Victory!!! I think...

So, I went to the French Embassy today and applied for my long stay visa.  Things went very smooth once I got there.  However, it was a slightly bumpy road along the way.  Once again, I was up waaaaay too late last night.  1am to be exact...well...ok, maybe a little after 1am. Got up at 6am, cursed whatever gods on high for creating such a rather 'ungodly' hour, then proceeded to get myself together (make-up, black pencil skirt, teal top, and some low heels.  Very classy if I do say so myself).  Well, as it turns out, I may or may not have enough passport photos of myself to give to the Embassy (though why ANY country would possibly want more hideous photos of me boggles my mind).  So, I manage to persuade my mother into letting me borrow her car so I can run to the 24hr Walgreens (a drug store, for those of you not from the US) and get passport photos taken.  Time is now 7:15am.  It takes about an hour (or more with traffic) to get to our destination.  My appointment is at 9:30am.  Long story short, photos take more time than expected (naturally), and I make it home by about ten past 8.  We get on the road by 8:20am then hit traffic after about 40 minutes of smooth sailing.  Good times.  I ended up being late, but it didn't really matter because the appointment times are really only used as an indicator for the embassy to know how many people are coming any given day.  Oh, I didn't even need those extra photos.  Nor did I need half of the 'required' documents.  Ugh.  That's bureaucracy for ya.  Anyway, the embassy lady (a very nice French woman) told me that they'd be sending me a letter in the mail, probably in about a week telling me to come back to the embassy with my passport and they will give me my visa!  No appointment necessary.  So yeah, then my mom and I spent a couple hours in town outside the embassy.  It was really nice...though, I was getting tired of being in my pencil skirt.  I am soooo glad things went so well today.  I'll be checking in with you all later.  Stay tuned.