As we were leaving Charles De Gaulle airport for home after our Paris Trip, I saw a bunch of pate in the duty free shop.  Chris hates pate—I think he’s crazy, but hey, more for me.  I bought a six pack of cans.  So yesterday I decided to have one of the cans with my lunch.

It looks pretty gross, honestly (I think this is why Chris won’t eat it) but it was DELICIOUS.  I googled to figure out exactly what it is that I ate, and I couldn’t figure it out.  Can any readers help?  This was the story of our visit to France though—eating a bunch of delicious but unknown food.

Other things I’ve been up to this week:

Lots of practicing for upcoming events.  The most fun thing coming up is a concert with Chamber Project St Louis on Wednesday, November 14 at 7 pm, at the Schlafly Tap Room.  Mark your calendars, and there may be a ticket giveaway coming up for local readers who would like to attend…watch this space.

Mozart Duo for Violin and Viola.  Do other musicians make more marks in their part?  I find the less I write the more I notice what I do write.

I’m also now considering going to Phoenix in January to run the PF Chang’s Half Marathon again with Leslie.  It would fit perfectly into our training plans for the Go! St Louis Marathon in April, and January is a great time to visit Phoenix.  Yes, I’ve already been out there a couple times (ha!) this year, but I do have a free place to stay when I visit, so it doesn’t end up being too ridiculously expensive.  Plus that’s just an awesome race.  I ran it two years ago and even though I usually hate crowds, it was AWESOME running with so many people.  Originally I had planned to do a different half in February in Phoenix, but my schedule has changed and I’m no longer available for that one.  So I think this will end up being on my schedule after all.  I’ll decide for sure in a week or two.  Any readers planning to run it?

Oh, and we haven’t gotten a new coffee maker yet.  Here’s the thing (and I’m sure you all know this already): French Press coffee is Delicious.  Though it takes at least an additional five to ten minutes to make and ours only holds 4 cups.  But it’s SO good!!

Chris and I are big coffee drinkers.  We’ve had (or I’ve had, can’t even recall when I got it) a lovely red coffeemaker for years, definitely since Cleveland.  In fact, I ordered a red Kitchenaid Mixer because of my red coffeemaker, even though they ended up being slightly different shades.  And then I got a red blender and a red food processor. 

As a small child, I loved coffee ice cream.  I remember the day I learned about mocha chip ice cream.  What, coffee ice cream WITH chocolate chips?  Sign me up!

Anyway, we didn’t register for a coffeemaker for our wedding because we already had a perfectly good one.  UNTIL.

Yesterday afternoon I wanted a cup of coffee before I started teaching.  I put together the water and coffee, turned on the machine, and left the room.  I returned a bit later and attempted to fill up my cup…and I realized that the coffeemaker, though technically ON had MADE NO COFFEE.  It hadn’t heated up. 

So I tried again.  Unplugged and plugged.  Turned off and on.  Waited longer.  Nothing.

TRAGEDY.

Luckily we have a variety of other ways to make coffee.  Stovetop espresso maker.  Instant "Via" blends.  And what we remembered this morning was:  a french press! French press coffee is quite good.  (Honestly it’s better than drip coffee, but it’s those extra steps that bug me—I want the best coffee I can make easier and conveniently.  I don’t really relish the idea of heating water separately every morning.)

Obviously we are in the market for a new coffeemaker.  I think red might be nice.  Any recommendations?  We have some Crate and Barrel gift cards to use, but of course we also love Target and shopping online, so anything would be good.  What do you use for a coffee maker?  Are you as addicted to coffee as I am? 

I just spent about 15 minutes looking for a picture that evidently I don’t have.  It’s of Horatio from CSI: Miami on the TV screen with my friend Sarah’s blue hat sitting on top of the TV.  It’s the sort of thing that isn’t really funny but gets funnier each time a character’s head lines up with the hat.  Funnier and funnier.

At least I think it’s funny.  Maybe you had to be there? 

You may be saying, Hannah, surely you have something better to blog about.  I’m going to be honest.  I don’t. But seriously,  I really thought you’d get a kick out of these photos.

We got a new (well, only) dining room table recently.  The cat seems to like the new chairs.

(What I really need is a picture of the cat wearing a party hat—I think a certain friend could do that pretty easily using MS Paint?)

Yeah, I’ll tell you more about Leslie’s wedding later.  I’ve been too tired all week to write anything other than this random drivel.

Tomorrow is the Memorial Service for our friend Jim who passed away the other week and I’m playing a few quartet pieces, including Barber’s Adagio.  I’m a little stressed about it.  I always get emotional during services like this (I guess most people do) and I’m a little concerned about my ability to continue playing, at least well.  I’ve been dreading this all week.  I guess if I were looking forward to it that would be a problem, right?  I know I’ll be fine, I’m a professional (Trust me, I’m a professional!) and I’ve done far more challenging things.  Besides, the memorial service isn’t about me, or how I play.  (Must remind self of that.)

Who is watching the World Series?  We are.  I am halfheartedly rooting against the Giants, but it’s tough to want Detroit to win. 

Hanging out with so many old friends and family makes me think about myself.  Oh wait, I already do that all the time.  What I really mean is, it makes me more introspective.  I think about where I come from, especially how my personality has been shaped by my family, particularly my brother and sisters, and how their personalities have been shaped by me. 

I have three siblings.  Many people are surprised by this.  I have an older brother, Jesse, who is a college professor and two younger sisters.  Leslie is the one who just got married, and then Carrie is quite a bit younger and is still in college.  Most of my childhood and into adolescence I was a middle child, and then when Carrie was born I still continued that role but also took on the more important role of second oldest, and oldest girl.  I know my sisters look up to me for examples whether they like to admit it (or whether I do either) or not, and that my opinion is probably more important to them than it should be.  Though I am the oldest girl in the family, I don’t actually know everything.

When you live far away from your siblings, it’s easy to forget the role they play in your life.  But pretty much all of my interactions with people today have a basis with how I learned to interact with my siblings (and parents) growing up.  I shared a room with Leslie for many years growing up, and then we lived together in Cleveland for several years as well, so we are closer than the others.  Jesse used to live fairly near me in Ohio so for a year or so we saw each other more often, but now we tend to run into each other at family weddings and funerals only.  I know he reads this blog though, and my Mom likes to keep us all up to date on each other.  Carrie is your typical 20 year old and doesn’t have much time or desire to chat with annoying "old people" so she just sighs and rolls her eyes a lot.  (I’m half kidding).

Luckily we got a picture of the four of us at Leslie’s wedding (well, this is the rehearsal dinner.)  Who knows when we’ll all be together again?  Carrie, Leslie, me, and Jesse, in order from left to right, youngest to oldest, and oddly, shortest to tallest as well.  How many families have the kids in exact height order like that?  (Leslie is wearing flats and slouching a bit, otherwise she’d be more obviously taller than Carrie). 

I know I could write tons more on sibling interaction, but I won’t.  I should read more on it I think—does anybody have any good book recommendations about siblings and birth order and the impact on people’s lives?  Do you have siblings?  Are you close?

We are having a great time in Phoenix! Lots of family, friends, food and fun.