Friday's Feast

Appetizer
Name 3 things that you think are strange.

1. How the sun can rise earlier in one place, while the sun will set later in another place which the sun rose in the other place later that exact same day. Confusing? good...
2. How you can't recollect what happened while you were asleep.
3. How you can actually be a day ahead of another part of the world because it should just be like everyone is on the same time always.... (I know how it all works but still.)

Soup
What was the last ceremony you attended?

I'm not 100% sure on this one, but it could have been my brother's university graduation a few years back. I actually had to trek via train from Geneva in June, then to California for about 10 days and back. I loved being so independent while traveling on the train back to Switzerland.

Salad
What is one lesson you have learned in the past year?

As I sit wishing to attain my investment goals, I could have had over a 20% return if I was ready to dive into the market. Yet the vagueness of the statement really doesn't make sense without more information. If you lived in Vancouver, you'd probably understand.

Main Course
Tell us about one of your childhood memories.
I always wanted to travel. I remember when I was two, during playground time, I'd climb to the highest monkey bars and want to jump over the fence and fly away as far as my hawk eyes could travel. I'd sit there and dream big dreams of always being far away from where I was living. And yes these thoughts were while I was in my 2's and 3's and 4's, but certainly not before I was 5 as I was in junior kindergarten and my brother was born. I still remember the nursery school name to this day.

Dessert
If you could extend any of the four seasons to be twice as long as normal, which season would you want to lengthen?

Summer of course. Only because the days are so long and so wonderful. You can travel to so many places in this world and enjoy those long days. If the season was twice as long, vacations might just be that way too. Ah could you imagine 10 wks of summer off of working, well only 4 if you were in north america typically but still...

This is a view of the Dents du Midi from my backyard in Montreux. I used to gaze out to these mountains for hours at a time in the summer months.

Here's the link to join in on Friday's Feast.

Predicting The Weather

While I was growing up, it was very easy to predict the weather where I lived. More times than not, the weather man would be correct. I guess it was the way the gulf stream formed off the coast. Because we were about an hour away from the coast, I could walk outside and basically tell what the weather would be like. Storms could be predicted by the afternoon winds and if there was going to be rain, we'd probably know at least 2 hours in advance. But luckily most of the time, the weather was sunny, clear and warm.

Well yesterday in Vancouver, the weatherman predicted rain. What was different about this day was that we had a beautiful day full of sun! If anyone knows the usual weather of Vancouver, it's rain. Apparently the weather stream was making its way a bit slower than predicted. Off on another prediction again. Certainly something that I'm still not used to.

While living in Switzerland, I remember the weather being quite precise. The Swiss like to be precise of course. But all predictions were thrown out the window during the summer months in Montreux when a quick thunder storm and downpour could happen within 45 minutes after you think it might be clear, sunny skies all day.


This photo is from one of my favorite parks which I could go up to and see the weather. I loved sitting on the bench near by, listening to the ballades of Montreux from the 1800's. The best part about this park was the views were 100% better than from the house and our house views were pure paradise. I felt like I could sit there all day long. This photo was taken on April 7, 2003.

Solar Eclipise

I'm curious to know if anyone was able to view the exciting spectacle of the total solar eclipse. If you live in Europe, or South America along with all the southern hemisphere, you might have been able to see this event. Those of us living in North America, didn't have a chance.

Looking Glass Window

Today's inspiration of a Looking Glass Window theme was partly because I had a change of scenary today in down town Vancouver. And partly because of two people who influenced me enough and gave me this idea before even getting to the downtown core.

First was In Soul who inspired me to post another window photo because she's just so crazy about some of the photos I've posted lately. She gives me enough inspiration to want to post more photos, but she's certainly not alone. You know who you are! ;-) I don't want to make anyone feel left out on that one because I've got a wonderful audience.

And thanks to Ginnie's links, I found a great theme for windows which I drew off of. This first looking glass shows off the beautiful shores of Lac Leman from Yvoire, France. There's so much beauty, one is just always in heaven here.

Next in line is a lonely window that needs some flowers added to it, but still far more beautiful than the ones I see daily in Vancouver. This was just another cool window in Yvoire.

