Fasnacht…

So, I’m completely crazy…and you will think so as well when you hear my story. Every year there is an event in Basel, Switzerland called Fasnacht (although some people call it Carnival). I’m told that this is an event meant to scare away the spirits of winter and welcome an early spring. There are Fasnacht celebrations all over Switzerland (and maybe Germany…not sure…) but the one in Basel is famous. It starts with an event called the Morgestraich. This is basically a parade of different group at 4 AM…yes …you heard right…4AM!! So, basically to start at the beginning…we left my friend’s house on the 1AM train Monday morning to make our way to Basel for the event. We arrived just after 3 and from there made our way to the city center. You basically fight for a good place to stand on the street (which I never found one…I was crushed between tons of giant people…they were giants I tell you!!) and wait for the parade. At exactly 4AM (that’s the Swiss for ya…) they turn off all the lights in the city and the procession begins with very loud music. Each group has these float type things made of very colorful light things…no good way to describe these things. They reminded me of stained glass windows but of course they weren’t made of glass. I’ve tried to attach my best picture to let you see what it looks like. (Although, none of my pictures turned out that well). These groups also have about half the people playing drums and the other half playing flute like instruments. It’s all very interesting looking. The costumes were a bit creepy and some were depressing looking. Basically they play forever…We stayed until just after dawn and they were still going strong…that’s 4 hours!! After the initial craze most people find a café to go into (yes, they are open at that time of morning) for a hot drink and traditional flour soup or a cheese or onion quiche. I personally had the cheese quiche…

Let me give you a little insight into how the day went for me…There were three of us going (although, we ended up meeting another friend on the train to Basel) and we stayed at Sara’s the night before. Megz was smart and slept 4 hours…Sara was staying up all night and I thought I could as well but about 11PM I decided it wasn’t the best idea (did you know I’m not in college anymore?!?!) and slept for an hour. So, I was tired. It was cold…I’ve been saying for weeks now, “ where has winter gone”…well now I know that it was storing up everything it had to come out on the ONE NIGHT I want to be out at 2AM. It was freezing!! And on top of that it was raining…I was soaked completely by the time we got there but somehow, miraculously, the rain stopped after about 45 min of being in the city. So because of the exhaustion, frostbite, hypothermia, etc. we were all feeling we decided we’d call it a day about 8AM. I’m fairly positive that I’ve lost hearing in one ear from the music and the sight in both eyes from all the camera flashes against the dark of night (both from our cameras and the ones belonging to a few hundred thousand of our closest friends). We got on the train and came home and then back to Sara’s where I had a 3-4 hour snooze that made my day complete.

Needless to say I’m not exactly recommending this experience for anyone else. However, I am glad that I went. I can say that I saw it. Perhaps if I’m ever in Basel again I might go but it won’t be a special trip from here. If I’m still in Switzerland next year I might go to the event in Luzern, as I’ve heard it’s a more happy experience! Ok, I’ve attached some pics, but as previously stated none of them turned out that well! I’m working on possibly doing a trip next weekend but it’s not a definite just yet so I’ll keep you informed. For now I’m going to bed (still trying to get my body clock back to where it was before Sunday night!)…

Love you all!!

LuLu

My Newest Goal…Olympic Gold!!

Well, I think I’m a bit too old to be competing in the Olympics; however, I guess I can’t deny that the talent is there when I go ice skating! Yesterday the family and I went out to the local ice skating rink for a few hours. I haven’t skated in at least 12-15 years so you can imagine that I was fairly nervous to begin with. It took me about 45 min to really warm up to it all and in no time I was not clinging to the wall anymore. I can skate successfully in one direction (counterclockwise) and I can’t stop unless I run into something or fall…but I’m proud that I could even stand up on them so that’s good. It seems in this country that a lot of people have athletic hobbies (swimming, hiking, etc.) but I really have none. As of yesterday, I’ve decided to try and find a pair of good skates and learn to ice skate well. There were little girls that were 1/4 my age yesterday doing circles around me and skating backwards, doing jumps, etc. I don’t think I’ll be that good but we’ll see. Ok, I’ve added some pictures for you enjoyment.

