entry #19 (for lack of a better title)

Allright, as there was no trip to Portugal this week (I still hate you, Eyjafjallajokull ) my schedule saw a pretty big overhaul and my week saw daily trips to the playground. 

The kids are on vacation from school/playgroup and Stephanie is on vacation from work, so I worked half days all week, which is AWESOME. I wake up at 11AM, check my Facebook/email/Perez/TFLN and then join the kids and Stephanie for lunch. And THEN my day begins! Loves it!

So, like I said, the kids and I made daily trips to the playground. We went to the one by the river a couple times and one day we decided to go over to the Munot. The night I ran to the Munot, I took the most random roundabout way possible, so Stephanie gave me a shorter way that would be much easier. Well, it would've been much easier if I had paid full attention to her. Instead, I got us completely lost in some neighborhood, nearly got us killed my a garbage truck and had to ask for directions. When we finally got there, the kids didn't even want to play. Grrrr....

I got the invitation to my 5 year class reunion the other day. (Well, not really an invitation, a Facebook message that said, "Hey, we might do this. Who's interested?") I'm so happy I'm in Europe, so I don't have to decide whether or not to go--the decision is made for me. I am here and therefore, I cannot be there.  I mean, out of the 28 other people I graduated with; I'd only really want to talk to maybe 10 of them. I'd only make conversation with the others out of politeness. And then there's the 3-5 that I wouldn't even bother with.
I was talking with someone I graduated with and she was all, "You know, I think you imagine how bad high school was. People liked you-you forget that." Honestly, at this point, I don't care who likes me and who doesn't. I wasted too much time trying to fit into the St Mary's mold growing up and now they can all S my non-existant D if you know what I mean.

(True, UV Blue and Tylenol PM were the catalyst that put me in the ICU, but the feelings that sprung that self-destructive behavior didn't appear overnight.)

Anyway, whoa, we're getting a little too serious here. I don't know who all is reading this anymore, so let's step back a bit. Someday I plan to publish a book that connects the assholes that made fun of my Power Rangers backpack when I was 8 to the "Paris Hilton" I was at 19. My rocky road to recovery and finally, the day I stand atop a mountain and give everyone the finger. (That last one hasn't actually happened yet. Watch for my picture in the Gaylord Herald Times when it does...)

Not much else to comment on....the kids are on vacation again next week, so we'll see what I can come up with to keep them occupied....

OH! I almost forgot, lots of birthdays coming up....(well, 3) So, happy birthday to Emily Westphal today. Happy Birthday to my favorite cousin of rhyming name (Melissa) on the the 28th and.........

HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY TO MY MOMMY!!!

                                                                        (on the 26th)

Allright, peace out babies....xoxo

Damn You, Eyjafjallajokull

The Icelandic language is crazy...how the H do you even pronounce that? I tried to sound it out, but I nearly  choked.

Anyway, for those of you who don't know, Eyjafjallajokull is the volcano in Iceland that is disrupting air travel across Europe (and around the world) and now it is affecting me. And I am most displeased.

We were supposed to leave for Lisbon tomorrow morning, but now our trip has been pushed back to (hopefully) next week, though probably much later than that. Swiss airspace has been closed since Friday afternoon and remains closed through at least 8AM tomorrow. And, even if airspace does open tomorrow, we were flying standby and would definitely not get seats on any of the first few flights out, as they are dreadfully overbooked.

Instead, the kids and I spent most of the afternoon down at the Rhine (it's like 75 today!) and I will have tomorrow off.
So angry right now. I wish Eyjafjallajokull was a person so I could punch them in the mouth.....

So Much Stuff....

Haha...I had to make a list before I wrote this entry, to make sure I didn't forget anything! I'm not really good at making segway between topics, so I apologize in advance if this seems to jump around a lot. There's just so much to talk about! (and it's all unrelated)

First of all, I have hit and surpassed 1500 page views! How cool is that? When I originally sat down to write this, I imagined that my family and close friends would read it and that would be about it. Now, I've had readers in Costa Rica, Russia, Canada and several other semmingly "random" places. That so many strangers take an interest in me and my writing is a HUGE compliment and motivation to write when I feel like there's really nothing to say/no one who actually cares.

