I’m thankful today that my French colleagues were all very welcoming and we had a great day working together. It was great to meet people face to face instead of simply talking over Teams calls on the computer. Plus getting a first hand view of how the location in Antibes functions help me think of how my teams works together at our site and what might be better or what COULD be better.

Plus the weather was much better today. No rain and afternoon sunshine. After work my boss and I had another good meal where we continued to talk about work and also just had good conversation. I’m thankful, too, that he’s so laid back and easy to get along with. It makes it so much easier all around. And who can resist these old streets and yacht views?

I caught up on sleep last night. Yay! Which was good because today was another day of travel. After a leisurely coffee and croissant, I went back to the airport for my flight to Nice, which is only about half an hour to Antibes, where I will work for the next few days. It was a quick flight, but about 5 pm before I got checked into my hotel.

Most places in town, which is about a 15 min walk down a hill, were closed when I got there, but I found a boulangerie for a sandwich, walked to the marina to a check out the yachts, and then found a grocery store where I bought a bottle of wine and a bottle of water to leave in my room. When in France…

My boss arrived about 8 pm, so I walked back into town with him and shared a glass of wine while he had dinner. I might have had a few bites of his food as well. Mmmm

I’m thankful for a day of safe travels and more beautiful scenery. Oh, and for Patrick who has been waking up extra early so we can say good morning/good afternoon. He’s probably going to regret it by the end of the week, but I hope not. It’s good to hear his voice while I’m so far away.

Well, I’ve been awake for what seems like days. I couldn’t sleep on my flight and since Paris is 7 hours ahead of my normal time zone, it was morning when I arrived. I didn’t want to go to bed until a normalish time. Instead, I dropped off my luggage (my room was ready early, yay!), cleaned up a bit, and started wandering the streets. Today I stayed near the Louvre, although I didn’t go in or even get a good view of it. Instead, I just walked towards whatever seemed interesting or lovely. Then I decided to check out the flea market, but it took me way too long to get there. The upside is that I’m WAAY over my step goal for the day AND I figured out the Metro. The downside is that my feet ache and I’m exhausted. But I’m thankful for safe travels and a beautiful day filled with beautiful views.

Today I fly to France! I was able to leave work a little early to gather my stuff at home and have lunch with Patrick before needing to head to the airport. I’m thankful for that and for Patrick for driving me all the way in. Chicago airport traffic in the late afternoon can be lousy, but it wasn’t too bad today. Hopefully, his drive back home wasn’t too bad either. The flight is 8 hours, so I’m planning to read and sleep.

My new employee started on Monday, and in between my meetings and commitments, I’ve been trying to train him. I’m so grateful that he’s smart and nice because despite my limited time, he’s learning. And he keeps coming back. Yay!

I’ve apologized a couple of times for having him start during a timeframe where I’ll be traveling, but it’s just something we need to deal with. And thankfully, the rest of my group is willing to jump in and help while I’m gone next week. I really do have a great team, and so far the new guy is fitting in well.

I’m also thankful today to have done most of my packing and stuff ahead of time so I’m not so stressed. I am a little nervous flying alone overseas to a place that’s completely new. But mostly I’m excited. Oui!

I’m thankful today for meetings with friends, busy work days, and tv time with Patrick and the pups.

Since I haven’t had a lot of extra time this last week, I haven’t gotten much up for Halloween inside the house. So today I’m thankful for some new touches from my mother-in-law and friends.

More Halloween!

And I’m thankful for a day hanging with Patrick.

I almost feel guilty that we have had such lovely weather this week when the coast is battling with the effects of the hurricane. My heart goes out to those in its destruction, so I was grateful that our church had a fundraiser I could donate to.

I’m also thankful today for getting some items checked off my long to-do list, such as getting the house decorated for Halloween. It’s not don’t yet, but it’s started…