Horse please, well done.

Pics: Horse meal, Me, My Room, Bois-Guillaume Field, Sam and Max, My Grounds Crew, and the Forest outside my apt.

Bonjour guys! Ca va? Welp, that is about the extent of my French. It is about 11:00pm on Monday. Thanks for all the comments to the blogs and if you are reading and not commenting, you stink. I have to start by saying thanks to my family and a couple of my closest friends for talking to me on Skype. It has really been nice to still have contact with you guys. That thanks goes out to Tiffany, Lizette, Carl and Dane, Sparks and Ying, and of course my family.

OK....Well let's just start with this whole horse delicacy. I really don't know what the whole hubbub is about really. I already offended the hell out of my roomate, Bibette 2, because she said she used to ride horses and she refuses to eat it. She even kind of gave me the look like,

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

Well, I guess it really doesn't matter because she has moved out because her school is done in the area so she moved back to Paris. Anyway, back to the horse. The raw meat looks really dark and bloody. I was going to make sure and cook the hell out of it because I really don't need any disease right now. Unless it's from a lady....HEY YOOOHHH...jk. So I just covered the meat in garlic powder and put it on the pan. After awhile of cooking, I decided it was about done. So I got some salad, fresh bread, my horse fillet and put it on the table. The picture you see is the actual first bite. And the verdict......

Kinda like a simple round steak. Nothing special. So I later got the ketchup and Americanized the hell outa it. Is it bad that I watched "Hidalgo" after I ate? That is one good mustang. Hmm...So that is that.

I dedicated the next few days for field work. I really have never seen any field in the condition ours is in. It never stops raining here if you didn't know, so there is standing water in the infield and the grass in the outfield is pretty much a wet marsh. BUT on Saturday's Cadet practice, I made a proposal to the kids. I told them that I was going to be on the field tomorrow, Sunday, from 10-12 working on the field. I told them that is was completely voluntary and that I would try and get a lunch for those who came.
So the next morning, I got on the 8 and 40 bus and made my way to the field. Out of the 10 or so kids that I told, only two was standing at the field gates. Samuel and Maxim. Both 15 years of age. I was so proud of them. So we waited for about 30 minutes for possible other grounds crew candidates.
"Hmm....welp, it's just us boys."
Our task for today was to completely put new turface on the infield. For those of you who don't know what turface is, it is a grainy, rocky dirt that is used on infields that, hopefully, soaks up water well. I gave them two wheel barrels and two shovels. I had a rake and I was going to spread the turface out when they dumped it. We were going to start at 3rd and make our way all around the infield hopefully meeting where we started.
It was cold, drizzling, and windy. But I tell you one thing....these kids worked their asses off. Another Cadet showed up about 40 minutes later and he did his part as well. Dimitri, 16 years and a very athletic 3rd baseman. I will tell you that Sam, Maxim, and D have earned a special place in my heart for the work they did.
Jean-Luc showed up around 12 saying his sorry's for being late. I asked him for a favor when he showed up.

"I need you to get 4 sandwiches, 4 bags of chips, and a 2 liter of Fanta."
He quickly agreed and sped off.

The N1 guys starting showing up for our practice but I could see the immediate, 'Oh Shit' looks on their faces. I was going to put them to work and they knew it. All of them accept for a select few starting working. I quickly chewed out the ones who were sitting on their asses and all of us were working on Our Field.
It was about 2:00pm. Still working and you will have never guessed what mother nature gave us. Snow. Yes, it is "April in Paris" and it is snowing out. We quickly doubled timed it. I was noticing snot noses and shivering bodies of the guys and called it a day. We got to home plate. Almost completely all the way around.
We went back to our club house and warmed up. Jean-Luc came back with the food. He got three sandwiches, a mixed salad, and a two liter of juice. He said there were no more sandwiches at the store and that was why he had to get the salad. I quickly gave all the boys the sandwiches and I took the salad. I was going to reward my grounds crew the best I could by taking the salad.
So we practiced after that in the gym. Mostly just ground balls and a long session of Bp. I was dog tired and not in the mood for conditioning so it was a relaxed day.

I went to the field today after the blizzard last night and looked at what the damage was. Well...there was standing water at certain spots of the turface but all in all, our work was still valid. Chris, who had family things to do on Sunday, helped me out today with raking and brooming the dirt. He put in a good hour.

Gee, thanks Chris.

I AM ONLY KIDDING IF YOU READ THIS CHRIS. HAHA, love you brother. Hopefully the field will be playable for next Sunday's home game against GIF. I love you guys and miss you a lot. Sacre Bleu out.