It looks like our last 2 weeks in San Diego are going to be HOT, SUNNY, and wonderful. It's like the city is waving goodbye and sticking its tongue out at us as we prepare to leave. The beach is calling. Here's the problem: I've got rooms full of stuff to sort through, services to end, phone calls to make, mountains of laundry, friends to see for the last time, green-card forms to fill out, shopping to do (suitcase, running shoes, clothes, gifts, peanut butter). Thank God mom has decided to fly out for our last weekend here. It's only appropriate to end our journey here with her and with Jonathan's recent visit. After all, the two of them are the ones who piled into my white Plymouth Neon with me, half of the backseat covered in clothes, back in June of 2002 and drove out here from Illinois.
So much left to do, but there has been progress. We have finally chosen a moving company who we will trust to pack up all of our dear possessions, throw into a big crate and ship on a boat. They will wrap the furniture in plastic and pack everything else professionally. In fact, if we pack anything ourselves, they won't insure us, so that really lightens the stress of moving. We have sold the Jetta (sniff sniff- Denis's first car in the U.S.). We are preparing to sell the Passat, the grill, the tv/dvd, and everything electric that won't work in France- although we cannot part with our fancy espresso machine and Denis vows to make it work with an adapter at all costs. The newest little bit of news is that Etienne has finally decided to go poo poo on the potty- hooray! Why is this relevant to the move??? Because we really want him to go to FREE preschool in France and they have to be potty-trained to do it.
Wtih my infinite to-do lists scattered around the kitchen and by the computer, the only conclusion I can come to is: we need to go to the beach.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
We will miss San Diego!
Of course the #1 thing we will miss about San Diego is all of our dear friends. We sincerely hope to see them again and our door will always be open to them for a visit, no matter where we live. However there are also many many "things" that we will miss. Here they are in no particular order as they come into my head.
1) The Ocean- how many times have we been to La Jolla Shores, PB, Torrey Pines, Del Mar, Mission Bay, Fanuel Park??? Not enough. This past weekend we went twice to La Jolla Shores at sunset and let the boys play in the waves and the sand trying to soak up every last drop of the Pacific before we leave.
2)The Sun- Okay, I know, San Diego does not have exclusive rights to the sun, but we will not have year-round sunshine in France. The sunny weather here allows us to be outside 365 days of the year. Let's just say our double BOB stroller has paid for itself many times over in this past year. On a side note, we look forward to fall and winter seasons, Christmas markets, changing leaves, yummy mushrooms, hot wine....
3) The Zoo- As far as I know, it's the best and prettiest zoo in the world. We have thoroughly enjoyed being members and getting to go on a Sunday afternoon for a leisurely walk to see Clyde the orangutan or the giant pandas or my favorite, the koalas. Besides all of the fabulous animals, the botanicals at the zoo provided us with hours of visual bliss.
4) In N Out- I am speaking for myself here. Denis could most certainly do without any type of fast food for the rest of his life (so could I- maybe;) ) but In N Out symbolizes Southern California for me. You can't get it in France, and not even in Illinois. Way better than McD***** (bad word in our house), I would try to visit before leaving on a trip and we always get it when family visits. Both boys have had In N Out burger and they really like the french fries. As long as I'm talking fast food, I might as well add Wahoo's Fish Tacos to this number. No place like it anywhere.
5) Scripps Research- Denis has had such wonderful opportunities working for Bridget and Clint and for the AMI group. Publictions, conferences, social gatherings, databases. I even got to accompany him to Oahu and to Quebec City for Microscopy and Microanalysis conferences. In short, this job has been awesome. For sure this is the reason we have stuck around San Diego for so long. We can only hope that CERN and Argonne will be as rewarding.
1) The Ocean- how many times have we been to La Jolla Shores, PB, Torrey Pines, Del Mar, Mission Bay, Fanuel Park??? Not enough. This past weekend we went twice to La Jolla Shores at sunset and let the boys play in the waves and the sand trying to soak up every last drop of the Pacific before we leave.
