Get home early from work

Need a bit of something to get you through the midweek? Here’s Cheap Trick with I want you to want me.

One of those bands that are just never cool, never going to pass over into vintage retro, you just can’t help loving this song anyway. You just can’t.

If the truth be told, I don’t need quite so much of a rush to get me through the midweek as many of my students are on holiday. That is not to say my timetable is clear but it is much more gentle than usual. Wednesdays are usually a 9-9 romp through French and English, from 5 years old to 16 years old. Today, well, I have one student.

This is good because not only do I have a month’s worth of stuff to catch up on, but I also have got a lot of cleaning to do. Oh joy. The garden is in need of serious attention and I am very thankful for my little garden helper elves.

I’ve also got a bit of dog behaviour to sort out. Newcomer Amigo has boy issues. He isn’t finding it as fun as he should be and he is still grumbly at Heston. To give Heston his due, he is being a perfect gentleman and doesn’t care much for pecking order; he has been ruled all his life by 12kg of cocker and he doesn’t care at all. It’s not hard work – just a case of avoiding flashpoints and close quarters – but I’ve been doing a lot of sitting on my bum with the pair of them, trying to get Amigo used to being around other dogs. It’s a shame, because he is a sweet, smart, loyal, loving dog who deserves lots of cuddles and kisses. Until he gets his old man grumbles under control though, affection is just another flashpoint. We’re coping though. That was mostly why I got him now – I knew I had two weeks to sort things out. If it were Amigo and Tilly on their own, there would be no problem at all. Plus, he doesn’t whine or cry or bark or react with visitors. He is a sweetie-pie and once he realises that third place in a house full of love is not such a bad thing, he will find Heston doesn’t care much for squabbles and has never been a jealous boy. Just a question of space and good manners. I think all households are like that. Lots of space and good manners means a happy household.

So what are the things that are warming my heart this week?

The greenness of everything. The amazing, amazing greenness of everything. Each year I forget just how great spring is out here – in the last month things just shot up and the beautiful combination of heat and moisture make everything surge.

A couple of days off (I have five full days off this holiday! Whoop Whoop!) and lunch with my lady friends is another reason to smile this Wednesday. We are experimenting with a different Chinese restaurant than our usual hangout and enjoying it a lot. If you know how hard it is to come by spicy food of any calibre outside Paris, you will know why we put up with some oddities at the buffet table. It is not unusual to see boiled eggs or baguette on people’s plates. They’re just not embracing the unusualness of the thing.

I have a couple of afternoons planned at the refuge as well, and a bit of relaxation. On Monday, I had time off and I had no idea what to do with myself. It’s good to be this busy though. I was looking at my diary for 2011 and I’m probably doing about three times as much as I did then. I’m helping someone do their paperwork this morning – it’s still stupidly inefficient here – in ways I both like and dislike. I love how determined people are to maintain a standard of living. I hate how short-sighted they are in terms of business. I’m sure this flabby behemoth of pallid bureaucracy is not what Marx and Engels had in mind.

Anyway, have a good Wednesday. I’ll be enjoying the sunshine and the somewhat spicy salads!