Five of us packed into a moving van today and shipped off for wonderland again: Ikea. We met up at 9.30 (on a Saturday!) and fit our massive beast of a locomotive into the Swedish parking space by 11.00. Six hours later, we left the store. Six.
Then we spent six more hours running around Paris, dropping off first the schools, then Pennsylavania Boy's, then Brigette's, then my, then Jenn's, then Asher's crap. That's a lot of stairs, a lot of double-parking, a lot of near-disputes with disgruntled Parisians.
But, I've got two new plants, a little stand, a rug, and...most importantly...a FRIGGIN bookshelf. My house, for lack of an ability to expand outward, has began expanding upward. Stacks and stacks and stacks of books. I'm trying to keep it in control with some Ikea magic.
Anyhow, coming home on the metro (after dropping off The Beast) from perhaps the most exhausting day I have had since 1993, a little girl sat down next to me in the station. She reminded me of myself when I was her age: energetic, blond, and, above all, extremely talkative.
Down she sat, looked me squarely in the face and said, "Bonjour!" (it was midnight at that point, so whatever... not really daytime anymore but I wasn't about to argue with the little one).
"Bonjour!" I said back, admittedly rather meakly (I was tired, damnit!)
"What do you have in your hands?"
"My keys."
"What do you do with them?"
"With my keys? I use them to get into my house."
"What do you do with that?" she asked, pointing to my mini-flashlight on my keyring.
"It's a little light. A little light. In case I lose something at night, I can find it easily." I said, blinking the light into my purse so she could see just how much it facilitates the act of searching for something in my bag at night.
Right then the metro came and her mom scooped her up to get on board. She took a seat a fair distance from me, but sat backwards on her mom's lap to keep looking at me. When I caught her eye she burst out, "A LITTLE LIGHT!!" with delight.
I smiled, and secretly flashed the little light at her. She laughed and laughed and laughed.
Our little secret.
It was a great ending to another full and fabulous day. I really like hanging out with new people... it's something I'm only just now realizing. I think I used to sort of be afraid of it, but I really like it now. Maybe it just means I believe in myself more, I don't know, but I'm happy with the change. Down with the social phobia! I think it's a step in the right direction.
And I got two new plants!
In other news, this web site was described on www.familylifeabroad in the following way:
"A young, fun look at daily life in Paris by an American graduate student (with size 11 feet)."
I absolutely love it. I hope I can live up to it.
Yes, and I do love IKEA. But we don't have one here! The closest one is in Houston. So I go to Target, which is pretty good too.
Little girls ALWAYS make my day.
Yeah, Target's the best, too. I have an entire entry dedicated to Target somewhere on the site, as well. But just like you don't have an Ikea, we don't have a Target, so...Ikea it is.
you SO stole the "I am IKEA's bitch" line from me... I demand recourse! Just kidding. And little girls TOTALLy make my day. Olivia, my babysitting love, now, in response to the question, "What do bunnies do?" attempts to scrunch her face up in a nose-wiggle, but just ends up blinking because she's grinning so hard. And when you ask her what do MONKEYS do, grunts like she's constipated. It's great fun.
Kari - I totally got that from your last comment. I admit it. I liked it so much I had to use it.
And that is so cute about Olivia. Have you done all the animals with her? I wonder what she thinks cows and frogs do.