I figured my birthday was as good a day as any to write a note about what's been going on in my life. As most of you already know, for the past 15 months, I've been going back and forth from here to France. Originally I had applied for a visa but was denied and was forced into tourist status. This means I could be in France for three months, then I had to return to my native soil for another three months before I could return. Except for the one time I snuck into France through Geneva, Switzerland for a month, this is how it's been for these fifteen months. Well, finally Stephane proposed and we were married at the beginning of December. Of course, being that I was still officially on tourist status, I was forced to leave my husband after only ten days of being married to return to the states to get my papers in order. I arrived on December 15th. First order of business was to change the name on my passport to my married name. Had I not done this first, I would have my visa in my maiden name. So, three days after I got here I sent that out, paid them a lot of fucking money to have it expedited, and started the waiting game. In the meantime, I had my license renewed in my married name, with the intent of tranferring it to a French license upon my return to France. Fuck you DMV! I'm free of a lifetime of dealing with you! Also, a French license is good until you die. We should really enact this amazing idea. License for life. I was in New London, CT for the first week I was home and then travelled to New York to see my family for Christmas. I ate cookies, talked to my Dad about football and hunting and just relaxed. Christmas was nice. I got to see my brother Chris (who gave me an awesome camera) , my aunts and uncle, my cousin and my great aunt Pearl, who is 60 years older than me. She's still kicking and is an amazingly funny individual. On the day after Christmas, I got my new passport in the mail and promptly made the appointment for the visa. I awoke at 4 AM Monday morning and travelled to NYC by train to make a 9:30 appt. Everything went fairly smoothly and they told me to return to collect my visa in a week's time. It's still not in hand yet, so I'm trying not to get too excited, but everything should work out. After I was done with my appt, I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I was only there about an hour. I've been there several times and after going to the Louvre several times I was quite bored. Plus they STILL do not have the "Great Wave off Kanagawa" on display. Same as last time. I made my way back downtown for a two hour wait inside Penn Station. Finally making it home around 6:30 PM, I showered off the scents of the city and crashed like I have never crashed before. A few days later I travelled back here to New London, CT in time for some more snow. Here I am waiting for the weather to hold off long enough for me to make it to Boston to visit with Philly before I go. I fly out January 11th back to France by way of Geneva again, although this time, I'll have a visa. I'm very much looking forward to being back with my husband and eventually planning our London Honeymoon. I'm glad I've been able to spend time with my friends here in the states and my family. Those of you I couldn't see, I apologize. It's just not possible to see everyone, everytime. Special thanks go out to Raquel, who let me use her car for over a week to go back home to NY. Life saver. A heartfelt thank you goes out to Shawn , who helped me run around a bit when I arrived in New London and also thanks for the fantastically warm and pretty black trenchcoat you gave me. Thank you my friend. Thanks to Terry for booking me that awesome room in the city my first night home. I never wanted to leave. I got to see the Ruddy's, who I will never go so long without seeing again. Thanks for always being so open to me and still being part of my life, even after all this time (it's been 13 years). Thanks to Lolo and Allo (and Krissy) for opening your home to me and also for the birthday dinner and cake. Yum! And thanks for taping Ghosthunters on the DVR for me to watch when I come back here.
I'm thinking that's it for now, as I'm tired and want to go to sleep. Looking forward to Boston and perhaps seeing Jenny Frey before I head out. I'm so excited to be able to go back to France for good now and to throw down my thick American roots in the French soil.
Happy New Year!
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