C'est Moi, Sara Louise

Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk

2022-08-10T14:42:00.001-05:00

Don't cry over spilled milk. That's what they say. Little did I know that about an hour after I took this photo, I'd be crying over so much more...

(I wasn't sure if I could put it all out there or if I even should. But then I thought, you know what, I'm gonna do it. Maybe it'll be cathartic. Or maybe it would be a huge mistake that I will regret for all eternity. Who knows? Not me. But I know one thing, could've, would've, should've, so I'm doing it.)

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

It was a Monday morning in November 2016. I was still staying at my mother's house in Texas, and my husband was living and working in Dublin while we waited for his green card to come through.

After waking up, I did my usual, I texted good morning to my long-distance spouse, poured myself a cup of coffee (spilling a bunch of milk in the process), and settled into my morning routine of checking email and social media sites.

On Linkedin, I saw that my husband had commented on a post, and in that comment, he had tagged someone. It was a woman with a name that I didn't recognize. "Probably a work colleague," I thought.

I tried to move on with my morning, but that woman's name kept niggling at me. Who was she? Maybe she was a new work colleague. Probably a new work colleague. But, we usually talked about those things. At least I did anyway.

I let curiosity get the best of me and popped over to Facebook to search for her. I was curious if they were connected on there too or if we had any friends in common.

After typing her first name and then finishing her last, a bunch of accounts appeared. As I scrolled down the list, one, in particular, jumped out at me. I knew it was her immediately because there she was. A big bright selfie smile in her profile picture... alongside a smiling photo of my husband.

There he was. My husband was in another woman's Facebook profile picture.

P.S. I'm still trying to figure out how to tell the tale of the past six years or so of my life. It'll be a jimble jumble jumping around mess, I'm sure, but I need to tell it. I need to get it out. Bear with me.

Do You Like Rugby?

2022-08-02T12:32:00.002-05:00

Do you like rugby?

That's the question I messaged a boy (OK, a man) I spotted on a dating app.

"Do you like rugby?"

Because that man is a Kiwi, I figured it would get his attention. And you know what? It did.

And when I told one of my cousins what I did, she said, "You mentioned rugby to a Kiwi? That's basically the equivalent of sending a nude pic. Well done you.")

Well done me indeed.

No More Vacations

2022-07-22T12:28:00.002-05:00

If you've followed me on Instagram over the years, you know that pre-pandemic, I traveled quite a bit. Back and forth from Texas to Dublin, London, and Copenhagen I would go.

I'm sure it looked fun, I'm sure it looked fabulous, but it wasn't, really. These were me trying to hold my marriage together trips, not fun, fabulous trips.

I'd bounce around rolling my carry-on, smile plastered on my face hoping for the best. These were not vacations. (But of course, there are a few amusing anecdotes I'm sure I'll be pulling out in the future. Stay tuned...)

But, this summer, I, Sara Louise, was finally going on vacation — an actual holiday to a new destination. I was going to Maine, a state so perfectly poised for vacationing that their license plates have "Vacationland" stamped on them. (And let's not forget the lobstah rolls.)

My Auntie Ilene, who you may recall, had invited me to her summer cottage on a bay in Maine. How perfectly charming does that sound?

You know what doesn't sound perfectly charming, SHINGLES. Yes, shingles. I got Shingles right before I was due to leave. My body went into such shock at the thought of relaxation that it revolted with a stinging, burning, aching rash. But, with an OK from my doc and an "if you still feel up to it" from Auntie Ilene, I deposited Fifty at camp and hit the road north to Vacationland because if you're going to suffer with Shingles, you might as well do it while sitting on the dock of the bay.

And that's what I did, I sat on the (floating) dock of the (Linekin) bay. (I did some other stuff, too, but if you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you already know that.)

Meanwhile, at camp... Fifty caught Kennel Cough. KENNEL COUGH!

I caught Shingles; he caught Kennel Cough. And there you have it. No more vacations for us. The end.

P.S. Fifty is on the mend and getting stronger every day. Thank you for your positive thoughts and messages of support they meant the world to Fifty and me.

Moving On

2022-07-06T13:58:00.002-05:00

"You can spend minutes, hours, days, weeks, or even months over-analyzing a situation; trying to put the pieces together, justifying what could've, would've happened... or you can just leave the pieces on the floor and move the fuck on." - Tupac Shakur

And that's what I did; I moved the f**k on.

Sidebar: I may go into detail later about what happened and how everything fell apart, but not now. For now, trust me when I say that I am better off, and believe me when I say as far as my marriage went, I gave it my all and left everything on the field. EVERYTHING.

❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

I don't like road trips. And yet, one year, one month, and four days ago, I found myself driving almost 2,000 miles from my mother's house in Texas to my friend's home in my old hometown in New York.

Fifty and I were embarking on the next chapter. And the next chapter meant staying at my friend's while I attempted to put my life back together and figure out what I wanted my future to look like. The world was my oyster. (If by oyster, you mean a skint bank account and no real idea what I'm doing.)

Somehow, after years of torture waiting for life to begin, to finally kick into gear, first because of visa delays and then because of BS excuses and lies delays, life had become a fresh notebook. Blank pages were waiting for me to fill them up with new chapters.

Care to read them?

13 Going on 30 (something or other)

2019-03-01T14:00:00.001-06:00

I did something crazy.

I, an adult woman, got braces.

Not Invisalign. Braces.

It’s been on the list for a long time but due to life and whatnot (y’all know about all the whatnot), it kept getting pushed further and further down that list.

(Except, I will say that a few years back in The LPV I did go to get them but ended up needing a root canal and left the office over €1000 lighter and there went the braces. But in hindsight, I’m glad that l’orthodontiste didn’t put braces on me because maisongarçon (French for homeboy obvs) jacked it all up, caused a massive infection, which led to bone loss, and then oral surgery a couple of years ago to fix it. Merci fils de pute! (Don’t try to translate that last bit… it’s naughty.)

Anyway, a few weeks ago, I decided enough is enough; I’m getting them and I’ll make life work around me for once. (This is when my theme song should begin to play btw.)

