K's Café: The 30 Second Blog

Happy New Year 2009

It's 12:35am here in Switzerland - Happy New Year 2009!

It started snowing just after we arrived home from our day out in Zug and Luzern with the grandparents: perfect timing. We ate dinner with white coming down outside and glowing orange from the fireplace inside. At midnight neighbours started setting off ground-based firework fountains of which we had a perfect view from the top floor of our house.

Emily's concert with the Zurich Symphony Orchestra on Dec 16th went wonderfully. A great experience for all. Then as soon as school was over, she fell ill on her first day of vacation, with headache, fever, chills, sore throat and dizziness, but thankfully was better by Christmas Eve.  Starting that evening, we successfully pulled off a week of 14 family members living under the same roof, including kids ranging in age from 18 down to 3, and three grandparents. Lots of fun. We gave the kids our first real ping pong table for Christmas, and it got a lot of use with the uncles and cousins and even some grandparents.

With our guests, we ate fondue (both cheese and meat), raclette, pork tenderloin with mustard cream sauce, chicken curry (made by my sister-in-law), and "Good Time Casserole" for my brother's birthday (a type of pasta bake and a fitting name for a dish shared with 14 loved ones!), and we went out to eat once.

Now David and I get to go away overnight to celebrate our 16th anniversary a week early...thank you, gracious grandparents!

Hope it's a great year for you. I'm eager to begin a new session of Bible reading, this year zooming in on about half the Bible, along with a group of ladies from our church here. I'm also thankful for a handful of ladies across the world who have responded to my plea for personal daily prayer accountability, starting January 4th. That will be a new venture for me and I hope to go deeper with God and walk more steadily with Him as a result.

A good verse from the last week of 2008's readings, perfect for tonight's lovely snowscape:
"He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes." (Psalm 147:16; God's New Year present to people in our town). All the snow we got the week before Christmas had unbelievably melted by Christmas Eve, but when we awoke on Christmas morning, there was a little dusting again! But it melted by mid-morning, I think. Anyhow, now we have a good covering once again. Good night!

Anyone feeling a need for accountability in dedicated daily prayer time in '09?

I'm looking for someone (or several someones) who are not already happy with their current routine regarding regular personal prayer time, and feel like doing something about it.

I don't spend regular time "just praying" daily, and I'd like to change that. I pray every day, but usually while I'm doing other things, like driving, doing laundry, showering, cooking, meeting with friends... I also read the Bible most days, but I don't tend to pray over the passages as much as I'd like. I want to be changed by what I read, and that takes prayer.

I want to start with a very modest goal of spending ten minutes each day doing nothing but conversing with God by myself, whether about scripture I've read (not including the reading time), or just in worship, confession, intercession (for myself and others) and listening for guidance. I hope it will turn into longer, but I only want to commit to ten minutes at first and see if I can even do that, long-term, since I haven't been lately. I realize it sounds puny, but one has to start somewhere. I want to become consistent.

What I really need (I think, based on experience in Bible reading) is someone else who would like to take on the same mission for themselves, and would like to check in with me once a week by email to report our accomplishment of the goal each week for a certain amount of time (maybe 6 months and then regroup?).

I'd like to jot down daily in a journal a brief something (maybe just a word or a phrase/thought) that comes out of each time of prayer, so I have a record, and something specific to share each week (as appropriate). Or I might even pray by writing in my journal, as that has helped to keep me focused in the past. But that takes longer. We'll see.

- Committing to at least 10 minutes every day of dedicated, focused solo prayer time while not doing much of anything else (I imagine walking alone would be okay!)
- Email each other once a week to update each other honestly on how it went that week
- Starting January 4th, say for 6 months until July 4th

Anyone interested in joining me?

Ding Dong the Printer Repair Cat

Two more favorite links of the week:

Ding Dong Merrily on High by Celtic Woman (over-the-top, in ballgowns strutting around the stage, with one woman playing violin and everyone looking very happy). Had to look this up to find out how to pronounce "Io, io, io" for singing at church with the music team. Still not sure whether it means anything - perhaps like "tra la la"?

The Reason the Printer Won't Work (the cat is trying to fix it - watch to the very end). Hat tip to Amanda Witt.

