From my Swiss window

Spring is in the air

Pumpkin — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:04:58 +0000

Even my cat can smell it!

She is acting even more what I like to call “cat crazy” this week! She runs, bounces off furniture and meows…All the time. She is adorable.

I opened up our windows to let in the fresh air like I do every single day at least twice a day. Emmie always runs to look out the open windows but now it is different. She will meow and lift up her whole body sniffing the air.

She smells spring.
Good thing we got her fixed! ;)

I miss having four seasons. Here in the Jura there is only winter and a very mild and short summer.
It is so beautiful here and so calm. Yet, I long for a four season city.

Being a big sister

Pumpkin — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:51:26 +0000

M has been learning to read since she started first grade. She is now able to sound out most words and this is her favorite game.

It is so cute.

I have fond memories of A (my oldest daughter) doing the same exact thing when she began to read.

The other morning my son brought me a picture book to read to him. I went through it first in English even if it was all in French.
After I had finished in English I went back in French like I always do. Then, I normally go through it again saying the name of each picture in English and then French right away. This is what works for us.

M was listening to me read the picture book to my son. After she corrected my pronunciation of two French words I apparently didn’t say correctly. O.K. I admit it. I most likely didn’t pronounce the words in French correctly since I do have a HUGE accent when I speak French. :)

Not a problem.

As I handed her the picture book I said, ”Here. You read to your little brother and help him to pronounce the words in French correctly.”

She jumped up and grabbed the book. Her brother sat down in the chair next to her and she began to sound out the words. After she would read a word her little brother would repeat it.

It was adorable.

She was such the big sister.

I used to read to my little brother almost every night soon after I learned to read. He once told my mother he didn’t need to learn to read because his big sister reads for him.

It is sweet to see my own children sharing such special moments.

So, I am sharing this sweet moment with you instead of my crappy day of doing laundry. Oh! And, I had part of a tooth break off today while brushing my teeth this morning. Nothing like visiting the dentist because you are getting old and falling apart. :D

The rest of that walk we took and the one through life that goes to quickly

Pumpkin — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 08:26:37 +0000

It is already Sunday! Where did the days from last week scamper off too?

I recently realized the girls only have about four more months left of school this year. After summer, M will go on to second grade, C will start first grade and go to the “big school” with her sister and E (my son, my baby) will start Kindergarten. I will have no children left at home with me. It is a strange feeling to have all your children in school. I am not even mentioning A (my oldest daughter) that is taller than me now and such a beautiful young lady at fourteen.

Time passes by so slow when you are a child. I remember summers would stretch off into forever with chirping birds and creeks that needed discovering. As an adult, I find that summers slam to a halt far too quickly for me to properly soak in all the laughter and play with my own children.

They are already whining that they want to ride their bikes but there is still too much snow for that. Soon. Soon the snow will part. One more month and then we will begin to feel that summer is coming. We will take long walks before bedtime and enjoy longer and longer days of light.

This will be our last summer together before all the children are off to school. Off into their own lives without me. I do think that my son will have some issues going to school. He has already informed me that he will cry “all the day long at school….FORT Mama…tres fort!”.

He got angry and stomped off to his room when I mentioned a couple weeks back that he will have his birthday in a few months and will be five years old.
A big boy!

He screamed from his room that he will not have his birthday and he will stay little forever. As he slammed his bedroom door he added that he will NOT be a big boy but will stay LITTLE.

“I stay little, Mama”, he said with a tearfilled voice.
“I stay with you, Mama.”, he sobbed into his pillow as I came to him and comforted him.

I worry about him going to school. However, I know in my heart he will be fine and forget all about wanting to stay little forever. He will make friends and run off into his own life growing more and more independent. Just like his oldest sister did because she too once told me she wanted to stay little forever. Yet, she is growing up and enjoying her life that she is making for herself more and more.

Just as it should be.

A spring like walk

Pumpkin — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 18:18:42 +0000

More pictures from our walk yesterday.

I hope you are all having a great weekend so far!

All photos taken by me with my Lumix.

Warmer

Pumpkin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:43:33 +0000

The very next day after my last post (complaining about the freezing weather here) the weather was warmer. It was almost normal.

Today, it was still warmer.

No wind.

I am a happy girl. :)

In celebration of the lovely weather, we took a walk today up a little mountain road near our village.

It was awesome!

I am ready for summer and sad that we only have one or two kinda warm months out of the year. We have about six months (sometimes more) of winter weather here. I would be lying if I said that I loved winter that much. :)

It is tolerable because it is so terribly beautiful.

First three photos were taken with the Nikon D60 and the last three with the Lumix (point and shoot). All photos were taken by me during our walk today.

More photos tomorrow! I promise.

I finally finished all my ironing yesterday. Still haven’t cleaned out my fridge but did mop the apartment today. I just never feel like I can ever really get on top of housework since it is always a work in progress.