The third is my paradise, Montreux, where I was lucky enough to live for more than a year. And imagine, this type of view every day of the year. Yes the looking glass was always that good.

What is your favorite looking glass?

A Taste of Region Vaud

While doing some research last week, I came upon a wonderful map of the region of Lac Leman. I thought I'd post it because it was such a great map.

But of course along with the map, I might as well through in a photo from the region of Vaud. I've picked the lovely town of Yvoire which is decorated end to end with flowers. Every window was flanked with remarkable flowers all waiting to be snapped up by me. The following is just one of the many tastes of the region I so much liked.

It reads tasting Wines, Oils, Honey. There is something about this photo that just makes it one of my most favorite. I think the delicate advertisement is just all too cute and different.

Things That Make You Smile

There are just some things in this world that make you smile every time. As I was looking at some of my spring photos from last year, I got to smiling. And since I really couldn't decide on what type of photos to post, I thought I'd just post the first thing that made me smile...

1. My little buddy. Although I only see him during the day, this little guy is definitely just as happy to see me every day. Every time he greets me, his entire rear end wags from left to right. It's so cute. We are play buds for sure. Fetch is our game along with a bit of rough housing and growling too. He's doing one of his favorite past times, drinking from the stream. This is Mr. Twist. My cute and cuddley boy who needs a hair cut!



2. Yellow flowers. They are so beautiful and yellow and just perfect. I liked this photo and never saw it catch my eye before. If you zoom in on this photo, you can even see the little hairs on the stem sticking up.
3. Having long summer nights and long sunny days. It absolutely brightens my day. I figured, I would get ahead of the game and post before everyone in Europe woke up. What 3 things make you smile?

Daylight Savings

So I started reading blogs this morning to find out that in Europe you guys already changed your clocks forward an hour. We don't do that until April 2nd, which I guess is next weekend. I'll love that when we finally get to change times.

This morning I woke up because there was too much light in the air. I thought to myself, why can't we just have shutters like in Switzerland. I loved that and it makes so much sense to have a dark room so you can sleep. But instead here, I get up with the sun. At times, it does not make for a happy me. Really I wish I could have more darkness but I can't complain all too much...

Old Air Raid Siren

Old Air Raid Siren
Originally uploaded by thnkfst.

One of the biggest benefits of living in North Vancouver are the wonderful views and sunsets which are within walking distance of where ever you might live. People who live higher up in a condo high rise or further up the mountain have the luxury of waking up to wonderful views, which make feel like I'm in Montreux all over again.

Last night P and I took a walk down the street with my camera in hand. This photo is an old air raid siren which is no longer in use. As you can imagine I was in pure heaven with this sunset.

Let The Sun Shine Down

North Vancouver Views

Last night P and I took a walk down the street with my camera in hand. I knew the views would be wonderful and was ready to bring back a few great shots for you guys. I couldn't decide on just one so here are a few of the best shots during the hour of the sunset. Of course today is nothing like yesterday, although I now feel so odd being 10 hours behind Europe...

Sunset along the Lions Gate and Beyond.

Flowering Into Spring

My most favorite part about spring is watching the flowers pop up and all of the leaves forming each and every day.

Before we went to Switzerland last August I was able to find many beautiful shots around our Vancouver neighborhood of flowers, but still the most memorable were from our trip to Switzerland.

As we were walking around the town of Interlaken, buzzing bees were working on getting some pollen out of these colorful flowers. It was amazing they were actually just planted and part of some hotel landscape, yet they look so wild as if they belong in the Alps. P actually took this Macro shot with his tiny camera. I loved the fact that you could really make out the bee. It's just a plain beautiful shot.

My most favorite place I've photographed in my life has been in Yvoire, France. There were flowers around every bend, every nook and cranny. I was in total heaven and so excited to photograph practically every building I saw. I'm sure I'll post quite a few more pictures from the trip but here is one that caught my eye today as it went across my screen saver at some point.

These are just a hint of some of the colors I got to photograph while we were on vacation last August in Switzerland. I also came across a wonderful map which I can post in the morning which shows just exactly where Yvoire is located. Now if I can just take advantage of my time outside and find a few beautiful flowers here in town, I think I'll be happy. Yet these flowers are enough to make me smile wide.

