12 days

Day 1: Saturday

So being woken up in the middle of the night shouldn't be surprising when you have a newborn at home.What did surprise me however was that it wasn't baby cries that woke me up but rather the sound of an alarming knock on the door.  I sent husband to investigate.  

Me: Who was it?

Husband:  The firemen.

Me:  What? What do they want?

Husband: There's smoke in the common area and they're looking for the source.  

Me: Oh.

Dad: [On his way back to bed from the bathroom]  There's no running water.

Me: Why would they turn off the water?

Husband: [Shrug]  That is weird.

It's hard to go back to sleep with your parents and children in the house after news like that and we wouldn't get any updates.  No news is good news right?

Day 2: Sunday

No apparent fire [Good news].  No water [Bad news]  Husband gets a phone call from the HOA.  

Husband: [On the phone] *Every french curse word in the book*  Ok, thanks. [Hangs up]

Me:  So?

Husband:  There was a fire in the garage. Two cars were burned.

Me: No. Which ones?

Husband: Ours and the one next to ours.

Me: You're kidding.

Husband: Nope. And the reason there's no water is there's significant damage to the water pipes. 

Me: [Thinking about all the pee and poo soaked onsies I had to wash] How long is that suppose to last?

Husband: Dunno gonna go check it out.

Husband comes back smelling like smoke and maybe a little like shit?

Husband: It's bad. Might be a while before we have water again. 

Me: What are we suppose to do? 

Husband:  There's an unaffected water source underground. They'll unlock it at noon. 

Me: Um. Do you smell like shit?

Husband: There's shit dropping down into the garage.

Due to the fact that we had the unfortunate luck to be unprepared for such an expected event on a Sunday where everything within a walking radius from us was closed, we gathered up all the water bottles we had in the apartment to get water at noon.

My husband nonetheless came back empty handed. 

Me: What happened?

Husband: Water pressure is too strong for water bottles. The guy is going to buy a funnel. Should be ok for the next organized water collection.  

Me:  When's that?

Husband: At 6:30pm

Me: [Looks at the 6 water bottles we have left for 4 adults and one child] It's going to be a long 5 hours.

That night my husband came back with about 20 bottles of water so he could finally take a bath.  To save water he would have to do it in my daughter's plastic bathtub.  

You have to be very flexible said my six foot three husband.

Day 3: Monday

The water collection times were at 9:30am and 6:30pm so that morning I went with my dad to collect water since my lucky bastard of a husband had to go to work.  

The water faucet was underground and you have to take the stairs so down we went with a shopping trolley filled with empty bottles of water. We made our way through the darkness with flashlights and through water soaked floors to get in line for water.   The people in line behind hated us and all the water bottles that we had to fill one by one.  

I bought jerry cans that later that day to avoid being "those 20 water bottle neighbors".

That evening I rushed back from picking my daughter up from day care so I could help my dad for the 6:30pm water collection least he have to go by himself and fall on the way up and hurt himself.  I ran into the president of the HOA on the elevator on the way up who informed me they had opened a pipe on the street so we could collect water whenever we wanted. 

I would have preferred he told me they were able to fix the pipes and we now had water in the apartment but at least it was something.

Day 4: Tuesday

The insurance company pays for a hotel room for us in the 9th district of Paris until Sunday.  I go to check in and check the place out in case conditions at the apartment deteriorated.  The hotel room was for 2 adults, a toddler, and baby but since my parents were with us we'd have to cram in 4 adults, a toddler, and baby. Doable but not great.  So: Big apartment no working toilet, sink, or shower or 4 adults, a hyper toddler, and crying baby in one room with working toilet, sink and shower.

I take a shower and leave. 

Day 5:  Wednesday

We hear of neighbors who's toilets overflowed.  We're told not to use the toilets.  They install porta potties in the garden area.

Day 6:  Thursday

I pack a suitcase to go on a much deserved vacation.

HA!  No I cram a suitcase full of dirty clothes so I can go do laundry at the laundromat.  

On my way back I run into the president of the HOA and casually inquire as to when we would have water again.  If all goes well Monday he tells me.   Oh and you might want to keep your eyes peeled.  The state of the garage is attracting rats.

Day 7:  Friday

We go to Normandy to celebrate my father in law's birthday which was no small task as we were car-less and had to transport 4 adults, a toddler, and a baby.  It reminded me of a riddle I once solved about getting a fox, chicken, and sack of grain across a river.