I am leaving tonight (or should I say tomorrow) at 2AM for Basel. My friends and I are going to Fasnacht which is basically like Carnival. There will be music, people dressed in costumes, and lots of interesting things to see. I’ll let you know how it was when I return. It should be an interesting day and I’m sure to be extremely tired by the end of it all.

Ok…I’m heading out for now…talk to you all again soon!!

LuLu

A Stroke of Genius!!

Alright, now I always knew I was smart but I’ve had an idea today that blows all my bright ideas in the past out of the water! So, I’m trying to learn German right?!?! Yeah, well it’s really slow going. However, I have become more determined in my efforts lately and I’m trying to think up new things that will excite me and stimulate my learning of this language. So I’ve decided that a good idea would be to watch TV or movies in German and if possible do it with subtitles so I can have both languages going at once and possibly retain more. But…to take this idea even further (and this is the really genius part!!) I’ve decided to buy a Friends season here on DVD (of course one that I don’t already own) as they are in Deutsch and English and I can either watch English with German subtitles or vice versa. I can’t think of anything else I might learn faster from. I can already pretty much quote any Friends episode you can think of and my philosophy has always been that anything you can think of in life there is a Friends episode that in some way addresses it. It is my absolute favorite show and so I have to give myself (as usual) a hearty pat on the back for thinking this one up. I mean honestly…have you ever heard of a better idea in your entire life?!?!

Ok…so I’m a bit full of myself at the moment but I did want to share a few other things quickly. Yesterday I went out to the shops. I was gone for about 3 hours and talked to several different people and I didn’t have to use English at all. I spoke in German the whole time!!! It was the best feeling. Now, this might sound like a really big accomplishment (and I guess for me it really is since I haven’t been able to learn any other languages ever!) but the things I know how to say are really quite elementary. However, yesterday my first stop was the post office where I had to go in and ask for the postman to give me postage for 10 letters going B post (the slower service) and I needed a receipt…and I did it…I said it all…he did look at me quite strange because it takes me a bit of time to get it all out and make sure I’m pronouncing things correctly. I’m sure he could tell that I was learning but maybe that’s good because usually when people talk to me they do it so fast I can’t make out the words; however, when he told me how much I owed he did it very slow and deliberately so I understood perfectly. Yay!! One small accomplishment for me…

One last thing…I tried something new tonight. I was over at a friend’s flat tonight with some other people and I tried salmon eggs. I guess it’s sort of like caviar but not… hum…not sure…they were really salty and I’m quite sure they were something I want to eat again but I can say I tried it. Interesting…

Ok…I’m going to bed.

Goodnight All!!!

LuLu

Amsterdam…what a trip!!

I guess for some people this title could be two fold in meaning…for me there’s only one. Amsterdam was just ok for me. Nothing spectacular and I won’t be rushing to go back anytime soon, if ever in my life. I have always been told about the drug and sex scene in this Dutch city but I can say, without a doubt, I had no idea how much it would all be! Of course, it was not a good sign when we walked into our hostel at 6:30PM to check in and everyone in the room was high except the girl behind the counter (and I’m not so sure she wasn’t as well…). The place was recommended to us by a friend of a girl who went with me and I can say without a doubt I’ve never stayed anywhere else quite so nasty. If I’d been alone I’d have left immediately…and I’ll venture to say if we could have found another place to stay we’d have moved hostels but apparently everywhere in the city was booked out. I’m sure that being sick didn’t help our situation very much either. It seems that when one person was feeling better another was not feeling well in return. It turns out that I had a 24 (more like 48) hour stomach virus of sorts and Megz and Manda their own respective troubles…ick…


I can’t completely bash Amsterdam though…this city is famous for having more museums per square meter than any other city in the world. We went to the Van Gogh Museum (to see the Van Gogh’s obviously…) and also to the Rijksmuseum to see the Rembrandts (as it was the 400 year celebration) and they were spectacular. We witnessed the chaos with all the bicycles...saw two people get run over by them...you have to be more aware of them than of cars. (As a side note and some useless trivia, I read somewhere that around 25,000 bicycles end up in the canals every year there...) We also visited the Anne Frank house and I was completely moved by the experience. As a child we were required to read the book but being there put all that into perspective for me. Probably the best thing we saw was the Heineken Experience. This is housed in the original brewery, dating back to 1867, which is no longer used for production. It was relaxing and fun. I definitely recommend it if you are planning a trip to Amsterdam. Additionally, we took a stroll through the flower market and it was absolutely beautiful and fascinating how many different kinds of tulips are sold there. I can’t even imagine how much more lovely it would be during the spring months!!

