Way Back When

I haven't been on for a few days because I have been a bit sick.  Two years ago, I suffered a brain hemorrhage and the scar tissue from it aggravates the headaches I've always had, so when that gets to going, I am not worth bo doodly!  But...headaches are a small thing compared to what could have and should have been the result of that incident!  So...

I was remembering back to when we were preparing to leave for France the first time.  It was such an exciting, yet frightening time!  We had to wait a bit longer than we planned because when we applied for passports/visas, we realized they had made an error on Lyndee's birth certificate and listed her dad as David instead of Donald.  We had to get a corrected birth certificate, and then go through all the applications again!  This meant, instead of being able to wait for the consulate in Chicago to send the passports back with the visas stamped in them, we would have to go by the consulate during our layover in Chicago.

The afternoon before we were to leave, Lyndee was running across my parents living room and tripped.  Her head slammed into the piano bench, which had no give because her big, pregnant mama was sitting on it!  We had to head off to the emergency room to get her head x-rayed, and, though there were no fractures, there was still danger of concussion, so we were told to wake her up every hour and ask her our names, how old she was...things like that...to see if she was cognizant.  Needless to say, we were about dead the next day as we took off for the airport!  Lyndee looked like an abused child!  Her forehead was swollen out and she had 2 really bad shiners!  You can just imagine the looks we got from all and sundry!

The trip was...well...long.  As I said, we had to go to the consulate in Chicago, and that meant getting a taxi!  I don't think I have ever prayed as fervently as I did on that cross Chicago taxi trip!  That taxi driver was a total madman and I know he scared Don an me both out of a good ten years of our lives!  Then, when we got to the consulate, we were a bit shocked to find it was housed in the Playboy building!  NICE!  Loved taking our 2 little tykes in there!  NOT!

Anyway, we finally got to France, and as I said before, we were quite taken aback!  It was not this really modern country like we had imagined!  And things were outrageously expensive! 

The first few days were spent running around, getting all the paperwork done for our Carte de Séjour.  You must have that to stay in the country!  Then, we needed a washer, so we went washer shopping!  We came with $2,100 to buy everything we needed.  The washing machine cost over a thousand of that sum we thought was sufficient!  It was a 4 kg washer, which is a bit over 8 lbs., and the shortest cycle was 2 hours.  Dryers were pretty much non-existent.  With 2 toddlers and soon to be newborn, you can just imagine!

Anyway, as we were doing all the running around with the kind missionary who helped us settle in, we stopped to eat.  Lyndee's head was just beginning to look better and her eyes were beginning to get that yellow brown around them that says they are healling.  She needed to visit the little girl's room, and just as we were going in, a very tall, very thin woman slammed out, pushing the door forcefully, and whacking Lyndee right in the forehead...on the same spot!  Instantly, the knot popped back out and the swelling started up all over again!  Lyndee cried very briefly, then looked at me with disgust!  She said, "That lady was tall as a tree and she hit my head!  Why did that tree lady hit my head?"  I felt myself turning red, and then I remembered!  No one understood what she was saying! YES! 

We had many more crazy adventures as we began our new life...some fun, some, not so fun!  One of these days, I will tell you about the American football game we went all the way across Paris to see!  Until the next time...happy trails to you!