Bluebird's Nest

As I wrote about in this post, the tweenager made it to the provincial level for competing in the Concours d’art oratoire on Saturday.

We had a huge day. We awoke at 5:10am and were out the door by 6. Onto the 7am we went and hit the buffet. Delish! Thanks mom for springing for this. Off the ferry and first stop was the new Ikea. It looks way more massive than the original Ikea but once you get inside, it’s really just a maze isn’t it? I’m going to write about my trip as it definitely wasn’t as stellar as I had expected but I’m not going to taint this blog post with my unhappiness.

After that visit, we were off to SFU at the campus in Surrey. I adore this campus. The architecture, the mall underneath the university, the ambiance… it’s wonderful.

Cool lost and found!

SFU architecture

SFU architecture

We had a couple of hours to kill so we grabbed a drink and the tweenager and my hubby hit the mall while myself, the wee babe and my mom hung around in the main area.

The wee babe had had a nap on the way to Ikea but it was really only a half hour so she was a bit owly but FULL of steam. She didn’t stop moving except to eat and sleep. Seriously.

Getting ready for opening ceremonies

The opening ceremonies started at 1:30pm and then we were released to our rooms. One of the students that competed with the tweenager was there last year too. We all took a seat (except for the wee babe and my hubby who was pushing her around in the stroller trying to get her to fall asleep so he could bring her into the room and watch the tween’s speech).

My big girl was #5. After 2 people had gone, my hubby returned with a sleeping baby. As the competitors went up one by one, I couldn’t help feeling a little more and more nervous for my tween. Eventually, it was her turn. She killed it! All the practice, blood, sweat and tears paid off. There was only one moment where she forgot where she was in the speech but other than that, it was perfectly presented. Nice and slow, a beautiful accent and confidently delivered.

The competitors

Shortly after that, it was finished and not a moment too soon. The wee babe promptly woke up the exact moment we were released from the room.

Then we had an hour to wait and figure out amongst the other presenters if our girl had a fighting chance at winning. We were sure that she would place within the top 3 and even confident that she could bring us back the gold medal.

Waiting...

Around 4:10 the start the awards ceremonies commenced. First grade 6 (luckily we didn’t have long to wait to find out!). Then grade 7. 3rd place went to Ryan on “Is there life out there with us in the solar system?” The anticipation builds. 2nd place goes to Alexander on “The Northern Gateway Project”. We begin to squirm… is it going to be her? And then “First place goes to ‘the tweenager’ for “Mon adventure en Suisse”"!! Yaaa whooooo!!!! Up she goes to receive her medal, get a photo and receive her envelope filled with $50!!

First place winner in 7th grade francophone category!

And so that’s it. She’s done it! We’re over the moon with pride, she’s smiling from ear to ear and all that work, and dedication has paid off big time!

Once it’s over, we head back to the ferry and catch the 7pm home. It’s been a looooong day, but so so so worth every minute of it. We celebrate as best as we can on the ferry, congratulating over and over again. We’re all so incredibly proud of our little girl.

I look forward to what next year has to hold.

Good job my tweenager.

Proud girl!

The tween after delivering her speech on water bottles in Vancouver last year.

Last year around this time, my tweenager competed in the concours d’art oratoire. I wrote about this and about being proud of my little girl. She did her speech on water bottles and how terrible they are for the environment. Since then, I have been very aware about our consumption of plastic water bottles and always trying to use reusable ones. Thanks for opening my eyes up to this, JJ.

This year, she wrote her (almost 5 minute) speech on Switzerland: the mountains, the schooling, and the food. It was kind of a given that she would do this since she just experienced 5 months there first hand so what better thing to talk about. Her speech is wonderfully written and you can tell it come from the heart.

So this is how the concours works:

1. Write speech and practice speech until you know it without cards and can deliver it soley by memory.
2. Deliver speech to your classroom of students. Compete against those in your category (the concours is split into Francophone and French as a second language. The tweenager is Francophone since she has a native French speaker in the house and she speaks French in the family. Last year, she was the only one in her grade that was competing in the Francophone category. This year, there was one other in her class.)
3. Find out what you received as a mark. Based on this mark, it is determined whether you move onto the next round which is competing at the school level. (This year her and the other Francophone student both moved onto the school level and competed against each other again.)
4. Deliver speech to judges, parents, and students in all 3 grade levels at the school level.
5. Find out if you came in first. She did!! Congratulations!! Woot woot!! We just found this out yesterday so we’re really very excited.
6. Deliver speech to judges, parents and students in your grade level but from across the province in VANCOUVER at SFU in Surrey on May 5th.
7. Win.

