I really love my job. I love that it's challenging, always changing and that allows me to live in Paris. But most of all, I love the flexibility it gives me. As long as I get my work done, I can do it whenever, wherever and in whatever order I want. Which works out well when I get the urge to go skiing - I just schedule a work trip down to the south of France and off I go!

And that's what I did last weekend - I visited my clients all week, and then Friday I drove over to Toulouse to see L & B. We got up early Saturday morning and took the train up to Ax-les-Thermes. They have a pretty handy rail+ski pass that includes roundtrip train tickets, a ticket for the telecabine up to the station and the lift ticket. The only 'hic' in the trip was that we were also supposed to get a free locker to store our stuff, but unfortunately we weren't able to find them. Which meant that poor L & B - who were smart and brough backpacks - were forced to try to stuff the contents of my purse in their bags. Sorry guys. If I'd known it was going to be such a hassle, I would've left it at home!!

But we finally got our skis and made our way up top, and it was absolutely breathtaking. And the perfect day for skiing.The only bad thing about the day was that it forced me to admit what I've been refusing to admit for a while now. I am officially out of shape. This is the first time in my life I've ever gotten tired while skiing. Granted, most of the skiing I've done has been on 5 minute runs, not 15-20 minute ones, but still - it's time to get my act together. I've been really active my whole life - always training year-round for either ice skating or soccer, but things have been going downhill ever since I moved to France. (Yes, I am the one weirdo who manages to gain weight in France & lose it in the US.)

I'd been planning on joining the gym down the street this summer (it's too expensive to pay for a membership now, when I'm only here two weeks a month), but I think I'm going to have to get my butt in gear before that. I walk a lot everyday, but that's clearly not enough. I've got rollerblades here, so I'm going to try to make a committed effort to go rollerblading for an hour, several times a week. I'm still scared of rollerblading in the streets, what with all the crazy Parisian drivers, so I think I'll go down on the quais by the Seine. Wish me luck (and no broken bones)!