I registered for classes Wednesday night...14 credits in all. I have a Literature class, Geography, US History and a (retake) Math class. Aside from the math class (which will cause my brian to implode-gaurenteed. Algebra is rediculous. Math is NUMBERS, not LETTERS) the semester should be a cakewalk. I could rock a Lit class in my sleep I aced Geography/History in high school. I'm actually kind of pumped to go back now, because I know that I can kick ass in the fall, my GPA will go back up and I'll be more than ready to transfer come the following fall. (I was thinking about transferring for winter semester, but financially I don't think this will work) If I end up back at SVSU, I just have to get through Chemistry & Human Anatomy & I'll be ready for nursing school. =) 
And, while talking about school, I need to send a big thank you to Allison (Porta) for her "inspirational speech" last night. I was being all whiney and emo about going back and she basically said, "school was shit before because you didn't know what you wanted so you were only there for the sake of being there, Now that you know you want to be a nurse, get in there and get it done."

EXCITEMENT! We're going to Portugal next week! The (potential) next nanny lives there and Stephanie wants to meet her, so we're taking the kids and flying to Lisbon for the night on Tuesday.  The kids have never flown before, so this will be quite the adventure for them. I'm just excited to meet my successor. Amanda, Rachel and I are all so different; it will be interesting to see what this girl is like. Plus, we're spending the afternoon at the second largest oceanairium in the world--awesome! All told, we'll actually be there less than 24 hours, but when I get back, I can say that I've been to Portugal and that's something most of you can't do, so I'll win. 24 hours or 2 weeks; I've been there and you haven't, so HA. LoL All jokes aside, I hope this girl is cool, so maybe I can go back and visit her during my 2 week vacation in July.

Speaking of flying, it is my understanding that lots of people in the States are absolutely freaking out about this volcano-saying you may not be able to go to Europe again for months and whatever. Okay, right now you cannot fly into/ out of England, Ireland, France or any of the Nordic countries, but not ALL of Europe is closed to air travel. Zurich airport is still sending/receiving flights, as are most of the other interior airports. Iceland is VERY far north and this erruption does not affect the entire European continent. So settle down, America.

Today is Liano's 4th birthday, so Happy Birthday to him. There was a party this afternoon with cake and presents. I was really surprised, they sing "Happy Birthday" in English. Even the kids great grandmother, who doesn't speak any English sings that song in English. As for gifts, he got a Playskool ultra-durable digital camera, a book about dinosaurs and a bunch of candy. I got him sidewalk chalk and bubbles. =) When I asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he told me a bear, but stuffed animal START at 20CHF for tiny little things and go up from there. Rediculous. Thanks, Coop/Manor, but I'm not really in mood to have my pocketbook raped today.

Finally, my countdowns. The kids count how many sleeps until something, so here we go...
-4 sleeps til Portugal
-31 sleeps until Brandi is here
-143 sleeps until I am in college again

Nothin' Much to Say

Well, there has been little to nothing going on the past few days. I thought I was getting sick, so I hid out for most of the weekend, sleeping and watching movies online. I would just like to point out how AWESOME technology is these days....not only can I keep up on all my favorite US TV shows while here, I can also watch literally HUNDREDS of movies on my computer at any time....and it's all completely free! So cool. I don't even know how my parents functioned without Facebook, email, Skype and online TV when they moved to Texas in the 80s. Though I'm sure, 25 years from now, my kids will be saying the exact same thing about some kind of technology that I can't even imagine yet!

And, speaking of TV shows....GLEE IS BACK! This show is my (not so secret) guilty pleasure and I am beyond excited that it's back on. I think it's adorable and the kids love to watch it too. I know that the storyline is not exactly "preschool friendly", but I seriously doubt they understand what's going on---they just love the song/dance numbers. (as do I)

I'm still really struggling with the decision to go back to school and I'm starting to panic about it. I mean I WANT to be a nurse....I WANT to help people and save lives and I definitely WANT a solid carreer; a "real job". But, I do not WANT to go back to college...at all. And it's the only way to reach from where I am now to where I want to be. The idea of sitting in a classroom again makes me want to cry from boredem and the prospect of living in Gaylord again is not a happy one. I would MUCH MUCH rather move back to Park City or find another au pair job, or just find a completely new adventure. I just feel like if I don't choose college and go back now, people will be disappointed. And what if I do go back and I hate it...or can't focus..and I end up failing? That would be even worse than not going back at all. So much suckiness. I register for classes tonight.....and then we'll see.

