and then everything happened at once

This past week has been a complete roller coaster, and I regret that I didn't think to document it here as it was happening, because now it's all so anti-climatic. In any case, here's a run down:

First we decided to take the leap on house #2, which was really at the limit of our budget, but before we signed anything, we had the house inspected. Because we qualify for a government loan with zero interest, we had to be sure that the house wouldn't need too much work, as one of the conditions for the loan is that everything is brought up to code within three years. So of course the electricity needs to be completely redone, as well as a couple of other things. That effectively closes the door on house #2 for us.

We went back to the website of the realtor we've been working with, and saw a house for sale that was well under our budget but instead of having a garden, only has a porch. The house is quirky and charming, and we pretty much fell in love with it. So of course someone bought it before we could even make an offer on it.

Now we're kind of stuck. All the houses available either need too much work, have too much land, or are simply out of our price range. I've made a radical suggestion to Stéphane: buying an apartment. There is one available that is slightly larger than where we live now, but it is in excellent shape and would allow us to save a bunch of money. I could even start my own business with the money we'd save. The problem is that Stéphane grew up in a large apartment block and has vowed to never live in one again. I will absolutely respect this, but there's a chance this is a smaller building with only a few apartments inside, which he's agreed to. I may go check that out this week.

Meanwhile, I was up for a very cool job about an hour away, but I was to receive a call by the end of the week if I got it, and nothing. So that added a loopty-loop to the roller coaster as well.

So that's where we are now. A lot of disappointment this week, hoping something else will turn up soon!

the other shoe drops

After a few very tense days over the last couple of weeks, I finally learned last Monday that my contract will not be renewed. When I first started to suspect that this would happen, I confronted my boss about it, but in the end, he was just as much in the dark about it as I was, since the decision came from higher up the food chain. Anyway, between the time I started to suspect and I finally knew for sure, I made peace with it and then was ready to be rid of it - as much as I love the extra income, the crap hours and the way this company treats their employees just aren't worth it.

In the meantime, I started looking at my old projects and made another pitch to Stéphane about starting my own business. As much as I love my dear husband, he is not a risk taker and until now has completely resisted the idea, but now he is a little more open to it. And when I say open, I mean perhaps a crack. So I'm slowly starting to piece information together to create a business plan, which will likely take a little time but I'm getting more and more excited about the idea.

Of course, the main thing that's going to slow me down is that I'm going to become a stay at home mom again next week. Three months is huge amount of time at Fry's age and he's not the same boy I hung out with before I started working. It's going to be a heck of a challenge at first, but I'm looking forward to some extra Fry time.

In the end, even after losing my job, we crunched some numbers and decided to make a new bid on the house last week. The last time we bid, four months ago, we got a negative response in about an hour, and now it's been five days. Don't know what that means yet. Even if we don't buy that house, I want out of this apartment, even if it's into another rental. It's just not Little Dude friendly and it's starting to drive me crazy.

So whatever you do, don't feel sorry for me about losing that job! It allowed us to put a little money in the bank, I got some French experience on my resume, I am finally going to get my very own Social Security number (I've been on Stéphane's all this time!) and we got to treat ourselves a little with the Wii and a weekend away coming up. Nothing but good stuff around here!

vivi's first rude Frenchman

Yesterday I was dealing with a client at work, and when he gave me his name I didn't understand it at first, so I asked him to repeat it. When I finally understood it, he said, "Yes, well I speak French, we are, after all, in France, where we speak French. Although if I went to England I would have a rough time, har har!"

What I wanted to say:

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Le Pen*."

"Yes, that's why they hired me, because they couldn't find any French people that could speak to our international clients."

"Yay, I finally found my first actual rude Frenchman!"

What I actually said:

Just as I was biting through my tongue, my boss walked in and said, "Everything ok, Vivi?" I responded through clenched teeth, "Everything is REALLY REALLY GREAT."