Vilay has been on medical leave due to a fractured hand. It has been about five weeks that he has been home with us. Five weeks too long. :) Him being home is the equivalent of having two (perhaps three) extra children in the house. He should go back in a couple weeks. Then, I should have more time to update the blog and Facebook. I am surprised my family hasn’t left me any emails asking where I disappeared to the last few weeks since I haven’t been posting updates on Facebook. Which brings me to the fact that I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook.

It is the easiest way to communicate with family and friends quickly and all at once. So, it is a keeper even if I do have issues with it. More and more of my family is joining Facebook and I adore seeing all their photos and reading about what they are up to. I just need to figure out how to set it up so that only one group of people can read some of my more personal updates.

While some of the people I went to high school with are still good friends most of them are faint memories. I am not comfortable with everyone that I went to high school with or know in passing being able to read my most intimate updates. That is where my issue with Facebook lies. I know I can fix it but need time to work out how to do it. Meaning…I need to google how to do it and then walk myself through it.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Even the snow crunches

Pumpkin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:02:22 +0000

Now more than ever I remember why I HATED winter before moving to Switzerland!!!

On my way home today from the grocery the wind whipped freezing cold air straight through my very being. I had a flashback to when I lived in Ohio and would run to my car as fast as I could. I would jump in my car and slam my door shut on winter! Winter was never happy and would howl all around my car and push it with force as I drove on in spite of it.

Today, I finally realized that it wasn’t really winter that I hated. It was winter wind!

After moving to Switzerland I found winters to be gentle no matter if the snow was higher than my head. Here even the snow feels soft and powdery under your boots as you walk making you think of sand on a beach. The sun kisses your face and warms your bones here in the Jura of Switzerland…Even in winter. I would often find myself stopping to gaze over the snow covered mountains in no hurry to go home.

All of that was until this freezing cold winter wind hit our cozy snow covered mountains.

Now I hate putting on my coat because I know it will not be enough to keep that vicious winter wind out. I practically run to the bus stop, the grocery store or anywhere else that forces me out of the warmth of my apartment. I detest this old winter wind more than I ever did in Ohio. It makes me ache for the gentle winter that I had grown to love and even look forward to.

This past week the winter wind has been so hard and bitter that even the snow crunches. I had forgotten that for my entire life snow only crunched when you walked on it. In Ohio, we never had the soft powdery snow that I have come to know since moving to Switzerland.

For the first time since moving to Switzerland, I find myself HATING the fact that it is winter.

When I come home out of the freezing cold, I slam my door shut on the winter wind. The winter wind howls outside my windows and pushs hard against my shutters making them rattle.

I grumble under my breath, “Go away winter wind! You are more than welcome to go back to Ohio and leave my gentle Swiss winter alone!”

We have another week of this horrible wind and then I hope winter goes back to normal for the Jura.

Photos below were taken a few weeks back when it was still possible to enjoy winter. :)

Kissy horsey

Pumpkin — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:09:05 +0000

It is as if I can hear the white horse in the front talking…

“Oh my! Do you see those two back there?”

“How embarrassing!”

“Getta room why doncha!?!”

**********

Very busy weekend for me. I have been spring cleaning BIG TIME!

When I feel the need to clean I let it flow. There has been no stopping me. I have mopped the entire apartment. I have wiped down all the wood furniture and window ledges with a wood cleaner. I have cleaned all the windows and mirrors. I have ironed all the kids clothes because I decided I would like to start ironing. Ha! We’ll see how long that lasts. I swept down the couch and chairs. I cleaned out the kitchen cabinets and on top of the cabinets. I cleaned the entire bathroom from the top to the bottom. I cleaned our computer and television with a wonderful new product that is safe for electronics.

Actually, it doesn’t really sound like I did so much. I think it was just that all of this was in between all the regular cleaning, cooking and childcare that I do on a daily basis. Before my kids, I could knock all that out in a good part of a day. It has taken me three days!!!

All I know is I am dog tired but it feels good to be in a very, very clean apartment. I still need to clean the refrigerator and iron all my husband and my clothes but that has to wait because tomorrow is laundry day. WOOHOO! - That was a woohoo said with a whole lotta sarcasm just in case you didn’t hear it. :)

Boring week here. Sorry guys! Perhaps if the wind dies down a little we will get a walk in around the village tonight. If so, I will be sure to bring my camera along! We have had a mini snow storm and it is all white and pretty here again.

Onions made our cat cry

Pumpkin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:09:10 +0000

Emmie Cat loves to jump up on top of the kitchen cabinets to sleep, watch us or escape from the kids. She was up there today as I was preparing lunch. I was making spaghetti bolognese.

Chopping up the onions made me cry. Those onions were strong! I glanced up at Emmie between my tears and saw what you will see in the videos below.

Poor Emmie.

Soon after we finished our two videos she decided her favorite spot was not so wonderful after all. She jumped down and went to her second favorite spot in the apartment to sleep. I found her hiding in her room as my kids like to call it. It is a walk-in closest where her litter box is kept. She was hiding behind her fortress (two suitcases stored on the very top shelf).

