23 with a Messed Up Knee

Yesterday was one of those days I wish would have been different.  It was a beautiful Friday, we had Bri's parents coming for dinner (which inviting French in-laws enough is stressing), and we had to get all the shopping done for our crémaillère and my birthday party tonight.

It started with a morning trip to the marché down the street.  The marché on 'quai saint antoine' is open every day, and actually, suprisingly, the prices were not too expensive.  I bought a bunch of veggies... no problem.  We then went to Picard to get our 'amuse-gueules' which are the little snacks eaten with booze in the beginning.  Finally off to the marché-u to get the last pieces... hauled all of this home, up the 4 flights (40 stairs total) of stairs.

We had to leave again to go to my school to see what they decided to put me in.  As we were biking, as usual, we got to this area near the school that's made with gravel/dirt.  My front tire was out, apparently, and as I turned and put on my break to turn/stop- the tire floated out, I slid out... and the bike crashed on me as I slipped under it.  I had a moment of just shock...

Bri came running from his bike and I started balling in the middle of the street.. it was a combination of embarrassment and complete pain.  We still had to get to my school, so I hobbled to school.. we hobbled to Lidl to buy things for tonight and slowly very slowly biked home.

Here's the results, today, of my accident yesterday, it hurts like something awful, today it's stiff and swollen and feels as though I can't bend it without pain.  I am a total 'type A' personality so it is driving me nuts.

In all though, Bri made it better.  He's truly a wonderful piece of my life- and even if sometimes I bitch and moan about not understanding the marché man or maybe I get frustrated... he's fabulous.  Here's what he did for my birthday dinner with the parents:

He made me a CHEESCAKE... and not just ANY cheesecake..



He made me a raspberry cheesecake, based with crispy petit-beurre cookies, rich ricotta and.. it.. was awesome.







Just to exaggerate... I MUST show photos of his hard work...

Putting Decorations on my Cheesecake

In our kitchen.. adding more raspberries

There wasn't a lot of room for the whole word:  "HAPPY"... good enough

My kitchen, preparation for a dinner of 5.. yikes

Yea... we decorated a little.. this is our new Ikea table.. only 100 bux!

My 'French Mom'.. very impressed with her son's work.

We drank it all.. ohhh yeaaa..

All I can hope is that my knee will stop aching too much and that I can try to get through tonight with a smile.  I think a nap is in order... people are supposed to start arriving here around 7pm.. holy moly.

We have about 25 invitees, a bunch of beer, snacks and ... well, it's gonna be a busy night.  We invited a huge mix of his French friends, my Exchange friends.. a true mix of English/French speakers.  Some of the students don't speak very well, and some of the French don't speak English at all.. but we are happy to bring our worlds together.

Wish me luck.. I'll let you know tomorrow how it goes..

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