I like to think that the jerk realized he'd gone to far because by the end of the transaction he wasn't nearly as smug, but I fumed about it all day. And I have to say the the vast majority of our clients are very sweet and patient and love that I'm one of them there ferners from across the ocean (they usually assume I am either English or Scandinavian - yes I am that pale).

For five years I've been saying that I have yet to meet the stereotypical rude Frenchman, but voila! - I've found him!

*Jean-Marie Le Pen is the founder of the ultra-right wing political group that believes that all immigrants should go away, among other lovely sentiments.

in other news...

Man, I am still fighting the rest of this crud with a little bit of a cough and my nose is blocked up again by the time I go to bed. No wonder I'm not sleeping well. It's gonna be another long day and I really need a nap. *sigh*

Anyway, besides me moaning all the time about how hard my job is, there are some good things that have been going on around here, believe it or not! I think I've mentioned it before, but Stéphane started working on his family tree a few months ago. The last two weeks he was on Winter Break, so he decided to take off for Pas-de-Calais on my two days off last week to throw himself into the state archives to see what he could see (fully endorsed by me, of course, that boy never wants to go off and do stuff so I practically threw him out the door!). He spent six hours straight at the archives the first day and followed up at another office the next day before heading back home and he was able to trace his family back to 1671, and he when he got home he found a way that he may be able to get one more generation before that, but that will be for his next trip. Considering that official record-keeping didn't really start in France before 1739, he's doing really well! It seems that his family pretty much always lived in the same village, or within a stone's throw of that village, just until his father joined the army and moved away. Unfortunately, any family still there are pretty distant cousins, though.

So that's some fun news from Stéphane, now here's mine: I finally bought a Wii! I have been coveting the Wii ever since it came out, but it just wasn't a sensible purchase while we were living on one paycheck. So of course, with my first big paycheck I ran straight to the store to snatch one up (and of course, waiting so long to buy one didn't hurt since it was significantly less than it was when it first came out!). Since then, I've been spending a lot of time on that one auction website (you know the one) looking for fun used games and hoping they come to me in playable condition. I'd really love to find a good strategy game that Stéphane and I could play together, if anyone has any suggestions!

Fry is so so happy to be back at the nounou's this week, he wore himself out yesterday running around the house and playing with the other kids. It just reinforces my desire to stay with this crappy job as long as it takes to get into that house where he can run around safely in his own home and even have a garden to run around in. So, you know, every time I complain about how tired I am, just plug in "but it's so worth it" at the end.

harsh reality

Here's a topic I've been avoiding lately: remember how I opened an Etsy shop? And then I got a full time job? Yeah. Hello, logical conclusion.

I'm completely broken-hearted about closing my Etsy shop. I am brimming with ideas for new products and new designs and writing out patterns and I could go on for days and days, but y'all, I am exhausted. This job takes everything out of me. I suspect it may be the fact that I'm still sick and haven't really been able to rest, plus we're still short staffed and will be for another month, which means double shifts on the weekends for another four weeks, but the only other time in my life I've been so physically exhausted was when Fry was a newborn.

The thing that doesn't help either is that it's not exactly my dream job. I am busting my ass for a job I'm not in love with, which is something I thought I'd never have to do again, *but* then I remember that I live in the region of France that has the highest unemployment rate and I am very lucky to have a job, plus the cold hard fact that we really need to get out of this house.

Oh, this apartment, we loved it so much when we moved in but it is so so dangerous for Fry. Floors like concrete, exposed brick, concrete and wooden beams, and stairs so dangerous he's not allowed to go up without us holding his hands and not allowed down by himself full stop. The upstairs is pretty much off limits because we can't install a gate at the top of the stairs (believe me, we tried). The only safe place Fry can be alone is his bed. For a 15 month old that only stops running when he sleeps, that doesn't work very well.

So. I keep working, I get my magical CDI, and we can buy house #2, which is still available and, more importantly, totally child-friendly. Then I can start looking for a job that I actually like.

But even then, where does that leave time for designing, knitting, and promoting? It doesn't. I have to make a choice between my personal creative outlet and making a better life for my kid.

