Facebook killed my blog. Then Zynga killed my facebook. Farmville ate my whole life for a while, but I’m over that now. I’ve got too many more important things to do! I don’t want to make dramatic resolutions and say, “Everything’s going to be different now!” But, well, everything’s going to be different now! I’ve found an easy way to share my blog entries on FB, so I’m going to test this out and hopefully bring my blog back to its intended purpose.

It’s nice and quiet around here at the moment. My family went skiing for a few days, so I have the place to myself. It’s amazing what I can accomplish when I don’t have to stop every few hours to feed people. Making progress on my book again, and hoping to get some other projects back on track soon. I’m grateful to be in good health again, and I’m going to start working on my “winter poundage” today. I’m always at my max weight this time of year, thanks mostly to the gifts of Swiss chocolate I receive! So, an hour on the bike, then an hour in the tub, sounds good.

Wishing everyone a good slide into the new year, and a happy, healthy and prosperous 2011!

Spring Break was typical–too short! We/I …
* stayed at Mom’s,
* hung out with Steve,
* played mini-golf with James Dylan,
* had a mini Fat Kid get-together at Jake’s,
* enjoyed Easter at Mom’s,
* took off with Nanette,
* had a dinner date,
* bar-hopped in downtown St. Pete with Cameron,
* visited with my uncles and aunt,
* stayed a few days at the beach,
* played poker,
* went dancing,
* ate lots of great seafood …

The trip home was very atypical. Our plan …
Friday
1:30 pm – depart The Lane
4:00 pm – depart Tampa on a half-empty plane for Boston
7:30 pm – depart Boston for Zurich
Saturday
2:00 am (Eastern, 8:00 am EuroTime) – arrive Zurich

Our reality …
Friday
1:30 pm – depart The Lane
2:30 pm – dash between JetBlue and Delta counters trying to find seats to Boston or New York
4:30 pm – depart Tampa for JFK
7:30 pm – arrive JFK, dash to Swiss counter to try to get seats to Zurich or Geneva
9:30 pm – depart JFK for Hilton Hotel
Saturday
3:30 pm – depart Hilton Hotel for JFK
6:00 pm – scored three Business Class seats on a flight to Zurich that they told us was full, saving us another hour and a half waiting for the Geneva flight
Sunday
2:00 am (Eastern, 8:00 am EuroTime) – arrive Zurich

The flight to Zurich was wonderful! The new plane had only been in service a couple of days. The Business Class seats reclined into beds, and the bathrooms were so shiny! I watched a great movie called “Seven Pounds” starring Will Smith, and even managed to sleep a couple of hours, even though I had lain in bed all day at the hotel. The overnight stay helped a lot against jet lag.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Finally! The days are longer than the nights! How happy I am to come into the light half of the year! My family is off in Adelboden, getting in their last skiing of the year. I’m enjoying the free time (no cooking!) trying to catch up on updating my transfer to my new computer. I got a beautiful new 20″ iMac as a Christmas present. Didn’t get it til last month though, because I was stuck in preparation mode. Had to clean off my desk first! Didn’t make much progress, though, until the iMac arrived. It sat in the corner in the box for two days while I did power-decluttering of my office. Since I was still using the old Mac OS 9, none of my programs and not many of my files could transfer to the new Mac OS X. I’ve had to learn a new system, new programs, redo databases, etc. It’s a ton of work, but worth it! And the toys on this computer are incredible!

But I’m not spending all my time sitting in front of the computer. I’ve found and adapted a system for “home management” (http://www.flylady.net) and am taking better care of my health. Through simple but regular attention to what I eat, how much water I drink, and how much exercise I get, I’ve dropped those annoying extra pounds I’ve been carrying around the last few years. Getting back to my pre-pregnancy weight by Easter is a doable goal.

Then it’s off to Florida to work on my hair, skin and style! If I can at least come back with a pair of jeans that fit, I’ll be happy. A new bikini wouldn’t be bad, either. We will probably miss the tulips again while we are gone. Shame, because we got three mystery bulbs when we visited Wildegg castle last fall, and I’d like to see how they bloom. Dave will have to take pictures for me.

My sewing machine is a museum piece! They’ve got one at the Museum of Modern Art!

One of the biggest disadvantages of living in Switzerland is not having fellow Gators with whom to celebrate YET ANOTHER GATOR CHAMPIONSHIP! At least I already have my tshirt, thanks to my bro!

I recently heard that Swiss passengers flying to the United States will be required to submit a form at least three days in advance of their departure (or arrival, I should say). The form includes name, passport number and the address and phone number of where you’ll be staying. Okay, we’ve been doing these forms for a while–at check-in. Now we have to do them *three days* ahead???
Really, don’t they have our info in a database somewhere by now? Lulu is on her fourth or fifth passport, because the U.S. keeps updating the paperwork requirements. (Is a hologram paperwork?) And they don’t give out passports for free … She’s been to visit Grandma FIFTEEN times! Can’t we cash in our miles for a Get Through Security Free card?

Lulu went to camp for the first time with the Pfadi (Scouts). She got “initiated” and her Pfadi name is “Glühwürmli” because the light is always going on over her head.
She sang in the children’s choir for the 1.Advent concert, and has been practicing piano. She played a recital, but I messed up the film, turning the camera off when I thought I turned it on, and vice versa. Anyway, she did a great job and we were very proud of her. She plays a lot better in front of an audience!
The rest of the time we spent making Christmas presents, and I will try to get some pictures up in her art gallery.