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Thursday, June 24, 2010

World Cup Fever (is contagious)

Okay, I don't know how closely all of you are following World Cup but I'm trying not to like at all. This is becoming more and more difficult though as soccer (excuse me, football) is crazy popular over here and World Cup is a HUGE deal. It drives me crazy because everyone around me is freaking out, "football football FOOTBALL" and I get pumped for a super quick second, thinking they are talking about US football- touchdowns, field goals and the two point conversion...the crack you hear when pads smash. (What? I watched A LOT of high school football during my bonding time with Dave growing up) Then I realize these Europeans aren't talking TOUCHDOWWWWN at all.....more like GOOOOOOAAAALLL. So not the same thing and 100x less exciting. And yet I find myself being sucked in. =P

Yesterday America beat Algeria and secured a spot in the second round and in celebration, the American across the street brought me a beer. Now free beer is something I can get behind. So, YAY YAY USA....

My (pretty much only) friend here, Andrew, is OBSESSED with World Cup (like 99.9% of Europeans) and I haven't seen him in almost 2 weeks because of it, so Friday I have agreed to watch some "football" in order to spend some quality (drinking) time together. Brazil plays Portgal late Friday afternoon and we will bet all the drinks we can drink over the course of 90 minutes. He will side with Brazil, as they are his "favorite" team. And, of course, I'll take Portugal because they have Ronaldo. Sounds like a great deal to me (as long as Portugal wins--drinks here are pretty expensive) Though, even if I lose I still win because I get to watch Cristiano Ronaldo run around and be seksi for an hour and a half. LOL

Speaking of, I wasn't going to have a crazy rediculous school-girl crush on him, as he is a terrible person in real life (he deals in hookers and LOTS of them....and he once kicked in a fangirl's car window for taking his picture) But then I realized just how long it's been since I've had a crush on someone (even unrequited) so I figured, what the hell? So, until further notice, I have sold my soul over to this pretty boy from Portugal. (Just don't tell Andrew....he still thinks we might be dating)

Oh, and speaking of Portugal, Portugal, PORTUGAL.... here is the link to the pictures from our trip to Lisbon. I forgot to add it to yesterday's post:  LISBON<3

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

LISBON

Allright, I'll do my best to describe Lisbon for all of you who will never have the opportunity (or the desire) to see this amazing little oasis along the River Tejo. To be honest though, my words will never do it justice and I encourage all of you to see Portugal sometime in your life.

We got up sooooo early on Saturday (okay, I got up 720) to make it to the airport in time for our flight. There was a little confusion about seating because we had standby tickets but in the end, Alessio and I sat together with Stephanie and Liano sitting a few rows ahead of us. I was surprised by how well the boys handled their first ever flight and Alessio and I spent most of the flight coloring in a book all about Swiss Air that came in a gift bag provided by the flight attendants.

Our flight lasted a little more than 2 hours and Monica was waiting at the airport when we landed in Lisbon. She took us directly to our hostel to get checked in and settled before we began our exploration of Lisbon. This was my first time ever staying is a hostel and I was impressed. It was small (only a half dozen rooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, living room and patio) but it was clean and cute. Our room was about the same size as my closet back home, with two sets of bunk beds and some lockers. It was better this way though, as opposed to a traditional hotel because we once we put the boys to bed, Stephanie and I were still able to stay up reading and working on the computer.

As soon as we had dropped the bags, we were off and running again. Our first stop was a subway station to pick up some 48 hour passes and then we were off to the center of Lisbon's old town. Lisbon is GORGEOUS. It was never on my list of places to see, but I am so glad I had the opportunity to go there. It was such a mix of old and new....it was romantic and charming and had the bustling activity of a big city, while still having a small town feel. In short, I immediately loved it and spent lots of time imagining myself living there, amongst the memorials and 30 story hotels and palm trees.

