This roller coaster ride ain't over yet

The last couple of weeks have been ridiculously stressful. After the excitement of that meeting with my boss, I was not at all expecting him to call me at home to let me know that he'd had a discussion with the head of HR only to learn that we can't do an apprentice contract. He advised me to sign up with the Pole Emploi, or unemployment office, to see if they have any info about what to do next.

It might sound weird to go to the unemployment office when I'm already employed, but since I only work (very) part time, I am allowed to go sign up to find a complementary job (sadly, a lot of people rely on two jobs or temp jobs here to get from month to month, but I guess that's probably par for the course in a lot of places right now). As soon as I got off the phone with my boss, I called them right away to sign back up and had to wait until today for my first appointment.

The first appointment is largely administrative, in which you have to present loads of ID and attestations of previous jobs (which I forgot, oops) and you lay out what you're looking for or if you have a certain project in mind like I do. Since I have been signed up before (years ago, long before even Fry was around) we swept past the admin stuff really quickly and I was able to clearly and briefly explain that I want to be a bookbinder, which I can do part time with my current job, but I need to learn how to do it first.

She seemed very enthusiastic about my project and some quick computer searching found that I may be able to get my classes funded for the national bookbinding school in Bourgogne (Burgandy, the region just to the south of us)! It's not 100% sure, and nothing from this first appointment is set in stone. I've got to take a couple of papers to another Pole Emploi office at the end of the week and I'm supposed to set a new appointment to talk with a new counselor then. In the meantime, I can call the school to see if they work with the regional government for funding, and if they don't, I may qualify for yet another financial aid program, so things are definitely looking up!

I was so ready for them to say "No, sorry, there's nothing we can do for you" today that I can't quite believe that the ball is still in play! I'm really hoping I can get a new appointment before the end of the month; that would give us a really good excuse to go visit the national bookbinding school during the Winter break!

Making it Happen!!

I had a great meeting with my boss last week. It started off a little awkward, with him asking point blank what I wanted from him and me not knowing at all how to answer him, but we finally eased into the conversation.

The bad news first: I had hoped to get a little bit of financial assistance to take classes from my mentor who lived very close, but that won't be possible, as official funding can only go towards accredited schools. But -

But -

Mr Boss has no objection to my looking into the accredited classes accessible to adults in Paris. (!!!) What would happen is that I would change my current contract (average of 14 hours a week in CDI - permanent contract) to a Contract d'Apprentissage (an apprentice contract, and yes, it's available for adults in certain conditions), in which I would work full time, 35 hours a week, with my classes included in the 35 hours, and I'll be paid a percentage of minimum wage (53% I think?), but will still make more than I'm earning right now. My time at work would be divided up in doing what I do right now with the least amount of shuffling as possible, so as not to mess up the schedules of my colleagues, and the whatever time is left in the bookbinding workshop. Whatever money I make in addition to what I'm making now should cover all the traveling between here and Paris. After I receive my diploma, we would revert back to my present contract and I can continue to work there while I'm building up my bookbinding business.

Clearly, this is much, much better than what I hoped for! I never imagined he'd be up for this, I very nearly floated out of his office! Of course, it's up to me to follow up and get as much info as I can with the goal of presenting a financial breakdown to my boss in the next couple of months so I can start this Fall. I've just now got off the phone with the school in Paris and there will be an Open House at the end of March, which I will certainly be attending!

There we go, I feel like I've gotten through the hardest part, for me, anyway - talking on the freaking phone in French! I've always hated the telephone (except for talking with friends, obviously!) and I really have to force myself, or else I put it off for weeks. I feel like we're making good progress! While I'm waiting for the end of March, I hope to get access to the bookbinding materials at work very soon so I can start working on new projects in the meantime!

Thanksgiving

So instead of biting my fingernails down to the bone, I thought I'd keep myself busy by writing about what else we've been up to for the last couple of months. The biggest thing we did is fly back to the States for Thanksgiving.

The last time I celebrated Thanksgiving in the US was in 2003, so this was a super fun excuse to go. Of course, bringing Fry with me meant I could introduce him to a whole side of the family he hadn't met yet. The main reason I decided to go, however, is that my aunt had just learned that she's got cancer. She's responding well to treatment and it looks like she's going to be around for a good long while, but that was what really prompted me to get on a plane.

Fry did pretty good on the 10 hour flight. Our carry on was 90% stuff to keep him entertained and he did actually manage to take a 2 hour nap, which was a nice break. I'm not gonna lie though, the last hour was pretty hard!

We spent the first couple of nights in my old stomping grounds of Greenville, SC. Thanks to a bad bout of jet lag (mostly for Fry) we didn't get to see any many folks as I would have liked, but we had a great visit with some of my college BFFs.

Then we drove down to Tallahassee to spend Thanksgiving at my uncle's home and there we saw tons of family (plus my sister came down to visit!). Fry loved playing with his cousins and it wasn't long before we discovered that he's definitely inherited my family's genes for sports. Not long after picking up one of his older cousin's old t-ball bats, he was hitting wiffle balls across the backyard!

