A Faire...

OK, I am horribly procrastinating on getting my lesson plan done for this week. So in the guise of seeming like I'm being productive, I'll update the blog that maybe one or two other people on earth may possibly read.

LES CHOSES A FAIRE
1. Finish lesson plan (all I really have to do is get the lyrics to "12 Days of Christmas" and black out a few words).

2. Clean. The disadvantage to living in a room smaller than most walk-in closets is that it gets dirty in 2 seconds. However, the advantage is that it only takes about 5 seconds to clean it. But I'm talking a thourough, roto-rooter cleaning: scrubbing the shower, sweeping every unnoticeable corner, hell I may even defrost my frigo if time/motivation permits (I haven't been able to open the lil freezer door since I left for Toussaints; good thing I never use it!).

3. I have been SUCH a slacker on this, but I need to get a signature from the doctor I put as my "medecin traitant" (primary doctor). His hours are whack and whenever his office IS open, I am usually in class. Argh.

4. Start banging down the door of the prefecture. They told me in October (when I turned in my medical visit form, the final step before getting my carte de sejour) that my CDS would arrive "avant Noel." Well, it is almost Noel, and no carte yet. Rumor has it they will send me something in the mail telling me it is ready, but this IS France after all, and a general rule to getting stuff done is being very pro-active. Again, the prefecture is tricky b/c the booth for the CDS is only open weekday mornings & Friday afternoons, so I am usually in class, but this coming Friday, I am all over it like fromage on a baguette.

5. Assuming I have my carte de sejour in hand any time in the near future, I will have to go to the CAF office again and give them a copy, cross my fingers that my mature age of 26 will not hinder my financial assistance award TOO much (can't complain though, even if they gave me 20E a month I would be ecstatic), and watch my bank account balance like a hawk until it arrives.

6. Figure out what all I can bear to part with and send back to the U.S. with Jess. Even though it's only December, I figure anything I can send back now = less stuff for me to haul back in May. The few gifts I have purchased, some clothes (silly me, when I arrived in Sept I thought it might actually still be WARM in France. Then I realized it is NEVER warm in France, haha!), just some random odds & ends.

7. Jess and I have to trek into the mairie's (mayor's) office while he is here and find out what we have to do to be legally married here. According to French law, for a valid marriage, one of the parties must have lived in France for 40 consecutive days before the wedding (says nothing about being an actual legal citizen though). Well.. yeah, that's me. I've got phone bills, electric bills, bank statements, etc to prove it. Other things that I have found we will need: translated birth certificates (although I translated my own for my CDS and, although it did help the lady out, it was not required), a medical visit (umm... I have my lung X-ray, will that count? PLEASE PLEASE don't stab my finger for a blood sugar test again!), a certificate of celibacy (no, this is not something saying you are a virgin; it is something stating that neither of us is currently married and basically are free & able to get married to each other), and who knows what else. Retina scan, first born child, a kidney donation... Bah. Luckily Jess has a lawyer friend who can help us with paperwork.

8. Pack for our upcoming Eurotrip. Long coat, check. Hat, check. Warm gloves, check. Thermals, check. Fleece-y boots, check. Does anything else really matter beyond that??
Oh and if there are any other assistants reading this, we'll be in Paris for NYE and I would love to meet some of you (we'll probably have a couple other Remois assistants, as we volunteered the 2 extra seats in our rental car to anyone who wanted to road trip with us over the vacances). So anyone in Paris, send me a message in a bouteille or something (emails or comments work well too).

9. Our Troyen Assistant Xmas Dinner on Wednesday... so I'm in charge of the stuffing again (turned out decently enough last time, I was pleased with myself). I am planning to put the can of pumpkin sludge from my future mom-in-law to use and make pumpkin pie, but so far the search for "sweetened condensed milk" (lait sucre concentre) has proved unsuccessful. Mere assures me it exists, but I'm starting to wonder if any of France's plentiful other dairy products could be substituted instead.

10. Xmas Dinner on Xmas Day... my future husband will be here, jet-lagged, and probably freezing. I can hear him already, "Wow, you weren't exaggerating, it IS freezing here!" He sounded surprised when he looked at the weather forecast for Paris and saw a high of like, 40. I'm not lying when I say it is freezing here; according to the lil temperature thingie on my computer it is exactly 0C right now. But anyway.... how to make a decent Xmas dinner with A) 2 burners & a microwave, B) very few pots & pans and C) my culinary skills (or lack thereof). Ideas so far: steamed/boiled lobster tails (if I can find tails, and they are not too expensive), a big charcuterie platter, coq au vin, or something with fish (not salmon-- boy doesn't like salmon). By the end of this assistantship I could probably write a book a la MacGyver, "How to Make a Decent Meal with Only XYZ"

Ugh. OK. I suppose I will get to my lesson plan. Or maybe I will just make something to eat. One thing I have not neglected is food, a fact which became horribly evident to me yesterday when Mere insisted we go to the pharmacy with a scale and weigh ourselves. Yeah, definitely put on some kilos-- about 3-4 since I was last weighed at my medical visit for the CDS. I justify it by telling myself that extra weight will keep me warm and hence cut down on my electric bill. Hey, it made sense to me...