But really you don’t need to win because you’ve already won in my heart honey. Just seeing you moving through each level, practicing, getting better and better, hearing you’re beautiful French, seeing your confidence, and going on this journey with you, is all I’ll ever need.

So so so proud of you hun. You’re amazing.

Reflecting… reflecting on leaving that part of my life behind. Not having a house to come back to, to pick up where I left off when I get back there. It’s really the end of one thing which is sad but also thoughtful.

Leaving

I enjoyed spending the time and watching my wee babe grow and learn everything that she had to learn from 6-12 months. I loved seeing her with her grand parents, aunty, family, friends, etc… She might not remember them soon but they sure will remember her. I’m positive that they will live on in her heart somewhere and there will always be a part of them with her. A familiarity when she sees them next. It was so utterly sad leaving my in-laws house knowing that we were taking her away from them. I couldn’t hold back the tears.

For the tweenager, I always say she had the most beneficial time. Growing her language skills, having to make new friends in a new school system in a foreign language. I’m so proud of her for all that she has done. Thanks to her, we have about 10 songs that are our theme songs for that time in our life so I will always remember that time when I hear them. She has grown up so quickly in the last 6 months and is not the same girl that left on our trip across Canada.

I’m so happy for my hubby to go back home and see his family and friends and show off his new littlest girl. You could see the joy in his face and the skip in his step when he knew he was heading up the mountains to go snowboarding. Who gets to take 6 months off and then head back to a better paying job?

As for me, I loved every minute of it. It was cleansing, rejuvenating, inspiring, fulfilling, motivational and challenging. I would highly recommend anyone to try to live in another country for 4+ months. It’s a lot of work, research and commitment to get there, but it is so absolutely worth it. I miss it dearly and I would be lying if I didn’t say that some days I just want to go back to our little apartment overlooking the lake and the mountains. We have plans though… plans to one day make it back there. Plans to get the wee babe in school over there because there is a lot more $$ in Switzerland for education then there is here. A lot. I keep asking my hubby if we can buy a house over there so we can move back and forth and then it doesn’t seem quite so over when it’s over. We shall see what the future holds for us.

Coming back

I’ll blog about the airplane trip(s) soon so I won’t get into that, but let’s just say it was about the worst experience on a plane that I’ve ever had. I was worried for the wee babe but I think I should have been more worried then I was. It was a terrible horrible no good very bad thing.

My feelings on coming back. It’s so damn easy to slip back into your life after only 6 months. You just unpack boxes, schedule appointments to get your life back into order, reconnect with friends and family, start working again and voila! You’re back at it.

The wee babe has gone through some changes with a new daycare, being sick, a new language, bad cheese (we are still buying expensive (was cheap) Swiss cheese as she really only likes that compared to the orange crap we have here), a new house, new bed, new time change, more rain than she’s ever seen, and she’s handling it all quite well.

The tweenager has fit right back into school, she’s top notch now in French, and has been building her life here. We spent so much time together that I feel ok with her spreading her wings.

The hubby started up his new job in a new building with new co-workers. Even before we got back, his schooling at Royal Roads had started and he was fully into the swing of school life as soon as we got back. I don’t know how he works all day and then studies all night. Must be because he has such a supportive wife He’s dying to go back too but has to finish school first. We have a 5 year plan.

All in all, things have morphed quite smoothly. People ask me if it was hard to transition back. Not really. The hardest thing is when you know the sun is shining over there and it’s raining here. It’s enough to make you wonder why you live here. I’m not sure who coined the phrase “Best place on Earth” but they might have been smoking something funny at the time.

I miss the friends I made, the family that touched our life, an everything that Switzerland is now to my family.

Writing this has given me closure and has been very therapeutic in feeling like that part of my life is complete.

And after 3 months I can safely say – we’re back!

6 weekends. That’s all we have left.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about coming home. I feel like I’ve been gone for so long and it feels weird on all sorts of different levels.

I think about leaving here. I have a life here now. Ok, so maybe I don’t have a lot of friends – to be honest with you, I’ve enjoyed being alone and just spending time with my family. I think I may wish or regret that I didn’t put myself out there a little more than I did but at the same time, I’ve really enjoyed watching my tweenager grow (let’s face it, she’s not going to want to hang around with us for much longer) and spending time with my wee babe in her first year. You know what they say: time flies by in a rush so enjoy every minute of it.

I think about leaving my hubby’s family. I really feel like the relationships that I have with his friends and family has grown as well. Especially his parents. We Skype with them almost every day and it seems like we’re spending every weekend at their house for sleepovers. It makes me think about how we won’t be spending as much time with them in 6 short weeks and how they will only get to see their grandbaby through Skype. This makes me sad.