And the kid wins. Every damn time.

Vivi gets the flu

Oh dear. And the worst possible timing, too.

Fry has been sick for a couple of weeks now, with the perpetual running nose. His nounou's daughter, who also stays home, caught the flu and was pretty much paralyzed by it: she basically slept all day for about three or four days. It was pretty much a foregone conclusion that Fry would get it too.

Of course, when Fry gets the flu, it just means that despite running a fever and loss of appetite, he still runs, just slower. The other problem is that Fry loves to share his microbes with Mommy.

As much as I love encouraging my son to share, he couldn't have done it at a worse time. One of my colleagues quit last week, leaving me and my boss to run the whole show. Last Wednesday I had off, but by the end of the day my fever was bouncing between 102.5 and 100 (39C and 38C) and I was in pain everywhere. Since Fry was still sick after seeing the doctor a week before, we both saw the doctor Thursday morning. He gave both of us a nice long list of medicines and then we had to talk about arret maladie.

Arret maladie, or sick leave, is basically a doctor's note that excuses you from work but still maintain your salary. As you can imagine, it's a perk of the French system that is easily abused (my company is currently paying someone that's been on arret maladie for months, the problem is that the direction has changed two or three times since he went on sick leave and no one knows where he is or even why he's on leave). All you have to do is find a doctor willing to put you on sick leave for "rest" and your're golden. Of course, even if the doctor has put on the form that you're allowed to leave your house, you're still supposed to be home between the hours of 9am and 11am and 2pm and 4pm, but it's rare that anyone actually calls to check up on you.

So, as sick as I was, I felt a little guilty about going on sick leave, essentially leaving my boss to run the entire show by himself. Stéphane had told me that Dr H has a reputation in our town for being very strict about giving out sick leave (and now I understand why he's always available! ugh, this town, I tell you...) so I was really surprised when he gave me four days off! I even asked if I could go back to work after two days and he insisted.

The worst part of the whole ordeal was calling my boss and telling him I was on sick leave. He assured me it was fine, but I still feel really guilty about leaving him like that for four days. My guilt was softened a little yesterday when I still had a fever and I'd completely lost my voice, but I'm still not thrilled about it.

Finally today I think I'll be fever-free and I can feel the symptoms finally starting to fade. I'm so grateful that I have a doctor that gave me the appropriate time off because I probably would have gone back to work on Saturday and made myself worse (Stéphane is always saying that I don't know how to rest, and he's right, I often don't rest when I need it most unless I'm forced to). Tomorrow I'll be back at work, still a little sick but not so much as to pass it on to my boss. Because I sure as hell don't want to run that place for four days alone!

fifteen months

When Fry got sick last week, we thought we might have a break from the kid that never stops running. No dice. He only runs slower and falls down more. *sigh*

One thing I love this month is that Fry has gone interactive! Now he is much more interested in playing with us, as opposed to next to us. His favorite toys recently have been his interactive book that plays music when you press a button that he likes to place on our laps and play and some interlocking blocks that he'll bring us to snap together and then he'll take them back and break them apart.

The biggest change is that we finally broke apart his playpen and used the pieces to keep him corralled in the salon side of the downstairs (which is an open plan with the kitchen). Along with a gate for the bottom of the stairs, this is made a huge difference for Fry, who is free to play on his own and then come grab our attention when he likes (if we're on the computers or something), plus we feel much more relaxed as we're no longer on high alert like we were every moment we let him out of the playpen before.

As for all the changes in his life with Mommy working now, he's handling it like a pro. Even with his first nounou falling terribly ill, he has adjusted again to a new environment with his second nounou without any problems at all, and there's nothing like the way his face lights up when I pick him up in the afternoons. He's still our sweet smiling baby, who is turning into a toddler right before our eyes!

On Working

I have a few thoughts I want to get down about finally working, but I'm not exactly sure where I'm going to go with it. Bear with me here...

