impending death

Sorry for the silence- I have an excuse though. My computer is dying. Well, to be exact, the screen is slowly falling off my laptop which is making it impossible to use. Also, have had a few things going on, so lets bullet point it:
- on top of 8 million things to do for Christmas preps and holiday, I have a MEGA IMPORTANT job interview on Wednesday; I would love to work for this company and the job description is like reading off my CV, but this being France, I know that I have atleast 5 interviews to go before I get an offer and I am trying not to get my hopes up. All the same, I have been studying up day and night to be prepared for everything and anything
- Got my hair cut super short. I went in for a trim and my stylist said that long hair was boring and I should just whack it all off, do something much more modern . I just cannot be bothered to have an opinion on hair styles, so I said, "Go for it. Anything you want." Its very... Victoria Beckham. I like it. I've gotten tons of compliments so I think he chose well. But like I said, I do not have any space in my brain right now for thinking about my hair so it is what it is.
- I finally got my Brazilian visa. With all the stupid transport problems in Paris, I didn't manage to get over there last week. I popped in today with Ella and had it straight away- plus, they gave me a 5 year visa, which is a bit weird. Anyways, that went fine, and then B called and asked me to meet him to do computer shopping. So rather than take line 1 home, I tried to get a bus to the Opera. Long story short, no buses, and Ella fell asleep in her stroller, so I ended up walking all the way from Alma Marceau to Sully Morland, which for those of you not on top of Paris landmarks is a long fucking way to walk in the cold. I was just about home and I heard Ella moving around, so I stop to talk to her and see that she has taken her hat off. Its not on the ground, its not slid down behind her, its not in her hand. She clearly took it off and tossed it when I wasn't looking and its gone. Which would have been no big deal if she had been wearing her own hat. But no. See, she was being a typical two-year-old and refused to wear her own hat today.But it is so cold out, that I asked if she would rather wear my brand new gorgeous soft hat that I bought only after searching for something perfect for the last few weeks. I know you are not supposed to call your kid names, especially on the internet, so I won't. But I'm thinking them really hard right now. This is a thankless job, if you hadn't noticed, and I am suddenly much more motivated to go and spend my days with grown-ups and not small people who scream at me from the other room to come and pick up the booger on their finger.
-Ooh- just got a call from B. He has bought me a new laptop. I was really hoping to replace this one with another Samsung but no luck finding them in stock at places in central Paris. And since it is impossible to move around Paris at the present time, I ended up with a Toshiba, for not better reason than the fact that it is a 17 inch screen with a number pad on the side and they had it in stock. One more thing off my To-Do list.
-Remember the stupid French girl that I said was useless and I wouldn't work with her anymore? Well she called me to say that she was free all week for babysitting if I needed her. SO, being a strong believer in second chances, I said I must have misjudged her and asked her to come the next day so that I could go to an appointment. The day arrives, and due to transport problems, I ask if she can come an half hour earlier and she says she will try. Instead of a knock on the door, I get a phone call at the appointed hour - she went out to the banlieu in the middle of the transport strike and was shocked to find that there were no trains to get her in to Paris. So she would have to cancel. Okay, either this girl is phenomenally stupid or ridiculously optimistic to think that she had a snowball chance in hell of getting a train in the first place. But worse, I had no time to find a backup babysitter so I had to haul Ella with me across Paris in the cold to my appointment with the optometrist. (People, if you saw the horrible glasses I have been wearing, you would know that it was not an option to cancel this appointment. I NEEDED new glasses).
- So I got new glasses. They are the cutest! B wanted me to get some very rectangular tortoise shell frames, but I picked out a brown metal pair from MaxMara which I love. There were some sort of big plastic frame Phillipe Starck frames which I thought were really cool and B thought made me look even more dorky than the former glasses so that didn't work. But here is the crazy thing- the frames cost far less than I expected, I was really happy when I found out the price. But due to the fact that I am practically blind, the actual glass cost 500 euro. That is about the same price as having laser surgery on one of my eyes. When I saw the bill, my mouth hit the table. Honestly, next summer I am absolutely having the surgery and getting rid of my glasses forever.
- How is it that 5 close friends have had babies in the last month? In a way, it is very practical because if the metro ever starts running again, I'll run over to my fav baby boutique and pick-up 5 of the same gift, through them in boxes, and do one drop off at the post-office. But honestly, I wish they all could have just squeezed their legs together tight for a few more weeks so I didn't have to think about this til after Christmas.
-And this may not be news to anyone else, but geez, I cannot believe how every single person in this city is in a vile mood due to the transport strike. EVERYBODY. We are all just bitching at each other at the drop of a hat and I am so ready to go on holiday. Doesn't even have to be while you are trying to get on a train/bus/etc. It could just be in line at the grocery store. Its just that you spend all day fighting to get from one place to another and then once you get there, you have to worry about how you'll get home. Stress stress stress. Dear French workers, you are a bunch of moan-y assholes. Give me back my metro. Love, nicole (Except not really love)