(Note to self: pick a theme song)

So, now I have braces and there still very new and I’m still getting used to them and the fact that I can’t get my Olivia Pope on with my popcorn and I have to forgo my beloved gummy bears, but I’ll get used to it. And get used to the fact that I’m a grumble-grumble-inaudible aged woman with braces.

But I will say this, a big part of all the nervousness about being an adult with brace-face disappeared as soon as my shamazing orthodontist said this in response to my embarrassment about being seen with them:

“They’ll see a grown woman taking care of herself.”

To my orthodontist I say, PREACH QUEEN.

And that's that. I'm doing me right now.

What’s new with you? (I genuinely want to know.)

Are you letting life work you over, or are you making it work for you? (That should probably be werk).

Signed,

Your Brace-Face

F i n a l l y

2018-11-09T07:13:00.001-06:00

Something amazing is happening this weekend.

(No, not me blogging twice in one week even though that is fairly spectacular.)

I'm moving.

After four and a half years of living like a gypsy, splitting my time between Dublin, London, Copenhagen (I kept that one close to the chest), and my mother's in Texas, I finally get to be still.

I know that the thought of unpacking box upon box is horrible to some, but for me, I'm elated! After four and half years, I'm unpacking kitchen boxes into MY kitchen, putting books on shelves in MY living room, and hanging clothes in MY closet.

I could go on and on and wax-poetic about all of the feelings I'm feeling but I don't have that kind of time.

Because I'm moving.

Finally.

Confession

2018-11-06T12:16:00.001-06:00

Confession: I miss blogging.

Bigger Confession: It’s difficult to blog when life hasn’t been going swimmingly and you’re not sure what to say, and what you actually should say, or more importantly, what you should not say.

I will say this though. I love my husband. He loves me. But unfortunately life isn’t always that simple. I’m in Texas and he isn’t, for far too many reasons and complications to list here. (Really, it’s been ALL THE DRAMA. ALL OF IT).

And truthfully, I would have returned to this space sooner if it wasn’t for the perpetual state of limbo that I find myself in. Because although we got the spousal visa, my happily-ever-after has still not arrived, and honestly, it might not. I may have to consider a different happy ending. One that looks very different than originally hoped for.

I’m here and he’s not, but I want to be back here-here, as in blogging here.

And there it is.

So, I’m going to try and come back, and I’m not totally sure what I’ll even be blogging about or how often, but I’m pretty-please asking if you can hold off on any personal questions. Just know that I’m good and whatever will be, will be. C’est la vie.

À bientôt mes amis [ kiss emojis ].

P.S. Fifty’s good too. He said to say hi.

Well Your Faith Was Strong But You Needed Proof

2018-02-28T11:35:00.001-06:00

On the last mail day of 2017 (or post day if you're so inclined), this finally happened.

It only took 1501 days.

And it only took me 59 days to tell you about it (but in fairness, I did tell Facebook).

Here's another fun number...

It's been 473 days since I've popped in here, hopefully it won't take me 473 to pop in again.

Tu me manques.

Summer Vacation Saves All

2015-08-23T08:03:00.001-05:00

You know, the one thing I've learned from this whole, horrendous, drawn out visa process, is that focusing on the positive is imperative. I've always been a glass-half full kind of gal anyway, but now, I'm a glass three quarters full, because let's face it if I wasn't, I'd probably be locked away in the loony bin somewhere. That said, while Gregory's visa denial was beyond dreadful, the timing, was actually pretty good.

(Since I mentioned it, I feel like now is a good time to drop this fun fact on y'all - while Gregory was notified of his visa denial when the embassy returned his unstamped passport to him, I still have yet to be. That's right, I'm the petitioner, and as such should have received notification, but someone cocked up and I still haven't gotten a letter or email to let me know. Way to go America, way to go. My lawyer is on it.)

We got the bad news three days before I was due to fly to Dublin to kick off our summer vacation. You're probably wondering how that could possibly be good timing but here it is; we had a couple of days to process the news, and make a plan (of course that initial plan was defunct about 312 plans ago, but still, we had a plan), and for the shock to wear off, so by the time I was on a plane that Saturday morning in May, we were ready to focus on us, and fun, and to enjoy ourselves. All talk of visas, waiting times, separations, or oh my God what are we going to do, was banned.

So I set off from San Antonio for a few days with my family in Dublin, before reuniting with Gregory in France to return to my old stomping grounds, and my French crew for a three week break from the bull$@*#. There would be laughter, and joy, and South of France sunshine, and goats cheese salads, and Zara, and by God, there would be Rosé.

The Unexpected

2015-08-12T08:45:00.001-05:00

{this will be me, a lot}

I've been thinking about writing this post for awhile, like, a long while, but I was waiting for things to settle down a bit and for us to have an actual plan in place, and now we do.

So here's the deal; Gregory didn't get his green card, as in denied, denied, denied. That's right kids, D E N I E D. Feel free to take a moment to shout expletives, I know I did. This is what went down and why.

Way back in 2003, Gregory was working as a bouncer at a club. There was a drunk guy who was harassing other patrons and Gregory asked him to leave. He wouldn't and his behavior escalated, shouting abuse at Gregory and the people standing in line waiting to get in. Gregory's boss urged Gregory to get him to go. After many verbal attempts, with zero success, Gregory shoved the guy. The guy fell, got up, and left. That's it.

But then, for what I can only guess was an attempt to get money, the guy brought charges against Gregory and the club. As you can imagine, they were quite surprised. But then, the drunk guy came to his senses and decided not to show up to court, and his lawyer stated that he wanted to drop the charges because he knew he was drunk and at fault. But here's the kicker, Gregory was in court already, so the judge said to Gregory that while he was only doing his job, he was young and needed to learn how to do it better, and he gave him 100 hours of community service. And that was that.

Fast forward nine years to life in Le Petit Village. Remember this post when I said that some stuff had gone down and we needed to get away for a bit? Well here's why... At the village festival, which also happened to be Gregory's birthday, there was an incident.

