My mother just left for NH after being in Zurich with us for 2 weeks. While admittedly no one knew what to expect, (no matter how well one gets on with one's mother, 2 weeks is 2 weeks...) it turned out to be a simply marvelous time, most of which she was in our 'employ' working day and night to help us get settled.
We got to calling her Cinderella (and she referring to herself as such as well) as she really spent a huge part of her time cleaning, unpacking, organizing, breaking down boxes, reorganizing the kitchen, decorating, giving advice, being sent to bed with no tv (we have none) and not being fed properly. Such hosts we are.
We spent manymanymany hours assembling Ikea furniture, which entailed and included schleping to Ikea on the bus/tram which was about an hour each way not counting waiting for said bus/tram, fighting our way through the Ikea crowds (the Swiss are not fast shoppers and do not stay to the right when walking...), buying heavier things than we could really carry and having to create carrying 'vehicles' with twine and newspapers and our MacGuyver skills to get these heavy shelves, etc.. home ... on the bus ... in the rain ... in the dark ... with no dinner ...
Mom had her hip replaced just 2 months ago and by the time she left, you'd never know it. She was a little stiff when she first arrived (who wouldn't be after such a long plane trip) but with all the walking we did, she left looking like a champ.
Even my personal trainer, Momo was impressed, enamoured and taken with her. Before she arrived I tried to explain the phrase "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree ..." (he is from Casablanca and speaks English very well, but sometimes misses the idioms and dialects - he speaks 6 languages ... amazing!) so, when mom arrived and she came with me to a training session, Momo met her, spent no more than 2 minutes with her and exclaimed, "I see the apple and the tree!"
We were our usual silly, crazy amusing selves and I found myself apologizing several times to some Swiss people who are, in general, very conservative and reserved. Much to our delight, we were met with comments expressing that we should not change - the Swiss need more people like us around - they need to have more fun! (Not that we would have changed our ways anyway ...)
There is much more to tell and many more adventures I could relay, but I need to get back to attempting to stain our maple bookshelves (after one coat, I am a bit dismayed and considering painting over them...) and I have not been able to locate my cord so I can download the photos from our adventures - next post perhaps.
Thank you, mom for a wonderful visit. Next time, maybe we'll even take you out!
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