Hello Paris

We made it.   We have been up for over 24 hrs now so I will just post a few photos we took today.  This is the the counter where we had crepes  for lunch.

Then we walked over to Luxembourg Garden and I took photos of the summer beds.  I am afraid they will be pulled out soon to make way for the spring bulbs. 

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Even though the dahlias are still amazing 

The leaves are starting to turn, a sure sign that change is on the way.

Time to sleep now as we will be meeting Joe at the airport early tomorrow.  I can't wait to show him Paris.

Bags are Packed

"All our bags are packed we're ready to go.
Were standing here outside our door
We hate to wake you up to say "Goodbye"
Patsy's waiting she's blowing her horn"

Stopping here because I will not be lonely with hubby on the trip.
Our flight leaves at 8:40 AM. tomorrow morning.
The next time you hear from me we will be in Paris.

Au revoir

Success

Success!!!!
Hubby and I went back to the passport office in San Francisco today. We went to the will call window and the passport was waiting for us.  Hooray!!!.  I wanted to kiss the clerk.  Luckily there was a glass window separating us.  His passport is much cooler than mine.  It looks very patriotic inside.
As we exited the building I couldn't stop myself from letting out a whoop.
All of the stress lifted from our bodies and we were ready for lunch.  I put the Round Me application on the iPhone to the test and came up with a nearby location of, The Plant Cafe, one of our favorites in the city.  We each ordered the Plant burger and all was right with the world.

Look out Paris here we come.

The Oops Theory

"Something good always comes out of a failure or a great mistake"
Albert Einstein

Last night I was able to let go of the passport situation. I thought about the teaching, whatever your resist persist. I stopped resisting and had the best nights sleep in a week.  Woke up this morning feeling much more positive.  My sister-in-law Susan, who is already in Paris looking forward to our visit, is sending us her goddess-of-travel positive vibrations and I feel it.

We have accomplished so much around the house in the last few days. We worked together on getting rid of the clutter. It was like lifting a weight from my shoulders.
It is good and would not have happened without this gift of time.  I also started this blog.  Something I have thought about for a while and this gift of time gave me an opportunity to turn a thought into an action.  The intent is to give me a place to download photos and tidbits about my month in Paris.  We will see how it goes.  You know I am a talker not a writer so don't be too hard on me.

This afternoon some dear friends are hosting a "Staycation" swim & dinner party in our honor.  Complete with margaritas, beer and enchiladas.  Their intent is to cheer us up and I'm sure get in some good natured ribbing.  It is going to be a beautiful day here with temperatures in the upper 90s. A perfect day for a swim party.  I am going to relax and enjoy it after all I am headed to Paris on Wednesday. Hopefully hubby will be with me.


We will be staying just a few blocks from here.

Lemons into Lemonade

Today has been another down day as we speculate on whether we will get the passport in time for hubby to make the trip to Paris.
We took a 3 mile walk and spent an hour cleaning up the office.  It was long over due and a real feeling of satisfaction.  The gift of all this time at home with nothing planned had to be put to good use.  We no longer have piles at our house.  Wonder if we can maintain that?  I am sure there must have been  another time when we didn't have piles. Oh yeah that was the first day we moved into the house 27 years ago.
As we reflect on our situation we agree in 30 years together this is the worst screw up we have done.  Not so bad in the grand scheme we call life.

Getting Started

This is an experiment to see if I can figure out how to start a blog so I can post photos to share with friends and family.
 We are trying to get started on a major vacation to Europe.  It has turned into a Murphy's Law situation which began on Wednesday at the airport checking in for our flight to Prague.  The ticket agent asked if my husband had an extension on his passport.
 "Why would he need an extension?"
"Because it expired in February".
Deer in the headlights look!!! ( I know this is a major over sight on our part.-lesson learned)  It has gone down hill from there.  We had to eliminate Prague from our trip,  rebook a flight for Paris a week later and spent and hour and 3 phone calls making an appointment at the passport office to get a new one for hubby.
 Today we went to our appointment (2 hrs away) to be told they did not have any passport books so we will need to come back on Monday. Deer in the headlights look again.  Oh and by the way we may want to call to be sure they have them before we come back.  This really came out of left field.  How does a passport office run out of passport books???  Maybe the same way the expiration date on the passport doesn't get double checked when the vacation is in the planning stages.  I realize it is our own fault that we are in this mess but I still want to whine and complain about no passport books at the office that issues passports.
Now I am sitting at the kitchen table trying to start a blog wondering if our trip will ever get started.  Stay tuned.......