A Friggin HUGE Happy Birthday to Leah!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR LEAH, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! 23! I CANNOT BELIEVE IT! HAVE A GREAT, EXCELLENT, SUPERB, TERRIFIC DAY! I LOVE YOU!

I am hot, hot, hot today because I am so fresh and so clean, clean. (Good song. Thanks OutKast. I just showered, shaved, plucked, and painted - I'm a girl again! Who knew nail polish could make me feel like a woman? More on this later.

First of all, I want to run through people and questions...I have not sent a proper shout out since July 7 (the first session)! I am such a slacker. Without further ado and in no particular order, my thanks and love go to:

Grandma - Thanks for reading my post to Jane that one day (a long time ago). I also appreciate that you have been keeping up with my adventures! I miss you and I can't wait to see you! Thanks for all the nice things you said on your last post! Say hello to Grandpa for me!

Mom - Thanks for your posts! Feeling better because you aren't working so much? I hope so. Don't be sad about Patchie, she is in a better place and we all loved her very much. She had a really good life and we should be happy we were here to share that with her. Oh, and let the midwest thing go. Really, it's hopeless and discriminatory...who says I can't hook up with a nice Frenchie? Everyone reading this blog is secretly hoping they can live vicariously through me; clearly they all want me to find a fine French man to fall in love with. It may happen, I really want bilingual children. I miss you VERY VERY much! I love you like I love to drink water when I am parched!

Dad - I hope you like this post, Dad, I tried to give you a rundown of my day today! I quite liked it when I went through every hour of every day, too. Much funnier that way. I hope you are doing okay with all that's been happening lately. Part of me wishes I could have been there to say goodbye to Patchie, but I will be able to pay my respects when I get home. Just know that I am thinking about you and I miss you VERY VERY much! I love you like I love oxygen for letting me breath!

Raya - Thanks for keeping up with me via blog. I am sorry you feel out of the loop! We can chat more in person; there will be A LOT more making out to talk about then. Hope you are doing well, say hi to the AK boys for me. Can't WAIT to do Noodles, Drink, Lodge, and Brothers with you when I get to Mpls! I'll have to go out with a bang! Super pumped!

Metz Family - Hope everything is well with getting Justin prepped for college! I send you all my best!

Grandma Barb - You are so funny! Thanks for all the little comments and for so diligently keeping up with my blog...I knew before I started that these things are ADDICTIVE. I hope you are doing well and I can't wait to see you when I get back!

Susanne - I don't know if you still have access to this or not, but I just wanted to wish you good luck on your hiking journey! I hope you have a wonderful time in the south of France and I can't wait for next year when I can see you again - WITH MY MOM! It's gonna be great! Can we get fondue again? Yum, yum!!

Cindy Dahlman - I haven't heard from you in a while, but I also haven't given you love, either! How are you? How are the girls? Is Stephanie getting excited for college? I hope so, she's gonna have a great time! I am thinking about you and hope you are doing well!

Jed - I gave you your own damn post, I hope you're happy! I miss your humor over here, will I be able to see you in September? I hope so! I miss you! Send my love to Jeremy, too! Muwah!

Steph - Hey woman! How are you? Thanks for the message, you are so sweet! I hope to FIND that perfect man. Maybe he's French, who knows? Can't wait to see you in a few weeks! Hope the wedding planning is going well! Send my love to everyone! Miss you!

Leah - What up, lova? ONLY 10 DAYS LEFT UNTIL I GET TO SEE YOU!!!!!!!!! You must feel the same way, it has been way too long! I haven't seen a familiar face since...June 16th! Ahh! Can't wait, so much planned! And Happy Friggin Birthday, LLM! Kisses from France!

Krista - Hi my little bean snap! How are you? I have not heard from you in a while either, but I thought I would send a little message your way! How's Lily's? And Justine? And your lovely life? I miss you! I want to see you soon, my little Captain! Stat!

