6 Kids, 3 cats, 1 dog, Mom, and Dad

This is what happened or More details to come.

We arrived in Paris, France on Sunday, April 22, 2007 after an uneventful night of airplane travel. We left Boston at 9:15pm, had a short layover in London, England and then arrived at around 1pm (keep in mind a +6 hour time difference).

When we got our luggage and went through passport control and customs, we walked through the doorway and saw a man standing there with a card in his hand that had my name on it...our hired ride to the hotel!

I'm so glad that I arranged this transportation before we left New Hampshire. Doing all of that once we landed would have been so overwhelming because of jet lag and the language barrier.

We checked into our hotel and then went walking to explore our neighborhood. We looked at the map and realized we were within walking distance of Notre Dame Cathedral. Pictures and words do nothing to give you an idea of the size and magnificence of the building, stained glass windows, and the overall layout of the Cathedral. It was awe-inspiring and a great way to start our trip.

Where did we have dinner our first night in Paris? Well, we had an awesome crepe after we walked out of Notre Dame so we weren't hungry until we almost got back to our hotel. We got to our area and many places were already closed and so we ended up walking a few blocks and getting our dinner from McDonald's! The French version was just "ok" and the girls decided they like ours better.

I'll describe the other days as I get time.

One highlight, skipping ahead, was spending most of the day Wednesday with Antipo and the Aussie Lass. They were wonderfully gracious, fun, tall, and extremely good looking. They gave us a different view of the country and city that we were visiting and really made our trip much more enjoyable. More later!

Played poker or How it should be.

PWF and her son met a family member from BW's side for the first time last weekend. This is the first actual meeting and confirmation that I'm dating and I'm sure the information couldn't have been more stunning...she's living with me now after all.

After we had a very nice lunch Sister-in-Law asked if she could let everyone else know...as if she would have kept quiet if I said no! I told her that it was fine since I have nothing to hide and I'm rather proud of the beautiful woman that has decided she loves me as much as I love her.

So...fast forward a few days to our weekly poker game. The game is held at my brother-in-law's house and another BIL and my father-in-law play at this game too.

I wondered if there would be any questions or remarks made during the course of the game...NOPE! We did what we always do...trash talk about each other's playing ability, talk about work, and enjoy playing poker with each other.

Paris, here we come or When I come home.

I'm on a mind-numbing conference call at work right now. It is one of those calls when someone needs to be on from the account team but only for listening purposes. *sigh*

Only three more days...I need to print vouchers, have the girls activate their traveler check credit cards, pack, and make sure everything is ready for our departure. We are so excited about this trip and I know it is going to be awesome.

And when we return, PWF will be waiting for me and that is an incredibly good feeling. :-)

And on the Guitar Hero II front, I've been encored three times!!! What an addictive game plus it is something that everyone likes to play!

Goings on or Happenings here.

Wow...could it be that it has been so long since I posted?

Life has been full since PWGF decided to join me in making this house our home along with her son on Easter weekend. Things have been going well in terms of everyone getting along but that is pretty much what I expected.

PWGF bought a GPS and has made use of it to start learning this area.

We also bought Guitar Hero I and II. Now you can look in our front window at almost any given time and see someone jamming on their fake guitar to "More Than A Feeling" or "I Love Rock and Roll".

Oh, and there's been one other big change. PWGF is now my PWF.

Clingy kitty or Working with a cat on your lap.

I guess it wouldn't be too difficult if Fizban confined her clingy activities to my lap. She has to be on my hands, in front of the computer, and then trying to lay down on the laptop's keyboard.

I heard a beeping sound when I was brushing my teeth and by the time I came out of the bathroom the computer had been shut down by her position on the keyboard.

Getting lazy or Busier than ever.

I tend to go through dry spells when it comes to posting things on my blog. Sometimes, it is just because I don't have anything to say. Other times, it is because I'm busy and doing just one more thing on the computer is bound to drive me crazy.

Things continue to be awesome with PWGF other than the not seeing each other for two weeks part. Family obligations on the weekend have kept us apart but that will end after Easter. :)

Youngest Princess Daughter was in the play UrineTown this past weekend. She was one of the bad girl cops. It was more than a bit disconcerting to see her dressed and dancing that way. Already, she's gotten phone calls and instant messages from boys interested in taking her out on a date. *SIGH*

Youngest Daughter had some friends over this weekend and they all got ready to go out by ironing each other's hair. Yep. Apparently, this is something that girls do 'all the time' and I've been in the dark ages and not known.

We have blow dryers, flatteners, curling irons, and all manners of cords and devices under the bathroom sinks...but all they really needed was a common household appliance that we've had all along...an iron.

And finally, I was able to wake each daughter, and their friends, up from a sound sleep with the report that we had a bear in our back yard. They all catapulted from bed and ran bleary-eyed to the nearest window. After trying to make it out I said in a puzzled voice, "I thought for sure it would be out there today." That's when they turned to me and with disgusted voices said, "April Fools!"