Part 8/10. Meet the family...

Usually meeting the family is hard enough... I mean, there is some level of challenge and nervousness that is hard to ignore. This people are important to the girl, and she is important to you... So... You REALLY hope they will like you and give some sort of "thumbs up"... No?... OF COURSE...

This was the case with Albane's family... But... Add a couple of elements. 1) I was going to stay in her mom's house for the weekend. Not a simple dinner, hello-bye environment... I was going to stay there. And 2)... French?... As much as I try to, my French isn't all that good!. I rely on my communication skills for people to like me!, how... HOW?!...

He he he...

Either way... We went to Albane's house for the Weekend (or her mom's, however you want to see it). I ended up driving because Albane had a horrible Torticolis and it was hard to look at anything other than the ground... Kind of. During that day, when we went to school, I laughed so much of how she looked!... He he he. Mmmmh... I think she didn't appreciate that. O.o

[note: Albane sais she didn't get mad... riiiiight. Ok... Maybe "mad" is not the right word... Heh. But she was like -it's not nice!- and... Ehem... Anyway, I felt guilty... ok?. ^__^]

We arrived late, because she had some training or meeting regarding a new project, but in time for dinner!. I walked out of the drivers seat, and her mom was there!. Albane was so happy saying hi to her dog (Tara)... And her mom too, I guess... Heh. Anyway, I walked close to her mom and she smiled a lot and greeted me nicely... I felt welcomed.

Nervousness faded... I knew everything was going to be ok. ^__^

Meeting her mom, and her sister Xav was nice... They both spoke in English to me!, heh, and I did a fair attempt to speak in french. They were kind and said my french was very good! Heh... I was silly, of course, and made mistakes... I referred to her mom with "toi" instead of "vous"... Etc... Not a big deal!. We had dinner together, set the room in which Albane and I were going to stay... And had a very fun conversation!. It was nice to talk to Xav in person too, since we talked a lot on msn before... I felt comfortable and happy to be there!.

Later that night, Albane told me that when I went to the bathroom, her mom said I was so nice and all this good things... YES!. Albane, on the mean time, still suffered from the torticolis... He he he... Specially since she was so happy to see her dog, that she played like crazy with her and forgot all about "taking care" and "not making sudden movements"... He he he.

And so the weekend went... It was very very nice. The only time in which I really felt a tad nervous was when I meet Albane's father. Saturday we had lunch at her mom's place... Food there was always so good!. ** sigh **, and later Albane wanted to visit her grandma, from her Dad's side... So we went there... Little did I know, her father planned to visit too!. I wasn't mentally prepared for that!... O.o

Ehem... Anyway, we arrived there and she lives in a lovely flat some floors above the ground. Actually, it was funny, I pretended I was going to sit by the balcony and Albane totally freaked out!!!... He he he. You should have seen her face... Awwww... Poor girl. Heh.

So, we were having this nice talk and pastries, when her dad called saying he was going to show up. ** gulp **. For some reason, as grateful as I was to him for letting us stay in all this wonderful places, I had just felt I was going to not meet him, and that sounded sort of relieving... I mean, I do good with moms. They are girls, after all... Heh. But the Dad?... Sigh, they always make me nervous... They ARE guys, and they know what we -guys- are thinking when we are with their girls... ehem... Yes, THAT is what I mean.

It wasn't bad.

Really, it was good!. Albane had told me before he was quite serious, which he indeed is, but we had a decent conversation, and with my fractured french I was able to talk both to him and the grandma... While entertaining the dog so it wouldn't bark (silly little dogs that bark so much with a high pitch!!... grrr)... O.o He he he. At the end though, it was nice. I felt happy to meet her Dad and good about the talk we had. ^__^

Later?... Ah yes... We went to Moins!... Beautiful little town in Belgium!. (I told you, Belgium really is around the corner, and with the EU thing, you just drive along... No borders or anything). Albane worked in a cute little clothing store for kids, and she wanted to show me around. I really liked it!. Little town with great architecture, pretty downtown, and lovely feeling to it. We were lucky since there was some sort of Veggie-Fair, so we saw odd shaped carrots, pumpkins and potatoes... he he he. Albane was given a carrot, that was modded into becoming a flute, and it just became an item of amusement for days to come. I get the idea Belgium is a beautiful country.

... Was it Moins?. I really never know how to write this things... If you read "Moins" attempting to sound french, I believe the town's name sounded sort of like that. Heh. Anyway, we walked around, had a beer, and headed back to her place for dinner.

