No title

Sorry - couldn't come up with anything witty enough for a title today!  Been quite lazy in fact (surprise, surprise).  Another surprise is that it is snowing outside.  A lot.... First time that I have ever seen it snow so much so close to the lake.  Usually this type of snow is saved for higher altitudes. It's sticking as well.  To the trees, to the ground and it is lovely.  To think that I haven't even been skiing yet.  Such a disgrace.

Saturday we leave for the States to pass the Christmas season.  I am looking forward to going home and supporting the economy by buying anything and everything I can get my hands on!!  At 70% off everything is going to be dirt cheap.  Does anything in Switzerland ever go on sale for more than 50%??  I don't think that I have ever seen it.  They also say that Switzerland is going into a recession as well.  All I have to say is - highly doubtful.  The people in this country have more money than I have ever seen in my entire life.  In Geneva there are enough lights and Christmas decorations up to light up a small country.  The lighting excess is amazing - I thought that we only did things like that in the States.  I swear Place Molard looks like Santa AND his elves threw up all over the place.  

Today is Thanksgiving.....

in the States.  At times I miss being at home for these sorts of holidays.  Other times - it doesn't bother me at all.  It makes me laugh when my Grandmother cannot understand why other parts of the world don't celebrate Thanksgiving.  What do you mean - she says- that there is no Thanksgiving in Switzerland.  Such a strange country that you live in.  

You would be surprised (or maybe not!) how many people (i.e. Americans back at home) ask me whether or not there are Thanksgiving celebrations here.  The truly delusional as me if we have Thanksgiving sales.  HA, HA, HA

Anyway - I might be tempted to cook a turkey if 1. it didn't cost a bloody fortune for a turkey and 2. if we had a family.  When it is just the hubby and me, I cannot justify cooking a turkey. Friends of mine suggested I do Thanksgiving at my house and they could all come over and try a Thanksgiving dinner.  Yeah, right.  

Soooo I am going to continue with our Thanksgiving tradition of having sushi for dinner.  Hubby is making dinner reservations.  It's so nice to have a European husband that doesn't want a turkey for dinner!  :)

Oh...the gym

So I made the trek to the gym yesterday.  After months of not going it was my brilliant idea to take a Body Pump class.  I can barely move today - no exaggeration.  I said to the hubby - I think I did something to myself.  (Honestly, I feel like I pulled every muscle in my body).  He says - yep, it's called exercise!  God I love that man.

Anyway - the Holmes gym in Lausanne is soooo different than the one in Geneva.  In Lausanne everyone looks......normal.  No kidding.  There are no boobs hanging out in class, no full faces of make-up, no skirts.  Yeah, that's right skirts.  A few of the women in Geneva would wear these black skirts over leggings to class.  I really don't get Europeans at the gym sometimes.  I even saw one girl walk out of the gym in Lausanne with wet hair (gasp!).  That would NEVER happen in Geneva.   In Geneva I think that the women would work out with their furs on if they could.

While the gym in Lausanne is not nearly as nice as the one in Geneva it is much more laid back  - and I like that.  Now I just have to make myself go again.  

Motivation or lack there of.....

What can one do for motivation?? Any thoughts??  I feel like I am floundering about without a purpose.  In my previous life I used to be so independent, hard working, driven, SUCCESSFUL...etc, etc.  Here in Switzerland it seems as I am just existing - doing things to pass the time.  Where/when does this feeling end?  I need a purpose and I need to get MOTIVATED.  It's hard to follow a plan when there is no plan....  

It's been a year 1/2 since we have moved to Switzerland.  At first it's okay not having a job but then it gets to be a little much.  I think that it would help if we had children but having a child just to have something to do is not the way to go about it!!  LOL

I am going to try to audit a photography class at Webster University to learn some more things about Photography. Really would like to be better - maybe even do it professionally BUT no idea where to even start.

Anyway - I have a friend visiting from NYC this week.  It's so nice to have her here.  It feels like a little piece of home has come to visit.  :) 

After she leaves on Friday I need to start getting my sh** together.    I need to dust of the self books that I have.  If I only knew where I put them.........

The newness of it all......

