Mr. Sir Elton John, I believe you are incorrect with this song title. Okay, so the song is about ending a relationship, right? Still I don't believe he has the right word. I think sorry is actually kind of a trite word. It is too easily said and too easily dismissed. To me the hardest word to say is Good-bye.
I actually never use it. I can't stand saying it; never have. On the phone I may say bye, but I follow it up with, "I will talk to you later." In person it is always, "I'll see you later." Goodness I can't even type it. There is too much finality in the word Good-bye. Heck I refused to even say it at my dad's funeral. I ended his eulogy the only way possible, with "I'll see you later Dad." I refuse to believe in good-byes, in endings. There is always a next chapter to the story, even if it is yet unwritten. To quote Robert Frost, "...knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back..." Nope, not even then. There is always that smallest chance. I cannot give up on that.
So as I sit here in my hotel room and cry as I type, I must say "I'll see you later" to Switzerland and all of my friends. I have truly enjoyed living here. It is a picturesque country. But mainly because I have met such wonderful people. The friends I have here are sisters of my heart. I cannot think about a day where I can't ring them up for a coffee or a lunch date. It truly breaks my heart. How can you say it to someone who you met your second day in country; who asked you if you met anyone yet or had any friends yet; who said don't worry when you gave a negative answer; who said I will be your friend and has been ever since? Who is going to giggle and snort at my stupid jokes now?
How do you say good-bye to your friend who stops by for a cup of tea, which you don't drink but keep in your cupboard just for her; who makes fun of your tea kettle because it is not electric but the stove top kind; who knocks on your door to get you to take a walk down by the lake just to get you to stop cleaning? Who is going to drink my tea now? How do you say good-bye to a friend who laughs at your Mary Poppins bag of everything? Or the friend who brings stuff back from her country for you to try/taste? Or the friend who drives an hour with you to the grocery store and back even if nothing is needed just to keep you company? Or the friend who has a zucchini bread in her bag with your name on it for no reason?
How? You cannot. It is an impossible task. No one can ask it of me. Nor can I do it. But my house is empty, my things are packed. My family is onto a new adventure. Still, this is not good-bye. My answer will always be "I'll see you later."
Ok, my iPad is being mean. It will not let me share The Eagles video, only the link, which is fine as the video sucks.
So, finally I am writing. As you can tell by the title, I've been pretty busy. From my last post you know that we went to Normandy, France, in May. I wanted to write more but never had the time. It was a nine hour drive- not too bad- to get there. We travelled through a lot of the French provinces. Unfortunately, we did not sample the regional wines each stop. Trip would never have happened! There is not one major highway that connects the Brittany coast with the southern and eastern parts of France. It is all two lane country highways. This is not so bad. We got to travel the French countryside. It is really beautiful with the old chateaux and farms. And I must say, Normandy is a must for teens. And is probably one of a few places in France that actually likes Americans. Signs are everywhere saying "Thank you to our liberators." That includes us, the Brits/Scots, the Canadians. I'm not positive if they include the other smaller groups who helped so please know I am not leaving you out on purpose. If you go, book a tour. I highly recommend Dale Booth. Look for him on Trip Advisor. Book early; he is an awesome story teller, a true historian. I felt like I was right there at times. Very well done.
Next was the boys' Confirmations. We had family visit for that. We had a very nice time. The bishop said my boys are lively and interesting. I don't know if that is good or not. Being filled with the Holy Spirit does not mean they are automatically nice to each other, though. I think the HS hides sometimes. I need to find his hiding spot, maybe I can fit in too.
Next came school assessment testing. You would think these were finals, because the tests were a culmination of the year's teachings. Nope. Not in IB. These were very stressful weeks. Crying on several fronts was involved. And we still had a month before school let out. Of course did they learn anything new? No, they did not. But "school camp" is fine with me. As I am sure most moms agree.
Then hubby and I went to Vienna with friends for a wedding. Vienna is really cool. Centuries old paintings you see in museums have the same statues or fountains or buildings that you walk by. So cool to walk through a place where Mozart once stood or where he composed Tom & Jerry music.