Brianna - Hello buttercup! How is the apple of my eye? I got your first letter, did you know that? I LOVED it! You are so thoughtful, Honey Bunny! How are you? Tan? Beautiful? And Adam? (PS - He has my Atmosphere CD!) I miss you like I miss you! Are you roaming Minneapolis, getting bored and thinking you are moving to Seattle? I hope so! Hope you're having a blast in Chi-town! Say hi to Seester for me! Lots of love!

Tyler - I miss you my little brothery, bro! How is work? Are you getting excited for AZ? Only 2 more weeks! I can't wait to see you when you get home for the wedding! Find me a flight to Phoenix, too! Can't wait for Gavin - you will fall in love. It's $15 for tickets, we can look up fair details and such when you get home, k? Miss you! Love you!

Niki - Hi woman! How is the Community Event details rolling? (Rollin with my homies.) Well, I hope! I miss you and I even miss the Village, how about that? Hope Erin is better...but I know I am "da best!" Ha! I'll be in to see you in a few weeks! Good luck next weekend! Miss you!

Krissa - HEY! Thanks for reading up on the blog! Sounds like your trip to Denmark, etc was really great! I wanna hear more about it! Maybe we can catch up when I get back to the cities! Hope you're doing well!

I miss and love you all! Just a quick and random thought, let's have a party when I get home so I can see everyone! I miss people so much and I will be anxious to see all of your shining faces! Ahh, makes me excited to get home! :) Thanks for all the compliments about my last post, too. I'm glad you enjoyed it...it's true, I am learning so much! I predicted I would change a lot...I am so smart.

Well then, now I can tell you about my day. Today was my day off and I am feeling so good right now. I went to bed around 11:30pm last night and fell asleep about midnight. I was exhausted yesterday afternoon after playing Capture the Flag with all the kids and counselors...that game gets tiring. I woke up this morning around 10:30am really sore, but feeling rested. McFly and I were going to go to Luchon today, but we decided against it at the last minute and thought we should really catch up on our sleep. Plus, she can't spend any money. So instead, I got dressed and went for a run that, consequently, turned into a hike. (There is a small mountain directly behind the camp that Big M and I walked up one afternoon, thinking that the road just gave way to a huge field. Oh boy, were we wrong - Beef told us he went up and the view was gorgeous if you just took a fork in the road...) I started out running part of it, but it was so damn steep, I was nearly having a heart attack after one minute of easy jogging. (Brought me back to my Pom days in the Bronx.) I went for a while longer until I nearly collapsed because I was breathing so hard. The hike up took about 30 minutes and the view WAS spectacular. I could see all the little villages that surround this area and the panoramic view of the nearby mountains was breathtaking. Plus, I was alone, so I was feeling very humbled and reflective. It was a very peaceful morning for me with no kids screaming in my ears and hanging on me. Helped me to regain my center. (But, let me tell you, I love the kids we have right now. They are so wonderfully well-behaved that it is truly a joy to have them in the program. It's been really good so far and they all love me. I mean, really though, who doesn't?)

After I made my way back down the mountain, I went back up to the dorms to get McFly. I changed and went to get some lunch (Paella - ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING - with carrots and runny chocolate pudding. Needless to say, I ate a good helping of the cheese - sheep cheese - that I purchased in Luchon over the weekend. My new favorite dessert is Brebis cheese and raspberry jam on bread. SOOOOOO UNDENIABLEY GOOD.) Then, we laid out in the sun for a while (It was finally warm today!) and read our books. I was topless for a good amount of time - the tan lines around my chest are ridiculous. Finally, we cleaned ourselves up, which seriously took over an hour. We had some work to do! I even shaved my legs in the shower and pulled up my razor to find it covered in a sort of slimy brown sludge. Gross, I know. I am dirty, I told you! We ate dinner (Pasta carbonara with "deviled" eggs - actually hardboiled eggs filled with tuna - and apricot pie - a weird concoction that looks like eggs on top of a pastry. Again, I had some more cheese.) Now, I am writing to you. Yeah!

Everything here is great; I am feeling relaxed and refreshed. Only a few more weeks to go! I can't believe the summer is almost finished! I will be working with AmVil next summer as well because I get nearly double what I am making now!