Random ramblings about today...

I know I've mentioned this a million times before, but I started this blog to keep our family and friends updated on our travels and life abroad. So…today that's what you get. Just a post about my day and some random stuff that happened. I know people in Texas are eagerly waiting and wondering exactly what it is that I'm doing over here, especially with BK back in the states without me.

So, here are a few random ramblings from me today…

1. It does not stay light here very long right now. It is really hard to want to get up and walk the dogs at 7:30 when it is pretty much still dark outside. It doesn't really get light out (pink in the sky) until around 8:15, which I find quite strange. It also gets dark pretty early too- around 5pm. Obviously this makes my window to walk the pups pretty small. The picture above was tonight, just before 5:00. I doesn't look nearly as dark as it felt at the time.
2. It's really cold outside. Now, North Texas, I know it's been cold and icy there, but in my defense there is a foreseeable end in your future. Next week when I get to the US the high should be around 60 degrees. Not too shabby. In Basel on the other hand, 40 is the highest we'll see for quite a while. When I walked the boys this morning it was 28 degrees and felt like 25, and tonight when we walked it was 30 degrees and felt like 23. I may have to invest in a ski mask soon to go with my coat, hat, gloves and scarves. It will likely be like this through February. I should remember to soak up the sun while we're in Texas.
3. I cannot find seedless grapes in Switzerland to save my life. I had some at a friend's house the other day, but all of the ones that I buy have seeds. There's part of me that is annoyed by this, but then the other part of me says that this has to me more natural than seedless grapes, so that's good. BK refuses to eat them.
4. Today I signed BK and I up for Planning for Parenthood classes. Exciting, right? I don't know that I would necessarily call them childbirth classes, but I do think they will be much more informative than the hospital information. We'll cover topics about the process of birth, what to expect at the hospital, roles of partners during the birth, what to expect from Swiss maternity system, medical terminology and pain management techniques used here. Some people have said we need about 30 minutes with a nurse to cover these things, but I figured it would be a good way to meet other English speaking parents. And we'll have plenty of time to get to know them…the classes are 12.5 hours over a few days.
5. On the baby topic, another thing that is escaping me here is a rocking chair. Apparently the Swiss hate rocking chairs and don't allow them here. Ikea has one, but it's really deep, not that comfortable and hard to get out of. I went to a number of stores today searching around and have asked quite a few people, and the general consensus is that they just don't have them here. Buying a glider in the US and having it shipped over is looking more and more lucrative.

Well, I guess that's about it from me for now. Until tomorrow :)

This having-a-kid-thing is getting more real!

I'm happy to report that the second hospital tour was much more successful than the first one. Not hard, considering that the first one was a complete fail. And, considering that I only had a ten minute walk to the hospital, I should certainly hope that I could figure this one out.

Like I said, this having a kid thing is getting more real. I think I forgot to mention that BK and I brought a stroller home from the US when we came back this last time. When we were in the US I got a lot of questions like, "Oh my gosh, have you bought so much baby stuff?" Ummm, no. Before buying our stroller, we had literally bought nothing. Some friends here in Basel bought us our first outfit for her after we found out we were having a girl, but that's been it thus far.

University Hospital

Back to the hospital tour. It wasn't actually a tour, but just an information night for English speaking parents. They used to do an actual tour but the people giving birth didn't really appreciate others being paraded around the maternity ward- I can appreciate that. They did do a virtual tour for us though, near the end of the presentation.

I was kind of sad that BK couldn't be there with me, but work calls and I have plenty of materials to fill him in with. We have decided to have Baby K at the University Hospital. Some people in Basel are surprised at this since we have private insurance and can go to a private hospital if we want, but the closest one is 45 minutes from us and takes at least two transfers on public transportation. I just can't bring myself to do it- the ten minute walk (or two minute bus ride) from our apartment wins out.

The information night actually brought up more questions for my doctor than anything else. I think I'm relatively clear on how things will work at the hospital, what I need to do to register and what type of care is provided. I also like the University Hospital because, on the off chance that something out of the ordinary happens, they have additional facilities that can care for me or Baby K very well.

So, here are a few things I learned tonight:

• When we get back from Christmas in the US I need to register at the hospital. This includes providing them with both of our original birth certificates and marriage certificate. Kind of scary to part with these things, but they will be returned.
• When I think I'm going into labor we're supposed to call the hospital to let them know. Based on what we tell them, they'll let us know if we should go ahead and come in or if we should wait a little longer. Regardless, they like you to call so they can have your room and records ready upon arrival. Efficient.
• Private doctors (like mine) do not deliver babies at the hospital. They have doctors and midwives on staff who do that. Interesting. I'm wondering…am I supposed to call my doctor and let her know that I'm in labor? How will she know I've had Baby K?
• Midwives play a much larger role in Switzerland than in the US and are with you throughout labor, whereas the doctor is not- only for delivery.
• The hospital just recently changed their rules so that two people could be in the labor room. I guess this is unlike the US where you might have the entire family cycling in and out.
• Visiting hours are from 11am to 8pm…including the father! Yikes. We can pay extra for BK to be able to stay in my room at the hospital, and I fully intend for us to do that.
• We stay in the hospital for three full days after the birth, but a midwife can come to the apartment for up to ten days after dismissal to check on baby and mom.
• We pick a pediatrician before Baby K gets here, but they also do not come to the hospital. The hospital pediatrician sends them a report after we are discharged.