So, this week I am socializing.  My parents who were here for a week are now gone and then I have a friend coming in on Friday.  This gives me 4 days to socialize with 'new' people (as I call them) and hopefully make some friends in my new city.  I had cafe today with a girl who was really nice (although I think a tad younger than I).  The plus is that she lives in the near vicinity of me which is rare.  I didn't think that anyone lived in my neighborhood.  It is soooo quiet.  I hate all of this - Hi, my name is....will you go to coffee with me and be my friend shit BUT it is necessary.  We all need human contact to survive (unfortunately!).  The sad part about it is in my previous life in the States I was very social.  In this life - not so much.

Wed - it's the same thing and Thursday it is a coffee with the free spirits group from the women's club.  Might do some obedience training with Callie on Wed and Thursday after the coffee I have having some friends from Geneva over for lunch.  

All in all it is a good week.  I don't feel like going back to bed and pulling the sheets over my head.  Quite a bit of improvement from the weeks before!

Lessons..........

I actually ventured into the city on Tuesday. I had to change over a gym membership from Geneva to Lausanne (who am I kidding. I never go....). Afterwards, I made a quick stop at Globus. In the store there was this old lady in front of me moving soooooooo ssssssllllllooooowwwwwllllllyyyyyy. Every time I tried to move around her she would end up right in front of me. I (not so quietly cursed her under my breath) and made a mad dash to get around her.

I stop at the parking garage to pay my ticket and the f'ing thing doesn't work. My ticket was creased and not reading properly. Now what am I supposed to do?? There was no one in the office as it was closed for lunch (surprise, surprise). I press the info button on the machine and say - Hello. My ticket doesn't work. Not a big deal you think right?? REMEMBER I am trying to do this in FRENCH. UGH!!! There was a voice that came over the loud speaker and the man said blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Shit - I thought to myself. What the F did that guy just say???? I look around and there is a lady behind me and she said well????....and I say "I don't understand". So she takes my ticket from me and proceeds to HELP me and because of her this man could fix my ticket. Guess who the lady was??? Yep, the old woman that I cursed while in Globus.

Lesson - don't curse anyone out loud. Keep it in......
I wonder if she helped me just to teach me a lesson??

So I am procrastinating.......

Here are a few shots from last week's photography class.

Our assignment was photo jouralism. I don't think that I really captured it but at least I had fun!

Gathering around the baby.




The market in Nice



Fish market in Marseille.

Unpacking.......

SUCKS!

Ugh - how many pairs of shoes can one person own (and I am talking about my husband too!). I hate, hate, hate all of this 'stuff' all over the place. It makes me want to curl up in a ball and go to sleep.

The hubby is lucky. He is the one that gets to work and escape from all of this madness. Not me - nope. I just get to sit here amongst all of our stuff. Not know where to put anything is for the birds.

I am going to do this the easy way.....

I am going to throw everything away - which should of been done BEFORE we moved.

Transition

Well the packers are here and we should be all moved to Lausanne by tomorrow. I have mixed feelings.....
I don't want to leave Geneva not because of the town itself but because of the friends that i have made here. I am finally getting settled only to pick up and leave again. Moving is so stressful.
On the other hand L is only 45 minutes away from G and people can come visit (and vice versa). AND maybe I will like L better than G.
I guess we will see.

I don't understand people.....

I had a rough week today. We are getting ready for a move to Lausanne (hence the title change on the blog) and I am a bit stressed out.

On Tuesday I went to Manor to get my pictures printed out for a photography class that I am taking. There is an older woman in front of me that has no idea how to work the machine. She simply hands her camera to one of the people working there and starts to get belligerent about how bad the service is, etc, etc. It instantly became obvious to me that this woman was a whack job. She starts ranting and raving, looks at me and says"I am going to be awhile, go get a cup of coffee". I simply said Non - and she cursed me with her eyes. When it is my turn to use the machine her photos begin to print and she literally shoves me aside and starts ranting at me in French. I do my best to ignore her as she continues to shove and push. Even after I move over to the side she is still shoving and pushing. Still, I continue to ignore her. As I am paying for my photos she begins to curse me out loud. Although, I didn't quite understand what she said. SOOooo if I don't understand the curse, it really isn't effective, right?? At this point I am flustered b/c this woman is screaming at me in the store.  As I am leaving I manage to drop my jacket. As a result some Tylenol fall out of the pocket. 

She begins yelling - DRUGS....DRUGS....

