Monday, March 3, 2008

By the way...

Yep, it's me -- I know, I know, I've been MIA once again, and I realize there's no use in my listing off all my excuses... I was pretty much suffering from the longest-extended-and-excrutiatingly-miserably cold-flu-virus thingie in the history of time, and it totally zapped my energy, my motivation and any level of creativity. Add to that the actual WORK I've had to do in my day job for a change, and I wonder how I'm ever able to fit in time for personal e-mails and catching up on all my favorite blogs -- forgive me if I've gotten behind in my commenting as well...

But I did want to squeeze in a much-belated mention of the fact that I passed the one-year mark of blogging sometime last month -- okay, now that's actually more than a month, so shoot me! -- and I can hardly believe that so much time has gone by so quickly. It feels like yesterday that several of my favorite blogging divas twisted my arm and talked me into starting this here blog, and although I still have aspirations of improving it, adding in a more personalized banner one of these days, posting more often and possibly increasing my traffic, I also know that I'll probably never be as "hard-core" about blogging as so many of my favorite bloggers really are -- perhaps this all stems from the fact that I've had a hard time keeping a personal journal or diary all my life, or perhaps it's just my laziness kicking in. Who knows?! In any case, I'm grateful to the wonderful friends I've made in this here blogosphere, and I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for being out there, for supporting me, for stopping by, for commenting -- for just being YOU!

And on that note, I realized that I also hadn't even taken a moment to thank so many of you for your warm, encouraging words regarding my pregnancy and the months ahead. I really appreciate all the nice things you had to say in response to my "Year of Promise" post, and all the lovely things you've said to me since then as well, either by e-mail, via the blog, or in person. As a matter of fact, I was lucky enough to see some of my blogging friends once again this past Friday night at Petite Anglaise's book launch party, and I was so happy to have the chance to catch up with so many of you! I think I may have almost forgotten I was pregnant that night, because the time got away from me and before I knew it it was after midnight, and I was running down to the métro like Cinderella after leaving her glass slipper on the stairs of the palace. Luckily I ran into King Negrito and his lovely friends on the way, and they shared a taxi with me to Châtelet, where I managed to catch the RER and make my way home just in the nick of time! I had a great time, although obviously without the champagne that was flowing so freely (Petite and friends kept my glass filled with some grapefruit juice most of the evening), and made sure to have a taste of as many of Meg's delish canapés as possible. After all, I was STARVING! Go figure.

Anyway, the only photographic evidence of me at the party is, as usual, atrocious -- why is it that I simply never seem to take a good photo?! Cameras are just NOT my friends. In spite of Frog's friendly efforts to make me feel otherwise -- and trust me, your sweet words sure did make me feel much better, Frog! And it should also come as no surprise that I completely forgot to pull out my own digital camera to take some pics for the blog. Oh well! Again, nothing new there. I simply don't have the instinct for these kinds of things, I guess.

All in all the weekend was a whirlwind of busy-ness... Between the party Friday night, my participation in a children's writing workshop on Saturday afternoon, and a trip up to Le Havre and back on Sunday, it was pretty much non-stop. But in a nice way for a change... Here's hoping I'm really starting to feel the "second wind" of my pregnancy and am moving into a good place in my second trimester! Now all I need is some true spring weather here in Paris and a real change of seasons so I can pack away all of that winter blues and put it behind me... (And I don't count those few days of teasing warm weather in February -- I think that's the kind of thing that gets us all sick anyway!)

12 comments:

deedee said...

Somehow I missed the big news, I just caught up on your posts. I'd read the one about Elle à Table but not before or after, so...
CONGRATULATIONS!

Anonymous said...

Don't apologise for not posting on a daily basis! We like your blog how it is! Plus, I have no life which is why I seem to post too much...hehe.
I didn't see any pics of you at the party or do I not recognise you?! Looks like it was a fun night, very fun considering some of the blurred photos lol. I can't wait to read the book, it's very exciting!

Megan said...

They say the second trimester is the best- hope it goes smoothly for you!

Anonymous said...

Darling you looked as delicious as one of Meg's stylish canapés.

Le Meg said...

It was lovely to see you! Cameras lie, you were postively glowing.

amy said...