We took this crazy (scary) tram up the side of a hill and were greeted my an amazing view of Lisbon, with the River Tejo in the background. I can't even put into words how pretty it was up there...it was totally worth the unbelievable feeling that I was about to die as we rode the rickity, shaking tram back down that steep incline. HA. From there we went over to a castle that was open to the public. Unfortunately, I don't really remember much of the history behind it, so I can't really say too much about it. We climbed all over the castle walls; up much higher than I would've prefered, but the view was nice and the kids seemed to love it. When we left the castle, we took the boys for some ice cream and then Monica left us to go to work for the evening.

It was still fairly early, so we walked down an avenue filled with various street performers and spent some time along the river. We were in an area where we were unable to actually get in the river, or even reach down and feel the water, but it was nice to be by the water and soak up some evening sun. The boys were so enthralled by all the street performers that it probably took us 2 hours to make our way back up the street. We stopped to watch one of those human statues-you know, one of those guys painted all one color and they hold really still up on a pedestal so they look like art. Then suddenly-they move! This guys sucked; he changed positions too often and he would wink and smile at people as they passed by. Alessio and Liano loved it though. Then there was a man standing on the back of a wagon playing a guitar. He had with him a Momma dog and 2 pups and he encouraged the boys to pet the puppies. I thought this was a terrible idea, but I didn't say anything and my fears were quickly realized when the mother (just a small dog-maybe a pommerainian) lunged and snapped at Alessio. He didn't get bit, but it scared him and Liano into tears and poor Liano was so startled that he latched onto the leg of a nearby stranger. In the US, this would've been a lawsuit waiting to happen, but the man just patted Alessio's head, and allowed him to hold one of the pups so Stephanie could take his picture. Suddenly, all was fine again. There was also a man on a unicycle doing some juggling, but I grew up watching Tommy Tropic, so I wasn't all that impressed.

My favorite act was definitely a group of performers in town from somewhere in Asia. They demonstrated some of their crazy ninja skills to live music and then they had one of those giant Chinese dragons they performed with. It was SO cool. I could've watched them dancing with that dragon all night.

We got back to the hostel around 730PM Lisbon time (830 Swiss) and Stephanie imediately got the boys into bed while I went back out on my own in search of some dinner. There was a small diner up the street that sold me a ham and cheese sandwich and a Coke for 3 Euro and I settled into a park bench across from our hostel to enjoy some quiet time and my sandwich while I imagined what a move to Lisbon would be like. (Seriously, I liked it there THAT much)  It was nice there, but some weirdo came by and tried to talk to me about World Cup (boooooooorrrrrriiinnnngggg) so I hightailed it back to our room, read a little and went to bed.

Sunday, ugh, I feel like we were up SO early. Really, we weren't up and moving until nearly 10AM Swiss time, but I barely slept the night before what with Alessio rolling around in the bunk above me all night and Liano slamming his head against the mattress for 20 minutes at a time. After breakfast provided by the hostel (toast with peach jelly or corn flakes, milk, coffee and/or tea) we headed off to the oceanairium with Monica in tow. I thought this was the world's largest oceanairium, but really it was the second largest...either way, it was HUGE. So many fish in every color and shape, plus an otter and-my favorite-PENGUINS!! It was really cool and incredibly interesting. I could've spent all day in there, reading the displays and studying the different animals, but the kids were not so interested, and we moved fairly quickly between displays.

The oceanairium was built in an area created especially created for the World's Expo back in 1998 and there was a bunch of really cool modern architecture to look at as we walked through the park. It was so nice, there was the river on one side and hotels, a shopping mall, etc on the other. We took a gondola ride high above the whole area to get a better view and Monica pointed out points of interest for us. (She was such a great city guide/hostess) We stopped inside the mall for some lunch (Pizza Hut--YAY!!) and then went back into town to board a city sight-seeing bus. It was pretty similar to the one I rode in Dublin (Hop On/ Hop Off...interesting facts and local information) The boys were happy to rest their tired feet and taking that bus was a great way to see lots of the city, all while sitting on our bums taking photos. My only complaint would be that the bus drove way too fast and it was difficult to take decent photos. Ahhh well. We stopped at Starbucks for some frappacino love and then took the boys over to a fountain to splash around and play while Stephanie and I people watched. There was a huge World Cup match that night between Brazil and the Ivory Coast and the Brazillians were out en masse. Crazy, loud and hilairious to watch (maybe drunk already?) I was having fun and feeding off their energy just watching them.