Real Time Updates Saved My Boredom

Last night I totally thought I was off the hook for watching a full 10 ends of curling with P. I don't mind watching a few ends but after a while, I really just loose interest in watching curling and just want to know the outcome of the game.

P deemed curling actually wasn't on last night so I was off the hook, or so I thought. So I started watching something else on the tube while P was browsing the Internet on his computer.

Suddenly he told me "wait a minute there is curling on tonight after all". Ok, I give in and let the poor guy have control of the clicker and proceed to watch the match. But the puzzling thing for him was on the computer where he got all of this information was that he had real time results.

In fact, TSN was some 30 minutes or an hour behind which meant it certainly wasn't a "live" curling match. We knew what the results were in the 4th round and in fact we knew what the results were in the 9th round as we were still watching this 5th round.

So I finally asked him to keep checking on "real time" on his computer to find out the outcome of the game. Yes it was partly my way of getting out of watching the entire match. In the end, the Canadian team did beat Denmark. If they ended up loosing, there would have been a 4 way tie for the next round. I can't even imagine what would have happened.

Now I think I've found one really good use for real-time internet data after all. Although I'm not totally into curling, some parts of the technique I'm learning more and more about. I'm just wondering if I'm going to catch the bug and actually want to curl like P!

Puzzling News

If you'd like to stay on top of what is going on in the world, then you had better read up on this breaking news story. It's about the Dubai ports dispute going all too far. Li Ka-Shing and the Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. who's got ties to the Rockefeller's, owned most of Yaletown land, and has large bank of China ties and the Bahama's are also owned by him.

Good links:
Li-Ka-shing
Coast to Coast

They basically say stop buying from China and buy from India or Brazil instead. The key reason is because these countreis aren'tt funding their governments to build nuclear weapons.

What do you know about all this coming from another country too? I don't see anything in the US news.

** Just so you know this is new enough knews that there isn't anything out there written on it as of 11pm tonight...

In Yellow too

In Yellow too
Originally uploaded by thnkfst.

Last night I signed up for a photography class here in Vancouver. I'm hoping to gain some extra knowledge on how to work my very complex camera.

I've read the book but it's just not the same as hands on help and teaching. Sure I know a bit about how my camera all works and can take portraits of flowers just fine. I love that option as it's by far my favorite and most mastered.

My major troubles are with some lighting issues and a few other more complicated functions that I'm too confused about which I'm hoping to learn more about while I'm there. They do offer a booklet to go along with the class which is just a few hours long.

At any rate, I'm sure I'm going to learn at least one good new thing I didn't know already. So in about 3 weeks time, I'll be ready to photograph just in time for great spring and summer weather. I had better read up on my other e-book manual too.

Queen of North Ferry Sinks

Another B.C. ferry, the Queen of the North sank shortly before 1am today. There were 99 passengers plus crew aboard the ferry, which was traveling along choppy waters off the northern coast of the Pacific up near Prince Rupert. In fact, the accident was so bad that the ferry sank along with the 14 or so cars which were on board the ferry.

Luckily everyone was rescued to safety from Hartley Bay. According to the full report, much of the community helped in the rescue effort. Be sure to even check out some passenger stories on that page. It's quite unfortunate news because there will be a lot of clean up from the oil spill, damage from the boat sinking and everything lost as a result.

Life As a Muppet

My life today definitely can be summed up to be feeling like a muppet. It's a bit chaotic, it's pouring rain outside (grrrrr) and with the other 2002 things "I should be doing today", I'm not exactly all too organized.

But I'm in a cheery mood every few moments. Which probably is correct to say I'm a muppet animal. Quite frankly I liked like to just drop everything and go for a shopping therapy session, or have enough energy to bake something yumming. But instead I think I'll just laugh it all off and try to get some work done, just like most of you guys are doing. I'm sure I'll be back to my normal self once I finish the daunty task of completing all of my taxes. Until then, I'll just dream about those beautiful flowers and sunny days and try not to take things too seriously.

You Are Animal

A complete lunatic, you're operating on 100% animal instincts. You thrive on uncontrolled energy, and you're downright scary. But you sure can beat a good drum. "Kill! Kill!"

