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 :)