Jet Lag

We are on our 5th day home and I think we are over the hill when it comes to time. We've decided that it's much easier to recover from jet lag when you are arriving to a destination that is stimulating and costing you money each day - have to be awake to enjoy the scenery, right? There are all sorts of theories re: jet lag and how to switch to local time. Sometimes they work, sometimes not.

Even at church this morning, about 1/3 of us had been back in town for a few days or just arriving - and everyone in various stages of wakefulness. I know James (teaching Elder) focused on our section of the church quite a bit - were we the only ones awake? Was it an attempt to keep us awake? Either way - we got a good message on the God of Abraham. It did occur to me - they didn't have to deal with jet lag in the the time of Abraham - but I digress (happens alot when one's brain is half-firing).....

As all the overseas flights West to East arrive in Zurich in the morning (in at 6:30am Wed. the 2nd), we generally allow ourselves a nap the first morning and tough it out for the remaining days. So after going to bed at 11pm Wed., the girls woke up at 3am Thurs. morning, 5am Fri. and 6-ish Sat. and Sun. No naps during the day and they are in bed by 7:30pm. They are pretty squirrely and I am ready for them to go back to school tomorrow. I still say that taking a Simply Sleep/Benadryl is great for staying asleep - but it doesn't work for kids - brutal!

But after waking a girlfriend at 10:30am on Fri. and then finding they had been home since Monday, I'm feeling pretty good about our progress. They've been going to bed late, getting up for a couple hours around 5am and then going back to sleep by 7am and getting up at noon. So she was glad I woke her up.

This is what happens when you return home to a foreign country when everyone else is either still gone or still sleeping off their jet lag and there is no motivation to go anywhere because the Country is still on Holiday. Even the grocery was still closed Jan. 2nd. And we couldn't pick up mail at the Post until the 3rd. Speaking of mail.......

We had a great time looking through all the cards, photos and letters that were waiting for us. Please know how much that connection and remembrance means to us. Thank You! Thank You!

And the winner of the Olson Holiday Challenge (Christmas Card) was a college friend of Susan's, MP from Redding. The correct countries/places being Switzerland, Rome/Italy, France(Riviera), Copenhagen/Denmark, USA/Kennedy Space Ctr, Paris/France, Vienna/Austria and Prague/Czech Republic. Thanks for the emails guessing - most were only off one or two countries.

So we are ready for the New Year and what it has in store. And wishing all of you in Iowa and California/NV a relief from what has been some nasty weather. We have friends here whose family was delayed coming out of Iowa due to the storms this Christmas (you wouldn't believe how many Iowa/Minn. people we know here - it's funny). Stay safe, dry and warm. And praying for safe travel for Susan's Mom, Elaine, as she heads out of Reno for DC today.