Le Comte de Monte Cristo

I finally picked up LCDMC (as Robert called it) after leaving the last 500 pages (of 1400) unread for the past 4 years. It was a little tough jumping back into it and trying to figure out who the characters were and why le Comte was mad at them and how he was setting things in motion to take them out slowly and painfully, but I printed out a character tree showing all their relationships and 100 pages on I feel like I've got most of it back.

Some thoughts on reading in French:
1. I don't remember the passé simple tense very well.
2. Although I don't remember the passé simple tense, I'm still able to understand most things.
3. I'm a good reader. I don't mean that to brag, really. I'm taking a class right now on academic literacy all about how students don't know how to read because if they have not been taught or have not taught themselves how to be good readers, they get stuck in a million different ways as they go through a text. But I'm pretty good about just plowing on and hoping that context will enlighten me, or if context doesn't enlighten me, plowing on anyway because if it's something very important I'm not getting now, I'll at least get it when the climax comes.
4. I feel proud that I can read a novel in French. Reading novels in French is like putting all that learning into practice. In the same way I speak French to my students a lot, but that doesn't really feel gratifying or cool. What feels cool is going over to my master teacher's house and speaking French with her family. They're "real" French speakers after all. And LCDMC is a "real" French novel.
4b. I'm prideful.
5. Reading in French about Paris in the 1800's makes me miss France and Paris a lot. It's wild because all of the streets that are mentioned in the novel are still around today. One of the characters lives on rue Chaussée-d'Antin, and I read that and thought, "there is a lot of good shopping around there." Yeah. I'm looking forward to getting my teaching credential so I can get a job and D and I can start saving for a trip to Europe (Paris).

So far this week I have: gone shopping with my mom for a bridal shower my aunt is throwing in my honor, played with my niece, had dinner with D, made calls about pictures, cakes, hair, make-up, dance lessons, music and dresses, read, worked on a special someone's birthday gift, had tea with a friend and former teacher and relaxed. Sleeping in has not gone so well. I slept until 8:50 on Monday, but yesterday and today I've woken up at 6:30 and not been able to go back to sleep. But I shouldn't complain. I am so thankful that I have more days of break left, and that I get a break at all!