Swiss Love

Sometimes things are so the same, and it's just so awesome.

Of course - this isn't always the case - and even if sometimes things APPEAR to be the same...they aren't...that's just a fact of life.

But a couple of weeks ago (when the blogging fail BEGAN) my friend flew down from northern Ontario to spend a few days here before she jetted off to Cuba. A friend from the lovely land of Swiss who I spent countless days having adventures, making good food with and complaining to about the horrid slave I had become.

She spent a few days hanging out with her brother in a city not TOO far from here, and then made her way to Toronto before she grabbed another one of our 'Swiss' girls and made their way here to my humble abode.

And as they called me for directions as they drove hopelessly lost through my city I couldn't help but smile. It was typical. The laughter was infectious - I was excited.

I stood on the front stoop waiting for them - and when they finally arrived we rejoiced on the driveway, we laughed and we all were talking way too fast about everything and anything inbetween.

We made our way into the house where we ate too much food. Laughed too hard and caught up on all of the adventures we've been respectively having in our lives since we parted ways in Zurich months ago.

We reminissed, we talked about the future and we clinked our glasses with such familiarity that it was as if we'd never been apart.

It had been months (almost a YEAR) since the three of us had been together...and it was hard to believe that it had been that long..because it was just one of those things that automatically fell back into place.

The house was a little different, the food was a little different and the surroundings were a little different - but us? The self proclaimed 'non sexual, heterosexual polygamist love triangle' - we fell right back where we left off. It was as if the last 9 months hadn't happened. As if we were back sitting on the edge of lake Zurich, meeting in the hauptbanhof for a night of freedom, or watching Marissa roll around on the floor because she'd eaten too much and didn't know how to stop and was now writhing in excruiating pain while eyeing the chocolate fondu sitting on the kitchen table.

It was so familiar. It was so lovely...and at a point...we all just...stopped. Looked at each other...and were like..this is weird. In a GOOD way. But still just...weird. How is it possible that things just slip back to where they left off? That we all still had so much to talk about? That we all loved each other just as much as we did a year and a continent ago? It was so nice to just surround myself in the warmth of people who I love, who understood what I was thinking before I said it...who love me unconditionally and laugh at my stupidity at me with me.

Now all I need is for someone to fly my (preggers!!!) Aussie to me, a couple of gals to the east and perhaps a Kiwi or two and I'm set. For REAL.



Oh the triangle - LOVE!



I love Jenn for many reasons - but probably the best one is the fact that she would play tradsies with me for gelato in Prague. Yeah we did. Mango and chocolate? BEST COMBO EVAH.



<3<3<3



Some of my faaaaaavourite Swiss girls - I couldn't have survived without them - and miss them so!


Europe withdrawal symptoms suck. And they never seem to go away...but the longings for those friends? Those friendships? Killer dude. Killer.

Life Is Good

This weekend was a long weekend in the 'great white north'...you know...to celebrate a queen who died a LONG ASS TIME AGO in a country that isn't our own.

We're cool like that - don't judge.

I don't usually do anything for this long weekend - and spent the week thinking I wouldn't really do anything and wondering if tentative plans with some friends might work out or not...by Thursday night at like, midnight we were trying to rush and figure out and finalize what we were doing for the weekend, if anything.

Thus, our plan went a little like this:

Erin: "Whatcha wanna do this weekend?"
Carly: "Absolutely nothing"
Erin: "Wanna do it at the cottage on the dock?"
Carly: "YEP!"

So we went. We ate WAY too much food (95% of my pics from the last two days would make you go NOM NOM NOM and then drool.) and played games, we talked until I basically lost my voice (I now sound like a pubesent boy...for realz.) and sat on the end of the dock reading trashy magazines that I haven't read for so long.

It was just the two of us and we laughed, shared stories and chit chatted until what felt like forever. It was relaxing - we did virtually nothing except chill on the dock, go for walks and sit on the deck.

It was exactly what I needed and I'm SO glad she made the trek the three hours to my cottage to visit! It always amazes me how much we have in common, how we can talk about nothing and EVERYTHING and NEVER run out of things to talk about..how it's never awkward or weird and we can just swap stories about things that have been happening in our lives like we do it on a daily basis...we can talk about travelling on our european adventures. (which so few people really GET) We can talk about our families and our lives and the things that are going on in them, and we can talk about politics and world events and things "that we've read...somewhere".

It was exactly what I needed - A weekend to do..nothing...with one of my favourite girls EVER. Even though we didn't REALLY take advantage of the long weekend and she headed back today instead of us staying another night it was just...perfect.