Yesterday I go to Aligro. My first time and boy was it stressful. Almost like being in the States with so many choices! I get home with a trunk full of goodies for our party this Saturday. I pick up the case of 6 bottles of wine and of course the handle breaks and the box falls shattering two of the bottles. UGH. Whatever. Flustered (again) I start loading up our elevator with the purchases and proceed to head to our apartment. Instead of the elevator going up it heads down to the basement. A woman gets in (or at least attempts to) and looks at all of my stuff. I made no apologies for all of the items. She looks at me and says in French something to the effect of - Don't you like to be organized??? I said Non. She said - really??? You don't like to be organized. And I repeated again in French - Nope, I don't like it one bit and that is just the way it is.

What I really wanted to say is "don't fu** with me you lazy a** piece of sh** taking the elevator up one flight of stairs. You should of walked. And you have no business questioning my organizational skills just because I have a lot of stuff to take up to my apartment. That is what elevators are for so go to he**".

Unfortunately (or Fortunately for her) my French language skills are not that good.

My little one!

Being back.....

in Geneva has been nice. The weather is too hot and muggy but it better than it being cold. Yesterday I took Callie with me to lunch with the girls and we made the mistake of sitting out in the sun. I thought that we were all going to melt right then and there. It is good to be back and back into the groove of things. Already we have plans for birthday outings, girls' night out, etc. August is going to be a busy month.
I am torn about moving to Lausanne. I want to go and explore another city as I find Geneva a bit dull BUT I have a life here and have made friends. Lausanne is only about an hour away from Geneva and I can always come back to go out, etc but it will be different and will still have to create a life for myself again. Oh well, I love a good challenge. We'll be busy once we move anyways. My parents have booked a trip to come visit us after we move, and I have a friend coming to visit for a week in November.
That's it for now! Off to the pool!!

Is it August already??

Ugh! Where does the time go?? I am getting older by the second! Anyway, just to catch you up - I made a two week trip back to the states to visit my family in PA. My little sister just had her first baby and I needed to bond and of course go to the baptism. He is absolutely beautiful and evoked such emotion in me. It was a weird feeling - everytime I looked at him I felt like crying. He is just so precious.

Life in the states for two weeks was different. Before I used to be so happy with all of the choices, products, quanity of things, etc, etc but when I went back this time I just felt so overwhelmed by it all. I mean really, do you need to have a whole isle in the supermarket devoted to bread???? How much bread can one eat? I had to buy buns for my grandmother to take to her house for lunch and I just stood there for a few minutes staring at the different types of bread. It took me almost an hour to get 1 bag of groceries. Of course, I did enjoy paying for the groceries. Compared to Geneva everything was DIRT CHEAP. That part I do love!
I also noticed how frozen and processed everything was, not to mention that no one in my family recycles. Hmmmm....I think that I might of changed a bit in the year and 1/2 that I have lived in Geneva!!

Oh well, I did have a great time and I did get to spend two nights in NYC visiting friends, so all and all it was a good trip.

I cannot believe that the summer is almost over.

Sex and the City

Did I tell you?? I saw this movie (with 12 other girls (okay, I guess we should be calling ourselves women) this past Wed. The movie theatre in downtown Geneva was packed. Every seat was sold out. I have never seen so many English speaking women in one place. It was a fun movie. It definitely won't be nominated for any type of Academy Award but it was fun, it was lively, and everyone in the audience was riled up. There was screaming, laughing, booing, and cheering. One of the most interactive movies that I have ever been to. I must say though, it made me really (REALLY) miss the States and my girls. I had to come home and have a drink - a cheers if you will, to my friends back 'home'. I miss you dearly.

The month of May.........

passed by so quickly. L had the whole month off and we had a fantastic time traveling. The trip to South Africa was incredible, we spent 9 days on Safari -what fun! The Safari was amazing and we saw all of the big 5 several times. We had so fun experiences such as seeing 400 water buffalo come to a water hole and a bit of a scary experience with being almost completely surrounded by a herd of 80 elephants! I think out of all the animals, the elephants made me the most nervous. You are constantly on the go - even though you are sitting on your a** for 70% of the time and eating oh, about 30% of the time. We met a lot of great people and were exposed to a lot of not so great people as well. All in all it was once of the best trips I have ever taken and would love to go again.


