April

Whoops, I completely forgot to post in April. I nearly remembered but I was at work at the time and I always feel bad doing anything productive while I'm busy procrastinating on someone else's time. It is okay to watch tv programmes - working my way through the entire seven series of House while the ironing pile mounts to a height taller than me is perfectly acceptable - or to spend hours at a time reading textsfromlastnight.com, but it is not okay to actually do anything that might be construed as slightly productive. I am actually writing this at work, so that has clearly gone out the window, but the children are watching tv and ignoring me, so I don't really have anything else to do. Not my fault, in summary. And I am doing something productive by just being here and making sure they don't have access to scissors/flamethrowers/acid or anything else. Really, I am an exemplary employee.

Since writing the above paragraph, lunch has happened and I am waiting for the three year old to finish his goddamned icecream (he's been eating it for nearly half an hour) so I can put him to bed. Eldest child is doing her homework, which she enjoys doing because she's researching on the internet and she enjoys doing anything where she's staring at a screen. Middle child is probably sulking, because that seems to be her default emotion at the moment.

So, what happened in April?

Well, I got into Sheffield University to do a Masters in Speech Therapy. I wrote about going there in March, and had pretty much lost hope before I got an e-mail a couple of weeks ago informing me that I had been offered a place. I nearly hyperventilated. My mum did hyperventilate. My dad, who was listening to my mum, assumed I had died.

Everyone keeps asking me if I'm excited and... I mean, I know I should be? But I'm not. I've been trying to rationalise it, but I have no idea why I literally feel nothing about it. I'm not dreading it - my overall thoughts about it are positive but I just don't feel anything active towards the idea of spending two years in England. I suppose I should just be pleased that I don't want to cry every time I think about it because I don't want to leave Paris.

I went back to England for a week in early April as Katie, of Peru fame, had returned from gallivanting around the world for a month. She was bringing her Kiwi boyfriend with her who I was dying to meet, but right up until the last moment, I wasn't even sure I would be allowed time off while she was in the right hemisphere. Originally I had been informed that we were going skiing and then down to Bordeaux over the Easter holidays but two days before Katie returned to the homestead I was told that, due to there not being enough snow on the mountains, we weren't going skiing. Instead, the family was going down to Biarritz and while I was welcome to come, I was under no obligation to.

Well, I booked my tickets back home tout de suite and arrived back mid afternoon on the 9th April, where I spent a delightful 10 days swanning about in Hertfordshire and surrounding areas. I saw my parents, which was nice, if slightly unnecessary since they were coming to visit me in Paris a week later anyway. I went into London to visit my cousin, and we ate at a delicious tapas place in Covent Garden, and then went for a walk along the river. It is always weird seeing a skyline without the Eiffel Tower poking out from behind a building. I'm going to miss it. I shall have to stick pictures of it in obscure places around my room to make myself feel better. I also went up to Cambridge to see my grandma for dinner, which was really nice, though the food was kind of bland.

I also, of course, saw Katie and Tom. Tom is lovely and had an amazing accent, Katie is still lovely and disgustingly tanned. We went out a couple of nights in Hitchin, which of course filled me with glee because I love Hitchin, it's my favourite place in the world... Nah, I did enjoy it really, but largely because I was with Katie and she makes me happy enough to enjoy spending evenings in a pub with people who live in Hertfordshire. *shudder* I can't believe I don't know when I next might see her! Then she and I spent the entire day before I left together and wandered round Hitchin eating sandwiches and chatting about life.

The church in Hitchin

The Royal Wedding occurred on the 29th (as everyone who reads this blog is fully aware, as you are all English). I watched it at work, as part of my 'do not do anything productive' plan, and spent the whole time talking to Dani on skype. Sample part of the conversation:

Kate: HATS

Dani: SO MANY HATTTSSSSS

Dani: FASCINATOR!

Kate: BEAAAARDDD

Dani: QUEEN! YELLOW IS SO GOOD.

We descended a few levels mentally whilst watching it, I think.

That evening, we all met up in a Scottish pub which was showing the highlights and Katherine and I spent a lot of time being excited about it together. Who knew I cared so much?? The next day our friend Claire had her birthday party which was 'Best of British' themed, so I bought an English flag from WH Smiths and Katherine and I drew Union Jacks on our hands. Actually, we also drew an English and Scottish flag to represent our separate nationalities...except Katherine forgot what the Scottish flag looked like and I doubt I ever knew, so we drew that wrong. She is ashamed. Here is a photo to immortalise that shame on the internet forever:

The horror. The treason.

Why yes that is the Moulin Rouge. We were just passing as, you know, we live there, and it's totally passé now because we see it all the time....

[I suspect my grin and thumbs up may be slightly undermining my attempt at casualness.]

I think that's everything of significance? I am definitely going to start updating this more regularly. I'm sure I'm interesting enough to merit more than two posts in as many months. Also, I need to start documenting my time here so that when I leave and inevitably forget everything within a week, I will have some place I can come back to and remember it all.