I am reminded time and again how naive Stéphane and I were about my moving here. We were sure I'd find work within six months (those two years of my parents falling ill and dying one after the other notwithstanding) and even then we thought I'd be able to pick up where I left off. It never occurred to me that moving countries would be so vastly different for someone fresh out of school and for me, who at 31 years old had a nice little career going and was making more than my husband.

I don't know why I never realized that I'd be literally starting over, but now that I'm revisiting the same sort of job I had 15 or so years ago, it seems so ridiculously obvious. For the first time in my life my boss is Mr So-and-So (as opposed to being on a first name basis) and younger than me. I'm overqualified and over-educated for this job (and for my colleagues), and I sincerely hope I'm not still doing it in five years.

BUT. I also feel like I've cracked the code. I'm on the inside. I have a Social Security number and have money going towards retirement. Every paycheck I bring home means we're that much closer to buying a house. Every month I stay employed is another month I can add to my resume which will only look better and better as time goes on. If I'm offered the CDI (the magical never-ending contract), I'm pretty much set, and at this point I'm feeling more and more confident that this will happen (more thoughts on that in another post). But most importantly, there's no reason I have to stop looking and applying for jobs that I really want.

So I see this job both as a saving grace and a temporary set back. If we can accept the idea of a five to six year break in my career as temporary.

one problem solved...

Some major, major problems at work were resolved yesterday. I was so happy I nearly skipped out of work to my car. I still don't know if this is going to be the long term job for me, and I'm probably going to continue to send out some resumes from time to time in hopes of finding a Monday-Friday job, but I'm totally at peace with work and ready to get on with it. Huge, huge relief there!

Now, the Nanny thing. It turns out that Nounou has contracted Legionellosis, more commonly known as Legionnaires disease. They very nearly waited too long to get medical help and she was in critical condition last we heard, but we're all hoping she makes a full recovery. Stéphane is meeting Mr Nounou this evening to go over some contractual stuff because it will be at least three or four months before she can work again (if she works at all) and we want to get Fry in a stable place that will last at least through the end of the school year. If Nounou is working again after the summer break and I'm still working, we'll probably go back. In the meantime, we've only got a couple of days to find a new nanny.

Meanwhile, Mémère watched Fry Monday and Tuesday, which went off mostly without a hitch. As I mentioned before, we decided that Fry and I would spend the night at Mémère's since I have to be at work so early, but that meant Sunday night I had to struggle with him to settle down and go to sleep. Even if he was a little unruly going to bed, he was a perfect angel with Mémère during the day, much to my relief. Of course, it's easy to be an angel when you get to watch tv and eat cakes all day (I exaggerate but you know), but if you can't spoil grandchildren where's the fun in life, right? I have to admit, it was lovely being only five minutes from work, too. *sigh* If we don't manage to find a Nanny in the next two days, Mémère will watch him again on Friday and then we'll have the weekend to continue our search.

To top off everything else, I'm working on a pretty good head cold. It finally bloomed last night, just in time for two days off. Can't ever catch a break around here!

we knew it was too easy

When I picked Fry up from Nounou's house on Thursday afternoon, I knew she wasn't feeling very well. She had her mother (MIL?) helping her out, which I appreciated. But she looked really rough. So it wasn't entirely a surprise when Stéphane called me at work Friday morning to tell me that Nounou had seen a doctor in the middle of the night and was too sick to take Fry. He was able to take the morning off* and we were able to pass each other at home so I could take the relay.

What I wasn't expecting at all was for Stéphane to tell me on Saturday that Mr Nounou called to tell us that Nounou is in the hospital in critical condition, and they didn't know what was wrong with her. Awesome. My first concern was whether it's something contagious, but except for a little bit of a runny nose, Fry seems perfectly fine. My next concern is obviously for Nounou; I hope she's on the mend very soon!

But right behind that concern is, what on earth are we going to do now? Mémère is going to watch Fry tomorrow and Tuesday while I'm working, and then we'll have to see where we are. My shift starts so early that we've decided that it will be easier for us to spend the night at Mémère's house. This is clearly not a long term solution. It looks like Stéphane and I are going to have to start looking for a new Assistante Maternelle this week.