Bumpy Friday Morning

Friday was an interesting morning.

GOOD: I woke up next to David.
NOT-SO-GOOD: I woke up 30 minutes late (the device that alarms me was in another room).
G: There was beautiful snow outside on the trees.
NSG: There was icy snow in the driveway.
NSG: A child had misplaced her lunch bag with our last remaining cute M&M ice pack in it.
NSG: And her new choir uniform, never yet tried on.
NSG: Somewhere along the way there was some spilled milk, not sure where or on whom.
NSG: A child had not finalized or wrapped his gift for the compulsory gift exchange at school, by the time scheduled for departure.
NSG: This led to realizing we would miss the train, and deciding to drive to the school in question instead.
NSG: The other child was running late too, so I had to pass the school bus coming to pick him/her up, and hope they didn't think s/he was in my car, when I only had the other child.
NSG: I left home without having showered.
NSG: And without having a drink.
NSG: And without brushing my teeth.
NSG: And without any earrings on.
NSG: I left my phone in my bathrobe at home.
G: The roads were well-ploughed and safe to drive upon.
NSG: The windscreen was icing over with the flecks of water spun up by the vehicles in front (-2°C / 28°F).
NSG: The traffic at arrival time at the school made it difficult to turn into the school, and there were cars waiting behind me to go straight.
G: The other child made the bus in the end.
G: I got the driven child to school on time as well, after all.
G: I decided to go shopping at a specialty store I don't get to often, since I was nearby, and we needed some of their wares (Campbell's tomato soup for a recipe, and canned pumpkin).
NSG: They were closed for another hour after I got there, and I had to go home instead, after paying for parking.
This brought me to my arrival back home at 9:45am.

Later Goods:
G: Emily found her lunch bag, the cute ice pack, AND the choir uniform, which had been left at school after all.
G: I got to see Jason performing in some drama improv games at his school.
G: Weekend!

Broccoli Angels We Have Heard on High

You HAVE to watch this guy play "Angels We Have Heard on High" on a head of broccoli. It will make your day. Not to mention the spirited introduction in Japanese.

Hat Tip to Kamp Krusty (Brant Hansen, who finds entirely too many very funny things to share).

Third Snow of the Season Coming Down Steadily

It's so fun to live somewhere where it snows in our back yard three times before Christmas even arrives. The last two times, the snow stayed over a week. Who knows this time - but it's sure coming down hard, and everything is a beautiful winter wonderland. I sure hope after all this snow, we actually have a white Christmas for all our guests coming from far-off places.

On the steep street to which ours connects, there are three speed bumps - normally. However, they recently removed them. I am guessing this is a seasonal thing, allowing for easy plowing of the roads during winter. They are the kind of speed bumps made out of heavy-duty plastic, which they could reapply later. I'll let you know in the spring if they reappear. Many children walk up and down the street to and from school twice daily (going home for lunch in the middle of the day), so I'd be surprised if they didn't put the speed bumps back again for safety, since it is a big hill and could be tempting to zoom down otherwise.

Try telling me the picture of the neighbour's yellow house below doesn't look colorized. Well, that is just how it looks (other than the purple border (a new feature of typepad blogging platform), it's straight out of camera, or SOOC, as my friend Susan says). Imagine how bright it is in sunlight! They are a very friendly, cheerful family :-) Above is Jason's "snow angel" in the driveway - I love it. He said the snow was perfect packing snow. Hopefully we can have a 14-person snowball fight at Christmas, eh, family? :-)

Commenting problems

Update 11 Dec 08: Okay, I've restored it to how it used to be. So much for upgrading while something is still in beta. I really would like to offer the capacity for commenters to be notified of follow-up comments - I so appreciate that feature on other people's blogs. But it will have to wait a while. Thanks for your helpful comments while you typed blind.

Hi readers,

I am experimenting with a new commenting feature offered by Typepad (my blog hosting service), but it's in beta and having some major problems from my point of view...

Does this happen to you?