Her eyes were fine. :)

Have been super busy with laundry the last two days. The dryer in our building isn’t working very well. It is a nightmare for me to wash a week’s worth of clothes and not be able to dry them in the dryer. After trying to dry towels for over four hours I gave up and pulled them all out to dry up in our apartment on the radiators. I have had clothes drying all over my apartment radiators and various chairs for two days!

Spaghetti Bolognese Recipe – I will try this recipe next time. It looks yummy.

At the end of the video Vilay forgot to stop the camera from filming. You will see a quick swipe of our kitchen floor as I ask him if he pushed the button again to stop the video. You will, also, see Emmie’s dishes and some sleds. We have no room in our apartment for all the winter gear. So our kitchen has become the storage area for the two bags full of hats, scarves, gloves, snow pants as well as the sleds. I will have to put up a picture of that organized mess for you all to see. My husband hates it but there is really no other place for it all that really works. Plus, the radiators are right there for all those wet gloves, hats and scarves after the kids come back in from playing out in the snow! Oh, that is when I don’t have the radiators covered with our clothes. hehehe.

It was cute that in this video Emmie tries to back away from the edge of the cabinet as if that is really going to help. I am not kidding about how strong those onions were!!!

Now I am off to finish taming my laundry monster…………

What I have today

Pumpkin — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 10:54:15 +0000

On the way home from the grocery I stopped to talk with a neighbor that has lived in our village her whole life. She tells me about how she would take long walks with her children in the forests around here. They would picnic and play in the forest before returning home. She tells me about how her mother would take care of eight children with no washing machine, dish washer or sweeper. Through our talks I get little glimpses of what it was like to live in our village when she was young. She tells me that it was very hard and they were all very poor during the second world war. Yet, there was much love and laughter in her family. I can see that she carried this on to her own family and now she is enjoying the families of her children.

I really enjoy our talks. She is such a happy and secure woman. She doesn’t mind growing old. It is just a part of life.

We talked about the huge sun we have today and how we can smell spring. She told me she can hear the birds chirping from her balcony. She told me not to be afraid to approach people and talk to them here in the village. I could feel that she thinks of me more and more as one of the villagers and less and less as a foreigner.

It is nice. I am starting to be accepted into our village and it does make a difference in how I feel about my life here.

Thank you all for understanding about my need to just talk on this blog. When I started this blog I really didn’t worry about what I talked about on here. It was my place to let it all out and to share what my life is like as an expat. I would sit down each day without any real blog post in mind. I would start typing and the post would grow from word to word.

I will still put up my photos as I have always done from the beginning. However, I am going to go back to the style of writing I had when I began this blog. Meaning there is no style. :)

Last year was very hard for me. I think it was one of the hardest years of my life. Finally, it is getting much easier for me. I feel a determination that I haven’t felt since I left college. I am not afraid and I know that I will be OK. I am ready to push myself like I have never pushed myself before. No matter what, I understand that my life is easier than it was for the woman that I talked with this morning. Even if her life wasn’t always easy I am sure she she still enjoyed all the things that made her happy.

She helps me to remember what is important.

Our happiness doesn’t come from money, a job or other people.

Happiness comes from within us.

I am finally grounded but at the same time I am ready to take off into the wind.
What I have today is happiness.

I love shadows of trees on the snow.

I love to watch my son shovel snow with his snow disk.

I love to watch my children play.

I love that my husband will drag our Christmas tree to the community compost after Christmas is over even if he doesn’t even really like Christmas trees.

I love our little red train and the beautiful horses that we see almost daily here.

Have a great Saturday!

Courage

Pumpkin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:32:06 +0000

to tell you all that I am not perfect.

That I have made mistakes.

That I have put my foot in my mouth so many times that it is…laughable.

That I am not always a good mother.
That I am not always a good wife.
That I am not always a good daughter or sister.
That I am not always a good person.

Courage to face myself and all my imperfections and weaknesses.
Courage to be better and to work harder.

Courage to be honest.

I am me.

From now on I will write on this blog without fear.

I will turn 40 this year.

For some reason this means so much to me.

It means I MUST grow up and I MUST be myself.

At 40, I see no reason to not be me.

Hell, who I am trying to impress?

No one. Exactly.

So, here I go with this big bad blog and my big bad self (hahaha).

I have no idea what I will post every day. However, I have decided that it is better to post something that is apart of me instead of posting these empty (for me) posts that I have done for months now. I have a voice and I think it is good that I use it here. If I cannot use MY VOICE here then I see no reason to continue blogging.

So, I am going to be courageous. I am going to be honest.

For me.

This is MY blog. I so need it to be MINE again.

I do have a name.

A real name.

It is Tracy.

I hope you stick around to hear what I have to say. If not, I really wish you the best. :)

It doesn’t matter because when I started this blog it was for me. When I finish this blog (if I ever do) it will be for me.

I am sharing ME with YOU.

That is blogging in a nutshell.

We search for shapes in clouds all the time since we have an abundance of big fluffy clouds here. My seven year old daughter told me that she saw a farting pig in this cloud. I don’t see the pig but I definitely see the fart. :)

From my Swiss window

Spring is in the air

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