Four Updates
1) I am me, and only I am me. My identity is safe. After putting the fraud alert on my credit cards, carefully checking them, and discovering no anomolies, I ordered a copy of my driver's license and discovered why a Texas address suddenly appeared on it. Anthony called in our French addresses to update our licenses. And indeed, my French street address on the updated license is correct. But, if you google the 75004 area code, you will notice that it applies not only to the Marais district in Paris, but also Blue Ridge, TX. I figure it was a bureaucrat who entered my new zip code into the standard zip code box, and it automatically generated Blue Ridge. So the Texans are not to blame for my driver's license snafu. Just for some politicians who shall remain nameless.
Meanwhile, in the first theft, I lost my nice wallet. In the second theft, I lost the ugly old black leather man wallet I was using. And now I am reduced to using this, some freebie swag that, at some point, was given to the girls for a toy. It is too ugly even for young children and so is now sitting unused in a drawer and is therefore available to be my wallet. You can imagine how fabulous it looks in a Parisian store when I whip out this baby to pay for my purchase.
2) The second family to visit us this summer doesn't eat mammals, and the 10-year old is a true vegetarian, and then we watched the movie Babe. So I figured for sure Gigi would go full veg and start to refuse all pork, red meat, and possibly even poultry. And I have to admit I myself have had vegetarian phases, so all of that can easily set me over the edge, too. But now she claims to enjoy not just chicken and turkey but also lamb, pork roast, ham, and bacon. Go figure.
3) I thought I would get a new cell phone, but instead I went in, got a new plan, and discovered that my existing phone could be re-set. So, now I can actually type texts. Before, I could type in the first letter, but when I typed in the second letter, it would change the first one, and when I typed in the third letter, it would change the previous two. Needless to say, I never got past three letters, since it was rendered complete gibberish. In addition, I had them adjust the clock while I was in there, so that when it says 14:32, it is, in fact, 2:32 in the afternoon, and I do not have to add 2, subtract 12, and take its square root divided by the quotient of a math problem I solved in sixth grade where one train was going in one direction, and another train was going in another direction, and they met in the middle.
4) While I was visiting my parents in Boston, I went to a professional nitpicker and for a bargain fee of $50 got my head checked. I got the official all clear, and any remaining itchiness was, in fact, not on my head but rather in my head. As soon as I knew I had no more nits or lice, the itching stopped. Sitting on a linoleum floor chez the nitpicker was not nearly as pleasant as chatting with a friend poolside, but it did give me the desired outcome.
And a Confession:
5) Virtually none of the postings from the last two to three months has been published on the day it was actually experienced. Here's our actual time line, which may put into perspective why I couldn't write about it as I was living it.
June 3-10: Anthony's brother and sister-in-law in town
June 19: Family #1comes to visit
June 23: Medieval Fair at Provins (published on Aug 5)
June 24-30: Trip to Provence (published Aug 11-22)
June 29: Anthony leaves for business trip
July 2 Family #1 leaves
July 3: Girls last day of school then dinner with my visiting Aunt and Uncle
July 4: Pippa struts the catwalk (published July 5! My one timely posting all summer!)
July 5: I dance on stage for a Hawaiian festival, after intensive rehearsals leading up to it
July 6: Family #2 comes to visit
July 12-13: Family #2 is busy with other friends in town. Meanwhile, Family #3 from San Francisco visit us for these exact two days (published Aug 22)
July 15 at 10am: Family #2 leaves our apartment to return to the US
July 15 at 10:01am: Pippa proclaims, "I'm going to be bored. Starting right now!"
July 18-July 23: We visit Bretagne (published on Aug 26-29)
July 23-July 27: We visit Normandy (published on Aug 31)
July 31: Friends from San Francisco come for dinner; we only overlap with them this one day
Aug 1: Plane to Boston, arrive at night
Aug 2: Dentist in the morning for both girls. Cousin family #1 arrives from NYC for the weekend
Aug 4: College roommate comes to Boston from Philadelphia
Aug 5: Take Gigi to her first sleepaway camp
Aug 6: Pippa starts tennis camp. NYC cousins leave
Aug 10: Anthony arrives from a business trip in Montreal
Aug 11-18: Pick up Gigi from camp, drive to Acadia National Park with sister and family
Aug 19-20: Return with sister for more visiting at her house near Portland, Maine
Aut 21-23: Trip to Cape Cod to see Family #1 again
Aug 23-26: Back in Boston, Cousin family #2 arrives from NYC for the weekend.
Aug 27: See cousins on Anthony's side that live 20 minutes from parents in Boston, yet haven't had one minute of overlap with them since we arrived in USA till now.
Aug 30: Back to France, arrive on Aug 31.
And now you know why I'm talking about sunsets at 11pm when it's almost September, or why the same visitors appear in photos over a month apart. I'll write up some tidbits from our American travels in a separate destination blog -- eventually, and you'll be reading about summer in Maine when there's snow on the ground outside your window. Till then, I'm at least back in Paris and back to real-time. The girls go back to school in 3 days, and I'm looking forward to it at least as much as they are. Summer was fun, but I need the school year so that I can get a break!
