Fall is here

Tuesday, October 3, 2018

We have our first taste of fall here in Baar (our village in Zug) too. The Swiss are not a hearty folk and they are already bundling up in their puffer jackets and hats and mitts. It's 8-12C!! Are you kidding me?! I think it is similar to in KW that the weather seemed to change overnight. One day we had the heat, and then it was cool...just like that. Fall is my favourite season, so I am always happy for the change in seasons...it's not that I don't like the other other seasons, it's just the freshness and crispness of fall is so beautiful after the heat and heaviness of the heat in summer. And then the colours of fall give way to the whiteness of winter! I don't know what it will be like here  -I don't know if there will be the colours the same way, and there won't be the constant white of snow either, except in the mountains, so this will all be new.

The girls are settling in better now. They each had a week long trip with their school last week: Shannon went to Albania, and Sarah went to Lake Garda, Italy. Shannon's take away was that the food at the hotel wasn't very good but the kids were a great bunch. Sarah's take away was that she got to know the other kids better and she is making friends. It's a tough transition at times still, but they are managing, so I am thankful for that.  They are still trying to figure out who to hang out with - who could be a friend....that is hard at any age, but especially hard in the teenage years, I think...hopefully they will find their common "people" and feel comfortable. I am recognizing my changing role as Mom - here, I am definitely more of the food and shelter provider (ie: cook and clean) and less of the wise woman that I want to be seen as! The teenage years....could I have done this emotional roller coaster to my own mom? Ugh, Sorry Mom!!!

The dealership opened on Monday and Justin has been working so hard and so many hours. I am so proud of him and the first couple days have been successful so I am happy for him as well! The whole month of October will be a lot of hard work for him, I think, so we've all put plans more or less on hold and we live for the Sunday family time together hiking, biking, and relaxing a little.

With this weekend being Canadian Thanksgiving, I wasn't sure if the family would want to celebrate it or not. Well, it turns out they want to! So we're getting a ham (turkey is very hard to get), and 2 other Canadian families (Justin's colleagues here) are coming on Sunday. It will be great! And we've also decided to have friends over on Saturday night (tonight) and I'm doing 3 chickens (just to get enough meat!) and stuffing, cranberry sauce, the whole enchilada!! I got a little crafty and purchased 2 vases and candles from the second hand store here in town. I put a sunflower into an empty wine bottle to go with it. I thought it looked subtle and nice, but Justin's reaction right away was to tell me that it was exactly that kind of crap that he doesn't want in the apartment. UGH!!! Are you kidding me!!??!! To me, this place needed a little something to make it more warm and cozy! And he feels like it is just junk!! He must have seen my face crash because he told me that at least he loves me more than he hates the crap....I'm not quite sure how to interpret that, but I took it as a declaration of his love for me. (Finding  that freaking silver lining is sometimes tough!!!)