Hum de dum de dum

Why is it that the times that I really want to be able to speak French well, such as when I meet someone new and want to make a good impression, are the times that I am least able to get anything above a third-grade level out of my mouth?  It’s frustrating, because I usually am at my most glib in English when I’m meeting someone new; not so with French.  ::shrug::

This weekend should be fun.  Tonight, Hannah, Lauren, Andrea and I are going to go out to dinner to celebrate Hannah’s birthday.  Then tomorrow, I have two friends arriving in town to stay overnight – Lauren and Sarah, the two people with whom I stayed while I was in Edinburgh and England over Christmas.  They’ll leave on Sunday and I will sleep – a lot – and then hop on a train into Paris on Monday to pick up my new, full-strength passport.  Yippee!