35 posts tagged “family”

I'm a goin' home this summer.  I've asked my mom to make an appointment for me at the salon I usually go to.  Hair cut, and color. Paraffin manicure and paraffin pedicure.  I can't wait because I know that when I leave the salon, I will feel better than I have in ages (and I'm feeling pretty good right now, but I know how beautiful I feel when I've been taken care of for a few hours). 
I am actually staying with my sister when I first arrive back and she offered to make an appointment with her girl.  My sister always looks put together.  Well-coiffed, I think we could say.  (Honestly, any photo in which my sister looks less than stellar can only be attributed to what was fashionable at the time.  She just has never seemed to put a foot wrong when it comes to style)  So, it's not that I don't think that going to her girl wouldn't make me lovely, but I've just gotten rather attached to my girl.  I have had the problem where I have gone to the hair salon and asked for a particular color and been told "no, I have the perfect color for you"  and then they color my hair three shades darker than it has been and try growing *that look* out.  I'm still working on it.    Or, they want to charge you CHF120 just to color it (I had really thought that I would start getting my hair professionally colored here until I found out how much it would cost. That box of L'Oreal #7 for twenty francs looks really good after all!) and that's not even getting into the discussion of who knows better for my hair. 
Honestly, I'm the one that lives with my hair day in and day out.  Good hair days and bad, it's all on my head.  SO, if I go to a salon and express an opinion, just give me what I want, even if you disagree.  It's not about you.  It's about me.  And at my age (advanced as it is), I have a pretty good idea of what looks good, or at least, fine.  If I say I just want a trim, and you think I would look better with shorter hair, back away from the scissors slowly and find a colleague who will do what I want. 
My current (stylist? beautician? lady who wields the scissors and dye bowl?) woman who I see twice a year (kind of like the dentist) colors my hair the exact color I want and cuts my hair the amount I want and in general is extremely accomodating.  We get along.  And I can't wait to see her again!

my mother cheered for the Cardinals last night!
What's up with that? 
It's like the day I found out she was a Yankees fan!!!! How do we keep ending up on the wrong side of sports teams?!

The joys of working with children.  Children in their natural state tend to be very caring and love to share.  Everything.  Your speeding ticket, your pregnancy, mom and dad fight a lot and dad just moved out, their snack, their story, their germs.  Now, I totally agree that some of this might be overshare, but probably not the ones you think.  Hearing that a child's parents are separating usually explains A LOT of the child's behavior especially if it has been a major shift.  The speeding ticket and germs are definitely overshare.  The speeding ticket, well, that's just a cute story the parent would rather we hadn't heard, but the germs, truly, are over the line and yet they are what are most often and easily given away. 
Not quite all of the eleven Christmas vacations I have had since I started teaching have I been sick, but I would say the odds are stacked that I will be sick.  Throw in an international flight or two, and the chances are pretty good that by the time I get home, I will be a bundle of tired misery. 
Unfortunately, my sister doesn't stock Bushmills or Coke Classic, so no cure last night, and for some reason, I'm pretty sure my mother might frown on my taking such a cure at 8:30 in the morning.  Maybe tonight.  So instead, it's off to the Mall (why not compound the misery?) and then to the hairdressers for cut, color, hands and feet.  And if that doesn't make me feel at least a little better, I'm safe in saying that I'm ripe for the grave.  Another early night tonight and I should be good to go for Christmas. 

Thanksgiving is my very favorite government mandated holiday.  It really distills the joy and spirit of America.  I am so proud of my country and so thankful for my family and friends.  The presidential election really refreshed the optimism and idealism that not only can we do better for our countrymen, but we will.

I always get homesick on Thanksgiving Day because more years than not, my extended family gets together and it seems that everyone is there except me.  This year, I took matters into my own hands.  I suggested a Thanksgiving lunch with my colleagues to one of my American co-workers.  She embraced the idea and sprinted with it.  She took care of the turkey, gravy and two kinds of stuffing.  I stuck up a sign-up sheet and sent out an e-mail.  The tables in the staff room groaned under the platters and dishes and bottles.  Desserts were moved to the low tables by the couches because there was no room on dining tables  The adults at my school are just so lovely and we really do like each other.  I was looking around while we were eating at the clusters of friends chatting.  We've done potlucks before for birthdays and babies, but there's something special about taking a deliberate moment to appreciate one another and be thankful for each other. 

