We had our house warming party on Saturday. The house was more or less ready and tidy, but we still had our dining room packed up to the ceiling . Guests were very impressed just by the look of it so I didn’t dare comment about the cellars and the coach house. They are bigger – and full of boxes too. Our neighbours came early to help me look after the children while I should have been preparing the desserts. It turned out I was late on my schedule and they ended up cleaning the kitchen with me before helping peel a mountain of apples. I made apple pies, pear pies, apricot pies and chocolate mousse. Not one dessert lasted more than 20 seconds once put on the table. People complained they didn’t have a bite. It was brilliant. Although I had hoped we had enough for everybody, I also know that when you tatse something sweet, the less you eat the better it tastes. It is an old trick, that actually got a famous cola company in trouble. They tried to create a new taste – many years ago- and when samples were tested, lots of people absolutely loved a particular one. When it was put on the market, it turned out to be a catastrophe. It took the cola company a while to find out that their clients taste buds couldn’t cope with the sweetness of their product. Lesson learned.
We had our children, their friends and children of our friends – in total, more than 20 of them. Aged from 1 to 18, they all were very well behaved and we enjoyed their company. We had more than 50 adult guests turning up and it was very pleasureable to spend some time with so many people we love and we like. I think we should do this more often! I am already planning my husband’s birthday, which is in September…
Now of course we are completely knackered. The house is very cleaned as the neighbours – once again- popped in and gave us a hand. I don’t think I could have better neighbours actually, which is great. But we are physically drained. It was to the point that my beloved husband forgot to close the main door yesterday, while we were going out. He didn’t just left it unlocked, he left it wide open. We came back a few hours later- and it turned out that an Amazon delivery guy had left a parcel for me – inside the house. But nothing was missing. Amazing. I am not sure if there is a lesson to be learn here…
When you are happy, there isn’t much to say. For us all, it took a trampoline, a great barbecue, lots of friends around, a few pies and a bit of free leisure time. Nobody got drunk- which was premiere, but I realize that when you have fun, English people don’t need to drink that much. So for once the discussions were coherent and funny. And clever…
Now it is back to a normal life. I am trading, shopping, cleaning and I can take my time to open new boxes. The holidays are not far- and I will definitely take some time off. I need to spend some time with my family – and the friends who will join us. I hope I will also take time to read….and do nothing. If I am able to!

I can be very sad. I resent sometimes the fact that I don’t have enough time on my hands to accomplish all the tasks I have on my list. Due to our move, I still have about 400 boxes to unpack- at least. I make sure that the kitchen and the bathrooms are always clean, I dust and I vacuum clean once a week – which is not enough. I lately discovered about 6 boxes full of clothes that had been stored in a damp place, so I had to wash them all. It has taken me more than a week to do it- 7 to 8 washloads a day. I should be finished by the end of this week- but then I was not able to keep up with the ironing. At first I did quite well; 3 hours in the evening while I was watching a movie with my beloved and discussing a few topics that would interest us. Then I did 2 hours, and soon I had quite a pile on the sofa. Good weather allowing I was able to do more washloads. The mountain grew bigger. The boxes were lingering in the halls of the house. I had pictures frames, jewellery, books and toys littering my office. I am used to order and spotless hygiene so I started to suffer. Add to this my youngest child with chicken pox, the feeling that I am overwhelmed by the situation, and a bad trading day ( that could have been actually funny; everytime one of my daughters entered the room, I jumped and pressed the trigger. I got it at the second mistake and got my arrow away from the clicking button. But it cost me a bit).
So when the time came to go to bed, I was tired, a tad frustrated and wondering how I was going to sort out this mess- literally.
I fell asleep, woke up 45 min later because of some thugs evaluating the opportunity of breaking into our house, then one of my daughters woke up, then again…And It was one in the morning, two, three…and I got up. I thought that maybe I could trade FX while I was finally in peace but there wasn’t anything that screamed ” go for it!”. So I started making some research about my strategies and watching wher they could apply, which stocks, what markets, and so on. After an hour, I decided I could surf Amazon, but tempatation was hard to resist so I read all my mail and the trading news I hadn’t read this week. Finally I considered playing some computer games but came to the conclusion that it would be wiser catching up with my ironing. I spent the next 5 hours and a half just doing that. Having reminiscences of a time where I used to have fantasies about staying up all night in order to catch up with my housewife work so I could then spend the day with my kids and be free of any obligation. I had been wise enough not to test it as I reckoned that it would be more than likely that I’d be too knackered in the morning to enjoy anything. But now I had my opportunity; I could spend all night doing it – I wasn’t tired. I felt completely numb.
At 8 am I went to check the UK market, something I hadn’t done in 2 months. I was horrified by the spread and wondered why I had spent so much time and effort to do it. Then I realized that I had only done a third of my ironing, 3 washing, and that the kitchen was a mess. I was basically in a haze and stayed there all day. I didn’t trade in the afternoon as opportunities wer rare thanks to what is called FED day. By 7pm I was ready and watching the markets again but didn’t lift a finger to trade. I knew what to do and papert raded it, but a part of me was just happy watching.
So I guess that I fullfilled my fantasy, at the cost I had predicted. It was unvoluntarily but as it happened, all I could do is going all the way.
I am too old for this. I will take a sleeping pill if I ever get there again!