We chit chatted in the living room with a fantastic view



We ate icecream



We took cute pictures - to prove that we were both there ;)



We chilled in the beauty of the cottage on the dock!



AND - We played with fire!

It was a perfect weekend.

But even more perfect? We're having dinner with the fam tonight - With nothing less than surf & turf, laughter, carrot cake AND fireworks - the perfect end to a perfect weekend.

Life is good folks - life is good.

Turn That Frown..

I'm living with my cousin right now and it's good - but the thing is...lately I've just been feeling lethargic, tired, like I have the world sitting on my shoulders.

It's draining beyond belief to be sitting here overthinking E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.....ALWAYS.

Then the other night I went out to dinner with a couple of friends of my cousins that were in town for a night from Halifax and we laughed, chatted and shared stories like we were old friends - even though I'd only met them mere hours before. It was so nice to just relax and chill and enjoy each others company - even though they weren't old friends...we just got along so well and it was such a nice enjoyable evening.

To be honest - I needed it.

Things in so many places of my life have just been such high stress situations lately that I needed a place with people in which I could just be myself and enjoy myself...and I took full advantage of that.

It was the perfect evening....good food, good company..and one liners that had you trying not to pee your pants. Even some coming from ME. Yeah. ME! Who knew that exhaustion made me hilarious?!

It felt like one of the few times since I've been back in North America that I've actually....been myself. Really, truly and honestly been myself. No holds barred, not overthinking everything I think or say or do and actually enjoying myself instead of trying to convince myself that I'm enjoying myself. It was amazingly refreshing, revitilizing and eye opening.

Eye opening because I just realized how much I need to take deep breathes, how much I need laughter in my life and how happiness is worth more than...anything.

So that night, while I was falling asleep with a smile on my face...I made a decision; To be happy, to smile, to embrace all of the good things in life and discard the rest.

Life is just too short. There are too many things that aren't worth it. There are so many things that I want to do, to be, to love...that I don't have time for the stupid things...it's just not worth it.

I mean...for crying out loud...I'm TWENTY FOUR and have my ENTIRE LIFE ahead of me.

I can be whatever I want, I can do whatever I want...I'm in control of my life...I can choose to not let the crap get me when I'm down. I can choose to smile and have a conversation that brightens my soul. I can CHOOSE to be happy and enjoy the good things...and I WANT to do that.

Then yesterday, I proceeded to talk to some wise older-than-me women who confirmed what I thought. Who gave me the courage to go forward and not feel selfish for feeling the way I felt. Who re-affirmed the good things, clucked and told me it was all okay, that it would all be okay, and that it was just a part of growing up. Who talked to me as if I was their peer, instead of someone 20, 30, 40 years their junior. It was refreshing to talk openly with people who GOT it. Who understood what I was thinking, what I was going through and who shared my thought process. People who I could have these fun chats and debates with, who I didn't feel were bored with what I was saying or wished that I would talk about something a little...less intense.

I just feel like this massive shift is happening in my life...and even though I despise change...for once...well...I'm a little excited. But that could just be the exhaustion speaking....I'll keep you up to date.

The Addict

I'm getting a little frustrated.

You see - I've been hooked on a few too many tv shows. Quite frankly, I blame Europe.

Don't understand my logic? WELL - Try working a split shift EVERYDAY FOR WEEKS STRAIGHT. You work from 7am until 9-10am and then from 4pm until 10pm (or 11, or 12, or whenever the hooligans felt like falling asleep, doh).

Point being - IT MESSES WITH YOUR MIND.

Then - don't have a weekend off - no, just work through those too - oh - but work 12-18 hour days instead. And for fun, let's throw in a day of skiing through the Alps (I know, boohoo me) and overtired children and needing to be a zombie.

It means that you need distractions. And because you've got from 9-10am until 4pm OFF of work, everyone back home is just starting their days. If you're lucky you catch someone at 3am before they've gone to bed (doubtful - but amusing when it happens) or they sign in just as you're heading off to pick up the kids from school. Not so good for the social life - and since everything in Switzerland is SUPER EXPENSIVE - your choices for doing anything or going anywhere are pretty darn limited. Like - super limited if you want to have ANY money left over for your awesome weeks of holidays - which is the real reason you're there anyways - so you're trying not to blow it on on a five dollar CAN of coco-cola (True dizzle - I once did this.)

So I spent a lot of time moaning and complaining to my nanny comrads (love.) and watching far too much illegally streamed tv. Thank YOU, Megavideo.