I think that about sums it up. I need to contact them tomorrow about childbirth classes for BK and I to attend sometime in January or February, and I now have a list of questions to ask my doctor as well. 

One of my biggest questions is…how will I know I'm in labor? I don't have a clue, and BK says he doesn't know either. Hopefully we'll figure it out!

A new perspective on giving

Today is a day where I'm just writing what's on my mind…you've been warned.

This morning I'm working on finish our giving for the year. BK and I are not good about giving throughout the year, so we usually end up assessing things at the end of the year and giving then. That's okay though, it works for us right now. As the family CFO, it's my job to look at what we've done thus far and propose what else we should do.

People give for many reasons, and no one reason is better than another. For me, it's been an interesting year that has given me a different perspective on giving. For the first time since graduating from college I am not working in the field of social work, which has been really different for me. Early in my career, I was bringing home a very measly paycheck and considered the fact that I worked for what I did my way of giving back. Then after a few years passed, I would want to give to whatever cause I was working for, usually giving BK a hard time that he should be more bought into this or that, just wanting him to find something.

I found that for the first time this year, I was able to objectively step back and look at what really mattered to me. I know I keep mentioning myself, but BK has his own reasons for giving to what he likes as well- you can ask him if you want his perspective. For me, I discovered that it was really important to give to organizations that had impacted my life and that I view as helping make me into who I am today. There's also a component of me wanting these organizations to be around far into the future so they can continue to have a positive influence on generations to come.

This hit me when I was listening to someone from one of the organizations speak about why people should give. He said he wasn't going to try to convince us about why we should give, but that we knew what this organization did and the impact it had on both individuals and the community, so if we felt called to give we should, and if not…the organization would still be here doing what it does. I'm not sure why this spoke to me, but it did, and he was right, I did know firsthand what this organization has done and will continue to do.

BK and I both realize we've both been extremely fortunate- not only in our life together, but also over the entirety of our lives, always being (more than) provided for, having loving families surrounding us and being able to experience things many people only dream about (just to mention a few). Considering this, we should give back. It's the absolute least we can do. Time, talent and treasure- these are things that organizations typically need from people. If you can't give one, try to give another. We're not so good at the time right now, but I'm sure this will change too as the years go by.

You may be wondering who we give to. That's not important and you're missing the point. I would just encourage you to think about what matters to you and go from there. You'll figure it out. It took me a while, but I feel like I finally have…at least for now.

Christmas markets in Colmar

Yesterday BK and I went with some friends to Colmar, France to visit the Christmas markets. It's still kind of weird to me that we can just hop on a train and be in another country in less than an hour. The weather in Basel and the surrounding areas has actually been pretty good- highs around 45 or so, but sunny!

Colmar train station

It's a nice walk from the train station to the middle of the city and you pass some interesting buildings on the way.

Former palace, now government building

Water tower

Colmar is an Alsatian town, is very charming and is known for its "petit Venice", with canals going through the middle of town. Our first stop was a late lunch at a restaurant that served regional specialties that was very near one of the canals. If you venture to Colmar make sure to make reservations at a restaurant, as they are nearly impossible to get into without one!

Colmar canal

The whole city is decorated for Christmas, which makes it seems like there is a fair going on all month long, with rides, craft stalls, food stalls, mulled wine, and lots of lights everywhere. Colmar has many little shops that offer handmade, local goods ranging from food to textiles to clothing. Most of the streets in this area are off limits for cars, making it easy to get around.

I thought I would post the picture below…every time I try to get BK to pose for a picture with me right now, the first thing he does is stick his "belly" out toward mine for the photo. We missed the one where he was doing his pose, but you get the idea.

Colmar street

The city looks completely different at night with everything lit up. After our lunch we just explored the town, stopping in random stores and stall along the way, with AH, CH and BK enjoying some mulled wine and me enjoying some hot chocolate. Here are a few pics of the rest of our time there.

We caught the train back to Basel around 7 and headed home. Unfortunately, that also meant that we were then getting BK ready to head to the US for ten days before I get there. 

So, it's just me and the boys this week…we'll keep ourselves busy walking, finishing Christmas shopping, wrapping up things for the year here, various appointments for Baby K and spending time with friends here before heading to the US for Christmas.

