Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Cats have 9 lives right?

Have you ever had one of those weekends where you just wanted to sit around, drink coffee, and be lazy with the one you love? John and I had high hopes for that this weekend. Unfortunately, it didn't quite turn out that way.
The little kitten in the blog before this has become a regular visitor around our house. I am pretty sure that if possible, he would live with us permanently. Sadie loves him, and they have a ton of fun playing until he has to be sent outside due to the sniffing, sneezing, watery eyes, and welps that I develop during his visits.

This past Sunday little Knievel, as we now call him, came over for his 50th visit of the day. ( I told you, they are frequent.) After a while, I put him back over on his own balcony.. and watched from inside our apartment as he tried to come back over for the 51st visit. Key word in that sentence: tried. Instead of making it onto our balcony, Knievel the cat fell. 3 stories.

After a moment of shock, John and I raced outside to see what we were sure would be a kitty splatter on the pavement below. Thankfully, he wasn't there. Thus beginning our not so lazy, very exciting Sunday afternoon. We raced around the apartment putting on shoes and grabbing keys, then raced out of the apartment to alert his owner, and attempt to find Knievel. His owner was not at home. (Which brings up a whole other question of why on earth didn't she lock him up. But I digress.)

John and I find the poor cat in the hallway of our building, apparently pitched out by whomever found him. ( I am not impressed with whomever this was.) With agonizing breathing, pain in his eyes, and lack of movement, I was convinced the poor little kitty was done for. Amazingly enough, he pulled through. After an hour of sitting in the hallway and a trip to the vet, Knievel the Kitty had only a minor hemorrhage near his lungs and a few roughed up toenails. As the vet said- he is a lucky cat.

The rest of the "lazy" Sunday was spent trying to unwind from the stress of the afternoon. Both of our nerves were completely shot- but at least that little rat of a cat is ok and hopefully he won't feel the need to have another flying lesson.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

It's raining, It's pouring...

Growing up living in Tennessee and then moving to Kentucky, I have always been relatively used to rain on a regular basis. Especially the occasional thunderstorm thrown in as a wonderful, noisy bonus right as you are falling asleep. There is nothing more relaxing. Except for maybe a spa treatment.....
The south of France in a whole other story. This summer, we have gone without rain for about 3 months. Really. The weather has been beautiful- sunny, cloudless days, always nice and warm. But every once in a while, you need a break from the sun. You need a day that is perfect for curling up with a blanket and a good book, and drinking a cup of coffee. Or, just a day when you have to say, "Well, I can't do anything today because of the rain." Lazy days are wonderful, but I HATE the thought of wasting time when I could be doing something more "productive".
Today, my lazy, coffee drinking day has arrived. For the first time in months, we have had a steady rain all day! I don't think I have ever appreciated rain more- the smell in the air, the cool breeze, the sound of tires on a wet road, and the green green leaves turned to soak up the rain.
Thank you Lord for this beautiful rain!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

A day in... A visitor!


There is a lot of excitement around the apartment this morning! I was checking my email and Sadie starting barking at the door going onto the balcony. At first, I just told her to hush. Then I saw the reason for her barking- a kitten was on our 5th floor balcony. yikes! I know cats are quick and nimble- but I think that is just testing the limits. Despite my intense allergy to cats of all kinds, shapes, and sizes- I couldn't resist this kitten. Neither could Sadie for that matter. Although I have no idea who he actually belongs to- he made himself at home in our apartment for a while! He first perched on my back because Sadie was making quite a pest of herself. Later, he relaxed and wandered around- always with a wary eye on the ol' hound. When my sneezing became to much- back to the balcony he went!

A day in...a Package!

I improvised a little to make John a birthday sign.. he seemed to like it though..


I have always enjoyed getting mail. Luckily, I have a very thoughtful Momma who loves to send me things. All through college I would get cards, notes, and gifts from Mom. Now that I am married, John gets to benefit too!
Since moving to France, mom has sent us a few boxes of fun stuff. It is always nice to have those little touches of "home" that you just can't find anywhere here! For his birthday, Mom sent us a package- FULL of fun stuff for John... and for me too! Although, I must say that it absolutely drove me crazy waiting for John to get home to open the box! Hurray for Mom! It just made our day!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

A day in.... A birthday!


Once again, I am going to cheat. Today is my wonderful hubby's birthday. Tomorrow, I will have pictures of the "birthday celebration". But, today is all about the preparation! Hope you have a wonderful day Hubby! Love you very much!
Picture is "borrowed" from here.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

A day in.... Well.. that was interesting.

I am cheating today.I don't have a picture for you..and I am not feeling so great. So, today you get a funny story.
Since we don't have a clothes dryer, (and most people in France do not) I have to hang the clothes up outside on a rack and wait for them to dry. Well, this means that what used to be laundry day has become laundry 2 or 3 days. So, this morning I finished washing the dishes, put a load of clothes in the washer, and started it up. Forgot one simple little thing- hanging the drain hose over into the sink. (Oh, this is also pretty common. Not fun, but common.) Time lapse- around 35 minutes- water is everywhere. Literally, my entire kitchen, small as it may be, has about a half inch of standing water. It is running under the cabinets and into the living room. ARGH! With the help of 3 beach towels, 3 regular bathroom towels, and about 30 minutes with a hairdryer stuck at the base of the cabinets to blow the water out... it is finally dry.
Bet I don't forget to put the hose in the sink again.

Monday, September 7, 2009

A day in...... The Weekend


One of our favorite pastimes for the weekends, if we don't have anything else planned, is to get outside of Nice and explore. There are many, many villages around Nice, and there are always interesting things to see.
This Sunday, we decided to visit the village of St. Jeannet. This quaint little town is nestled at the bottom of a cliff that can be seen for MILES. We had always talked about going and since we didn't have anything better to do, John and I packed up Sadie and some water and took off for the hills.
After a lovely lunch (Well, John's was lovely, I forgot how much I loath ginger on anything.eck )and a little exploring around the town, we found the beginning of the trail that led to the top of the cliff. The trail was pretty steep and I am pretty sure Sadie thought we were trying to kill her. But, after a few rest breaks for the pup, we reached the top. The view was breath-taking. You could see from Villefranche sur Mer... all the way past Antibes and onto other towns that I don't even know the names of. This may not mean a lot to everyone, but it is a realllllly long way. Amazing!
Oh, and if you would like to see other pictures, you can go here later in the week. Sorry, not enough time to get them all done today!

Friday, September 4, 2009

Next Week!




Good Morning All!! Next week I am going to start a "series" of photos on the blog. Since the purpose of this blog is to let everyone know how we are doing and what is going on in our lives, I thought it might be neat to have a "Week in the life of John and Stacey (and Sadie)". This will include things like what we do on a daily basis, where we go, what we see. This way, you have a visual of things that we talk about or write about from now on! And, since next week is my wonderful hubby's birthday- there will be lots going on!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

First Day of Volunteering!

Hurray! I have found something to do! Finally! Yesterday was my first day "working" at the English- American library here in Nice. Lovely place, although any place that has walls of books is great in my book. I think it is going to be a great experience and might even help me decide a future career! Plus, I get to learn all kinds of new things about Nice! And new people!
If anyone would like to see it.. click here!
Also, saw a really interesting site this morning.. This guy is an absolutely amazing artist. You won't believe how life-like he makes chalk art.
Wish you all a wonderful week!