Next, the end of school and our annual trip back to the States. This is not a vacation my friends. I have a honey do list everyday. I'm getting tired. We bought a bunch of new clothes for the boys because they don't stop growing. I hope it all still fits in October. What you get with two teen boys! Then driving practice, ACT tutoring, English grammar tutoring, college tours, house repairs, daily Target trips, the list goes on. We did have a ten day break to hit Texas and visit family. I got to hold babies and stuff my face, semi vacay. My SILs are totally awesome. One made homemade Sangria. The other had wine at the ready. And the babies are so cute I could slap them up with a biscuit! My bros were wonderful to let me invade their homes. And I finally got to see my sis after three years along with her new twins. Way too long! And those scrumptious butterballs are adorable! But now I need a vacation from my "vacation." But not yet, back to the honey do lists before that happens. Plus there are a few extras I'm not mentioning because that blog comes next week when I'm back on my laptop. Typing all of this on an iPad is annoying.
I finally have time to write this as I avoid my French homework while the doc dumbs down my child (wisdom tooth extraction). I will preface this story with two things. Point 1, we are not racists. Never have been and never will be. We love people of all colors, even purple. Since we are not one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eaters this comes in handy. Though they may be tasty, I am not a cannibal. However, I will not rule it out if I am ever in a Donner Party situation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donner_Party. Survival and all that. Point 2, have you ever taken the test that explains how you think? Like Germans are usually linear thinkers, while Latins are usually circular? Interesting thing is I have a German background but think very circular, more like tornado-y really, while my hubby is Latin but thinks linear. Must be why we complement each other. Okay, what was I trying to say? Wait, let me read back. Ah okay, circular thinking.
So we went to Southern Spain for Easter, Andalucia to be specific. The title of this story, Round and Round, is very fitting. Because that is what we did the whole time. Not one road in Andalucia is straight. Well, okay maybe the main thoroughfare going into the city is, but that's it. Our first experience in Seville https://youtu.be/uYBce9Gsz7g was the major roundabout to get near the old city. Major in that it had 6 lanes. Which would not be a problem if the Spanish followed normal traffic laws, or the arrows on the ground. There were 6 or 7 branches off this thing, and apparently you could turn right from any of the lanes. Not knowing this, it was disturbing to be driving and then someone cuts across in front of you. Yeah, we went around that thing twice until we figured it was okay to cut across. It was a very good lesson in weaving. My eyes were closed. Good thing I was not the one driving.
I thought it would be cool to stay in the old parts of the cities that we visited. However, those roads were not straight by any means either. So while we could see our hotel from across a plaza, it took about 25 minutes to get to it. This happened in Malaga also. We were 100 yards away from our hotel for about one hour. We could see it, but couldn't get there because of all of the construction in the city and one way roads and procession blocked roads. It was a test to our marriage as well. I don't think we spoke to each other for a half hour just so we could decompress from the stress. One thing we learned for future is to call ahead to make sure there is a parking space available. While the hotels say they have parking they actually have only 5-8 spots available. And they are first come first serve. In Cordoba, with Ricardo driving down loopy roads that may be about 6 feet wide from wall to wall while trying to avoid people in the roads, this is an important concept. So I ran in to let the hotel know we were there. No parking available so clerk gave me a map to parking. I go out, sprint after Ricardo because, of course, someone had to drive down the road too, but with the walking traffic I did not have to go too far, and tried to direct him with a map and an intermittent GPS because the buildings were blocking our signal. So another thing, the maps the hotel gives you? They don't say what is a pedestrian only road, nor do they tell you all of the roads, just the "major" ones. As navigator, I failed miserably. I led hubby down dead ends, to walking only streets, and one way turns. Well, the last one we ignored. So what if only buses and taxis could turn right? We were kind of a taxi! But we found a parking garage. I realized after that we were off the map when I told my husband we were in the middle of the left corner. See, total fail. But we didn't hit anybody because they stepped into doorways. That's a plus.
Why did you go to Andalucia you ask? Okay, maybe you didn't but I am saying you did so you did. I wanted to experience the cultural phenomenon that is Easter in Spain. They have these processions throughout Holy Week in most of the cities across the country, Seville being the major one. These go back into the Renaissance period or earlier some of them. The deal is there are 1 ton floats carried by a people through the streets with bands and penitents, called Nazerenos, following them.