I too thought you looked lovely the other night, although I'm sympathetic to your problem. It's been *years* since I spotted a photo of myself that didn't make me completely want to barf. Like a vampire, I am simply unphotographable.

The Late Bloomer said...

Thanks, Meredith! It really means a lot, and I'm so happy to have gotten to know so many great people here in the blogging world!

Tigre, I'm in one of Frog's shots with Kyliemac -- um, well, let's just say I didn't link to it here because I'm not too fond of the photo! And somehow I even KNEW when he took it that it wasn't a good pic of me. There have been, on occasion, rare photos that I like, but most of the time I seem to be doing something strange with my eyes -- or basically just crinkling up my face like a clown, without even realizing it! Just ask Le Meg... She's got photographic evidence from last summer's picnic! (Anyhoo, I recently got my hair cut off short, and I'm wearing a brown dress with a brown beaded necklace -- those are some hints for you!)

Thanks, Megan -- that's what I've heard too, so I'm just hoping these nagging "ills" will pass ASAP! So I can really enjoy this time leading up to the baby's arrival.

And Frog-dear, as usual, you flatter me! The boy definitely knows what to say... But it felt good to be there and it was great to see you all -- including you too, Meg! I don't know about glowing, but again, I was much cheerier on Friday than last weekend, let's just put it that way.

And Amy, so glad I got to see you again too, although I know we didn't get to chat very much before I ran out the door! I didn't get to chat much with Lauren either, so I'm hoping we'll have another opportunity sometime soon. Looks like the party must have picked up quite a bit AFTER midnight -- of course!

And yeah, cameras -- I don't trust 'em at all! Especially the unexpected shots that catch me in the middle of an expressive GRIMACE!

smilnsigh said...

I just read a comment by you, over in Polly's blog...

"I ended up having a friendly conversation with a pharmacienne, it literally made my day! It had been so long since I'd had a friendly interaction in a pharmacie, and it just felt GOOD!"

I am so sorry that this is not a constant, in France. It is here. Well, it is, in our family run old drug store on a corner. Not so in the chains, I suppose.

But anyway, you'd always have nice interaction, if you were able to use this drug store... here and here and here and here.

Mari-Nanci

screamish said...

I'm interesting to hear about your first trimester ailments..for me it seems to be a long list of small things..;aches and pains...and oh the fatigue! I'll check your blog and since you're amonth ahead of me Ill chart your progress so I can see what's in store!

Anonymous said...

I LOVE your blog! From one late bloomer to another!

Badaude said...

Did you go to the children's book workshop as an author or illustrator? I've done both and would love to hear about your plans...
xbadaude

The Late Bloomer said...

Mari-Nanci, thanks for your comment -- well, you know, in general I try not to complain about my experiences here in French, but I think I've just had some bad luck with pharmacies and pharmacists in the past -- but maybe it's just some kind of vibe I'm sending out! In any case, that night I got to chatting with the gal because I was looking at anti-stretch-mark cream on the shelf, and she recommended something to me, and I found out we were both about 4 months along in our pregnancies... So it was just nice to strike up a conversation with someone like that, in a public place, because admittedly it doesn't happen very often here. But that's just the way things are in France! I'm used to it, for the most part, and the anonymity of situations can sometimes be beneficial as well.

Screamish, I know EXACTLY what you mean! I probably should have spoken a bit more about my early concerns in my pregnancy here on my blog, but as I was hesitant to share those kinds of things in the beginning, now it seems kind of late in the game to bring them up. But I guess better late than never, right?! I hear ya on the fatigue -- check, check and check! -- plus the heartburn -- oh, the heartburn was HORRIBLE!

New-Yorkaise-Parisienne -- gosh, thanks for the enthusiastic comment! I don't know what to say -- I'm just being myself here. And certainly not posting often enough. But I'm still around! I'll have to stop by your blog as well.

And Badaude, I plan on writing a post about my favorite children's books in the near future, but basically my participation in the workshop was connected to my recent volunteer work in a children's writing contest here in the région parisienne. It's my dream one day to actually illustrate my own children's book, but that would necessitate my actually getting back to my DRAWING again! It's been years, and for some reason I seem to have hit a roadblock, or some form of fear/paralysis that is keeping me from picking up the pencils. But the desire is there...