Conditions: 

1.  In-laws can come with car at 4pm

2.  Car seats 5.

3.  Train leaving after 5pm are always crowded and you usually have to stand.  

4.  Two of the four adults are old and can not stand for 2 hours.

5.  Mother does not want to be left a lone in apartment with toddler and baby and all bags required for such a trip. 

6.  Mother and baby need to stay together

7.  People who speak the same language need to stay together.

8.  Seats on bus are mandatory but bus goes only to the major city so car needed to pick up people who take bus in order to go to small town where in-laws live.

Solution:  In-laws come pick up mother, baby, and toddler in car.   Other 3 adults take the bus.  Mother in-law drops off everyone and goes to city to pick up the other 3 adults.  Everyone is exhausted.

Day 8:  Saturday 

Enjoy birthday festivities and running water.

Day 9:  Sunday

Get back to apartment.  Sees a rat in the outdoor bicycle area of apartment.  Still no running water.  Sees a note in the elevator saying to test the water Monday morning.

Day 10:  Monday

Wake up and turn on faucet.  Still no water.  Depressed.

Before going to bed turn on faucet.  Still no water. Still depressed.

Day 11:  Tuesday

Hot water restored.

Day 12:  Wednesday

Cold water restored.  First laundry, then rejoicing. 

v2

2017 frosting

cupcakes

thanksgiving

36

So on sunny chilly days I like to eat at my favoriate ramen place in the 9th and then go sit afterwards in a reclining lime green cintrafil chair in the Tuleries with Angelina's hot chocolate in hand. 

And this is what I did the day after I turned 36. I catch a glimps of La Defense as the metro leaves the northwest suburbs crossing the seine and dipping back underground into Paris. 

The change at Saint Lazare immediately reminds me of the rush and energy of the city with it's underground artist and numerous diverse passengers in transit. 

As I leave the metro and step into the opera neighborhood I am greeted by the Haussman architecture and make my way to the ramen place. 

Irasshaimase!

The smell of miso and shoyu accompany the burst of warm air as I open the door and walk into the restaurant.  I am seated at the counter giving me full view of the kitchen as they prepare my ramen and gyoza.  I feel the occasional burst of cold air as people make their way in and out of the restaurant but I don't mind as the hot miso broth warms me.

The ten minute walk to Angelina's helps me to digest in preparation for the copious dose of Angelina's hot chocolate I was aboue to receive.  The waitress smiles as she hands me my hot chocolate to go in her prestine white uniform and immpecabble makeup.  I leave the shop, bag heavier with the bottled hot chocolate I had bought to bring home to my husband and daughter. 

The sun was shining full force as I made my way past the tourist and cheap souvenir shops and into the Tuileries.  There I found what I as looking for:  A cintrafil reclining chair, it's lime green finish shining bright in the sun.  I sat down, leaned back and introduced the velvety hot chocolate to my belly, already full from gyoza, ramen, and baby number two.

Moments like this are rare now where I am by myself and left with my thoughts. I was now 36, past mid 30's and a year closer to 40.  I imagined myself 40 looking back at my 30's.  Would I look back and think about care-free days like when I look back now at my 20's?  Or will I be more seasoned and think back at my 30's as the decade of big changes: a wife, an apartment owner, and a mother.

As I finish the hot chocolate the baby kicks either from sharing in the enjoyment of the hot chocolate or protesting at the place it's taking in already cramped space.  Maybe both.  I gather my things, greatful for these kinds of moments but also looking forward to sharing the hot chocolate with my husband and daughter, at home. 

2016

So it's the end of 2015 and I'm sitting outside on a terrrance of a café in Paris.  It's 60 degrees and I'm enjoying a cigarette with a cup of hot coffee.


Simple yet extraordinary given the times.


I hadn't had a cigarette since spring of 2014 when I found out I was pregnant and since my daughter's birth drinking coffee, hot, has become a luxury. 


The trickle of warm coffee down my throat followed by a puff of nicotine afterwards helps me to relax as I consider how sitting outside in a terrance can cost you your life. And 60 degrees outside? 


It's freaking end of December.


Has the world always been this f-ed up or do I simply pay attention more because I'm responsible for another life? 


My parents recently came to Paris.  They're retired now, the house paid off, children married.


They seemed different to me, almost like runners who have crossed the finish line of a marathon: happy to have done it; fatigued from the effort; serene that the hard part is past them. 


I recently saw that 2016 when upside down and backwards looks like joie, the french word for joy.

Here's to hoping.