Wishbone... for Thanksgivings!

Today is Thanksgivings, or Turkey day. You all know that, of course. We don't celebrate it actually in Switzerland, even if I do try to count my blessings. And I try not to do it only one day a year, but everyday.

Some days are harder than others, especially these days...

To remind us of the big bird tradition (?), Léa made us think of the wishbone yesterday, breaking her own collarbone as she fell off her horse. O the pain... Poor girl, she was brought to the hospital by her teacher, and got an anaesthesia so that they could X-ray her shoulder and neck. She spent the night at the hospital and just got back home, a very tired but tough (little) big girl, eager to go back on horses... probably as of January.

We'll know more about ski season as it arrives, I had just signed her up for a ski camp during Winterbreak... First snow "down here" is supposed to arrive tonight.

Morning colors...

I know, I can be really one-track minded: I love the landscape around my place, and I love even more to see the colors in the Fall (actually, in every season...).

This morning I went running with ma camera! I was out between 8:15 and 9:00, so pretty early, right after walking the kids to school. We do have daylight savings so the sun doesn't rise very early in Winter... It was pretty cold (O˚C), but I really enjoyed my run.

I'm glad I went out early, because as I was arriving home from my tour, the fog had risen and it remained all grey for the rest of the morning....

Spring weather in the late Fall...

It's not that uncommon that we have snow, or snowdays in the second half of November. This year, Fall is very warm, and I cherish this kind of weather.

If today was really a "bad weather day" with almost non-stop rain, we had a gorgeous week-end.

On Sunday, we took a (short, 35 mins) drive to Lake Geneva, and took a boat to Montreux. Once we were there, we walked back, approx 4.5 miles on the lakeshore. The kids (and their Dad) were riding their scooters, and really enjoyed it. The temperature were so mild...

When I think that I'm not that keen of "family Sunday afternoon walk", I really enjoyed this outing!

Future... doc?

Yesterday was a special day in Switzerland, not only because it was Martin's Day, and the start of Carnival: it was also a day when 5th graders had the opportunity to follow their mom or dad in their job. Léa went with her Dad to the University Hospital of Bern and had a blast. It's a great way for kids to discover what Mom or Dad's job are for real, and why not, have an idea if they want to follow their paths! I wish I had had that kind of opportunity when I was young. Even now, I'd love to spend the day with somebody who shows me what he does - for real - for a living!

Along with a whole group of employee's kids, she visited the place where all the beds are stored, the radiology, could "play" with her Dad and do herself an ultrasound, she could watch him do the procedure for an epidural... in the recovery room. What a rich day!

In the afternoon, she was taken care of by the team of Anaesthesia, and was taught how to perform CPR on "Anne"... the dummy that she was even allowed to bring back home! So she showed us what she had learned, and even let Sam try himself! Enjoy the pics!

Carnival Time!

Yes... this seems to be early!

But it's very serious and official: Carnival season starts on November 11, at 11:11 AM!

I saw this morning a "guggenmusik" group arriving into the old town, ready to make a big clang at the right moment!

about the weather...

The Fall has been very nice to us so far (in St.Louis first and then here, since we came back a week ago!). I winterized the front yard this afternoon, raking dead leaves, taking them to the collecting place (unlike in Clayton, you've got to do the job yourself, there's no curbside leaves picking by a big truck!), got rid of dead plants, and hope that there are tulip bulbs in certain places (I really can't remember if I took them out in the Spring or not: we shall see!).

Snow can come now: we have enough wood to heat the house, the kid's skis are rented for the seasons, the kids are signed in for ski school over Christmas break. Everything should be fine!

For the people around here that are interested, there is now a new "weather frog" point in my neighborhood:

It says:

Weather Station for the village of Neyruz

Wet stone: rain

White stone: snow

Moving stone: wind

Invisible stone: fog

Dry stone: sun

Fallen stone: earthquake

Don't you love it? I certainly do!