I went to a wedding on Saturday. It was kind of typical; the guests were – some of them- excentric. The parents of the bride and groom sometimes disagreed on little things. The friends of the married couple were having loads of fun. The weather was changing- sunny, then rain started falling down. Although the occasion was supposed to be formal and all the assistance was wearing – I believe- their best clothes, most people were relaxed and happy. I had a great time. I saw some guys whom I hadn’t seen for 6 years. They hadn’t changed a bit. I met girls who were welcoming and lovely. My eyes were watering while I watched my friends tie the knot. I remembered my own ceremony and my husband pronouncing his vows. The speeches were witty and full og innuendos that completely escaped me ( I am not a Star Trek fan).
The meal was very good. The company remained sober until quite late in the evening. There is now a tradition that I find very clever; the guests have to pay for their own booze. It works a treat. People don’t get drunk too quickly. You can still enjoy their presence ( of mind). I personnally enjoy sobriety, as I don’t drink, but also the fact that I may have the possibility to talk to people whose minds are not wandering on a personal and tortuous path that is inaccessible ( unless you’re drunk yourself or on drugs, in which case you may have the illusion to connect with the poor soul). So I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

The pleasures of Life are sometimes very simple. Good company, good spirit ( not the one with alcohol) and a bit of food on the side. I’d wish people ‘d get married everyday. A friend suggested we’d all remarry again – at the same time. One huge wedding , all of us renewing our vows and giving a hell of a party. Sounds good to me- I’d be game for it. Maybe we could just give a hell of a party. Summer’s coming.

