Fly me to the moon......

Squeal of delight!

Happiness is....

This past weekend, six lovely ladies took a very well deserved trip to heaven. Oops, sorry that sounds like we died but I’m just trying to paint a picture of how beautiful Interloken and Lauterbrennen was.
We stayed in an adorably warm and cozy cabin that had a bed almost as comfortable as bed hole with a gorgeous view of the Jungfrau and a magical waterfall. With the exception of running to catch the train (why do all of my stories include that?) it was the most relaxing weekend I think I’ve ever had. It was especially nice because this is the last time that Nadia, Nicky, Natalie, Sasha, Melissa and Caroline will be able to travel together because very shortly some of the group is moving on to bigger and better things.
OH, and most importantly, Sunday morning we went PARAGLIDING. 1000 feet up in the air over mountain tops and lakes with handsome Swiss men strapped to our backs. It was Nic and Caroline who suggested it, and we all managed to peer pressure each other into doing it all the while talking out our fears such as:

Nadia: “What if I pee my pants?”
Natalie: “You won’t pee. And if you do, I have an extra pair of pants. But I won't be able to give you your dignity back. You'll have to earn that.”

Sasha: "If I die, I need to guys to go to the apartment before anyone else and hide anything that could embarrass my parents."

Natalie: “If I die, tell Linda the Annual report is saved on the G drive and the printers at Villiere are expecting a high resolution print-ready PDF with a 5mm bleed on each side before 5:00pm on Monday-
Everyone: “STOP TALKING ABOUT WORK!!!”

Now for pictures: I will explain more about the flying process later. I must go. I have heartburn.

Pink is the new Prague

Prague: Czech it out (I just can’t get enough of that pun apparently)

I spent Easter weekend in Prague with Nadia, Aaron, Melissa, Caroline, Nicki, Farhad, Megan and Lindsay. We took an overnight train there and back (13 hours in a teeny tiny room)…

Prague is stunningly beautiful. We all had a great time! I love the rich colours, the textures, the buildings, the water. I love it! Aaron, Nadia and I found a great English speaking church to celebrate Easter at and we just spent the whole weekend touring the city, checking out the largest ancient castle in the world and eating food that I will dream about for years (Beer Chili Goulash anyone?? Soooo good).

The hostel we stayed in however was far from “soooo good”. It was actually quite terrible. The four girls had their own room, Far and Nic shared a room and so Aaron, Nadia and I decided to take one for the team and stay in the 8 person dorm styled room. We shared this smelly compartment with 2 super gross Italian guys and a man who was possibly suffering from some kind of horrendous lung condition. This did not make for a good night sleep. The Italians snored like chainsaws being operated by angry Velosoraptors and Mr. Lung Condition coughed up juicy internal organs every 12 seconds. Yeah, remember my post about having super sensitive hearing? Helen Keller wouldn’t be able to sleep in this room.

The first night Nadia and I were lying awake starring at each other at about 2:30 in the morning completely in shock at the cacophony of noise. Finally, Nadia couldn’t take it anymore. When Nadia gets tired/hungry/angry suddenly her language turns into some kind of English/French/Italian/Mumble/Grunt combination. “I need…throw at… something… Monsieur, Tournez-VOUS!! … Ehn…. Must sleep…Arghy… Meh.. Boh….Heeeenh!”

So I toss Nad a bag of garbage (It was either that or my blow dryer, thank me later Italians) and I will forever have this image emblazoned on my mind: A furious mumbling half awake Nadia sitting in bed in a psycho-rage tearing and balling up garbage and throwing it at Italian #2. Probably out of exhaustiong I started laughing so hard, I couldn't control it. Somehow I guess we thought that hucking a dumpster at these guys would improve the situation? The next night the exact same thing happened only Nadia climbed over Mr. Lung Condition’s bed and pulled off Italian #2’s blanket at which point he sat up. Nadia, in a Mission Impossible action-type moment, dove across the bed and pretended to sleep. Again, so incredibly funny because the guy clearly saw what she was doing. Anyway, enough about the hostel (did I mention it only had ONE shower for the whole place). More Prague to come......

Steady As She Goes

After a long day at work, if I know that I’m going somewhere other than home, I like to touch up my make up on the bus. Nothing extravagant, just the basics. I’ll sit near the front of the bus so that people don’t have to watch me do this. Today, we were at a stop and I was putting on a bit of eyeliner. Suddenly I realized, ‘Why aren’t we moving?” The bus driver was waiting for me to finish putting on my eyeliner before leaving. That is REALLY nice! I’m perfectly capable of not poking my eyes out, I’ve been doing this sort of thing in cars for years; and usually I’m the one driving. I got the giggles though when I realized that a bus of like 30 people was being held up because the bus driver thought he was saving me from a life time of Braille and foldable walking sticks. So I put the pencil down and the bus driver smiled and said something to me and then drove off. I picked out the words "Madame", “Tres” and “Dangereux”. But I don't speak French, so his message remains a mystery to me.

If you need me, I'll be in my bed hole.

I’ve often noted that living alone has resulted in an unprecedented level of bizarre concessions that I make based on the fact that there is no one to answer to, but me. For instance, I put a bit of polenta in everything I eat… I just like the texture. I have a towel in the middle of my floor because whenever the song “I don’t need a man” comes on French MTV, I stop everything I’m doing and do 50 crunches. And I have a little white sign taped to the top of my door handle that says “Wallet, Bus Pass, Keys, Lipstick”.

All of these things I wouldn’t do if someone else were here. (probably)

My latest concession has to do with my bed. I have a large queen sized IKEA bed. I only sleep on a quarter of it. Ikea beds often have planks that sit across the bed frame to hold up the mattress. Somehow about 5 planks have come out of place. Because of this, my mattress sinks in there until it’s stopped by the pull out mattress under my bed. I’d just like to explain, that my bed isn’t broken, I can simply put the planks back in, but words can’t even explain how comfortable it is to sleep nestled in this divot. I once walked into my bathroom at home and found my cat lying in the sink. I finally now understand why she did that. The same concept is employed here; only my cat is considerably dumber than I am.

I curl up in my bed hole every night and fall asleep immediately; I am starting to get worried that I may never be able to sleep on a straight surface again.