It was the end of the evening, and the village square which had been closed to traffic had just been reopened, but people were still milling about. A car came speeding through, almost hitting Gregory and his friends. Gregory hit his hand on the hood of the car and then waved his hand in a 'slow down' motion (I know this because I was across the street and saw the whole thing). The driver shouted, "go eff yourself," but in French and not as polite as that. I'm sorry to say that Gregory did not react very gentlemanly like to that, and a fight ensued.

It was a mess, but it was a fight, a dumb, boys being boys fight. Our evening came to end and we all moved on, or so I thought.

A week later, the police showed up at our door to question Gregory because check this out... the guy who Gregory got into a fight with pressed charges and said that it was a racially motivated attack. W H A T ? ! This guy said that he was innocently driving through the village and big Aryan looking Gregory saw him and ran after the car with a baseball bat (where did the bat come from???) shouting for the [insert racially charged words] to get the [insert bad words] out of his village.

That didn't happen.

The case went to court, the racist charges were dropped because the judge wasn't an idiot and saw through that one, and then he ruled that it was a mutual altercation, as in a fight, that's it, not assault, certainly not a hate crime, but a fight, between a couple of idiots. And that was that.

Or so I thought, because Gregory's Green Card was denied on the basis of Moral Turpitude.

P O P P Y C O C K! I wrote to the Embassy and requested another interview because surely they were misinterpreting the court records but get this, the consular officer told me that it's not what happened, or what the outcome was, it's that the charges that were brought against Gregory, COULD have resulted in bigger convictions. Feel free to take a moment to shout expletives, I know I did.

So here we are now, beginning the fun-filled waiver process. The process is expected to take six to seven months, and in the meantime, I'm in Texas, and Gregory is in Dublin (he's working there at the moment and long story short - it makes more financial sense for him to be there right now instead of France).

But here's the kicker, when Gregory's Green Card was denied, his ESTA was revoked (for those who don't know, and ESTA is the visa waiver that people in numerous countries use to travel to the U.S.) so he can't even enter the U.S.! That's right, Gregory has become persona non grata on U.S. soil because he shoved a guy in 2003 and got into a fight in 2012. Feel free to take a moment to shout expletives, I know I did.

#$@&%*! #$@&%*! #$@&%*!

I'm sorry for taking so long to tell you guys what's been going on, but I just haven't had it in me. These past few months have been rough with a capital R. But I do miss y'all, and I think about you often, and maybe now that I've broken the ice again, I might make it back here from time to time.

P.S. Fifty says hi.

encore

2015-04-07T18:11:00.001-05:00

Here I am again, alone after saying goodbye to Gregory. (Well not technically alone... I do live at my mother's house after all, and of course there's Fifty too). But unlike the last few goodbyes, this time we can truly say that the end is near. (Please, please, please, oh pretty please!)

So this is where we're at... Gregory flew to Dublin today and will arrive early tomorrow morning. After a night out with my brother, he'll fly on to Marseille Thursday morning. (There is a logic to this Dublin trip, trust me.)

Once he gets to France he'll check in with the crew; The Croupier, Honey Jr, a very pregnant Honey's Honey, and of course, his Bumder. Then in a few weeks, the big show... the Green Card interview in Paris... DUN DUN DUN! (I felt like that required a DUN DUN DUN.)

All going well (please, please, please, oh pretty please), he'll have his Green Card by the end of the month. Can you believe it? I mean really, can you? It's been like a million, zillion, years (not really, but seventeen months is an awful long time when you're thinking it's going to be like, nine).

OK, then it's May and Gregory is going to stay put in France tying up loose ends and what not and at the end of the month, I'm going to fly to Dublin (Dublin again... stay with me). On my second night in the Fair City, I'll be meeting my Auntie Ilene (who if you remember is not my real Aunt but an awesome honorary one) and her cohorts for dinner and to give them a quick tour of my old stomping grounds since they'll be visiting for a few days. And then, the next morning, bright and early, I'll be flying to France and finally meeting up with Gregory (it will only be seven weeks apart this time, we can do seven weeks on our heads).

So we'll have one week together in France vacationing and celebrating. I'm thinking a nice stroll around Aix with the obligatory glass of pink, a quick trip to Avignon because I love it so, lunch at Bonaparte's in Cassis, Toulon to meet up with my old sidekick, Mrs. London, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and Les Baux-de-Provence because why not, and of course Le Petit Village. Sounds like a plan. (ATTN: France, you might want to stock up on the Rosé).

After a week living it up à la Française, we'll be flying together to Dublin (there it is) and spending a few days hanging out with my family and catching up with friends before returning to the U.S. together to begin (finally begin) our American life together.

So that's where we're at. Still not there yet, but almost. Please, please, please, oh pretty please!

What about you? Where are you at?

ALL the good juju

2015-03-14T07:20:00.000-05:00

It happened guys, it finally happen... WE HAVE A DATE FOR GREGORY'S GREEN CARD INTERVIEW! Cue singing: Hallelujah Hallelujah Ha-ll-e-lu-jah.

I have been dreaming of this moment for so long and in my head it went like this: I would reach my hand into the mailbox and pull out a letter from the NVC, I'd open the letter, and immediately start shrieking with joy and doing a happy dance before running into the house where the celebratory joy would continue. There would be laughter and cheerful tears and hugs.

This is what actually happened: the other afternoon I checked my email and there was one from the NVC (which honestly usually makes me panic now more than happy... it's a Pavlov's response kind of thing at this point), I held my breath before clicking it open. After scrolling through the standard blah blah who cares that they write in all of their letters, I finally got to the important part... Gregory's interview had been scheduled!

There was no jumping up and down, no shrieking, no celebratory dancing, instead, Gregory and I just kept looking at the email in a state of shock. Sure we were excited (are excited), but we've been waiting so long that we couldn't believe it. We just kind of sat there, staring at the email. (Way to go NVC, you've broken us, clearly we no longer have the ability to feel joy).

Bottom line though, we have an interview date! Cue golden trumpets. And bonus, it's much earlier than we thought it would be, as in it's next month. Next month! Can you believe it? We can't. It's almost over! Oh my goodness, it's almost over!