See the pointed hatted people? (So story goes this is where the KKK got their robe idea.) Those are the penitents. They gave out candy and Jesus trading cards. Of course we were going to be right up on them when we could. At a certain point though we could not get anywhere near them because of the wall of people. There were more people in Seville than NYC Times Square on News Years Eve and Disney's all year attendance combined. At night the floats were cool because the candles were all lit. These processions could take like 2 hours because they had to stop to relight the candles and give the carriers a break. It was really an experience.
See? The sea of people. Okay, so we planned out out days to see these processions. And you know when one is coming because people flock down the streets like rats leaving a sinking ship. (Who should sing the song "Round and Round?" Yes, Ratt. I am totally synergistic.) We did not have a route plan, but we did not need one. We just followed the pied piper with everyone else. But you see all these people? Yeah, you don't want to get stuck in that.
We asked our concierge about it. He wrote in our map. Stay away from this area after 3 pm or you will be stuck. Okay, we could handle that. It is only one street.
This is what the map should have looked like.
Why would we think that a procession would go in a straight line in Spain? We were right in the middle of that when I took those photos above. And that was only one street corner. Yeah, and it is frowned upon to cut through a procession. Though that rule was below my husband, and we had to follow him. At one point we were headed in the right direction of our hotel and hit a procession again and made a right turn. 20 minutes of wandering, yes you could have guessed it, in circles we were right back where we started. I couldn't help but laugh. Ricardo did not think it was funny. Who was holding the map? Yes, that would be me. 2 hours after leaving dinner we got back to our hotel. Yeah, no more for my children. The next cities we visited our eagle-eyed spotter youngest child would call out, "Mom, cone heads dead ahead!" And we would turn around, or round and round. Yes, you are allowed to groan.
Overall, it was a very fun trip. Seville is Old Spain, Cadiz is beach and similar to Puerto Rico in looks, the Caves at Nerja were my sons' favorites, Granada is okay, Malaga had interesting Mexican/Indian fusion restaurants and was a nice jaunt for the day after we figured out how to get to our hotel. And Cordoba was totally cool and totally Moorish Spain. And all withing a 3 hour circle from each other. Yes, we even drove the region in one big circle. The food was yummy, the wine was thirst quenching, and the sites were magnificent. And Span so cheap! Ricardo got a beer at a street corner kiosk for 1 Euro. He had to double check to make sure he heard correctly. Oh and a nice Rioja? Maybe 2.50 Euros per glass. Can't beat that! I don't know what can top this trip. I just set the bar pretty high. As long as there is a glass of wine on said bar I am fine.
The Wiggles have it right. Those smells are very yummy. I would love to sit here at this moment and say I can smell dinner cooking in the oven. But, nope. Can't do it. Point 1, I am not cooking anything as it is mid-day. Point 2, I am not going to cook tonight. I don't feel like it. That is the awesome thing about a husband and kids who love sandwiches. I rarely HAVE to cook if I don't want to. However, that is not what this is about.
So, when we lived in Brazil we lived next to the river Marginal Tiete. In high Summer it stunk to high Heaven. I mean, you could actually feel the smell running in between your teeth like you could chew it. Though I do not know what a burning pig farm would smell like, I would attribute the smell to that.
Onto to clean and lovely Switzerland. Switzerland is awesome! Truly. It creates the best chocolates in the world. What's not to love! And it has cows. Everywhere. I love cows. As I have said before, they are my spirit animal. I also love my boys. However, I do not like how either smells. Okay, so I am not up close and personal with cows. So how would I know if their stink is anywhere close to my boys' smell? Well let me tell you. So in Switzerland it is very difficult to find pesticides and herbicides and fertilizers, unless they are of the organic kind. Very Earth friendly the Swiss are. So Spring is here! Yey! Time to smells the flowers blooming and trees budding! Um well no. First, before any of that happens things need to be fertilized and fields need to be tilled. What that also means is the farmers are out fertilizing their fields to get ready for planting. So, Jen? Who cares? Well...