The Muppet Personality Test

Spring Flowers

Spring Flowers
Originally uploaded by thnkfst.

Yesterday the sky was blue and the flowers were smiling. These flowers sit beside our garden. They are beyond beautiful but won't be around for too long.

Serene Sunset

If you were here in Vancouver yesterday and outside because of that sunshine, you probably would have run into at least one person who commented about how great it felt outside. Everyone wanted to quit work and go catch some rays as it was just that wonderful. In the middle of everything I managed to snap a few spring like photos to remind me of what it's all like to have blue skies and sun. I managed to take a few decent photos with my mini cam. Here's the best one from just after sunset last night.




I guess we are lucky up here in Vancouver and most of Canada. La nina has just started which is bringing a lot of cold artic air into the states. The mixture is making for a bad spring with possible tornadoes because cold and warm air just doesn't mix well. Most of the states are still seeing strong winter storms which is not a good thing according to the weather men. After reading the link, it just confuses me more so I'll stick to what I heard and wrote above.

Spring in the Air

Today is the first day of spring and Vancouver is certainly proving to be in the spirit. It's so joyful to have 3 full days of sun, clear blue skies and one happy me.

I guess that is a good thing because I feel like I've done about 50 lunges and I can't stand up properly. Add a bit of rib and tricep soreness to the combination and I look like an old lady wadling around. I'm probably exagerating a bit but I do have a few nice bruises to prove it.

Seeing that I posted one of the first photos I ever took in Lausanne, I thought I follow through with 2 more taken on that same night. I love the Ouchy area and I think it will always have a special place in my heart.

(View of Ouchy Harbor) I'm willing to guess that is Mt. Blanc in the background of this pic. But what I do know for sure is that across the water is Evian-Les-Bains in France.

So serene and beautiful. I love it when sunsets look like this. Although this photo is of the Lausanne Harbor, I could easily mistake it for the Harbor of Montreux/Clarens.

Sunset Lausanne

Sunset Lausanne
Originally uploaded by thnkfst.

I actually took this photo in March 2002 while I was touring Lausanne for the first time. Sunset came early of course but I'm incredibly proud of the colors I was able to get out of this photo since I did nothing at all to modify it. This photo is taken down at Ouchy after sunset. It's such a special place for me. If I could, I think I'd spend hours down on the lake for a view like that.

What's Your Color in Green?

CS asked what color of green I was so I decided to post my answer here since I enjoyed it.

You Are Mint Green

Balanced and calm, you have mastered the philosophy of living well. Your friends seek you out for support, and you are able to bring stability to chaotic situations. You're very open and cheerful - and you feel like you have a lot of freedom in life. Your future may hold any number of exciting things, and you're ready for all of them!

What Color Green Are You?

OOOh, I can't wait to see what all these exciting things will be.

Excited About Spring

I'm hoping everyone is feeling that "spring" feeling in the air. Although I wasn't outside much yesterday, there was lots of wonderful sun and today which is P's Birthday, there is even more of that lovely stuff everywhere. It just makes me smile especially knowing that every day is getting longer with over 12 hours of sunlight.

While I was learning to curl last night, after the first game there was a wonderful blue sky after the sunset which happened about 7pm. We were all a bit shocked but it was nice to see. This morning as I was browsing through some of my photos, I was getting a bit gidy and excited inside.

Today is recovery day for me and I am going to try to relax but I'd also love to let you click on a few photos I was looking at in my archives. The cutest part about this morning was that P wanted to get up and see what I had brought outside for his birthday. He was like a little kid again and it was just too cute.

I'll just let you cruise on Lake Geneva today..

Recognizing the photo, I can tell I was on a hike overlooking Clarens which is just a small part of Montreux. You would have to go to the left to see the main area of Montreux with such highlights as the Freddy Mercury Monument and the Shopping Forum.

The Bikini Girl

This week totally wore me out, especially since I've been going nuts on what to get P for his birthday. I've been trying to do taxes which is semingly a bit hard when it's your first time filing in another country. But even worse is having to do it twice. The software walks you through everything but it takes too many hours. I know I only worked 2 out of 5 days this week but it felt like I worked all 5 by last night. And I still never managed to get enough accomplished.

