Hello dear friends

We have reached that time of year again, the time when I can't believe it is that time of year again and I would like everything to slooooow down. However, as convenient as it would frequently be to manipulate time, it outpaces us as usual. I will head back to Canada in early December for the holidays, in advance of Andrew, to take care of some last bits of Christmas shopping and organizing. I will spend a month between Montreal, Oakville, and Ottawa & Deep River. Andrew will be in Canada for a shorter time, just two weeks and bit less time in a car. We are very excited to be seeing the kids along with other family and friends and I am actually looking forward to a little dose of real winter with snow as the weather here is just cool, mostly grey and often rainy. 

Andrew has been in Paris for nine months now. After retiring from AECL last December he got a job with the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD). In his position as a nuclear safety analyst, Andrew spends his days supporting international nuclear safety activities.  He is enjoying the change in career, but still feels a tug of concern as his friends and former co-workers at AECL go through the next steps of restructuring.

I spent the months following Andrew's departure at the end of February organizing various aspects of our relocation. We have rented our house to a wonderful young woman who taking care of it for us. I found a loving new home for Sami, our beloved 13 yo dog. I sold two cars, packed stuff up, helped Lauren get organized to head off to college, said au revoir to friends and family, and before I knew it August had rolled around and I was off to France as well.

Paris has been treating us well.  Despite their reputation for being rude and impatient, we find Parisians to be very gracious and polite.  Most people, when approached in French, are quite patient with us as we stumble through questions, requests or short conversations.  The city is very beautiful and wonderful for walking, which we love, and of course there are endless museums, galleries, restaurants and things to do and see. We were fortunate to find a comfortable apartment in a modern building with terraces on either side (east & west). It doesn't have the beauty of an old Paris apartment but it does have a functional kitchen, a place for our bikes, outdoor space for sitting & gardening and lots of light. I have found a very nice group of friends among other OECD spouses.  There are some very dynamic and interesting women (and a few men) from different parts of the OECD world.    Remarkably, one of them is another art quilter who had helped me get involved in the local patchwork community.  Hard to believe that three months have gone by already. 

One of our goals in spending a few years living in Europe is to see as much of it as possible.  We began promptly in September with a trip to Prague.  Andrew had a business trip and I agreed to go along (...twist my arm). Prague is gorgeous! Old Europe with twisty little cobbled streets, breathtaking art and architecture, beautiful cathedrals and really great beer. In October, we went to Rome, a fascinating city loaded with history both Roman and Roman Catholic. My father & his partner, Beverley, left on a cruise from Rome so I was able to stay a couple of extra days to spend some time with them. In November, we had Andrew's mum visiting and so took a weekend trip to Nantes where our nephew is teaching English. If you want to read a little more about our trips and see more pictures, check out our blog at www.maplebrandy.com.

The kids all have independent lives so we just don't have the photos we used to!  All of them are doing well, moving forward and learning how to do life.  Meghan is in her third year at McGill studying math/physics.  She really is very fortunate to have a strong sense of direction as lots of kids really struggle with those choices. She is enjoying Montreal, has a nice apartment, nice friends...life is good.  David has struggled through this year but in his usual resilient way is coming out on top. Decent employment is in short supply for youth and David has had trouble finding a job with a good employer who will treat him fairly.  He has recently started a job with the City of Ottawa and we are hopeful that this is the opportunity that help him get firmly back onto his feet.  He continues to love music and is looking forward to recording more of his own compositions. Biniyam has been very successful in Prince Albert, proving himself to be astute at working, saving and creating opportunities for himself.  He is learning and working toward successful entrepreneurship.  Lauren has joined her sister in Montreal, attending Marianopolis CEGEP. Due to her gap year exchange to Croatia, she wasn’t finished high school when we abandoned her to go to Paris. CEGEP is a junior college program in Quebec that covers the final year of high school and the first year of university.  She wasn't keen on staying in Deep River for grade 12 or attending an international school in Paris, so this seemed like the very best solution.  

We hope that all is well with you and yours as we close 2013 and head into 2014. We look forward to hearing your news and perhaps seeing some of you in Paris in the upcoming year.