We're No. 6! and a bit of babbling......

From the recent Bloomberg Business Week article on 10 Costliest Cities in the World by Venessa Wong:

"No. 6: Zurich

Quick lunch: $32.90
Beer at a bar: $10.54
Kilogram of rice: $3.70
Dozen eggs: $7.90
Movie theater ticket: $19.60

The financial sector is an important part of Zurich's economy and the city is home to the Swiss Stock Exchange and companies such as Credit Suisse and Swiss Re. Zurich is also a major transportation hub. Mercer ranked the city second in the world for quality of life in 2010, but such a high standard of living does not come cheap: Zurich jumped to No. 6, from being the 10th most expensive city last year."

The Costliest city this year was Tokyo. It's sometimes hard to explain why we obsess a little over the cost of things. Or why I cringe when I make bank transfers between the US and Switzerland right now - although there will be no more. We feel like our friends and family look at us like we're crazy people with the amount of shopping we do when we're in the States. But when a tall cappucino, no frills, costs 5.90 chf (about $6.50) at Starbucks in Zurich, you feel like you ought to buy the house a round when we're in the States.

Even my dad commented last November on how much food at the grocery store costs. And, we need so many things when we go back. There are many things we did not replace or have used beyond their normal life expectancy because it was just, in our mind, too costly here. So, the US of A should experience a little uptick in the economy when we get to the house. Bart's already made a list and budget - we've been planning this for years. He's already been doing his part.

Did I mention he bought the washer and dryer? I have not seen them. I actually don't know what color they are? I'm assuming he bought white? Or the red? :) I gave him a list of brands I would and would not like and a few guidelines and he did the rest. Washed his first loads yesterday and is very pleased with how quiet they are. Good thing considering their location - next to family room/kitchen.

Where was I? Oh - expensive. I have come to one conclusion however: cheaper is sometimes just cheaper. There are two specific brands of items I can compare between Switzerland & USA - one is clothing and the other, shoes. I have for a few years bit the bullet and bought some Tommy H---iger clothing here. And they seemed different. I started comparing quality of fabric, design and manufacture location. The items I buy in Switzerland are often made in Sweden, not certain Asian countries - fabric and cut were definitely different. Another was shoes - a Spanish brand, Un-sa, are made in Spain or Portugal for sale here (and very nice)whereas when I checked in the US on our recent trip, they were made in China - not so nicely made. And the leather was completely different. When it comes to our consumer goods, sometimes cheaper comes with its cost - products are "cheaper." But it comes down to priorities and what one needs/wants as well. Here - we tend to buy less but it lasts longer. And we buy less 'cause it's the 6th costliest place to live.

Oh, I'm rambling when I really should be finishing the inventory list. I have a week left and I've just written a silly economic/fashion observation post.

We are doing fine and are crazy busy. I'm sorting (luggage, Air Freight and Sea Container), trying to dispose of unnecessary items, getting the garden in order and trying to motivate the girls to get their rooms sorted as well. Bart has a client in the middle of an IPO (Initial Public Offering) and is trying to support us from afar until he arrives again. It doesn't help that the phone hook-up got messed up and he still doesn't have phone/internet from the house. He hops over to Starbucks when needed (often right now due to the IPO) to use the wireless. He's also looking at cars. If he doesn't buy one today, we'll have two to buy when we fly back. OY!

I have to have everything done to accomodate appointments, leaving parties for the girls, coffee's, final dispersal of electrical items, return of instruments :( and make sure there are no Verboten items getting packed. And a Baptism on Sunday - next week, Rachel, and our last Sunday at IBCZ. Good thing I'm still in Robot mode. Wondering when the fascade will crack?

We took a little break - Italia!

OK - I wanted to start my post above the picture but the computer won't let me. It won't let me italicize 'above' either. Pretty much everything has taken a turn south since I upgraded to Explorer 9 and the new Yahoo Mail. The keyboard constantly freezes on me - but only in Blogger and Yahoo. Grrrrrrr......

That's not what this post is about. It's about ITALY! Long ago when we figured the Ascension weekend (4 day weekend for school) would be our last opportunity to travel, Bart asked me where I'd like to go. I wanted to go back to Italy. The people are ALIVE, the food is great, it might, just might, be warm and we just really enjoy it.

So he booked us a weekend in a little seaside village called Santa Margarita Ligure and spoiled us. It was so nice to get away from the house and all the work that needs to and will get done for the move. Additionally, we hadn't seen him in a month so it was great to spend time together without the everyday distractions. Like I said, we were spoiled last weekend.