So this is how they fertilize fields. The farmers take all of the winter cow poo that has been hanging around in a big pile, dump it into haulers behind tractors, take the poo carts out into the fields, and use a GIANT spray gun to shoot it ALL OVER the fields. A. Giant. Poo. Gun. Like spray painting the field with poo. I am dead serious. I wish I took a picture of this because, well just because. This way of fertilizing is not a problem, except... That dried up old poo? It becomes poo dust and floats in the air. If you are lucky it can coat you, your dog, your shoes, your car. So everything kinda smells like poo for a bit. Oh and it can also get lodged in your nose so all you smell is poo. I had to ask my husband repeatedly last night if I smelled like poo. Nope. Okay, good.
Oh, and FYI you can be going into your child's school for a meeting while chewing lovely peppermint gum and end up chewing cow poo Trident. Tasty!!
So my children love me. So much so that when my husband goes out of town on business they try to garner my attention - by needing to go to the hospital.
My first foray in this was back almost a decade. Okay, I am exaggerating it was like almost 7. But that is closer to 10 than 1. So. My beautiful baby boy of 7 years decides to eat a lot of cheese. I mean a lot! This boy I think is actually made of cheese so it really was no big surprise. Until 2 am rolls around and he is up with tummy pains so bad he can't move. Me thinks it's appendicitis so after a call to the doc off we go. Luckily, I was staying with my fantastic in-laws at the time because we were in the process of moving to Brazil. They took care of my eldest while I spent the night in the ER. Everything was fine, but they did give him that yucky serum stuff to drink to look into his GI tract. Not good for a mom who has issues with puke. Because that is exactly what my child did while drinking that. Orangey-red mess all over the bed with me running from the room gagging.
The US is awesome when it comes to emergencies. 24 hour service available! There are even mini ER clinics available. I have been to these too. They are great, in and out within a half hour. I don't know about small town America. I have always lived within 5 miles of a major health system. I am very grateful of this. I imagine it is very scary when the nearest hospital is 20-50 miles away. I do not think I could function, especially since I am a really neurotic person. Now onto Switzerland. Nothing is open after 6 pm here in my neck of the woods. (And I guess we are in small town Swiss?) Well that includes the ER. WHAT!! Wait. Be patient.
So my eldest (yes it was his turn) decided at 2 am (yes they like that time of night) to get out of bed too fast. He came out of his room and fainted, hit the wall and then the floor, which is where I found him. Now, I am not normally a light sleeper. But when my husband is gone I am. That is if I can fall asleep at any normal time. Plus I wear jammies when he is gone. Imagine walking out in my all together to check on my son. He would have had a heart attack! Or vomited all over the floor. Or his eyes would have fallen out. Whichever. Anyway, I heard the noise and chose to investigate and I find him in a ball on the floor outside his room. His bum and arm hurt from the landing. I help him up and he literally faints in my arms again. Straight back! Would have hit the floor if I did not help him down. Let me tell you. That scared the shit out of me. Literally! I am thinking while watching his eyes flutter back and he is not responding to me - OMG another faint? a seizure? diabetic issue though he is not? Heart condition? Dead serious stuff. I know people with these issues, my neuroses aside, so I am freaking out. He comes around and I get him to crawl into his bathroom and I run into mine. Yes, I told you I meant literally. So my issues over, I run and get him some juice and wake up my husband via cell to explain what happened and get support. Then I notice the eye. Eyelid split right across. Send a pic to my hubby, and he agrees that may need stitches. So hang up, wake my youngest to let him know what is happening, and head off to hospital ER. Which is 5 minutes from the house. Lucky me!
Okay. Where is ER parking? Does not exist? So park on street. One spot left. Where is the door? Oh here. Wait after hours door around corner. Okay head to that. Wait after hours phone next to door to send someone to open it. Okay pick it up. Wait, he is 15? You need to go to pediatrics on the third floor. Okay. Where is the elevator? Wait, no elevator. Okay 3 flights up we go. All while supporting my son. (Though he has had juice by this point to get his blood sugar? pressure? back in line. I gave that to him because in donating blood so often to be a galloneer they always gave me juice when I was lightheaded. Thank you Memorial Blood Centers for educating me!) Which is funny that I was supporting him. He is taller than I am and very muscley. The nurse did not believe me when I said he was 15.
