Woo hoo! It's officially the Christmas season!!

Well, I spent the last few days running here and there. I did a ton of babysitting, which I don't mind and actually enjoy:) I know that's a crazy thought for most of you! Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon I looked after Tim and Alixe, who are now 6 and 8 yrs. old.....it is impressive to see kids grow up soooo fast! When I first met them, Alixe was just turning 13 months and wobbling as she walked...Tim was 3 and speaking to me in Swiss-German half the time:)

I spent 15 months looking after them and becoming insanely attached to them, so I had a blast hanging out last night. They totally wore me out! From games to foosball to hide-and-seek to the famous 'guili guili' game (I chase them, catch them, and tickle them....it's become the favorite game to play when I come visit!). They finally crashed at 11 pm, and slept til 9 am....and then the fun began again! I'm pretty exhausted right now:)

So, they are apparently going to become professional photographers, these two. They really know how to use my really expensive camera really well, so we all took tons of pics. I'm posting the album below....and added some photos that were taken while I was living with them.

Have a great week! Only 2 1/2 more weeks til I go home!!!

My sister sent this to me last year, and I decided to do it again! Too funny!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9600205570

THANKSGIVING CHEZ MOI

Well, it was another successful Thanksgiving dinner this year...and it was hosted chez moi (at my house). I stressed quite a bit for this, but everything turned out great. It's always so great to be surrounded by awesome friends, and I enjoy sharing this American holiday with those who are not familiar with it.

I tried out 3 new recipes, which were a big hit. I think the most favored dish was the sweet potato casserole, which I have actually never eaten before! And I even forgot to put one of the ingredients in! But, apparently, everyone loved it, and I even had to pass out the recipe. For those of you who are always looking for great recipes, try www.allrecipes.com! I got all my Thanksgiving ideas from there....

I probably would've been ready to pull my hair out if it weren't for my kitchen helpers! Arnaud played 'doctor', and took care of the turkey (it's apparently too dangerous for women to remove heavy birds from the oven and baste them;) ). Mira and Kat listened to my commands and did a great job on all of the dishes. And Agathe helped me prepare the famous apple pie...which was another winner. I am so fortunate to have so many amazing friends here!

And one of my highlights (there were many!) was quoting the movie 'Spaceballs' with Kat for what seemed like an hour! Who knew that we were such dorks and could remember virtually every line to that classic??! 'Ludicrous speed?! Sir, we've never gone that fast before!' 'What's the matter Colonel Sanders? Chicken??!' Ahhh, greatness.....pure genius.

So, we had a Bazaar today at the UN, which was pretty cool. Crowded, but interesting. There were about 70 or so countries represented, with food stands from all the countries selling their cuisine. Then there was a separate building filled with stands that were selling goods from those countries. I was a bit disappointed with the American stand...there seemed to be only candy! So I bought a Hershey's Almond Chocolate bar and went on my merry way:) I know that Swiss chocolate is world-renowned, but I really do enjoy Hershey's!

I finally started getting extremely irritated with the small space and millions of people, so I dragged Mira out so we could breathe fresh air....I kind of get claustrophobic in those types of situations, and it doesn't take long before I'm ready to threaten to kick someone's ass if they don't move outta my way or stop bumping into me!

We made it back to the office around 3 pm, which means we took about 3 hours for lunch:) Gotta love the UN culture! I try not to do it too often though!

I've officially started counting down the weeks til I leave to go home....3 more weeks from this Thursday!! I can't wait to arrive at the airport and tell Kim where I want to go eat first:)

Hope to hear from some of you soon! Ciao!

Thoughts for the Future....

Well, thanks to Kelly's heads-up to the lsclive.tv link, I was able to watch my alma mater, Midwestern State University, play against West Texas A&M in the Lone Star Conference semi-final game. I was really impressed that they present the games live on the internet, and that you can purchase them. I had great quality during the first half, but it sucked big time in the second half....I was sad to see MSU lose 1-0 to the stinkin WTAM girls, and thought that there might've even been a little entertainment/revenge at the end of the match when a few of the players started pushing each other. No such luck, though, as the ref pushed them apart!

This got me to thinkin'....first, about how much I miss the atmosphere on campus; second, about how much I miss the game; and third, about how much I miss coaching. Ok, my coaching experience is limited to 4-6 year olds and 13-14 year olds. But there is something very rewarding about it, and I miss that. So, I might start looking into what it would take to be an Assistant Coach at the university level. I know it's not all fun and games....well, there are a lot of games;)....but I think that I would enjoy it, and be good at it.

Watching the game tonight had me reliving some of those moments, both good and bad, from what seems like forever ago. I guess it has been 8 years! Wow....I am getting old! There are so many, but the one that still rings in my head (and heart) is our last game of my Senior year. I can't even tell you how many times that shot I took, and barely missed, has replayed in my mind! It would've been sweet....if it hadn't hit the crossbar, post, and goal line before being cleared! Maybe when I'm 80, and senile, I will have forgotten all about it;)

From our alumni 'game' (it got rained out, so we went to eat instead:) ), last year: Cat, Coach Jeff, Lindsay and me

I received another contract, which I signed just yesterday.....they really take their time! But, I'm just relieved that I will be at the UN until the end of February. And then the stress will start all over again!

On a random note....how do you guys like my new widget?? It's a NeoPod, and I LOVE it!! You guys can even leave messages for me on it...just click on the smileys:) I have no idea who looks at my blog because 90% of the visitors are in cities where I don't know anyone. So, it's kinda cool that totally random strangers are reading this!

Anywho...I have some big things coming up. Notably, my Thanksgiving dinner that I'll be having on November 17th with about 10 of my closest friends. I'm sure I'll be feeling absolutely no stress on that day;) But I'm sure I'll post pics....so stay tuned:)

A bientot! See you soon!