Then we were back at home for 2 1/2 days before we were off to Italy for a week. We flew into Naples and stayed the night. Now the good thing about Naples is that there are not that many tourists. It has a great city feel to it, loud, busy, cars honking, good food. BUT one night there was enough. They do still have the garbage problem but not as bad as I thought that it would be. I wanted to take a picture of it but I was afraid that I would get mugged and someone would run off with my camera! ;)

After our night in Naples we took the ferry to Capri. What a beautiful place. Although I must say, isn't everyone in the States bitching about the dollar and how low it is compared to the Euro? You would of thought that all of the Americans would stay home and travel in the U.S. NOPE - they were ALL in Capri. Now I am American and I love my country but when you see a group of 20 tourists all dressed in shorts and flowered shirts talking VERY loudly - you cringe. All you heard in the restaurants were - I want this, I want that, I don't want this, can't i get butter with my bread, don't add salt...what kind of dressings can I choose from, blah, blah, blah. Then after a large dinner they order a decaf cappuccino. NO ONE in Italy drinks cappuccinos after 11am and do you really think Italians have decaf coffee??? One of the great things about Europe is that you get what you get. If you order a sandwich - you get a sandwich. You don't have 50 million choices of what kind of bread, cheese, etc that you want. You just get a sandwich. Plain and simple.

Okay enough of that. Soooooo we spent two nights in Capri at a really great hotel. Then we took the ferry to Positano and spent three nights there. Positano was really nice but I envisioned it to be much prettier. It seemed a bit worn down to me. The views from the top though are amazing and cannot be beat. L and I rented a scooter and we took a ride to Ravello which was really beautiful. We also visited Almafi which I didn't care for at all. WAY too touristy.

After we arrived home from Italy we had two days to rest and then we were off to Chartres, France to get our puppy. I have to say that I love Chartres. It is a really cute small town about an hour outside of Paris. Def. worth the visit if you are ever in the area................

Will post about the puppy on a separate post. Your eyes have got to be blurry from reading my ramblings.

funny swiss stories.......

We were catching a flight to Copenhagen to visit my in-laws this past weekend. Our flight was really (really) early in the morning. 6:30 to be exact. At the airport, going through security the security man says to me in french...blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I said non......because usually they ask you do you have any liquids or a laptop. Easy enough - I said 'non'. He looks at me strangely and says (in English this time). "Where are you going?" What, I say (I never heard this question asked of me before, and I guess my non response did not cut it!)?? He says again, where are you going?? Are you going to Copenhagen? Why yes, yes I am, I say and proceeded through the line.
No wonder he looked so confused. Shit, no wonder why I was so confused. You get used to one question and then they pull something totally different out of their hat. I think it is just to test me to see if I know what they are saying when they speak French. Obviously not.

Spain..........

Was wonderful, absolutely fabulous. I mean really, when is it not?? Of course it was sunny (17-20 degrees)with blue skies the whole time.

We stayed a day/night in Alicante. Visited my old haunts, wandering around having a déjà vu every where I went. We even made it up to the castle this time. Last time we tried to walk up it - in the middle of the day, in the summer, not knowing really where we were going. Not the best idea.

After Alicante (and a side trip to Altea) we drove to Valencia and spent two nights there. Valencia was incredible. A nice big city without the tourists. Really, you could walk for hours and not hear any English. It was refreshing. Valencia has a bunch of little areas in their downtown section and we got to enjoy almost all of them. We walked so much I thought that my feet were going to fall off. We made a visit to the Aquarium, which is Europe's largest. We had been wanting to go there for awhile so part of this trip was to visit the Aquarium. Weird, I know.

After Valencia we drove to Barcelona to spend a couple hours walking around before our flight home. Barcelona is huge and crowded, and there were tourists everywhere. I much preferred Valencia although we did have a good time wandering the streets of Barcelona, trying to stay away from La Rambla.

Now I am back in Geneva and the sun has finally come out -if but only for a moment. I miss Spain, the life, the people, the food. The incessant chatter, the liveliness of it all. I miss being able to converse with the people. Upon our return I had to stop at the tailor and it was a mumble jumble of mis-matched french mumblings. Oh well. Back to the 'grind'.

Today it is....................