An hour plus later we are heading back home with a taped eyelid. No stitches needed since it was a shallow cut. Neuro exam passed, heart check passed, blood pressure passed. All good. Hospital staff was very nice and polite and very patient because my French went out the window with the stress. Not a bad experience at all. I am very grateful for that.
If there is a next time, my husband better be home! Now I have to function today on maybe 3 hours sleep. No probs, I am a mom. I am just going to go mainline my Brazilian coffee now. A tout a l'heure!
Apparently, you can pick out the Americans in Europe by the level of our voices, how much we laugh, how friendly we are, and by the size coffees we drink. Americans are loud. Or maybe it is just me? I know I am loud. I am okay with this. Swiss are not.
I met my new friend today for coffee and shopping. Michele is also American. She is also loud. WE GET ALONG GREAT!! See I can even type loudly. First the coffee. Because 3 cups just doesn't do it in the morning. Well another one doesn't either. The cups here are small, like espresso sized. So I ordered two each for us. When I told the barista 4 cups please, she asked me three separate times if she heard correctly. Yes, 4 cups please.
See how small they are? Each is like a swallow. Please! Yes, we need four! Well, we sat down and preceded to have a lively conversation. We were having loads of fun, laughing and talking and laughing. We scared away 4 people. They looked at us several times. Did they think this would quiet us down? We were in an open air cafe. Please, think again men! This is not a new experience for me though. On occasion I have helped, okay so I was helped since I did the most talking, in restaurants, to annoy people enough by talking and laughing to make them move. But today records were broken.
Then a walk through the Swiss Home Depot called Jumbo. It probably would have helped others if we made a list. But what fun is that? You have to exclaim over a Star Wars lamp. And you have to shout across an aisle when you found something the other needs. I think we also scared a few people away in the there too. But, again, we were having fun. Hey girls like Home Depot too you know! Then Athleticum. After giggling over the name we went shopping for snow shoe raquets. We found some, and a few other things. No abuelo, I did not buy any shoes! After that was Aldi. Up and down the aisles checking things out and, again, having fun. What is not fun about shopping with a friend? Two of the best things in the world. Plus we found great wine that was cheap. Did you know Aldi does not take credit card? We found that out at the checkout as we were paying. And everyone behind us, as well as the cashier, was staring at us. I think we were the only two people smiling in the whole place. When I said hello to the cashier she gave me a look like I was insane. She just met me. How did she figure it out so fast? Scrounging for money at the bottom of our purses, because hey, we are not giving up that wine, we had eyes rolled at us. And the next girl in line practically kicked us out of the lane. Michele went to pick up one of our bags and was stepped in front of. Um, scuse me! We are just trying to get our stuff. Jeez.
Out the door laughing all the way, Ho, Ho, Ho! We made it to our car with an old man passing us grumbling. He was mocking our laughing. We might have been shushed as well. In the parking lot. Not positive on that though.
Then to the Swiss Costco, Aligro. This place is awesome! I took Michele around. We laughed over trying to push the trolley without running into people. They are rear wheel drive or some such thing. It is not easy to navigate. Again, the looks. Then to the cheeses where there are wheels and wheels of cheese. More fun. Then to the wine section. There were samples. Need I say more?
We had a total blast today. Hopefully we put a smile on just one other person's face. And who cares if voices carry. We weren't swearing (where anyone else could hear us) or being mean. We were having fun. Come on! Life is short. Might as well make the most of it and laugh as much as you can. Especially at yourself....
Oh and I forgot about the guy in the car next to us. We were in the turn lane, talking again animatedly. The guy next to us was staring at us. Michele, in an aside, mentioned it. I turned, looked at him, smiled and waved. He was not sure what to do. He looked a bit confounded. Hopefully he will at least smile when he thinks of us later.
In honor of my son who loves parodies. This one's for you shmoo!
The holidays have come and gone. It is sad really. It is already the last part of January. Where did the beginning of 2016 go? For goodness sakes Spring will be here before you know it. And it can't come soon enough. I moved to Switzerland to get away from snow and cold. Living in Minnesota you are guaranteed both. Well, I skied for the second time in my life last week. I now know one of the advantages of marrying a man from a Caribbean island. Sun and sand will be wanted with frequency. Which is why we are already planning our next Christmas in a tropical setting. But I digress. A lot.
