Holy moly it's hot

The marquee in the center of town said it was 40°. The wet clothes I put out before going out should be dry. I made some ice cubes Sunday night and I've been enjoying them in my drinks this week.

I was surprised again by the price of meat today. When we buy it along with all our other groceries, I don't really notice, but I just paid 7€ for two thick gigot d'agneau. I know I spend a small fortune on bread too because I buy balèges, not baguettes, and they're 95 cts. B loves bread though, and I enjoy it too, so I keep buying it. We stopped buying meat at Carrefour about a month ago now because it always went bad before the date. I'm supposed to buy meat from a boucher in town, but between the price and the fact that I forget a lot, we've been saving money buy eating frozen salmon, frozen ground beef, and canned things. Normally I'm really against canned food because there's more salt and it's not fresh, etc, etc, but budget concerns have convinced me otherwise for now. The small Casino in town is a last resort grocery store for me, and the unimpressive fruit and vegetable section reminded me of this yesterday. It's a shame I can't get good fruits and vegetables on my own in town except on Friday when there's the market. And I will admit that I haven't gotten up for it since November (it closes at noon, what can I say).

I think I will begin packing tonight. I have to wash clothes I want to take with me, but I should start planning out what I'll need and see how much room our presents take up. We'll have a minimum of 3 bottles of alcohol in our suitcases, plus some other random gifts. B says he's hardly taking anything, but I find that hard to believe. He does need to leave lots of room for all the things he's bought though. He started ordering various games and parts to be shipped to my parents since it's much cheaper to buy in the US and a lot of it can't be delivered in France. I'm guilty too because I ordered 4 used books from amazon. They should be easy reads, and I should be able to read at least two of them while I'm there, but then I wanted to reread some Harry Potter while I'm home, and I know we'll be busy non-stop.

Play time is over. I already watched two X-Files episodes today, so I should get my rear in gear. I have to psych myself up to call and make an appointment and the last time I called I made a complete moron of myself...