Christmas, Christmas everywhere

Today has been a bit of a long day, but I think it's mostly because I'm still not sleeping all that well. Jet lag is a killer to get over right now. Although, waking up in the middle of the night, I have discovered that Baby K likes to move around a lot during that time.

I continued with my Christmas baking, finishing my gingerbread dog cookies and also making cream cheese-filled snicker doodles. Everything seems to have turned out really well, and I'm excited to give these to BK's team. My only quandary now is: should I make something bigger for the entire group that works in the same proximity and with his team, or just stick with his team. They're used to me bringing something on workday five, but there's usually enough for way more than his team. Depends on how fast I'm moving in the morning.

Here's how my snicker doodle baking went down. I don't seem to choose very simple and tidy recipes, but like I said, they turned out well, so I'll happily clean up my mess for a good end product.

Snicker doodle dough, cream cheese filling and cinnamon to roll them in

Prebaking stage- they have to chill in the fridge for about 15 minutes

Cooling on the counter

Cream cheese filled middle

I have to say, I've made these a couple of times, and I really think these were the best result I've had yet. They are soft and chewy and have a quite a bit of the filling in the middle. Yum! I saved a couple for BK and I as well.

The other baking project I finished earlier tonight was icing my gingerbread dog shapes. I didn't get too crazy with the icing- it's just simple white icing, but it looks good and adds a little something to the plain cookies. Now I just have to decide how to festively package these together.

Icing on the dining room table

The other fun thing I did tonight was go explore the Christmas markets happening in Basel right now. In various squares around the city, small booths with crafts and handmade items have popped up, and everything is now decorated for Christmas. I met my friend EJ in one of the markets and we (she) enjoyed mulled wine and winter punch, then had a great dinner at one of the little restaurants that was set up. After dinner we walked around to some of the other areas to see what else was happening.

Here's what Basel looks like during the Christmas season:

Mulled wine stand

Barfusserplatz

Freistrasse

Munsterplatz

That's about it for today…I'm calling it a night. I was hoping to stay up until BK got home from work, but no such luck this month-end. It's always a relief when workday four comes and goes for another month :)

My first book review: "Bossypants"

I'm following in the footsteps of my good friend LD, who is an avid reader and much more regular blogger than myself (hers are short, to the point, and include lots of pics). She often posts reviews of books she reads on her blog, so I thought I would take a stab at it too.

Not too long ago I read Tina Fey's book, Bossypants. I actually read it on the October trip to the US…as in I read it on the plane ride from London to DFW. Yes, in one sitting. That's how good it is. And there were many, many times where I laughed out loud.

This is not my typical kind of book, and I honestly can't even remember what prompted me to download it. I have many friends who I like to say read "smart" books; books that are supposed to shift your world view and enlighten your thinking. Not me, I tend to stick to fluffy fiction that is written primarily about women, issues they encounter, relationships, jobs, etc, etc. I used to say this was because I got enough of the tough thinking in my job as a social worker, but I'm not really sure what my excuse is now. I guess maybe I just like this type of book. Judge me if you want, I'm not all that concerned and will continue enjoying my light, carefree books.

So, back to Bossypants. I loved this book. For me, Tina Fey's style of writing is very readable and sounds like she's having a conversation with each reader, telling them a story. The book is full of humor (not surprising), but also offers up insights about her journey in a predominately male industry that still kind of has to be broken into by women like herself.

I also appreciated her honest accounts of childhood, awkward teenage years (no matter how cool you were, I'm certain we all had them), finding her way in college, marriage and now motherhood. Her chapter on motherhood is There's a Drunk Midget in My House, and even though I personally have not had one of these in my house yet, I feel certain I will fully relate in no time when Baby K arrives. I think I liked it because she's very real about her experience, as opposed to making it this glorious, amazing thing that never has any downside. Yes, I appreciate that. 

Another chapter that I found particularly amusing was the one about her dad. It's not that her experiences with her dad reminded me of mine, but one thing in particular that rang true for me (and my sisters as well). One of her observations about what her father gave her, in relation to what she can give her daughter goes as follows:

"I only hope that one day I can frighten my daughter this much. How can I give her what Don Fey gave me? The gift of anxiety. The fear of getting in trouble. The knowledge that while you are loved, you are not above the law."

Maybe I hope BK and I will give this to Baby K? All I know is that it is well instilled in me. I swear every time my dad calls and says, "Call me back, I want to talk to you about something" I go into a mode where I know I've done something wrong. I am immediately doing a mental scan of things that I've recently done, maybe should have done, or perhaps forgot to do. What could I be in trouble for?

Seriously? I'm approaching 33, have a Master's degree, am married, own property, support my(our)selves monetarily, but still, when this phone call comes, I'm pretty sure I'm in trouble for something. My sisters agree as well. They are almost 20 and 28 and they still do it too.