When we returned to the hostel, Stephanie left to find a grocery store and the boys and I sat with some other guests of the hostel as well as the hostel hostess and watched the soccer game. Boring! But the boys enjoyed it and it was cool to sit and talk with the hostess. She worked for a year in Michigan (down in Auburn Hills) and gave me a serious small world moment when she mentioned a visit to Boyne Mountain. She had never heard of Gaylord, but she knew all about Boyne, as well as Petoskey and Macinac Island. How crazy is that?!
I also found myself in a dispute with some Spanish girl because I was saying how much I adore Cristiano Ronaldo (well, past tense, more about that another day) and she told me that Americans are so lame.......we can't create anything cool on our own, so we have to steal people/things from other parts of the world. For example........MADONNA. I was like, "No, Madonna is definitely an American. She was raised in Michigan". This girl swore up and down that Madonna was British though so I decided not to argue with her. I know I'm right and someday she'll realize she was wrong and then she'll remember me and feel like an asshat. Bwahahaha....

Monday morning we stuck around the hostel, watching cartoons and packing everything up. Then we were back up in the air and back home in Schaffhausen by 530PM. It was a quick trip, and exhausting, but ever so incredible and I cannot wait to get back to Lisbon sometime down the road......

Friday, June 18, 2010

I Have Plans. Big Plans.

Well hey, I know I haven't posted in a little while, but I've been pretty busy doing nothing, so there hasn't been much time to post. Or, much to post about.

Things around here have been pretty quiet the past week. I had Monday, Tuesday and Thursday off and only worked for a few hours Tuesday and today. Unfortunately, the weather decided not to cooperate with my ultimate work week, so instead of soaking in the sun or walking around town, I spent a significant portion of time just sleeping. (I am seriously a professional at sleeping) I watched a few movies online and finished my latest novel and, of course, spent way too many hours playing Sims 3. That game is worse than a crack addiction. (not that I've ever been addicted to crack)

Anyway, while this week was less than exciting, we have some serious adventures planned for this weekend. Stephanie packed up the kids and we are headed to Lisbon, Portugal for 3 days and 2 nights. I am BEYOND excited!! Portugal was never really on my list of places I "had" to see, but now that we are going, I am super stoked. While there, we will meet Monica-the girl taking my place as Alessio & Liano's nanny. That will be kind of weird for me, I think. Sometimes it feels like I have been here F-O-R-E-V-E-R, but really, this year has flown by! Anyway, I am really looking foward to meeting her. =) Rachel, Amanda & I are all so different and it'll be interesting to see what she brings to the table. Aside from spending time with Monica, we also plan to see the world's largest oceananarium (sp?) and see "old town" and "new town" Lisbon. And I will definitely be taking like a million pictures, so keep an eye out here for a link, or check my Facebook page. The ONLY downside to this trip, is that with World Cup going on, Cristiano Ronaldo is in South Africa right now. This means my chances of meeting him are ZERO. This is probably for the best though, as I would probably pass out or start drooling or something... LOL
If you live under a rock and you don't know who Ronaldo is click here for his Facebook Page. And ladies, try not to drool! Haha...I don't give a damn about soccer but he sure is delicious. LOL

Oooh...in other news, I finally have plans for leaving Europe. These plans are contingent upon me not jumping on some random train bound for some faraway land (like Turkey--they LOVE white girls there) in order to escape my planned return to Gaylord. I'll fly from Zurich to Boston ans spend a few days with my cousin Melissa and her new husband in Rhode Island. I am estatic about this, as I haven't seen her in 5 years (and she promised to take me to NYC) I love how close she and I have gotten over the past couple years, through our letter writing, it's just a shame we lost all those years. At any rate, it's sure to be a wonderful time!! And then I'll fly home on August 31st and end up living in Gaylord for (at least) the next year, while I build up some funds and my GPA.