We had my husband's family visit for the holidays. Roughly 3 weeks of 7 extra people, give or take a few, in the house. Now many of you will think I am crazy for not putting them up in hotels. Why? I have 9 months of vacation a year (while boys are in school). 3 weeks where I actually have to do something is no big deal. Plus I like my in-laws; we get along great. I don't have to cook if I don't want to because they will eat sandwiches like any good red-blooded American, they help me clean, they go to the store if I need it, easy peasy. And boy, did we need to go to the store! I have two teenage boys. They eat a lot. But I don't think I was prepared with how much 7 adults, 2 teen boys, AND two children under 10 actually would eat. So I decided to total up all of the food that we cooked and ate and generally devoured over the holidays. I think I could have fed a small country. These are rough estimates, mostly conservative in nature. Hey, sandbagging is fine, especially on the price you paid for a really cute pair of shoes. The veggie totals are on point though.
Bread: 60 loaves. Empirial star ship sized loaves. Not the local bulk cruisers mind you. I talking about the big corellian ship sized loaves.
Cereal: 8 boxes of Cheerios, 4 of Nestle Fitness, 2 Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
As a reminder of pounds to kilos, 2.2 US pounds per kilo.
Meat: 10 kilos of beef, 8 kilos of deli turkey, 10 kilos of chicken, 5 kilos of deli ham, 4 kilos of bacon, and a 7.5 kilo fresh pork leg - lechon, various dried sausages.
Cheese: 6 kilos of cheddar, edam, mozzerella in total. Not including the fondue we ate at the Christmas market. If you add that, maybe 12 kilos.
Mayo: 8 small jars - about 8 cups. Not by me though. I hate mayo, unless it is Hellman's Mayo parm chicken. That is awesome!
Pizza: 15 large
Rice: 6 kilos
Coffee: 4 kilos
Veggies: 4 heads broccoli, 1 head cauliflower, 4 eggplants.
Now this is not all we ate, but that is the majority. I think one night we had pasta. But these are Cubans, If it is going to be carbs, it better be rice! (So says my husband.) And I am not including desserts because then you will know what our New Year's resolutions were. Yes, there were that many.
Were there leftovers? Yes, but those were eaten too. Nothing went to waste. I have not seen my credit card bill yet. Not sure I want to. Would I do it all again? Most definitely. I come from a large family. The more the merrier. So I left the temp bed set up if anyone wants to visit. You at least will know you will eat well.
In honor of all resolutions everywhere, I post Eminem's Just Lose It. Because, let's face it, if you are like me that is exactly what you need to do. Personally I thought it was just five or six pounds. But after last night, I think it is now closer to ten. You could always have a bet like my husband and FIL, pounds off my May. That is a way to go. Of course last night I was plying my FIL with sweets. Hey, that is a $100 bet. I wanna win! I mean I want my husband to win. Or you could go detox. Or you could get your butt off the couch and walk those cookies off your hips like I PLAN to do. Not saying at the moment how often that will happen, though. Always leave your options open! And as I write this my MIL and FIL are out walking and my hubby and eldest son are going for a run. I'm just going to finish my coffee with my feet up and laptop on my... um lap - and type.
I have been remiss in my exercise regimen over the Fall even though I was living the vida loca. It just wasn't on the trails. And then my Hans broke, my FitBit. Just totally fell apart. Design needs work because I did not wear it in the shower; did not overly sweat with it (I don't sweat, I sparkle); nor did I do a mudder butter thingymagig. I would eat a nutter butter though. Those are heaven. Unless you are allergic to nuts, then they are evil incarnate. And which is probably part of the reason I need to lose some quid. And those who know me know I do not run. Like ever. (Thank you Taylor Swift for that phrasing. Because like we never like said that in the 80's, like ever.)
So now I have a new FitBit, and his name is Franz. https://youtu.be/GAalP0jeqV4 Hopefully he will last longer than a year because it might take that long for me to fit back into my regular day jeans. No, I did not bet anyone. I am not crazy. I would rather give my money to DSW than to someone else because they had better willpower than me. Just saying.
So friends, be prepared to be inundated with requests to be motivational coaches. To the trails it is! In like two weeks-ish.