All that said, I would highly recommend this book. And now that I've scanned back through the pages looking for some of my favorite parts, I think I'll read it again. I'm not sure if men will like it as much as women, but it will provide you with lots of laughs and honest, down-to-earth stories about her life.

I kind of hope she writes another one like it. I'm there.

Let the Christmas baking begin!

Tonight I started on my Christmas baking. It might seem a little early for this, but BK is only in town this week, so I need to get these holiday treats to his team by Friday if they're going to see them before the new year when he returns to the Swiss office. 

Tonight I baked gingerbread cookies, and as usual had to make a few modifications/adjustments due to living here in Switzerland. I can't recall that I've ever made gingerbread cookies, but I wanted to do something "Christmas-y" for the packages I'm preparing. I also can't really recall making Christmas goodie bags with baked goods before either, but I figure I have the time now, so why not?

I started tonight so that my cookies would have ample time to cool, then tomorrow I will embark on icing them. I'm not sure where that will take place, as I have another cookie recipe I'll be working on tomorrow to include as well. I'm guessing I'll take over the dining room table? I can't really think of anywhere else that they will fit…

I mentioned that I had to make a few modifications. I seem to have stumbled upon another ingredient that we can't get here in Switzerland: molasses. Not that I bake with molasses a lot, but sometimes I wonder how people bake over here…no brown sugar, no baking soda and no molasses. At least I remembered to purchase a large box of baking soda when I was in the US recently, so I did have that.

After reading a number of forums online, I decided to try and mix my own concoction of items available to try and come up with what we consider American molasses. It consisted of melasse, the German word for molasses, which is essentially a very diluted form of molasses. It tasted kind of like liquid brown sugar, if that makes any sense, and is sold by the honey. From the label, it appears that people may put this on toast? Not sure what I think about that. 

The other ingredient is British dark treacle. This is basically super-concentrated molasses. I tasted it, and I have no idea what to relate it to, but it would be something that doesn't taste all that great. My homemade molasses turned out great though!

Creating molasses, and yes, it looks like some sort of tar

One of the other first steps is to soften the butter to blend with sugar. My only problem? No microwave, and I forgot to set the butter out ahead of time. My solution? Turn on the oven and just set the dish in there for a couple of minutes. The key here is not to forget about it and let it become melted butter. Also, just for the record, nothing I make is diet. You should let that expectation go.

225 grams of butter (1 cup)

After everything is mixed up, you have to let the dough sit in the fridge for one hour (giving me time to take the boys to pick up BK from work and do some ironing), then you can roll it out on a "lightly" floured surface. I never really know how much to put on the counter, but I figure better safe than sorry. 

Rolled out dough with cookie cutters

Since we've been in Switzerland the dogs have obviously been a big topic in our life, with many people hearing about our ups and downs with them. I thought it was fitting to make gingerbread cookies with various dog shapes, such as a dog, a bone, a paw print and a heart. Hopefully BK's team finds this amusing.

Just before heading into the oven

Another good thing about this recipe is that the cookies take virtually no time to cook in the oven- about 7 minutes total. I was worried about the small cookies cooking faster than the bigger ones, but it didn't seem to be a problem. I was hoping to find a weenie dog cookie cutter while in the US, but no such luck. That might be a good stocking stuffer for me (hint, hint).

Cooling on the dining room table

The last thing for tonight was to let these guys cool. Like I mentioned above, tomorrow I'll embark on icing the cookies. The recipe says to work fast with the icing, as it dries fast, so my guess is that I'll have to do a couple of trial runs, which I have a feeling may be a little frustrating for me. BK will be working late, so at least I can be alone when I go a little crazy because my icing is not working as perfectly as I want. 

Think positive thoughts! I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow :)

Frogs, frogs everywhere

Maybe a more fitting title for this post would be It's a small world after all.

BK and I just returned to Basel after about a week in the US for Thanksgiving. At the end of our trip we were able to catch our third TCU football game (in person) of the season, and a funny thing happened while we were sitting in our seats for the first time.

At the beginning of the game, I was kind of wondering if the people who sit in the seats near ours were wondering why various people had been cycling in and out of the seats. BK and I heard them talking with the people in front of them (they were all together), and they mentioned they had an 11 flight the next morning.

This peaked BK's curiosity, as we're quite familiar with 11 hours flights. So, BK leaned over to the husband and said, "I heard that you have an 11 hour flight tomorrow, where do you all live?" And what was the guy's reply…SWITZERLAND!

Seriously? 40,000 people in the stadium and BK and I are sitting next to the two people who also live in Switzerland. It was pretty funny to lean over to them and reply, "Us too." They were surprised as well. Turns out they have lived in Zurich for about six years, but are transferring to New York in January.

Moral of the story? No matter how global the world becomes, it remains a small world indeed.