Goodbye Carolyn

Marshall's mother died back in California. This was my step-grandmother, probably one of the sweetest people I ever knew. When you talked to her, it was like the whole world stopped and you were the only thing that mattered. I knew her 35 years and will miss her. My mom said that she just liked the idea that she was on the same planet as her mother-in-law. Not anymore...

For some reason, she stopped producing red blood cells. It never developed into anything else. She survived much longer than we even dared hope on transfusions and a medication that started to work again. I'll be just grateful that her passing was peaceful, at home and she was kept out of pain.

Very religious, she was not afraid of dying, even calling it her "last great adventure". She firmly believed that she would be reunited with those who left before her, including her husband. She looked forward to meeting Jesus, who was an integral part of her life.

She had a simple life but a blessed one. All seven children outlived her. No real tragedies in her family. She lost her husband but that also, wasn't marred with undue suffering. What was nice is that she knew this and was grateful for it.

She transcended the religious, generational, cultural and political differences and transcended her relationships into something more meaningful. Those of us who had the privilege to know her, were thankful we did. Just a really special person.

This is the obit that appeared in the Sacramento Bee. It was written by all her children;

PFEIFFER, Carolyn (Sousa) With the beauty and grace with which she lived her life, our precious mom left this world for the waiting arms of her Lord on March 11, 2010. She died in the home built by her late husband, William Carl Pfeiffer, where they raised seven children. Born on Feb. 18, 1926, to Marshall Neves Sousa and Irene Sanderson Sousa,she attended St. Joseph's Academy, and worked for the Diocese of Sacramento, PG&E and SMUD. She married Carl, the love of her life, in 1947 and took time to raise their five sons and two daughters. She later worked at UCD Medical Center and as a nanny for many years. Carolyn enjoyed trips to the ocean, womens' retreats, family reunions, following her favorite teams,and especially spending time with grandchildren and dear friends. Carolyn was kind and loving and leaves a legacy of unwavering faithfulness to her friends, her family and her Lord. Her sense of humor permeated every aspect of her life, and even in death she taught us how to live. She leaves behind her sister Patricia, children Marshall (Barbara), Mark (Mary), Mary Elaine (Scott), Carlene (Jeff), Bradley (Annette), Bruce (Kelly) and Jon, many grandchildren and great grandchildren, nieces and nephews. We send heartfelt appreciation to her extended family at Kaiser South, Kristine O'Day, and to friends who made her life so full. She loved you all. A Memorial Mass will be held Saturday at 9 a.m., St. Rose Catholic Church in Sacramento. Contributions to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (Tribute # 25785822) P.O. Box 1000, Dept. 142, Memphis, TN, 38148.

Published in The Sacramento Bee on March 18, 2010 print

Read more: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sacbee/obituary.aspx?n=carolyn-pfeiffer-sousa&pid=140821644#ixzz0j5aWg0Bk

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Coupe Formation 3 Saverne

Talia did the first part of her "coupe formation 3" yesterday in Saverne, a pretty town about 40 minutes north of here. 

http://www.strasbourg-grs.fr/new/index.php?p=seenews&nid=355

Some of the photos are not great quality. I think I need to check the settings but I noticed that a lot of parents had major SLR contraptions because this is not an easy sport to photograph. The first picture is a professional shot I stole off the Strasbourg GRS site. 

I also did not do that bun. Her coach did and it was a piece of art. It's still firmly in her hair over 24 hours later, without much hair spray I have to admit. What was amusing was there was one move with the ball where all the buns got in the way. They should have made them higher and practiced with them in place first. We'll know for next time! 

They did three "elements"; the ribbon, the ball and the floor (called "free hands" in French). There are also the hoop and clubs in RG which they'll do next time at the second stage of the CF3.

Warming up. Our girls are in pink and you can see some other leotards with other clubs.

A few PSP's and DS's kept the brothers busy during the long wait to go on while the girls warmed up and primped. 

Talia going on for the ribbon.

Talia finishing with the ball. Notice they changed positions which also meant changing judges. 

Talia coming on the floor at the very end (sort of like a retreat in Drum Corps). The two girls in front, Ela and Alexa have a slightly different leotard. These are furnished by the club, at no expense to us. Unlike in the States, where I understand RG girls are expected to buy their own and wear a different one to each competition, the French are a little more frugal. You see the same leotards being reworn to different events. If two girls show up in slightly different leotards because there weren't ones in their size, too bad! 

See, I told you that it was just like a retreat! No "Send in the Clowns" though... (Drum Corps friends will get this).

Then for something Completely Different (any Monty Pithon fans around?) 