1. The comment entry box is covered up by another box (the one with "Get a Profile Edit Profile" and "Activity on this blog, overall" written inside it), so the commenter cannot see what they are typing! Then when I hit preview, the same thing happens - still cannot see the comment. Then when I save the comment, finally it shows up. This will not be generally helpful! You have to type & publish your comment blind.

2. Secondary problem: At the bottom of the post page, there is no space between "Get a Profile" and "Edit Profile" so it looks like "Get a ProfileEdit Profile" which is confusing.

3. Also, for the people with Profiles already, their name is written before their comment, and then their name AGAIN, with a link to their profile (with no space between the two instances of their name). This is confusing and clumsy-looking.

I am using Safari (and Camino). What web browser are you using and do you have these same problems? If so, you'll have to type your comment carefully and jump into the void when you submit your comment to let me know. If they don't fix this soon I'll try to go back to how it was before.

By the way, had a great weekend visiting my 92-year-old grandfather for the first time in 3.5 years. It was lovely to see him and to let the kids update their memories of their only surviving great-grandfather.
 So glad my mom could join us, and that we got to have lunch with David's cousins as well. And we had a Mexican dinner and got to shop for basics at Old Navy - what a bunch of treats this weekend.
 Thanks be to God, the fount of all blessings.

Struggling with Dativ and Akkusativ and Der-Die-Das-Den-Dem

I attended German class this morning as usual for Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and was honest with the teacher: "It's a total guess for me as to which article to use!"

In German it's not just
"the" as in English.
The dog, the door, the bed, the tables. Easy, right?

And it's not as simple as French, with only
"le" (masculine: le chien) or
"la" (feminine: la porte) or
"les" (plural: les tables).

No, no, in German, it's
"der" (masculine in nominativ case: der Hund; or feminine in akkusativ case: der Tür), or
"die" (feminine: die Tür; or plural, die Tischen) or
"das" (neuter: das Bett), or
"den" (masculine in Akkusativ case, or plural in Dativ), or
"dem" (masculine or neuter in Dativ case)

And of course half the time what's masculine in French is feminine or neuter in German and vice versa:

e.g. the table: la table (fem in French), vs. der Tisch (masc in German)
or the bed: le lit (masc in French), vs. das Bett (neuter in German)
or the cat: le chat (masc in French), vs. die Katze (fem in German)

Help, help! I can usually figure these things out if I have time and solitude:
1. I look the word up in the dictionary (whether paper or online) to find out if it's masculine, feminine or neuter
2. I think about whether the thing is the subject (nominativ) or direct object (akkusativ) or perhaps an object of a preposition (akkusativ or dativ)
3. I think about whether the action is taking place in one spot (dativ case), or whether it involves moving from one place to another (akkusativ)
4. I look up in the tables (whether on paper or in my head) which article is thus the correct one to use

It's quite the multi-step process just to pick one little tiny inconsequential word before a noun. But on the spot, in class? I blush and sputter, or just pick randomly, and the teacher corrects me - but what use is that?

Ah well, I know I am learning a little each class, and with each piece of homework. David shared a great little trick with me today which helped oodles. "Wo?" (where) and "Dativ" are the shorter words and go together, and "Wohin?" (where to) and "Akkusativ" are the longer words and go together. Thanks, my love! Helps no end.

Gorgeous Snowscapes in Verbier

Visit my picasaweb page to see snowy mountain views in Verbier from this past weekend:

Skiing & Snowshoeing in Verbier

Also here's a news article on the early snowfall and how it affects ski resorts in Switzerland. They even mention Verbier specifically.

Where to start? (Verbier)

I could tell you about the exhilarating all-terrain buggy ride through the snowstorm up the mountain in the dark pulling luggage behind on a trailer to get to the remote chalet where we stayed this weekend as the guests of kind new friends.

Or about the muscle-toning snowshoeing (that is a hard word to type as I think about how to spell it) through the snowfall for an hour to a non-smoking restaurant in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, with a party of nine, including 5 kids, and the 30 minutes back (more downhill on the way back, thankfully!).