I think about how it’s hard to have two people come together who are from different countries and raise a family together. I think it’s maybe more difficult for the grandparents as one set of grandparents miss out on the grandchildren more than the other one. In a perfect world we would live 6 months in Canada and 6 months in Switzerland. But the world is not perfect.

That gets me thinking how lucky we are to be able to come here for 5 months and to be able to provide the grandparents here, a strong memory of their grandbaby’s first year. It makes me happy that they got to enjoy that. And hopefully a memory strong enough for the wee babe to remember them when she sees them on Skype from the other side of the world.

And then I think about going home. What is life going to be like when we get home? I go back to my job, the hubby starts a new one, he goes back to school full time, the tweenager is in middle school, the wee babe in daycare… Same old same old? In a way I hope not. And then I ask myself, how do I want life to be like when we come home?

I think about what this adventure means for our family. Are we destined to travel the world with our kids? We sure have shown ourselves that it’s something we can do; we all are adaptable. How has this experience changed us? me? I don’t know if it’s possible now for me to stay in one place for the rest of my life. I want to be able to experience different things, challenge myself, push my comfort zones, give diverse experiences to my children.

I want my life not to be mundane and ordinary.

And then I think about my hubby and I’m happy that I married the man that I married because I think in the same way that I feel, he maybe feels a little like I do. I hope he does at least.

And so we’re coming home. We’re going to be adding on a bathroom when we get home. My hubby’s family will be visiting in the summer which won’t seem like that long away until the wee babe sees her maminou and papinou again in real life. Life will continue to go on, we will celebrate the wee babe’s first birthday when we get home and my 37th in February.

But I refuse for life to be usual and predictable. I choose for life to be full of experiences, adventures, and worthwhile relationships. I choose for it to be stimulating, nurturing, and above all else, I strive for it to be amazing.

I’m getting excited about Christmas! Not unlike Robin at Farewell Stranger, I’m one of those people who frowns on seeing Christmas post December 1st. I shake my head at the decorations that go up more than a month in advance and the commercialism that surrounds us way before it’s needed.

But something is different this year. Maybe it’s because I’m on maternity leave and I just want to celebrate something. Maybe it’s because it’s my wee babe’s first Christmas. Or maybe it’s because we’ve come all the way to the other side of the world to my hubby’s native land to see just what it’s like over here at Christmas time. Whatever it is, I’m digging it this year.

Last year we didn’t even put up a tree. I think the tweenager was a little disappointed but I was hugely pregnant and I just couldn’t fathom taking down a tree right after giving birth. This year we aren’t going to have a tree either although, I would really like to get a little decorative tree with lights that we could put on a table to admire through the holiday evenings. It has to sit on a table to get far enough away from the destructive reaches of the wee babe.

I am thrilled that we actually have REAL mistletoe hanging in our hallway. I don’t think I’ve ever seen real mistletoe! And my hubby and I take advantage of it whenever we can.

I understand that December 6th is a special day in Switzerland. I hope that my hubby is going to do something traditional on this day for the tweenager and the wee babe (hint hint hubby).

There are decorations throughout the streets of our town and the neighbouring towns. There are craft markets happening everywhere. The sweet smell of cinnamon and nutmeg linger in the air. We will be visiting Santa on top of Rochers de Naye AND he will be arriving in Vevey by helicopter on the 21st.

There’s so much to see and do here and it’s all within walking distance which makes it really cool to check out without having to plan a whole day around things.

I’m not really a big Christmas baker but I was thinking of doing up a few oldies but goodies to get us even more in the holiday mood and remind me a little bit of back home (cheese sticks sans orange cheese, ginger bread men and maybe some shortbread).

I’ve heard some Christmas music in the malls and I’m really looking forward to hearing some Swiss Christmas carols (do they call them that?) that I’m not familiar with. I have yet to turn on the Christmas iTunes but it’s not far away I assure you.

Me thinks me and the tweenager should do up some Christmas crafts that we could normally hang on a tree and decorate the apartment with them to make things a little more festive at home.

I’m a little sad that I don’t get to make hand-made Christmas cards this year since all my craft supplies are back in Canada but we’re going to try it electronically this year and we’re going to have a little fun with it! I hope our family and friends enjoy it. I’ll post it up on the blog when we release it.

What’s in store for us on Christmas eve and Christmas day? I’m not really sure yet but I’m sure that we will be spending it with family. It’s been 7/8 years since my hubby has been home for Christmas and I’m positive that he’s going to want to spend it traditionally with his family.

