Our beloved Tigresse

Saturday evening, after multiple errands altogether (we usually do errands in 2 teams), we came back home. Our daughter found our beloved cat in the backyard, suffering a lot of pain.
When I saw her, I knew she had been poisoned like Lili, our cat that passed away last year.
I still wanted to have hope and we rushed to the vet's office. Unfortunately, the vet couldn't be back until 30 minutes and no one else was on call.
I pet her during all that time and asked her to fight for life. I talked to her and talk to her and talk to her...
When the vets finally arrived, it was too late. Actullay, we arrived home too late.
It's a lot of pain for all of us but what makes it even worse for me (what I shouldn't do, I know) is those "what if...".
What if I hadn't mopped the floor and didn't care about Tigresse going inside the house when we left. What if I made her go inside when we left as I usually do. What if I didn't mind about the comforter being in the Dry cleaner for 3 weeks so I had to go with my husband on that errands'trip instead of staying home...and being able to get her inside or finding her right away when she ate that poison.
What if we didn't stay too long at my daughter scout's meeting when we picked her up. What if the dry cleaner didn't talked to me for 5 minutes about the new dry cleaning customer card.
What if, what if, what if...
It's not one thing, it's all of them piling up that made us leaving her outside and coming back home too late. I know that what happened to her could have happened the next day or the next week. Maybe it could have happened 2 weeks ago or 2 days ago and what I chose to do and not to do at that moment saved her but still, I feel so angry...and so sad. I miss her very much.
We buried her in our land, soon-to-be new home.
My son melted down when we told her goodbye.
We will love her forever.
"You are in our hearts forever Tigresse, tu es dans nos coeurs à jamais".

Doctors & Hospitals

I always hesitated before posting : because I am not sure the subject I picked will interest you or because I am not sure I'd be able to write more than 10 lines. Everytime, I feel like I am being negative about France...
Bottom line, I do not post anymore => Bad !
So I'll try today : I have been very disappointed with French medicine and French doctors since we moved back from the US. Everything that I feel like being normal before, I really dislike them today. It goes from not having a yearly check-up to the way pain is ignored or worse, pain has to be !

Let's start with the obvious, as a women : the OBGYN appointment. Men don't know a lot about it but I can tell, it's not the appointment you want to go every year ! It's pretty much uncomfortable. Well, in France, it's twice uncomfortable because you are naked when you have your exam and you talk with the doctor. Who wants to have a conversation being naked ? I don't. So I decided that next time, I'll bring a long TS and see how it goes.

Then, as a mom, the yearly exam your child has with his pediatrician. Same problem here. My daughter never gets a chance to get dressed after his exam because he doesn't want to wait. So she goes down from the examination table and walks to get her eye exam or her weight taken...
Any problem or small issue is talked in front of the child but without him being asked about. Would you like it as an adult ? No, clearly no. And I am starting to think it's typically French as it's widely the case. I remembered hating that when I was a kid so I talked about it with my daughter and ask her : is this something you noticed ? How do you feel about that ? She did notice and she does hate it ! Same goes with pain. Most of the doctors will kind of deal with your pain. For children, no way, they have like 99% chance of "lying" or over-estimate the pain/ underestimate their resistance to it. My daughter had to get antibiotics through "intraveineuse" 3 times. The first time, at the Children's hospital,they had given her a patch of emlar so she was fine. The second time, the nurse came home and my poor baby started crying and saying it hurt. So I ask the nurse to do something about it. She said that basically that was nothing that could be done. So my poor baby cried for 3 super super long minutes and at the end, was begging me for help "mommy, mommy, mommy...". It was heartbreaking. So I called the Children's hospital to check with them. The nurse should have diluted the antibiotic with saline solution so it wouldn't feel like burning in her veins....so I rushed to the pharmacy (it was Saturday evening, and we don't have any CVS or Walgreens in France). When I explained that to the nurse the following day, she started to tell me that she didn't believe some of her adults patients when they said they were having pain until...she felt herself that very same pain. It was unbelievable !
So next time, I'll get all the infos before having any procedure done to my children...and to myself !
And of course, "le meilleur pour la fin", the dentist. And that'll take me a whole post. The dentist is everything. I even heard a friend saying "My dentist doesn't like to give too much anesthesia so I started feeling pain while he was using the drill on a cavity I had. I told him and he said "don't be childish, you are just fine"......?????!!!!!!

Summer Time

Hello !
As you can guess, my new job took me way too much of my free time as I had to work also most of my evenings and very often half of my week-ends.
Anyway, I was lucky to get 2 clients as soon as I started and I enjoyed my first two months in the job.
Then I went away with my family and cat to Brittany (one day) on our way to the Alps. For once in a very long time, we took time to do everything : travel, lunches, dinners, naps, postcards and we did what we haven't done in years during Summer Time : nothing !
It was the very first time in 12 years that I didn't plan anything, no visits, no places to be, no museums, no nothing !
So besides the fact that the Alps were a great place to be during Summer, we came back home relaxed and all very happy of all the moments that we enjoyed being together !!

Laugh

I love Anne Roumanoff since she started...
Enjoy the video of "Harmony" !!

Post of August 24th : I just realized that my link didn't work so I found another video I like :

Unlucky day !!