But after watching the one or two shows I watched on a regular basis I got bored. I read of course, and talked on the phone, walked around the village, took some beautiful photos - and then was like...hmm...I gots me another 49 weeks to kill...what in the world am I going to do during the day?!

So I started watching tv shows - and I'm pretty sure that all of us slaves did it. We just watched seasons - we'd start with episode one and go from there. Wherein I got absolutely HOOKD on some really funny tv. Amusement was key to my lack of explosions on small children - so really, it benifited all.

Except that now...well...I got hooked. On hilarity - which is good - but also on some REALLY AWFUL AWFUL tv shows - some of which are SO BAD that I cannot even name them here. Luckily, those ones have gone - but the decent (erm..half..decent) ones have stuck - and I'm still watching. Hours of endless amusement mean that I spend far too much of my life being a zombie - but a zombie that is laughing so hard she's trying not to pee.

Fair tradeoff if you think about it.

Man - I type a lot.

Point is - it's that time of year when seasons end - which mean - GASP! AH! SIGH! Cliffhangers.

Don't get me wrong - I love me a good cliffhanger. Well, Actually...I don't...because then it means that I have to wait 734108741208 years (Real time: Approximately three months) until I get to find out what happens. So I understand in theory what they're trying to do...and I don't mind..it's all part of the biz (I'm so cool with the lingo)

But here's my bone to pick - Seriously.

WHY DOES EVERYONE HAVE TO DIE.

Why does every ad for every cliffhanger I see involve someone dying, almost dying or some sort of deathly situation. WHY?

I don't like death. It makes me sad. I don't like being sad. When I'm sad I stop what I'm doing and hide.

I don't like when characters I love die.

I don't like when characters I love are sad because people that character loves died.

It's not fun. I don't find it amusing...and I'm getting fed up with it.

Is that all that shocks us anymore? Death? And it can't even be a 'normal' death - but it has to be something so extreme and out of the ordinary that it's unbelievable - that shock, horror and awe sells I suppose...but...there's just something that makes me cringe. That makes me run. That makes me hide...and makes me go and watch How I Met Your Mother - where the worst thing that happens is that, well, it's five years later and he still hasn't met Mrs. Right - Oh well, so sad. We all know that he's going to meet her EVENTUALLY (the kids kinda give it away) and that there will be hilarity and possibly a slapsgiving or two along the way (If you don't get that reference I demand that you go and watch the show starting with season one - NOW.) Or perhaps I'll go and watch The Big Bang Theory - Because man..those nerds are ridiculous and hilarious. Sometimes I'm watching and I will just burst out, full fledged, can't help myself laughing and it's awesome. No one DIES and it's not sad - and guess what - I'M STILL WATCHING.

I'm almost about to veto watching the drama's I'm hooked on.

Except that I need to know that Bailey's okay.

And Pete and Violet just need to kiss and make babies. Again. For real.

*sigh*

My name is Erin - And I'm addicted to WAY too much HORRIBLE television. Eck.

Murphy Strikes Again

After my first run in with Murphy I had a little bit of a bone to pick. So last Thursday I was prepped. I was ready. Murphy was GOING DOWN.

I showed up and it was a beautiful day. It was so beautiful that I was convinced that Murphy had run off, scared, with his tail between his legs.

Cocky Attitude? Mistake number one.

I set up, had everything ready to go and was enjoying the beautiful day.

Just as I was about to admire that it was a much nicer day than the previous week, the black clouds came rumbling in.

And how they rumbled.

But I was like...pshawww...no worries...Murphy pulled this trick last week - He's all cloud and no rain.

More Cocky Attitude? Mistake number two.

As the raindrops started to fall I scrambled for cover. My tables were right near the edge of the tents, and I feared for my precious jam labels safety. I quickly moved my tents out, so that I didn't have to move my tables with tons of glass bottles on it - and I thought I had him fooled.

Just when I was about to pat myself on the back, my words came back to bite me - and suddenly drip drip drip came THROUGH the edges of my two tents that I'd squeezed together, directly onto, yep, you guessed it...my jam labels.

Feeling like a fool, I rigged up the edges so that no drops came through.

My genius was pretty full of itself and was feeling mighty fine and the rest of the market was uneventful. My labels stayed dry, I had some good chats with my farmers market neighbours and ate some somosa's. Mmmmmmm...somosa love.

Thinking that the score was Erin: 2, Murphy: ZERO I was about to do a happy dance as I was taking down my tents.