1) I am me, and only I am me. My identity is safe. After putting the fraud alert on my credit cards, carefully checking them, and discovering no anomolies, I ordered a copy of my driver's license and discovered why a Texas address suddenly appeared on it. Anthony called in our French addresses to update our licenses. And indeed, my French street address on the updated license is correct. But, if you google the 75004 area code, you will notice that it applies not only to the Marais district in Paris, but also Blue Ridge, TX. I figure it was a bureaucrat who entered my new zip code into the standard zip code box, and it automatically generated Blue Ridge. So the Texans are not to blame for my driver's license snafu. Just for some politicians who shall remain nameless.
Meanwhile, in the first theft, I lost my nice wallet. In the second theft, I lost the ugly old black leather man wallet I was using. And now I am reduced to using this, some freebie swag that, at some point, was given to the girls for a toy. It is too ugly even for young children and so is now sitting unused in a drawer and is therefore available to be my wallet. You can imagine how fabulous it looks in a Parisian store when I whip out this baby to pay for my purchase.
While in Maine at Aunt Lisa's house, Gigi uses the sewing machine and makes this little pouch for me, and it turns out by complete coincidence to be exactly the right size. So I am now the proud owner of a hand-made, high-fashion couture wallet, inside which lives the zippered Coconut Creek eyesore.
3) I thought I would get a new cell phone, but instead I went in, got a new plan, and discovered that my existing phone could be re-set. So, now I can actually type texts. Before, I could type in the first letter, but when I typed in the second letter, it would change the first one, and when I typed in the third letter, it would change the previous two. Needless to say, I never got past three letters, since it was rendered complete gibberish. In addition, I had them adjust the clock while I was in there, so that when it says 14:32, it is, in fact, 2:32 in the afternoon, and I do not have to add 2, subtract 12, and take its square root divided by the quotient of a math problem I solved in sixth grade where one train was going in one direction, and another train was going in another direction, and they met in the middle.
4) While I was visiting my parents in Boston, I went to a professional nitpicker and for a bargain fee of $50 got my head checked. I got the official all clear, and any remaining itchiness was, in fact, not on my head but rather in my head. As soon as I knew I had no more nits or lice, the itching stopped. Sitting on a linoleum floor chez the nitpicker was not nearly as pleasant as chatting with a friend poolside, but it did give me the desired outcome.
And a Confession:
5) Virtually none of the postings from the last two to three months has been published on the day it was actually experienced. Here's our actual time line, which may put into perspective why I couldn't write about it as I was living it.
June 3-10: Anthony's brother and sister-in-law in town
June 19: Family #1comes to visit
June 23: Medieval Fair at Provins (published on Aug 5)
June 24-30: Trip to Provence (published Aug 11-22)
June 29: Anthony leaves for business trip
July 2 Family #1 leaves
July 3: Girls last day of school then dinner with my visiting Aunt and Uncle
July 4: Pippa struts the catwalk (published July 5! My one timely posting all summer!)
July 5: I dance on stage for a Hawaiian festival, after intensive rehearsals leading up to it
July 6: Family #2 comes to visit
July 12-13: Family #2 is busy with other friends in town. Meanwhile, Family #3 from San Francisco visit us for these exact two days (published Aug 22)
July 15 at 10am: Family #2 leaves our apartment to return to the US
July 15 at 10:01am: Pippa proclaims, "I'm going to be bored. Starting right now!"
July 18-July 23: We visit Bretagne (published on Aug 26-29)
July 23-July 27: We visit Normandy (published on Aug 31)
July 31: Friends from San Francisco come for dinner; we only overlap with them this one day
Aug 1: Plane to Boston, arrive at night
Aug 2: Dentist in the morning for both girls. Cousin family #1 arrives from NYC for the weekend
Aug 4: College roommate comes to Boston from Philadelphia
Aug 5: Take Gigi to her first sleepaway camp
Aug 6: Pippa starts tennis camp. NYC cousins leave
Aug 10: Anthony arrives from a business trip in Montreal
Aug 11-18: Pick up Gigi from camp, drive to Acadia National Park with sister and family
Aug 19-20: Return with sister for more visiting at her house near Portland, Maine
Aut 21-23: Trip to Cape Cod to see Family #1 again
Aug 23-26: Back in Boston, Cousin family #2 arrives from NYC for the weekend.
Aug 27: See cousins on Anthony's side that live 20 minutes from parents in Boston, yet haven't had one minute of overlap with them since we arrived in USA till now.
Aug 30: Back to France, arrive on Aug 31.
And now you know why I'm talking about sunsets at 11pm when it's almost September, or why the same visitors appear in photos over a month apart. I'll write up some tidbits from our American travels in a separate destination blog -- eventually, and you'll be reading about summer in Maine when there's snow on the ground outside your window. Till then, I'm at least back in Paris and back to real-time. The girls go back to school in 3 days, and I'm looking forward to it at least as much as they are. Summer was fun, but I need the school year so that I can get a break!
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