Daniel wanted to show us the horses they collected for the SPA (SPCA in France). The owner had to be hospitalized and these poor beasts were underfed when they got them. So sad as you could see their ribs. We took some time to feed them.  Daniel says horses can eat all the time if you let them and not get too upset that they were so hungry.

The one male with all his parts was kept separately from the females and geldings. There was also a billy goat running around, complete with beard which at first, Davina was scared of but then thought was cute and wanted to pet it. He didn't look to "pet-able" though and he was smelly.

Still with her make-up and bun! 

Then we stopped at the other barn to check out the Charolais cows, about 200 of them. This was mirrored on the other side. Just a lot of cows! 

Some smaller ones.

Cows smell! I think this family tradition is coming to an end with my kids. Daniel is a 4th generation cow merchant but I don't think it's any of their callings...

March snow

The forecast was for snow on Saturday. Everyone kept saying "Snow?!?" I remember the day I brought Davina back from the hospital, a few flakes fell down as we crossed the street (yes, she was born across the street from where we used to live). I thought to myself, this is late. That would have been around Feburary 25th. A few flakes. 

This is what we woke up to Saturday morning. This was a bit more than a few flakes and it's still on the ground Monday morning!

It's still cold too. It was -3C when I took the kids to school this morning. Very weird and very cold for here. Strasbourg usually gets a little snow each winter, although snow-less winters are not unheard of. I thought we had seen the last of it when Snowflake and his friend (did he ever get a name?) melted away a few weeks ago...

Ronnie's very first English lesson

I'm on a posting mania today. I finished the posts on Emilie's visit and Waldersbach to check out below.

I'm still in a quandry over which school to send Ronnie to next year. Basically, it's between English and German.

Right now he's in the bilingual French-German program. If he just continues, he'll go to this "college" or middle school;

http://www.col-foch-strasbourg.ac-strasbourg.fr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=56&Itemid=55

Otherwise, we're thinking of switching him to the "international sections" or rather the English Section of College de l'Esplanade. This is where most English speaking children go.

http://esplaweb.free.fr/

To get in, he would have to have a test.

There are NO options to do all three languages. We know now that next year he'll be bored stiff in English class or German, depending on where he is. There is no flexibility, i.e. excusing, testing out or putting him in a more advanced class in either school/language. That's not how things are done here in France!

I've looked at the statistics but Ronnie would be in the German bilingual program, which is only two classes of Foch so it doesn't really reflect how the students he would be with would do. Actually Foch's numbers were just below Esplanade's, which is impressive since the socio-economic level is much lower around Foch.

At Esplanade, there are local children but 60% are in the International Sections (all languages) so there is a selection process. Esplanade is also twice the size of Foch.

On a practical note, Foch would be much easier to commute to. Esplanade is across town. Ronnie would have to learn to take the tram. Not a big deal as many kids do this and it's right in the neighborhood with the university.

Obviously at Foch, he would be with the same friends.

So I figured that I would have to get Ronnie some English lessons. I got a recommendation from an English-Irish family who successfully moved their oldest from a regular French school to the English section at Esplanade at this same age. The teacher had helped many children make this leap but this was the first time she had a native English speaker from the French-German program.

I should qualify that there were two children who made this switch from Ronnie's school. Their situation was actually in a way worse, with the American parent living back in the U.S. From talking to one of the children, it was obvious that there was no comparison between the English level of these children vs. my own. Through a mutual friend, I was told that they are doing well, like it and are successful. This is very encouraging since they were starting off from a lower point!

But this is a different situation, since my kids speak English every day.

I was sure this teacher would skewer Ronnie's English so I left him, hoping for the best.

Pleasant surprise! She was very impressed. What was amusing was that he made typical German mistakes, not French ones. The French tend to throw in extra vowels and put "E"s on the ends of words. Ronnie wrote "Oktober" and had some other funky spellings that Germans typically do.

He was at or above reading level and, the pitfall of never-studied English speakers, almost at level in writing and spelling. She's pretty confident of the Esplanade test in May.

I credit "Calvin and Hobbs". Thank you Bill Waterson! He reads it non-stop, every night, over and over. It's not really meant for children and the vocabulary is a bit odd (I had to explain "maggot" the other night) but it's obviously doing the trick!

BBC World Service and NPR are back in my life!

So funny how a little thing makes a difference.

I bought a little radio with multiple frequencies and now I can get BBC out of Berlin, Armed Forces Network and sometimes Radio 4. The last one is out of the U.K. It's not the most well-looked-upon station and there are jokes about those of us living in France listening to it. Well, British people, would be more the target... It's less about being a snob than not getting the signal and the fact that British rugby and soccer ("foot") don't interest me much... I did catch one of the political programs once. Let's just say that I doubt many of my friends back in the U.K. would be listening to it. Will spare you the details but I don't actually know many people who belong to the BNP....

