Monday, February 16, 2004

       I thought things would slow down after the holidays, but they didn't. We ended up being just as busy because we always are trying to catch up with all the things we let go as we celebrated Christmas and New Years. Then Herbert went to Asia for two and a half weeks and my schedule stayed as hectic as when he's here. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I was mostly busy doing fun things with friends. When Herbert suggested that I learn to say 'no', I had to explain to him that I say 'yes' because I want to do all these things.

     There's really only one thing I'm not necessarily fond of... ironing. I've taken on the responsibility of all of our ironing since Herbert's mother got sick. (In case you're wondering, she's doing much better, just very tired all the time.) I thought it would be a simple task that I could complete each week in an hour or so. Boy was I wrong. I found that I'm not very good at it and therefore I tend to let it pile up. At one point it was so bad that most of our laundry baskets were sitting in my sewing room full of laundry waiting to be pressed.  The day I tackled those piles, I was up until after three in the morning. And we're not just talking about a few shirts. The Swiss iron everything - pants, jeans, bed linens, kitchen towels, etc. I think Herbert's mom even ironed our T-shirts and underwear. I draw the line there, but I do the rest because I've found that it really is kind of nice when you hang a fresh towel in the kitchen and it's so wrinkle-free that it looks new.

     Yes, I'm changing. For my American friends, I'm sure it's hilarious to think of me being so domestic. In Minneapolis, I took everything to the cleaners and had a women that came in and cleaned my house every week. Now I iron, bake bread, clean the house, knit and sew. Let's just say life is different here and I'm slowly changing.

     I've even found some time in the past few weeks to add a few things to this web site. I know I usually announce all new things here on the journal pages, but I posted them when I didn't have the time for a normal journal entry. You may have already seen them, but if not, here are the links...

     A new recipe has been added for Herbert's Morel Mushroom sauce:

     Three new photo pages have been added to the 'Life in Oberwil' photo album:

Thanksgiving in Oberwil

The White Elephant Christmas Party

Funny Faces from the White Elephant Party

     I added a story I wrote a few years ago to the 'Misc.' pages. It's a Christmas story which is a little late since today is February 16th, but I did add it before Christmas. I just never announced it. You can find it here:

The Christmas List

     I'm working on a page with photos from our Christmas holidays here. Half of the photos were on a disk that Herbert had in his computer bag. I realized this when he was in Asia and had to wait until he got back this past week. It's almost done and I'll put that up this week.

     The PCB industry in the States has an annual trade show every Spring. Herbert will be going this year and offered to use his frequent flyer miles to take me with him. (What a sweet man he is!) I'm very comfortable here in Oberwil when he travels, but it would have been difficult for me know that he was in my home country and I couldn't be with him.

     It would have also been difficult to go to the States and not see any of my family. We found that I could include a trip to Denver for free on the same ticket and so I'm going there too. Herbert and I will take a few days of vacation in California after the show and then I'm going on alone to Denver. I found out that my brother and his family were going to be in Denver for their Spring break at the end of March and that they were bringing our mom. I think it will be the first time in five or six years that we've all been together and so I decided to stay in Denver from the 1st of March through the first week in April. My son will fly in from Minneapolis for a visit at the beginning of March. It should be a great month!

     Herbert and I leave this Saturday and I'll do my best to add some entries to this journal while I'm gone. No promises though!

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