Or I could describe the unfolding of the opening weekend of the ski season in  Verbier, with the slopes closed on Saturday due to high winds and snowstorm, then closed Sunday morning due to a broken-down lift, then open Sunday afternoon with gorgeous sunshine and great visibility and lovely soft snow (three lifts running), but closed again Monday all day (today) due to (get this) "heavy snow." Actually, the exact words on the website are "Ski resort all day closed. Important Snowfalls." Boy were we glad we got our three fantastic hours of skiing in Sunday afternoon! We couldn't even believe our luck that there was enough snow to ski in November! I'm not sure I've ever skiied in November before in my whole life!

Or perhaps you'd be interested in the real snowmobile ride down the mountain, again in the dark and heavy snowfall, with our luggage and skis, at 8pm last night (the only time the snowmobile was available), and our subsequent digging out of our car, and drive home for 5 1/4 hours through practically continuous snowstorm and snowy highways, often only at half-speed. In normal conditions, the drive would be 3.5 hours. We didn't get home last night until 1:45am. This morning, that is. My husband is, as usual, the great hero of the family, at the wheel the whole time, awake and alert while the kids slept in the back and I did my best to stay awake with him...only jerked back awake about 5 times after my (hopefully) short cat naps. Good thing I wasn't driving, and he knows it.

The kids went to school this morning, bleary-eyed and only one of them slightly late. David went off to work, the poor soul. I need to get all the suitcases emptied, the laundry going, the shopping done, etc. But had to tell some of our story.

It was a great weekend full of adventure and fun and novel experiences. Thank you so much to our wonderful friends and their generosity in sharing their weekend away with us. The beauty of the snowy mountains and that blue, blue sky between blizzards was most conducive to worship of the Creator, who Himself is so generous. 

Now I'm watching the rain fall on the snow in the back yard, and must do all the chores...

Photos of the trip soon.

18 Kisses

Last night David and I went out to our K-group (Koinonia Group = small group / cell group / house group / home group), and I got 18 kisses (not from David). This is something to get used to in Europe (and probably many other non-U.S. locations), the greeting and farewell with a certain number of kisses on the cheek.

This Time article from 2004 details the specifics, e.g. two kisses in Spain, Austria, and Sweden, vs. three in Egypt, Russia, Switzerland and the Netherlands, and one, two, three, or four in various parts of France (see the cool kissing map for France color-coded by the appropriate number).

Worldhum.com gives this explanation about how it's not really kissing: "In general, gently touching your cheek to your recipient’s while pursing your lips and making a kissing sound does the trick. There’s no rule as to which cheek should get the initial kiss, but people often start the kissing to the right."

They also mention that in France "Among the 20- and 30-something generation it’s pretty much expected to kiss hello, even when meeting friends of friends for the first time."

So anyway, upon arrival, I got three kisses each from three men, and upon departure, another three kisses each from two men and a woman (it just depends who's around at the moment everyone's doing the greetings). I think this is the most I have gotten at one time, so I noticed it.

My favorite person to kiss is David. And my lips actually touch his skin :-)

Non-sequitor: came across this pretty and interesting map of what people call soft drinks in the U.S., by county. Having mostly lived in New England and California, you can see what I call it (but I don't usually drink any).

Had a nice visit with a friend this morning at my house by the fire with coffee / hot chocolate, getting to know each other a bit better. And now to finish the laundry and pack for our trip this weekend to Verbier!

Kitty at the Window and Man with a Newspaper

My office is in the basement, but it features a window and a door opening on a rock garden with ferns. This week while I was working at my desk, a little kitty appeared at the window, obviously yearning for a good caress. Since my husband and daughter are both allergic to cats, but I love them, I opened the window just a crack and reached my hand out to give the kitty a good petting. Oh the purring that erupted! Oh the bliss! Oh the rubbing against my hand, turning around and around for more! The cat was a younger one, and very clean, with soft, pretty fur. She wanted to jump inside to the warmth, but I kept the opening covered with my body and eventually said goodbye, shutting the window. She looked plaintively at me, but I stood my ground, went to wash my hands thoroughly, and smiled. And took photos.
The other morning when I took Emily to wait for her school bus, we got there with a few minutes to spare, and stood under a big umbrella together. After a few moments, a man appeared down the street a ways, on the other side. Emily said, "Look, Mom, he's going to turn around and wave with his newspaper." The man walked a few steps down the sidewalk, paused, turned around, and waved up at the building he had left, with his newspaper in his hand. Later, he did it again, farther down the road. Then he opened his umbrella and continued on his way. Apparently Emily observes this guy quite often! It was a funny incident, reminding us both of the Truman Show, when Truman predicts the appearance of the lady on the red bike and then the man with flowers, or whatever it was. Also of the glitch in the Matrix, where the cat walks by twice.

