success...

so, Saturday I dragged my DH with me to find the "big" Migros near Carouge. Let me tell you, when people said big, they meant BIG. There are two buildings with different Migros shops in them. This is probably my American roots showing here, but both my DH and I got so frustrated trying to find this stupid place. For being the one and only BIG Migros in the area you'd think it would be pretty darn easy to find. You would be wrong. In the States there would be big billboards or some sort of signage pointing you towards this mecca of commercialism, but in Switzerland Ir's the exact opposite. It's as though they would rather you didn't find their mega stores. We found directions on Google maps and it looked simple. The address was a main road, it's a big commercial center if we got to the road we'd find it with no problems, right? Boy oh boy were we wrong. We couldn't see it from the main road, no signs, nothing. After driving around for a while we decided to take a left and drive towards an area that looked like it could possibly contain a commercial zone. Thank god we finally found it. Unfortunately, it was just a mad house. Cars backed up trying to find parking, once you found a spot and ventured inside it was just wall to wall people and shopping carts. You had to wait longer in line than it took to find what you needed. CRAZY!
We were successful in finding some of the things we needed. Sadly, it took so long to find it and check out that by the time I got home and actually made the props that were needed the kids were finished with their rehearsal for the day. Oh well. What can you do?

Yesterday, (Happy Mother's Day to all moms out there) we had a lovely relaxing day to make up for the madness of Saturday. We had brunch with some friends who live in Satigny, Switzerland. Oooh, I am so jealous of their place. They rent this very cool house that used to be a cafe and was renovated in early 2003 (or something). They are surrounded by cute, quirky houses, wineries, and vineyards. So jealous. They invited ally too so after we all stuffed ourselves and chugged down Mimosas..yummm... we took a walk through the vineyards. It was so nice, despite the impending storm that was coming our way.
The hubby decided to climb one of the trees in the vineyard so, much to the amusement of our friends, I decided to one up him by climbing up higher than he did. He claimed it was impossible to climb higher. This picture doesn't show it, but I did in fact climb higher than he did. Then on my way down I fell out of the tree! I was almost down and Ally jumped up on me. I just lost my balance and toppled out. I was fine except for some scraped knees and a bruised ego. Perhaps if my wonderful husband hadn't been getting her all excited Ally might not have charged at the tree and jumped up at me and I would have been able to make a graceful descent. But, it was pretty funny. After bragging about climbing higher than my hubby, I was the one who tumbled like a sack of potatoes out of the tree. What a victory! hee, hee

Where oh where....

Random photo from Annecy, France

sometimes living in a foreign country drives me absolutely batty. Here's what it is today: The Theatre Academy is putting on a show, 'Dracula Spectacula,' next weekend. This week my boss, the director of the show pulled out the props list I made for him over a month ago and said, "Right, let's see what else we need." He has, naturally, added props not called for in the original script, as I knew he would, and waited till the last moment to ask me to collect all the props he doesn't have yet. Great! It's not that I mind making and/or buying the props that we need it's just that it is going to take me twice as long to find everything because I don't know where in the world to find any of that stuff here! Plus, I don't really have a wide network to pull from. I don't have contacts in the theatre community here who I can call up and say, "Hey, have you got this or that? Can I borrow it?"

Add on top of that he gave me some Swiss francs to make purchases and I live in France. I'm much more familiar with where to look in France, but I don't have Euros...it just complicates matters. The thing that irks me is that it would be so easy in the U.S. I'd run to Home Depot or Lowe's to get dowel rods and paint, I'd got to Joanne Fabrics or Michael's for cheap silk flowers and ribbon. But here I don't know where to begin. OK, that's sort of a lie. I have a good idea where I can get dowel rods and paint and I can think of a couple places where I might be able to find silk flowers...but you get my point, don't you?

I'm probably just romanticizing the ease in which I could accomplish this stuff back in the good ole' U.S. of A. because I can't wait to get back there and see my family. I should look at this need to go out and find things as a way to get to know Geneva and the surrounding area better...but, alas, I'm not that good of a person. I don't want a learning experience. I just want to get my job done with time left to spend the weekend hanging out with my hubby puttering around the garden and taking the dog for long, lazy walks in the sun. Instead, I have a feeling I'll be running around like a mad woman trying to pull all this stuff together. blah. And next week is totally shot because I'll be at the Theatre on Thursday and Friday nights and all day Saturday and Sunday. Then Monday at 6 a.m. we take off for New York. I am going to be SOOOO ready for a holiday. It's amazing how exhausted working more than 2 days a week can make you when you've been unemployed for so long! hee, hee I'm sure some of you would like to hit me over that head with a snow shovel! If I were working full time and read this, I'd want to hit me too.

the count down begins!!!

an aerial view of where we live taken in September 2007 on our previous trip to the U.S. to finally get married!

