Zurich and back

Just returned from Zurich last night. Great trip. Mark picked me up at the airport looking smashing in his "Vegas" suit, holding a giant, red Amaryllis and wearing a huge smile.


As seems to be the case in Zurich for much of November-February, the weather was grey, grey, grey. (must remember to pack light box)


The first day was tough as I spent much of it anxious about whether or not I could really live there. Then I fell asleep. And I slept and slept. I slept so much, when I awoke, I was on Zurich time and my jet lag was gone.


I checked out Mark's office and met his team - all very cool, multi-lingual people. (They all speak at least 3 languages fluently. I wowed them with my "toca la guitarra" and counting to 10 in Spanish AND French).


We met his boss, James, and his wife, Lorna for drinks and dinner and hit some fabulous, fun bars/lounges. They are both Brits so I didn't feel too guilty speaking English. (Of course, they both have their PhDs in math/science-type fields so I still felt quite daft ...)

Mark bought some yummy sausages at the Christmas market.

We went apartment hunting, which successfully eased some of my most pressing anxieties about this aspect of our new life. We saw some v. cool places in which I could really see us living - places I didn't immediately see myself curled up in a ball in front of a television, depressed for weeks at a time as I had feared - fabulous!


The entire trip was going really well and we thought it could only get better since we had decided it to take an apartment that we had seen (brand new reno in old building - 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, heated floors, washer and dryer, roof deck with view of the lake - even an Evita balcony!) and were envisioning where to put which pieces of furniture, talking about who we thought would be our first visitors and how lucky we were to have a cheese shop right downstairs - until we got the call from the broker that the owner had rented it to someone else. Apparently we did not fit the exact mold he was looking to fill ... (another lovely Swiss custom - no rules/laws re: what can be asked of prospective tenants, etc... he wanted to know - kids? pets? were we married? did we have bikes? did we play any instruments? did I have a job?)


Not to be too "The Fox and the Grapes" about it, but we decided that he would have been a lousy landlord anyway. Yeah.


It was a longer flight home (over 8 hours) than on the way over (6.5 hours) but I watched a movie ("Elf"), drank some red wine (free), and had an extra pillow and blanket (score!) so it was bearable. (Knowing that I'd get to see George when I got home and that Mark would be home soon helped too.)


Next step - sell the house. And get back on Eastern Standard Time.

alone vs. lonely

People keep asking, "Aren't you lonely?" Actually, no, I'm not. I haven't really had a chance to be. Each day since Mark left, I have had either work, or appointments or social engagements that have kept me from being alone.

I've always felt that it's easier to be alone when one knows their 'alone-ness' is finite. I know that my fabulous husband is waiting for me in Zurich and that we will be together again soon. It's the old, 'seeing the light at the end of the tunnel' bit... When I know I only have to wait 6 days to see Mark, I can enjoy the time I have by myself while looking forward to being with him soon - the best of both worlds, really...

I so looked forward to having the house to myself after Mark left. It was great, but the novelty wore out in less than a week. I miss him. George misses him.

But it's a probably best that he's not here right now. The house is in a state of disarray as I have pulled everything out of its place in an attempt to organize, downsize and take stock of what we really are dealing with here. There are piles everywhere. The Goodwill/Salvation Army pile. The Craigslist pile. The in-house 'yardsale' pile (this will shortly become the give away pile). The NH storage pile, the take to Zurich pile.

I can't even begin to box things up because the movers have to pack everything that is going to Zurich because of Customs laws. How inconvenient.

I did sell 2 chairs and a dresser to a friend of Mark's this weekend. That cleared out about 1/89th of what needs to go. But still, thank you, Dan. Thank you for your patronage of Casa Harbaugh - (you sure I can't interest you in an end table or two?)

After a weekend filled with much talk and little action, I decided I needed a break from the insanity and sat down to start a project (see photo). The best use of my time? Not likely. But I couldn't help myself. It's still sitting there, not even 1/2 done, entirely covering what was the only clear table space I had left ... brilliant.

Not to worry - I'll finish it soon - perhaps even tonight. (Right after I shovel the driveway, clear off the cars, fix the broken/frozen wiper, organize the recycling and trash, and attempt to make a meal out of what is left in the cupboards/fridge...)

Just spoke to Mark. He feels terribly that he is not here to help. It would be nice to not have to do all this by myself, but it does help to know I'm not alone.

where to begin

Presently, procrastination is the bane of my existence. While procrastinating, I'm realizing that chocolate tastes really fantastic with red wine. And Law & Order reruns.

Where to begin?

My husband, the charming, dreamy, smarty-pants Mark left me to live in Zurich, Switzerland almost 2 weeks ago. He didn't really leave me, leave me - he left to begin his new job and to check out the place we will all be calling home within a few months.

I have been left home to take care of a few things: resign from my current position, sell 2 cars, rent/sell our house, take care of George (a Bernese Mountain Dog who misses his father terribly), decide what to take to Switzerland, what to put in my mother's barn, what to give away, what to sell and what to put into a pile and set ablaze... to name a few...

I have spent the past 5 nights wallpapering a very curvy room with many windows in preparation to sell the house. The pattern we chose is beautiful but has a 27" pattern, which meant nothing to me when we bought the paper, but once I began to paper with my mother it soon became apparent that one wastes a LOT of paper while trying to match the pattern ...

I had been enjoying the wallpaper project when it was not rushed and the effort was being made on behalf of the home we were creating, etc... it's less enjoyable now as the clock is ticking down and I won't be the one to enjoy the fruits of our labor -for more than a month or so while I wrap things up here.

I hope that the people who buy our house like this wallpaper and don't rip it down like I did to the paper that was here when we bought the house.