Then it was down to central Florida to see my aunt and uncle. Despite having lost her hair to chemo, she's looking great and is still very active. We had a great visit, even if it was short. We even got to see a missile take off from Kennedy Space Center from their place before we left!

Our last stop was the town where I grew up, Titusville. I hadn't been back we moved up to the Carolinas in 1997 so it was an emotional visit. We stayed with the parents of my BFF from high school (who was also in town with her sweetie!), which was my second home back in the day. They say you can't go home again, but I got pretty close! In the unseasonably warm weather (even for Florida!) we went swimming in the pool and had a great time at the beach. It was wonderful catching up and I wish we could have stayed longer.

Then it was time for the long voyage home. After an obligatory shopping trip at Wally World (the regular sorts of goodies plus I needed another suitcase for all the Christmas presents I'd purchased!), we spent another day in the car and caught our flight home the next day.

It was a wonderful trip, but as I said, far too short. Next time we visit, we will definitely stay at least two weeks. I would really, really like to be able to go again in the Fall of 2013 when Fry is turning five. At that point he'll still be in Maternelle and can miss a few days of school, and I'd really like to take him for Halloween. So mark your calendars, family!!


ho hum, another rocket launch


meeting the locals


Fry becomes a virtuoso overnight


Shuttles just lying around everywhere

Bonne année ! Bonne santé !

Yes, Happy New Year and Good Health to all of you. I'll be uttering this traditional phrase for another couple of weeks, but I can say it to you all in one go! I hope 2012 is treating you well so far.

Once again, life swept me up and drug me away these last few months. So much has happened I hope I can get back through it all. I want to tell you about my & Fry's trip back to the States for Thanksgiving, having my cousin over from Boston for Christmas, and other fun things, but I most importantly want to update on the bookbinding stuff.

So my bookbinding workshop was right at the end of October and I was very anxious to talk to Mr C, the retired bookbinder that volunteers his time on Wednesday mornings to repair books, and then teaches a children's workshop on Wednesday afternoons. The first Wednesday was still a holiday so I knew he wouldn't be there. The second Wednesday, Stéphane had to work so I couldn't get to Troyes. The third Wednesday turned out to be a scheduling snafu and I couldn't get to Troyes that day, but it turned out that Mr C wasn't there that morning anyway. Then Fry and I left for ten days, so that was the rest of November.

When I got back to work at the beginning of December, I was greeted with horrible news: Mr C had passed away while I was gone. Granted, he was 85 and had lived a long and full life doing what he loved, but I was devastated. I didn't even have the chance to show him the books I'd made.

After getting over that shock, I realized I really had to get creative if I was going to make the bookbinding thing happen. I took a huge chance and emailed the woman who lead the workshop in Paris. You may have to jump into the wayback machine for this, but I've mentioned before that even if she has a workshop and does the bulk of her work in Paris, she actually lives about 35 minutes from my house. Since we got along so well and I had such a positive response from her, I decided to email her and let her know that Mr C had died (she knew I'd planned to ask him for help) and to ask her if there was any way she would consider giving me some lessons from time to time at her private workshop. I figured the worst she could say is no.

Well get this: she didn't! She even said that "it would be a pleasure to teach you, after your brilliant debut." Go me! It would be very irregular, weekends only from time to time, but better than nothing, right?

Now I have to figure out a way to pay for these irregular lessons (which will eventually lead to a diploma, by the way!). I floated it with a couple of my colleagues, and they seem to think that my boss would be open to finding some funding to help me with the lessons in exchange for doing some book maintenance at work (which is what Mr C was doing as well). I felt like things were going in a really positive direction and that I would attack all this after the New Year.

So of course the New Year comes and goes and I really need to get myself motivated. By sheer coincidence (or maybe not), Fry happened to knock over my little jewelry box next to my bed a few days ago and I found this, which had been buried deep under a pile of cheap costume jewelry:



I have no idea where I bought this little stone, but I know I've been carrying it around for at least 10 years. I think it's about time I cashed it in.

Yesterday I hammered out a letter to my boss and Stéphane helped me proofread it. By the time you read this, he will have already read it and I'll be waiting for a response, probably on Wednesday when we have our little company New Year's lunch. The worst he can say is no, right?

Make it happen is going to be my mantra for 2012. One way or another, I'm going to make this happen this year!

Vivi does a stage

As you know, I've been wanting to learn about bookbinding (reliure in French) for ages now, and I managed to meet a professional bookbinder who offers classes in Paris with whom I was supposed to do a stage, or workshop, with in October. So imagine my total shock when I got in touch with her in September and she had apparently forgotten about me and given away my place. It wasn't the end of the world, as I could always wait until the next one in February, but I was bitterly disappointed.

Then suddenly, several weeks later, she called and told me that a place had opened back up due to illness and would I be interested? Boy howdy! So, in the end, I did do my week long workshop in Paris and spent what was possibly one of the best weeks since I've moved here.