I’m sure you’re all wondering so I will say we did take a walk one night through the heart of the red-light district. I found this all to be quite eye opening and sad. It deeply troubles me that for whatever reason some men and women feel the need to sell themselves in that manner. Between the drugs, sex, and all around trash (both people and objects) on the streets this city was not impressive to me. Perhaps I’m not the target audience anyway so no loss for any party. (Despite all this please know that I never in any way, at any time, felt unsafe on this trip. As disgusting as I found the place safety wasn’t something that bothered me!)


All in all we had a nice time being together, just the three girls, and we just kind of goofed off and were basically lazy for almost 4 days so that was great. I’ve added some of the nicer pics for your enjoyment and as usual I’ve updated my photo site so just click the link on the left of this page and select the Amsterdam folder for all my pictures of the trip.

Gute Nacht!!

LuLu

A new addition...

I've added a new feature to my blog. For anyone who's interested in viewing them, I've added maps to my page. You can see, of course, to the right is a link that says My Maps and when you click on this it should take you to a page that lists two maps I've created. One is a map of Europe showing where I've been on the longer trips and the other is a map of Switzerland so you can see my short trips around home, where I go to school for learning German, etc...This webpage is not very appealing to the eye, in my opinion, but it's what I came up with while playing around on the computer today. I know there is alot of stuff on the page, but if you look toward the middle you'll see the list of maps and from there you can click on the one you want to view. If anyone has a suggestion on a better site to use for mapping things like this please let me know because I am willing to change to a more appealing one.

Alright, that's all I have for now. I'll blog again when I return from Amsterdam on Tuesday.

Love you all!!

LuLu

Ski holiday without skiing?!?!

Yes, that’s right…I went on ski holiday and did absolutely no skiing whatsoever!! We went to Oberiberg, Switzerland (about an hour from home by car) and the week was perfect (except for the slopes that is…) I could have skied if I’d wanted to pay the money but I guess I just couldn’t see doing it with the slope conditions such as they were. The snow seemed to be barely there and what was there was more icy and sticky than powdery and screaming to be skied upon. Oh well…there will be another time I think.



One thing that did happen on the trip is that Girl Aged 6 lost a tooth. No, this wasn’t the first one but it was the first she’s lost when I’ve been around. I guess it’s sad that I went on ski holiday and the most exciting thing I have to write about is this; but, well…it is so deal with it! My mom would have been so proud. I was fully ready to pull this tooth for her if she’d have let me. (of course that would have never happened because she just doesn’t ride that train, but whatever!). In the end she was twisting it round and round and saying…”it won’t come out, it won’t come out” and finally I said that she needed to put some pressure on it and pull on it more than twisting and it came out!! Ok, it’s the little things in life…don’t judge me!!

Well, I guess this post has turned out quite boring but really I don’t think I could do any better…in conclusion…I didn’t ski and we lost a tooth!! Yay!! I’ve added a picture to let you get an idea of where I was staying for the last few days. I’ll blog again soon.

Love you all!!

LuLu

Happy Singles Awareness Day!!

Yes, I find it hard to say happy Valentines Day when it is a completely commercialized and dumb holiday! Maybe, possibly, I’m just bitter that I don’t have anyone to spend the day with and consider “my valentine”. Valentines Day can be so special when you are with someone you love. I’ve been there and I realize that it can work that way or…it can manage to make you feel awful when everyone around you gets flowers and candies and nice dinners with that special someone. In the past I’ve been both of those people…the happy, floating on cloud 9 person or the I feel like I’ll throw something if another box of roses is delivered to the office person. This year however was quite different. It is true that I am not attached in any way to any man at this moment in time but Valentines Day came and went without much of a fuss this year. I was away from most civilized life on ski holiday with the family (just got back tonight) and it was nice to not be surrounded by all the hype…but just to be. It’s funny how the things we surround ourselves with change our feelings or perspectives on certain things that would have most likely not been the case otherwise.