I love my BBC World Service. I listened to it a lot in Paris. Go figure, I got their signal out of Berlin better in Paris than here on the German border. Problem is that the signal is much stronger at night. Some Italian station keeps butting in. I want to yell "Prego! Prego!" at the radio.

I do have it to wash the dishes at night. I really missed it and am glad to have it back.

The Armed Forces Network is good, although the signal also can fade. A little too much ESPN news (sports for my non-American friends) but it has a lot of NPR too. I have those Car guys, the two Jewish guys (are they brothers?) who give car advice out of Boston. Sounds boring but they're actually quite interesting and fun. I really want to call them and say "I drive a Toyota Yaris, bought in France but make in Slovakia which makes a funny noise in First..."

ASN has really good commercials. First, they give little historical snippets of heroic war incidents that you wont get out of a history book ("...and then he was recaptured, held for captivity... awarded the metal of...") Then there are the public service announcements that remind me that if I'm feeling suicidal, to talk to my commanding officer or the base chaplain...

Not surprisingly, there are a lot more German channels than English language ones. Funny how I used to hear German and think "Oh blah, blah in German". Now I wisk through the dial and think to myself "Oh I'm not in the mood to hear a financial program" or "Politics again!" or "Okay, two minutes to hear the weather and then I'll keep turning..." I can't honestly understand all of it but a heck of a lot more than I used to and I can now dicipher at least the content.

I just wish it all were a bit clearer and more consistent. Daniel walks in and scolds me "You scream bloody murder (rough translation) at me when my radio in the car doesn't come in clean and then I hear you listening to this?!?"

Sorry honey, even static just sounds better in my native language...

More Davina birthday pictures

I know I'm out of order here but we did have a slightly delayed birthday for Davina once my sister-in-law arrived with her daughter. My mother-in-law came over for the day.

This was a very pretty cake but unfortunately, it didn't taste very good! We usually get our cakes from Kubler on Av. des Vosges http://www.kubler.fr/ but this came from another place with a good reputation. Live and learn, oh well...

Davina blowing out her candles with brother, sister, cousin Samantha and grandmother looking on.

Prezzie time, her favorite part. It was mostly Pet Shop stuff.

Her first day back at school, we had a cake. The name didn't turn out too well but she was happy. That's Josephine and Luanne with her.

My logic is that if we celebrate her birthday enough, she wont ask for an actual party at the house (a dreaded proposition, especially with all the interior doors with small windows we have, not to mention the antiques...)

Taking Davina's class to Le Vaisseau

Last Thursday, Davina's class had an outing to Le Vaisseau, a kids' science museum. I volunteer because I always volunteer (large number of working parents so it's always very tight). 

http://5ans.levaisseau.com/

We took the tram instead of a bus. It was a bit of a challenge as neither the Vaisseau nor the school were close to stations so it was a lot of walking and keeping kids out of traffic, etc. 

It's a bilingual museum so the people there gave a little presentation in German and French. They're always surprised when I try to answer (probably thinking that I need to get to grips with French!) 

Each parent (and we had a grandparent with us) were given a small group to keep up with. I got Faryiah (in grey on right) and Lucille (white shirt on right in bottom photo). It was actually easier than taking my own kids as I had three girls the same age so the same things interested them. Usually I'm chasing one of mine here, one there, etc. They were very well behaved. 

I was so tired at the end of the day. Turns out I was coming down with something but it really threw me. Swimming 26 laps beforehand I'm sure didn't help!

Paris visitors

Usually Daniel's sister and her kids come on the week we have vacation at the same time. France has staggered some of its vacations and Paris is on a different schedule from Strasbourg. Every three years we don't have any luck and we had just returned when they went on vacation. So we had them on a school week. 

They also arrived at different times, the mother and daughter on Saturday, the son on Monday and then the daughter left on Wednesday, the mom on Friday and the son on Sunday. It was kind of 10 days non-stop of visitors. 

We took the son who's 17 to Tarte Flambee (an Alsatian speality) his last night in a village closeby.

Left to right; Daniel, Davina (who is doing who-knows-what), Ronnie, Nicholas and Talia.

Ronnie, Nicholas and Talia

Ronnie and Nicholas (you can see that they're related).

My kids like to draw on paper table cloths. Ronnie likes to do dinosaurs. He did some eggs and a baby too.

Talia drew cats. She has moved on from bunnies.