life this week.