Ok…well, I can’t say that I don’t have a special valentine this year…sure this person might not be my “special someone” but he did ask and though I haven’t told him I will accept him as My Valentine. So…friend formerly known as…HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!! (And you better not be on a date tonight with some other girl just because I’m not in the country!!!)

Ok…signing off for now!!

LuLu

The Rhinefalls…

The day began like any other Saturday, I guess…I got up at my leisure and tried to decide what would be the events of the day. We’d talked about it a bit the evening before and the girls seemed to be leaning toward going to the Rhinefalls, the largest waterfalls in Europe. I was absolutely against it for several reasons…the most important of which was that I wanted to go shopping!! (not that I had the money to get anything but…well you know…) I was convinced that the weather wasn’t right (which basically it wasn’t), it wasn’t the best time of year (and really it wasn’t that either), and that I didn’t have the funds to go because of everything else happening this month (which I really didn’t) and most of all I just wanted to hang out with my friends and not over exert ourselves…you know…shopping and a chick flick or something like that!



Well, after much whatever I finally decided to join the others. The weather was supposed to hold off but it didn’t. I have to say I was in a quite horrible mood for the first hour of our trip but I made that statement upfront (sometimes when I know it’s coming I think it’s just better to admit that it will happen before anything starts). I’m not sure what changed in me. Perhaps it was the nice conversation I had with Sara about some things weighing heavily on my mind or just the calmness of the walk along the Rhine River to our destination; but, by the time we arrived I was already very glad that I had made the decision to tag along. I can’t describe it really…just a calm that came over me…



Walking up to the falls I remember telling a friend that I was not impressed at all. I think I even made the statement “I have this in my back yard back in Georgia”. It is true that we have lots and lots of falls in GA and from a distance this one looks about as impressive as one of those…but…when you got down next to them they were absolutely phenomenal. There is a certain platform you can stand on that hangs out over the river very near the falls. If you are looking at them in the right way from that area it just seems like they could wash you away in a split second, and I’m sure it would. Ok, so they aren’t Niagara (not that I’ve actually seen them to compare) but these falls are very impressive. Well, I’m not even going to attempt to describe anymore of this to you because my words fall short. I’ve attached a few pictures to give you an idea of them. Enjoy!!

LuLu

Quickly…a few things…

Well people…I’m happy to tell you a few things that have happened today to make it a nearly perfect day for me!! (Can’t be completely perfect because it’s not over yet!)

First, we went to Germany today and for the first time I got my passport stamped when we crossed the border. We had to ask them to do it and the woman looked like she wasn’t at all happy about it but…IT’S DONE!! Yay, so just add another to my collection of stamps in the little blue book!

Secondly, and this goes well with the first point…today was the first time I went to Germany by car and didn’t manage to get carsick during the journey. Progress I think!

Third…Today I feel good…no medicine and I feel good…I have been battling what I think is a bad sinus infection for almost a week and I feel much better today. I got a good nights sleep and that definitely helped!


Lastly, THEY REMOVED THE CRANE!! I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before but they have been building several houses (or flats…whichever) just down the hill so every great picture I can take has a big, yellow, stupid crane right in the middle of a gorgeous backdrop. But, not today!!! They finally took it away and so in honor of this glorious occasion I’ve attached a picture of what this morning looked like when I woke. As you can see the mountains are extremely visible today and a snow-covered beautiful sight they were!!! Click on the picture to make it larger...the small one doesn't do it justice at all!

Ok, I’m signing off and this will be, most likely, my last post for a week. I am leaving early Sunday to go on ski holiday here in Switzerland until next Friday. Then I’ll be off to Amsterdam from the 17th-20th. I’m hoping to do a post on the Friday at the end of the ski break!

I love you all!!

LuLu

Ps-I know my last post indicated that my number was working again…and it still is by the way…but if you don’t have that number just send me an email and I’ll give it to you…there is no way I’m putting it on here for the whole world to see!

Finally!!