SNOWING. Yep, snowing. Yesterday it was bright and sunny (although a bit chilly) and I planted some flowers and window boxes for the terrace. This morning I wake up to snow - and it is still snowing. This is the most snow that I have seen this winter. But wait.....it's not winter anymore. I feel badly for the poor little birds (that make so much f'ing noise) that are nesting outside of our bedroom window. Betcha this snow shocked the hell out of them. Maybe they will be quiet while trying to keep warm. ;)

We are pretty much done with the ski season. Two weekends ago I wipe out twice and then last week I fell on the last run and hurt my ankle. It was nasty - lost both skis and poles. To my defense the visibility was quite bad at the time. I guess the faster I go the harder I fall. Next season I am going to buy a helmet.

What else, lets see.....I had a session with a photographer to learn more about my camera. What I did find out though is that I know NOTHING about my camera. It was a 2 hour session and was very informative although I felt like my head was going to explode after we were done. I was also part of setting up a photography club though Geneva online and our first meeting is tonight. I am excited that so many people are interested. There should be about 15 of us and it will be nice to get to meet some new people in this town. I know absolutely no one but will chalk it up to an experience and hope that all goes well.

Some practice shots (Jojje was not amused!)







This Thursday morning we leave for Spain. Gracias a Dios - finally a place where I can speak the bloody language. I am so sick of talking in monosyllables here. My French is still dreadful. Guess I really need to practice if I want to become better. UGH! We fly into Alicante Thursday morning, spend the night there and then drive up the coast to Valencia and spend two nights. The next day we will continue our drive to Barcelona and then leave for Geneva later that evening. I cannot wait to have a cortado. I have stopped drinking coffee about 2 months ago but I think that I will have to give in to the craving this weekend.

I can't stop thinking about it...........
:)

flower - geneve

flower - geneve
Originally uploaded by alicantina709

This picture I took reminds me of SPRING. Of course it was taken last year. That is why it looks so sunny and spring like. Ugh...I need some sun!

Good news!

L got some great news this past week and then more good news today.

His employer has decided to let him take the remainder of his vacations days instead of getting them paid out. This is good news because we now have 31 days of vacation to take. We are going to take a couple of long weekends this coming month to make a couple of 'local' trips. Spain and Italy are first on the list. THEN we are going on a safari!! We figured that we would go on safari for about 7 days and then L could start his new job early since he is such an eager beaver.

Now for even better news. It turns out that per Swiss law L cannot be on vacation (even though he is leaving) with one company and work for another. You know what that means?? He can't start his new job until June 1st which gives us 1 MONTH to vacation! Whohoo! Now we are supposed to get the puppy on May 18th but I think that I can push that back a week so that we will have 3 weeks off and 1 week to regroup before L starts that new job of his.

I have such planning to do!


Oh, we just came back from Budapest last night...very late last night as our sleazy jet flight was delayed almost two hours. We got to Geneva airport around 12am and the bus dropped us all off at the wrong place. We have to wait a good 20 minutes for them to open up our side of the airport so that we could enter! Unbelievable.
Anyway, we had a great trip. Budapest was so interesting, I highly recommend it. Will post more on the trip with some pictures later.


Did I mention - when we arrived it was SNOWING. I never thought I would be happy to see snow but snow means ski which makes me happy. It has been snowing since we left for Budapest and should continue snowing this week. I am going to try to go skiing if the weather permits tomorrow or Thursday and definately L and I will be taking a weekend trip to the mountains to ski, ski, ski! I need to work off all of that Hungarian food! :O

Easter!

This weekend is Easter and we are going to Budapest. A friend of mine and her boyfriend are going and they asked us to come along. Sure, why not??! I have never been and cannot wait to go exploring. It's been awhile since we took a little trip to explore another city in another country. Of course, it is supposed to rain the whole weekend - just my luck - but it still should be good fun!

I have been having some fun lately. We all went out last Friday night and had a great time. Then last night for the first time that I have been here I did a girl's night out. It is nice to be able to do that again. It's been way too long.

Skiing was good this past week as well and we are supposed to get a lot of snow in the mountains while we are away. Which will make for a great ski outing this coming Tuesday.

What else - well, our puppy was born about a week ago and we will be able to pick her up on May 18th!! We are now getting a female instead of a male, which is just fine by us considering we originally wanted a female. Now the dilemma is what to name her. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....

Have a wonderful Easter Holiday!!

Bored!

