melle_chantilly

I had time to digest the park incident. I went running again and finally did week 2 of C25K !

I went Xmas shopping today and it was quite an ordeal. I like shopping and I was feeling rather energetic but a lot of people doing Xmas shopping seem to turn into savages, really.

So I had some delicious lentil and foie gras soup and white wine and sushi for comfort. And we watched the Good Wife. So, there.

Also, I found a fantastic sweater for my mom at Benetton. I hope she'll like it.

 So we had to have Xmas Eve with my mum at the temporary apartment since our flat is not about to be ready yet (we're moving back on the 8th, hopefully it's be done then, but I'm doubtful). The temporary flat is small and cramped because we have a lot of our stuff there (and some in the basement). The kitchen is tiny and as non functional as can be. There is just a sink, the metal side of the sink and an electric stove. No counter, no table, no nada. Also, no oven. The janitor was very kind and offered us to use one of the flats in the building so my mother could spend the night (there is a business of flats being sublet to travellers mostly, the temp flat we have is one of those as well).

In the end, it was lovely. We did everything last minute, even more than usual. On Monday, we went present shopping. On Tuesday we tried to order a cake at our favourite bakery but I guess they were too busy with the Xmas shoppers crowd to answer the phone. On Wednesday, Math finally reached them and was told it was too late to order anything but to come early on Thursday, that there would be plenty. He also went to the butcher's to order some meat thing, and he picked a nice boned duckling stuffed with mushroom and ground meat. So on Xmas Eve day Math got most of the food, cake (queued for an hour!), meat, sweet potatoes, chestnuts and we went together to the traiteur to choose some white wine, foie gras and other appetizers.

We managed to put the oven between the sink and the stove (not super safe, but we didn't use the water so it was ok, I guess). I made some mashed sweet potatoes with ginger. Unfortunately we had some yellow sweet potatoes, not orange ones, so it looked less appetizing that it could have, but I can't make the difference between one kind or the other before peeling them.

We cleaned the flat and brought a chair and the over back from the mount of boxes in our apartment. I found a piece of Japanese fabric that was too small to be used as a table cloth. So I folded it and put it across, in the centre. I went to the flat I booked for my mom to make her bed.

My mother had no problem on her way, despite the snow, and arrived at 7. I was wearing a sleeveless dress and a cardigan so she saw my tattoo quickly. She said she was nicely surprised, that it was very feminine and suited me well. Phew! She had brought Xmas decorations with her, so we gave a nice holiday feeling to the flat. We didn't have the room to get a tree, so we made a Xmas chest of drawers instead. :D

 

We went to show our flat and what had been done to it to my mother, who was impressed of the change. It does look bigger now that the bedroom and living room are divided. And our blue kitchen really rocks (it's really not done, but the walls are painted and a counter was laid against the wall, so you could see the colours next to each other, lush!)

The meal was lovely. I really enjoy cooking and treating my mother. We had white wine with salmon tartare (with a raspberry on top!) and then foie gras stuffed with figs. Then we had the duckling with chestnuts (my mother loves them!) and sweet potatoes purée. My mum had brought a delicious bottle of Mercurey to go with it. Then we had a break and exchanged gifts.

I got a lovely gold ginkgo leaf brooch, sequinned slippers and chocolates from my mom (she has ordered more gifts online but they haven't been delivered yet!) and riding-boots-shaped wellies and a COS tuxedo-inspired dress from Math. Math got plushy cow slippers, headphones, a board game and chocolates from my mom and a honeycomb photo light accessory and a porcelain manekineko from me. And my mother got her favourite perfume (Pleasures from Estée Lauder), a subscription to Courrier International magazine, and a vibro. She had been asking, allegedly jokingly, for one for quite a while now. She mentioned it to me maybe 5 times and also told our hairdresser lol (we go to the same place). Well, I didn't actually give her the vibro yesterday. First, she tends to get quite drunk, thus rather loud and quite mischievous (turns out we all drank quite moderately), and I could easily imagine the jokes she could. Then, Math felt a bit uneasy with the idea. So I actually slipped it in her bag this morning while she was in the bathroom, with a note on it “Open me at home :-)”, just to make sure she doesn't open it in the train station (oh, the hilarity!). I picked the Layaspot btw. I wanted the brown one but they didn't have it, so I took her the lilac one. :)

I'm pretty astonished at the quantity of gifts my mother brought us, given her not so great financial situation. Well, I know she's managing quite well and I'm certainly not complaining. I think I should get her a Eee PC for her bday in 2 months. Recommendations are welcome.

We hugged plenty and then ate the mandarin, blackcurrant, coconut and lemon buche. Then we had a decaf and went to bed.

We had croissants this morning and my mom just left (with her vibro in her bag, hehe, success!) And OMG, the flat where my mom spent the night has a tub, and I have the keys till Monday. I'm sooo having a bath! I'm staying in it till Monday!! I miss my tub, I'm fed up with showers only.