Things I can do now, that I couldn't do six months ago

How's that for a ridiculously long blog post title? Let's see...

1. Drive. In the suburban areas anyway. I drove into Paris once. On a Sunday afternoon. It took me as long to drive in as it did to find a parking space.
2. Ride the bus. When the trains go on strike, alternatives are necessary. This week the whole city went on strike. But I still made it in to visit with friends. Which brings me to...
3. Park. This is the home of the SmartCar for a reason. There is never any parking anywhere. When I go to pick my kids up from their school, I almost always park at least partially on the sidewalk. It is the only way.
4. Grocery shop. Here it's a combination of open-air markets, small grocers and on-line grocers with free (or cheap) home delivery. Guess which one I like best.
5. See a movie. At the movie theatre. Take the train in to meet T at his office. Go up to the theatre. Figure out which movies are in English (V.O.S.T. stands for something along the lines of voice original subtitled). Which is fine, except for the parts in the movie that are in a different language than English are subtitled in French. Oops.
6. Order lunch. That the children will actually eat. Pomme frites, anyone? And, my kids are expanding their horizons too. The older two, at least, are willing to try new things.
7. Teach Jazzercise. My unofficial start date is Monday, in my living room. By next month, I will have an official class and a real location. Whoa.
8. Understand French. A little. I can follow directions to the toilet or the metro. I can order food and buy clothing. I can manage to compliment someone without causing a ten-minute conversation. But it's not pretty.

I'm sure there's more. But this is what comes to mind for now. Happy January. It's done now.