At one point yesterday, I turned to Stéphane and said, "You know, I thought this whole process went way too smoothly." "I was just about to say the same thing," he responded. *sigh*


* Stéphane called the school as soon as he had the news, but it still took a couple of hours for the substitute teacher to show up, so rather than have the kids screw around with a surveillante (an adult monitor) he took Fry with him to class. The kids loved it, Fry wore himself out, and the kids at least got a little work done. Ha!

not all it's cracked up to be

It was a very frustrating week at work, not to mention exhausting! Six days on, one day off, six days off and finally three days of rest. Today is the third day and I finally can walk without pain in my back and feet. Not that I'm complaining! It feels great to come home and be tired from working, it's very satisfying. I do quite like my job; unfortunately, it's the people I work with that will eventually send me running.

The problem is that it's a young person's job really; something for those that are not yet tied down with family. It's fine for now, but I'm pretty sure it's not something I'd want to do for the rest of my career. The problem I'm having really is that I'm not getting all of my questions answered about important things that I won't go into here but believe me, are quite shocking that I haven't gotten answers yet. Hopefully some of them will be answered this week, as my boss is back from vacation.

I don't mind telling you that I've gone back to the unemployment website and started sending out resumes again. Just because I've found a job doesn't mean I can't keep looking, right?

fourteen months

It seems to me that Fry is literally growing before my eyes, with all the accomplishments he's had this month. Suddenly, his head is nearly clearing his baby jail playpen, and I remember very clearly him standing up the first few times and the top of his head barely reached the top!

Fry doesn't walk as much as he runs. He would probably have a lot fewer bruises if he actually looked where he's walking, though! Now he can get up without pulling up on something and likes nothing better than picking up something and running around the downstairs with it. His room has recently transformed into a play space, with a new carpet and fun new toys, including a wooden wagon filled with wooden building blocks that he loves to pull around the room. He has always been clever with shapes, and if he picks up a toy in one hand, he has to have the identical toy in his other, whether it's a car, a ring, a train, or a circular building block. On the other hand, the downstairs is a veritable mine field, so getting out of the playpen still means heavy supervision and lots of "NO"s from me and Stéphane.

We've been seeing big changes at the table, too. More and more, Fry is interested in feeding himself. It started with him controlling my (or Stéphane's) hand holding the spoon, pulling it towards him when he's ready to eat from it, and every once in a while he insists on holding the spoon and getting it in his mouth. We're definitely letting him go at his own pace and marveling at how he'll take an already small piece of food and pick it apart in minuscule pieces before putting it in his mouth.

Fry is still babbling nice and loud in his own language, and we haven't really had an discernible words apart from "papapapapapa" and "mamamamamamama", but we're not bothered. Since he starts going to Nounou's house on Monday, he'll be hearing quite a lot more French than English, and I'm hoping listening to me babble on to him for the last year will be enough. I'm excited and nervous and sad about this next phase of his life, learning to let him go and share him with others.

One last note, my favorite: I've been trying to teach him kisses, since "doing the bise" is such an integral part of life in France. I show him my kissy face a lot, but he quickly responded by putting his finger up to my mouth. Now sometimes he's even stick his finger out, prompting a kiss. It's my favorite part of the day. He may have a little steak of mischief in him, but he's still my sweet boy!

Happy New Year !

Oh my, what a week! It was an emotional roller coaster, thanks to a colleague who took the Cat's Away, Mice Will Play method to a whole new level. Since I have a difficult time with confrontation, I spent a couple of days working on a pretty sweet ulcer, until, finally, she went too far and was called on the carpet. Sweet, sweet justice, just in time for my day off. One more week until my boss is back in town and hopefully this crap will be cleared up definitively.

