life's little dilemmas

I don't know what to do. We have been invited to co-workers wedding in April in England and a part of me would really like to go and another part of me shudders at the thought of spending so much money for a two day trip to go to a wedding of people I don't know all that well. On the one hand I work with her and I have met her fiance, we've had drinks before and socialized at theatre events and stuff. On the other hand it is a bit hard for me to justify the expense when they're not really close friends. I mean I wasn't even sure we were going to be invited. I could understand if we weren't considering...well I guess I met them a year and a half ago. It doesn't seem that long.

On the plus side we'd get to go to Telford, England - somewhere we've never been and stay in a very cool looking haunted hotel. Down side it would be a very quick trip without any real option of making it into a longer trip. We'd both have to get back to work asap. hmmm...the hubbster is being really great about it all. He knows the couple somewhat and is willing to go if that's what I want, but wouldn't be fussed if we missed the event either. Great, that means it's my decision and I HATE making decisions. Especially when there is money concerned. I can't help it I can be a real cheapskate at times. It's so selfish that part of me thinks, well if we spend the money to go to the wedding then that's one less long weekend elsewhere in Europe that we'd be taking. But, then I think maybe a weekend in Telford, England would be fantastic and I'd really miss something. Just because it's not on my list of places to go in Europe doesn't mean it wouldn't be a really nice weekend trip. Plus we'd get to party down at the reception.

Oh the other thing is that it is Black Tie! Yikes! I can't figure out if that's a plus or a minus. It's a plus because it's always fun to get all dolled up. A minus/plus because I'd have to buy a new dress and while I love getting new clothes there's that whole parting with my money thing again (do you see the Scrooge trend emerging yet?). It's not just having to buy a new dress it's that clothing here is super expensive. And the hubby would have to get some new clothes too. I looked it up on-line and it does say that men can wear a dark suit with a white shirt and black tie if the Black Tie wedding is in the afternoon. The wedding is at 1pm, so I'm figuring he'd be safe enough in his suit. It's dark grey...do you think that counts? Gosh I hope so because we really can't afford to buy him a new suit. The wedding would definitely be out if that were the case. Then again, it would be pretty cool for the hubby to get a suit here. When we move back to the States he could be like, "Oh this, yeah. I bought it in Europe." Or "Oh I picked this up in Italy" wouldn't that be sweet? OK, OK it's just a dream, but it would still be pretty rockin'. Admit it, you think so to.

Well, I'm tired. I need to get to bed. think of me tossing and turning trying to figure out what to do about this wedding dilemma: to go or not to go, that is the question. I'm sure I'll figure it out, I just hope it's soon...

Fur real?

Can I just say how weird it is to see so many ladies in downtown Geneva swathed from head to toe in fur? And I'm pretty sure it's not fake fur, it's the real deal. I could be way off here, but I just feel like you don't see that in the States. Maybe I just haven't lived in the really affluent areas of the East coast...It's just I feel like in the United States if you walked around draped in real fur someone would through red paint at you. Or at the very least be rude to you. Here it's just normal. Fur coat, fur hat, fur trimmed boots...whatever. When I'm on the bus in Geneva I sometimes watch these women sauntering along in their skin tight pants, stiletto boots, fur coats, and big old Russian looking fur hats and think where am I? And also, where did they get all their money and how can I get some of? I mean, it's hard enough living in this area the way things cost I can barely buy myself a new pair of running shoes without breaking the bank!

Well, enough about that. It just made me laugh a little at all the fur walking around Geneva on peoples backs and head! Maybe it's just another part of my repressed American upbringing rearing it's head again...it just amazes me, that's all. Fur.

La Thuile and Courmayeur, Italy

Skiing on Saturday was definitely tons of fun. It was a gorgeous, if cold, sunny day. We skied with some Italian friends who knew the resort pretty well and we just relaxed and had a nice time enjoying the day. It's so much fun to say, "Oh yes, we went to Italy for the day to ski." I never in my life thought those words would come out of my mouth! Sometimes I still find it mind boggling that so many different countries and cultures are so close at hand. Just imagine if instead of the United States, each state was a different country! That's what living in Europe is like, kind of.

Anyways here are a few photos of our day.
This is a very cool fort on top off one of the slopes that was from World War II. No one really seemed to know much about it, such as was it the French or the Italians who built and used it? The hubby and i thought we might try and return in the spring or summer when you can hike through the mountains and check it out then. It looked like you could go inside it or at least up on to the ramparts (or whatever you'd call them). Pretty cool. Around every corner you run into a little bit of history.
sadly my connection keeps cutting out, so I'm just going to post what I have.

La Thuile

We're off for a full day of skiing in Italy! Should be fun, but exhausting. As bad pet owners we're leaving the dog cooped up all day long in the house...but what can we do? So, we're off and hopefully the weather will be good and I can manage a 3 hour bus ride without having to pee my pants! Sounds like we have a fun day ahead of us....

Oh my it's been ages since I last posted! Well, since my last post I got over being sick (tonsillitis, sinus infection, skin infection) was healthy for a couple of weeks then got sick again. Now I am recovering from a bad bout with the flu. So far, 2009 is not my year. Thankfully, I was feeling well enough to go skiing yesterday and we had a great day.

We went to Les Gets and it was beautiful. I need to remember this one in the event we have visitors in the winter time who don't ski. It's a great place because there are lots of trails for walking, and a small area where kids can go sledding. Besides, it's a cute little town surrounded by the Alps - gorgeous scenery. That's one thing I regret not doing with my family here - really getting up into the Alps. We did go to Gruyere, which is up in the mountains, but it's just not quite the same as visiting some of these little ski towns and walking around (or skiing) in the Alps. Oh well, we'll have to do it next time they visit.

This afternoon Ally and I got outside to run around the yard a little and the neighbor kids were out. They are so funny. I can only understand about half of what they say and they sometimes try to speak English. The little boy, Canton ( I think that's his name), said, "Please. give me kisses." In English. He's about 4 years old. I blew him a kiss. Then their dad came out - just like my hubby he likes to grill in the snow, men are the same the world around I guess. And he let the kids come over the fence into our yard (well, technically our neighbors yard) to play with the dog. I was quite gratified that the father (I can't for the life of me remember his name) told me my French had improved and that I had a very good accent. Not like your typical North American. That made me feel pretty good as I've been a bit down lately about my progress with French. It's just that you have to make such an effort and sometimes you just don't feel like it trying anymore. I guess you just have to push through that feeling of "what's the point" and keep trying or you'll never succeed. That's a lesson that my head understands, but the rest of me rarely follows!

It's been nice this winter that we've had snow. If it's going to be cold I'd rather have the snow to go along with it. Besides, running around in the snow, throwing snowballs, making snowmen just makes you feel young and alive again. Granted I colder quicker and my energy doesn't last like it did when I was a kid...but, for a god 15-20 minutes you go back in time! hee, hee