Yep, that's right...I am bored. I skipped the 2nd half of my french class today and got my eyebrows waxed. I almost got through the whole 'procedure' in french until at the very end the lady starts talking some sort of gibberish (french) and I had no f'ing clue what she was saying. I was totally busted..she said to me - you didn't understand a word that I said, did you? And of course I replied - Nope! Oh well. I try (a little). I don't do my homework and I don't practise, and I wonder why I still SUCK at french. As I said before, I think that it is a mental block.

I do have a reason to continue to study though - we rented an apartment in Cassis (South of France)for the month of Sept. I will get lots of practice that way! ;)

Let's see, what else......well - Lars and I took a drive to explore Lausanne last weekend. It is def. less pretentious than Geneva. I am freaking out a bit because I am finally settled here and to move again is going to be difficult. Yes, I know that it is only a 45 minute drive away from Geneva but it seems like a million miles. To be honest, I really don't like Geneva that much - it is a bit boring - so maybe Lausanne will end up being better for us.

Last Friday I went on a hike with the women's club and we saw some great animals. Here are some pictures:






Aren't they the best? I love going for walks in the country here in Switzerland. People have horses grazing in their front yard. I have never seen so many cows, sheep, donkeys, etc in my life. This excitment is a true sign that I am getting old!

Killer Cat

I came home last Tuesday after a long day of skiing (I know, it's a tough life) and this is what I found in our foyer:



It appears as if somehow a dirty, nasty, pigeon fell down the Chimney shoot and ended up in our fireplace much to the delight of Jojje. I walk into the house and immediately spotted the dead bird. I walked into the different rooms of the house and I could clearly tell that there was a massacre.
There was a trail of blood all over the house. It was everywhere.....Disgusting! It took Lars and I a long time to clean up all of the blood and the millions of feathers.

The cat was in his glory. I think that he thought it was Christmas time. It's the most fun he has had in years. I am just glad that I wasn't home to witness the slaughter. Every now and then I catch him looking longingly into the fireplace waiting for his next victim to arrive.




We thought that we had gotten all of the feathers but it seems as if Jojje has a secret stash hidden somewhere. I found him playing with one yesterday - so busted!

New Job

Well, L has gone ahead and gotten himself a new job. I am not sure how I feel about the company itself but it is going to give him what he needs to advance to the next level. The company is Phillip Morris International. Yes, I know, it's a horrible tobacco company BUT the opportunities for him there are limitless. Besides, he got such a good package with the job offer and a ridiculously large signing bonus.
The location of the job is in Lausanne. Lausanne is a city about 45 minutes from Geneva. For now he is going to commute but I think that we might start looking for a new place to live, closer to his job. They will pay for our moving exp. and give us 25k cash to settle into a new house if we move anywhere within 30km of Lausanne.

I go back and forth on moving. I now have a routine and I have made friends. Yes, Lausanne is only 45 minutes away but to me it seems like a land far, far away. It's like living in Boston and finding you have to drive to the South Shore for a dinner party. IT seems sooooooooo far away. It might be a better place for me though. I am already getting bored with Geneva and it hasn't even been a year since I lived here. It is such a quiet city. Then again, maybe it is time for a house and a family. Who knows.....stranger things have happened.

I will keep you all updated!

More pictures....

Mallorca - this past November.

I wanted to jump in....
Look closely - do you see the dogs??!
The stone window
Green door self portrait
The Finca where we stayed

Pool at the Finca
ripe fruit
posing for picture
pet me....please

Antsy

I have been antsy lately, bored, inquieta (as they say in spanish)......Don't ask me what the word is in French - no clue. Actually, I think that I have learned it at some point in time but these damn French words just go in and out of my head. I have no retention when it comes to the French language. Maybe it is a subconscious advertion (that is really not at all that subconscious)to learning the language.

I feel like this (by the way, this is jojje....our cat. i think that this is his first appearance on this blog. congrats to jojje!):

Anyway, I am not really sure why I am bored. I am busy pretty much every day of the week. Could it be that it's because I am finally gettiung settled and I don't have some crazy story to share about my day or maybe it's because we haven't travelled anywhere since we have been back from our Christmas/New Year's vacation. It's crazy how hard the travel bug can bite you. We have been staying in Switzerland every weekend to go skiing in France and I love it but I am starting to miss the adventures of a trip. I do have a weekend trip to Sweden next weekend to visit the in-laws and then a trip back to Boston in late feb/early March. So that should calm me down. L is also trying to arrange a safari for us sometime in April (yeah!) which I have been dying to do. Speaking of Africa - here are a couple of pictures from our trip to Zanzibar this past October. I am missing the ocean so it should cheer me up to share a couple of these pics.

