Status

Things are moving slowly, around here, and sometimes in the wrong direction.

The bathroom is still almost done. The toilet was installed yesterday, and the tile work was done at the end of last week. They're supposed to finish up today -- put in the new ventilator, install the glass shower doors, put a cover on the access hole they cut in order to be able to attach the tub's plumbing. It does look very nice, but still: we just want it to be done. Towels on the towel bar, toiletries in the cabinet. Last night, my daughter complained that to use a bathroom, she had to actually go downstairs. It was funny (though she didn't mean it that way; she was honestly aggrieved), but I knew what she meant.

She didn't want to get up today. Sunday, she was up till ten thirty doing homework (yeah....just another hour or so, Dad!), so I pushed to get her into bed earlier last night, which she did. Nevertheless, it took a few prods before she finally staggered out this morning.

My exercise plan is faltering. I didn't go out yesterday because I expected people to come over to talk about our roof. They never did, though I answered the door to find people who wanted to talk about buying new windows for the house. I did do some exercise, using the exercise bike downstairs hard enough to get out of breath, but it's not what I've been doing. And, both my weight and my morning blood sugar are up, last couple of days. I don't understand why, and it bothers me seriously. I am thinking you have to do more, stay longer at the gym, work harder while you are there, and that thought is grim.

And my wife couldn't sleep last night, so she's still in bed.

At least the French is going okay, even though from time to time I feel like you're not ever really going to be able to SPEAK FRENCH, who are you kidding? Still, I keep plugging. Rosetta Stone. Grammar book. French vocabulary cards. Web sites for translation, dictionaries, language idioms. Even got a piece of paper in the bathroom with the hours, in French, so I can see it whenever I go in there. Quelle heure est-il? Still.... I think my current ennui about that is because last night I watched a bit of France 24, a French-language tv station, and was dismayed to find that except for the occasional merci, I couldn't recognize a single word. Hell, I couldn't even pick out words!

I think we all need some time off, is what I think.