Alright…I’m here with the much anticipated news everyone’s waiting for…my Skype number is finally working again!!! For those of you who don’t know what this means…my phone number in the States that calls my computer in Switzerland has not been working for almost a month now and I haven't received any voicemails in that long either. I’m not sure how I did it but somehow uploading the new version of Skype worked. I was able to talk to my Daddy this afternoon!! Yay!!! So, everyone…call away…I feel like I’ve been so out of touch for a while.

Miss you guys and I'm sure I’ll post with something truly interested later!

Ciao!!

LuLu

Spain was a surprise for me!

I have to say that I agreed upon Spain with some apprehension. BP studied there in college and has a profound love for this country and all its culture. She and I have discussed various trips to Europe in the past and Spain has always come up. I have to admit that I’ve tried my best to thwart any plans to vacation there. Looking back I can’t for the life of me figure out why. I think in my mind I made the idea of the country a direct threat to my love for Italy…and now that I’ve been I can say I have a great love for Spain as well, at least definitely Barcelona. Now, it can in no way replace my number one favorite place in all the world, Venice, but it has jumped above all other cities save that one. Barcelona was a wonderful experience. The colors…the culture…the art…the architecture! I loved every bit of this city. The food was excellent and the people were so friendly and inviting. I am already looking at my options on going back for more!


I don’t know what more to say about this. It would be a really long post for me to talk about each site individually. La Sagrada Familia-said to be the most visited construction site in the world this cathedral has been under constructions for over 100 years, the Gaudi creations around the city, La Rambla-the street beyond imagination…I guess the only thing I didn’t care for that much was the Picasso Museum. I’ve discovered that I’m not a big Picasso fan as it turns out…there are other artists that appeal to me but I have pretty much no appreciation for Picasso’s work. Anyway, I’ve added some of my more interesting pictures and for those of you who are interested please check out my photo site and select the Barcelona album for the rest of the pics I took.


I’ll post again soon I’m sure but this weekend is thus far stacking up to be something quite fun so I might not have much time for sitting in front of the computer. Ok, I’m off to watch the episode of Grey’s Anatomy that I missed last week…

Ciao people…

LuLu

I’ve bruised my bum!!!

Sledding is so hard! I remember doing it as a kid but it’s just not the same here as with the ice/slush stuff we have back home. I’ll make this short because I’m positive that it’s quite boring to most people. At one point today, I was on a wooden sled (first experience with that) going down an icy/snowy road. I might also add that they’ve put up poles to mark where the road is in case of a big snow; I can only imagine this is to prevent people from driving into the farmer’s fields. Anyway…as you might have guessed I had some near misses with a few of these lovely poles and one of them resulted in me sliding on my bum for several feet on the ice. OUCH!! That’s gonna leave a mark!



Ok, I’ve also attached pictures of me sledding down the big hill (two empty lots) beside our house. Hum, it seems I’m no better on the plastic sleds either; I just can’t figure out how to turn or stop. Seems like those are fairly important things to know! I’m the tiny dot at the top of the first picture, the second is of me halfway down and partially coming out of the sled, and as you can see in the third picture I had managed to turn myself sideways in the sled. In the end I had more snow in the sled with me than was left on the hill and I had a near miss with a tree and running into several people. I do hope skiing goes more smoothly!



I’m leaving day after tomorrow really, REALLY early in the AM for Barcelona so I may not post again until I return.

Ciao for now!!

LuLu

The first big snow!!

Hi everyone, I just thought I’d drop in to say IT SNOWED…IT’S STILL SNOWING!! It started yesterday evening and went ALL NIGHT so today we had a beautiful blanket of snow. The girls and I attempted to sled this morning but it only went ok…apparently the snow isn’t just right for it today but I’m hoping that tomorrow will be better. I just wanted to share some pictures with you of my first snow experience in Switzerland.




Hope you all have a nice day!!

