So today’s Thursday, which means…cleaning day! Yippie…not! Gosh, maintaining a house (or in my case…just the upstairs) is a lot of work. My morning started at 6:30 and I was dressed and ready at 7:30. I got the kids up, dressed, fed, etc by 8:15. We made it to school on time and while there I ran into Carol and Katja. It was a little chilly this morning, but nothing worth complaining about. When I got back to the house I spent the next two and a half hours cleaning. When I finished upstairs it was just about 11, which was perfect timing because I had to go and pick up the boys for lunch at 11:15. Because of the “grève” (strike) the cafeteria was closed today. Salome didn’t come home though because she and some of her girlfriends were having a picnic in the park. David cooked lunch which consisted of colorful pasta and hamburger meat. It was really good and much appreciated after working all morning.

I put Noa down for his nap in his super clean room into a bed with fresh sheets and a new comforter! He didn’t care, but it made me happy. I watched a kid game show that was very entertaining with Sacha for a half and hour and then at about 1:15 I brought him back to school for the afternoon. On the way walking back to the house, with Carol, she asked me if I’d tutor her in English. She told me that she’s had a lot of English classes already, but that she’d like to continue with her studying of it this summer while having me here and so readily available. She also said that I’d be her best professor yet because English is my mother tongue, whereas all her other English teachers have been Brazil natives. I told her I’d help her, so we decided to do two hours a week for 15 euro! (It’s exciting that she’s paying me too! Yay for spending money!) Plus, she has an English textbook with her, so I just have to explain things to her, not really teach them, teach them.

For the rest of the afternoon I spent my time in the ironing room, ironing. I did about 4 loads of little kid clothes and ugh….I hate little kid clothes! They’re too small to iron. Noa woke up a little just before I finished which was ok because I needed a break. I hung out with him upstairs for a half an hour until Geraldine came home from work. She got back right about 4 so she picked up the kids from school and took them all to the park today. I had the evening off. Well, I went back downstairs and finished up the laundry and then headed to the library. I’ve been told that I can rent DVDs for free, and since all the ones I brought with me don’t work on French DVD players, I have to get French DVDs instead.

When I got to the library, there was a big sign on the door saying it was closed this week. I figured maybe becasue of the strike going on, but nope…they’re just restocking. They said they’d be opened on Monday, so I turned around and headed home. I watched French TV (which is really difficult for me to follow along with….so it’s a good thing I’m watching and trying to learn) till dinner. For dinner we had pizza and salad which was amazing because I was freezing down in my room and when Salome came down and got me, hot pizza was exactly what I wanted! After dinner I watch a movie in French on TV. I was interesting (that which I understood).