I know that schools run into controversy because students are taught the incorrect history of the holiday.  I think that if we taught the true history of Thanksgiving, we would all be better off.  Celebrating the harvest and days of plenty is wonderful, but even better is that our Thanksgiving holiday in its current manifestation came out of the Civil War as a way to come together as a whole nation to celebrate our good fortune in being American.

I did.  Witnessed by G.  Mailed off on Thursday.  Which meant that I ended up at the Post Office three days in a row.  I like the Post Office.  I've always had a thing for the Postal Service.  When I did my Smithsonian internship, it was at the Postal Museum.  I didn't know until we started going to family reunions that it was a family thing.  A couple of my cousins work for the postal service, and I think there's actually a bit of a tradition there with uncles or something.  Not too sure, my memory is not what it could be.  Anyways, I love mail, real mail like my birthday card that arrived today (thanks mom and dad!), not the bills that keep arriving in my mailbox (and arriving and arriving) and are due way before my health insurance will reimburse me.  Mom, you might want to pack some snacks for your visit. 

Sorry about the interruptions.
I had a wonderful couple of days before Gracie's wedding to hang out with her; running errands, hitting Starbucks, meeting friends and family and her soon to be in-laws.  Gracie had made up these huge gift baskets for out of town guests and written lovely cards to go with them and I thoroughly enjoyed the contents of mine.  I felt so appreciated and part of the celebration that it made the whole weekend even more special. 
The wedding ceremony was lovely and followed by a great dinner and evening of dancing.  I know I tend toward the unobservant side of things, but the amount of happenings that I missed made me wonder if I was at the same party as some of the other guests when I heard about the events at the brunch on Sunday.  It was a beautiful evening with a little lightning and no rain on the roof of the museum.  Gracie's dad has a floral shop, so the floral arrangements at her wedding had to be seen to be believed.  They were so, so beautiful, truly works of art.
On the Sunday morning after, June and I went to brunch at this place in Pasadena that had live jazz (please don't ask me the name).  I think I had eggs benedict but I don't really remember.  (I do know that I ate eggs benedict at least three times in Australia and I'm pretty sure there is no finer way to serve eggs for breakfast)  After which we went to Gracie's new in-laws for more food and to watch them open gifts.  My flight wasn't until late Sunday night, so while Mass wasn't going to happen, I did have options. 
I have some cousins in LA and I called one of them who said, "oh, you must call my mom!".  So, I called her mom, my great-aunt and left a voice mail.  I called again once I got back to the hotel and she said, "yes of course, come over".  This is my mom's dad's youngest sister.  I've only met her a few times in my life, but she's just one of those wonderful people that I love to be around.  My grandpa's sisters all bake.  And my great aunt's daughters all bake.  My grandma baked and I think sometimes felt she had to keep up with her sisters in law.  My mom, her sisters, my sister and my cousins also all bake.  I used to bake.  Now I have a crappy oven that doesn't heat consistently or hold heat well.  Anyways, bitterness aside, I ended up arriving at my great aunt's while one of her daughters was visiting.  I hadn't met this cousin before, so I had a lovely evening with my aunt, my cousin and my cousin's husband.  And of course, dinner was fabulous!
I headed to the airport afterwards to discover that my flight was delayed and that they couldn't confirm me on the ATL-IAD leg.  This plane ticket was a mess.  When I booked in January, it was a direct flight from Dulles to LAX.  By March, crappy Delta had gotten rid of that route and I was now flying through Atlanta.  I called and pitched a fit, so the fellow re-booked me on a flight out of Reagan (in which I learned the hard way the difference between direct and non-stop; let's just say that I was on a direct flight by way of, oh yes, that would be Atlanta) and the return was changing planes in Atlanta.  So, my flight left late, arrived not as late as I thought, I sprinted between terminals, raced to my gate, to discover that the gate agent had nearly given away my seat as it was unconfirmed.  Thankfully, he didn't or I probably would have thrown up on his shoes (I hate running, especially with a carry-on).  I made it to breakfast with Kristel in Virginia right on time.  Thus ending a fabulous weekend in Los Angeles.  I'm not saying I would move there, I'm not saying I wouldn't, but it certainly is a place worth visiting more than once, especially since I've got such lovely family and friends out there. 