LuLu

Spiders, spiders in my heart…

I’ve written a new children’s song I’d like to share with all of you:

The Big, Fat, Ugly Spider by LuLu (to the tune of The Itsy, Bitsy Spider)

The big, fat, ugly spider crawled up upon my couch
Down came the shoe that knocked the spider out
Up it came again to finish off the job
And the big, fat, ugly spider was deader than a doorknob

Ok, so the events in this song never actually occurred…if they had I would be um…FREAKING OUT right now!!! However, I did see one from my window crawling along on the footpath this AM and it triggered my memory into writing this quirky and somewhat strange song (yes, I know…I have too much free time if I’m making up songs …sometimes cleaning lends time for the mind to wander a bit!). You may be wondering about the fate of the outside spider…he is still living, as far as I know. I make it a point only to dispose of the ones that are a direct threat to me (i.e. staring up at me inside my warm and cozy bedroom-this is a very rare occurrence though…). I know the old saying that the spiders are probably more afraid of me than I am of them…I’m bigger and all…but still, I don’t find them attractive and I guess there just isn’t any good way to get over a deep rooted fear. I blame it mainly on camp incidents, as a child, with some really, really mean girls!

There is one more thing I’d like to say on the subject of spiders; it is the light-hearted, yet a little sad, part of this rather strange post. The girls have a toy spider…ok, let me stop there for a moment…I don’t think they like spiders any more than I do but they do have this toy and in some aspects and just at a glance it can look real. This thing is huge…if it were real I’d definitely run from it…I’d call an exterminator if I ever saw one that big in my house (or maybe just my brother, Timothy, because I think he’d take care of it for me!). Anyway, back to the story, so the girls have this spider and they think it’s funny to put it in places around the house where it will scare me. Actually, it’s become like a big game with the three of us (add in the parents at times as well…) and so this plastic spider (that rolls as well I might add) pops up all over the place. Sometimes he’s not seen for days on end but inevitably someone will stumble upon him and get a small scare. I’ve added a picture of how I found him this morning, beside a note about how my day will be. You can see that he’s not really that lifelike but I’m telling you if you came upon this thing and didn’t know what you were looking at, for a few seconds, it looks real!




The whole thing reminds me of a game that went on for a while between my mother and my great, great uncle Paul. My mother may as well have been his daughter (as they had no children of their own) and he treated her as such. He had this Gumby figure…do you remember him…the little green man…and this plastic toy ended up all over the place (I once heard a story of how one of them put him into a sandwich made for the other). I’m not sure when I was first introduced to the Gumby Game but I do know came when one of them found this toy after years of it being lost and therefore the game forgotten. I remember what pleasure he took in playing with us, as my mother’s children, the game he had played with her as a child. My uncle Paul passed away only just last year (he never knew of my decision to move here) in his mid 80s and for whatever reason seeing that spider this morning made me think of him and gave me a smile and thoughts of how he was when he wasn’t so sick.

So…moving on before I cry too much…this post is for the spider game with two adorable little girls, the lost Gumby (I have no idea where it is now) and my uncle Paul, gone for now but remembered always in my heart!

LuLu

It’s good to try new things!!

One of my personal rules of life was tested last night. I have always said that I’d try any new food once as long as it wasn’t still living. Hum, I guess I’ve never really tested this by eating weird things until now and last night, as I stated this rule of mine to my host dad with pride, internally I said to myself…”can I really eat this?!?!”. The food, my dear friends, was horse. I was aware that some people throughout the world, and in Switzerland, ate horse; however, until last night there was no mention that it was eaten at all in this house. Hum, I have no problems with the idea but I wasn’t sure if I could actually do it! Well, I’m sure by now you’ve guessed that I did try it. Tastes like…um…steak. I know, I know…it’s common to say when asked…that it tastes like chicken…but this…this was a lot like steak. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say if you put a similar cut steak in front of me and the horse I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Hum, so, I tried it, I’d eat it again, and it didn’t kill me!! Good news right…yep…so I’m really proud of myself for sticking to my policy of trying everything once.

Ok…enough of that…on to other news that I know I’ve already reported…I’m going to Barcelona. In fact, this time next week I’ll be there with BP and Jase!! Yay…we are doing some last minute things to secure a place to stay etc. and I’ve been heavily reading my new Let’s Go Western Europe 2007 guidebook for what we need to see while there. One other comment…MY HOST MOM’S HOME!!! Yay… I know everyone, especially the girls, have missed her tremendously, so it’s a very happy day in this Swiss house!

Ok, I’m sure I’ll update again before going.

Miss you guys!!

