November 14th (in Paris), 8530 Words Toward NaNoWriMo, Not As Sane as Before

At this rate, you probably think I can’t write every day.  But guess what?  I do.  I’m very, v e r y  S L O W .

The Eiffel Tower from The Trocadéro - Bare Trees - That was fast, Autumn!

I’m finishing Act I of my outline, where my young protagonist finds his father in a precarious position and must decide whether or not to let go of the past.  This is The Point of No Return.  Although it doesn’t feel like anything special, I’m hoping I’ll perk up here.  Gain some momentum.  Abuse my keyboard.

But not tonight.  Tonight, I passed the 8500 word mark, and I’m kinda chill like yeah.

Then there’s this thing that happened in Paris yesterday.  It’s not an excuse whatsoever, because during times like this, Keeping On is, well, très nécessaire.  But The Hubs and I were up until 2 AM, struggling with our Wi-Fi (Ya feel me, Paris?), and hanging onto every word we could capture from the news.

Morning in the Bois de Boulogne

Yesterday, I went for a morning run in the Bois de Boulogne with a friend.  She brought her dog.  It was chilly and windy with a hint of sunshine.  I completed 5.5 miles and felt like a million bucks.  I used the rest of the day as a NaNoWriMo catch-up opportunity, meaning I carried a laptop around my apartment, from the dining room table, to the kitchen counter, to the living room couch, editing and writing and emailing NaNo buddies in France.  I made barely a dent in my word count, but it felt productive nonetheless.

Normally, The Hubs and I are out and about on a Friday night.  Montmartre, Le Marais, The Latin Quarter, Pigalle, Saint-Germain, So-Pi… Canal Saint-Martin, Belleville.  Last night, our 8th Grader had a Sleep-Over with a friend at our apartment, rendering The Hubs and I homebound.  Which was perfect, because it had been a long week at work for The Hubs, and a long week for me too…

Paris Café Culture :)

Dessert

Saint-Michel, Paris

We walked with the boys to the movie theater at Palais des Congres, where we found 007 still sold out - Come on, my French friends, you are not that starved for entertainment - so after a McFlurry pit stop at Mac Doe’s, we returned home and rented Return of the Jedi.

Heee-eeeey Bestie, let’s take a brief reprieve to remember 1983.  This is the year we entered 7th grade.  It’s the summer I was run over by Sam Glick, ‘member that?  Weeks and weeks of Barbies on my mother’s sunporch.  My GAWD, you saved my sanity.  If I say anything else about this, Ima cry and, well, my mascara.  I love you, lady.

Anyhoo, by the middle of the movie, our boys concluded that special effects and plot lines were sub-par in 1983, and they retreated to the Man Cave, where they imbibed in Grand Theft Auto for the next several hours.  In the mean time, The Hubs and I put the movie on pause (who am I kidding, our Wi-Fi crapped out), and while we were standing in the kitchen smooching pouring wine remembering 1983, we got our first text message.

“Are you OK?”

I can’t imagine how many text messages were sent and received last night throughout Paris with those exact words.  Ça Va?

The next few hours included a deluge of phone calls, emails, texts, Facebook messages.  Phone calls took precedence, of course (our children in the USA), followed by emails from our Paris friends…

“Is everyone OK?  At home?  Kids?”

Then came the WhatsApp from my friend in Southern China (from Singapore) when I realized how many people I’ve met here in Paris over the past two years, how many people have become so important to me, from every country and every culture, tout le monde, and…

Our Babysitter

Well.  I couldn’t respond to you all, and for that I apologize.  Between shitty Internet and obvious priorities, I think we all understand.

Today is a Saturday.  We had stuff to do, yanno?  Like most Parisians, we ventured into the world, carefully, cautiously, but confidently.  We brought our visitor home, attended a wine tasting on a boat in the Seine, ate crepes in the 15th Arrondissement.  Life goes on.

To the people of France, thank you.  You are brave and kind and resilient, and you have taught me more than I thought possible.  To my NaNoWriMo friends, thanks so much for your support and encouragement.  I’m making forward progress, a little at a time.

Statue of Liberty, Paris, France