The first picture was actually taken by The Medium Swede in the driveway of our old house on October 5th just before we left for the airport. King (you can see his glowing eye between the girls' heads) was already packed in his crate, and I was saying goodbye to my (VERY pregnant with Finn) sister Diana, and a very sad looking Kiera and Fiona. I tried to get Dominique to pose, but she was too excited about going for a ride. Little did she know what the next twelve hours would hold in store for her. Since the picture makes me feel sad, I don't really like to look at it too often.
This second picture was taken six years ago today, and it is the first picture ever taken at our house in Reinach. Our furniture hadn't arrived yet, so we ate sausages and tomato/mozzarella salad off of paper plates. An upside down cardboard box was our dinner table which Mrs. TBF had decorated with some votive candles on a paper plate. Dominique, the airplane ride already a distant memory, was 100% focused on my sausages while King, semi-traumatized by the trip, was hiding in the basement behind the water heater. Yes, we had no furniture...but we had a Swiffer dammit!! I'm not really sure what was going on with the unzipped fleece/Tom Jones look. Perhaps being so close to Mrs. TBF after being apart for so long was making me warm, or maybe it was from the constant struggle of keeping Dominique from snarfing up my sausages in one gulp - who knows? It's all one big hazy memory. I was exhausted from all the last minute stuff one has to do when moving overseas, and I was delirious from jet lag.We originally thought we'd be in Switzerland for two to three years and then return to Chicago. We never would have guessed that we'd be here for six years. How much longer will we be in Switzerland? Where will we go next? We don't really know. However, I'll tell you one thing (and I've already told Mrs. TBF)...
We're beginning our seventh year in Switzerland...and I'm beginning to itch!
17 comments:
Wait till W is out of office if you go back to the States. Not that I would, but hey.
Why don't you tell everyone what you gave to me to return/get rid of for you? Do you remember?
Funny. I've been here nearly seven years...and I'm itching like crazy, also!
DP - That's kind of been my goal all along. We're kind of hoping that the next place we live (whenever the heck that is) turns out to be someplace other than the U.S. However, we're pretty sure we'll end up back in America at some point.
TMS - All I remember giving you was my cellphone. Didn't you give it to a charity?
I've been itching for a while, so I know the feeling. But soon enough, we'll be back in Canada. I wonder how long it will take for the "next itch" after I'm there.
BTW, I think no beard suits you much better :-)
TBF, you had something that our bowling partner gave you that you wanted because you were no longer working.......
That Mrs. TBF. She can make a banquet out of anything, can't she?
BTW - I will totally knit you some Big Finn socks. You wear a 46 shoe? 48? My husband wears a size 46 and I can measure the length of his foot and go from there.
Talk about flash back!
But man, you've gotta go to the store to fix that itch. :=)
But I'd agree with CS, no beard suits you quite well.
I must say, really I think you look younger and mrs TBF hasn't aged a bit!! Seriously...
I've been studying the pictures and I come up with the following assessment.... It appears that you were either dying your eyebrows and beard or you are dying them blondish now? I have been thinking of removing my goatee as well. I heard a comedian recently who said, goatees are out and only 40 year old men who are trying to look young wear them. Ouch babe, that hurt and hit a little to bit close to home.
Time really flies, doesn't it? I've been living overseas for 8 years now and it seems like I just left yesterday.
I've been here for *16* freakin' years now, scratchin' away...
Being an expat can get old after a while.
TBF, you lied when you said you would be there only a short time.
Sorry I missed your calls yesterday, we are potty training the new pup and I was bathing Scout when you called.
GO BEARS!!!!!!!!!
I noticed the Swiffer - do they have them there or did you have to import it? I love Swiffer!
I can totally see Dominique running a plan through her head - "Now lets see - they put the camera on timer so once he pushes that button he's gonna be looking the other way for at least 5 seconds...do I have enough time to get in and out without being noticed? Oh damn, why oh why didn't I take calculus when I had the chance...no instead I had to take that stupid obedience class....oh crap I missed it. Well I'll get it next time."
Dixie - Thanks. I wear a 46. I'm looking forward to my socks. Plus, I owe you a prize from way back when you won my "guess the lyrics" contest. Any requests from the U.S. when I go at the end of this month?
CS & ET - You won't like this...I'm planning on growing a full beard this winter.
TMS - No dye job. I was 38 in the picture, and I'm 44 now...there's a lot more grey in the eyebrows now than there used to be, I spend much more time in the sun now, AND I now have to trim my eyebrows once per week - to avoid having them get out of control - which probably affects the way they look color-wise.
Also, I didn't lie back in 2000...just didn't really know. In reality, I didn't lie - I've never been here for more than a few months at a time. You, on the other hand, lied when you said you'd come visit us.
Michael - Yes, with the popularity of parquet floors in Switzerland, Swiffer is HERE!
Don't worry, Dominique got PLENTY of table scraps and treats in her 14 years.
oh no the goatee - P has one so I guess it can't be that bad..
And as for the pics, it's like pulling teeth to get P to pose for a pic... I don't want him mad at me 24/7 you know!
That was one of the happiest days of my life...when TBF, Dominique and King arrived to join me in our new home. I guess having gone through that long separation, I don't really care where we live next as long as it's together!
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