People can be predictable in real life, too!

Because I Love You

For some reason, this morning I was assailed by lack of motivation, and vague feelings of overwhelm and lack of general hope and direction. I asked God for help (this part is no different than normal).

I was standing at the kitchen sink washing dishes and clearing out the fridge, and I started to think about what I would say if one of my children expressed similar feelings - lack of hope, wondering why they should carry on. This is sure to be coming up at some point in their teenage years, as the hormones and emotions flare and swirl.

I knew immediately what my response would be: Carry on and stick it out because I love you (accompanied by a strong, tight, comforting hug that won't let go). These simple words are so profound in how they embody hope, a reason to live, a sense of worth and wantedness. Value in the estimation of the speaker.

Right after that, I saw the parallel for myself - no matter how I feel at the moment, I can ride it through because God loves me with a neverending Father's love. He holds me tight and tells me to carry on because He loves me. Even if I can't see straight right now, He sees everything clearly and can hold my hope for me until I come out the other end. I am worth something to Him. When I don't know what to do, do the next thing, and wait for clarity to return, calling out to Him.

Lest you worry, everything's "fine" and much more than fine - I am blessed beyond imagining. I do need to get myself more organized and master my To Do List (i.e. make one and tame all those things on bits of paper and at the edges of my mind waiting to be conquered), and continually hand over all my worries to the One who cares and has all the power. Sorry if I'm being all dramatic about "nothing."

Even when all is well, weird emotions can come and go. I'm guessing people mostly just keep quiet about them.

But my Rock doesn't change.

From the ends of the earth I call to you,
I call as my heart grows faint;
lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.
Psalm 61:2

Ice Skating in Thalwil

Six minutes from our house is an outdoor ice skating rink, on the crest of the hill between Thalwil (town on Lake Zurich where Jason catches the train to school) and our village of Langnau.

Yesterday the rink offered free skate rental and access to the rink for over four hours in the afternoon, as a celebration of the opening of the season. Emily and I ventured out and had a ball for an hour together sliding around and finding our skating feet again. The moon shone above us as the darkness of evening descended. The boys weren't excited by the icy idea, and when we got back, we found they'd been out for a walk in the twilight together instead. To each his own.

The entire musical hour at the rink featured exclusively Phil Collins hits from the '80s. Good for practicing our ice dancing while reminiscing.

When we all got home, we dipped fresh crusty whole grain bread, carrots, cherry tomatoes, apple slices, and crisp, sweet, green grapes into cheese fondue that David made (he's now an expert), with caesar salad on the side.

A nice ending to a relaxing weekend.

Online Translation of Amazon.de Email to Me

Since we've been living here in German-speaking Switzerland, I've taken to ordering books via Amazon.de (the German counterpart of Amazon.com). It's always intrigiung trying to make sure what their emails to me are saying. Here's an example of some excerpts from a recent email, translated from German to "English" via an online translator. I have to admit that I took out all the bits that actually made sense...cheeky of me, I know:

Good day,

We are still trying, leave the following articles you on 04 October 2008... have ordered..., to perform:

  John Flanagan (Author) "Ranger's Apprentice: The Sorcerer Of The North (Ranger's Apprentice) " http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/0399250328

Is your interest in this article? We are attempting, yet the item for you to relate... If you wait too long, you can order anytime reverse course, as long as they are not located in the shipping process.

...If your order is further article, we will, as also the "My Account" that you send.

... It is therefore not possible that you already before this e-mail a Versandbestaetigung received. In this case, Your item already on its way to you and this message about the delays meaningless.

If your order contains more articles are the stocks to Article automatically. Gladly we can also stock items have already been losschicken now...

The product is delayed Its immediately, as soon as they arrived for us is. You will then receive an e-mail with all information on the shipment of us.