Benita asked in the comments of my last post about the "golden ticket," and you're right, there isn't anything like it in the states. It's basically a contract that makes it really difficult for the employee to be fired. One the one hand, the employee has to screw up pretty bad to be let go, by making a number of fautes professionelles, a very serious accusation, for example. It can be a risky proposition for the employers, as there are stories of employees that get their CDI and then stop showing up for work, but more realistically, if they find that their employee is not living up to the employers expectations, it's not so easy to let them go. There is no notion of "Right to Work" here (which is a contradiction in terms, in which an employer can fire an employee without giving a reason and is perfectly legal in many US States). Also, there is no notion of having to earn vacation - everyone that works is entitled to five weeks vacation, starting from their first day of work. Quite different from what I'm used to!

Last weekend we met with the couple that will be watching Fry four days a week. She's the full time nanny, and he works outside the home but helps his wife watch the kids on Mondays when she's supposed to have a "day off." She is also watching a three year old that will start half days at school on Monday, and a two and a half year old. We'll be meeting with them again tomorrow afternoon to go through the details of the contract but we felt really comfortable with them very quickly so we feel like we got lucky and found a good one on the first go. I'm concerned that we don't have time to do a period of adaption (going with him for an hour and then increasing the time alone with the nanny slowly) but she's had to start without the adaption before and it ended up fine. I feel bad putting it on Stéphane but I'm awfully glad it's not me dropping him off next week, I don't think I could handle it! At least I'll be able to pick him up early the first couple of days.

We celebrated the New Year in much the same way we did last year: Fry went to bed at his usual time and Stéphane and I made a delicious fondue (made even better thanks to my Swiss Miss friend, Ms Mac), and then I crashed out around 10ish after watching an old French movies from the '60s (love Bourvil!). Getting up at 5am is taking its toll! In any case, we're really excited about 2010, but all depends on how the next couple of months go with this new job. We're hoping for the best, as this job has the potential to be a really sweet gig and great for all of us! Wishing you the best for your health and happiness in 2010!

all I got for christmas is a full time job

My first week of work is in the can. It's been a real jolt to the system, getting up and having to be functional so early. I can't complain, all my adult life I've been an early bird, but after so many years of practically no activity, getting up off my ass and moving again has been a shock.

I have so many stories that I wish I could share with you but can't. I'm still on a learning curve made even more precipitous by the fact that my boss is currently on vacation and will be leaving the company shortly after her return. Thankfully, she doesn't seem to be the kind of person that leaves a mess in her wake. I like her a lot and I'm disappointed that she's leaving, but them's the breaks. My feelings about my colleagues are... mixed, so I'll let that alone for now.

I did manage to get my contract signed by the skin of my teeth, however. I started on a Saturday so I was supposed to have my contract in hand on Monday. Then they needed to verify some information so that set them back a day, and then they finally sent it Wednesday morning, the "end" of my work week and the day my boss went on vacation. Sheesh. So I'm officially signed up for three month's work with the option of a CDI (a contract of indeterminate time, aka a never ending contract, the "golden ticket" in France) at the end.

Of course, I landed this job at both the best possible time and the worst possible time, depending on how you look at it. It's perfect because I started the job exactly on the day that Stéphane's Christmas break started, otherwise we would have been up the proverbial creek with Fry. Since there is no daycare in Tiny Town and we only have one car, we've decided to place Fry with an assistante maternelle in Tiny Town (I mentioned this in a previous post, yes?). There are approximately 20 available in Tiny Town, and two days before Christmas we managed to find two that have openings. We'll visit them Monday and make a decision. Fry will go four days a week full time during the school year.

Speaking of Fry, what a change this has been for him, too! With very few exceptions, we've been together every single day of his life. With me not coming home until after he's had his lunch and gone down for a nap, I think he was starting to get upset with me, to the point that by Tuesday he was practically ignoring me. Finally having two days off, I'm hoping he understands that it's not like he'll never see me again. I'm hoping we'll find him a nounou that has other kids his age, because it would be so good for him to have some little buddies to play with (and learn how to share with!).

