Ode to Box Cake

This past Saturday was Claire’s Birthday. Because it was vacation and everyone was gone we had a family birthday party. (Don’t worry we will have one with her friends soon.) So we have some box cakes that we needed to eat. You know the kind, Betty Crocker box cakes you can get at any grocery store in the States. They do not have those here. They have something like it but the taste really bad. So we used one of our box cakes for the family party. It was soooooo good. There are things that you know you miss when you live over seas and then there are the things that sneak up on you and you say “WOW! I forgot about this.” I will have to stop here and say that my wife is a top chef and has been able to make cakes from scratch that I would put up against anyone’s. But this is different. It is the taste and the texture that reminds you of home; back when you were a little kid. There is just something about that box mix that tastes different. This is not a plea to send more because goodness knows I do not need to eat any more cake. This is just a rambling thought from someone who does not get box cake very often.

New French Adventure

I (Tiffany) have decided that I need to embark on a new French learning adventure.

Strangely enough, I have participated in several conversations recently where I did not have a CLUE what to say! The problem wasn't the French language... The problem was that everyone was quoting French philosophers in otherwise perfectly normal conversations! (I suppose that quoting philosophers IS perfectly normal here...)

So, instead of trying to translate what I know of French philosophy from English into French, I am going to start actually reading these guys in FRENCH! I came to the conclusion that it was necessary when I had no clue how to say Pascal's wager in French. I was afraid it would come out like someone trying to translate the old Patrick Henry quote, "Give me liberty or give me death." I would NOT think of Patrick Henry if a French friend were to talk about "that guy during the revolution that said he would prefer to die than to live a life without freedom under British rule."

So, I am starting the great French Philosophy adventure with Pascal's Pensees! We will see how long I last!

Baseball ??

One of the funniest things happened the other day at the baseball game. If you listen closely you can hear circus music playing in the background.

It is the bottom of the fourth (there are only five innings) with two outs. There is a runner on first. The pitcher winds up for the pitch and begins his throw. The runner takes off. (Note: the pitcher is ALREADY throwing the ball so the runner is off to a late start.) The catcher gets the ball and makes his throw to Second. The ball bounces three feet in front of the bag and goes past the second baseman. Then the ball goes by the short stop who was covering the throw. Now the ball is somewhere in center field. The runner continues on his way to third. (He can do this because he had no intention of sliding and came into second base in a full upright position.) He gets to third and sees that the ball is just now getting to the shortstop, who is in shallow center field, so he heads to home. The shortstop throws it to the pitcher (because home was too far away) then the pitcher makes his throw to the catcher. The catcher catches the ball and makes a beautiful sweeping tag at home plate. He stands up with pride like a Cat who just caught a mouse and starts walking the ball to the Pitcher. While he is strutting away, the runner (who was five feet from home plate when the catcher made his sweeping tag) crosses the plate and the Ump calls him safe.

Here is a video that could have been made about our team!