3 weeks into NO-alcohol-vember

Now that I'm FINALLY over my flu and feeling like myself again, I definitely feel the effects of not drinking alcohol or coffee... more energy, no headaches :)

To be honest I haven't really missed the alcohol, maybe the odd glass of red but other than that not much. The only thing I really missed about coffee was having something warm and tasty to drink in the morning. I've actually decided to stay off the caffeine and start drinking decaf... tastes like coffee without the caffeine, win win!

One week to go of NO-alcohol-vember and 4 weeks to go before we're sipping cocktails on the beach in sunny Thailand!

A week into NO-alcohol-vember

Urgh, not so sure this was a good idea... I have the flu. I can't work out if this flu has anything to do with no alcohol and coffee or from getting sneezed, coughed and snotted on by the germ monsters at school. The season of cold, grey and sickness has returned and I've been booked off work for a week. One flu down, many to go!

Serves me right for detoxing ;)

NO-alcohol-vember

Over the last couple months I've found myself over indulging in the vino, I think it became more of a habit than anything else. I became tired of being tired all the time and waking up with a thudding headache and dry mouth.

Since Movember doesn't really apply to girls, except for putting up with that itchy fluff on the top lip, I decided to turn it into NO-alcohol-vember... no alcohol AND coffee for the month of November. That makes for a very long month.

See you on the other side!

Thailand for Christmas

About a months ago the husband and myself started talking about what we were going to do for Christmas. We could feel the Swiss winter sneaking up on us and the last thing we felt like was another cold, dark Christmas. We had a couple ideas, visit family in LA, stay in Switzerland and do the Glacier Express, Egypt and the late comer to the list, Thailand.

To help us make a decision we drew up a spreadsheet to compare expenses and duration of stay for each destination. Surprisingly, or maybe not, staying in Switzerland and spending 3 nights in the Swiss Alps worked out the most expensive. Next came LA and then Egypt, Thailand worked out the least expensive for the most number of days... how could we say no to that, add in the sunshine and beach and Thailand is our winner :)

Once we made our decision we booked flights with Swiss and Stu got in touch with a place he stayed on Ko Phayam, Ranong, Bamboo Bungalows whislt he was volunteering in Thailand a few years back. So flights and accommodation are booked, and then the floods hit. We are watching the situation closely but we are confident that we will be ok as long as BKK remains open!

So very excited to get to Thailand and relax for 8 days.

Norma Elizabeth Peckover

On June 15, 2011 I lost one of my most favourite people on this earth... my granny! She had a spirit like no other, you could always be sure she would tell it to you like it was and the stubbornness would shine through constantly!

I miss her incredibly... I miss hearing her laugh, her hugs and her greeting me with, "Hello my Robs". I miss making her laugh so much she would wet herself. I am very sad my children won't get to meet her but thankful she did get to meet and bond with Stu and was there to witness our wedding. My birthday has just come and gone and what hit me hardest was the fact that a birthday card from her didn't arrive... she really is gone!

Granny, you are always in my thoughts, love you lots and lots.

I left my wisdom in Budapest

My wisdom teeth have been a constant problem in my life since they first peeked out my gums 7 years ago. Whilst living in Colorado I had one removed because it was impacted and causing infection. Over the summer it was finally the turn of the remaining 3 to be ejected from my mouth.

Living in Switzerland is an expensive habit and when it comes to dental work, it's extortion. Stu suggested we go to Budapest to have my dental work done. So I did some research and got a few quotes back on having 3 wisdoms removed and a laser teeth whitening done. The quotes were cheap, we worked out that for the price of having 3 wisdoms removed in Switzerland we could get a week holiday in Budapest for both of us including the dental work. I booked an appointment with Kreativ Dental, found a cute little apartment, booked plane tickets and off we went.

The dentist office was very professional and pretty fancy complete with huge fish tanks, comfy chairs and an internet cafe. The dentist was friendly, spoke very good English and had a pretty good sense of humour, thankfully! The whole experience as far as the dentist is concerned was painless and cheaper than expected, but the pain was extremely painful and left me looking like a squirrel smuggling nuts.

Budapest itself is a beautiful city... so cosmopolitan in some ways and very much third world in others. Unfortunately the weather wasn't kind to us and it rained almost everyday but in hindsight it was probably for the best as I was in so much pain I didn't really feel up to sightseeing. I can't say this was the most memorable trip I've ever taken but it served it's purpose and I am not wisdom free :)

Spring has sprung

My blog posts seem to move with the seasons and with the threat of summer in the air i think it's time for another post (although I really should be posting more often), especially as i'm sitting on my balcony in a patch of sun. The last couple of weeks in Zurich we've had more and more sunshine and less and less cold and grey which makes me happy :) all the trees are starting to get their shoots and my spring tulips are growing fast! With Spring/Summer comes a change of atmosphere in Switzerland, the country comes alive with people spending as much time as possible outside... cafes sprout up all over the place, late picnics by the lake, frisbee in the park and of course, braais on the balcony... Summer in Europe rocks :)

Stu and i are looking at our options for our European summer holiday this year and although I would kill to chill out on some tropical island somewhere, our holiday this year has to unfortunately include some dentist work for me, so it looks like Budapest for us but we plan to extend it to include Vienna and Krakow as well. Anyway for now it's just in the planning phase, so we shall see what we come up with :)

I'm going to get back to soaking up the sunshine... have a fantastic Sunday :)