Thanksgiving: An Expat's Lament

It's funny. Of the last seven Thanksgivings, I have celebrated two in the US and one in Ireland. The rest I didn't celebrate. Yet, for some reason, today is the first one that I really feel. It's not that I wish I was in the States to celebrate it - although I wouldn't mind. I had the opportunity to celebrate it here with the local French American outreach club (which is frequented mostly by Brits, but that's a different story), but due to procrastination and indecision the deadline came and passed, but I don't really mind - I'm not really feeling up to meeting new people and socializing today.

I think this year the difference is that I have many dealings with the US and knowing that all my suppliers are closed is strange. I keep getting confused between whether it's a holiday in France or not.

I also planned on signing a big contract today, which made for a lot of late night legwork earlier in the week - to be able to beat the US shutdown Thursday and Friday. This morning I got up - still sick (I thought I was getting better yesterday, but apparently the microbes haven't had the last word yet) - but ready. This morning I did all the work I had to do to get everything prepared, but now I can't find anyone to meet with the sign the contract. This adds to the feeling that today is a holiday in France. No one is answering their phones.

My significant other has left (for only one night, but still) to Blighty, so I'm stuck inside (it's raining again like it has for the past week), by myself. I just can't motivate myself to work today. The combination of the weather, illness and the non-finalization of a 6+ month ordering process that should produce some nice dividends, has made it so I just can not find the will to work on a business plan or try to seek out new clients. I've been sitting in front of the computer, pretending to work for the last few hours, but all I've done is learned that Tiki Barber isn't happy with his employers, there was a really big funeral in Lebanon (there's two speeding trains heading for each other on the same track), and they still can't figure out exactly how the KGB (or whatever the the Russian Semantics Agency has renamed it) tried to kill a British resident.

I think I'm going to give up. I've got a mildly interesting book that I'm having a hard time getting into, but one of the protagonists is only pages away from suffering a "mysterious death" and this may help me finish it. I'm going to cook up some tea with copious amounts of honey and enjoy the fact that it's too nasty to go outside.

And to those of you who may be wont to worry, please don't. I not depressed, just feeling "funny" because of the weird way that Thanksgiving is playing out this year in the land where criticizing our celebration of Thanksgiving somehow makes the French atrocities or facilitation there of against local populations seem milder.

Anyway, to anyone reading this today. I hope that all of you are enjoying this holiday, that you're warm and the hatches are batten down (it looks like the NE is getting hit today), and that you all eat well. Happy Turkey Day.

Une Maison

We're, in theory going to be buying a house! Tonight we are signing the papers to agree to buy it, after that it's just a question of securing funding, which should be doable. It's in Talence, which is basically just a continuation of the city of Bordeaux. We'll be about 10 minutes from the center of town. We should take possession on March 1, after some work, we should move in around the middle to end of March.

Yep, it's lucky number 13.

I was going to link the Google Earth placemark, but there's a few stalkers out there that I would prefer not know where I live. Ok, that's not really true (at least to the best of my knowledge)...I don't have the energy to fight with G-Earth right now. It's not really easy to post placemarks. I'll get it up here sometime.

[Update]
I can't figure out how to get G-Earth to give me a real link to post...If anyone has a easy way to do it, I would be forever grateful!