Should also have questions, please contact our customer service gladly available.

I do understand what they are saying - it's helpful that all the emails are the exact German replica of the anglo ones I am already familiar with. But I am amused by the translations.

Fourth Day with Snow; Pumpkins; Fireplace

Even though the snow has been melting for 2 days, there is still some left. It has melted off parts of the roof, and the garden path, but most of the lawn is still covered in white. I am impressed with the long-lasting nature of this unseasonable snowfall.

Yesterday morning, I went for a very foggy, snowy walk with my friend T and her dog. She lives up on a big hill overlooking Zug, where it is colder (in this case 33°F, 1°C) and snowier due to the elevation. We were decked out in hats, mittens, neckwarmer, waterproof jackets, snow boots...The whole village and surrounding area were enveloped in a cloud. Driving up there, cars would suddenly appear out of the pea soup nearby - slightly unnerving. At least they were on their side of the road. When we were walking through a field (I'm sure there was a field under all the snow), we got to a place where there was a signpost pointing three directions - and that was the only thing we could see in any direction, other than fog and snow. Quite an amazing feeling of lostness and hiddenness - I could see how people could wander off and die in a white-out. But I wasn't worried - we weren't far from her house and we had done this walk before, and had a dutiful dog with us. Still, it was exciting and something I don't remember experiencing quite like that before.

Then last night Hallowe'en caught me by surprise. I did not expect any trick-or-treaters here in a country where it's not generally a widely celebrated occasion. I wasn't even home when the first batch arrived - I guess the word got out about these Americans and people assumed we celebrate the holiday (which we only sort of do). I hadn't bought any candy to dish out. I was out late shopping for Operation Christmas Child, actually, with Emily, something fun to do after her orthodontist appointment (both kids' schools are sponsoring a shoebox drive for OCC, which is wonderful). Poor David and Jason were left to scrounge around the kitchen for something suitable to hand out to the eager group of girls. They found some candy corn and chocolates. Not wrapped in individual portions...but it was the best we could do at the time.

Later, after I got home around 7:15pm, another group of girls came by - and Jason gamely opened the door and let them at the candy again. That was it for the night's visitors.

We had our fun for the evening by carving pumpkins. David wasn't feeling well so he went to bed, and the kids and I had a pumpkin each. I am thrilled that both our children are now old enough to do all their carving themselves. I only cut the top out for them, and helped finish up some of the scraping out of the inside when they felt they couldn't get any more out. They planned their designs, drew them on, and cut them out. We were all pleased with our creations and made a memory together. It took a long time and was hard work, with a bunch of clean-up, but very satisfying. Jason made the cool sword (and entered it in an online carving competition via photo). Emily's is the heart-cheeked one, and mine is the cross. I went for something very simple, since I was also doing a lot of cleaning up and dishes and roasting the pumpkin seeds at the same time.

We've also been enjoying our fireplace in our new home. In France three years ago, we had a fireplace but it didn't draw very well, and besides, the Mediterranean weather didn't lend itself to many fire occasions. Then in England we didn't have a fireplace, for two years. So now that we are in a cooler climate and have a great fireplace that sends all the smoke right up the chimney instead of out into the living room, it's blissful. Great for roasting marshmallows and chestnuts. More memories.

Snow in October - Lots of it

Yesterday, October 29th, at 12:40pm, it started snowing hard here in Zurich. It snowed for several hours, but didn't stick too much. Nothing on the roads, but a fair amount on the lawn. I used the dining room table as my desk so I could look out at the snow falling in the garden (my office is in the basement).

But overnight...a LOT more snow. This morning, we woke up to a winter wonderland and assumed there would be school nonetheless, since this is Switzerland and surely they don't get caught by surprise here. In the end, however, Emily's school was cancelled - not because of snow on the roads (the ploughs were very efficient), but because the wet, wet, snow was so heavy that a number of roads were blocked by fallen trees and large branches - including the only road into the school. The authorities deemed it unsafe and would not allow anyone through until they could take care of the trees and make sure no more were about to fall.