Getting there, getting home - not so fun. Wednesday night traffic in Milan was 1) sheer torture 2) not moving 3) reminded me of LA rush hour but somehow worse and we'll stop there. Sunday night the Gotthard Tunnel had a 5 km wait so we opted for the alternate San Bernardino pass route. Hmmm - foggy and slow up top and then - tunnel closure due to an accident. All the traffic from both sides of the tunnel had to be re-routed on the old road through the little mountain village. I'd still have made the trip even if I had known about the "road challenges" because we had a great time. The girls had their portable DVD player as well so were comatose in the back seat.

I have a lot of pictures for you. More specifically for my sister D who complained that I didn't have enough pic's on the Blog lately and she wants to see the girls. So here we go, in no particular order:

I love taking pic's of the fruits and veggies. If you've never purchased produce in Italy - please do not touch! The clerk will be more than happy for you to point out which particular piece you want and bag it. I still have a slo-mo in my head of my friend S reaching toward an apple/orange and the shopkeeper rushing toward her and me trying to get to her from down the street to warn her - too late, she touched. Shopkeeper took it out of her hand, bagged it, etc.... Hard to know the "rules" sometimes.

Typical Italian scene: men on the bench.

Pretty doors in Portofino.

Pretty girls in the pretty blue water.

We enjoyed watching all the boats. Which you can't see now because Blogger and the keyboard don't like me.

I took a few pictures. So did Bart.

Biker chic:

Off for a little shopping in Santa Margarita:

Reading by the pool:

Boats in the harbor of Portofino:

I take pictures of goofy things. The villa of Dolce & Gabbana with all the boats docked below.

While the family eats gelato, I have an espresso. I did eat one gelato - delicious!

Water was beautiful:

And here we are: Bart and I with our "mini-me's."

So great to have him around and we miss him already. Oh, we're homeowners (aka poor) again! As I write, Bart has already received delivery of our Des Moines storage items, hopefully the bed and they should be arriving to install the washer/dryer. WhooHoo!

Told him we'd get a bed before the TV!

Working on saying "see you later"

I didn't realize my last post was on May 25th. That was before Bart came. And the girls had programs. And my computer time got hi-jacked. And my husband forced took me/us to Italy for a long weekend vacation. Now he's gone again and there are 17 days left before we make our final departure. I just don't feel ready.

I'm ready to have my husband around all the time again. A month long break will do that for a girl (at least this one!). I'm ready to have my very own house again. I'm really looking forward to that! I'm ready to stop making so many lists and having so many things rolling around in my head. I'm ready to speak English on a daily basis but will miss my feelings of accomplishment at managing conversations in German.

I'll miss my view - I'm not ready. I'll miss the late evenings where you look out the window and still see light in the West at 10:30pm - not ready.

Most of all, I will miss some very dear people. People I would not have met had I not moved to Switzerland. But I'm ready to live near people I've missed because I have lived in Switzerland.

So I'm filling my time with getting ready to go and spending time with the people I'll miss. The Blog is suffering I know but for the few of you who check it out, I think you understand.

That said - I will be posting pic's from the weekend in Italy. The Italian Riviera. Oh, my goodness. My husband spoils me. And our girls. It was a great trip to end our adventure here. Minus the drive to and from but that's for the next post.

Ciao!

If I stay really busy,

If I stay really busy, I DON'T THINK ABOUT THE PAPERWORK!

It's sitting there. Sad and lonely. Waiting for my pen to begin making lists. The Transportation files. Lists of what is in every room and what the replacement value is. In these moves, it's better to be over-insured than under-insured - you actually penalize yourself if you're too conservative in the event that things 'happen.'

Oh, and I'm supposed to indicate what items were bought overseas but over 1 year used and what is under 1 year. Because US Customs would like some tax please on anything over the allowed customs limit - same as if you took a trip to Europe and came home with some souvenirs. As if living in Zurich we didn't already surpass that dollar amount by purchasing new socks and underwear for growing kids. 8% VAT already included in all purchases. Half of which we couldn't substantiate anyway because there are NO receipts given for most of our stuff - hello! bargaining with Egyptian's in the marketplace/ceramics on the road in Portugal. Really - they have no replacement value in $$ because it's value is in our memory of where we were when we bought it. We don't spend much on souvenirs - I take lots of pictures.

Oh, I'll get to the paperwork. Hey Bart - I even made a 'dump' run so I didn't have to look at it. Maybe all those years as an accountant filling out forms traumatized me.

My other trauma was the last transfer(we hope) of $$ into the Swiss account. Lowest transfer rate ever and I had to look twice. I haven't talked about this for a while so I'll explain: Bart was paid by the US side, not Swiss, so we've been transfering $$ for 5 years into our "swiss bank account" to pay the bills. Which sounds cool and all until the USA had a spat with UBS and now nobody really wants to give accounts to Americans unless they have to (ie - we're residing in their country). Note - they will ask us "where do you want your money wired to so we can close your account?" as soon as our deregistration and address change is processed.