I know England quite well. Or so I believe. With my almost decade of regular stays in the UK I have started to notice a few things that are actually considered normal over here that would make other Europeans shiver- if only they were aware of them. The list is non exhaustive and I reserve all rights to add to it from time to time.
Let me give you an example. In England, when you’re about to receive visitors that you want to impress, you clear your home. You think I should have written ” clean”?. Big mistake. I meant what I said. I even read an article proudly intitulated once ” How to clean your whole house in 20 min “. I was – you bet- more than interested. I spend myself a minimum of 4 hours a day in domestic tasks so any advice is welcome. The article was quite short actually and quite simple; all you had to do was to gather all things that were on display and throw them under your bed. You were encouraged to take your clothes and flatten them on your mattress before covering them up with your duvet. Dusting and a quick passage with the vacuum cleaner where dirt was too obvious were on the cards. You had to close your bathroom door and pile all dirty dishes and glasses in the kitchen sink, that you’ d fill with water. Open windows and voila; your guests could knock on the door and you’ d open with an apology- you were just doing the dishes. THAT – according to the author who very surprisingly was a woman, and I hope when I say woman that she was not more than 20 years old- was cleaning. So I had here a first clue. I then heard stories of women who were receiving their parents for dinner and started frantically rubbing the sole of their boots on the carpet as it was gathering piles of dirt. How on earth did they discover that, it remains a mystery to me. I saw parties being thrown in houses that were dusty and and really not at their best; the hosts very nicely explained that the guests would mess it up anyway before the night would end, and probably one or more of them would get sick somewhere so why bother cleaning? That would be done after everybody was gone. Right. The notion of respect for the guests didn’t seem to play the slightest role in the decision. So that was one custom that I was almost shocked to discover; my home is my castle, they say, but they seem to imply that the caslte is still in its original condition and has been built more than 400 years ago. May I add, of course, that for most English people I am a sad sad maniac? I am even being offered cleaning products and books on the subject – as if I needed them. Or is it a hidden insult? Whatever that is, I can tell you this: my products are the best anyway. I get my bin bags and my window cleanimg products from Switzerland, my washing detergents from Italy and my scraping utensils from France. Can’t wait to go back to the US where they have nuclear powders and GM utensils. Just kidding.
The good point of all of this, of course, is that you can keep your shoes on everywhere and even put your feet up on the furniture, although this is more a US custom.
Next subject: personnal hygiene and food habits. That is one hell of a subject!

I went with my husband to London on Thursday in order to follow Drs Ron & Edie Perry ‘s seminar about PPT. If you want to understand better what it is all about I’d suggest you have a look at this address: www.entrance.me.co.uk. As for me, although I still see NLP as a very useful and interesting tool, my interest is actually vanishing a bit for all disiplines related to it. So I didn’t exactly dragged my feet to get there, but I wondered if I had made the right decision by going. You see, I was probably more interested in watching the DOW and testing this new strategy that is actually entirely mine. Nevermind.
I was very pleasantly surprised. I had met the Perrys in Novemebre during a one day seminar about PPT. They are clever, witty and very kind- which is considered quite unusual in England when you want to qualify Americans. Their discipline – a derivative of Fedenkrais, bodywork & NLP- gives without a doubt results. It demands though dedication and miracles are not accomplished in one go; I witnessed though a firend of ours who suffers from MS go through one consultation of 35 minutes regain mobility in one foot, have better posture and be able to walk almost straight ( still supported by crutches though) despite the fact that he was exhausted. My friend said that the pain was still there and that the treatement in itself seemed quite difficult when you are on your own, but as a witness I could see a very clear difference in his movements and posture which was definitely convincing that this treatment was working.
So I was curious to learn what I could during these 3 days. How to get rid of arthritis, straithen backs, get shoulders and hips re aligned, send to no-where Land headaches, colds, sciaticas, and more…I was game for it. The good side was that you don’t need to be a doctor or a physiotherapist to understand the principles. A little knowledge of bones and muscles position helps; a hint of basic in mechanics is a plus. Being an absolute ignorant in both departements, I was slightly worried I might mess up. And there was one of the culprit: you can’t mess up. If you listen to your patient and follow the advice and learning of the Perrys, there is no way you can do any damage. In the very worst of case, you’ ll have no effect at all. In the medium range , you will see some progress towards the path of health. In the best cases, you will have a patient who will ask you how you bloody did it.
Trading remains my passion and my work. I suspect that my dear husband will invite me sometimes to give him a hand – literally, or two- when he has a complex or long case. I am very happy I learned something so useful as it makes quite a difference in the little problems of mobility that occur with older age.
I spent my time and my money wisely. I can only hope that more people will get involved in the process. The Perrys are excellent teachers and as human beings absolutely delightful. Long Live PPT! I can be literal again!