But tonight I'm curling and tomorrow is P's birthday. I did find out that Ursula Andress (Swiss) who was the first Bond bikini girl has the same birthday as P. Ursula was born in Bern, Switzerland as she turns 70 tomorrow. It's kind of fun learning about certain facts about this actress. Here are a few other wiki stats.

I especially like some of her quotes.

1. "If the role demands it, then naturally I will remove my clothes."
2. "This bikini made me a success."

I guess Ursula is still very popular among many of her Swiss fans and was chosen as one of the "100 Sexiest Stars in film history". Quite a cool accomplishment for looking great in a bikini.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Not only is it friday but it's St. Patrick's Day. I feel like I had already started the day yesterday with all of the driving and watching of Irish Dancing at senior homes. I'm sure the routines made these seniors days, but I did end up exhausted and tired beyond belief.

Even worse is that I'm sure I'm going to have to bus around a group of kids tomorrow too. I actually feel like I worked all week already not just one day. But that might have been in part because I actually didn't just lounge around with my 3 days off as I was stressing with taxes.

Since Vancouver is full or people with Irish roots, hubby included, I was interested in seeing what Canada had to say about St. Patrick's Day. In Canada, Saint Patrick's Day in an offical holiday in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Some groups (including Guinness) have lobbied to make Saint Patrick's Day a federal holiday. I would sure be nice, but I'm still guessing I would be working.

Does anybody know of any St. Patrick's Day celebrations near them?

Oddly enough, I've elected to try some curling this weekend at the club's open house. P asked me many times without me really responding so I buckled down and said I would. I haven't decided yet if I'll get P to take pics or not. Haha... As well, P's birthday is on Sunday. I'm happy because he doesn't curl, but I'm also hoping we can do something outdoors enjoying the weather. I'm counting on some three leaf clover luck for this one...

In the month of March, Lac Leman gets a haze over the lake once the sun rises. The sun is still waking up here and will soon turn into a thick haze, however it's always pure paradise to me.

Oddly enough on this St. Patrick's Day, we have exactly 12 hours of sun today. The sun rose at 6:21 am and will set at 6:21pm tonight here. I'm liking the longer hours and just can't wait for the time change.

Pot of Gold

On Tuesday the pot of gold was definitely near me. The day gave us showers and sunshine throughout the day. It was only after I had tried taking pictures of the incredibly bright rainbows that I realized my filter on my camera probably dulled out what I was trying to photograph. At any rate, here are some snaps of what I saw which seemingly happened almost in the same spot both times.

Coccinelle Cafe

While on vacation last August, we stumbled upon this cute Cafe sign in Lausanne old town. This was the evening that had many happenings like seeing the lady with the purple hair. I was drawn to this sign probably just because you won't find anything like that here in Vancouver.

If you ever visit Lausanne, make sure you go up to some of the famous churches high above. The views from atop are just incredible. We certainly lucked out because just a few days after I took this shot, Switzerland was flooded with rain.

The weather in Vancouver has been really unpredictable lately. I felt more like I was in Prague than Vancouver. We had beautiful sunny skies which changed in 5 minutes to a down pour. Where did that come from? Well I'm not really sure but it happened more than once because I was able to capture 2 rainbows yesterday. I'll have to get them up soon.

Looking Glass

Image of the foliage looking back - Yviore France.

Stereotypes By Fashion

I've finally figured out some of the stereotypical dress in Vancouver, well at least I think I have. You can characteristically pick out those people under twenty five because all of them insist on wearing their jeans half way down to their knees. You also will usually see their boxers hanging out, no part of their jeans near their waste and walking even more foolishly because they seem to almost trip over their clothing.

Every time I take a walk in North Vancouver, I seriously want to walk up to them and point and laugh but I restrain. I also find myself wishing I could be a bit more gutsy and take some really off the wall photos of the people who think their fashions are so cool.

For some reason most teens and 20 something year olds in north america like dressing two ways either super slutty or showing off their boxers with the crotch of their jeans down to their ankles. In fact this first was known criminal activity which fools are now trying to immitate unknowningly. But why would you bother having to hold your trousers all day long? Maybe you want to dance to the lyrics of the song?
I do stress I wished mutiple times I would have taken photos of these fools. Over the weekend P and I saw a hoard of teenaged girls thinking they were so cool wearing short skirts with fufu boots, you know the type from Dumb and Dummer.