As for the worst timing, I hate that our Christmas suffered a little, though it could have been so much worse - I was fully expecting to be scheduled for Christmas, but it was just dumb luck that I ended up with Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off. I only got half of the gifts finished and we ended up grabbing some last minute gift certificates, but we had a great evening with family on Thursday and I had a well earned veg out day yesterday.

The next two weeks are going to be exhausting, since we're already on a skeleton crew even when the boss is there, so not a lot of rest coming my way for a while. But man, I have to say, there's nothing more satisfying than being tired from a good day's work. I have to admit, I've missed that.

vivi gets a job

ha HA!

What can I tell you, I'm gainfully employed now! I can't tell you much else, though. Here's what I'm willing to share:

-It's in the service industry. The hours are not ideal and I'll be working weekends a lot but I don't have to wear a uniform, so that's a plus.

-I mentioned that I preferred mornings to evenings in my interview and all this week I'm scheduled for morning hours. Getting up three hours before the butt crack of dawn this morning was hard, but being home and done with work for the day at 1pm was quite nice. Don't know if it will always be like that, however.

-The work is not difficult, the time flew by this morning, looks like I'll be speaking English a lot.

-The schedule will vary every week, but it is generally planned out a month in advance, except for the next two weeks (and especially with new personnel).

-By some freak of nature and scheduling, I actually have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off. I'll most certainly have to work New Year's Eve but as long as I can be with Fry Christmas morning I seriously don't care. I think last year Stéphane and I were already in bed by midnight last year anyway (though Fry was only 8 weeks old at the time, can you blame us?). In any case I'll be home by midnight, which is the most important part anyway.

Speaking of Fry, we're obviously going to have to come up with some day care solutions. Since there isn't a real day care in Tiny Town, and we only have one car (so Stéphane can't take/drop off Fry outside of Tiny Town), our next solution is an assistante maternelle, or a nanny. The town hall keeps a list of nannies and it will be up to us to call and find one that is willing to take him. So Stéphane will be doing that first thing Monday.

So, that's me working. How about that?

Winter Wonderland

It started snowing yesterday morning and it's hardly stopped. The roads were a mess yesterday getting to my job interview, but the Director was very impressed that I showed up anyway (and said so at least three times), so major points there. Since they hadn't salted/sanded the roads before I got there, the roads were a bit perilous in town but much better by the time I left.

Last night we had dinner out with some of Stéphane's colleagues at Tiny Town's Moroccan restaurant (our favorite by a long shot, amazing food and outstanding service!). We were the lucky ones this time as we were literally around the corner from our house (though we still had to drive in order to bring Fry's high chair) as most of the teachers away from Tiny Town. By then it had already been decided that the school buses would not run today. Considering our school is the central school for all the little villages surrounding Tiny Town and many buses have to take service field roads to get here, I think they made the right decision. Still, that doesn't mean school is canceled, and anyone that can get to school is still required to come. No big deal, since today is the last day before Christmas holidays.

Here's what we woke up to:





Hey, the apartment across the street is available again!

And it's still coming down. It's gorgeous, and I'm hoping to manage to take Fry out in it at some point. The only problem is he doesn't have any snow pants or boots. I didn't bother to buy any because it hasn't snowed like this since 2005. We'll figure something out! In any case, it isn't going to last, as Tuesday we're expecting highs of around 10C (50F).

As for the job, I'll find out this evening if I got it, and if I did, it starts tomorrow.

vivi gets a break

I hit a pretty low point yesterday morning. I finally just cried out to the universe, "I need a break!"

Luckily, the universe was listening.

I finally got a call about a job. I have an interview this afternoon. And even if I don't get the job, finally getting a call after job searching for so long makes me feel so much better. Like I actually am employable.

I don't know if it's me personally, or the culture I come from, but most of my anxiety over looking for a job has stemmed from the feeling that if I'm not getting calls for interviews, then there's something wrong with me. I have experience! I have a diploma! I'm bilingual! Why don't you like me???

