Getting ready to go...

Oh man. The past three weeks have been so hectic, it feels more like it has been three months.

Some of the highlights: Getting hit on the freeway, thinking my kitty was dead, only to find he was hiding out, studying studying studying, straight A’s in summer school (I am a nerd), the longest Saturday, partying like an 18 year old, almost-naked-laking, giving back my truck, Dodgers, shopping, packing, my good-bye party, the Getty, Goddess Day, more packing, shopping (I started to think of it as investing), Snakes on a Plaaaaaaaaaane, stress, and packing.

Last weekend I had my good-bye party. It was so nice to see everybody one last time before I left. And I loved my glowing Mai-Tai fountain.

I bought a new camera. I got the Nikon D70. I know that if I didn’t get something to get good pictures of the things that I do and see, I would kick my self in the ass for the rest of my life. So my mom and I went out to the Getty to take a “practice run” with my camera, and let my play with some of the setting and figure things out. I was really excited that they had Monet’s there. Monet is one of my favorite artists (yes, I am incredibly excited about going to the Musée Marmottan-Monet in Paris, where they have over 130 Monet paintings, including the painting that gave the name to the impressionist movement).

The paperwork that I have been waiting for, and stressing over is making me pull my hair out. The MICEFA program and orientation begins next Tuesday. But I still don’t have the paperwork that I need to get the right visa. It’s a mess. So it appears that I will be flying back to California in September so I can go to the consulate to get everything right. I can’t take care of this in France. My first nightmare with the French Bureaucracy. Hopefully it will be the last.

But the really exciting news is I got a studio apartment in Paris, almost right in the center of Paris. It’s in the Latin Quarter, very close to the Seine River. It’s on the sixth floor of an historic building, so there is no elevator. My ass is going to be awesome. (Not that it isn’t fabulous already).

Eddie and I are off to Vegas tonight. I am going to spend some time with him, and visit my cousin Al.

And Sunday I am off, to start this whole thing. Wish me luck.