Bonjour from France

I got called over to Grenoble, France on short notice for a work trip. Well, I wouldn't exactly call it "work" compared to what Deanna has to do back home, but it has been an interesting adventure so far.

I arrived to a rather anemic looking little car; a Renault "Twingo":



This little car has gotten me around just fine- though I'm glad I requested a GPS navigation system. That's been very handy.

My "French Culture and Etiquette" handbook taught me that meal-time is very important in France. I like food too, so I've enjoyed meal-time in France. Every meal is an event to be savored- even lunch in the company cafeteria. There's beer and wine available, and every day brings a new gourmet dish to sample. And the bread- delicious! And plentiful. French people eat bread with every meal- throughout the meal. If someone were to run out of bread I'm sure they'd stop eating altogether until they found more bread. Here's the appetizer course of the first lunch I had in France. Look at the presentation!



Mealtime doesn't end with merely the lunch. It's followed by espresso, and then at least a half an hour of chit-chat. The first day I arrived I didn't start doing actualy work until almost 4:00PM! I was going nuts. I was like "Alright already, let's get to work!"

Thanks to the tips I picked up from my French phrase and culture books, I made fast friends with my colleagues and customers over here. Tips like, "The historical reason for the handshake was to prove you weren't holding a dagger," proved invaluable. I was invited to a jazz concert and also to a co-workers home for drinks. Check out this fabulous view from his patio:



He recommended an itinerary for some weekend sightseeing. First, a scenic drive through the mountains. The area is very "French Alps"- big mountains all around.





I stopped in a few charming villages, and then to the "Grottes de Choranches"- very cool caverns. Kind of touristy, but hey- I'm a tourist!



It's been a very interesting and enjoyable trip, though of course I do miss my family back home. Sam has just recently begun to show awareness of whether I'm home or away, and that makes it a bit harder on everyone. Every time I go away like this I return to a massive progression in language development from him.

Deanna has been remarkably strong in my absence. Having her mom and grandma stop in for a visit sure helped. It's so nice to call home and hear her happy voice.

I'll be here a few more days. I'm not sure whether I have the energy to visit Mont Blanc tomorrow. We'll see. If so, I'll post some pictures of that for sure. If not, I'll post pictures of my record breaking 8th meal in a row at the Novotel Hotel. :)

The Riddle

One of Sam's favorite books is a Winnie the Pooh book with riddles in it. Here he is reciting one of the riddles:



In case you can't make out what he's saying, the riddle is:

Q: What goes up when the rain comes down?
A: An umbrella!

After that Sam says "Oh, I like that!" just the way it's written in the book as if it is part of the riddle. He practically creates the illusion that he can read since he's memorized so many pages from his books. Particularly entertaining is when he "reads" car brochures talking about "Xenon Adapative Headlights" and "Active Cruise Control".

For his next trick, I'll try to get some video of him identifying car makes and models. He's dazzled the neighborhood with his uncanny ability to spot Honda Pilots and such from great distances- even in the dark.

Sam the Chair Salesman

We haven't posted pictures of Sam in far too long. He is really growing up quickly. Here he is in one of his favorites spots- on my office desk chair:



Here he is sitting on a chair I'm trying to sell on Craigslist:



Sam was a great helper this afternoon. We re-assembled the chair (it was sitting in a pile of parts in the basement since we've moved in). Then we took pictures of it and posted the ad. A little life lesson for my guy: Marketing 101.

PS- Here's the ad (while supplies last):
http://boston.craigslist.org/bmw/fur/383904844.html

Update! The chair has been sold. Sam and I were successful in our first joint business endeavor.

Do You Upromise?

The day after Sam was born, I was suddenly more interested in saving for college than the day before. There's a lot of different sub-topics I'd like to discuss in this area:

• Does saving for college hurt your chances for free money for college?
• How much do we need to save?
  
• What percentage of education should be the child's burden?
• 529 plans vs. Coverdell Education Savings Accounts vs. regular investments
• Which 529 plan to use?

For today, I'd like to focus on one very unique way to save money for college called Upromise. Upromise, in a nutshell, is a way to earn college savings as a percentage of the things you already buy. Money earned is then periodically swept into your child's 529 college savings plan which earns money tax free until needed for college.

What I like about Upromise is that the money you earn is on top of any other savings you might be getting. Say for example you buy gas and pay with a cash-back credit card (see my previous entry on recommended credit cards here: http://casadwyer.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_archive.html). The money added to your Upromise account is in addition to the 5% cash-back you get on your credit card. Great deal, right?

So far, Sam has saved $1,099 for college through Upromise. To be fair $937 of that was from a single mortgage transaction. The easiest way to earn money through Upromise is by registering your credit card(s) with Upromise so that all the purchases you make trigger contributions for eligible products. It doesn't really add up very quickly unless you do your shopping through Upromise (like the mortgage transaction or other online shopping) which involves launching your transaction by first stopping in at the Upromise web site and then clicking through and shopping as you normally would.

Here's your call to action:

• If you have little ones of your own, sign up for Upromise and start saving.
  
• If you don't have little ones of your own and are willing to take the time to sign up, do so and select your favorite future genius as a beneficiary.

I recently became a Upromise affiliate.  Sign up through the button below and I'll get a referral bonus:



Whether or not one of our little guys is your favorite future genius, we'd be happy to walk you through the process if you're willing to take the time. Just drop one of us an E-mail if you have questions. Thanks!