Stéphane finally talked me down. It's not you, he said. There are no jobs. Of course employers can be super picky when they have dozens of replies for every job offer. Stop taking it personally, he said.

And he's right. Plus, I've been here before. During a similar job hunt before moving back to the Carolinas, I answered an ad for a secretary in Florida in 1996. There were so many applicants for that job, they were taking us in groups of ten to fill out applications and tests. But it was a hell of a lot easier to go get a job at Bennigan's at 23 than it would be now (even if we had a road filled with twenty chain restaurants in these parts).

Even if I don't get this job, getting an interview gave me all the confidence I need to keep looking. But that doesn't mean I don't want to nail this interview!

The only problem now is that it's snowing like a mother out there. The universe still likes a good giggle now and then.

I have no idea what to say

So here's a tweet cloud:



(Still knitting for Christmas, job hunting, on snow watch. I do have a post in me, will write ASAP!)

it's the most horrible time of the year

Man, things are getting me down! The weather has settled into its gray steel phase which will last until Spring (although we're having some very rare sunshine this morning, thankfully) which doesn't help. Fry and I keep exchanging colds. December means the end of term for Stéphane, so he's stressed and tired and working extra hours to get grading finished and seeing parents nearly every night so he's worn out by the time he gets home. I've been sending off resumes at a rate of about one a day, which wouldn't be so bad if I ever got any calls on them, but now it seems available jobs are tapering off and probably will continue to do so until the new year.

I finally managed to decorate for Christmas a little. Fry's stocking is up, so are some of my mom's handmade decorations, and I bought a small plastic tree because the downstairs is already dangerous enough for Fry, especially now that he's walking, we decided a real tree just isn't worth it this year. It's going to be another crafty Christmas for my in-laws but that's going slowly and it seems I can't get anything done.

I can't remember the last time I slept through the night. There are things swirling in the background that I don't write about here that are getting me down as well. I have some health stuff going on that will probably require medication, which does not make me happy at all.

Bah, humbug.

in which Fry gets a shot

Yesterday I took Fry to Tiny Town's salle des fêtes to be vaccinated against H1N1, aka la Grippe A or the swine flu. In France, the vaccinations are being given in "vaccination centers" around the country and are being staffed (and by some accounts, understaffed) by local doctors, nurses and army medical personnel. While anyone has the right to be vaccinated, those that meet certain requirements have been sent a voucher to ensure they will be vaccinated in priority. Someone I know on an forum in Switzerland had her daughter vaccinated yesterday as well, but she said that it was with typical Swiss precision that she had an appointment and even a parking voucher ahead of time, so it took no time at all. My experience, even out here in the French boonies, was... not the same.

Our vaccination center was open from 12pm until 4pm, so we got there around 2:30, hoping to beat the crowds of kids on their lunch break. There were probably a good twenty people ahead of me, but we didn't wait long; five minutes after arriving, we were approached by a volunteer and asked to move to the front of the line (children under two are considered a priority). I have to admit I felt a little guilty, but not guilty enough to say no! On checking in, I was told that I could have one as well, but I declined (Stéphane and I had already decided to skip the vaccination). The next station was for filling out paperwork (name, address, parental consent, general medical questions, etc.). After that, we sat down with a doctor, which just happened to be Dr H, our regular doctor. Dr H marked Fry for a half dose (typical for babies under 18 months) and he'll have the other half in three weeks. Then we waited for a vaccination bay to open up (I think there were three families ahead of us).

Fry was great with his shot as always, just a quick ten second cry and it was over (irrationally proud, me??). I was a bit annoyed that we had to wait twenty minutes before we could leave, as we certainly don't have to wait in the doctor's office after a regular vaccination and I felt like this was a total CYA move, but whatever, we only had to wait ten and it was over. All in all, it took us an hour from sitting down at the entry to walking out the door. Thank goodness we were able to skip the line! Fry didn't have any reaction to the shot at all, didn't even have a small fever. Now whether or not it's actually is worth all the trouble will remain to be seen!