Has anyone else experienced this? I'm well aware this just doesn't exist just in Vancouver, it's everywhere. I'd love to see more photos of this occurance. I've seen it in European countries too.

I'm On Vacation

Well at least I'm not working two jobs this week. I have a break from work for three days as the kids are off on spring break doing things I should be doing, like skiing.

I'm not complaining because the past 2 days have been so serene that it just makes you giddy and on a complete high from the awesome weather. We are actually en route to the warmest winter on record. I do have a few chores I've got to get ahead on, so I'm going to work on that and no so much on being a blogger.

In other news, I bought my first kinder surprise in Canada last week. They tell you what you get inside before you even buy the eggs. They have to do with tazmanian devils or some type of cartoon figure, but certainly not a Smart Car.

I'll just leave with another photo from our incredible weekend in Vancouver. And I know I'm not just the only one who thought that!



A tree near our place started springing up bright red berries. And of course the ski I could just look at for years on end.

Sunny Side Up

As you could have guessed from the title of my post, Vancouver had a lot of sunshine yesterday. The day was full of beautiful blue skies and probably even more people overflowing the local ski resorts.

To simply put it, it was a true spring like day without a hint of those snow flurries to be found and definitely a huge change from two days before.

Since I was totally drained from the bug I caught, I took a long stroll and enjoyed the outdoors as much as I could, with my tiny camera in tote.

As you walk outside our place, this is the view we see looking out towards the Lions Gate Bridge and Vancouver Island. Only yesterday, the view was just incredible. I only brought my small camera with me but I still was able to capture the beauty of Vancouver, although without the true clarity from my Nikon.

This second pic is of the North Shore but to me it looks nothing like it.

Famed Killer Whale Luna Dies

The famous and well known Black and White Orca named Luna died yesterday along the coast of Gold River.

The accident took place yesterday when Luna got too close to a massive tug boat and was sucked into the two meter tug boat propeller. The tug boat was seeking shelter off Bligh Island from the violent waters from yesterday's snow storm which covered most of BC yesterday.

Luna surfaced in 2001 at the docks along the Gold River. The Nootka Sound area is where Luna was spotted, which will be where they will be verifying the DNA was in fact that of Luna.

The first nations wanted to keep him there because they believed Luna needed to be reunited with the Ocra pod. The first nations will have a cleansing ceremony on Monday as a result of Luna's death.

More Snow in Vancouver

If you look close enough, you will see snow on the grass. I haven't uploaded the photos but still I scratch my head every time I see snow at sea level, especially in Vancouver.

A Touch of Snow

Well we've officially had more snow here. We had wet down pours yesterday of the fluffy stuff, followed by large wind gusts and a clear blue sky. Most of it did not stick until last night, which just happened to be once I had sat down on the couch after work.

Today there was a touch of that white stuff on the road and I was freezing, so I went back to sleep a bit longer after being woken up to some awful scraping noises.

Now I'm super grumpy for no apparent reason. I'm thinking it's because I didn't get my coffee, but maybe it's more about burnout. But I was thinking the title should be a "touch of grey", which the Greatful Dead sang. The snow flakes ironically were flying upwards for a few minutes as they were so light and fluffy and edible. Kind of like this guy in the pic...

It certainly isn't anything to write home about unlike the weather Switzerland has been having, including some places in the Valais being closed off entirely. In the mean time, I'll get my spirits up by reading about Alinghi who are back in Switzerland to train right now.

*** Update ***
I think I ended up catching a bad stomach bug that is going around. Maybe it's the flu and my body is fighting it off. I just don't have any energy to move at all and a headache that is giantor in size. I know I'm sick when I didn't even touch my computer the entire afternoon and evening yesterday. I dozed off and took two naps as well so my body is telling me something. Rest is in order today because I've got vacation next week and don't need to be sick and stuck inside!

Swiss Obsessions

We woke up this morning to snow flurries. I'm pretty sure they won't last all day long because it has been fairly warm during the day here in Vancouver. But as far as I can tell, the mountains are really happy right now with white out conditions up at Grouse. Of course it makes me think about Switzerland and Montreux and how lovely it would look outside with a new snowfall. So what does that have to do with Swiss Obsessions you ask?

