I'm official.

Today, I picked up my official carte de sejour (AKA resident card). My French ID card. I no longer have to carry my passport with me when traveling around France. And thank god because it was so heavy. Six months it took to receive this little thing. Something that, I was told, would only take 2 - 3 months. The French process is so well put together, let...me...tell...you. Darin received his carte de sejour a month ago and it already expires in September (a year from when he arrived here) so he starts the renewal process next month. Lucky guy. At the end of this year when I start to renew mine, all I need to do is point to Darin saying that he's my husband and...voila...it's renewed.

By the way, World Cup fever is consuming me. And I thought I'd never get sucked in. YOU try living over here during The World Cup and tell me ce n'est pas possible. I am so proud of my team to be able to kick some Brazilian tush. Darin and I watched the game along with, literally, the entire country as the streets were dead. When Henry kicked that most beautiful goal, I muted the sound on our TV so we could experience the sounds emanating from every open window in our surrounding area. It was quite entertaining. I was so involved in the game (and I've never ever ever been a serious fan of any type of sporting event in my entire life) that I had to hide behind a pillow during the last 15 minutes because I did not want to see Brazil score. The pillow was my protection as well as an object that sent off invisible signals to the Brazilian team to prevent them from scoring. Uh huh. The party in the streets of Annecy did not die down until after 12:30 am. Allez les bleus!