All materials were provided by the bookbinder, but I had to come with books. But not any old books, they had to be from a certain date (around the 1950's and 1960's), as recent books aren't constructed in the same way, and they couldn't be too damaged. The goal would be to take the books completely apart, perform any repairs needed, and rebound them with a hard cloth cover. I was told to bring four or five books. I found these at a used book shop around the corner from my work. They are from a series called "Que sais-je ?" (What do I know?) that actually still exists.





We were supposed to choose two books to repair and rebound; we ended up doing all four of them. I cannot believe we managed to finish, but it was by the skin of our teeth and I didn't get to bring them home with me as they needed to go in the press a final time. Since the bookbinder actually lives half an hour away from me (but only gives classes in Paris, totally frustrating!!!) I was able to pick them up the next week.

I didn't take a lot of photos while I worked - I simply didn't have time!! - but I did think to get this one:



All four books were sewn on the same ribbon, there are three here complete.

And here are the finished products:









This week was very emotional for me. It's not very often that you get to take your first real steps to realizing your dream. I've wanted to study bookbinding for years and never had the courage to pursue it, and when I finally did, I found that it isn't going to be as easy as simply going to bookbinding school. I basically did this week long stage to see if I was really interested and if I was capable of doing this, and I found that I certainly am. I still can't believe that I spent hours on end scraping glue off paper and didn't even see the time pass. I nearly cried when it was time to leave because I knew it would be a long time before I would get to work in a real workshop with real professionals again. It is breaking my heart that I'm getting shut down everywhere I turn to move forward with this, simply due to the fact that there aren't professionals anywhere near me, but I'm going to keep trying.

Also, I was as sick as a dog that entire week, the one thing I dreaded and I couldn't avoid it. I wasn't able to get out and see as many people that I wanted to while I was in Paris but there is always a next time, right?

In the meantime, there is a retired bookbinder that works sporadically at my work repairing books from our library. When we get back from our vacation in the States I'll be hitting him up to see if I can help him once a week. At least it will keep my hands busy while I'm trying to find a permanent solution.

What we did on our Summer vacation

Wow, it's been so long that I had to go back through the photos to remember what we did! On the one hand, we had a terrific time with family and discovered an area that was new to both of us. On the other hand, bunking up with a fussy, easily distracted two year old was really hard. Next year we're going to rent a gîte, and that's that!

First we made the pilgrimage to Pas-de-Calais, the region that my belle famille comes from, the region of France that I would move to in an instant if ever given the opportunity (and I don't hesitate to tell Stéphane that every time we go!). I don't know why I'm so drawn to it. I just find it beautiful, it's close to the sea (ok the English Channel if you're being pedantic) with gorgeous beaches, you can't throw a stone without hitting a historical site (which, I imagine, would be frowned upon, but I digress) and I find the people are just really lovely. Seriously can't say enough nice things about that area.

So Stéphane's uncle showed off his latest refurbished cars:


A Hotchkiss!!! Amazing!!!


The original Citroën C4!

And we got to take a spin in them as well. Great fun!

You might remember that Stéphane went on a huge genealogy rampage a couple of years ago and traced his family back to the time of Louis XIV (which is a pretty good accomplishment since most records from before the Revolution were destroyed). While we were in the area, we visited the village where his oldest ancestors came from.

His family left definitively 150 years ago, so no traces left in the cemetery (this is a very common practice in France; as long as tombs and gravestones are well taken care of, they are left alone, but when they fall to disrepair and no one claims them to take care of them, they are repurposed). This would have been his family's church, it certainly dates back to their time.





We did a spot of fishing...



Fry saw the ocean for the first time and didn't want to leave...



Then we drove down to visit Caen. Our main interest was actually visiting Bayeux and the famous tapestry, but we were really happy to visit Caen for the first time (Stéphane didn't know it at all either). We didn't spend a whole lot of time in Caen but we really enjoyed visiting the chateau, which is where William the Conqueror lived before he, well, conquered.







We ended up visiting Bayeux on July 14 (aka Bastille Day) so a lot of places were closed, but not the tapestry, thank goodness!! No pictures unfortunately but amazing. Really loved how they displayed the tapestry and it's super well presented with a free audio guide. There's also a huge museum about the history of the tapestry and William and why he went to England and all that jazz. Two thumbs up!

There are also quite a lot of shops and workshops dedicated to Bayeux lace, but they were closed for the holiday, so I hope we'll get to go back someday and see that! We really enjoyed the town, had no idea it was so big and so lovely!


The Bayeux Tapestry Museum and its Viking Ship (yeah, I don't know)

Finally, we drove home, stopping by the chateau of Chambord to take a little break (like you do):

Oh hey, what's up blog?

Many, many thanks to those of you that haven't yet deleted this site from your bookmarks (or your reader, your email, or however the heck you end up here). How are you? We're ok. Fry started school, we've basically been sick ever since, I finally did my bookbinding stage, and we're getting ready to go to the US, where I'll celebrate Thanksgiving in my native land for the first time since 2003. I've actually written a couple of posts that will show up this week. Thanks for sticking around and here's hoping there will be more posts, especially after our trip home, to share with you soon!