LuLu

So I have problems…Yes, I am aware of that…

As most of you have probably guessed by now, I never regained the thoughts lost last night about the perfect blog! I have an idea about why that is though…it has come to my attention that I am super smart! So, it isn’t any wonder I lose thoughts because my brain is constantly working overtime…I’m stuffing all this German junk into it and on top of that my travel worries on where to go and what to see…Hehe…so you all hate me now right?! Quatch (that’s for you Megz and Manda)!!!

So, the real topic of my post today is my addictive personality. It seems I have a lot of problems with things that can become aholic issues. No, smarty pants, I’m not referring to alcohol! As most of you know, I am a top notch procrastinator. What would my life be like without procrastination?!?! Well, I’m fairly positive that it would be a lot less hectic if I’d just do things when I should! So tonight, as I sit here attempting to procrastinate writing this post, I turned to one of my two most useful tools for procrastination…the first of course is sleep…I love to sleep…I’m definitely a sleepaholic... however, tonight’s tool of choice is Snood.

It worked well in college when I should have been writing papers. It’s a computer game for all you who don’t know… it’s FABULOUS and very addicting!! I can play for hours on end and I’m convinced the only thing you can gain from it is carpal tunnel in your wrist…but anyways…So, as I sit and play this game I keep thinking, “Ok, I’ll play one more game and then I’ll get started…” That one game is inevitable followed by 23,435 more games in that one sitting (CandyCane I know you have a comment about this)… AAAHHH!!!

Well, tonight as I thought that after every game I came to realize that I am completely under the control of this game…my brain is mush when I play it and I lose all track of time! I’m a Snoodaholic!!! In addition to this, I started thinking about what else I have aholic tendencies toward...well, I already mentioned sleep but we can’t forget shopaholic, chocoholic, travelaholic (ok, so I’m not so sure that’s a thing but it is where I’m concerned), shoeaholic, foodaholic, craftaholic (yes, I admit this is somewhat embarrassing but I do really, REALLY like to do crafts) etc, etc…you get the drift…

I’ve decided that this isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the world. Yes, I suppose it can be a problem sometimes but it simply means that I put all of myself into the things I enjoy. What can be so bad about that??

Alright…this has essentially been a post about nothing; however, since I had no better material I hope you won’t hold that against me…

Auf Wiedersehen…

LuLu

I’m having a day!!

Alright people, I know I should blog and I promise that I actually came up with a really, REALLY great topic earlier but I’m having a truly old lady moment where I can’t remember it. And…at the present time I’m a bit too frazzled to try and figure out what it was I was thinking or doing when I thought of the cool topic…you get the drift…you’ll just have to wait until I regain my sanity…don’t hold your breath though…it could take a while!

LuLu

I’m not finished with Europe yet…

This morning I was walking around the house doing some miscellaneous things when I decided to go up and make a coffee. As I stood in the kitchen waiting on the machine, I realized it was 10AM…it means that fairly soon the daily Delta non-stop bound for Atlanta would be taking off. (It’s a big thing for me b/c it’s the only one I recognize and can say definitely where it’s headed…the rest of the family can say…oh there’s blah, blah and they are headed for dah, dah…I never know those…only the ATL bound Delta at 10AM) As it turns out, my house has a great view of the runways at Zurich airport so I stood by the window and watched this plane take off headed for the States. Inevitably when I’m able to watch the plane bound for Atlanta take off I wonder how different my life would be if I just went home right now. I always think…less than half a day and that’s all it would take to get me back to GA. It’s strange for me to think that I’m across and ocean and on a different continent but all it takes is roughly half a day…weird…

I digress…back to the point…every time I have this passing thought something in the back of my mind keeps quietly repeating…”but, you’re not finished with Europe yet…” and I know this is most definitely true. Tomorrow will mark my 4 month anniversary here in Switzerland and I’ve seen a lot so far…but every time I think about how there is only 8 more months left in this year contract I start to panic about all the things I haven’t seen. My girlfriends and I have started making plans and looking up prices on tons of places we want to see before this year is out.

This has already been the most fabulous experience I’ve ever had and I know that few things in life will ever come close. I can say for sure that even if I went home tomorrow it was all worth the decision for me to come here in the first place. As it turns out I plan to take every opportunity I come across to stay here as long as possible. I’m even open to the possibility of a more permanent job if it comes along.

