Weeks 1-3

Well, it's been an interesting couple of weeks!
I'll start with groceries...it wasn't difficult to get groceries. I learned a couple phrases: Je ne parle pas Francais (I don't speak French) and Parlez vous Anglais? (Do you speak English?). Groceries consisted of cereal, milk, juice, sandwich meat, buns, hamburger, fruits, and veggies. Not too bad for a few meals. If feels like we shop twice a day...our children's appetites seem to have doubled!
My wonderful husband has been trying to keep 3 children entertained all day while I am at work. It is not an easy task since we are still in limbo with living in temporary housing, our French is not good, and the kids are not in school so they only have each other for friendship. There is an international club called "Open House" that we will eventually attend; because it is August, many people are on vacation.
Our "destination services" person, Isabelle, introduced us to a couple who are moving back to the US and were selling their washer, dryer, and fridge. We bought them...one less thing to worry about. Keith and the husband, Scott, had to do the heavy lifting to deliver them from their apartment on the 3 floor to our house. Fortunately Scott had a French license so they could rent a delivery truck, unfortunately when they got the washer & dryer to the house the doorway was 1/8" too small. Yes, 1/8"...0.125".  Our landlady was very nice and agreed to have her handy man shave the door way to accommodate the appliances. Whew! She has been very helpful; Isabelle said that this is very unusual.
We have had some difficulty accessing our bank account. In order to do online banking, we need our debit cards, an online ID, and a secret code. We finally got our debit cards - they would not send them to the US so we had to wait until we got here; we got our online IDs, but we have yet to get our secret code. In the second week we finally got the check cleared for the camper we sold, so now we need to wire the money back to the account in Utah to get that taken care of. The bank is not like the US - there is no line of tellers - there is a receptionist who determines who you need to talk to. Basic account access is her, change of address is somoene upstairs...haven't quite figured out who we talk with for our different questions. The interesting part, I think, is that the receptionist lets you in the bank. I realized this when the kids and I were standing outside and the doors did not open and when we were ready to leave the doors did not open again until the receptionist pushed a button...very secure.
To help pass time we have been going to the house quite a bit...the boys like to chase the lizards and it is nice to have a fenced in yard where they can play and we don't have to worry about them. There is a very large spider who moves from web to web in the house, the enclosed patio and bathroom are her favorites. I couldn't bring myself to step on her - the sound, aftermath, and size of the squash, overpower so we chose to cohabitate.
The landlady provided us with a lawn mower...this is my pasttime...after going back and forth between the lawn mower and the online manual for 20 minutes I was finally able to get it started. My daughter was very unhappy with me because after a month of not being mowed, the lawn had several flowers/weeds, which brought bees and she liked how it looked. I still wanted to mow the lawn so it was easier to play and walk through. So as I mowed she went to the car. Our lawn has 2 levels so as a compromise, I showed her that I only mowed the bottom; this seemed to lift her spirits. As I mowed, I hoped the lizards and grasshoppers got out of the way - that would not be pleasant to empty the clippings if they didn't get out the way.
Week 3 consisted of me taking a business trip to New Jersey while my husband had to take care of the kids all day and all night. Our air shipment came while I was gone so he had to manage that too. Unfortunately, they did not unpack like they were supposed to and they spoke very little English. So they dropped off the 10-15 boxes and left. Keith and the kids unpacked and started arranging things. We were only able to take are essentials (kitchen items, towels, blankets, etc.) we still have to wait another 2-3 weeks for everything else.
I spoke with a co-worker who had lived in France for a few years, as an ex-pat, he said it was a great experience but that we should not underestimate the stress of the first year...we are 3 weeks in and that statement rings true already!