Other than that, not much to say. I need to go shave my legs and have a shower before my Skype date with the lovely Allison Porta in 2 hours time.

Have a wonderful weekend all!! XOXO

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Summer, You Are a Cruel Mistress

Umm...what's the deal with the weather? I know I talk about the weather a lot, but it frustrates me so much, I have to complain about it all the time.

Actually, it was gorgeous all week--super sunny and around 80 everyday. But now that I have a 4 day weekend, it will rain again and only warm up to about 65. However, I was sporting a wicked sunburn a few days ago (it even blistered a little-that NEVER happens to me) so maybe it's better I stay inside for a few days.

I went to the pool last Saturday for the first time this summer which was fantastic. They raised the entrance price and it now costs SIX francs to get in, but I guess it was well worth it. I mostly just laid in a lounge chair working on my tan for the four hours I was there, but I did feel some ambition and swam a few laps to cool off. I swear, I could lay in a lounge chair in the sun FOREVER.

The kids have been pretty good lately. When the weather is nice and they can go outside and run around, it definitely helps. And they get to play with their kiddie pools now, which they love. And I love because it makes my job so much easier. Seriously. Thursday I laid in a lounge chair in the backyard all afternoon reading a book while the boys splashed around. When I got too hot, they would come over with watering cans from the garden and soak me down. What a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. But spoiling me like that will not make going back to Michigan-with its college classes and real job-any easier.

Did you watch the Glee finale? I absolutely LOVE LOVE that show!! And the finale made me laugh...made me cry...and the the music was AMAZING! I'm so happy Whitney showed me where to watch that show online, or I would've definitely missed out. (Speaking of Whitney, she's done au pairing and back in the US now)

Anyway, I just wanted to give you a quick update on what's going on around here....now I have to go do some laundry and clean my room. Since the weather sucks, I may as well be productive.

Oh, and here are the links to the photos from Brandi's visit here. Facebook photo uploader decided to somewhat cooperate recently and I finally got them up!
Happy Saturday!

Brandi's Visit (Pt. 1)
Brandi's Visit (Pt. 2)

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Brandi's Visit...Etc...

Oh geez...I really need to be better about updating this thing in a timely fashion. Brandi's been gone since Saturday and I still haven't filled ya'll in...

It was great having her here-I needed the morale boost, but this was as much a vacation for me as it was for her and our differing vacation styles were a point of contention almost the entire time she was here. Apparently, when she is on vacation, she just likes to lay around and relax, which is all well and good when we are in Gulf Shores or down in Florida next to a pool. But this is EUROPE-so much to see and do and who knows when we'll ever get back here again. And she seemed really game to do a bunch of sightseeing when we were talking about her coming here so it was like super disappointing when she got here and didn't actually want to do much more than sit along the Rhine and feed the ducks.

All that being said, we did do SOME travelling-we made it to Pontresina, Lichtenstein, Lake Lucerne and Insel Mainau, as well as a boat trip to Stein am Rhein, but this was NOTHING compared to what we had talked about. =P I have 2 weeks vacation in July; anyone want to come visit (I have access to $500 RT tickets out of Chicago and the Euro is super weak right now-GREAT exchange rate) and do some actual travelling?? I'm thinking France...Paris, Normandy (specifically Omahah (sp?) Beach and other WWII sites) and then maybe a couple days in the south...maybe visit a vineyard and do some wine-tasting and a trip to the famous beaches in the south of France. This is an open invitation to ANY friend(s) of mine. So c'mon! Somebody must have the time/money. Don't make me go alone, people!

So back to Brandi's visit....we were really blessed to have decent weather the entire time she was here (as opposed to now-it's barely 60 and rain) We had a few gorgeous, sunny, hot days and a few cooler, cloudy days but absolutely no rain!