So, it's probably time to introduce everyone to the impetus behind my flying thousands of miles around the world. This is Broghan. Everyone, say hi to Broghan!

Broghan lived in Geneva for about a year and a half and we met, like so many of our other friends here, through Geneva On-Line (internet based social website now called glocals.com and featured in today's Matin Bleu). One of our mutual friends organized a pub crawl for Australia day that involved, um, golfing. I dunno, I can't explain a lot of that day and I wasn't even really drinking as I was caddying. By the end of the evening, Broghan was winning, but her caddy had left, my golfer had gotten into a fight with his girlfriend and they had run away, so it was up to me to get Broghan through the written quiz. Drinking, I wasn't going to be much help; trivia, on the other hand... and that day pretty much sums up our friendship. For the most part, we balance each other out really well, but there are times when we just seem to lead each other into hangover territory. I would say they were good times, but I can't remember. ;)

SO, when she had the nerve to decide that she wanted to move home, we were all pretty sad and I promised to come and visit her in her natural environment. It took eighteen months, but I made it. One weekend in Brisbane and I could completely understand why she would want to be there. Brisbane is a gorgeous, vibrant city. She has a job that she loves (and her co-workers are wicked funny). Broghan has a huge circle of friends who are just so lovely. Some are from high school, some are from various work places and all are just so much fun and good, good people. And she has a rocking family. I know that I brag about mine a lot. And it's true, I have a great family, but Broghan's runs a pretty close second.

Her parents were just so incredibly welcoming. They really looked out for us when we were preparing for our roadtrip. They've been doing huge driving tours of Australia for years and were spot on with all their advice. I loved talking to her mom so much and her dad and his koo poetry... what a riot! And they kept us very well fed.

When we were in Sydney, we stayed with her aunt and uncle and they made us feel so at home. We'd been on the road for about a week at that point and to stay with Aunt Chris and Uncle Jimmy just made such a difference. We had homecooked meals and no checkout time and advice about driving (because our GPS Polly was marginally better than useless) and "let's have champagne".

I know that much of why my trip to Australia was so special was because of Broghan and her family and friends. All the Australians I met were so generous and good spirited. And if I met any who weren't, well, I've already forgotten.

I really didn't mean to put the blog on hiatus. 

The past few weeks have been no busier than than the three weeks before that, or the three weeks coming up.  My parents were here for a few days and we had a lovely time with a wine-tasting and a Seder supper.  I went to Liverpool (which is where I really paused) to see my friend Christine and hang in one of the loveliest cities out there, I went speed dating, painted my hallway, went to Ikea and have continued cleaning out. 

I took photos in Liverpool that I wanted to post, but iPhoto is a right pain in the ass when you have more than 3000 photos stored on it, so I haven't quite gotten around to taking them off, so I didn't post, and then it just spiralled down from there because I really wanted to post about Liverpool. 

I have also had the worst ten days in recent memory at my job.  I'm sure I have had worse days even right here in Geneva, but since I have such a crap memory, I don't remember, so as far as I know, this is as bad as it gets.  This was capped off by a not so great visit to Cyril.  Don't get me wrong, I still adore him, but I asked for just a little trim and my hair is shorter than it's been in yonks' age.  Like barely shoulder length.  Of course, it's Cyril, so it's still a great haircut, but when I want my long hair back, this is rather a step in the opposite direction.  Much like adventures with Cyril, even bad days in Geneva really aren't that bad.  It is Geneva after all and the weather has been gorgeous. 

Oh, on the other hand, in really crappy news, that 1000 pound deposit I sent to school, yeah, they don't have a record of it. 

I will blog, hopefully, more regularly than the past few weeks, but I still need to get those photos off the camera.  I finally took that ferry cross the Mersey (three times in fact!).