Now, I know that this is going to sound a little nutty, but you guys know I'm a little nutty so indulge me please, I don't want to say the exact date in case of some weird jinxy-ju thing happening. But, it is in April, and I would appreciate it if you guys could start throwing some good juju our way in a few weeks. Every bit helps you know, so give me your juju please. Thank you. I love you guys. Cue the virtual hugs.

But listen to this coincidence... because nothing in my life is ever straightforward, and the universe does like to give me the occasional spanking every now and then just to keep me on my toes... the interview date has been scheduled on the very same day that Gregory was going to be flying home. The very same day... what are the odds? HA, thanks universe, you're so funny! No worries, we'll just buy another plane ticket because that's what we do, we buy plane tickets. Cue my wallet weeping.

Did you know?

2015-03-06T07:53:00.000-06:00

Did you know that I started a new job? I did, and I love it; love it, love it, love it. But did you know that sometimes when you start a new job that you love, it can kind of consume you. It's true, not in a bad way, but in a good way, and when your brain is thinking of all of this amazing new job stuff, you're not thinking about other stuff, like oh I don't know... blogging. Oops.

Did you know that I'm blonde now? Not blonde-blonde, but kind of sort of blonde, and it's long, a bit too long, so I'm thinking of cutting it like that girl in that show, Allegiance. (Speaking of Allegiance, I haven't made my mind up about it yet, have you?)

Did you know that Broadchurch is an awesome show? Not the American one, the English one. (In fairness, I've never seen the American one so I can't say if it's awesome or not, but why would I watch the American one anyway, if I watch the English one? Same show, different accents. Dumb.)

Did you know that I celebrated my birthday for the first in America in like, eleven years? I did last month, and I celebrated with a Raclette. Of course I did.

Did you know that they make Red Velvet ice cream? They do, and it's delicious! I can pretty much kiss bikini season goodbye for like ever (but who am I kidding, at my age it should really be maillot season anyway).

Did you know that they're making Rosé in the Texas Hill Country now? They are, and it's pretty darn good. It's not exactly the same as South of France Rosé, but it's tasty none the less. Santé y'all!

Did you know that Honey Jr and Honey's Honey's little Baby Honey is due next month? It's true. We're all more than a little excited about this arrival. Cannot wait to see that little honey face!

Did you know that Gregory has been here for three weeks? Three weeks. I can't tell if it flew by or not. When he gets here, we snap back into married life routine right quick, except we're not in our own home with our own stuff and that blows. Boo.

Did you know that our five year wedding anniversary is in two weeks? Now that did fly by!

Did you know that we're do for a Green Card update from the National Visa Center this week? We are, but the week is almost over so.... HURRY THE EFF UP NVC! Please and thank you.

Did you know that as of this week I've been back in the U.S. for exactly one year? I'm not going to delve into the thoughts I have about the fact that it's been a year and where I thought we'd be by now, verse where we actually are because I'm choosing to focus on the positive, but #$@%*! And breathe.

Did you know that I miss you? I do, every single one of you.

boom

2015-02-17T07:14:00.002-06:00

Something strange happened last week, a house behind mine blew up. IT BLEW UP, like BOOM.

It was late Tuesday morning and I was busying myself with work and getting ready for Gregory's arrival the next day. I walked into the laundry room and turned on the washing machine, and as I stood there measuring out the detergent, a loud bang rumbled through the house shaking me and the room. I steadied myself to catch my breath. I had no idea what had happened, but whatever it was, I had felt it through me.

A couple of seconds later and I was running down the stairs, I was sure a large truck had caused the bang by ramming into the front of the house. But thankfully no, the house was intact, and my mother and Fifty were OK. Pulling on my shoes, I ran outside and looked around. From behind house a few doors down, I could see a large cloud of black smoke began to billow into the sky.

It wasn't a normal house fire, it had been an explosion.

The next few minutes were manic; a few of my neighbors came out onto the street and the police arrived, and then miraculously, the survivor of the explosion made his way onto our street. He was walking and lucid but a reddish-black color and his clothes had been blown off of him and were hanging in shreds. He said that all he had done was turn his television on. GAS!

The police said that those of us on my side of the street needed to clear out. Another woman and I made our way down the street banging on doors urging people to leave their homes, no answer, no answer, no answer. And as I ran back into my house to grab Fifty, I was terrified and holding my breath.

Soon police were positioned in our neighborhood blocking off entrances and sirens were heard all over. The smoke cloud changed from black to white, and we were allowed to return home.

It had only been an hour. How had it only been an hour? In only one hour, a house directly behind mine and only three doors down had exploded so ferociously, that it blew out the windows of one house next door, and completely destroyed the other, the police had come, the ambulance had come, Air Life had flown in, the gas company had come (THANKFULLY), and then we were back inside to carry on our day.

And we're all OK; the poor man is doing well, recovering in the hospital with burns covering 80% of his body, Fifty is fine, Gregory arrived, and other than randomly panicking because I constantly think I smell gas, I'm alright.

So here it is, you never know what a day will bring so use them wisely. Use them wisely.

le deuxième

2015-02-03T11:12:00.002-06:00

// Did you know crayons can burn like a candle for twenty minutes? Yeah, me either. But apparently they do and in case of some blackout emergency, you can use crayons to replace candles in a pinch. My mother informed me of this the other day and after she told me, I said, "but we don't have crayons", so she said, "maybe you should buy some", and then I said, "maybe I should just buy candles." These are the conversations you have when you move back home as an adult.

// Back in December I saw Night At The Museum 3. It was cute, and sweet, and funny, and at the end when it was Robin William's last scene as Teddy Roosevelt, I bawled like a baby. Tears upon tears rolled down my face like I was a distressed infant #ohcaptainmycaptain

// At the movie theater, there were all of these empty seats around us, like loads of them. But guess where a family of five chose to sit? You guessed it, all up in my grill, as in the seat right next to mine. Who does that?! Why do people do this?! Those people bug. I don't like those people.

// My friend Amy is having a baby next month. It's a boy and we're all completely over the moon. She hasn't picked out a name yet but I'm doing everything in my power to get her to name him Fraser, as in Jamie Fraser. She totally should, shouldn't she? Of course she should.

// Is anybody on Poshmark? I am. Just thought I should tell someone.

