Back in the USA!!!

Hey, everyone! You may have noticed that we took a bit of a hiatus from the blog. Looking back, it's been more than four months since our last post, so you probably feel entitled to a bit of an update. Fair enough, but far too much has happened in the meantime to go into detail, so allow me to sum up: The Alexanderpools are moving back to the US (specifically, to Moorestown, NJ)!

Yep, that's right. After almost five and a half years of living in France, most of which were documented right here on the blog, we decided to give up our berets and baguettes in exchange for some apple pie and saturated fats. Lee took a three-month leave of absence from work beginning at the end of December, and less than two days before he was scheduled to go back to France he got a job offer from a Philadelphia firm. Lee gave notice as soon as he got back to Paris, we hired some movers, and in just over a month we had said goodbye to the land of smelly cheese.

It's all a bit of a blur, actually. Between all of the traveling, interviewing, making arrangements for the move, saying goodbye, looking at houses, shopping for cars, getting ready for the new job, and all of the other fun stuff that we've been up to, we haven't had much time to sit down and relax, much less document it, but we're going to try to do a better job in the future.

So now that we've dropped the bomb on you about the move, you're probably wondering, "OK, so you're moving back. What else is new?" You guys are a tough audience, but we love you, so here's a synopsis of everything that's happened since we last posted:

December 2009

- Dec. 23: Boarded our flight from Paris to Las Vegas via Philadelphia to stay with Mamie and Pop for a month.

- Dec. 24: Christmas Eve with the entire Vanderpool clan (sans Vanessa but including Nanya)

- Dec. 25: Recovered from Christmas Eve festivities and exchanged presents.

- Dec. 31: Rang in the New Year with Derek, Ariel, Nanya, and Mamie and Pop Vanderpool; good freaking riddance to 2009.

January 2010

- Jan. 2: Vanessa arrives in Las Vegas; the Alexanderpools meet Paul, who arrives shortly thereafter.

- Jan. 3: Vanessa and Paul head out into the Oregon wilderness.

- Jan. 7-9: The Alexanderpools fly to sunny snowy Omaha to visit the Bisharas; much steak is consumed, as required by Nebraska law.

- Jan. 17-23: Yia-Yia and Papou arrive in sunny rainy Las Vegas for a weeklong stay; Las Vegas receives more rainfall during their visit than in all of 2009 (really).

- Jan. 24: The Saints beat the Vikings in the NFC Championship game while Sofia chants "Go Saints!" and "Saints are winning!"

February 2010

- Feb. 1: The Alexanderpools leave Las Vegas for sunny snowy Moorestown to stay with Nik and Young.

- Feb. 5: Lee makes an impromptu visit to NYC and hangs out with Eric "Mr. Beaks" Schwesinger.

- Feb. 7: Damien and Lee watch the Super Bowl ... AT the Super Bowl. Saints win. Hell freezes over. Dogs and cats start living together. Mayhem ensues.

- Feb. 9: Lee interviews at new firm with very little voice left from screaming during the Super Bowl; is fortunate not to encounter any die-hard Eagles, Vikings or Colts fans during the interview process.

Feb. 13-14: The Alexanderpools travel to Washington D.C. to visit with the WasserHarrises; three children under three makes for non-stop fun.

Feb. 21-25: Pegs, Lee, Nik and Young travel to Barbados for a little getaway trip without the kids. Young and Lee discover Bajan hot sauce, made with super-hot Scotch peppers. Ironically, everyone other than Lee gets sunburned.

- Generally: Lee and Pegs look at houses in Moorestown; Sofia runs wild with her cousins Alex and Eva; Lee studies for the UK solicitor's exam.

March 2010

- March 7: The Alexanderpools attend our first bris, courtesy of Judah "Big Bear" Harris, followed by Sofia's first trip to the circus.

- March 16: Lee gets an offer from the Philadelphia firm to join them as Of Counsel.

- March 17: Lee flies back to Paris.

- March 18: Lee arrives in Paris.

- March 19: Lee meets with his partners and gives notice that he will be resigning.

- March 23: Lee goes to London to take the UK solicitors exam; stays with Claire Skrinda, who reveals to Lee that she is expecting TWINS!!!

- March 24-26: Lee takes the UK solicitors exam.

- March 29: Pegs arrives in Paris; Sofia travels to North Carolina with Yia-Yia and Papou.

April 2010

- April 1: Lee goes back to work for the first time in more than three months to wrap up his files and introduce his colleagues to his clients.

- April 3-4: Lee and Pegs go to Lille; Pegs says goodbye to everyone.

- April 8: Lee and Pegs have dinner with Rita and Raph Charon.

- April 12: Pegs flies back to Philadelphia; Lee has dinner with his cousin Ingrid Guilbaud in Paris.

- April 15: Lee's colleagues throw him a going away party.

- April 16: Lee's last day at his former firm; Lee and his aunt Patricia take the Alexanderpool washer/dryer, TV, microwave and loads of other goodies to Lille.

- April 18: Sofia returns to Moorestown, ignores Pegs and runs around hysterically with Alex and Eva.

- April 21: The movers begin to pack everything up and ship it.

- April 22: The movers finish packing and shipping everything; Lee returns the keys to the apartment and goes to Lille to stay the night with Ingrid and Benoit Brulant.

- April 23: Lee spends the day with Bon Papa before going to dinner with Patrick and Beatrice.

- April 24: Lee flies to Philadelphia.

- April 25: Pegs shows Lee a house she saw earlier; the Alexanderpools make an offer.

- April 26: The Alexanderpools visit another house they had already scheduled to see; they fall in love with it and make an offer on that one, too.

- April 27: The sellers of the second house make a counteroffer; the Alexanderpools visit the house again and make a new offer.

- April 28: The sellers make a new counteroffer that is less than 1% above the Alexanderpools' offer; the Alexanderpools accept and sign the contract for sale.

- April 29: Pegs' new MacBook Pro arrives; the Alexanderpools finalize negotiations with five car dealerships, buy two new cars, pay the deposit on the house and countersign the fully executed contract for sale. In a single day, the Alexanderpools have bought a computer, a car for Pegs, a car for Lee and a house; Lee suffers a minor panic attack.

- April 30: The Alexanderpools put up their first post of 2010.

So, to sum up, it's been pretty quiet around here. Hopefully something interesting will happen soon; if so, we'll let you know.