Where are they now? The update
Time for my yearly post! I apologize first off to this blog that I only pay attention to when reminders from Facebook come up. But since it has been a year since I've written a summary of my family's adventures that makes it the perfect occasion for another post. Let's do the monthly breakdown, shall we?
May 2017 - I get one year closer to 40, and I contact a professor at the Sorbonne for advice on how to apply for a doctoral program there in Musicology. B becomes less excited about soccer practice conveniently as I lose all motivation to shlep him and little D across town for said practice. I get a part-time job with an bilingual school teaching English.
June 2017 - I meet with the professor at the Sorbonne and she agrees to help me through the process of admission which involves writing a proposal for my doctoral thesis. No biggie. D is finishing his first year of pre-school, not without incident including him sidling up to the director to tell her "I'm magic, because I can be naughty and not get caught" Sigh.
July - In which we swelter at our apartment, I get to sing lots of jazz and we hop on a plane to visit family in the U.S. D falls and cuts his head the third or so day there giving us another chance to go to urgent care so he can get some stitches (2) and remember why we don't miss the expensive American healthcare system. He's got an injury bucket list, folks, and he's motivated.
August - Jeffrey joins us and enjoys the existence of air-conditioning. We have a grand time with my family at a reunion with 8 of the 9 Damron siblings in attendance. The grand kids all ran around in feral packs, we stayed up late and overall decided that yes, I guess we do like each other. We float the Provo River and lose not only Jeffrey's favorite hat, but three flip-flops. We returned to the same (!!) apartment in Paris, with no plans to move, and reveled in our new-found stability for a second year.
September - B started 2nd grade and D started the second year of preschool with a relatively low tear count. I go back to my English teaching job and I finally got in contact with my future thesis director. I also prepare to take the dreaded C1 level test - a test for your language ability that is required for admission to a doctoral program. I take said test and have no idea if I passed or not. I watch a documentary that finally convinces me to be a vegetarian. Goodbye meat.
October - We get an unexpected visit from our friends Heidi and Clark and have a fantastic time. Fates smiles on them and the weather is unseasonably fantastic. We do our best to look like seasoned Parisians and fail as soon as we leave our neighborhood.
November - I GET ADMITTED TO THE SORBONNE AS A MUSICOLOGY DOCTORAL STUDENT. I'M A STUDENT! I STUDY! I'M STUDYING! Other stuff happened, who cares.
December - I'm still a doctoral student and they haven't kicked me out! Also, Christmas. I decide to take defensive measures against winter depression and start meditating and taking cold (yes, as in the absence of warm water) showers. Jeffrey joins me and we make it a competition.
January - winter still sucks, but it sucks noticeably less.
February - winter continues to not suck as much. We go skiing for a week and B finds his raison d'être. D skis greens by himself which makes both him, me and my back are very happy.
March - I get accepted to give my first paper in French at a musicology conference. I am both excited and completely freaked out.
April - I give said paper and don't die. I immediately want to do it again. Aaaaaaand here we are! One year!
May 2017 - I get one year closer to 40, and I contact a professor at the Sorbonne for advice on how to apply for a doctoral program there in Musicology. B becomes less excited about soccer practice conveniently as I lose all motivation to shlep him and little D across town for said practice. I get a part-time job with an bilingual school teaching English.
June 2017 - I meet with the professor at the Sorbonne and she agrees to help me through the process of admission which involves writing a proposal for my doctoral thesis. No biggie. D is finishing his first year of pre-school, not without incident including him sidling up to the director to tell her "I'm magic, because I can be naughty and not get caught" Sigh.
July - In which we swelter at our apartment, I get to sing lots of jazz and we hop on a plane to visit family in the U.S. D falls and cuts his head the third or so day there giving us another chance to go to urgent care so he can get some stitches (2) and remember why we don't miss the expensive American healthcare system. He's got an injury bucket list, folks, and he's motivated.
August - Jeffrey joins us and enjoys the existence of air-conditioning. We have a grand time with my family at a reunion with 8 of the 9 Damron siblings in attendance. The grand kids all ran around in feral packs, we stayed up late and overall decided that yes, I guess we do like each other. We float the Provo River and lose not only Jeffrey's favorite hat, but three flip-flops. We returned to the same (!!) apartment in Paris, with no plans to move, and reveled in our new-found stability for a second year.
September - B started 2nd grade and D started the second year of preschool with a relatively low tear count. I go back to my English teaching job and I finally got in contact with my future thesis director. I also prepare to take the dreaded C1 level test - a test for your language ability that is required for admission to a doctoral program. I take said test and have no idea if I passed or not. I watch a documentary that finally convinces me to be a vegetarian. Goodbye meat.
October - We get an unexpected visit from our friends Heidi and Clark and have a fantastic time. Fates smiles on them and the weather is unseasonably fantastic. We do our best to look like seasoned Parisians and fail as soon as we leave our neighborhood.
November - I GET ADMITTED TO THE SORBONNE AS A MUSICOLOGY DOCTORAL STUDENT. I'M A STUDENT! I STUDY! I'M STUDYING! Other stuff happened, who cares.
December - I'm still a doctoral student and they haven't kicked me out! Also, Christmas. I decide to take defensive measures against winter depression and start meditating and taking cold (yes, as in the absence of warm water) showers. Jeffrey joins me and we make it a competition.
January - winter still sucks, but it sucks noticeably less.
February - winter continues to not suck as much. We go skiing for a week and B finds his raison d'être. D skis greens by himself which makes both him, me and my back are very happy.
March - I get accepted to give my first paper in French at a musicology conference. I am both excited and completely freaked out.
April - I give said paper and don't die. I immediately want to do it again. Aaaaaaand here we are! One year!
Comments