I wish I had more to say; sadly I don't. Workin' through bedtime today and in the afternoon tomorrow. (Yay halfday!) Then there's a three day weekend. Hoping the weather will be nice enough to do some running...I haven't been in a few days and I'm starting to feel gross. Plus, it will eventually be summer. Gotta do work.

xoxoxoxooooooooooo babies

Updated the Look...

Hey-o and happy weekend!

I got the kids up dressed and out the door to Poppy's by 10AM today and I had planned to go to the river and read, but since it's a little cooler today (and I'm a baby about the weather-how I survived UT, I'll never know) I've decided to stay in and take advantage of the quiet house. I went back to bed for a little while once they left and now I'm just playing around online til I get hungry enough for lunch. Then maybe a nap and a book in the afternoon.

As you can see, I did some remodeling of the blog last night. I wanted something more cheerful (and more pink!) I'm not sure how I feel about this though; the normal font is a bit too small I think-and when I go up to "large" font it is too big. I wish I knew HTML better, so I could just fix it there. Maybe an afternoon project.... Don't be surprised if the blog looks different by tonight and this entire paragraph is no longer relevent. =)

Anyway, in addition to updating the look of the blog, I've decided to share with you the list of blogs I follow. I know there are now people reading this purely for entertainment and not just my friends/family. (which, by the way, is a HUGE compliment) So maybe I can help you find more interesting reading material.
So, without further adieu....my Blog Roll....

Globerotting in Heels....Elisa from Globetrotting has become a frequent reader/commenter on my blog and hers is what I aspire mine to be...well written, witty and entertaining while making me think about various things.

The Daily Gunther....the story of an expat family here in Switzerland. The writer is a member of the Swiss Expat bloggers group I belong to.

Carol Nelson Snyder....I follow this blog to keep track of the progress and healing of Carol, an integreal member of the Gaylord community and mother to classmates of mine from SMH. She suffered an aneurysm last year and has been making her way up the road to full recovery.

Queso Suizo....the amazing blog kept by Stephanie's last au pair, Amanda. She is always writing about trips she and her husband take, as well as random tidbits from their Swiss life.

Nanny McNina Goes to Switzerland....the blog of another American au pair living here in Switzerland. Her experience sometimes seems wayyy more exciting than mine. And she is getting married when she returns to the US, so sometimes she shares wedding details. Yay!

Diaries of a Personal Assistant....the blog that my blog inspired! My "island friend" Hillary decided to give blogging a shot and I follow her because I love her. =) Plus she is a wonderful writer!

Anyway, ch-check 'em out. And, if you can reccomend any other great blogs I should be reading, please do!! They don't necessarily have to be written by ex-pats or nannies, they just have to be fun and interesting!

UNBELIEVABLE

First unbelievable thing....I actually had to look up the spelling of "unbelievable" for this post. Such a complicated word!

Second unbelievable thing, my hair is growing like crazy! It took a little while for all those daily vitamins to make visable difference, but now....WOW! It's too bad haircuts in Switzerland are $50+ because I will probably need several over the course of the summer. Perhaps I will ask Stephanie to help me trim it. Or perhaps I will just let it grow and show up in America in August looking like a total disaster.

Third unbelievable thing, the size of the spider I saw in the house a few nights ago. I was heading downstairs to pull some clothes out of the dryer and there he was, just chilling on the wall. I called my sister, and she refused to talk to me unless I killed it. I was wayyyy too panicky (because I HATE spiders) so I just hid in my room. Then, after getting a guy friend on skype, I worked up the nerve to kill it. I swung out at it with a bottom of a frying pan and IT JUMPED ON MY HAND! I freaked out, shook it off and fell to the floor in a pile of tears. My friend thought the spider had bit me and he started freaking out too. Like he was going to watch me die of a spider bite via skype. Oh, it was awful. It took me 20 minutes to calm down enough to crawl back into my room. Then, I sat in a near catatonic state until Stephanie came home around 1AM. She found the spider hiding between the stairs and the wall and killed it. It was too big to be killed my the poison aeresol she tried using, so she ended up smashing it with a shoe. Gross.

Fourth unbelievable thing, my insomnia may have reached an emergent state. Wednesday night I did not sleeep AT ALL. I went to bed around 11 and just laid there til nearly 2AM. At 2 I got online for 30 minutes and then tried to sleep again. At 4AM I grabbed my iPod and just laid there listening to jams until Stephanie left for her flight at 530. Then I got up, made myself a big breakfast and waited til it was time to get the kids up. I, surprisingly, wasn't very tired yesterday, but I went to bed at 930 last night and slept like a rock until 730 this morning. Hopefully it was fluke and does not become a pattern for me.