What I’m the MOST excited for is seeing a real Christmas tree decorated with REAL candles! Every year the hubby turns up his nose at our twinkling lights strung around the tree, and reminisces about holidays past where there has been real candles on the tree. I always admonish him about the dangers of fire on an evergreen but he ensures me, it is fine. This is the year, my friends, that I get to see this in action – and I can wait!

Regardless, I’m really looking forward to the memories that we make this holiday season with friends and family and new Swiss traditions that we hopefully can take a little bit back to Canada with us (maybe not the the candles in the tree though ).

And then once we’re back in Canada we get to do it all over again with my family! Two Christmas’s is not too shabby!

What traditions are you looking forward to this year?

So we don’t have a car. Which makes getting around a little tricky. Luckily, the weather here in Switzerland is downright amazing. Coming from the wet coast where I understand it’s snowing as I write this… I look out my living room windows to the gorgeous mountains facing me, blue lake, cloudless sky and dread just a little bit to return to Victoria. I’ll have to get the sun to send me a postcard when I leave here.

Anyway, back to the no transportation. In order to take advantage of the beautiful weather and scenery, we walk around the area.

When my mom came to visit 2 months ago, we walked to Montreux. We also did a photo shoot around Vevey. She’s as big into taking photos as I am (maybe even a bit more!). It was a peaceful, warm sun filled day, both days.

Additionally, our family caught a bus to Chateau de Chillon and then walked back beside the lake – it was stunning. Although, I think I can’t take any credit for the photos on our walk from Chateau de Chillon – I’m pretty sure it was all the hubby’s handiwork behind the camera.

And there you have it, three photo galleries for 3 amazing days. Enjoy

Montreux

Vevey

Chateau de Chillon

This time we drove clear across the little country to Valbella taking in Zurich for a couple of hours along the way. We did a 4 day excursion which was simply breathtaking.

We began on Monday morning (yeah I know, why do I travel on Mondays here???) and drove to Zurich for lunch. It poured like it did in Strasbourg. Wowzers. But it was really nice as we got to catch up with an old friend of the hubby’s, Maxim.

We tried to find some postcards for friends but everything cost way too much (sorry friends!!) so we bailed on that idea and headed back to the car to hit the road.

On the way we drove through typical picturesque lush green valleys. Not unlike how the book Heidi depicts. When I mentioned that I thought it reminded me of what it must have been like for Heidi when she lived in the mountains, my hubby replied that in fact, there was a place called Heidiland coming up and we needed to stop for gas there! I took some photos.

Back on the road and up through one of the crazy typical Swiss mountain passes where everyone goes mock speed and you can pass, but the roads are as if you took a pen and scribbled all over a piece of paper. I can hardly believe you can pass people on these roads. I did it once and it freaked the bejesus out of me.

We stopped in at a little meat and wine store where my hubby picked up horse sausages. Don’t ask. And then off to grandma’s house.

Ok, so grandma’s house is a 200 year old chalet in Valbella. This place is amazing and it’s just reeking of history. I kept asking my hubby about what he knew about the area 200 years ago and how the house came to be, etc… but he wasn’t able to tell me much. What’s even more interesting to me is that the house has been passed down from generation to generation. The original owner was not in the family but his grandma’s grandma bought it and renovated it in 1924. Too cool. You just don’t find houses like that in Canada.

We had a wonderful dinner after getting re-acquainted with her and then a splendid walk around the area. My hubby rehashed memories he had as a child growing up. The tweenager begged to come back there in the wintertime. You see, Valbella is well known for its ski resort. I would love to see it covered with a blanket of snow. We walked by a wonderful lake that I understand freezes over in the winter and you can cross country ski on it. I just love it here. It was a bit cold but really, compared to Victoria for 8 months of the year, it was nothing.

We awoke in the morning to a wonderful breakfast of bread and jam with coffee and then we got ready for a beautiful day. The sun was shining and the mountains were beckoning us. We took the bus to the bottom of the chair lift with my hubby’s grandma and then we embarked up the mountain on the chair lift. Up to the top and it was a balmy 23 degrees. No need for a sweater

We had a lovely coffee with grandma and then we said goodbye to her for the day. She is close to 90 years old and she gets around very well!! She headed back down the mountain and we headed up a bit and then off to the right.

Ok, let me try to do the scenery justice by explaining to you how beautiful it was. Try to imagine lush green rolling hills set against a mountain. Facing the opposite side is a valley where there is a beautiful lake and then on the other side of that is another gorgeous mountain range. There are cows everywhere with bells so the faint ringing of cowbells surrounds you. Butterflies fly by frequently and trickling streams seem to be around every corner. The path weaves up and down, the sun is shining brightly and there’s a fresh mountain breeze whispering through your hair. It’s almost too much to really comprehend how incredible you feel as you trollop through the mountainside.