As most of you well know, I'm totally obsessed with some many things Swiss. My first obsession by far is Swiss Chocolate I think it has to do with not really getting the same thing here in North America. To me everything is just of higher quality and better, even in bakeries. Right now I'm eating a bar of Lindt Mocha Milk Chocolate. You know it's that brown package with mocha beans on the front. This chocolate is pure heaven to me and so downright dreamy.

So why not find a recipe that uses this Lindt mocha chocolate. Doesn't it make you want some? For now, I'm just going to dream about making it. But if I get some extra time, I might just put that obsession to good use.

Something To Ponder

Sometimes I think of really odd things while I am alone walking or jogging. Today I had two great relevations that I wanted to share which just so happened to bug me in some way.

1. If you live across the street from the hospital why would you phone for an ambulance? (We do and this happened last night.) Furthermore, if you are just across the street, how would the ambulance transport you into the emergency room? Via the Ambulance of course...

2. You are at a flea marketing bartering for a piece of furniture you'd like to have. The man will give it to you if you tell him those magical words to lift it off his hands. You say I'd like to pay you for that furniture for free but must think of another way to say just that. What do you say?

You say: I'll just have to take your furniture for zip, zippo zero, zilch, nadda, diddly squat, nothing? There's gotta be something else too - Can you think of more ways of saying it?

Rick Mercer's Report last night was definitely a knee slapper. Some of the funny photos the readers sent in made me want to roll on floor laughing. If you have an extra minute and need a good laugh, go check out Monday's edition. It was great.

Dana Reeve Dies

1961-2006

I woke up this morning to the news that Dana Reeve, the wife of Christopher Reeve, has died of lung cancer at the age of 44. Dana Reeve was a singer and aspiring actor when she met her husband, the famous superman. Ironically enough, she never smoked.

For me it's so hard to fathom her death, let alone the death of Christopher Reeve, not even 1 year later. I'm venturing to guess her parents along with Christopher's are the one's who will be taking care of Will Reeves, their 13 year old son. Aren't the grandparent's supposed to be the one's who are survived by their kids?

Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett also passed away at age 44, from an apparent heart attack. Life has been taken by two really wonderful people. The news of both of these people dying makes me take a step back to make sure I really take in every moment I spend with the special people in my life. Take a moment today to live life to the fullest and appreciate the people around you that mean the most to you.

**Some deeper thoughts. As I was driving home in the car today here in Vancouver, as story was told about a blogger who wrote this about Dana Reeve today. I'll do my best to remember how her blog post went. **

The news today of the passing of Dana Reeve really hit home for me. My mom passed away when she was just 42 years of age of Lung Cancer. I was 21 one at the time but I did have an 8 year old sister who was just 5 years younger than Will. I really felt a connection with her and am sure to feel Will's pain. My mother's life was taken away from us but for Will that pain must be greater with loosing both parents within a year and a half time. Somehow I understand what Will is going through. Lung Cancer is something that affects women more than any other disease, something that took Dana's life in just 5 short months. I just hope more people don't have to see such a horrible disease which is too hard to watch as the people you love struggle until the end.

That was about how I heard it from the radio today, and so touching at that!

Odd Occurrences

Yesterday was just an odd day. We woke up in the morning without any hot water. What did that mean? No heat either since it's controlled through the water. It wouldn't have been all too bad but there was a bit of a storm brewing up and the wind was blowing. Our living room has 20 foot ceilings and with the sky light, a bit of air slips into our place. It doesn't make for much fun when you naturally get cold hands after you eat. So we bundled up and watched P's favorite past time, curling of course.

Luckily they did get the boiler running for a while so off I dashed to get whatever warm water I could. P did the same and then we were off for a tour outside. Little did we know that when we returned that the heat would be gone. It resulted in not being able to wash clothes and washing dishes the old fashioned way, to oddly heat up water from the stove to wash dishes.

Speaking of Odd occurrences, the Swiss seem to think public dog services should be part of a dog owners normal routine, well at least in Zurich. Now Swiss pets are also expected to be squeaky clean in appearance too. Of course, this dog shower isn't for everyone. Does it fit your dogs standards?