// There's this viagra commercial on TV here with a Cindy Crawford ripoff in a blue dress who just walks around this empty house brushing her hair and staring at herself in the mirror or out the windows. It's weird and it totally skeeves me out. Does it skeeve you out too? Please say it's not only me.

// Confession: I don't like Target. There, I said it. (Pretty please don't tell the Blogger Police I said that.)

// Tomorrow's my birthday (aka: International Day of Awesomeness), and despite Gregory's and my best efforts, he will not be here for it. Unfortunately he has something in France that he simply cannot get out of on the 10th, but, he will be here on the 11th, so yay. That also means that I get to stretch out my celebrations to another week. Yay, again.

// At a party a few weeks back, an old school chum said how much she envied myself and another friend because we chose a different path, that, traveling/ expat/ gypsy path, and she wishes that she had gotten to experience all of the things that we did. I smiled and told her that yes, experiencing different cultures was wonderful, and I wouldn't trade my life choices for anything, but (and this is a big ol' but), it's a trade off, and I pointed to her kids running around the backyard and the beautiful home that she and her husband have made. You see, we don't have that, we have experiences, and they've been amazing, but, we don't have anything concrete, and as another birthday looms, I can honestly say that that blows (RE: HURRY THE EFF UP NVC). So I'm really, really looking forward to Gregory getting here permanently so we can start to pour some foundation and build something concrete.

The First Raclette

2015-01-31T06:56:00.000-06:00

For those of you who have been with me for awhile, I'm sure you're looking at the title of this post and are all like, "first Raclette, my hiney the first Raclette!" And you would be right, because heaven knows, I've been around the Raclette block more than once. But this post is about the first Raclette in Texas, ours anyway.

It all started a couple of months before Christmas, when I knew that without a doubt, I'd be getting Gregory a Raclette for his present. It seemed like the perfect choice, December being prime Raclette season and all. Plus, it would bring Gregory a little bit of France to Texas, and I'm not going to lie, I wanted that little bit of cheesy France too... it was a win, win.

As the holidays approached and Christmas meal plans came together, I decided that Gregory's opening of his Raclette grill on Christmas morning would only be the first part of his Christmas present, because the second part would be delicious Raclette for our Christmas dinner (I like to give the gift of food). My mother agreed (mostly because of the easy peasy nature of it all I'm sure) and that was that.

After Gregory arrived and the holiday grew closer, my anticipation and glee grew as well, and every time I'd here Gregory speak of the wonders of Raclette to our Texan friends, my heart would pound in excitement. (By the way, you'd be surprised at how often Gregory can work the word 'Raclette' into a conversation with people here, like the time he was scooping Queso onto a chip and he looked over at Miss Vicki and said, "have you had Raclette? You need Raclette. The next time I come I bring the Raclette." And Miss Vicki and I smiled at each other because we knew that the Raclette was coming.)

Then early one morning, a couple of days before Christmas, I ever so gently lifted the duvet, and slipped out of bed as quietly as possible trying my best not to wake up Gregory, because if he stirred he'd ask, "where do you go Skippy" and I didn't want to have to make something up because he'd insist on going with me anyway, and he couldn't because I was making a super stealth trip to the grocery story for Raclette supplies.

By 7:30, I was back home, wrapping meats and cheese in tin foil and hiding the delectable parcels at the bottom of the vegetable crisper because of course he wouldn't look there, and saying that the breakfast taco line at Mary's Tacos was so long and that's where I had been for the past hour. My cheesy plan was coming together and Gregory was none the wiser!

Finally Christmas morning arrived and I was so excited and Gregory opened his present (which had been hiding at the back of the tree because Gregory cannot be trusted to not shake things and guess wildly) and then he was excited too and Fifty was excited because we were excited and we were all excited! And when I told Gregory that part two of his present was that we were having Raclette for Christmas dinner it was practically pandemonium!

I was happy, Gregory was happy, my mother was happy (Raclette for Christmas dinner means she didn't have to cook again, and since we do our fancy pants Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve every year, we've decided that going forward, Christmas day will be all about Raclette... that grill is the gift that keeps on giving), and we were all so happy that we had Raclette, like three times, in one week. So technically this post could have been called, The First, Second, and Third Raclette. The end.

like whoa

2015-01-19T18:52:00.001-06:00

Well, that was a busy couple of weeks.

It was almost two weeks ago that Gregory left, and since he did, I've been a spinning top, whirling about here and there, trying to do this and that.

First off, Fifty got sick. Somehow he managed to get something stuck in his poor paw and it caused an abscess and the abscess got infected and the infection made him sick and his nose dry and him miserable. He's been on antibiotics and is well on his way to being at 100% Fifty power again, so that's good.

Then, last week my mother had a big birthday. The kind of birthday that can't be ignored and demands something spectacular be done, so I decided to throw a party for her which I had been planning and pinning for weeks. And even though I was sure it would be fantastic, something more had to be done, I had to go bigger, and I did, with a surprise.

On Thursday night, while my mother sat sipping her birthday Margarita at her favorite Tex-Mex joint, and waiting for a couple of her close friends to join us, in walked her surprise... my brother, who hasn't set foot on Texas soil for twelve years managed to sneak in and sit down in her seat while she was standing up greeting her friends. Unbeknown to her, I had flown my brother in from Dublin earlier that day and managed to pull off the surprise of the century. To say she was shocked is an understatement of epic proportions. (I'm expecting to collect my Daughter of the Year Award any moment now).

So my brother is here and that's swell especially since he was able to be my sous chef on Saturday while I chopped and mixed in preparation for my mother's party. (BTW... I made a batch of these nuts to scatter about, and they're pretty much the most delicious things ever. You're gonna want to make them post haste!)

The party was grand and everyone had a wonderful time and when it was all over on Saturday night, I crashed into bed exhausted and with the most pitiful, swollen pair of tootsies. (Of course I miss Gregory, but I'm missing his foot rubs something fierce.)

And what else, let's see... oh yeah, work has been non-stop, like NON-STOP. You know how sometimes work just is work, and other times it's like whoa, yeah, it's been like whoa.