We stopped for a picnic to take in the view.

All in all I think the walk was about 2 hours to get down the mountain. 2 glorious hours.

We continued home and we then ate some chocolate and said hello to grandma. It wasn’t long before the tweenager was asking us if we could go back to the lake and rent a pedallo. So, off we headed again and this time her and I took to the lake for a half an hour while the hubby and wee babe relaxed along the side of the lake.

We headed home and had a light meal that the hubby’s grandma had prepared. It was the perfect day. I must give it to my Swiss mister. When he plans a day, he really knows how to wow the pants off of me. I’m rarely disappointed when we take to the road, lake, sea or mountain as he has prepared.

After putting the wee babe and tweenager to bed, we chatted with grandma a bit about the house and area before we retired to bed as well.

The next morning we awoke, had breakfast, gathered our things and said good bye to grandma and hit the road. This was supposed to be our last day on the road but there were other things in store for us.

To be continued…

For this post, I wanted to capture a photo of each of my family during the summer, having fun.

First up, the wee babe. Here she is enjoying some carrot goodness.

This is the hubby, at the beach wearing some seaweed for hair. Incognito.

And the tweenager smiling with the huge lobster she’s going to devour later.

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All photos taken by myself, Robin Howe, and copyright 2011 by Robin Howe.

This blog post was inspired by You Capture | Happiness

As you may know, we’re getting ready to put our lives on hold for 6 months in about a month and a half now. We’ve been preparing and preparing. Today, I spent a portion of it going through old cards and letters that had been collecting in a pile on the side of my desk and in two shoe sized boxes.

I’ve been putting this off and putting this off as I didn’t want to delve into my past. You see, I kept a lot of memorabilia from when I was growing up. Cards, letters from friends, letters from old boyfriends, letters from family, old ticket stubs, newspaper clippings… you get the gist. And I wasn’t really prepared to remember some of those things, those people from my past that might not be in my life anymore. But I did it, I reflected and I’m sure glad I did.

I went on a trip to Australia in 1996. I kept cards that I had received while I was over there that friends had sent me. It was sad to think about the friends that I’m not friends with anymore. Why? Did we grow apart? Did one of us move? Was there a falling out? I’m embarrassed to admit that I’m not exactly sure what happened to those friendships. And it makes me a little sad to remember those people and wonder what they are up to now. We were such good friends before. Through thick and thin – there for each other. And now no more.

And then there are the letters from the friends who I still keep in touch with. More accurately, she’s my best friend. I think about how strong that friendship must be to stand the test of time. How good a friend she is that she is still by my side – I think it’s been 20 years. Through thick and thin. Words can not express how happy and warm I feel when I think about this friendship.

And then I found a letter from my grandfather (whom is now passed away). It was in with my letters that I received in Australia but I don’t remember receiving it there. It was a really nice surprise to be able to read this again and remember him. I’ll keep it out for my mom and dad to read so they can have a good memory as well.

As I moved through the letters, I found all of the love letters I had kept from old boyfriends that I dated in high school and fresh out of high school. I really needed to ask myself, why did I keep these letters all these years? I looked at my baby girl and realized that I’m onto a totally different path now. I’m a different person. I’m a mother not a teenager. I’m not the person I was when those letters were written to me. Why keep them? What do they hold that I still need to feel? Nothing. So I took each and every one of them and shredded them. I feel like that chapter of my life is gone now. Maybe to be forgotten, but good. It was my past and it will stay there.

I then came across some letters that my husband wrote to me when we first started dating. We don’t have many of these in paper form as we did most of this writing on email (and you can believe I’ve kept every one of these emails) but the feelings that were conjured up when I read his words – they made me feel safe and secure and loved. They made me feel like this is the life where I am at now. I sent him a quick text message to let him know that I was thinking about him and that I loved him.

I looked at the baby that we have together and I thought about how I want her and her sister to grow up one day and read some of those letters and know the love that their mama and papa had for each other.

It was a good day. It was a day of reflection, closure, love, friendship, and memories.

A day that I was dreading but in the end it was perfect.

Today is a beautiful day.

Today we supported “Team Owen” and walked 5km’s for Autism Awareness in Beaver Lake. We were joined by many many people. Friends and strangers – we all came together for one common goal. To cheer the people in our lives who have autism.

I felt proud to be walking for our friend’s son.