Home again, however temporarily

Got back from my Minnesota trip on Thursday, but I've been too tired and occupied to make an entry until now.  The trip and wedding were lovely for the most part, but Soëlie had her first fever the day of the wedding. She was under the weather for the next couple of days and on the way back. 

Highlights of the trip:

- The Charles de Gaulle airport (AWESOME service when one is wearing a baby! "Right this way, Madame; you have priority") and flight over. My "seat mate" made my flight soooo easy.  He was super helpful, so nice and vigilant and patient. That Soëlie slept for 4 hours straight was a godsend, as well.

- Spending time with my friends.  Enough said.

- Meeting dlandon  in person, not to mention her adorable son, who was such a trooper with the 104 degree heat!

- Train strike!  Sounds odd, but what a blessing.  I arrived in Paris too late to take any of the morning trains and should have had to wait until 2:30 pm.  However, being unsure of the exact timetable, I hightailed to the RER and the metro and practically jogged--carrying S and suitcases in tow--to the train station, only to see that the train for my village was at 9:03.  It was 9:36.  Then I noticed the red letters flashing on the screen next to the time:  40 minutes late.  Hooray!  So I made the morning train and didn't have to kill 5 hours in Paris with a baby and all my luggage.  Also, because of the strike, all passengers getting off at my stop missed their shuttle for Sancerre, so the train company threw in taxi fare.

- The wedding was nice, but with a sick baby in tow, it barely makes the highlights...

Lows:

- Soëlie getting sick.  I spent three nights in a row awake with her, trying to bring down a fever of 103 F. 

- Minneapolis airport.  Was lame--totally lame--compared to the great service in Paris.

- Accidentally clicking the wrong date for my return flight and then persisting in believing that I had clicked the right date, right up until the time the airline staff wouldn't let me check in because I was there a day early.  Boo on you, Miquela.  It was good spending the extra day in Minneapolis, though, and it allowed S to feel better for the flight home (that, however, did not go as smoothly as the flight to the States). And things would not have worked out so well with the train, so I guess it barely makes the lows. :P

Just a note to anyone out there who feels like taking note:  If you see a person traveling alone with a baby, feel free to offer aid if said person is carrying a baby, a backpack, a purse, and a diaper bag, especially if said person has dropped something.  Of course you are perfectly within your rights to watch in amusement/disinterest as she picks things up herself, tries to get all her bags through a small space, etc. but it doesn't make you come across as a very nice person.

More mention of the temporary in another post...

99.99%

 Aside from Soëlie getting sick, I feel like it has been raining blessings on our household for the past few weeks.

While I was having a wonderful time in the States, J was training for the embassy service. He did so well that his instructors invited him to participate in a second, more specialized training.

Also, he got a call from a union friend who gave him a heads up that we are MOVING TO BORDEAUX!!!!!!!! 

The "99.99%" in the subject line is because the official telegram hasn't been published yet, but still, MOVING!

I don't know if exclamation points can express how excited about this I am.  J is fed up with the place we are in now and has been saying that he refuses to spend another winter in this apartment. This official move for work means that we will a) get to find a better home, b) won't have to come back to Sancerre for a 3rd time after J returns from his embassy missions, c) will get to discover another region of France.

So hip hip hooray!

Oh, he starts work in Bordeaux Sept 1st, so that means we are going to have a very busy summer. At the end of June we'll go to Bordeaux to house hunt, and then we'll drive straight to Carcassonne for a family wedding on July 2.  Sunday the 3rd we have to come back home because from the 4th-9th, Julien has another training in Rouen. 

Between house hunting and packing, I have to apply for S's US citizenship before moving further away from Paris (just easier to get it down when Paris is only 2hr drive away).  asakiyume  and sunflower_sky , you were both right; all I have to do is file a Consular Report of Birth Abroad.  I do have to go in in person with S, though, to get it validated.

And, remember that Sept 1st dealine I have for my finished draft of TBU?  Yeah, that too...