It is a traditional in the Duncan household to celebrate Birthday Week (BW), as mine is February 25 and Anne-Laure’s is March 1. Part of this year’s BW overlapped with Theo’s school vacation, so the beginning was spent in the Alps.
The weather was excellent and Theo reached a milestone in skiing as he conquered his first black diamond slope, Sarenne. It claims to be the world’s longest run at 16 km (10 miles) with a vertical drop of 1820 m (5971 ft). Sarenne isn’t technically challenging (except for the beginning), however the distance can be tiring. Theo had to push a bit at the end, but he loved it enough to do the run two more times. We celebrated his achievement (and my turning a year older) with cake, champagne and a cozy fire.
After a ten-month absence, Anne-Laure started back to work on March 1 (which, unfortunately, coincided with her birthday). It was hard for her to walk out the door in the morning, but she was rewarded with smiles upon her return. We celebrated her birthday by goofing around with the kids and enjoying a nice dinner. I prepared grilled tuna with white beans and sun-dried tomato sauce complemented with a bottle of ’95 Cahors (Malbec). Please wipe the drool from your keyboard.
Outside of the two cases of chickenpox, BW 2012 was a success.
Duncan Soup - A Dish of Duncan Discourse 