She came in on Tuesday the 18th and immediately bonded with the boys. (Thanks in part to a suitcase full of gifts for them.) We didn't do much the first day as she was pretty tired. She had a long nap after lunch and once the boys were in bed I introduced her to the magic that is Glee. In the time she was here, we watched every episode from season 1 and now she is completely caught up.

I had to work Wednesday and Thursday, so we spent most of our time with the boys. On Wednesday, we took them to the RheinFalls and up to the Munot (the two most important places to see on a visit to Schaffhausen) She agreed that the RheinFalls were gorgeous, but wasn't really all that impressed by their size. They may be Europe's highest waterfall, but it looks like a trickle compared to Niagra-or even Tahquamenon in Michigan. And she loved the view from the Munot....she probably took 300 pictures that day!

Thursday after lunch we took the kids down to the playground and then over to the river. It was pretty chilly that day, so we weren't out for more than a few hours, but we did spend a great deal of time watching people dock their boats in the river for summer. The boys were absolutely enthralled by this and could've stood there all day watching, but the boat launch has a bit of a pigeon problem and as Brandi is terrified of them, I was worried that her fear would rub off on the boys and I don't need that. They are already afraid of snails, dogs and cloudy days (well, they aren't afraid of clouds-they just constantly worry about the threat of rain and it drives me crazy) I didn't need another fear added to their list or they may never want to leave the house again.

Friday we went down to Pontresina (an 11 hour train ride roundtrip) and it was disappointing at best. I have wanted to visit this town in the Alps since I was a child and I was sorely let down...
For those of you who aren't familiar with Pontresina and it's connection with Gaylordm, let me give you a quick lesson. Gaylord sits on the the 45th degree latitude line (or 45th parallel) as does Pontresina, Switzerland. Back the 60's Gaylord and Pontresina became "sister cities" and in a ploy to attract tourists, Gaylord created the Alpenfest. For 5 days in July, we celebrate all things (supposedly) Pontresina. We dress in dirndls and lederhosen, eat weird food like schnitzal and strudel, dance to polka music and participate in a bunch of "Swiss" events. More than that, Gaylord has a "Swiss" theme, with Alpine style architecture and growing up everyone EVERYONE knew what Pontresina was and it was engrained in us how amazing this place was supposed to be. Well I won't break it down piece by piece, but basically Alpenfest is a bunch Polish decendants dressed like they just walked out of Heidiland and eating/doing GERMAN things. While the architecture was pretty much the same, nothing about this place reminded me anything of home. We stopped by the tourism office-I figured they must know something about our relationship or be able to reccomend a place in town that would. They had NO IDEA what I was talking about! While Gaylord is obsessed with this tiny Swiss village, they don't even know we exist!

All that being said, Pontresina was a pretty place. Surrounded by snow-capped mountains and coniferous forest, it reminded me a lot of Park City. Unfortunately, most of the businesses in town were closed as May is a month of repairs/cleaning before the busy summer season starts, but I think it was worth the train ride just to be up in the mountains again. I may just have to go back there before I go home.

Since Pontresina was kind of a bust, we left around 3PM and went another 30 minutes south to the tourist haven of San Moritz. Again, most places were closed, but it was absolutely STUNNING there. The hotels are built into the side of the mountains and the entire town overlooks a crystal clear lake. Stephanie said that this town is a popular vacationing spot for the super wealthy and I can absolutely understand why.

Brandi's jet lag caught up with her on Friday night and she had a mini-meltdown, so I made the decision to sleep in on Saturday and we didn't really get moving til lunch time. We went downtown and had lunch at Schaffhausen's beer garden and did some souvenier shopping. We spent most of the afternoon just sitting by the river and we watched several hours of Glee that night.

