July 1st...

Well - there's big changes afoot! The past few weeks have been hectic to say the least.

On June 11th, my daughter graduated from high school - she's my youngest. So...I'm now done with public school and on to college-parent groups! Four days later, she and I were on our way to Paris for a week.

We stayed near the Eiffel Tower (a residential neighborhood that's quiet and close to a Metro stop) - and spent time in every neighborhood/Arrondisement. In addition, we took a couple of day trips. One trip was to Giverny and Monet's house (and infamous garden) and Versailles. The flower garden and pond (with the famous waterlilies) was amazing. Luckily, all was in bloom; and those waterlilies are sooo much larger than I would have imagined! After lunch on that trip, we headed to Versailles for a meandering tour of the King's apartments.

Our second trip was to 3 castles in the Loire Valley. We drove a couple of hours south of Paris and were able to see parts of the countryside. The 3 castles were very different from each other - Amboise, Chenenceau and Chambord. I'm hoping to post a couple of photos - don't worry no 3 hour slide shows of everything we saw!

Now onto business...Having to no longer volunteer my time to California public schools, I'm able to spend more time creating. I'm also linking up my blog to new Facebook and Twitter sites. Bear with me and my infrequency for a little while longer as I become more adept at all this technology! My goal is to post more frequently, hold more workshops, and maybe host a swap or two.