Stalker

As you all know (or may realize by now) I had to restrict access to my blog. The reason for this is that L's ex (i.e. the nut bag) somehow found this blog. Now I realize for the most part that blogs are public but how in the world did she manage to find my blog?? All I have to say is that she must have a lot of free time on her hands, not to mention such a sorry excuse for a life that she needs to go searching for information on her ex-husband and his new wife. Thank goodness he did not have any children with the nut bag. Well, I hope that the nut bag has enjoyed reading about my fabulous life, with my fabulous husband. And for the record I should actually thank her.... If she hadn't of been such a pychotic nut bag I would of never of met L. ;)

Tales from this week

Hubby is away in France for a work conference and I have a bit of free time before I go to bed.
This week I.............

- Went skiing 3 times. I am now an official wanna be snow bunny. Now to complete the picture all I need is a new and improved body, and a fancy new ski outfit complete with a fur trimmed (okay faux fur) hood. I have been trying really hard to get this ski thing down but I am still in need of serious help.

- Laughed with other semi-retired girls. That is what we feel like....semi retired. Semi retired sounds so much better than unemployed...trailing spouse...wouldn't you say?? On Thursday 3 of us went skiing and at lunch sat around and giggled about our life, how badly we felt that we were out skiing while the boys were working (yeah, right!), and how much laundry we have to do now that we are not working, not wearing suits, and not sending everything to the dry cleaners.

- Went to dinner with friends. Twice. Since I have become a homebody this is a new record for me.

- Washed my car at a self-service car wash. Might not sound like a lot to you but you try doing it in a foreign country and see how you feel! ;)

- Bought a food processor and made my own hummus and almond butter. I hate the hummus here and I cannot find almond butter anywhere. Soooooo I decided to be domestic (for once) and make them myself. The hummus turned out fantastic. The almond butter....not so fantastic. I roasted the almonds for too long before I processed them. Now what I have tastes like burnt almond butter. I will try it again this week.

- Got everything in order for my detox that is going to start tomorrow. No caffeine, alcohol, dairy products, meat, and crappy food. Sounds crazy but I did a detox program last year before my wedding and I felt great. This year will be more challenging as I live in a land filled with wine and cheese.
BUT I need to be a bit healthier and feel better so detox here I come. I will keep you updated with the results.

Happy Anniversary to me........and (of course) the hubby!

On January 12th the hubby and I celebrated our ONE year anniversary. Can you believe it?? I can't believe he has actually put up with me for one full year! ;)
Seriously, it means a lot to me to share my life with someone so wonderful as my husband. He is the best thing that ever happened to me.

OKAY, enough of me being sappy. We had a great weekend. On Friday we went out to happy hour and then to dinner for my friend's birthday. We had a group of 14 so it was great fun. When we got home it was 1am and we decided to exchange presents. One year is paper so I made Lars a photo album of us and all of the travels/adventures that we have had since the beginning of our relationship. I had a feeling that he had something special up his sleeve so not to be out done I got him a Tag Grand Carrera watch. He kept talking about how he needed a new watch and I was a bit tired of listening to him SO I bought him watch. I also let him know that since I am no longer working that this present covers me getting him a gift for the next 4 anniversaries!! ;)

It's a really cool watch. Here is a picture:


Then I got my present! I received from the hubby a beautiful pendant necklace from Marina B. Marina B is actually the grand-daughter of Bulgari. I had no idea. I have never even heard of her until I came to Geneva. Here is a picture (or two!) of the necklace)




On Saturday, we had a lazy day and then went to dinner that night. We went to a fabulous Thai restaurant called Patara. We had the tasting menu, and if you are ever in Geneva, I would highly recommend it.


On Sunday we spent a fantastic day skiing in Chamonix, France.

I couldn't of asked for a better anniversary weekend!