So yeah, it's been a bit hectic around here, but it's time to get back into the swing of things, so I'm making a pledge to myself that I will be back here at least once a week for a bit, and then twice, until I get back up to thrice. Baby steps people, baby steps.

There are still loads of tales to tell, stories that you've missed out on, gaps to fill. So don't be surprised if you click into here one cold miserable day in February and find yourself transported to a hot summer day in Texas, or sipping Rosé under a perfectly blue Mediterranean sky, or it could just be me, telling you about now. Who knows. Lets just stay in touch and see what happens. I miss y'all.

60 days, blah, blah, bupkis

2015-01-07T10:26:00.003-06:00

Bonne Année tout le monde! Seven days into 2015 already... file that under 'mind blown'.

So Gregory is on his way back to France this morning after the fastest four weeks in history. It was a whirlwind of a visit, but a truly wonderful one.

Now it's time for us to get back to gloomy, January, reality with a Gregory Green Card update.

Here's the deal... the good news; the NVC (that's National Visa Center for those of you lucky enough to not be in the know) finally got back to us after our last 60 day wait (it took 64 days to be exact) and asked us for Gregory's civil documents that are the last step before his interview at the embassy in Paris (please, please, please let this be it). Since Gregory was here and some of the documents we needed were back in France, we had to wait a week for his mother to send them to us before we could send them to the NVC, but we did manage to get them off before the end of the year. Go us.

Now for the bad news, as we were sending the documents off to the NVC, (instead of Gregory just bringing them to the embassy in Paris for the interview as we thought would happen), we just knew that we would be waiting forever again, and sure enough, yesterday morning I woke up to another dreaded, 'please wait 60 days' blah blah blah, putain merde' letter (those last two words are very naughty and should be ignored, forgive me).

So yeah, we are still stuck waiting in 'the process'. That's what my Congressman's office calls it, 'a process', and they say that, 'the process takes time'... process my hiney! Sending out three letters; one after another, basically stating that 'we're too busy' and 'you're going to have to wait two months before we even look at your file' is not part of a process, it's inefficiency, so lets all stop pretending.

And here's the problem with 'the process', When you're in it, you have no idea how long it's going to take, and there's no one that can tell you. But one the one thing I do know is that it used to take a lot less time. I have friends whose spouses got their Green Cards in less than six months! Sure that was like five years ago, but c'mon! It's already been over thirteen months for us, and I can predict we're looking at at least another three, when we thought it would take like, 9 months, tops. Trust me, if we had any idea how long it would drag out (keeping in mind that it took four months for the processing of one form), I would still be hanging out in Le Petit Village, throwing back the Rosé and nibbling on baguettes instead of being roomies with my mother (my poor, poor mother), and I wouldn't have just said goodbye to my husband... again!

Alors, here's the deal, I, Sara Louise, am taking a stance. I refuse to let my life be ruled by the NVC any longer. Gregory and I spent six months of 2014 apart because of their inefficiency and that's not OK, that's not OK at all. So we've made a decision, Gregory will be returning to Texas in four weeks. He will be here for my birthday, he will be here for Valentine's Day, he will be here for our fifth wedding anniversary, and he will stay until his interview at the embassy in Paris is scheduled, or his three months tourist visa is up, whichever comes first. He won't be able to work while he's here, so we'll be broke, but so be it. At least we'll be broke and together. Amen.

The Whipping Father

2014-12-24T07:27:00.002-06:00

Not Le Père Fouettard, but Fifty, in his reindeer antlers. He hates me.

Bonjour, la veille de Noël, we meet again.

How in the name of all that's Christmas is it December 24th again? If it wasn't for the big move and the whole Green Card brouhahah, I swear, it feels like I was just in Toulon for Christmas Eve last year, like a couple of days ago. (That was a good one, remember? Except for the BB gun part of course. Stupid boys.)

So yeah, Christmas Eve snuck up on me, but even though it's here, and the big show is only a day away (and closing in quickly down under, g'day Aussie friends), there was no way I was going to let it pass without my annual re-telling of the tale of Père Noël's (that's French Santa by the way), evil sidekick, Le Père Fouettard.

You know, now that I'm safely ensconced back in the States, I feel like I'm out of Le Père Fouettard's evil grasp. But since there's a Frenchman and a French dog in my house, what if that means he can still get me? Like, he can sense the Frenchness in my Texas home and find his way here. I'm sure if he looks closely, he can follow the baguette crumbs Gregory dropped along his way. Damn you Gregory! Oh well, I guess I have to make sure to stay on the nice list for another year. Yawn.

Originally titled: Nothing Says Christmas Like A Flogging and posted, December 15, 2009.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

OK, this is weird.

I was doing a little reading about French Christmas traditions. I figure since I'm here, I might as well find out the happenings of my favorite holiday, French style. And there is absolutely no use asking Gregory, he is useless at relaying this kind of information.

Anyhoo...

In France, Santa Clause is Père Noël, nothing strange there, but Père Noël has a partner, and it's not Rudolph. It's an evil man named...dun dun dun....

Le Père Fouettard
(Sounds a bit scary doesn't it, thought it needed that dun dun dun.)

According to my sources, the ever reliable Wikipedia, Le Père Fouettard was a guy who kidnapped three little boys, robbed them, killed them, and then chopped them up and put them in a stew.

Holy Reindeer Droppings! How the Fudge does this guy end up having anything to do with Sugar Plums and Mistletoe?

Apparently, Jolly Ol' St. Nick some how discovered the crime (maybe when Le Père Fouettard's name was flashing in red lights all over the naughty list) and magically resurrected the children (nice tie in to J.C. there - it is his birthday after all). Le Père Fouettard ends up feeling bad and becomes St. Nick's partner and goes around with him on Christmas.

But get this, Le Père Fouettard doesn't become all full of holiday cheer like Ebeneezer Scrooge, he's still sinister, so instead of handing out pressies, he punishes all the naughty children instead. Usually with a good old fashioned flogging.

Nothing says Christmas like a flogging.

Safe to say, I'm usually a well behaved girl, but after reading about you know who (don't want to type his name again in case it has some sort of Beetlejuice effect) I'm going to be on my best behavior this holiday season.

