Vistas and Visas

Last night around midnight I finally laid eyes once again on my oldest child.  That's Mitch. Remember him? He lives here, but sightings are sometimes rare, which is as it should be.  He had been camping all weekend in Zion National Park.  After a very long ride home with some very loud girls,  he looked very ready to be home, but said he had a great time, and even hiked Angel's Landing, which is one of those things that as a mother, I don't mind hearing about until after the fact.  I would have had puppies worrying about him if I had known that's what he was doing yesterday.  But since I was ignorant, I was off hanging with my work buddies and having a wonderfully oblivious time.  He had a great time too and did not fall off the mountain so all is well that ends well.   I'm glad he was able to do that climb, it is beautiful , but I'll be honest, Angel's Landing scares the crap out of me.  Especially thinking about my kid up there...

Then, in another example of motherly angst, Alisa flew off to San Francisco today for her long-awaited visa appointment.  Once she gets the visa squared away, (hopefully tomorrow) she will be ready for departure to France. She has been working on getting everything ready for quite a few months now.  It's crazy how much documentation she needs.  It's crazy how complicated and ambiguous the whole application process was.  It's not like there is a list of specific documents you need.  There is a list of POSSIBLE things that MIGHT come up that you might possibly be required to show, if you can even figure out what they are talking about in the first place.  Here is an example of what she has been up against in trying to get everything ready.  This is taken directly off the French Embassy's website, talking about if you are required to show up with fingerprints:

"I am aware of and consent to the following: the collection of the data required by this application form and the taking of my photograph and, if applicable, the taking of fingerprints, are mandatory for the examination of the visa application; and any personal data concerning me which appear of the visa application form, as well as my fingerprints and my photograph will be supplied to the relevant French authorities and processed by those authorities...."

Sheesh, it sounds like it was written by a foreigner or something!

Anyhow, we are crossing our fingers, toes, eyes, and everything else we can possibly cross in the hopes that she has everything she needs, and all will go smoothly tomorrow.

Oh, and here is weird karma for you:  Alisa has had this San Francisco trip in her plans for a long time. The only way to get a visa to France is to go to San Francisco.  So what does she get as tip from one of her customers at work this week?  A BART pass. BART is the train in SF.  She said she didn't even mention to this guy that she was going there,  but they left a $5 bill and a BART pass as her tip.  A few days before she was going there!  Weird weird weird.  She must be living right or something.