In just 12 day the hubby and I will be boarding a plane and making the long haul back to the States for a visit. Yay! It is going to be so nice to see our family and be back where I understand everything that is going on. I can ease-drop on conversations at the grocery store instead of rudely staring at people trying to figure out what they are talking about - and this is when they ARE NOT talking to me. I confess it, I try to understand what people are saying to one another when I'm out and about. It's called practicing your French people...er...well, maybe not since I don't actually ever speak to them. If you've ever learned a foreign language in a country where they speak that foreign language you've got to know what I mean. Well, I hope I'm not the only one. I find myself staring with concentration at people trying to see if I can actually understand what they are saying to one another. Normally, I would never do this. It's so rude. but I have caught myself many times doing this without even realizing it. Naturally, when the people I am boring holes through with my eyes notice me I immediately pretend to be engaged in something else - the can on the shelf or staring out the window if I'm on the bus. I either get a haughty European scowl (I won't say French since this look is definitely not exclusive to the French) or a leering grin - if I happen to be staring at a middle aged man. But, I digress.

We are heading back to the States for 2 weeks. I wish it were longer so we could visit more friends but I have to be back to work by June 5. I know it sounds silly that the person who only works 2 days a week is the one who is obliged to arrange her vacation around her work - but there it is. First stop is my hometown in Upstate Western New York where my sister will be getting hitched, then we'll jump into my parents car and head down to Pittsburgh to visit my husbands family. We'll finally get to see our niece who was born in...February...I think it was February. Oh dear, I'm the world's worst aunt. Then again, since my nephew calls me Crazy Mel are you surprised? No, I thought not.

It's going to be a whirlwind no doubt but we're excited. At least it will be a break for the hubbster who has been working is non-existent little booty off at work the past couple of months. The closer they get to the summer and the intended date to turn on the LHC the higher the pressure is to meet all the deadlines.

So, we're making our lists of what we have to do when we're home and what we absolutely need to bring back with us. First on my list is saline solution. Yes, they have it here but so far the cheapest I could find it for was 11 Euros! Ridiculous. You can buy it like a buck at Walmart so we're definitely stocking up. I'm sure my husband will have Frank's Red Hot sauce on the list. he just can't find a suitable replacement here. Which reminds me we'll definitely have to have hot wings when we're in NY. mmmm....hot wings in blue cheese...I'm starting to drool already.

I'm really curious to see how much my perceptions have changed in living in France for one year, if they have at all. Right now I don't really feel like they have significantly altered but I'll just have to wait and see once I'm back in the good ol' U.S. of A.

Un pompier ou un docteur

After spending a weekend having a shooting pain run from my elbow to my wrist on my right arm I decided I better just suck it up and head to the doctor and find out what is going on. No, it's not sympathy pain for Dancing with the Stars' Cristian de la Fuente it actually is a pulled tendon or pinched nerve...look the conversation with the doctor was half in French and half in English so give me a break here.
First off, if you'd like to know about my first experience with Dr. F you can check out my previous post- le medecine (be prepared to hear more personal information about painful urination than you'd ever care to read). This time, instead of making an appointment or un rendez-vous, I decided I'd go to his open morning hours which start at 7:30 a.m. and end at 12:30 p.m. I couldn't go first thing in the morning because Ally had her own appointment at le veterinaire for her yearly shots. I slowly made my way to the doctors around 9:30 a.m. - I say slowly because let me tell you driving was not a joy. You try shifting when your right forearm is suffering from pain shooting through it like a volt of electricity every time you move just so. 2 hours after sitting in the waiting room - salle d'attendre - I made tentative conversation with my fellow patients. They had been complaining to one another in rapid French I just couldn't really understand exactly what was happening. When they turned to me with a question I pulled out my standard, "Je suis desolee, je ne parle pas tres bien francais" "I'm sorry, I don't speak French very well." They were all very kind and slowed down their speech (somewhat) and used a little bit simpler language and I discovered that they had been waiting for 4 hours and that the doctor was not only a doctor, but also un pompier - a fireman! He had left his office for an hour that morning in his capacity as a fireman! Can you believe that? While he had a room full of patients waiting to see him he ran out of his office to attend to a fire! or something. he didn't look singed or anything even though he was still wearing his pompier shirt when I finally saw him at 12:30 p.m.!

If you haven't read about my first visit to Dr. F you should know that he has no secretary, no one to help him in his office. He runs the whole show, so it's not even like there was a secretary who could calm the patients down and explain where the doctor was and why. Nope, just a room full of grumpy sick people waiting for a doctor who had run out of his office! How crazy is that?