Don't want you know who coming to town.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Very merry holiday wishes and Christmas kisses to you and yours!

Joyeux Noël et Bonne Fête!

one week

2014-12-17T08:30:00.000-06:00

Here we are, one week into Gregory's winter visit already and I have to say, it feels like he never left. We morphed back into real, normal, life right quick, but I'm pretty sure that the rotten colds we had helped that out some (key takeaway: mucus is not sexy).

As what could probably go down as some of the worst timing known to man, last Wednesday, as I drove to the airport to collect Gregory, a nasty, chesty thing began to wrap its slimy hooks around me, and when Gregory hugged me hello, he stepped back, scrunched up his face and said, "Skippy, you sick?"

Yes, Skippy was sick, and within 36 hours, Gregory would be too.

Our first few days together were spent drowning ourselves in Robitussin and binge watching Outlander (sadly, Champagne not included), but on Saturday night, we did manage to go out on a date. Although I use the term, 'night', loosely. We earlybirded it, as in 5:30 earlybird, and within four hours, we were snoring off our cold medicine.

And then Sunday came and Monday, and then yesterday, and now here we are, Wednesday and one week gone already. But it's nice, and life and all, and that's what I've been waiting for all these months.

Oh, and if you're wondering how Gregory's reunion with Fifty went, here's the clip. Gregory and I were both surprised by Fifty's initial reaction. I told Gregory that maybe next time, he should go easy on the cologne.

P.S. You'll have to excuse my horrible, shrieking voice, I was a tad emotional.

tis the season to be jolly

2014-12-08T06:33:00.002-06:00

Bonjour lundi!

This may be the first Monday, in the history of Mondays that I've ever been happy to see, and the reason for my happiness; Gregory will be here in only two more sleeps! I can hardly believe it! He's going to be here for four whole weeks, and while that isn't forever, it's a start.

Here's the thing though, yesterday, as I trimmed the tree, I started panicking a bit about my blog. I had planned on getting loads of posts written and scheduled before Gregory got here so I could spend as much time with him as possible and dutifully stick to my blog calendar and the Monday, Wednesday, Friday rhythm that I've had going on here since I came back in October. But decking the halls took much longer than expected (I'm not complaining, I love a good decking) and not a single word was written.

And then last night I thought to myself, calendar, schmalender, it's Christmastime for Santa's sake! I haven't seen my husband since July and I want to live in every single second of every minute of every hour, of every day of each of the four weeks he's here, and if that means I don't get a blog post, posted, then so be it, so I guess I'm taking another blogging break of sorts.

But since it's impossible for me to completely disappear from y'all lives (nobody gets off that easily), I'll be checking in on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram fairy regularly I'm sure, to splash bits of our holiday cheer about and I'd love it if you popped by to say hi. (I'm going to attempt to film the Fifty, Gregory reunion and you're not going to want to miss that!)

Before I go, I just have to say, thank you. Thank you, to all of you. The love, support, and friendship that you continue to give me is beyond measure. Really, and truly, you're the best blog buddies on the block and I am grateful for y'all. Oy vey! Listen me go on, I'm gonna get all verklempt.

Holiday wishes and kisses to you and yours from the three of us!

Joyeuses fêtes et bonne année!

Port Grimaud and Cavalaire-sur-Mer

2014-12-05T06:55:00.002-06:00

Cavalaire-sur-Mer

You know, there has been so much going on here lately what with Thanksgiving, Gregory's green card issues, and just life in general, that I still haven't gotten around to finishing up the tales of my trip back to France last July, so gather around kiddos, because that's what I aim to do today.

Let's drift off someplace else, shall we... take a deep breath, rid your ears of holiday music, your brain of Christmas to-dos, and let your mind wander to summertime in the south of France... can you hear the waves of the Mediterranean lap? Can you taste the rosé? Good, you're ready.

It was July, and I was already a week into my visit Unfortunately, even though I had been there for a week, I hadn't seen much of Gregory due to his busy work schedule, so as soon as he finally had a day off, we thought we should take advantage of it with a trip somewhere fun (he might have felt a tad guilty after hearing me rave about Sanary-sur-Mer).

I don't know whose idea it was, but we decided on lunch in Saint-Tropez, that famed port town of glamorous lore that I had never been too ("too crowded", Gregory would say). And since Saint-Tropez is only a hop, skip, and a jump from Cavalaire-sur-Mer, we thought we'd swing by there afterwards, say hi to The Croupier and see how much her baby had grown since we'd been gone.

We hopped in the car and left Toulon headed towards Saint-Tropez, but oddly, neither of us were paricularily excited... it started to dawn on us... Saint-Tropez in July, ugh... it seemed like a lot, the town would probably be packed to the gills with all that riff raff that likes to descend upon it every year to rub elbows with Jay-Z and Russian cagillionaires.

"I don't really want to go to Saint-Tropez" I whined.

"Me, either" Gregory replied.

Gregory and I proceeded to look at each other with whingy, scrunched up faces until he finally said, "I know where we can go." And that's how we ended up going to the quaint village of Port Grimaud, and more importantly, where I ended up eating the most delicious, pasta dish of my entire life.

There are no words that would do the pasta justice, every bite was a culinary delight, so much so, that months later, I'm still dreaming about it... fresh pasta and seafood with just the right amount of garlic and parsley. It was perfect in its simplicity. I WANT IT NOW.

After Limincellos and coffees, we strolled around the port before traveling down the road to meet up with The Croupier in Cavalaire-sur-Mer. The Croupier hadn't changed a bit, and the seaside town was still as lovely as ever, but this little cutie was much bigger than I had remembered.

It was the most gorgeous of days... the sun was glistening off the sea, my belly was full of delicious goodness, there was Limincello and rosé, and baby cuddles... it was heaven.

Now take another deep breath and come back to reality.

Meh.

heartbroken

2014-12-03T06:35:00.001-06:00

(This post is a follow up to 'Still Frustrated', which continued on from, 'Frustration')

Well that's that then.

After five weeks of trying everything I could to finally get my Congressman's office to request Gregory's Green Card be processed sooner rather than later (instead of merely checking on the status as they seemed to be content to do), I have failed.