I shook off the rain water as I was about to take down my tents, lowered one of the legs - and realized that Murphy had somehow held some water back, and as I tried to take down my tent...poured the water DOWN MY BACK.

I finished packing up shivering, cold and wet..and re-evaluated the score to be a tie.

So Murphy - If you're reading this...please know that I've come to grips with the fact that you may possess some powers of awesome...and can make my life...yucky...if you so desire. So please take this as my white flag. I'm throwing in the towel. We're tied, and that's that. Should you decide to pop your head over to this neck of the woods this week, you can be sure that I hold no ill will towards you and am ready to make peace. So if you could bring a bottle or two of sunshine - I'll take that as your peace offering and maybe we can have a nice summer together afterall.

853

Yesterday I was driving down a main street in town. It was a one way street, one that some of my favourite girls from university lived on. I was driving - la de la - when out of the corner of my eye I glanced towards the house where they use to live was.

AND SAW A GIANT HOLE WHERE THE HOUSE SHOULD BE.

The house where we had birthday parties, talked until all hours of the night and danced in. Where the floors slanted that odd sort of way, and the cupboard doors opened on their own. The house that there are so many memories wrapped up in, and even though I'd "said goodbye" to that house years ago, it still choked me up to think that it was gone.

What were they doing? Trying to change the whole street? I thought to myself as I continued driving - first they tear down the crazy ladys house, and then they tear down 853!? How COULD they? Sure - it's true - the floors were definitely anything but level - but that's not a reason to BULLDOZE A HOUSE.

I couldn't help but get a little teary eyed to think about that house being gone - and had to make sure it was really gone - so at the next corner I turned and made my way back up the other one way street. As I sat on the corner waiting to turn I tried to catch a glimpse of the house with my lower lip pouting in a vibrant display of how much change sucks. Then I rounded the corner and a giant tree (that I definitely don't remmber) clouded my view. I pulled over to the side of the road and sighed.

But it was a sigh of relief - as I had pulled right infront of the still-standing, perfectly in tact, slanty floors and all house.

Turns out my peripherial vision SUCKS and I had mistaken the hole where the crazy ladies house was for my beloved 853.

Yeah, I REALLY need to get my eyes checked.

The Rumour Mill

I live in a small town. It's actually smaller than small, but either way..it's tinsey-tiny. There's not a lot to do here. Most people tend to venture into nearby (relatively) larger towns and cities for any sort of entertainment or attraction. Unless you're looking for chinese food (we've got the best - go figure) or you're here in the middle of the summer. Then we're hot stuff. But regularily? When it's not cottage season? Yeah, people are not so excited to be in these parts.

Especially if you're a local and haven't got one of those there fancy bajillion dollar cottages.

That being said - there isn't a lot to do here. We have three restaurants that are seasonally opened, a hardware store, a grocery store and a liquor store. Oh - and we have two convience stores - each that rent out movies. I know, stop the excitment - it's almost too much.

So people get bored. And when people get bored..they talk. And when they talk..rumours fly. And when rumours fly...well...there's usually at least a hint of truth in them.

That being said - I never really realized just HOW fast they fly. When you're in your own little bubble and think that you know what's going on in your life and are keeping it pretty personal - and suddenly EVERYONE KNOWS.

And I mean EVERYONE.

Everywhere I go, I'm asked if it's true.

And oh man - Do I enjoy messing with peoples minds. It's pretty amusing to watch them drooling to be like...CAN YOU CONFIRM THIS RUMOUR!? TELL US THE DETAILS! And then sit and give them little scraps and bits of vague details until they're practically drooling and begging you to just let them know.

I'm a sucker for torture. In the gossip mill sense at least.

When I head off to a farmers market or am doing an errand in town I'm asked. When I got my hair done, when I was talking to some media reps...they're all curious and digging for dirt. Even strangers have taken to asking me what's happening and I'm like...HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS RANDOM INFORMATION ABOUT ME WHEN I HAVE NO IDEA WHO YOU ARE?! Suddenly when an old relative on my mom's side who lives on the other side of the country (literally) starts inquiring as to whether or not the rumours are true - it's just too funny. How do these rumours spread SO far and SO fast!?

Ah the life of a small town celebrity is so taxing - so many people who want the gossip - so little time.

Bawhaha. Yeah, right.

Small towns amuse me. Especially their gossip mills.

Now if only I could harness this wildfire gossip mill for advertising purposes...I'd be set.

And a bajillionaire.

Okay - back to work on THAT now.