Well, this time it was a pretty unlucky day. I would say like Sam that it is all a question of perspective but still....I felt unlucky !
First, I started my day with being 15 minutes late. When I am late for going outside on Wednesdays, it's always 15 minutes, I don't know why.
Then I couldn't use the "luckily-my-watch-is-15-minute-ahead" ("en avance", is that correct ?) because I had this kind of vehicule in my lane :
In the picture below, I am behind him :

Then I had to pick up someone in that kind of neighborhood : in the green zone.
If you notice, if you take the wrong street to enter the area, you are good to drive all your way down that street and try to find another one to go in. It took me two "enterings and outings" before finding my way ! And of course, the streets are as narrow as they can be in France...so no U-turn possible !!
Agrandir le plan

After that, while my daughtre was opening a cabinet door, it almost felt on the floor. So we have now that :
Nice, isn't it ? And I can't get you pictures of my son's rash (he might have again the Fifth disease) or about the plate I accidentally dropped on the floor this morning or about the tiny wound my kitten got I don't know how....
So I guess I am done with luck cycles !! No "lucky day" tomorrow, just an ordinary day, pleaaaaaaase !!

Lucky Day !

Today, it was one of those day were I thought "Gosh, I am so lucky (something's must be wrong elsewhere in my life !!).
Everything I had to do went really smoothly and I might have 2 clients for my real estate business without looking for them. Like the rest, all happen without me looking for it. I do love this kind of day and already look forward for the next one !!

I left this morning for a doctor's appointment. For the first time in 2 years, I didn't forget to ask for a referral for a "phlebologue" (I would appreciate any comment that will give me the word in English !) and for what she told me, he looks like a great one !

After that, I went to a lab for some blood test and for the first time, I found a great spot (I unfortunately have a car too long for France narrow streets) in an always crowed area (Susan, if you read me, it was in le Croisé, remember last time I parked in Inno ? !!!).

The lab couldn't make the blood work before an hour so I went nearby to a small supermarket (Monoprix) where I had a sweater to return. I was going to have a quick look to men's clothes (I always like shopping for my hubby). I finally ended with clothes for the whole family, there was a huge sale (pretty amazing for France and that time of the year, merci la crise !). I even found a great bag I was looking for my work (not too serious but pratical to hold files and documents) 50% discounted (in the men section of course !) and a "cheche" like Katie Holmes in one of my magazines (I liked the style of it first and then, it's even more funny if it's on a magazine !).
I feel great when I buy exactly what I've looking for in weeks.

They had a good sandwich section so I had a quick lunch onsite. And I also like being able to do whatever I need without wasting time and gas ! They had also the most amazing chocolate cake, it was nice (I am a huge chocolate fan !).

With that in mind, I feel relaxed and when I met someone at Office Depot after my blood test, she might have felt it because we chatted and she asked me to find a house for her ! Yeah !

After that, I drove to some "jardinerie" with a pet section. I just had a kitten and needed to buy something to save my couch from her claws. It's called "arbre à chat" (cat tree ?). It's ususally quite expensive given the use and all the time not very stylish on the color choice. I know the concept of it is not stylish at all but it's much much more useful than it's bad looking.
Anyway, I was looking around for the second time of the week (couldn't convince myself to buy one the first time !) and bang, a promotion : 12 euros ! And not too ugly !

Then I rushed to my haircut appointment right before school pick-up. And there, I chatted with someone and find another potential client !!
At school, I also chatted with 2 moms I know and had useful informations I could have never gotten without their help ! Yeah again !

With all these nice things happening, I forgot to mention the "arbre à chat" had a defect and the tree wasn't inside the box but well, I went back and made a quick exchange.

So I do hope that as much I am kind of bragging with my luck, something really unluncky won't happen to me in the next couple of days !! In France, they have some sort of (bad mouth) quote that says "avoir une chance de cocu". Usually, it applies to men but.....
Whatever happens, I won't keep you posted on that subject !!!

I really like a lot the song below and today is a good day to post the video !!


Enjoy that long week-end !!

Questions about Swine Flu in NPR

The article is here.

Spring is too much here !!

So my daughter and I are suffering from allergies : headaches, burning eyes, sniffing etc.
This is really the first time it's happening to them so it seems weird for me. I never never had that kind of reactions when I was a kid and half my life, I lived in the countryside : 7 years in the beautiful Alpes de Haute Provence. I remember going to the dentist in Manosque long long before it was included in Le Luberon.
Anyway, it's weird. I have been having migraines since Saturday. It kind of never stops...I am miserable. I will end up going to a doctor see what she could give me. I found a great GP recommanded by my neighbor. She doesn't give you a long prescription and can even give you no prescription at all !! And the best thing is that she won't give you any antibiotics until you really need them. It's a thousand miles from what I had when I was a kid. It's pretty refreshing.
You won't believe me but I do really miss my kids pediatrician. He's great, caring and one of the best doctor I ever met. Dr Yogman, if one day you read my blog : WE MISS YOU !!!
That doesn't mean I haven't found great doctors when we moved back but they are....French !
They don't include the kids in the process, especially the dentist. The kids are supposed to stay quiet, not to complain and cope with pain. Unbelievable !

The worst part, I guess, is going to the OBGYN. When she starts examining you underneath, you are simply naked and stay like that until she is done. I DON'T LIKE IT !!!!!

For X-rays, I remember in the US having a heavy lead-apron on me at the dentist. Here, any X-rays that's not too close to your belly doesn't give you the right to that protection. So now, I always tell them I might be pregnant.

Last example, we had to take my daughter to the lab for a blood work. The needle they used was supposed to be kid appropriate but she was crying the whole time the poor thing. And the worst is that the lab girls told me they used the same needles for babies ! The only solution they gave me was to stick a special patch on my daughter arm 1 hour before the blood work so she wont't feel any pain !!!!!!!

I know it's the way things are done here and nobobdy even asks questions or thinks there could be another way but I am convinced there is something to do here.
Like environmental stuff, you can start little and ask for things to change around you.
It might work, it might not work but it's worth trying. And I'll try !