what a way to go...

What Goes Up Must Come Down
2007 Darwin Award Nominee Confirmed True by Darwin

(20 June 2007, South Carolina) A passing cabbie found a 21 year-old couple naked and injured in the road an hour before sunrise. The two people died at the nearest hospital without regaining consciousness. Authorities were at a loss to explain what had happened. There were no witnesses, no trace of clothing, and no wrecked cars or motorcycles. Investigators eventually found a clue high on the roof of a nearby building: two sets of neatly folded clothes. Safe sex takes on a whole new meaning when you are perched on the edge of a pyramid-shaped metal roof. "It appears as if [they] accidentally fell off the roof," Sgt. Florence McCants said.
This is a true Darwin Award trifecta: TWO people die, WHILE in the act of procreation, due to an ASTONISHINGLY poor decision. Bottom line: If you put yourself in a precarious "position" at the edge of a pointy roof, you may well find yourself coming and going at the same time.
Ironically, one of the deceased was named "Tumbleston."(Some reports list the name as "Tubleston.")
Reader Comments:"Not-so-Safe Sex""Falling For Her""There was no sign of foul play, only of foreplay."

still too close to call

I just voted.

I thought I had made up my mind but waivered a bit as I spoke to my good friend, Juli (just got her PhD., teaches women's studies, runs the Women's Resource Center at a university, etc...) while driving to the polling place and then again when I ran into a few people I knew who were campaigning outside the polls for the 2 people whom I had been compelled to support.

Several people that I respect greatly have been very involved in Obama's campaign and I have enjoyed speaking with them, especially my old boss and friend, Commissioner Van McLeod, who is on Obama's Arts and Culture Committee (this may not be the exact name - forgive me...).

Just before I left to pick up George and vote, I received an email from Juli which contained this link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/opinion/08steinem.html?_r=2&ref=opinion&oref=slogin&oref=slogin - Gloria Steinem has some great points in this oped peice. I would be lying if I said it did not make me think twice about giving her my vote.

In the end, my left hand picked up the pencil provided in the tiny polling booth and filled in the oval next to the name of one of these candidates. I feel good about my choice and great about the fact that we finally seem to have some good, solid choices this time around. (Just in time for me (us) to move out of the country ... )

damn my sausage fingers

to continue defending my newly-found reality tv interest ...

Well, to put it briefly, it is now 12:32a and I am still watching ANTP (for those of you keeping track, that's 7 hours and counting - pathetic, I know)

Tomorrow I will get things done. Really. I will. As soon as I figure out which shoes to wear to our friend, Elizabeth Bardwell's 40th birthday black-tie soiree tomorrow night.

Mark leaves for Zurich on Sunday night. We so do not have time to get everything done!#@!

all snowed in

We arrived back in Concord after taking the red eye home from Denver last night to find our driveway completely plowed in from the street and covered in what seemed to be knee-high snow. We were so tired we easily could have been pissed off, annoyed, etc... at the challenging situation but thankfully, we both found it funny and also found some humor in watching George try to navigate his way to his 'spot' in the back yard.

I could barely keep my eyes open and headed straight for bed. Upon waking up about 6 hours later, instead of rallying and beginning to tackle the huge to-do list, I decided to see what was on Oprah. When that failed to hold my interest, I picked up the book I began in Colorado My Lobotomy and finished it.

Still not feeling any sense of motivation, I turned the tv back on and immediately found a marathon of America's Next Top Model, which I had begun watching last night on the plane. I had never before watched this show and must admit that I had given a few people a hard time about watching it in the past. I'm not much of a reality tv watcher, though admittedly I have been known to enjoy Top Chef and HGTV Design Star.

We're in Colorado with some of Mark's best friends for a new year's mini break. It's been very relaxing - it's a great group of people that went to college at DePaw with Mark. We've spent our time napping, eating, playing cards, drinking, playing darts (I will be spackling the area around our host's dart board where I hit the wall many times...) playing with baby Ben and watching football. Tomorrow we ski.

I'm thrilled that we've actually been able to relax while here, given all that has to be done at home. While we have tried to get a lot done at home since we got back from Switzerland, we haven't crossed much off the 'list'.

We did have a rip-roaring holiday party after which 10 of our closest friends stayed overnight and helped us put a dent in the left overs and bottles of champange the following morning. I got some amazing footage of said guests participating in the midnight sing along "sound of music". I have not laughed that much in a very long time.

We are headed home from Colorado tomorrow night on the red eye and will have a few days to work on getting house/packing/moving/selling/etc... projects done before Mark heads back to Zurich on the 6th. Then the reality of this new year/life will quickly follow.

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.