Thursday, January 21, 2010

Wednesday Wedding in Wintery Winnipeg





















  Wonderful!
*I don't have any pics of the ceremony (it was short and sweet), all photos will be posted next summer after the 'big wedding'.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Track Back


Well, not really in the morning...noon to be exact!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Dreamy and Scattered
I'm a little overwhelmed these past few days. After so many months of regulated solitude, I'm finding life awfully busy these days.There's the 'getting the house' back in order to contend with and I manage to get a room a day done.This is not to say that Big G and The Max were utter slobs, in fact they did a very admirable job keeping house while maintaining an insane schedule of work, school, and travel.But there's stuff that needs to be done and done kinda the way I like it...because I'm picky that way.

Settling back into Swiss lifestyle hasn't been too difficult (I gained another kilo..grrrr) but there are adjustments that I have to think about; my mangled, strangled not even close to adequate French, driving (I didn't drive the whole time I was in exile), quiet Sundays where everything is closed, so you have to plan ahead for Sunday.


Then there's The Max...and school...and I alternate between hope and despair, as does Max on semi daily basis. Last spring he set the bar very very high for himself and insisted on taking the IB Diploma program, against the advice of most of the faculty at his school. At the time, I had thought it would turn out ok, because he's very bright, but lacks 'student skills' and it was my intent to work with him on those skills (how to write a proper paper, how to organize workload, etc). And then I was in exile...and Max had to contend with an insane commute as well as the demanding IB program. And he's not doing well, not academically, not emotionally and he's stressed. 

The ongoing visa application, new passport, wtf is up with schengen issue...yep, still hammering away at the bureaucratic brick wall and I'm not only crap at that kind of thing (because I have no patience) but it makes me both fearful and weary at the same time.

Oh...and Big G and I are flying to Manitoba on Saturday to get married! So I'm excited and worried (because there's bureaucrats involved and what if they don't let me back into Switz and OMG) and feeling all blissed out and frantic at the same time. The kittehs will be on their own for 4 days, The Max will go stay with a friend up in Bern (so he doesn't have to get up at 4 am to get on a number of trains to get to school) and I'm leaving the house again and I just got back and I don't want to go but I really really really want to get married and....
So you see how it is.

The wonderful Spot gave me an award the other day (yesterday??) and I'm not sure if I properly thanked her (um...Thank you Spot!) and I haven't had the available brain cells to do the 'award post'... yet.I haven't commented much lately, but I am reading all my favorite bloggy bloggers.So, it's me folks, not you and I promise I will return to better form shortly...just have to catch my breath a bit.
Must go pack now...

Friday, January 08, 2010


You Like Me...You Really, Really Like Me! (or at least some of you do)

So one of my favorite bloggers has bequeathed a couple of honours on me, because apparently reading my ramblings actually makes her smile sometimes.The fact that I can bring a smile to anyone's face at any given time makes me happyinthepants  kind of happy and to get some pinky hued bling to throw up on here is just icing on the cake.Apparently there are some rules/regulations/conventions to follow once you have received such honours and if you know anything about me, you know that rules and me are a bit of a bad mix.But I will attempt to be a good bloggy scout and play along.
 

This is the Happy Torch Award.To keep it lit one should:
a) List 10 things that make you happy
b)Tag 10 bloggers that brighten your day
c)The 10 bloggers who receive this award are supposed to link back to this blog and create their own version of this.*(I just know this part is not going to work for me, but whatever) 
 
This is the Lemonade Stand Award.To keep it lit one should:
a) Put the logo on or within your blog

b)Nominate at least 10 blogs with great attitude or gratitude.
c)Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog. *(There was a whole bunch more to this but I'm starting to get cold sweats and a headache from all these rules)
Yaaay! Now for the fun part. Ten Things That Make Me Happy!

1.First place goes to da boys, Big G and The Max, whose presence in my life is not only a blessing beyond measure, but they do actually make me smile and laugh a lot.


2.My painted Swiss cow. I'm not one for being attached to 'things', but this 'objet' brings me such pleasure.One day I will blog about it (and other of its kind) at length.


3. Fresh cut flowers.It's an indulgent extravagance, but I love having fresh flowers in the house.













4. Kittehs. My kittehs in particular, and this lovely guy, Dante is most special to me, but really in a pinch, any kitteh will make me smile.


5.Grappa. I don't know if it's wise or politically correct to admit that liquor makes me happy, but feck it...Grappa makes me smile. 












6. The interwebs! Oh yes, you lovely, distracting, enriching, timewasting web of people, blogs, images ,funneh stuff and information, you make me verra verra happy every day!









7.Expensive, freshly laundered and ironed sheets on my bed.








8.My wonderful warm and cosy coyote trimmed slippers from Churchill, Manitoba.









9.Candlelight. We have candles lit on and around the table every evening meal. 









10. The Beatles. Can't help but feel giddy and happy when I hear the 4 moptops, and this song is a great example.




Now a list of 10 blogs that I do truly admire:
Bluepaintred - another Canuckian mommy blog who's life is as funny as any mom of three boys could be and writes about it.
Loveallthis - a design blog of sorts. This woman posts pictures of the most beautiful things. 
idleprimate - a fellow Pajiiban commentor and a very eloquent and thoughtful fellow in his own right. 
teabelly - another find through the Cannonball Read II, but with a Brit twist.
alternate1985- can't remember where or how I stumbled on this site, but 'shortround' is one of those caustic New Yorkers that always has an open eye.
blackheathbugle - I found so much to love and use with this blog while I was in Blackheath, and now it's like checking in on an old friend.
blaster- this is the great doc spender's blog, and I wish he'd write more often.
lovelylisting.com - For shits and giggles...the best of the worst of real estate listings.
learnsomethingeveryday - Because the web shouldn't be an utter waste of time. 
27bslash6 - David Thorne is an Australian misanthrope that is either a writer of great brilliance and imagination or the most irritating asshole you might ever cross paths with.


*Most of the above blogs do not 'follow' me, nor do I suspect they even know of my existence, so I exempt myself from passing on the torches to all but Spender and idleprimate...suck it up guys!