I don't get them very often.  I had a couple friends from Holland come visit my first year here.  My parents (who are arriving this evening) have visited a few times, but for the most part, I haven't had the influx of visitors that I expected.  I have friends working at the Mission here whose guest rooms are like Grand Central.  I don't actually know how they do it.  They have discount coupons for Zermatt they've been there so often.  I've been to Montreux twice now and sorry, Michelle, but you're on your own for that trip.  When I lived in the States, it was right outside D.C.  I never tired of the monuments at night, or visiting the memorials, Mount Vernon or the museums.  And even here, five years on, I'm still thrilled by the sight of the Alps in the distance (mostly because it's a rare day that the clouds lift so you can see that far), but Montreux, please don't make me do that again. 
A good friend of mine is coming to visit in June.  The weather *should* be good and it's Eurocup season, so Geneva might even pass as a party town. I figure she can travel while I'm at work and we can hang on the weekends.  Of course, she lives in Manhattan, so after one Saturday night here, she might find it a touch stifling.  Literally, the streets roll up at seven pm. 
I'm excited about my parents coming.  I'm not making them paint the hallway with me as I had originally intended, but I don't think we'll be doing too much.  We have a visit to a winery Saturday (barring the arrival of the owner's first baby) and then a Seder at a friend's house.  I'm very proud of my skills as a hard-cooked egg boiler, so I get to bring the eggs.  (It was a hard-won skill, people, be proud with me.  Betty Crocker sure is!)  And that's really all I have planned for them.  I'm at work Thurs/Fri and they'll be jetlagged.  I have to show them how to play movies on the computer.  This is the one drawback to getting rid of the tv/dvd player.  It's not a simple process. I imagine there will be quite a lot of me losing at Hand and Foot.  Really looking forward to that. Oh, and taxes.  Wow, this weekend is just going to be unforgettable!
I know I just saw them a few weeks ago, but I really like my mom and dad.  And then it's only two and half months until I see them again! 

I'm back in Geneva.  Comfort actually purred when I held her which is an absolute first.  The norm has been that she tolerates me picking her up, but I guess she really missed me, not that my friends didn't take excellent care of her, she's just not always a pleasant kitty. 
We went to my sister's yesterday so I could say goodbye to her family.  I have the most beautiful nieces.  Will post a photo when I get around to unpacking the camera and I locate the cable.  Mom and dad took me to the airport so I could check in as early as possible.  Four hours before flight time is the earliest.  And there we were, no lines, nothin'!  The counter people are trained to upsell, but instead of "would you like fries with that?", it's "would you like to sit in economy plus?"  For an extra $89.- you get five extra inches of legroom.  Can I just say worth every freakin' penny?  The flight was completely packed, but I was in relative comfort (not that I slept a wink!) because I could actually move my legs around and switch position. 
Frankfurt was fine, no issues there, got my bags in Geneva after a mild wait.  Took a taxi home.  Or at least, I got into what looked like a minivan taxi, but it turns out the driver thought it was Formula 1.  And we went home a strange way.  Whatever, I got to my apartment intact, though it was a little iffy on Chantepoulet.  My apartment has stairs up to the elevator.  I live on the 3rd floor.  It's no longer Lent, so I was looking forward to taking the lift between the foyer and my flat.  Yeah, not so much.  Ever since summer, 2006, when they "repaired" the elevator (it was out of commission the entire month of July and then some, thankfully I was in TZ for most of that), the elevator has worked maybe four days out of seven.  Most days, I really don't mind the climb, but today, it would have been really, really nice not to have to schlep one 50 pound suitcase, one 30 pound suitcase and two wicked heavy carry-ons up four flights of stairs. 
There is so much snow on the Jura right now, it's unreal! 
Oh and the best treat, aside from having a happy kitty and a tidier apartment (thanks, Lynn!), my friend, Broghan, who I'm going to see in Australia sent me a PACKAGE!!!!  The shipping on it was insane! But wow, I so appreciate it!  I got mail from Australia!!!!!  I cannot wait for that trip!  But first, maybe I'll unpack from this one.