En Francais, s'il vous plait

Less than two weeks before France and Italy! Bah!!!!!

I am so excited!!!!!!! But also, omg. I have so much to do before this trip, what was I thinking with the timing? I have Harry Potter, I have to make 6 pies, which means first preparing the pumpkin, which takes 6 hours in and of itself. I am singing in a wedding on Saturday, followed by an RCIA dinner. Sunday I have to go to a choir concert, then go to Mass twice, once for RCIA and them again to cantor. I work Monday and Tuesday and then I am off to Auntie's house to help with Thanksgiving. I will be back on Friday and am skipping Black Friday so that I can pack for my trip, because I have a choir concert on Saturday AND on Sunday and then Mass twice, again, and am leaving on Monday. Oh, and did I mention that I have absolutely no plans for either trip yet. I will likely bring the travel books on the plane with me and voraciously read them therein, so that I will know where Versailles is. And I need to print metro maps. And figure out how to get from the Airport to the hotel and back to the airport, at the very least.

Taking vacations is stressful.

Friends, I am in need of some assistance that the interwebs is not providing. You see, I speak enough French to get directions, conjugate verbs, and be polite. And *hopefully* get through customs. My brother speaks Spanish, so I think he will be okay in Italy for sure.

I've only been through customs in Australia, where they are crazy mo-fos because it is an island...is it safe to assume that Paris and Rome are a bit more chill on a short visit from peeps with USA passports?

What Italian do we think I need for customs...or will there not be customs between Paris and Rome? What French would Brother need to get through in Paris? Or, if I just teach him to say "Je suis un touriste" and "Parlez-vous anglais?" do we think it'll be okay?

I mean, tons of Brits must come through, right?

Guidance, oh wise amies!

Why?!?!?!

Do you have those friends that are a huge drain on your time because they are needy and mopey and sad? And then you see them around other people and realize that you are not even a **good** friend of theirs? Because they ignore you and act superior to you when these others are around?

Lame. Annoying. There are many words to describe this, but I digress.

Well, one of this special brood has been very...needy...lately. I try to be nice, but if you are not going to tell me what is wrong but just dance around it and say "woe is me"--let's face it, this can only go on so long.

So, when at 1am this morning I get a phone call from said person, I wanted to rip my hair out in frustration. I had to be at school in 6 hours, which meant that I had to get up in 5 which meant I was sleeping! Friends, when working 40-50 hours a week, sleep is very important. Add to this the fact that I love sleep. I love sleeping so much that in College I had a designated "Sleep-in Day" on the calendar.

Luckily, I refrained from answering with "Who dares disturb my slumber," opting instead for "Listen, I hate to be a downer, but I only answered to make it stop ringing, because I want to sleep before I have to get up in 5 hours. Actually, I thought that the ringing was my alarm."

THEN HE APOLOGIZED FOR 10 MINUTES!!!!!!!!!! I not only understand, but appreciate the apology, but for the love! Just say "sorry. I can call later--or shoot you an email."

In summary: do not call me at 1am on a work night. You have been warned.