Zebra Cakes

I remembered something the other day that I forgot to include in my blog about my Christmas vacation. A very important detail! Remember the Paris story? And remember when I said we walked through the dirt path of a garden all the way to the Louvre and back to the Arc? Well I forgot to add that on the way back, when we basically had the whole space to ourselves, I attempted to make it enjoyable by singing, "Aaaauuuxx Champs-Elysées. Aaaauuuxx Champs-Elysée. Sous la pluie, sous la pluie, sous la pluie, sous la pluie, il y a tout ce que vous voulez aux Champs-Eylsées!" Sous la pluie means under the rain. In the regular lyrics, they say "in the sun, under the rain, at noon or at midnight." I will forever thing of that night whenever I hear the song or even thing of the Champs-Eylsées. I hope I go back enough times to erase that feeling.

So yesterday I got something in the mail from the people who are supposed to be sending me my social security card and my carte vitale, which I'd use if I ever had to go to the doctor or something. I was told by Fabienne a way bak that Kyle, the assistant at this school two years ago, never got his carte vitale the entire time he was here. Okay, good thing I don't get sick very often. If I did have to go to the doctor, I'm sure, knowing the French way of doing all this paperwork and stuff, that everything would be fine and they'd be totally okay with the fact I don't have one, provided I explain my situation. So I'm not overly concerned about getting the actual card. It's just more of an annoyance that it takes this damn long to get my paperwork processed. In fact, Fabienne told me about a month ago they'd be sending me more stuff to fill out, which I still haven't gotten. Whatever, I'm not even expecting it at this point and have moved on with life. But anyway, what I got yesterday was asking me to mail in a document, which I'm sure I mailed them back in October. But I didn't argue, just sent them what they needed and got it taken care of. Remember, don't ask questions, just do it. Chances are they're just dumb. Someone at the school though called them for me to see what the deal was, and it basically all came down to this: They were spelling my name wrong. They spelled my last name Sandford, just as everyone in the US does all the time. So she got them to fix that, and hoefully that will speed up the process and I'll get everything done before I move out. Before I continue, allow me to vent for a second. It's super annoying when official companies screw up the spelling of people's names. A magazine subscription, random mailing lists, a friend (who shouldn't be getting it wrong anyway), okay fine, no big deal. But official people who are dealing with official documents? This is social security, people!!! I need it for my job, and it's a big deal! Okay, I'm done venting. For now. I found it rather interesting that it was misspelled the way it was, though. It's not like it's a French name or anything, so why would they tend to put a d in it? Hm, weird.

I came to the conclusion that one huge reason I'm so much more bored now than I was before Christmas is that I'm done filling out the piles and piles of paperwork. Well, I say that, but really I just got done explaining how I still have stuff to mail in. And I just got more today from someone else to keep up on. And by "someone else" I just mean companies or organizations who need documents from me or forms filled out. Things I need for regular life. It's not like, work from school. I'm by no means complaining about doing it. It's just that I'm only here for nine months, and by the time everything gets squared away, it will be time to cancel everything and move. If I were staying here for 5 years, it's be less annoying because all this filling out and mailing in would be good for that long. It will be nice to get back to the US where things will be, for the most part, permanent.

The upcoming week or two will be interesting. I'm finishing up every last bite of food in my apartment because I neeeeed to get paid again. I remember back in the US last spring and summer, some people (particular people I'm thinking of) told me I worked too much and that I shouldn't be so concerned about money, and that it's not THAT expensive to move to France. Okay well I'd like to shove my not-very-full bank account in those people's faces and prove to them that I wasn't crazy to have been working as many hours as I did. Really, 40 hours a week at Target isn't anything extreme. (And for the record, I do have money elsewhere that I don't use. I just don't like to use it if I can help it. I'm not starving over here, so don't anyone start panicing or calling my mother. And if I were starving, I'd still have the money to buy food.) And for all of you who think I'm nuts trying to save money here and there, shut up! (Hey, it's my blog. I can say whatever I want.) I'm learning how to really conserve on food! Definitely not over-eating. Trying to make what I have last for the next 10 days, counting everything to see how many meals I can possibly get out of it. It's good for me. I'll forever appreciate every nickel and dime in my wallet.

Haha, I sound like a homeless person. Really people, it's not like that. It's just that... I may have had too much fun over Christmas vacation. But it's good because if it weren't for this, I'm sure some of these things on my shelf would sit there until they expire.

Today Corinne and Kaitlin and I went walking in the woods. I don't know how else to explain it because that's basically what it was. There's a trail through the woods where apparently Corinne goes running fairly often. There was an awesome pond/lake (some lake compared to MN) with swans in it, and Corinne pointed out real mistletoe to us. Unfortunately, now my shoes are basically ruined from the mud, but I wasn't planning on bringing them home with me anyway. I'll go back some day when it's not so wet in there.

I have started a list of things I want to eat when I get home.
Leeann Chin. Maybe every day for a week.
Zebra cakes
Cake. Plain old birthday cake. Chocolate. And I normally could pass. Weird.
MN State Fair turkey sandwich (August is right around the corner!)
Chicken strips from Applebee's

Yes, I know. Food here is better. But I can't help craving my faves.

Tonight I'm going to bed early. Like, maybe right now. It's 8:05pm. Awesome.