phones, cold, kitchens and colds.....

This is a formal request for the powers that be to bring back huge mobile phones! I've just lost my second phone, and each time I have to go buy a new one, I notice they keep getting smaller and smaller. I'm convinced that this is a sales ploy conceived by the mobile phone companies to encourage phone loss amongst their customers..... So instead of doing anything worthwhile with my time (parenting, working, or sleeping), I'm busy painstakingly typing in 50 names and phone numbers with which appear to me to be fingers belonging to the Jolly Green Giant.

In other news.... after 6 years of living in the south of France, I'm under no illusions that it stays warm all year round, but when it gets cold like today, with a high of about 0°C, I still whine like you'd think I was in Antartica with nothing on but a bikini. It's just cruel of Mother Nature to send the Spring bulbs out and then attack them with the air from the supermarket freezer section. It's really hard to understand the reality of global warming when you can't feel the tips of your fingers. But I guess, as I often have to remind some of my clients, the south of France is not in the southern hemisphere. Much like South Dakota is not in the southern United States.

As we speak, the Ikea kitchen fitter (notice no 's' here) is on day three of installation, and so far we've only had to drive the hour to Ikea Montpellier twice to pick up missing pieces. And so I've come home each time with loads of other stuff I really didn't need, but at least I think we now finally have all the pieces. I have to say it is looking rather good, but it's oh-so-cruel to have a sparkling new oven sitting there not hooked up when it's so cold today all I want is a hot, hearty stew for dinner.

I've called in sick this afternoon, seems I've picked up one of the little ladies' colds, but that's okay because they are both away this afternoon, so I'm going to lie on the couch and do some reading. As always here in my lovely French speaking world, I feel ignorant as to what's going on in the English book world, so if you've read anything good lately, please share!