Sunday we took the boatride up the Rhine to Stein am Rhein which was absolutely packed with tourists. On the boat we sat across from a honeymooning couple from South Carolina who were estatic about having people to talk to in English. Stein am Rhein is my favorite place in Switzerland-it looks like a village from a fairytale-but Brandi's asthma (and the fact that she insists on carrying 75lbs in her backpack) prevented her from seeing much of the place. I was all jacked to hike up to these castle ruins that overlook the village and the river, but after lunch when I suggested it, she basically laughed in my face. *sigh* We did eat some fantastic ice cream sundaes though. And when we got back, I took Brandi for her first (and last) European cocktail. We had what were basically mimosas and she was not a fan. She prefers a fifth of vodka and 2 liter of Country Time lemonade to actual drinks. She also only drinks to get drunk. I couldn't really judge her for this, because I was the same way at 19. I spent most of my time roaming around the campus of Saginaw Valley with a bottle of UV Blue in my backpack.

Monday, as the weather was perfect, super sunny and warm enough for tank tops, we took the train over to Lake Lucerne for a day of aimless wandering. The lake was wayyy too cold to swim in, but we were able to take a bunch of gorgeous photos (clear lake, lots of sail boats and snow capped mountains as a backdrop...it was like looking a postcard) We bought sandwiches from some roadside stand and spent a few hours just soaking up the sun and watching the sailboats cruise by.

Monday night, we used the money our grandparents sent and had "fancy dinner" at an Italian restaurant in Schaffhausen. Well, I had "fancy dinner" having put on a dress and doing my make up. Brandi refused to play along and wore capris and her fleece jacket the whole night. And we fought almost the whole time. How........nice. On the upside, I had bass and vagetables and she had spaghetti with prawns and the food was delicious! Expensive, but delicious! So, thank you Grandma & Grandpa Platte for the fantastic food and wine and gelato for dessert!!

Tuesday we went over to Lichtenstein-which is a princpality, NOT a country. Our only reason for going there was to get our passports stamped but it turned out to be a gorgeous day and the town of Vaduz (the capital of Lichtenstein) was adorable. It was here that we saw the only dirndls of the whole trip (not people actually wearing them, but dresses for children for sale at one of the gift shops) We wandered around for awhile, trying to get as close as possible to the royal family's palace but it seemed that every path leading to it closed to visitors about halfway up. (The palace sits on top of a ridge overlooking the town.) We stopped for lunch and had the sweetest-albeit most frazzled waitress I've encountered in Europe. Right after we ordered, the place filled up with eldery tourists from England, Austrailia and some Asian country. They were all super rude and grouchy toward the waitress (demanding to order, complaining about the temperature of their Coke, complaining about the service time, claiming they couldn't understand the waitress' English, etc) so I told her to take her time bringing our bill as we had nowhere important to be...plus I was covertly photographing old Asian men wearing socks with sandals, safari hats and fanny packs. When things slowed down again, she brought the bill, thanked me for my patience and made some small talk with us about Michigan while she made change. As she walked away, some old lady snapped, "We're from England-thanks for asking." Brandi and I went to the bathroom right after and as I was in the stall, I was telling her, "Of course the waitress doesn't care where that lady is from. She's an epic bitch. It's probably miserable waiting on her and her friends." I walked out of the stall and came face to face with that same woman!!! She gave me the death stare and told me to go to hell and I literally started laughing as I walked back outside. She was a bitch. She needed to know. It's just too bad she had to find out from me. HA HA.

I was really pushing to go to Paris Tuesday/Wednesday, but Brandi straight out refused to go-told me I could go by myself and she'd stay at Stephanie's if I wanted to go so badly. Her reasoning? "I heard France is dirty. And I don't want to get kidnapped and turned into a sex slave." Okay, the first part is true, but you overlook that in favor of the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysse' and the chance to see the Mona Lisa. But the second part? Seriously? SERIOUSLY?? She has been spending WAYYY TOOOO MUCH TIME WITH OUR DAD!!! That's the only explanation I can come up with. His view is that every person you meet either wants to rape you or sell you into sex slavery. He calls it being a realist. I call it being rediculous.