2)The Sun- Okay, I know, San Diego does not have exclusive rights to the sun, but we will not have year-round sunshine in France. The sunny weather here allows us to be outside 365 days of the year. Let's just say our double BOB stroller has paid for itself many times over in this past year. On a side note, we look forward to fall and winter seasons, Christmas markets, changing leaves, yummy mushrooms, hot wine....
3) The Zoo- As far as I know, it's the best and prettiest zoo in the world. We have thoroughly enjoyed being members and getting to go on a Sunday afternoon for a leisurely walk to see Clyde the orangutan or the giant pandas or my favorite, the koalas. Besides all of the fabulous animals, the botanicals at the zoo provided us with hours of visual bliss.
4) In N Out- I am speaking for myself here. Denis could most certainly do without any type of fast food for the rest of his life (so could I- maybe;) ) but In N Out symbolizes Southern California for me. You can't get it in France, and not even in Illinois. Way better than McD***** (bad word in our house), I would try to visit before leaving on a trip and we always get it when family visits. Both boys have had In N Out burger and they really like the french fries. As long as I'm talking fast food, I might as well add Wahoo's Fish Tacos to this number. No place like it anywhere.
5) Scripps Research- Denis has had such wonderful opportunities working for Bridget and Clint and for the AMI group. Publictions, conferences, social gatherings, databases. I even got to accompany him to Oahu and to Quebec City for Microscopy and Microanalysis conferences. In short, this job has been awesome. For sure this is the reason we have stuck around San Diego for so long. We can only hope that CERN and Argonne will be as rewarding.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Moving Date Set!
Leaving Sunny San Diego-
We, myself, my husband, and 2 boys, are moving to France in 27 days!!! We will fly from LAX on Oct.1 to London and then onto Basel/Mulhouse and arrive on Oct.2. We currently live in San Diego and will be moving to somewhere outside of Geneva, Switzerland on the French side of the border. I keep thinking we're moving from one paradise to another, lucky us! It all started when I encouraged Denis to look for jobs near Chicago. So after months of tedious job searching, we are moving to France!!! He got a job through Argonne National Lab working at CERN. The goal was to be closer to family, and since his family is over there, we will be. I am hoping to finally get to Chicago in 2, maybe 3 years tops. But, we are so excited about all of the opportunities we will soon have.
Leaving San Diego will be bittersweet. According to my journals (yes, I've kept a written journal since 1998) I have wanted to move for 3 years now. I think somewhere around the time my first son was born, I felt the need to have family closer. However, San Diego has been so good to us. We have met many wonderful people, and our boys were both born here at Scripps Memorial in La Jolla. The Scripps Research Institute has been a fabulous place for Denis to work, and did I mention the weather and the ocean and the beaches and year-round sunshine and being outside for hours every day of the year?.
I've always enjoyed writing and hope that this blog will be a place for me to keep friends updated and also free therapy for me (right Yen-Yen?). I'm sure I will have much to tell and a great need to exhale it onto the computer. I've already made my list of places I want to see in Europe. Denis and I met in Angers, France in 1999 and we've been back to France often, but mostly to Alsace where he is from. I would like to get back to Angers, to Ireland to see Aisling, to Florence, to Paris, to London, to Amsterdam, to Spain, but I have never been to Greece, Croatia, Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium, North Africa, Prague, Denmark (all very feasible from Geneva). Hmm we're going to need lots of vacation time and a huge travel fund.