Raquellette!... (again, who cares about spelling?)... Yummy delicious thing... ** sigh ** At this point, stronger cheeses were growing on me, and I really enjoyed the concept of this slower meal... Although, for us was kind of fast!. We wanted to make it to the movies... The movie?... ** sigh **. No no no... After I read the book "The Perfume" I knew it was great, yet impossible to make a movie about it... Even Kubrick called it the "un-filmable book"... Scorsese and even Tim Burton considered, and thought better of it... They all were right... It was a good attempt I guess, but it fails horribly short, and at the end feels just... Ackward!.

He he he... Albane and her mom made a lot of fun of it... La la laaa...

That night we just came back after the movie and chilled. Albane, Xav and me had a silly conversation, and I made a drawing for Xav. It was going to be a cute drawing at first, about a guy hanging by a tree in a park. But then, I thought better and I cut his arms right off, made him sad, and untied his shoes!... He he he. It was horribly cute, and sad!!... The kid was sad because, since he had no arms, he couldn't tie his shoes and play with his dog... He he he...

I felt VERY shy when Xav wanted to show the drawing to her mom!... Not because it was a bad drawing, but because it portrayed a horribly black sense of humor!... O.o ... The mom loved it... He he he. ^__^

...

Sunday?... The time to meet her grandparents!!!... At this point I was already very comfortable with her mom and Xav (sister), joked and laughed a lot, and just silly good times. And I was really excited about meeting her grandparents because she had told me, many times, how important they were for her!... So... There we were.

They live further away from the city, in Mexico we would say "en el campo"... In a lovely house right next to a forest. And really, they are the nicest couple ever!. They had just come back from a trip, and they were tired... Yet they welcomed us with such a smile, and were so kind with Albane and Xav!... And me?, they made me feel quite welcomed too, talking and asking cool questions, etc. At this point, as much as I made mistakes, I just kept talking French as if I knew what I was doing... He he he. And my listening really isn't bad, so it was cool!.

Albane and I had a nice walk by the forest, we fed the chicken, and walked around looking for Deers... I believe we saw one, jumping far away... That, or a hare... Heh. The weather was beautiful and... It felt so good to be there.

Back in the house, we all chilled by the living room and had a warm drink. I had chocolate and tasty biscuits... At this point, we were just chatting away, talking about whatever, books, Mexico, my brother... I don't know!. And then, Albane's mom starts talking about the drawing I made for Xaviera!... O.o

She starts saying how great of a drawing it was, and how fast I had drawn it, and talking about my drawing skills as if I was so good!... (I was getting self conscious... of course!). What happened?... Well, her grandma had to see!... Of courrrse!.

She went to pick some paper, a pencil, and told me... "ok ok, now I have to see... Draw something for me!"... WHAT?!... O.o NOW I was self-conscious... ** sigh **

So, here I was, sitting on a chair with a blank piece of paper in front of me, a pencil, and an audience... Now, everyone who draws knows it's hard to come up with some cool idea to draw... Right?... It's even harder with 3 women looking at you with expectation!... and EVEN HARDER if this 3 women are your girl, her mom, and her mom's mom...

He he he...

Anyway... I decided to draw a cute little girl, crouching to point to a lady-bug... Why?... The reason is quite silly, but it was completely inspired on Albane. She had done something quite quite similar, in the exact same position, two times by now. Once in Edmonton, looking at a shinny beetle... he he he, and the other time in Fayence looking at a Mantis... Same cute position and expression of awe in her face... So, I drew a little girl version of that, and a lady-bug instead of a Mantis... More cute I though. :-P

Her grandma loved it!... I sighed with relief...

It seems, she liked it so much, and days after she kept showing it to the people that visited her house, saying it was me, Albane's boyfriend, who had done it... he he he. Albane told me this smiling with an expression of amusement and pride. Awww.

Later that day we stayed in her mom's place, some women came (mom's friends) and we all had drinks and snacks together. Good conversation and environment. At some point they said -bye- and we had dinner... YUMMY again... Tartiflette this time. ** sigh **. I knew I was going to miss this food. And the coffee, always good coffee in her house after each meal!!... And the garden!... Lovely garden in the back, quite large with swings!... YES!... SWINGS!!... He he he.

So, the time came to say "good-bye" and head back to Lille... I was almost sad to say "bye". They were so kind!

It was a great great weekend. I felt very happy with how everything was, and how I related with all the people I meet. And, having being around them, Mom, sister, grandparents and even her Dad, now I felt closer to Albane in a very nice way. ^__^

I drove back to Lille, Albane still had some Torticolis!... he he he.

That night, before bed, Albane told me she had talked to her mom, and she said I was such a great guy!...

Nice... I guess I did get the "thumbs up" at the end. ;-)