Where the heck’d July go?
OK… I watched all FIVE seasons of “Mad Men” which had me longing for a polka dotted piece of art for my office, a new couch, an open bar, a secretary and a pack of Lucky Strikes.
Instead… I dragged down the old chair and bar fridge from the garage, cleared out the storage room to house my craft things and filed away all the paperwork.
It looks absolutely nothing like the early 60s but I’ve a studio I can work in come September and I’m greatly anticipating Season Six of one of the most awesome shows I’ve watched in awhile!
Next… Visa for France! I.E… crap-loads of paperwork to be scanned, emailed, copied, printed on vellum in your neatest calligraphy and sent by registered mail… a bank account showing you have a balance of 2,456,567 Euros and the equivalent in liability health insurance in case you happen to fall off the Eiffel Tower.
On top of that… a ten page apartment lease written in a language you’re only vaguely familiar with and a company that won’t allow you to co-sign on your own kids’ accommodations because even though you’ve proven a bank account with 2,456,567 Euros to even get into the country… apparently being a student and collecting spousal support is equivalent to being an unfit mother.
Oh… and did I mention my passport expired?
In the end… passport, visa and apartment lease are all signed, approved and on hand but not without a number of sleepless nights and a small but persistent pounding in my left temple.
Next… two kids at camp = 72 loads of laundry where multiple items had to be thrown out due to mildew… multiple visits to the drugstore for Afterbite and Benedryl due to copious amounts of fly bites… and two delighted kids with smiles on their faces as proof that it was the adventure of a lifetime!
Also… a three week “surprise” visit from Little-One and her kids where numerous late nights on the patio were enjoyed and quite possibly an evening or two in a downtown establishment all while attempting to be good as in “I’m going to a personal trainer and he beats the crap out of me if I eat or drink too much”… but that’s where it ends with trying to be good.
One weekend of laughter and foolishness with two… now three… of my favorite musicians all in the name of “we’re really too old to be doing this but bring us another round!”
And finally… multiple late nights of tearing my hair out in the attempts to design and code a website where it must work on 186 different platforms… four of which are fine to have on your computer and the others… kindly remove immediately and please pretend that Internet Explorer never existed. Thank You.
Annnnd…. that was July.
And apparently we’re five days into August which so far has been amazing… and then September is here!
But first… there’s France… and a lot more fun to be had.