Ok, enough of the ranting…just as an update, I don’t think I’ve shared this previously; I am leaving for Barcelona, Spain in just over two weeks. I plan to spend 4 ½ days there with Jase and BP on another whirlwind adventure where we are sure to come home with some gorgeous pictures and yet again more unbelievable stories…

Have a fabulous day!!

Your Swiss Friend…LuLu

There Once Was A Girl and Her Shoes…

***DISCLAIMER-this post has nothing to do with traveling in Europe and the subject is therefore one of the writer’s random rants about life…if you are looking for substance please look elsewhere***

Confucius say LuLu miss her shoes!! I want to start with an apology for my male readers. This post will most likely be a major waste of your time so I wouldn’t blame you if you stopped reading at this point. Now…ladies…I know that most of you will be able to identify closely with the subject of this post…SHOES!!

For me buying shoes is a source of comfort and stress relief…especially when I can find them in a good sale. Buying shoes is unlike purchasing anything else you wear. If you gain a little bit of weight you can still, most likely, find that perfect pair of shoes (even if you have to go up a half size)…When nothing else seems to fit I go directly for the shoes section. I am, what you could call, vertically challenged…SHORT…all my life I’ve endured pet names such as shorty, short stuff, midget, and my brother-in-law’s personal favorite Umpa Lumpa (you know, those short people helping Willy Wonka at the factory…). I’ve long gotten over my hatred of these names…I am short…it’s a fact of life and I deal with it daily…can’t reach the top shelf in the kitchen pantry so I get a stool, need help reaching things in the isle at Wal-Mart and I try to ask an attractive guy for help, etc…but the one area where I can’t get used to my abnormal body type is clothes shopping. I am short-waisted and short-legged. Nothing ever fits me properly…nothing except shoes.

Additionally, shoes have a quality that most accessories (can you call them an accessory…they must be worn…) don’t have, they can dress up or down almost any outfit. A lot of times the shoes make the outfit! The right shoe can make any size foot look delicate and grab the attention of others. I have a friend who says her feet look like that of a duck…when she finds the right shoe she throws a little party for herself at the store (and I do so love to be along when that happens). Ahhh, these are special times shared between women!!

Last night I had a dream…the subject of which is not important…at one point I was sitting in the floor in my closet back home trying on my shoes (and yes I used to do this quite a lot when I needed a pick-me-up). When I woke this AM I realized that I didn’t have any of the cute pairs here in Switzerland. When you pack for a year you choose to bring the ones that will go with everything and not the cute, fun, spunky pairs that only go with one thing in your closet…how I miss those shoes!! It’s as if I can hear them calling to me from across the Atlantic…”LuLu…come home and wear us before we go out of style…”

So…as cheesy as this sounds…I’m dedicating this post to my duck-footed friend in GA and those boxes of fabulous shoes sitting in a storage unit waiting for me to come back to them.

Ciao for now…

LuLu

A New Talent…

Just when I thought my brain was turning to complete mush and I had nothing left to offer society, I have found something at which I am very talented. As mentioned previously I have been reunited with an old favorite…Uno. However, over the past few days the girls and I have had a blast playing Go Fish. I played as a kid but couldn’t remember all the rules so we looked it up on the www and began playing away...

Well, today we had a major dilemma on our hands as both girls wanted to play…that’s great right?!?!...well…NO…they each wanted to play a different game and neither wanted to wait and let the other go first…so a compromise had to be made! And I was the one making it! That’s right…I played Uno and Go Fish at the same time. In one hand I held the Uno cards and played with Girl Age 3 and in the other I held my cards for Go Fish and played with Girl Age 6. This takes a lot more thought that I ever realized. It was the fastest I’ve ever played either game and of course I lost both of them…additionally, I can’t be sure but I’m fairly positive that there was A LOT of cheating going on!!

I obviously wish I had pictures of this because it was quite comical…but as luck would have it I don’t so you guys will all need to use your imagination! Alright I’m signing off for the evening…I’ve got Friends season 10 disk 3 in the DVD player right now and I’m spending a quiet night at the house…

Goodnight all!!

LuLu