Emily went out in the snow with David to wait for her school bus to come, and it never did. After phone calls to the school and other parents of kids on the same bus route, we figured out school was cancelled (they didn't cancel it until 5 minutes before it was supposed to start, in all the confusion).

Meanwhile, I was trying to drive Jason to the train station, because his school assured us they were not closing. What normally takes us 12 minutes took us 45 minutes (again due to road closures for fallen trees, and the ensuing traffic jams and flashing orange stoplights). So of course he missed his train and had to get the next one (which was also late, thankfully, or we would have missed that one too by a couple of minutes). Poor thing, he was not too keen to get aboard when the rest of the family would be at home (David was still home sick today). But my teenage boy persevered and did the right thing.

The snow was beautiful, and we felt less silly about having our snow tires on the cars already (a lot of other people were bemoaning the fact they hadn't quite done it yet).

What fun living here! I wonder how much snow we will have this winter. Hopefully enough for lots of good skiing.

Blog vs. Facebook

It seems to me that Facebook is taking over the world of email and blogging. That is, so many of my friends are on Facebook and do a type of micro-blogging with the "status updates," which are remarkably similar to Twitter's tweets, that one hardly needs a blog anymore. Everyone who's on Facebook already knows what you're doing, if they care to look. Plus people upload their photos, post notes or links to videos, etc. People message each other on Facebook rather than sending regular email. But then I suppose a weblog provides a much larger and more individual space for thoughts and stories, with fewer other distracting elements.

It's been 5 days since I last posted here, but I've been posting little status updates on Facebook, and keeping up with lots of folks on there. Since I last accessed Typepad, which is my blog hosting company, they have made a lot of changes. I am just taking in the different look of this post composing page and the options. My main issue so far is that the typing speed in this window is really slow! Annoying when I make typos and have to go back and it takes a long time, so I press delete too many times, etc. Ah, that's better - I discovered the new "light editor" which works like the old one. Much less frustrating. Apparently I have a "slow" computer. Hmmmph. I didn't think I did. Other problems are arising from the changes in the way it does links and the preview...

In any case, I highly recommend you join Facebook if you haven't already, and if I know you personally, we can keep up there as well :-) I'm not saying I'm stopping blogging after these 4.5 years, but it's making me think.

* * *

But on to actual words about us:

Friday night was really busy - Jason got home from his 3-night trip to Wengen (hiking, biking, high ropes course, bonfire, cooking...), Emily went off to a birthday sleepover, and David and I went to the opera in Zurich (Aida). It was intriguing watching an opera sung in Italian (operatic Italian, keep in mind), and supertitled in German (literary German, keep in mind). If it hadn't been for the excellent synposis we received ahead of time from a local British composer, I'd have been lost. As it was, we followed well enough. Three words I should have looked up ahead of time: Ehre, Schicksal, and Verräter (Honor, Fate, and Traitor) - these kept coming up on the supertitles, and I knew they were something of a central theme...I eventually figured out the last two by context, but the first I found out in my purse dictionary on the way home.

Jason is home with a sore throat today. He also seems to be the editor-in-chief of the high school newspaper, as a 9th grader. Fascinating. He is getting things more organized for the 2nd edition of the year, now that it is clearer that it will be his job to do so. I pray blessings over his cheerful efforts.

Emily's been doing much better adjusting to her headgear...in time for the next orthodontic visit on Friday...we'll just keep praying her through!

Sunday afternoon we met for the first time with our new "K-group" from church (in England they called it "small group" or "cell group," in Rhode Island "kinship," in California, "home group"  or "Growth Group" and in Illinois, "housegroup"). The K stands for Koinonia (= "fellowship" in Greek, I believe). We have members from Lebanon (who are Armenian and now have a Swiss passport too, and speak Turkish, Arabic, French, English, German, and Swiss-German), Malaysia (who speak Malay and Mandarin and English), Russia, and America. Quite the intriguing mix. We plan to study Max Lucado's book 3:16 - The Numbers of Hope every other week on Wednesday nights.

