Drunk Baking

Big week this week. Monday Alstom University was honored at the HR Initiative of the Year awards for AUtube. A handy little peer generated, video sharing platform (I really hope the PIC doesn't read this as she will be incredibly upset with my misuse of technological words) that was launched in the office last September.  We all worked incredibly hard on this project and so it was fantastic to all get together and celebrate it. Even though the ceremony was all in French, I understood just enough to understand and had a wonderful translator next to me filling me in on all the important details I was missing. For example ... that guy just said something was fantastic... It was great. We finished the evening off with a dinner at Indiana Cafe. The only place in Paris you can find proper nachos, mozzerella sticks and all sorts of dirty American style bar food!! The rest of the week continued with French lessons, Annual Report planning, meetings about communications and events and just a lot of work. Which all helped play into my excitement and anxiousness to get home on Monday - yup that's right this Monday!! YAY!! I can not wait. I am sure you are wondering why this lead me to title the post Drunk Baking but I am about to spill it. I am so excited to go home and really just spend some quality time with my favorite people in life - my family and my friends who may as well be my family. One of those lovely ladies shared this video with me and said something about it reminded her of me. At first I was skeptical until I began watching and now I fully understand where she was coming from. This is exactly what I miss about being home and I plan on reinacting this video with my best girlfriends as soon as possible ;)))))))))

Unbelieveable

127 Pennsylvania Ave in happier times....

This past Wednesday the town I was living in before I left for the City of Lights was struck by a devastating tornado. The house that I had called home for the year before my move was unfortunately in the path of that nasty storm and is no longer... well... much of anything. Even though I haven't been living there for the last year it was a home to me and it is heartbreaking to think about it no longer even resembling what it was when I left. There were a lot of memories in that house, from the first time I walked in when David was looking at it with the real estate agent, to the painting parties, arguing over shutting the hall light off (I have a very bad habit of this), whether not not to keep the island with the wine fridge, late nights with movies and wine, bbq's, falling asleep on the couch and sitting on the front steps just staring at the trees outside and that is just the tip of the iceburg.  Luckily VERY luckily no one was hurt and David (thankfully) walked away with minimal bumps and bruises. It just makes me realise how important it is to not ever take a thing for granted and truly appreciate what you have with everyone good and bad. Things could have turned out very differently and I am beyond grateful they did not. Right now David is surrounded by his family and friends as they pick up what is literally the pieces. I had a message this morning saying they found my sock monkey-unharmed, sitting in a pile of rubble.... I want to be there to help clean this up,give david a giant squish,  and in a way I guess say goodbye to that piece of my life and just see it for my own eyes. It is really hard to comprehend and for some reason I am truly having a difficult time with it... Here are some pictures and a few interviews he has done. Please keep David and all of Western MA that was touched by this in your thoughts and hearts. Some people were not nearly as lucky as he was to walk away....

David's truck and the flag that was on the front of the house...