Gifts, GISBEs and Goatees...

Well, this morning I woke up, and instead of driving the car to the dealer and handing it in, and spending the weekend in Paris with Step and Chaton, I was suddenly overcome with the deep angst of the migratory bird in forced rest... I felt trapped, the walls were closing in, and all the little things coagulated into a vast mass of insurmountable blah. Nothing for it, time to run. Hit the Road, Jack. Hopped in the car and drove seven hours to Albi. Guess you won't get a post on French sleeper trains afterall :) Felt immensely better, called friends, family, associates and the Princess about eight times (counting dropped calls), took in the sight of Spring erupting all over France, and got to the Parent's Place in plenty of time for some DIY with Dad, and sharpening Mom's garden shears... What will they do without me? :) Handed out their presents from Paraguay, namely :

Dad in a Sling...

A handmade string hammock for Dad... No, he didn't mistake it for a poncho, but we need to buy some hardware to put it up. Update tomorrow. Note his new goatee, which looks really good on him. If it doesn't, trust me, the pic must be bad.

Mom's New Badge of Appreciation...

A gold bracelet for Mom... Idea, much insistence, and solid bargaining to secure item, from the Princess... and she accuses ME of being a chupa medias with the Queen Mother. Humph. Anyhow Mom loved it, and Princess won major brownie points, and I think some of them splashed onto me by association, so what the hay.

Yeah, Right :)

By a twist of fate of no significance whatever, my GISBE package was waiting for me, and I have a new CDfull of MP3s loaded on the Shuffle and a texan Tshirt from Crystal at All Geniuses Are Crazy. The second Mad Genius to grace this humble blog with a touch of their holy madness... eh, James? Crystal obviously has a sick sense of humour sending such a T to a liberal from France fighting extra kilos... I enjoyed the dig in the ribs (texas ribs, get it? ... on second thought, forget I said that) so much that I added her to the blogroll. I'm poggo-dancing in the kitchen listening to Death From Above and the dog is SERIOUSLY worried about me. It likes me better when I'm humming to Incognito and Tribe Called Quest, well, tough, doggie. It's about time I listened to some saturated guitars and screeching voices again. Woof woof to you too :) BTW, Tania has received the package I sent for GISBE as well :