Elizabeth, Scott and Scotty Wilder

Walk-about

Today, we spent six hours walking and walking and walking all over.

My tour guide had things under control -- using the map and her McGyver instincts!

We visited Luxembourg Gardens, Rue Daguerre, Isle St. Louis, Isle de la Cite, La quartier Juif, La Place de Vosges (where Victor Hugo lived), St. Michele, and near the metro stop Constitution for some Couscous. What did I like best? Just walking and seeing the architecture and having un cafe glace. Oh yea, it was a beautiful fall day -- warm, sunny, and with lots of red, orange and yellow leaves on the ground.

Findng my way....

Sometimes it isn't so intuitive to figure out how to get to your destination. If you were me and you had the Map below, which route would you take.
 

Junk! mail

Every day, I receive something in the mail that catches me off guard. Today, I received a letter from the Trident Group -- that started out with "WIN - A Pre-Paid Cremation. Complete all the of the reply slip information and you will be eligible for a drawing next month"

Whatever happened to the good old days when I would receive a million dollar offer from Publishers Clearning House in the mail?

Palin on Saturday Night Live

From Saturday Night Live

From CBS Evening News

Happiest People in the World

Just in. University Michigan just published a research study about the people's happiness and their level of satisfaction in life.

The happiest people in the world are from Denmark.
Puerto Rico came in second
Colombia came in third.

My family won the silver and bronze medals.

Read more here.

The study also found that the countries at the bottom of the list all struggle with widespread poverty or authoritarian governments. Zimbabwe, which is gripped by hyperinflation, and has recently seen a controversial presidential election marred by violence, was found to be the least happy nation amongst the countries covered by the survey.

But my question is how do they measure this? And how come Puerto Rico dropped to second place.

Spanish Lessons

Virginia, my sis-in-law, convinced me that I need to channel some of my energy into Spanish. I signed up to do online classes at:

Afternoon

Went to the Annie Liebowitz exhibit at the Legion of Honor. Focused mainly on her relationships with others. Hollywood stars, family and her relationship with Sontag. Talented female photographer.

Music to our ears

Like other parents in our situation, our senses seem on alert.

We are more sensitive to the sounds around us. In fact, every time my wife's stomach gurgles or makes any sort noise, it reminds us of when Natalie was in the womb.

We joke that maybe she has come back to talk to us. We sit and listen in silence to the sounds that once seemed so precious to us. I wonder if other parents feel this way. OR are they like everyone else and turn their head away when they hear a stomach noise. Turn away because they are embarrassed.

Each sound is music to our ears,....... especially when I put my head to her belly.
Each sound reminds me of the past.

Anniversary

Today marks our 6 month wedding anniversary and 18 months together. We spent the afternoon together hanging out on some rocks along the shore, where we watched a big sea lion lying on some dry sea weed. She looked comfortable and peaceful. We watched her stomach move up and down with her breathing. We watched her flippers move up and down. Even the slow movements from the big motionless blubbery mammal seemed beautiful to us. These days, any moving creature seems to have extra meaning -- seems to make us appreciate life more. We watched the sea lion with the ocean waves breaking against the rocks against the background.

At one point, we called out to the sea lion to kick her flipper once if she could hear us.

And she did! Maybe Natalie's spirit was with us on the beach.

Today marks our 6 month anniversary. We are very grateful for the various cycles in  our life. Be it 6 months, 18 months or even (almost) 28 weeks, which was how long Natalie lived. As Elizabeth pointed out, she did live a lifetime and she seemed to have had a happy playful life.

Sitting in traffic, thinking about the day

Notes from today:

- Belle arrived today. Belle is Snoopy's sister. She will now hang out on the shelf, looking good!

- Today, I saw Mrs. Abbott more excited than I have since the news of Baby Wilder. She is very happy about Hillary's successes -- that's Hillary Clinton

- We are back at the Abbotts after 3 days of pastries and chocolate cookies at the Laurel Inn.

- Things are looking better with our housing prospects.

Good night!