Martine Pagé

This afternoon, B. and I went to see our notary to sign the first series of legal papers for the purchase of our new house. There is so much paperwork involved in buying a house that it can get pretty overwhelming at times. Our notary, a woman, was pretty patient with my desire to understand every single step involved. At some point in the process, she wanted to make sure that I got a copy of a specific document, so she asked her husband to make photocopies for us. Later on, she asked him to check her agenda to see if she was free for our next meeting. Then she got a little impatient when she found out that he didn’t get the tax information he was supposed to.

I don’t know much about this couple, but it seems like at some point in the woman’s career (maybe from the start), they decided that the husband would be her assistant and that they would run their business from their house. He answers the phone and returns the calls, greets the clients and probably makes coffee (though he didn’t offer us any). I think it’s great.

In a not so distant past, I worked as an administrative assistant to two different publishing executives (but not for both at the same time). One of them was younger than me and both were less educated than I was (though they did go to Ivy League schools). They were extremely bright men with whom I had a great rapport, and since we were in politically-correct San Francisco, both of them were rather uncomfortable about the situation. I have caught them sneaking out of meetings to run to the photocopier or the kitchen because they couldn’t stand the idea of asking me to make photocopies or get drinks for the people in the meeting. I didn’t really complain but hey, I had taken the job, and I knew what came with it.

I have no resentment about my past as a « glorified secretary », yet this afternoon, I loved to see the notary holler at her husband and repeatedly ask him to do tedious tasks for her. It’s silly, but I just love the idea of a woman having a male assistant. Our notary’s got it good since she gets to call her assistant sweetie and slap his bum and he can’t even sue her for sexual harassment! She didn’t do anything like this, of course, and thanked him every time for his help. If I had a male assistant, I would be a very classy lady too!

Avant que ne commence la folie du d�m�nagement et pour c�l�brer l’acquisition de notre bagnole, B. et moi sommes all�s faire un tour dans la belle r�gion des Cantons-de-L’Est. Nous avons fait le choix de suivre la route des vins et nous n’�tions pas les seuls! La route n’�tait pas trop occup�e mais le stationnement du vignoble L’Orpailleur �tait plein � craquer! Quelques d�gustations de produits du terroir (terrines, p�t�s, foie gras, beurre d’�rable et bien s�r, vin!) et nous reprenions la route. Nous �tions l� un peu trop t�t dans la saison pour pouvoir profiter des couleurs de l’automne. Les v�ritables coloris, ce sont les raisins qui les offraient! Dans deux ou trois semaines, cette route sera belle � couper le souffle.

Au Lac Brome, nous sommes encore une fois tomb�s sur une petite foule. Sans le savoir, nous avions atteri dans ce charmant village aux demeures somptueuses en plein Festival du canard! J’ai r�sist� � la tentation des hot ducks (hot dogs avec saucisse de canard) pour me tourner vers une d�licieuse salade ti�de de canard. Nous sommes revenus chez nous le ventre plein et le sac rempli de bouteilles, question d’�tirer le plaisir de cette visite.

Je connais mieux les petites routes de la Californie que celles du Qu�bec, ce qui est compl�tement absurde! J’esp�re donc que l’acquisition d’une auto nous encouragera � prendre la route de mani�re spontan�e comme nous l’avons fait ce samedi.

Je n’avais pas « googl� » mon nom depuis belle lurette, et voil� qu’un �lan de curiosit� m’apporte une surprise: Apr�s une vingtaine de mois d’existence de ni.vu.ni.connu, voil� que je bats le Martine Inn en Californie et les Chocolats Martine quand on fait une recherche avec mon pr�nom sur Google.

Vous pouvez donc tous aller vous enregistrer sur la liste des fans de Martine. On ne rit plus.