Elsewhere

So my mum called to complain about the lack of posting. Well OK, she called for Lukan's birthday, but she also wondered whether I'd written anything lately over at the other blog, the one about living in Switzerland. Which I have, but that gig and other work - plus Téo going back to school, which apparently means I get to spend every night covering books, as well as a superhero party to organize, and an absent husband for most of last week, oh and the babysitter who just failed to show up - left me without much time for posting over here, sorry.

Actually, I had a whole post written in my head last week, but given it was composed at 3am on the 3rd night in a row in which I did not sleep - DID NOT SLEEP - it's probably just as well I never got around to typing it up.

Well maybe I'll just share a bit of it with you. You see, I was under the impression that the taking of opiates left one rather relaxed. Barely conscious even. Isn't that what books and films portray? Dreamy, blissed-out people? Perhaps even drooling? Well, this was not my experience after taking codeine-laced cough medicine. No dreaminess, no bliss, no drool. No coughing either, so yes the medicine did work, but what's the point of not coughing if the medicine leaves me so wound up that I CANNOT SLEEP? Constipation is another side effect I could do without. I guess really, I should thank my body chemistry for reacting like this, as it most definitely discourages me from downing cough medicine for recreational purposes, but at 3am on the 3rd night of not sleeping I was not feeling so generous.

OK back to appeasing my mother. At the other blog, I wrote about:

• Houses
• Not being myself (my favourite)
• Shops being shut
• Weddings
• School
• School again

Hope you enjoy!

It's my Buzz Lightyear birfday!

And then a superhero party!

Happy 4th birthday my little big boy wonder!

Five years later

...and still going strong.

The Swiss side is winning

Today, upon seeing a certain sport on TV:

- Hey mummy, why are those men snowboarding on waves?

There and back

So yes, I did it again, disappeared into the ether, not even a Facebook of a warning. Sorry.

We were away again, this time in blustery, drizzly, chilly, but still somehow sun-burny England. Thankfully far far away from the riots, in Cornwall:

And then around a bunch of stones:

With a fairy godmother!

More photos on flickr one day soonish.

Now I'm off to eat vegetables. And fruit. Lots of both. Because after a week of English breakfasts and pub meals? I have a serious craving for raw and crunchy.

Next steps

We had a chat at the shop. A chat about how if he likes the pink gumboots the best, then he should most definitely choose them. How there are no right or wrong clothes or colours, how we should wear what makes us feel good. But also how he should be aware that some people think pink is only for girls, and when we do something that runs against what people think, well then, those people may say something. Something not very nice. So if he wants the pink gumboots, then he needs to be strong enough to not care what other people say.

- I'm strong enough mummy, I am, I'm strong enough.

Snapshot catch-up

1.

So it's summer, and the school holidays, and that means swimming lessons! Only, the hot weather stopped when the holidays started, and even with a wetsuit it's only been warm enough for three lessons. Is my child ever going to get past learning to kick on his back?

2.

I was at the Japanese embassy the other night, supping on sushi and tempura on the Lake Geneva waterfront in a beautiful mansion (in the original, not Japanese, sense of the word). There's no picture because that would just be gauche, dahlings, and in any case it was pissing down rain so we were all kind of huddled and shivery and not looking as splendid as we otherwise might. 

But the cold meant that when nature called, I was warmly and very welcomely reminded of a quite lovely Japanese custom: the heated toilet seat. And looking for the toilet paper, I was reminded of another: the built-in bidet. It was somehow even more amusing in English. 

3.

I have a bike! My mum's not here any more so there's no picture of me on it, but still, I have a bike!

I have to admit, I was a little nervous hopping on, it being 11 years since the last time I rode a bike, back in the day in Japan. But it turns out it's true what they say about bikes and never forgetting. I felt like I was flying.

4.

And where did we go, on our first - and, thanks to the near-incessant pissing down rain, only - family ride? The village shooting festival! You can read about it here.