iJules

Nablopomo

I am going to try to keep this up. I will probably fail, but I can try. I am a day late but I did post yesterday. Either way it is just for me anyway, to get things moving again. I haven't blogged for months. This is actually a brand new blog for me, I am dissembling Jules in France - not that I am giving up on France, but it has been nearly 7 months since I cancelled my move to Paris. I still plan to do it, I talk about it every day, driving friends and family crazy but I know it will happen.

I gained some weight. Okay a LOT of weight. I had some disappointments, a meltdown and major drama a couple of years ago. I didn't deal with it and got sicker and sicker, my health went into the crapper and I barely even left my townhouse for over a year. This summer I decided that if I did not get myself together I was probably going to die. I don't want to die in fact that has never been part of my overall plan.

I made a lot of changes, I moved and left behind all of the negative issues that had been holding me back. Normally it is not a good idea to run away. I didn't run, I deliberately got up and changed my position. I admit I was terrified, I wasn't sure if I would sink or soar. I am soaring. Life is not perfect but so much better. I am healthy and focused. Seemed like a good time to start blogging again. Not about fat or health though, I don't want that to be what my life is about. I didn't cancel my trip to Paris because I was fat, I cancelled it because I was not healthy. I don't mind being fat in Paris, I have lots of clothes, I didn't want to die in Paris.

French Skin?

In the US we always hear about the beauty of French skin, how gorgeous, supple and unlined. If you want to sell a skin care product just tout it as French. I always thought that may be a load of hooey or a clever marketing ploy like French Women Don't Get Fat when we all know that certainly there are fat French women.

Then I began to watch the broadcasts over at Frog with a Blog and whaddaya know, it seems to be true. As an aesthetician I always notice a person's skin and then of course their eyebrows. FWaB has gorgeous skin and so do Katia and Kyliemac and I had already noticed petite and le Meg so I have to wonder, is this genetic coincidence or is it true? Does living in France give you beautiful skin? Is it the atmosphere? The clean living? wait, that can't be it ::snicker::

Why Jules is not in France

The dream to live in France started for me in 1998. It just came upon me that I really wanted to live in France. I spent hundreds of dollars on books and magazines. I had traveled a lot in the US and other places but had not been to Europe. I still had a son in high school, my dream was that when he had a summer break between his final two years I would go over and check things out, then once he was settled in college I could find a more permanent arrangement. Then I got on the www. I was really able to do some serious research then although back in 1999 when I first logged on there were not nearly as many options as there are now. I realize I am certainly no pioneer but there is still a big differnce in 8 years.

Anyway, I began nursing school and continued to research my big adventure that would take me from Paris to the beaches of Spain, along the coast to the Italian Riviera and to Rome, Torino, Zurich and back to Paris. I used Rick Steves and other online resources to plan this out and seriously had it all written out down to bus numbers, train schedules and routes drawn on maps.

Then a few different things happened. I had to leave nursing school over a misunderstanding about my personal liability insurance that escalated into a dismissal. I could have sorted it out and I should have, I seriously regret that I did not since I was a few months from graduating. But also at this time I had made some really strong friends who live in the Netherlands. It was not even on my list. Who goes to the Netherlands? Weird people there, right? So when summer came I decided to pack a bag and spend three weeks in Holland and also made a side trip to Marseille.