I baked pumpkin cookies and zucchini bread this morning, as it is my turn to bring the treats to our ladies' study tonight - and of course I'm leaving some for the family, too :-)

It's rainy and cold here in Zurich, and foggy, too. We might even get some snow on Thursday through Sunday, as the temps are meant to be hovering right around 0-3°C Thu & Fri (that's 32-37°F). We are excited. I picked up our skis yesterday, so we're all ready for the occasion to arise to use them.

I'm really proud of my mother and her husband, who just celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary - congratulations again, you two!

Well, I'm going to hit publish and see what happens, whether there's any change in format...blessings on your day.

Driving with Ski Rack Reminds me of a Violin

I thought the mechanics would take 15 minutes to put our new ski rack on the car, since they said it was easy and they could do it while I waited. It took an hour. During which I stood up in the garage watching them. I was so thankful that Emily now has a cell phone, so I could ask her forgiveness and ask her to wait in the school library until I got there late. I am so glad the library is open for an hour after school, warm and cozy with comfortable chairs and plenty of books. She didn't seem to mind much.

Now I am waiting to pick up our season rental skis tomorrow before I take the rack off the car (until we really need it to go skiing), because not only does it create extra wind resistance and thereby consume more fuel, but it plays undesired music. At 40 kph, it plays a low C. At 50kph, the tone rises to an F. At 60kph it goes higher to where it's not quite as annoying as the 50kph because it's a bit fainter as well (playing an A note). At 80kph it changes from a violin instrumental piece to a normal wind-sounding noise. I only know these actual notes because Emily and I agreed not to speak to each other upon arriving home but to rush to the piano while humming, and find out what the tones were :-)

I have a pumpkin pie with whole-grain crust in the oven, a nice comforting counterpoint to the gray, chilly day. Every day on the way home, Emily asks with hopeful voice, "Is there anything special for after-school snack today?" Today there is!

We sent in our absentee ballots for the presidential election this week, which got to us via England. Now I need to mail official change of address forms to Colorado (our official residence in the U.S. now), so they can send us ballots straight to Switzerland. Funny, the change of address forms label themselves as being for "in-county" since we are not changing polling places... Ah well, I think they will do the trick.

I found a great passage for serial/habitual ex-patriates like us, in Hebrews 11:13-16. It's talking about various people who lived by faith, including Abraham, who moved quite a long way from "home" himself, to make a new home:

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

One more thing from my daily readings this past week. I noticed something about the Sabbath commandment in Deuteronomy 5:12-15.

"Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy...On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

Part of the reason we are commanded not to work one day a week is to help us remember that we don't HAVE to, because God has rescued us, set us free from ourselves, and we aren't slaves anymore. We can REST! We're FREE! God has set us free, and we are free indeed. It's a day to remember and celebrate that freedom from slavery to sin and self and death. Awesome.

Momentous Day: birthday & driver's licenses

Today is a day full of significant and unusual events:

- we've been parents for 14 years

- we got our Swiss driver's licenses in the mail and we now are holders of valid licenses from three different countries

- I met with my wonderful new prayer partner for the first time

- our son left on a field trip for his first time being away from us on his birthday

- the birthday packages sent by BOTH grandmothers arrived perfectly on time today for his birthday...but he's not here to find out :-( We forgot to let them know about his trip in time. At least they got to talk to him last night when we realized they would want to know he'd be gone. Kudos to you grandmothers, for remembering Jason and getting birthday packages to him right on the dot...

- I got my car back after driving a loaner white Toyota Prius for a day, and, although I thoroughly enjoyed the Prius, was soooo happy to be back in my own car, minus the dent in the fender (thank you, insurance company of the lady who hit me while I was parked a few weeks ago!). The Prius was automatic, and even though that's obviously easier, I actually really enjoy driving my manual car. It's more fun. Also I like my sun visors better (bigger), and my rear windshield (not split in two). And the dashboard (less weird, but that's just because I'm used to it, I know). So anyway, I'm extra thankful for my car (a light silverly blue Toyota Corolla Verso).

- I ordered my first ever ski rack for a car. We are getting ready to do some serious skiing this winter, now that we live near the Alps! They say it'll be ready to pick up tomorrow.

- We're taking a behind-the-scenes tour of the Zurich opera house with a big group from my husband's office, in preparation for an upcoming actual attendance of a performance. Off to do that!