And to make sure any other odd occurrences don't occur, just make sure you don't walk behind a Bern Bus when it's running. You might get caught in the fumes of the new sewage gas they will be using to run buses.

Seventy-three Swiss farms produce biogas from rotting compost, and they are also looking to maximize their incomes by adding food leftovers to their bioreactors.

Maybe we will see more of this around throughout the world in years to come. But it won't be anytime soon according to this report.

Mardis Gras or Not?

Since Fasnacht will be in Full Swing this week in Basel, Switzerland, I thought I'd post something I found while reading blogs tonight. Thanks to Gloria Jeans for finding this one...

I feel sorry for the artist who painted the three.

Storm Sweeps Throughout Switzerland

With my memory of living in Switzerland, I don't exactly remember having a late winter storm like the one Switzerland is currently having. I remember wishing we could have just a bit more snow so that we could go up the hill sledding just one more time. But I certainly don't remember a storm which makes it feel like the beginning of February.

According to reports by Swiss Info, the Basel Airport had been closed for a while with flights being redirected probably to Zurich airport which wasn't in all much better shape. Some train lines had to be shut down near the Valais Canton Uri connector. And even worse news for some areas of the Valais where villages had to be evacuated because of "very high" avalanche risk.

With many people having high hopes of spring rolling out in full force, I guess nature had a bit of a different idea. But we can only make the best of what the weather gives us. So why not play in that snow and enjoy the few days which give us that.

This photos was taken on March 4, 2003 from Montreux near the upper highway and overlooking Les Avants and Les Diablerets.

It's Friday

It's Friday and I haven't feasted for some time, so I thought why not do just that and to leave you will a special something at the end. I thought about just leaving a post card which would have been cool, but I'll do more than that. This morning I woke up at 4:46am not able to sleep. After much tossing and turning I managed to sort of sleep in until 8 am. I was tired and dreaming way too much!


Appetizer
How many pillows and blankets do you sleep with?
Just a large comforter and one down pillow

Soup
What are you currently "addicted" to?
Swiss Chocolate and coffee

Salad
If you could make a small change to your current routine or schedule that would make you just a little bit happier, what would it be? Give myself more time to work out.

Main Course
Which adjective do you find yourself using often?
small "little"... Yeah talk about a contradiction! I laugh every time I use it.

Dessert
Have you ever picked up a hitchhiker? Nope, not too into being that adventurous with my life.

Since it's very sunny in Vancouver today, I was inspired to find a great photo from March 4, 2003 in Montreux. Spring is definitely in the air here which makes me more than happy.

View of Lac Leman from Upper Montreux.

I'm So Lucky

Last night after a long day, I came home to a nice package. Unfortunately the package wasn't a living being, but I was still smiling from ear to ear even though I was home alone. P treats me so well and surprises me with such little things that mean the most. Inside was a delicious pastry for dessert and something for the next day. What was inside wasn't what was important, it was the gesture. P is so wonderful and I love him for that. :) I'm not traveling like a lot of other people I know, but I still have a lot of things I need to accomplish. So I'm off to think about that.

Catching up

Is it just me or did anyone else remember it was a new month. Wow February went really fast! Fast enough to get one 7th grader thinking yesterday was the 29th.

I've found a couple of really cool stories and links so I thought I'd do a bit of catching up today.

1. First off, if you'd like to see a Brits story on how he was accepted into Fasnacht, you can check it out on his blog. It's really interesting and insightful on all of the work that goes into the few days of celebration every year. He'll probably have something to say during the Basel Fasnacht too!

Here's the URL just in case (http://www.rebgasse.com/reblog/?cat=6)

2. Yesterday I was fortunate enough to see the face behind Elmo, which was incredibly interesting. I guess if anyone wants to know more info I can leave that upon request in the comments.

3. New procedures are going to be taken to combat crosswalk injuries in the Swiss zebra crossings. If you are a driver, this is a good article to read because new fines are going to be introduced which could effect you.

I'm sure most everyone is in the same boat that they have been extremely busy and are trying to catch up on blogging and reading. I'm finally catching up too! And still dreaming about having those yummy pancakes!