Vin Chaud

My new vice: Vin Chaud



I have never had it(or heard of it)until we moved to Switzerland. Vin Chaud is an amazing drink of a spiced hot wine that is served when it begins to get cold outside. If you are in Europe and you go to order a hot drink to warm you up - you must order it. Your life will never be the same. I can't imagine how I ever lived without it.

Here is a definition/explaination from Wikipedia:

Mulled wine, variations of which are popular around the world, is wine, usually red wine, combined with spices and typically served hot. In the old times wine often went bad, but by adding spices and honey it could be made drinkable again. Nowadays it is a traditional drink during winter used, especially around Christmas, to warm up. In Italy, this beverage is typically drunk in the northern part of the country.

Glögg is the Swedish form of mulled wine, similar to Glühwein in German-speaking countries. Glühwein is usually prepared from (not too expensive, sometimes outright cheap) red wine, which is heated and spiced with cinnamon sticks, cloves and sugar. Almonds and raisins are often added to the Scandinavian version, though not to the German. The oldest Glühwein tankard is documented in the high noble german and first Riesling grower of the world, Count John IV. of Katzenelnbogen around 1420. This gold-plated lockable silver tankard imitating the traditional wine woven wooden can is called Welcome.[1]

Below is a list of the country and their name for hot wine so you never have to be without it!

German, Glühwein ("glowing wine")
French, vin chaud ("hot wine")
Italian, vin brulé (French for "burnt wine")
Brazil, Quentão ("big hot")
Romanian vin fiert ("boiled wine")
Polish, Grzane wino ("heated wine")
Slovak Varené vino ("boiled wine")
Czech Svařené víno ("boiled wine")
Slovenian Kuhano vino ("cooked wine")
Hungarian Forralt bor ("boiled wine")
Russian глинтвейн ("glintwein")
Chilean Spanish Navegado.

Bon Ski!

Since we have been back I have been concentrating on two things. Trying to speak French and trying to ski. Believe it or not, the skiing is working out much better than the French!
I have French class on Monday and Wed from 9am-12pm. It's hard and my accent is terrible. I guess I could be better if I practised and listened to tapes but who in their right mind wants to that??? I am not sure why I am torturing myself (or my classmates) for that matter.

Now, the skiing has been a lot of fun. Even I have surprised myself with how much pain my body can endure! The past two Sundays Lars and I have gone skiing with another couple at Villars and then in Chamonix .

In the beginning of January I started skiing with the ski group at the women's club. Every Tuesday myself and a group of other girls go skiing at Les Contamines, France . This past Tuesday I was able to do an easy Red with only falling down once. I can actually say that even though I am so tired and my entire body hurts, I cannot wait to go again this weekend. Those new fancy ski boots that I purchased have been well worth it. My goal is to be as good as my hubby. Fat chance of that happening though. The man hasn't been on skis in 15 years. He gets on the slopes and you would think that he has been skiing every day of his life. UGH!!

Back in Geneva

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Just got back from a fantastic Christmas vacation with the hubby. We went to Pittsburgh to spend time with my family (and got to visit a few friends as well) and then went to the Bahamas to celebrate New Years.

See, I have this thing with celebrating the coming of the New Year with my feet in the ocean. I have almost made it a tradition. When I first started dating my husband, he had this grand idea of going to the Cayman Islands for New Year's. Really? I said.....who actually goes to the Caribbean for New Years? It seemed quite frivolous to me but what the heck - I went along with it. Now he is in deep trouble because my feet need to be in the ocean when the clock strikes 12...every year!! (Last year doesn't count because we got married in January....).

We stayed at a resort near the Atlantis and had full access to their facilities. The place was packed with people and you couldn't get away from all the obnoxious self absorbed tourists in their baseball hats and college t-shirts. The Atlantis in and of itself was addictive. So much to do in one place. We were literally sucked into all of the activities, water slides, spa treatments. Like zombies we were, walking around.......oh.....water slide.......oh......lazy river.......oh casino and slot machines............ We were a bit disappointed in ourselves because we barely explored the island while we were there. We did go to Nassau for the day to look at the shops but it was just dirty. We also did go swim with the dolphins at the blue lagoon (very fun!) and went to another island during the day to swim in the ocean.

We had a great time and we are already thinking about where to go next year!

We got back to Geneva on Saturday morning, suffering from the worst case of jet lag. Sunday we spent recuperating and Monday it was back to the grind (for hubby that is!).