What's new chez moi

Just some random updates and little tidbits on things that are going on around here:

 

- We bought a car Tuesday!  A 2009 Renault Twingo.  She’s everything we wanted in our new car and more:  not too old, low gas mileage, a small citadine but feels relatively spacious on the inside, a decent sized trunk, great gas consumption, keyless entry, power windows, AC, a CD player with an auxiliary hookup for my MP3 player (our old car was cassette…how annoying!), room for four. Overall we can’t complain and we even managed to stay right on budget!

Lionel and our new wheels

 

- Last Monday (is it too late to mention this on my blog, with everything that’s been going on around here I just haven’t had the time) I had the opportunity to meet up with this wonderful blogger.  She just moved back to Bordeaux after spending the first half of the year in Denmark.  We met downtown and she showed me around a bit and then we grabbed dinner and drinks.  Good times were had and all in all it was a successful meet up which we hope to repeat when she gets back from some travels!

- I got a letter in the mail yesterday from the CFE de la CMA regarding my micro-entreprise.  My company is officially registered with the Répertoire des Métiers though I still don’t have my numéro SIRET.  Apparently that comes from another organization and I fear I could still be waiting awhile.  But at least things seem to be advancing finally!

- The word “kitchen” was spoken this weekend in reference to our renovations.  While there is still no actual date for purchasing/installing said kitchen, at least it hasn’t been forgotten.  My mother-in-law even acknowledged the fact that she realizes it has certainly been hard for us to live without a real kitchen for so long.  So maybe, just maybe, there is hope that I will have a kitchen by the end of September (fingers crossed).

- We went to Ikea last week and got a bookcase so I was finally able to organize and put away all of our important documents and files.  In addition we picked up some decorative items (cushions and the like) so at least our living room is starting to feel a tiny bit more like a home rather than a chaotic mess.  We also found an armoire for Lionel on leboncoin last week and cleaned out the entryway closet so we could hang our coats/scarves etc.  All of this means that we only have one suitcase and a few boxes that still haven’t been unpacked!  Three months after moving we are finally almost unpacked and all that is left is bathroom and kitchen stuff.

- I am still working on my naturalization file.  I should have my birth certificate and apostille as well as my parents’ birth certificates and apostilles before the end of the month.  Most of the other documents I need are French papers that should be pretty easy to get.  My only current hang up is my casier judiciare from the FBI.  I really regret not having looked into the naturalization thing before leaving the US because then I could have just stopped by my local police station and gotten my blank criminal record.  But I didn’t even think of it amid all the other stress and craziness and now I am paying the price.  I still haven’t found anywhere in the Bordeaux area to get my fingerprints taken to send to the FBI.  I really wish the US Embassy provided this service so that I could just go into the American Presence Post in Bordeaux and have it done.  I’m half tempted to take them myself, but I fear they will just be rejected.  My casier judiciare is really the only document causing me any issues and all because of this whole fingerprinting thing.  Every time we speak to a commissariat de police in the Bordeaux area they get really confused and then try to find a way to get rid of us.  Lionel called the préfecture de police in Bordeaux and the guy he spoke to took our number and said he would call us right back.  When he called back he claimed to have called his colleagues who process naturalization requests and that they assured him that I didn’t even need my casier judiciare. Supposedly they said I could submit my file without it and then France would take care of contacting the US regarding my criminal record.  I find that extremely hard to believe since normally it costs $18 to get your record from the FBI and I really don’t feel comfortable with the idea of going in with an incomplete file.  Why would they ask for it if they don’t expect you to show up with it?  I'm sure it's all lies and the guy just didn't want to deal with us.  Lionel, however, completely believes this nonsense and thinks we don’t even need to worry about it.  Such a foolish, foolish French man!  So if anyone has any suggestions on where I can get fingerprinted I would greatly appreciate it!

I think that is about it around here for the moment.  We have a busy weekend coming up and not much will get done on the renovations front.  Saturday afternoon we have some friends and their children coming over for a barbeque so Friday night I will be busy with preparations and then on Sunday we are going to Lionel’s cousin’s house for a birthday celebration for my father-in-law.  It should be a good weekend but at the same time I feel guilty because it will be another weekend where not much work will get done on the house…