State of the Union ... Or my life.

My absentee ballot showed up at the Kobrins the other day. Which is great, except a MAJOR reason I wanted it was to make sure that pesky prick Paladino (alliteration!) doesn't get elected, AND HE'S NOT ON HERE. That man makes the Jersey Shore look downright WASPy, and I'm coming from, oh right, ARIOTTI, so I get to say whatever I want about him being so mafioso it makes my head hurt.

Not that getting to vote for two Senators AND my congressman isn't fun, but WHAT ABOUT THE GOVERNOR? Pretty sure I get to do that too. Curses.

Anyway, things are going well so far. On Wednesday I wandered around canceling cards (the USPS ate my French wallet, long story) and ordering new ones. That night I went to dinner with two friends from when I lived in the foyer on Bd. Saint-Michel as a student. Weird to think that was almost three years ago. We had lots of fun catching each other up on stories and such, and it was a good reintroduction to Paris.

The weirdest thing about being back is that unlike last year, I don't feel weird being back. In three months not much has changed, and I feel like I never left. Last year coming back was after being gone for a year and a half, and I didn't know everyone as well. This time it's almost like a homecoming of sorts -- at this point I'm as at ease in Paris as everyone else I know is in New York City.

That's a more than a little disconcerting.

Yesterday I went out to my favorite school (that I WANTED to go back to) to visit my teacher friends and see if the kids remembered me. Turns out, if the mauling is an indication, a lot of them did :) It was lots of fun to catch up with everyone, and I hope to go out and see them from time to time. If I could swing it I'd volunteer to help out there on Thursdays when I'm not working. It would be fun, and they could certainly use the help ... I wasn't replaced. In fact, new reforms to the French national education system are cutting everything from external assistants to funding for activities that have always been considered standard. So basically everyone who works in a school is ticked.

Then I hung out with my old neighbor boys for awhile before grabbing coffee and a cookie with Betsey and heading to orchestra. Turns out that I'm not completely incapable of sightreading; I actually managed to hold it together fairly well for the rehearsal. I'm hoping that wasn't a fluke. They're in the process of deciding who gets to go to China and and play a chamber concert at the end of the month, so wish me luck. I sooooo want to go to China.

Today is day one of au pair life. Simon is probably going to wake up soon. He's so much bigger; I suddenly understand why people say it goes so fast. Now he's 17 months, and he started walking while I was away. Blows my mind how much taller and older he seems.

More soon :)