Surprise 10k!

Today began my second week actually teaching classes and I think it went really well. This week's theme: Halloween! For the older kids, I based the lesson off of a clip from Charlie Brown and even though they didn't understand a lot of the words, they still thought it was really funny!


On another note from today, at recess (or "récré[ation]") it came up that I'm a runner. Apparently, there's a local 10k going on this Sunday in the nearby town (village) of Saint Saturnin Lès Avignon, which is a hillier course that goes through a few tiny towns and gives a good view of local scenery. Sylvain, the director of one of my schools, suggested that I run it and then he'd pick me up (his son is running it too) and then invited me to come after the race to his house for Sunday lunch. 6.1 miles seems like a good training run (and it'd provide me with the hills I need to cross train) AND I was flattered by the invitation so I quickly said yes to the plan.

But wait, it gets better. Sunday's run is sponsored by St. Sat's local running club (every town in France has a running club)... and they're called "Les Baskets fumantes" (literally "The Smoking Sneakers")... How could any club have a better name that that? Oh, and the 10€ registration fee covers a tech shirt AND a bottle of wine at the finish... How French is that?! I'm so psyched!


Other than that, the rest of my weekend was made up of run recovery (thankfully my knee is feeling better now!), a trip to the market (and for the weekly pain-au-chocolat indulgence with a few of the other assistants), and a "hot skype date" with Jon and Auburn Foodball:


All of this (fresh lettuce, radishes, grapes, red pepper, green pepper, mushrooms AND broccoli) for only 5€ from the produce stand in Les Halles (an indoor independent market in Avignon)!
The best produce stall ever. (I'm now biased)
Looking very "French" with out baguettes under our arms and our bags of fresh produce!
See? I REALLY wanted to see the Auburn v. Arkansas game, so Jon and I got to hang out "at home" and watch it! Best boyfriend ever pointed the computer at the TV! Best, blurry football game ever! War Eagle!
Most of the aforementioned veggies went (in part) into making tonight's delicious dinner creation: Homemade pasta sauce with organic mini cheese raviolis! (Did I mention my roommate works for an organic pasta company in France and brings yummy things home from work?):

I actually will admit... I called Jon via skype to ask about his normal sauce recipe. Since we started dating, I haven't made my own spaghetti sauce. His are really good, so he gets spaghetti and pancakes as his "signature" dishes.
Voilà! Really delicious, if I say so myself!
Anyway, I'm really looking forward to the 10k on Sunday. I might move my long run to Friday instead to give me Saturday to recuperate and get over any possible knee pain again, but other than that, it looks great... Well, minus the 30% chance of "scattered showers" for Sunday... Here's hoping the ridiculous, shutter-shaking Mistral wind will blow those rain clouds away!

This Weekend (In Pictures)

Whew, what a jam-packed weekend. Friday started the weekend with a delicious Lox/Avocado/Light Cream Cheese bagel from Athen's own Bagel Street Deli. Not only is this place a local favorite, but it's also special because that's where Jonboy and I went on our first impromptu date. :)


Also, after lunch my friend Katy and I stopped by a local bookstore's street sale and stumbled upon this gem:

The whole idea of this book alternately makes me laugh and pisses me off. Really? A cookbook to encourage emotional eating? Seriously?!
Since this weekend was going to be really nice outside (albeit cold on Saturday/Sunday), Jon and I decided to tackle all the things we've been too busy to do.

Goals for the weekend:
1. Fix the plumbing in the shower (Jon did this...I just cheered him on and cleaned the rest of the house)
2. Finish/Redo the kitchen: On our first weekend together, Jon and I tore up the linoleum in his kitchen with the intent of replacing it with vinyl tile. Instead, we ended up living with the plywood sub-floor until this weekend (total 5 months). Though, once we decided to do the floor and had to take out all the appliances for that, we thought we might as well just go ahead and repaint/put up the backsplash for the oven while the appliances were already in the living room. Result: brand new kitchen!
3. Go to the Farmer's Market
4. Go for a morning run (Didn't happen... Oops)
5. Grill out with Beth and Steve (Happened, but sadly there are no pictures. Extra bonuses from grilling out: I've finally tasted and fallen in love with parsnips and Jon has learned how to play Apples to Apples!)

Jon spent all Friday night fixing the shower--so Saturday morning, we didn't wake up early enough to run, but we *did* however make it in time to go to the Athen's Farmer's Market. Jon'd never been and I've been wanting to take him since we started dating, but, sadly, not a lot of fresh produce growing in the winter. Saturday was super windy and cold, so we didn't get to stay too long, but while were were there we did manage to grab THIS amazing creation from the local pizza joint Avalanche's bakery:

Yes, this is covered in nutella. It's a bready thing with half a banana baked into the top, smothered in nutella. Not very points friendly, BUT it was breakfast and we shared it.
See? Jon had some too and, bonus, looks happy to be there despite the wind and cold. I'd give him crap about the cold since he's from Alabama and all, but hey, my midwestern self thought it was pretty chilly too.

Then, we came home and conquered the kitchen:

BEFORE:Okay, by "before" I really mean, pre-tile. Here, you can already see the plywood primer
In Progress:






After:


I LOVE the new kitchen look. Disregard our mess since the dishwasher isn't working yet, but still, what a change from the old look! :)

Although I'm not a fan of our oven, I do think the backsplash really helps make it look a bit better!

Anyways, busy, but productive weekend. No running, but I definitely didn't sit around and do nothing instead. Whew! Now onto the master bedroom! It's going to be an interesting project because not only did the former owners paint it navy, but then they feathered some silver paint on top of that. Plus, we're going to tackle the carpet replacement on our own... Any tips and pointers would DEFINITELY be appreciated!