This is the email I received from them yesterday:

Dear Sara,
Listed below is the email response we received. Unfortunately, the US Embassy in Paris denied the expedite request. We will continue to check on your case accordingly. As soon as we receive any information, it will be forwarded to you.
... ... ...
This is a follow up to your email dated November 24, 2014 concerning the immigrant visa petition filed by Sara Louise XXX on behalf of Gregory XXX with assigned case number XXX Per correspondence from your office, the National Visa Center (NVC) forwarded an expedite request to the U.S. Embassy in Paris, France. The response from the U.S. Embassy indicates that they are not willing to accept this case for expeditious processing.

And once again, I had allowed myself to get my hopes up when last week I was finally told that if I wrote a letter, detailing the hardship reason that we needed the visa expedited (and in fairness, I'd hardly call getting it finally processed after thirteen months 'expedited'), the visa center would send it on to the embassy in Paris for review.

Foolish me, I thought that my Congressman requesting this expedition on behalf of a constituent that's going broke because she and her husband live in two separate households in two separate countries would be reason enough. I guess not.

So here I am, broken, That's how I feel, broken and empty. There is nothing left for me to do. I am merely a tiny speck on the back of the NVC and they don't care. I have to wait 120 days for one set of documents to be reviewed and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. At least there are only 17 days of the second '60 day wait' left to go (but then again, that's day-days and not business days, so who knows... at this point I feel like the process is never going to end).

On the bright side, I will see Gregory in a week or so when he comes to stay for Christmas, but on the dark side, he will have to go back afterwards and I don't even want to think about how we are going to feel when that day comes. I better start stocking up on waterproof mascara.

P.S. Here's a thought... how about before we focus on immigration reform for people who entered this country illegally, why don't we try and address the problems within the process, for those who are trying to do it legally, because receiving two back-to-back '60 day wait' letters, is inefficiency at its finest.

Behind The Photos XIX

2014-12-01T08:21:00.000-06:00

Today's edition of Behind The Photos picks up a couple of weeks where the last one left off... Gregory and I had celebrated our first wedding anniversary in Lyon, and sadly, the day after we returned home, my father passed away. So we went to the States for a couple of weeks, but when we came back, not only had spring arrived in Le Petit Village, but so had La Petite.

Having this bundle of cuteness to to hold and cuddle after saying goodbye to my dad was the best way to help me through the grieving process. Circle of life that is.

When winter would finally leave us, and spring would trinkle in, we would have apéro outside every chance we got. It was always just the handful of us, sitting outside the bar on haphazardly strewn chairs (i.e; practically in the middle of the road) enjoying the warming weather and the solitude before the tourists came. Looking at this photo is surreal for me now, it's only been eight months since I left The LPV, but this photo seems like a lifetime and a whole other world away. It's hard to believe that was my life.

This would be the highlight of our Friday night... a car would pull up and we'd see if whoever was inside had any ideas if there was anything going on or what we could all get up to. They usually didn't. It made me feel like I was seventeen years old again looking for a party.

And once it was warm enough, we couldn't wait to start barbecue season. Here's Brother-in-Law manning the grill with his father-in-law watching over him. And of course there's Gregory doing something ridiculous. I'm not sure what he's got in his hand but it looks suspiciously like a machete. Considering this next barbecue photo, that wouldn't surprise me at all...

This. I have no words for this. I remember taking the photo and I remember being every bit as confused about it then, as I am now.

Whenever I come across this photo in my album, it never fails to make me smile. There's Gregory with Child Bride's little sister, Wolf (that's her actual name, true story). Since she's Gregory's and my sister-in-law's sister, she's kind of like our little sister too, and Gregory teases her as such. Like here for example, when he not only stole her bracelets, but her chocolate cake too. If you ever wanted to know who would steal candy from a baby, well now you do, Gregory would.

recently

2014-11-28T10:08:00.001-06:00

// It finally happened! After eleven years, I finally got my real American Thanksgiving, and it was every bit as wonderful as I knew it would be. I can't wait to do with again next year with Gregory stuffing himself with turkey next to me.

// Have you seen Mockingjay yet? I saw it last week and like Thanksgiving, I want a do over. Loved, loved, loved it.

// This is how ridiculous I am sometimes; I was talking to my mother and saying how I needed some good curry powder and red and green curry pastes and she told me that there are few good Asian markets in San Antonio. I said, "Ugh, I don't want to drive all the way into San Antonio. When you're in Dublin, can you pop into the Asian store on Abbey Street and pick me up some?" Because only in my mind, does it make more sense for my mother to pick me up some when she's in Dublin, than for me to drive down the road and get some.

// So my mother is going to Dublin for a week tomorrow, and ever since Fifty saw the suitcases being pulled out, he's been mopey and practically inconsolable. It's horribly sad and I feel terrible for him. He hates seeing suitcases, poor guy.

// As of today, about 98% of my Christmas shopping is done and 75% of the cards have been written. I just felt like sharing that information. Go me.

// When do you put up your holiday decorations? I'm practically chomping at the bit to put mine up because this is the year I've been waiting for, this is the year I have finally been reunited with my Christmas decorations that were sitting in storage while I was an expat. All of my Santas and my Nativity scene can finally be taken out of their boxes, dusted off, and do what they were made to do... spread Christmas cheer! (I would love to say that ALL of my Christmas decorations are now together, but I can't, because the decorations I accumulated when I was in France, are now in Massachusetts at my sister's with the rest of my belongings. Eventually, me and all of my stuff will be in the same location. That's the dream.)

// The other day on Facebook, someone had posted one of the zillions of Bill Cosby memes that have been going around. It was tasteless, and I usually ignore such things, but as I was scrolling down, a comment that someone had posted about it caught my eye. This it what it said: "You can take the monkey out of the jungle, but you can't take the jungle out of the monkey. lmfao." Seriously, someone actually wrote that. And here's the thing, I see things like that weekly on Facebook, not necessarily always that extreme, but hints of it. So for anyone who thinks that race still isn't an issue in this country, well, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn I want to sell you.