2024, what a year!

Béziers, France

16 January 2025

Dear Family and Friends,

My one-year anniversary was on the 10th of January, I can’t believe it’s been a year!

The holidays were fun. I cannot lie. It seemed like there was another gathering, another dinner, another party or another reason to hang out was just a few moments away. By the time January 1st arrived I was just looking forward to some quiet time at home with Manny and Moe.

I have put off writing because I was hoping that I would be able to say that I have my residency permit and driver’s license in hand, but unfortunately, I can’t say that just yet.  I’m waiting for the drivers license to appear in the mail.  Was told it would be 15 days… and then the holidays happened and pretty much nothing happened for weeks. I’m going to give it another week before I enlist help in tracking it down.

The residency permit is another story. Again, I’m sure the holidays have slowed down progress. I’m still in the “instruction” phase. I have not had a request for information in a month. I think I have everything that is required, but I really can’t say until I hear something more from the immigration folks. I tried sending some additional information that I think they might want. Then I received an email that basically said, don’t send us anything unless we ask for it. It was nice enough, but the message was clear: be patient, we’ll get to you when we get to you.

I still study French daily, and I can see some progress, but it’s still slow. I still live in fear of the phone ringing and even worse of having to call someone for help.  The other day I was successful in scheduling an appointment with a heating company. I was so excited when I managed to schedule the appointment that I seriously considered opening a bottle of champagne. I didn’t but if the appointment goes well, I may.

Speaking of heating, I received an email from the power company the other day. They informed me that my electricity consumption had gone up dramatically in December and that perhaps I should close my shudders in the evening. I know that this was an email that was sent to masses of people, but nonetheless my bill had gone up dramatically. I tried it and must admit it was noticeably more comfortable. My massive old, single pane, leaky windows are not in the least bit efficient at keeping out the cold, heat or street noise. So, I’m back in the business of opening and closing shudders every day.

The closed shudders have a side effect that I find troublesome. The shudders block out all of the external light and make it incredibly difficult for me to get up in the morning. After my first week of consistent shudder closing, I am finally starting to wake up without the assistance of a cat poking and prodding me to get out of bed. It’s like a wellness check; they seem to take turns checking to see if I’m alive. The good news is that I am getting lots of rest. The bad news is that I haven’t settled into that new routine and my plan to write and read more has not been realized.

All in all, it's not surprising that I am still working on finding a new rhythm. 2024 was an extreme year in terms of the amount of change that I undertook. Who knows what this year will bring, but I’m setting out with a few goals. Goals may be too strong of a word. To be honest, going to the beach more often is very high on the list of things that I hope to do this year. Writing, reading, studying French are all high priorities. I’m leaving room for the unexpected new opportunity, and settling into my new home is an ongoing process, meanwhile I look forward to welcoming visiting friends and I’m excited about the potential of traveling a bit more this year.

I hope this finds you all well and with high hopes for what 2025 will bring.

Bonne journée!