Back in action ... and playing catch up!

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Smile, laugh, jump ... the camera's been recovered and things are finally a bit settled!  Which means ... it's time to play catch up!  As a short matter of business, I might take this opportunity to address the question of "when I will start telling more about my work".  Let's put it this way, work is great, I really do love it and I would love to talk more about it ... but not necessarily in an "open" online space where my written words have every potential to become eternal history that - should some twisted individual choose to do so - could potentially be used against me in some unintended way (on my part at least).  Soo, if you want to know more, email me!

That said, there's more to life than work!

I am quite proud to say that I "survived" my month-long transitory stay at "The Home", ie the womens' only residence located at the foot of the Cathedral.  Lulled to sleep (or rudely awakened at on the hour, every hour, however you prefer to look at it) by the church bells, it was a bit of a time warp back to the early days of college ... sharing a room with your roommates face a mere 2 feet away.  Thankfully I luck was on my side and I had a wonderful roommie. That said, I don't think I ever would have survived in a sorority.  And did I mention we had to RENT everything from kitchen utensils to the TV remote??  

Apparently I should have taken that slight sign of stingy-ness as a sign though ... the REAL life lessons began after the rental contract had been signed on my appartment.  Yup, here everything comes buck naked ... meaning no lights, no appliances, not even the cabinents stay.  Sooo after a couple long weeks of trying to figure out which fuse might make the stove work, accidently turning off the neighbors electricity several times, long hours assemblying furniture and many more spent at the local hardware stores with a quizzical look on my face as I try and figure out how to ask for a "whatcha ma callit" in French, I've come to the realization that I probably would have done well to have paid a little better attention to Dad's attempts to teach me how to be semi-proficient at home handiwork all those years ago ... 

 Anyhow, my FIRST purchase upon arriving to Geneva was a fantastic BICYCLE,  both as a means of general transportation and as a means of enjoying the beautiful surrounding area.  As luck would have it, the timing of the purchase was just so, that I was able to break 'er in at the Annual Geneva Slow Up,  a popular local bike ride. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous, going through locals vineyards,  sunflower fields and with views of beautiful Lake Leman  throughout.

There certainly is no shortage of beautiful places in the area and, when the sun is shining, it is absolutely GLORIOUS.  Though the season will soon be coming to an end, I have managed to slip in a couple good hikes here and there ... to be perfectly honest, I'm sitting on the couch unable to move after today's particularly gruelsome route up in the French Alps.  Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful ... and complete with wild sheep and mountain goats!

Hopefully there will be many more of those adventures to come ... along with future additions on such topics as "The bizarre world of an expat community" and "We all plan our lives around late night (til 7pm) Thursday shopping"