Spring is in the air!!!

Oh what a lovely weekend! I think that spring is finally here to stay. I don't wan to jinx myself but it is May so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Seems like the last time we had a stretch of really nice weather and the tulips started blooming we were hit with 4 days of snow...so let's hope that doesn't happen again.

I love the springtime here. We took Ally on a nice long walk this afternoon in the Jura's. We found a new path up into the reserve - quite an adventure! I will admit that I experienced a bit of anxiety despite the gorgeous day. Why? Because dogs aren't actually allowed in the National Reserve. It is tres bizarre! In a country where dogs are welcomed into restaurants, boulangeries, and even some grocery stores they are banned from enjoying the National wilderness. Can anyone explain to me what that is all about?

Now, I admit I have never actually seen another human being up on the trails behind our house but after my brush with the bus police I couldn't help feeling a bit worried that this would be that one time when the French National Reserve Rangers would be out looking for rule breakers. Honestly, I don't even know if there are rangers or what but that doesn't mean I didn't express my doubts to my husband, who dismissed them out of hand as ridiculous. Some day I will say, "I told you so, I told you so." But today is, thankfully, not that day because although my ego would have been satisfied in being proven right I don't think our pocketbook could handle the fine that would inevitably follow!! Sadly, pleading that you are an ignorant foreign doesn't usually save you. In those sorts of situations you find that ignorance is not bliss. hee, hee

One of my great pleasures in living in the foothills of the Jura Mountains is hiking up the hills about a half a mile or so and getting a stunning view of land around us. Right now as you gaze across France into Switzerland your eyes are met with a patchwork quilt of greens and yellows. Who knew there could be so many different shades of green in nature? The fields of yellow and green are broken up with the red tiled roofs of the farmhouses and the cluster of neighborhoods. And in the background you can see the snow-capped peaks of the Alps, a slight haze making them appear less distinct than usual. But still majestic in their way. It is awe inspiring how beautiful nature can be. I wish I had taken my camera so I could share such a sight with you...but, in truth, even the camera can't capture the scope and complexity that mother nature has laid before us in our little corner of the world. I guess you'll just have to come and see it for yourselves!

Will Write for Wine

My friend, Berni, mentioned this podcast to me and I decided I should check it out...and I am SO glad that I did. I absolutely am in LOVE with Lani and Sam the novelists who do this podcast. They are absolutely hysterical as well as passing along great advice about writing and discovering your unique talents. I have no intentions of writing a book or anything, but i thoroughly enjoy listening to them.

It's also fun to hear about the wines they are drinking - they each have a different bottle of wine during each podcast. Sam likes good wine and Lani likes anything that is $10 or under. OK, well she does consider wine in a box swill. And to all you Boones Farm drinkers out there I don't really think that can be considered real wine - sorry!

Listening to them has made me want to start trying all the different wines around here. You can get some great bottles for extremely cheap - 5 Euros which, at the current exchange rate, is about $8 U.S. So, not terrible. Perhaps I should start reviewing the wines we drink here....now that's a thought. At least that way I'd have some personal record of wines we liked and didn't like as opposed to our current method which is: Me: "Wow! this is a great wine. We should get it again some time." DH:" Definitely. We'll have to remember it for when we have guests." Then we recycle the bottle and forget about it until we have company coming and we say, "ooh, what was that really good wine we had?" " You know the one we got from that store...like 3 weeks ago...the white one...what was that?" Neither one of us can remember so we end up getting something untried. Oh well.

so, i hurt mt arm in some mysterious way and am having trouble typing with a bag of frozen veggies resting on it...so I'm going to go now.

I knew it...

...well, sort of. I thought that perhaps Derek and Shannon would lose some of the publics votes because of their comments last week. And they've gone bye-bye. I thought it would be tough to know who would be eliminated because I really like all the stars. 'm curious whether Cristian's injury garnered him some sympathy votes or not? Although scoring wise Cristian, Shannon, and Marissa have all been relatively close so i thought anyone of them could go.

It's so hard to know who is the "best" dancer. I'm amazed at how well all of them do with all their different strengths and weaknesses. I'll miss the showmance saga, but I'm happy to watch all the other stars and pros...besides it is really supposed to be all about the dancing, right? I hope that Derek makes it to the freestyle round one season because he seems to be a really great choreographer and could do something spectacular. Well, I guess that all depends on his partner.

So, exciting stuff! Can't wait to see them dance next week! Oh and I just have to add I think Samantha looked great during the results show. Fabulous dress. Sometimes I wonder who dresses her, but Tuesday night that gown looked great on her. Just my two cents. I'm thinking we could have a Jason, Kristi, and Mario final three. What do you think?