Meditation

Today I drove Sam to his fencing class. The village is quite remote, it's approx 25 mins away from here (next time, I'll post a bird's view of our area!)..., very quiet, and has this cute little chapel, built in 1670. I love to sit in front of it, and did today, meditating, tanking up on sunshine...

I'm back!

Well... almost! I mean, I'm back on my blog in English!!!!!

For those whom I'm so thankful to have met during our brief stay in the US at the end of October, you know that I was just temporarily back on US ground!

Before starting this new post, I read the previous one. Counting my blessings for 2009...

2010 has been very different so far. Much more intense... middle-life crisis at full blast, let's put it this way... No fun. Everything seems to become jeopardized. And it's my fault. I need a piece of white paper to go on with my life and it's not the easiest when you're married with 2 kids. Well, don't worry too much, I'm getting as much help as I can, I still have wonderful friends who support (and bear!) me, and I'll get through it, in the end.

But I'll stop complaining about my being a desperate housewife (not even sure I'm that desperate, or even that being a working mom would mean being less desperate ;)!)... and tell you more about our great vacation in LA, St.Louis, and NYC.

Vladi had a conference in San Diego, and we took advantage of traveling with him to go back. Léa told me (in English) as we were landing: "Mom, we're not going to America, we're going home"... Yes, we indeed have a foot in each country, our hearts beating on both continents...

We started with a few days in LA... which is well known for it's great climate, as you all know. Well, not this year, obviously! It was rainy, cold, misty, and foggy. We took a trip to Seaworld, and didn't even need to go to the splash zones to get soaked, as our raincoats didn't do the job: I had to buy sweaters to warm us up!

Once Vladi's conference was over, we traveled to Saint-Louis, where we spent 6 beautiful days. Seeing old friends, some having even come from as far as Texas or Vancouver to see us was totally heartwarming and touching. Thank you Jenny, Catherine, and also Elke, who drove 4 hours from Indianapolis! Thank you Debbie for having us stay at your house, letting me be with you while you took care of your bees (the honey tastes really good!)! Thank you Kathy for "adopting" Léa for a few day as if she was your own daughter and inviting us to Candy-Apple making day! Thank you Jenny and Catherine for the excellent moment spent on the Pastries of Denmark terrace, speaking our hearts open.... Thank you Ganesh for letting Jiothy go to the breakfast with our "Monday Morning Whispering Hills Mom's group"! Thank you Cari for letting us visit Meramec school and welcoming us so warmly! Thank you Samuel's Church Choir people, for showing so much happiness at my being present, and thank you for the music notes you gave me, Neal! Thank you all of you, my friends, for showing us so much affection! I'm still very moved when I think of all of you. You are all unforgettable and I love you all! Shall I count my blessings now? You are each of you, one of them!

I'll post some pictures of these days... it might take a while though... uploading all of them!

After this "honeymoon" kind of vacation, leaving St.Louis was hard. We still had a few days planned in NYC though, and all went well. Our hotel was located across from Manhattan, on the Hudson River (you remember the plane that landed on the water in January 2009? well, it was practically in front of our hotel!), in Weehawken. In hardly 15 minutes by bus we were in the middle of Midtown! Close from Time Square, where we became almost dizzy the first night!

We took a boat trip to the Statue of Liberty, walked and walked through this crazy, sleepless city. We met Anaïs, our cousin, and went up the Empire States Building. Lots of fun and good time! I also enjoyed meeting 2 French friends and have lunch with them.

The 2 weeks went by... and we flew back home... Kids went back to school this morning, plagued by the jetlag (we slept much too late yesterday morning!)... but we all keep a great memory of this vacation!

OK, now... do you have time? Because you can watch the pictures of this great trip right here: Enjoy and comment please!

I'm so grateful because seeing you, my friends, has given me so much energy... I'll really improve my keeping up with this blog. Comment, and ask things you want to know and see about our lives in Switzerland! I'll be happy to add more content!

Love to you!