Mostly I am excited, but here are the things that worry me for now. 1) Communicating with/seeing my family. I am currently used to talking to my mom every day, sending her pictures on my phone, and texting. Even though we will be farther from my family, we will not have to fly to see our French family, so this means we can spend lots of time in Chicago/ Bourbonnais (mom are you ready for us????). 2) Finding a job- I have been home for about 2 years now and I LOVE being a mom, but I'm ready to work again- the UN in Geneva would be awesome, but it would be fun to teach English as well. Although I am a French and English teacher here in the US, I'm thinking my English skills will be more desirable and marketable over there... who knows? But, I do know that being in a new place and isolated at home will drive me crazy. 3) Denis's work schedule- we have been so lucky/blessed here. He's usually home by 4:30 and can come home for dr's appointments or if I need him during the day. They mentioned him being on call sometimes, so I hope this is not very often.
All in all I think the above issues are minor, because as I've found in the past, the things you are normally stressed about turn out not as bad as you think they will be. I am so looking forward to all the Pays de Gex has to offer- Voltaire's house in Ferney- for one, Etienne going to free preschool (kids go to school for free at the age of 3 in France), the wonderful food and wine we'll have there, fondue savoyarde, gruyere, yummm.
We, myself, my husband, and 2 boys, are moving to France in 27 days!!! We will fly from LAX on Oct.1 to London and then onto Basel/Mulhouse and arrive on Oct.2. We currently live in San Diego and will be moving to somewhere outside of Geneva, Switzerland on the French side of the border. I keep thinking we're moving from one paradise to another, lucky us! It all started when I encouraged Denis to look for jobs near Chicago. So after months of tedious job searching, we are moving to France!!! He got a job through Argonne National Lab working at CERN. The goal was to be closer to family, and since his family is over there, we will be. I am hoping to finally get to Chicago in 2, maybe 3 years tops. But, we are so excited about all of the opportunities we will soon have.
Leaving San Diego will be bittersweet. According to my journals (yes, I've kept a written journal since 1998) I have wanted to move for 3 years now. I think somewhere around the time my first son was born, I felt the need to have family closer. However, San Diego has been so good to us. We have met many wonderful people, and our boys were both born here at Scripps Memorial in La Jolla. The Scripps Research Institute has been a fabulous place for Denis to work, and did I mention the weather and the ocean and the beaches and year-round sunshine and being outside for hours every day of the year?.
I've always enjoyed writing and hope that this blog will be a place for me to keep friends updated and also free therapy for me (right Yen-Yen?). I'm sure I will have much to tell and a great need to exhale it onto the computer. I've already made my list of places I want to see in Europe. Denis and I met in Angers, France in 1999 and we've been back to France often, but mostly to Alsace where he is from. I would like to get back to Angers, to Ireland to see Aisling, to Florence, to Paris, to London, to Amsterdam, to Spain, but I have never been to Greece, Croatia, Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium, North Africa, Prague, Denmark (all very feasible from Geneva). Hmm we're going to need lots of vacation time and a huge travel fund.
Mostly I am excited, but here are the things that worry me for now. 1) Communicating with/seeing my family. I am currently used to talking to my mom every day, sending her pictures on my phone, and texting. Even though we will be farther from my family, we will not have to fly to see our French family, so this means we can spend lots of time in Chicago/ Bourbonnais (mom are you ready for us????). 2) Finding a job- I have been home for about 2 years now and I LOVE being a mom, but I'm ready to work again- the UN in Geneva would be awesome, but it would be fun to teach English as well. Although I am a French and English teacher here in the US, I'm thinking my English skills will be more desirable and marketable over there... who knows? But, I do know that being in a new place and isolated at home will drive me crazy. 3) Denis's work schedule- we have been so lucky/blessed here. He's usually home by 4:30 and can come home for dr's appointments or if I need him during the day. They mentioned him being on call sometimes, so I hope this is not very often.
All in all I think the above issues are minor, because as I've found in the past, the things you are normally stressed about turn out not as bad as you think they will be. I am so looking forward to all the Pays de Gex has to offer- Voltaire's house in Ferney- for one, Etienne going to free preschool (kids go to school for free at the age of 3 in France), the wonderful food and wine we'll have there, fondue savoyarde, gruyere, yummm.
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