The Upward Turn

I've been silent this past week in a sort of mourning for my husband's first out of three-week business trip to Egypt and Dubai.  I went through all the phases - shock & denial (I can't believe you really have to go that long!  Surely the company will pay for me to go part of the trip since it's an exceptionally long stay); pain & guilt (.... okay there was none of that); anger & bargaining (So you're going to look for a new job, right?  I mean, this is ridiculous - they have no respect for you - they don't compensate you for making such sacrifices!); depression, reflection, loneliness (waaaaa! How am I going to survive these three weeks?  What if something happens and you don't come back?  I'm going to miss you so much.  Peanut will be so confused.); and finally the upward turn.


So after crying on Sunday in front of the kids and then in front of our friends who came over to console me, I slowly worked my way upward to reconstructing a three-week life without the love of my life.  Mr. Welcome, in all his thoughtfulness, called a bunch of people and asked them to come over and help me with the kids or keep me company.


Monday began with an emergency trip to the pediatrician because Big Boy was coughing quite hard with a bit of a fever, and Peanut was fussy with a runny nose.  The doctor okay'd Big Boy to go to school anyway, so it was a usual day with me and the Peanut hanging out, picking the kids up from school, and a rushed call with Mr. Welcome right during the bath time.


Tuesday, Ariel came over - the master gardener.  I cooked a tofu curry for our lunch and she went out and furrowed the land while I slept.  Yup.  Good friend, huh?


Wednesday, Ariel's whole family came over and brought raspberry bushes, which we planted in two rows.  We also got the potatoes, chinese cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, and some sort of green I can't translate into the ground.  I also planted some chives, basil, parsley and mint with the seeds and clippings they brought.  We worked the entire day, and by the evening I couldn't walk anymore from a pinched nerve.  It was an interesting challenge trying to bathe the kids while hobbling around with towels and soap.  Mr. Welcome had bought a webcam and wanted to skype our dinner together as a family - me and the three kids on the one side, he in his elegant hotel on the other.  I think he had the more pleasant of the two dinners.


Thursday it was back to the pediatrician for an emergency appointment: Peanut's barking cough and wheezing had returned.  After that I went into La Defense to get some groceries and birthday presents (4 to be exact), but had to hurry because I had a cardiologist appointment closer to my house.  So Peanut and I took the bus there and I got fitted for a tension band that I had to wear for 24 hours (and freeze up like a statue every 15 minutes when it went off or else it wouldn't get a good reading).  After being out and about from ten o'clock onwards, I was displeased to find out there were no buses back.


So we set off on foot past field after field.  I can't believe we live so far into the country, just a ten minute train ride from the Champs Elysées.  And just as we were rounding up along the cemetery (with all the raised graves, like in New Orleans), I looked behind me and saw two llamas.  Two llamas.  They were roaming free on the road.  What in the world are two llamas doing on the road in France?  I didn't stay to find out, but rather high-tailed it out of there.  I wasn't keen on getting spat upon on top of my exhausting day...


... which wasn't over yet as I had 36 cupcakes to prepare for Young Lady's birthday celebration with her class.  I made the most scrumptious raspberry cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting from Little Miss Cupcake's blog, who generously shared her recipe.  Fortunately for me (who once again was having trouble walking), the lovely and indefatigable Alberte showed up and made us all dinner and bathed my kids.


Friday (whew, nearing the week's end here), I had to go back to the cardiologist and I figured, what the heck - I'll go on foot again.  After an hour's walk, I enthusiastically handed back the tension band, having been its captive for 24 hours - imagine 3 kids (and one who doesn't walk), 36 cupcakes, 2 flights of stairs at school, and an arm band that strikes at any moment.  As it turns out, all is well with me with the exception of a heart that beats too fast (Big Boy - stop sitting on your brother while he's crawling - he gets a bloody nose when his face smashes into the floor! Peanut - get that electrical cord out of your mouth!  Young Lady, I don't care, but you are not wearing those dirty red shoes to school, whose soles flap open like a mouth! -  Gee, I wonder why?), and a tension that doesn't lower enough during sleep.


Since I decided to go both routes to and from the doctor on foot, I was able to learn the reason for the llamas.  I was headed down a tiny street, that was little more than a path, when I came smack-dab upon a cage of lions.  I don't think I've ever seen a lion that close.  One of them looked me up and down with a regal disdain, despite his captivity - he was part of the circus that was in town.  I pitied his captivity, but not enough to hope he could roam free like the llamas.


And finally, I made my way home where I prepared all the bags to be able to spend the weekend at my in-laws.  We watched l'Emmerdeur on television after all the kids were asleep, which was french humor in all its dark glory.  Highly funny.  And we're off to a barbecue in the country today with a big Welcome family lunch tomorrow.


So as much as I would vastly prefer to be doing all of this with Mr. Welcome, I've managed to take, in his absence, an upward turn.