Anouchka Talks

Anouchka Talks has been neglected again because...wait for it... WE MOVED (again) AND GOT ANOTHER KITTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Our precious new baby is a 10 year old torbie (tabby/tortoise shell combination???) named Alice.  (Sorry, the only pictures I have of her are on my ghetto phone so I can't upload any here.)  She is missing part of her left ear and all four of her incisors are broken, but she is otherwise healthy and beautiful and sweet and I love her and she kind of likes me. Fear not:  Betty is still the queen of the castle.  However, we are working towards meaningful change in the attitudes between rival forces in the household.   Dammit, Obama!  Where are you when I need you?!?!?!   My life right now is basically like living with a furry version of the Bloods and the Crypts, only imagine that one of the gangs is really timid and hides under the bed every time the other gang crosses onto their turf to eat their food and use thei...

I thought we could use a warm image in the middle of winter...

I like running.  I like being active.  In general, I like motion.  Sadly, many things that allow me to be kinetic are currently off limits. If you have kept up with any of my running/fitness posts, you will know that last September -one week before my half marathon- I had a case of peroneal tendinitis.  I felt like Chris Traeger from Parks and Recreation .  It sucked, BUT God is good and allowed me to run the race all the same.  (Not only did I get to run, but I set a new record time for myself AND got to go out for my favorite pancakes afterwards!  It was one of the best days of my life.) After the race, I took a little time away from the pavement and spent a little more time revisiting some of my other favorite fitness activities that had been cast aside during training:  weight lifting (baby weights, mind you), kickboxing, dancing, etc.  I would still go out for a light jog every now and again, but only at leisurely paces and nothing ...

Pull up your pants, folks!  Just when you thought I was gone for good, I'm back again for more torture! Over the course of the past couple of weeks, Habibi and I have upgraded our home.  We moved from our apartment in the cookie-cutter upper west end of town to something with more character on the "lower east side."  (For those of you who know where I live, stop laughing and pretend  for two seconds that we live in a big city.) Needless to say, these past few weeks have been somewhat hectic.  Hell, life hasn't slowed down since half-marathon day in September!  We have had a number of surprises and changes come up since Christmas.  However -and I say this knowing you will be terribly disappointed- you will have to wait for future posts to learn about those.  (No, I am not knocked up.) At any rate, to get my creative juices flowing again, I thought I would reintroduce myself to blogging in a simple, concise manner.  So, here goes.... A...

Last weekend, Habibi went out of town to spend a few days with a good friend.  Like any good wife, I was excited for him to have some quality time with a friend...but I also couldn't wait for some precious "me time." Of course, I always miss Habibi when one of us is out of town without the other for an extended period of time but, the older I get, the more I come to cherish the time spent with my own best friend:  me.  Don't get me wrong; just because the mantra for going out has become Do I have to wear pants?  Then I'm not interested.  doesn't mean I'm a recluse or anything.  Throughout my childhood and adolescence I was, in fact, quite extroverted.  However, once I entered adulthood, things began to change.  Gradually, I began to discover the joy that comes with (a certain amount of) solitude and how refreshing and re-energizing that can be. Plus, shucking your jeans at the door and running around your home in your jammies is ...

Our time in France has been delightful, and Habibi and I will never forget our first international trip together as a couple.  As I write this final entry from my cramped seat on the plane ride home, I feel contemplative and rather introspective.  For the past six and a half years, I have been searching for ways to move and work abroad.  While I would still love to do so, I currently find myself ready to return home to my Midwestern city where everything makes sense to me.  I love the French and have a profound appreciation for their language and culture, but I also feel very strongly that it is in learning about other languages and cultures that we can come to appreciate our own.  As many similarities as there are between the populations of the U.S. and of Europe, I have come to realize that I will always be a foreigner here - an outsider.  Please don't misunderstand me, however; this is not necessarily a bad thing!  It is simply a fact. As I consi...