When we first moved here, and I'm using round numbers to assist in the mental imagery, the rate was about 1.24 = for every $10,000 transfered, 12,400chf was deposited into the account. That rate went as high as 1.29 at its short lived peak. But things have changed. Last transfer was at .86 = $10,000 is deposited as 860chf. That is a swing of over 500 chf purchasing power. Times are not good for the American tourists in Switzerland. I can't complain too loudly as we do get a COLA (cost of living adjustment) but when prices are 2-3x higher and you see the change reflected so dramatically - it makes you think really hard.

I'm still thinking hard about that hot pink floral purse.

I did get one piece of paperwork completed today (2 actually as I have 2 kids). The Health form required by the State of CA for children enrolling in school. I didn't know about this and was glad I checked the school district website - not so happy about the 19 pages per child forms that have to be filled out. What is it with the paperwork? I'd rather pull weeds. I have been and the garden looks nice by the way.

OK - rambling. I called the District and they said our Dr. here could sign off on the forms so off we went this morning. Kendra was not happy to get an MMR shot. For whatever reason, she was only administered one and so she's in the catch-up category for Switzerland and the US. At one point the Dr. says "so she's healthy?" and I said "yes, as far as I know" to which he laughed and signed off. I'm thinking my kid's aren't the target market for these health forms. He did check all the other items but found it very 'interesting' as they don't do this same procedure in Switzerland. People are expected to have the common sense to take themselves and their children to the Dr. as needed and required. Oh, and everyone's required to have insurance.........

Rambling again.....

Another distraction: this lovely young lady playing in her Spring Arts Festival. This intense concentration was during a Brandenburg Concerto (JS Bach). She was on fire. Very proud.

And when all is said and done and I still don't want to look at the paperwork, I can pop one of these into my mouth:

There are only 3 left. Meringues with a little almond in them. From my favorite bakery in Colmar, France. Seen here:

Colmar is in the Alsace region bordering Germany and Switzerland. I probably love the surrounding small villages even more but Colmar has big parking lots and lots of shops due to the tourist interest. The Disney "Beauty and the Beast" village must have been modeled after the Alsace region - I'll have to post some more pic's later.

The Alsace is known for its wines - light, fruity - White, Rose and a Pinot Noir that looks like a
Rose to me and someone once described it as "punch." I wouldn't call it "punch" but it is light and easy with food. Their "pink sparkling wine" is also popular - they can't call it Champagne because it's not grown in the Champagne region. And it's hard to find these wines in neighboring Switzerland. A political and economical matter.

I find it funny that I have a favorite bakery in France. What I fell in love with there was the Macaroons. Crispy coconut on the outside and soft in the middle. There are no pictures as I ate them quickly. Maybe this is why I like to take people to Colmar? So I can visit the bakery.

And this restaurant:

Also a favorite. But we (mom & I) had eaten a large lunch (salad w/ Quiche Lorraine) in Riquewhir and just weren't hungry. They make a delicious Tarte Flambe.

That's it. It's bedtime and I've successfully avoided the paperwork for another night running. And emails, I need to get to the emails. I need a secretary.

Anyone?

Strength!

The theme of the week has been strength. Life takes strength. Where does your strength come from?

This week, this verse has been the "verse of choice": "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13

Quite honestly, if Jesus wasn't gettin' it done this week, it wasn't gettin' done. I just get too tired. I can't do it all and yet, when I look at others around me, I feel so blessed to have the "problems" that I do.

News Flash: Parenting is hard work!

Oh, that's old news? Well, this mom had her hands full for a few days and bless my husband for listening when he can't be here in person. But the last few days culminated in some beautiful conversation between my girlies and I this evening before bed. So for lessons learned and the sweethearts that I tucked in - it was all worth it.

On the lighter side, there are some funny pic's of me that my mom took while she was here. I don't generally like to put myself on here but we had a lot of fun and this reveals that I'm capable of enjoying life when I'm not:

- parenting, mowing the lawn, taking out the trash, recycling, chauffeuring, cleaning out cupboards, making lists, calling utility companies, trying to sell stuff, getting the car tire repaired after finding the large screw in it, sitting at games, pick up/drop offs at airports(4x) or Train stations(2x) and so on and so forth.

Hmmmmmm, what have we here? Loving the floral, not so sure about the animal print: Wait a minute! I might, just might like that print after all:

And what about a new bag? I've had my eye on the hot pink floral but that navy is catching my eye and is definitely more practical:

A girl needs a little caffeine after all the walking, pictures and wee bit of shopping:

Most definitely something to eat! A caprese salad (tomato, buffalo mozarella & basil) with rucola and balsamic syrup - tasty!

After all that, it's back to the castle tower:

Put back into my chains:

And delight myself in my family:

OK - not the most flattering pic but isn't that real life?

I can do all things through Him who gives me strength!

Disclaimer: I didn't buy anything I was looking in the windows at.