Since Paris didn't happen (I am absolutely going in July...even if it means maxing out my AMEX card...I may never have another to go. Who wants to come??) Wednesday we settled for Insel Mainau-a botanical island in Lake Konstanz. It was super super pretty there with so many things to see/do. We visited a butterfly conservatory, walked through a green energy exhibit, looked at an art exhibit featuring hibisbus (Jordan Reichard, you would've LOVED it) and fed some goats at a petting zoo. Plus there were so many trees and flowers everywhere to look at. And smell. =) It was a fantastic last adventure.

Thursday was Brandi's last day before her scheduled flight, so she decided we would visit the restaurant we had lunch at on Saturday again and finish her souvenier shopping. Then we went down to the river and fed the ducks before returning to Stephanie's to pack all her stuff and watch movies.

Friday morning she was SUPPOSED to fly out. I took her to the airport, got her all checked in (she was even upgraded to business class!) and came back to Schaffhausen. She returned to Stephanie's around 4PM and informed me that she had been bumped from her flight at the gate 20 minutes before boarding and had to find her own way back to Schaffhausen as the airport employees refused to be helpful. Because she had an employee ticket from Stephanie, she was the first one to be upgraded. She was also the first to be bumped when the flight filled at the last minute. I then had to spend the next 3 hours on the phone trying to track down her luggage and arrange a new connecting flight from Chicago for her while she sat in a chair and cried. My dad was pissed it cost another $130 (this is what happens when you buy non-refundable tickets) and she was pissed she didn't get to go home. Both of them were super grouchy and it took every fiber of my being not to say, "to hell with it" and go downtown and leave the two of then to figure it out. In the end, Swiss held her luggage overnight and then she flew out Saturday. She connected to Detroit and one of her friends came down to pick her up that night.

So that's about that as far as Brandi's visit goes...I'll have pictures up on Facebook soon and when I do, I'll post a link here.

In other news, the boys are as crazy as ever--we had a nice taste of summer and now that the weather has turned sour again, they get really restless and obnoxious during the day. And super whiney. Ugh! I much prefer working for them as opposed to say, working at the hotel--until they start whining. And on Monday, Liano was in a bit of a bike accident-he scraped up his face and skinned his knee-nothing too serious-but he cried (literally) nonstop for 2 solid days. I was so happy when Stephanie left on a flight yesterday, so I could say, "stop crying or go to bed" and suddenly he miraculously felt better. He knew he'd get no more sympathy from me, so he decided to save us both the headache. Though he still walks rediculously slow and with an exaggerated limp.

With spring came several problems around the house-more specifically spiders and martins. The spider thing is nothing new, I typically kill 3-4 a week...though now it's more like 2-3 A DAY! Ewww! And I can only kill the little ones, which means when Stephanie comes home tonight, I have one in my bathroom, one in the kitchen and one in the hall for her to deal with. Baby spiders I can handle, but big ones-no way. I nearly panic when the one in the bathroom watches me washing my hands. =(
The other problen, the martins, is one most Americans might be unfamiliar with. I tried to find a picture of a martin on google images, but I couldn't. Basically, they're a relative of the squirrel but 100X more annoying. They live in the rafters of the house and have had babies. They run back and forth across the eaves and you cqan hear them from upstairs. Plus, they make this noise that sounds like a woman screaming. Awful. And, as they are a protected species, nothing can be done about them (legally) until after July 15.

On a more positive note, I got the most kickass care package EVER from my cousin, Melissa the other day. She sent me, black licorice, jelly beans, 2 nail polishes, Hello Kitty stickers, lip gloss, coloring books and body wash from Bath and Body Works!! Yay! I was SO SO excited to get it! I hadn't gotten mail in FOREVER and this was easily the highlight of my day. (Maybe even my week)
Okay, I know this is running a tad long. (Okay, super long) but one more thing. Nope, two more.

#1 I've had over 2000 page views!! SOOOOOO COOOOOLLLLL!!!!!

#2 Eminem and Jay-Z are playing a show at Comerica Park in September and I am SO going. Unfortunately, this will mean no Lady Gaga (for now) but she'll go on tour again. When's the next time these two will perform together?? SO PUMPED!!