Fifth unbelievable thing, the amount of "gunk" on Liano's eyes this morning. It's definitely not pink eye (conjunctivitice) and I have never seen this much without that infection. He literally could not open his left eye because his eye lashes were glued to his face. Maybe it's allergies. Whatever it is, it's way gross and I hope Stephanie can find something at the pharmacy today to help it.

Sixth unbelievable thing, Stephanie is looking for my replacement. Not that I'm being fired, but finding a nanny is a time-consuming process. We first started emailing in early April of last year. It's just, with her searching, I feel like my leaving really is happening-soon. I know I complain about being here, but it's like being on vacation and when I get back to the US after my one-year vacation, it will be a HUGE adjustment. One that I am NOT looking foward to. Blah.

Seventh, and most unbelievable, a newborn baby was found dead in a dumpster in a small town not far from Gaylord. It has yet to be determined whether the baby was dead when it was put in the dumpster or if it died there, but either way how sick and twisted must you be to put a baby in a dumpster?!? Especially if this poor person was still alive and spent time cold, hungry and alone before it finally died. Michigan has remarkable "safe haven" laws--all the mother had to do was take her baby to a hospital, fire house or ambulance barn and she could've allowed this child to live with no repercussions at all. Hell, she could've just dialled 9-1-1 and they would've sent someone to come collect the baby and it would've been absolutely anonymous. Instead, a child is senselessly dead and when they find whoever did this, their life is essentially over too-as they will spend a significant amount of time in prison. So sick and so, so sad.

APRIL!

Happy April!

"April showers bring May flowers."
"And what do Mayflowers bring?"
"PILGRIMS!"

Haha...remember when that was like the wittiest joke you knew? I thought it was hilairious and would tell it many times during the month of April. I also thought April Fools jokes were the funnniest thing EVER--I would plot my tricks days in advance. Then, when I got older, I tried the "I'm pregnant!" thing once or twice and even tricked my parents into believing I was in jail in Saginaw one year. Brilliant.

This year, I completely forgot about April Fools Day until like 7PM. Then I quickly plotted something that ended up being pretty awesome. I called Brandi and told her the kids and I had gone to the Rhine Falls earlier in the day and OMG we saw Kellan Lutz and AnnaLynne McCord. She absolutely FREAKED out because Kellan Lutz (of Twilight fame) is her "dream guy". I told her that AnnaLynne overheard me talking to the kids and she came over to talk to me because I was speaking English. She asked me a bunch of questions and the whole time we were talking, I was thinking, "Who IS this person? She seems SO familiar." And then she walked away and I saw who she was there with....Kellan Lutz!! I didn't have my camera with me, but I forced the kids to spy on him with me for like a half hour. Poor silly Little B bought the whole thing. =) She was SO pissed! I was prertty pleased with myself.

I had a long weekend for Easter, so I made a trip up to Wurzburg, Germany, to visit Korrin. It was a nearly 5 hour train ride, but I didn't much mind. If I could just sit on a train, listen to my iPod and stare out the window forever, I would. On my first train, there was man with an infant who clearly had no idea how to care for babies. He let me hold the little girl and I ended up changing her on the back of my suitcase in the middle of our train car. It was super random and a little awkward, but I really couldn't handle listeing to her cry for 3 hours and the guy seemed genuinely grateful.

I did A LOT of sleeping while at Korrin's, which seems a little silly looking back on it (and a waste of my precious Francs) but I guess sleeping there is better than sleeping here....I mean, I got out of Switz for a few days, which was certainly nice. And I had some of the most delicious Mexican food on Saturday night. I barely saw any of the city, but I did consume large quantities of beer (and food) over the weekend. We also watched the Final 4 (MSU, how did you manage to lose that?!?!) Also, we had an Easter dinner with a few of Korrin's classmates (2 Spanish girls and a Czech girl). They were super friendly and it was really cool to talk to them. I mean, I've known a lot of "forgeiners" from my time in Utah and on the island, but it never gets old comparing childhoods, education, parties, etc... The trip back was uneventful and the kids were SUPER excited to have me back at the house. They were at their dad's for most of the weekend, but they definitely missed me when they got home. :) It's always nice to hear things like that because sometimes I feel like they don't really like me or that I am the permanant "bad cop" to them...

Anyway, I need to go make some dinner and whatnot...hope the weather is as beautiful where you are as it is here!