Laowai

Woo – I have been working hard on Claire's bedroom renovation. This old house is not easy. The walls require so many steps to get them smooth and ready to paint. This morning I've been sanding doors and window frames and I'm a dusty mess.

But I don't want to complain too much because I like having a project and I like showing my house some love. And I am so excited for Claire to enjoy her newly refreshed room. She still needs to finalize her color selection. The walls will be a light blue and the trim and doors will be the bright white that I've used throughout the house. I'm hoping to start the priming on Monday.

Stay tuned for a beautiful new space!

I've been busy around the house this week. Thanks to jetlag I've been getting up early to hack away at our overgrown yard. So many tall weeds choking out the perennials! And today I got my little garden plot under control and planted carrots, beets, basil and radishes. We also have a mysterious puddle in our basement that won't go away so I've been calling on the plumber and the chimney repair guy (fun). And since our basement was such a mess of random things I spent one morning doing a major clean-out (more fun). 

So basically it's more house stuff and less hiking in the mountains around here. 

On the bright side Brian made us a nice backyard dinner. And then as it got dark a big fat raccoon just strolled up behind us like he owned the place. Well I guess he did own the place until we moved back last week. Brian grabbed the lid to the grill and tried to scare him off and the raccoon was completely unaffected. He just kept casually lumbering and sniffing the ground. 

So we high tailed it into the house. Wild America!

Another bright point – we went to the beach a couple times. We swam today and it felt so nice!

On Friday we tried to go to the beach but it was closed so we had a little party in the backyard with the sprinkler.

Here we are having a dinner of good ol' American style hot dogs.

The wallpaper removal continues. We rope in friends to do the work whenever possible.

I got this sweet little chair repaired. Grandma Dice gave it to me years ago – she said it was either her mom's or Grandpa's mom's sewing chair (oops – I can't remember which). Now it lives in our kitchen and I love it.

And now it's August – how did that happen?!?

Ding… ding…. ding

Jump off the couch and get dressed. The knife man is here!!!

It's very old-school, our knife sharpening man. He roams the streets and his cart dings along with his slow gate. He charges two bucks for a big kitchen knife. He's a little gruff. 

The strangest thing about all of this is running down the street with a big knife in your hand. 

It’s hard to be happy about coming to the US right now. Our flight was uneventful but it felt pretty bleak getting off the plane. Well to be honest even in ordinary times the impression you get when you arrive in Chicago is not good. To say the least.

Anyway, we’re starting to get settled in. Getting a car and getting internet service helps. Working in my garden feels good. I noticed dappled sunlight coming in the window and I saw a bunny in the backyard – those are two nice things that I didn’t get at our Switzerland apartment.

And Claire and I have jumped into wallpaper removal in her room. She’s been dreaming of painting and redecorating her room for a long time. It’s a big project but we should be done before our shipment arrives around the end of August.

Well it’s happening. We’re on the move. Our home is filled with boxes and tape and paper… and men. 

I feel pretty expert at moving at this point but goodness it sure is a pain in the butt! It’s physically and mentally exhausting. I worked right up until the packing guys came this morning and now it’s strangely quiet. It’s a lovely day and I’m sitting outside while all my loved possessions get boxed up. I baked some last minute cookies for the packing people – hoping that they would take extra care with all our stuff. I finished my book and then stashed it in a box that hadn’t been closed up yet.

I’m just waiting until I can get on a plane. And I can’t take time to reflect on all the emotions I have about Switzerland and the US and moving because it’s just too much at the moment.

Here’s my post from when we arrived at this apartment almost exactly three years ago. In some ways it seems like not very long ago.

One year ago Jennifer and Jenna were hosting us on their boat in Tawas Bay. It was completely relaxing and so much fun. My favorite memory is all the giggling while we were swimming. The girls were squirting each other with the pool noodles. I can’t even remember why is was so funny but I remember we were all laughing.

I can’t wait to be back to giggling with those girls.

Happy Birthday Brian!

Oh my, we had such a great time on our little vacation!!! I love being in the mountains. I actually forgot all about the minutia of our move. And I took way too many photos.

So here’s a little recap of day one. We went to the bottom of Switzerland, to Arolla, in the canton of Valais. To break up our drive we stopped part way at an interesting town called Avenches. 2000 years ago, Avenches was an important regional Roman capital. We had a nice break exploring the very French feeling town and the Roman ampitheater.

And then after navigating a very curvy little mountain road we arrived at Arolla. Eeeeee – I was so excited to see the beautiful hotel. 

The hotel was first opened in 1896. It sits so nicely in the forest with beautiful views of the mountains and glaciers. I kept the windows open at night so the cool air, the scent of pine trees and the sound of waterfalls could come in. Aaaaah, my happy place.

Up next – some hiking. Yay!

On our first full day in Arolla we took a nice hike right from our hotel. But before I show our hike I have to mention the flowers. There were flowers everywhere! I couldn’t get over it – so much color and so many different kinds. It was magical.

So for our hike we went along a stream and got a closer view of the glaciers. It was a great hike!

There were some friendly sheep. Baaaaaa.