Oy vey.

Despite oversleepings and apocalyptic nap dreams (naps are unavoidable after oversleeping) involving falling down a mineshaft in Arizona in a pitch-black, out-of-control elevator after being chased by sentient bulldozers speaking German (Hitler apparently won the war?), I will post.  I'm not precisely in the most buoyant of moods, but there is chicken pie in the oven and Caspian and I will be making margarita-esque drinks in our new blender (we actually received about 10-15% of the stuff on our modest wedding registry and have been slowly acquiring the needed items ourselves, one by one).  I say margarita-esque because we will be ditching the cointreau and adding puréed raspberries, and perhaps an extra splash of tequila beyond the 4 parts in the classic recipe.

Our car is rented, our taxes are belatedly done (US taxes are allowed to be quite late, due to our foreign address and the fact that we had to do taxes for two countries) with fabulous results, a kitty-sitter has been procured and I have one more week of work before a much-needed vacation.

I have seen a whole pile of movies in the past week:  Iron Man 2 (fun!), The Orphanage (incredible and completely demented), Bridesmaids (I laughed until I cried), X-Men: First Class (I LOVED IT AND ESPECIALLY MAGNETO :X) and V for Vendetta (well, it was actually the 2nd time, but dayum, Hugo Weaving's voice is mesmerising).  I think Hugo Weaving possesses the paragon of English-speaking voices.

Felix is speaking French more and more in person and over the phone, and I can't decide if he's doing it by accident or on purpose, to improve my ear.  It sounds completely accidental, almost like he's taking for granted the fact that I understand him, when he used to meticulously translate each tiny phrase into English (to practice for himself, I think).  I so desperately want to be bilingual.  Unfortunately, I was getting a migraine in the car after our practice yesterday morning and he was relentless about making me pronounce rouge and rire properly.  Which I can't.  Arrrrgh, French.

We had a long discussion about the pragmatism of English vs. the conventions of French.  For example, accents in English are common.  It is, for good or ill, the language of international business.  Hearing and accepting and enjoying accentation, even and especially within the realm of native English, is as natural to me as breathing, yet Felix insists that there is only one true way to speak each French word; anything different is not French.  He told me his sister slightly rolls her Rs, and that it's wrong.  His brother speaks through his nose, and it's wrong.  Felix is such a purist.  Caspian uses much harsher consonants than I do (which I had never noticed until Raomi pointed it out to me), but his version of English is just as valid.  I think it has to do with culture more than language.  I don't even notice accents half the time.

Oh man, this "margarita" is killer.  Probably 5 parts raspberries, 8 parts tequila, 4 parts lime, and ice.  And a smidge of sugar.