B Permit Renewal

Before Nick and I left for the States, we made sure to get all of our paperwork ready and photographs taken so we wouldn't have to worry about it when we got back. It turns out, that our B permits were rejected because Coretta and I smiled and showed our teeth, and my hand was in the picture with Geno.

When Nick was told that we needed to take our photographs over again, he stated to the Human Resources personnel that he may not be able to get his two and a half year old to sit by himself for the picture or furthermore be tall enough to see the screen, he was told that he could go to the Photo Grau and have a professional picture taken for 30 francs.

Nick, not wanting to ruin my good mood this weekend, tells me this wonderful information on Monday morning. I then on Tuesday went with the kids to the photo booth by the train station, and attempted to re-take our pictures with specific instructions: "No smiling, make sure your head is in the red oval, and that your eyes match the eye diagram on the screen." Coretta went in and did so flawlessly. Next, it was Geno turn. I sat down in the chair, put Geno on my lap, scrunched down as far as I could while lifting him up and trying to tell him to look at the screen. The first attempt was accidentally taken, and I realized it would not work. Knowing that I only had two more attempts to get it right, I scrunched my legs and butt down so far they were hitting the machine in front of me, and hoisted Geno up for another time in hopes that I may just get that stroke of luck I so desperately needed. I felt like Harry Potter, in the new movie out, wishing that I just had a drop of that lucky potion. The next thing I hear, is the photo clicking a picture, and at this point I have used all three. I look at my options and was pleasantly surprised to see that one of the photos, the last one, was perfect. He had enough space at the top of the picture, he wasn't smiling or showing teeth, and he was looking at the camera. Marvelous! All in a days work. Now I just wonder when my right leg will quit hurting and return to normal. It is painful to walk and clear that I pulled something, but hey, I got the right photo for the Swiss personnel in charge of B permits and can now be rest assured I can stay another year in this beautiful country, I hope.