Tis the season ...

... to start shovelling snow (although I can think of worse things to be shovelling in all honesty)! We had our first "scrape the frost off the windscreens" moment a couple of days ago, and then yesterday it started to snow. It didn't look like it would last but by morning about six inches had settled, so around 10 am I decided to go out there and do our driveways. One time I remember thinking that as I didn't have to go out I'd just leave it until it eventually melted - big mistake. The snow underneath gets compacted and it becomes more of a death trap so it's just not worth taking the risk! I thought about putting thermals under my jeans but then thought better of it because I generally don't feel the cold and in any case, you work up a sweat clearing snow don't you. Mind you, that thought put me in mind of years ago, in the '70s I'm guessing, when Jane Fonda's Workout was all the rage and everyone seemingly just had to have a pair of legwarmers. Well I was about 16 and obviously bought myself a pair because ... well who knows really. Anyway, one day my 80+ year old grandma was complaining that her legs were cold so I went and got my legwarmers for her - and that was the last I ever saw of them because I'm sure they'd taken root in her skin by the time spring came around. I never bought another pair because there really wasn't much point was there, but I'm guessing I was the only teenager on the block with a grandma who looked like this ... well if you squinted a bit!

Jane Fonda!

The other week we had our AGM at the old fogies' club (where the new committee was scheduled to be elected) followed by lunch for anyone who wanted to join us. So on the Thursday about 20 of us ended up setting tables for 142 lunches (provided by a caterer, so no spud peeling for us thankfully) and then clearing it away afterwards. Damn, I didn't know being a committee member involved so much washing up (but luckily there were quite a few people willing to pitch in and lend a hand)! Martine (the previous treasurer and someone who I would describe as the mainstay of the committee) had decided to give the dishwasher a good rinse beforehand but put too much washing agent in it, with the result that when we walked into the kitchen the floor was covered in suds! It took us about 20 minutes to get the machine shut down and the floor mopped but I'm guessing it's been a long time since that floor looked so clean!

The following Tuesday three of us had a meeting at the bank to get the new bank account signatories recorded and the old signatories removed. The young bank manager was extremely helpful and went through everything he thought we might need to think about (including relooking at our current civil responsibility policy as it was so old) so all in all it took about two hours to get that sorted. When we came out I bumped into a former colleague, Chantal. You may remember that I mentioned her a few years ago as being the one who skated into the store on a snowy day in high heeled boots and a full length fur coat when everyone else was in ski jackets and snow boots, who never talks to you but at you and who never ever shuts up! Well I thought I would be charitable and waved to her as she hadn't seen me - big mistake - she had me pinned there for the next 30 minutes! When I told her I was heading back to the club she proclaimed loud and clear for everyone to hear that she could never join a club like that, full of old people. I didn't go as far as to tell her that we both qualified to join but she went on and on about her mother (who was a miserable old bat who never stopped complaining apparently and sooooo ungrateful)! While she was talking at me my mind kinda wandered off and I began picturing her mom's head morphing onto her shoulders as she is so obviously her mother's daughter. I eventually made my excuses saying I had to get back (true) but whew, I think I've done my charitable deed for the year!

At the following regular card game club it was time for the new committee to take over but to say it was a rather chaotic would be a bit of an understatement. Our new lady president hasn't got a clue about computers but, in her defence, she's a little dynamo and had already been to a couple of travel agents and come up with some very good ideas for potential trips and Christmas festivities. Our new secretary can no longer remember how to use Word (but I'm sure she'll pick it back up quickly) so I volunteered to edit a few Word documents but was forever fishing around the French keyboard (as I've always been used to a Swiss German one). Seemingly ç à è à had been swallowed up somewhere in keyboard heaven. Next we couldn't get the bloody printer to work (but we learned it's temperamental so it wasn't really our fault) and the only man on the committee who showed up - well he just sat there, muttered a few bon mots, but seemingly only came for an apéritif (which the rest of us declined). I've been sticking my nose into the way the accounts have been set up and I have to say the previous ladies did an excellent job. I've retyped (on my Swiss German computer!) a few shell documents so that I can hit the ground running but to say that the first regular meeting of the club with us as the committee was chaotic - well it really was a bit like this ...

Anyone else remember Corporal Jones
from Dad's Army!

Last Saturday I finally got my doctor's appointment in order to get a certificate that I was fit enough to join the hiking group that my friend belongs to. I didn't think they actually did that anymore but I suppose it's a way for the group to cover themselves if anyone has a mishap. The lady doctor was very nice and pretty thorough, even doing en ECG and giving me a prescription for blood tests!! Then I had to weigh myself (fully clothed and in snow boots) so I think that's enough humiliation for me for the next year or so!

Somewhat to my own surprise I've continued on with the Arabic lessons with Duolingo (as well as keeping up with the Italian). The first unit is all about introducing you to the alphabet and its sounds, which reminds me that many years ago someone told me that Sir Isaac Pitman invented Pitman shorthand based on the Arabic alphabet. I've no idea how true that is but looking at the alphabet and comparing it to shorthand that would certainly make sense. I know nobody uses it anymore but shorthand truly was a wonderful skill to have and even now I will often write part of my shopping list, for instance, in shorthand. I do remember though that my paranoid ex thought I was "obviously keeping something a secret from him because I wrote some things in shorthand". Yeah adding the word "bread" to my list in shorthand was obviously part of some secret code! I've actually finished Unit 1 now and while I'm not exactly "fluent" (ha ha), I've surprised myself by just how much I've enjoyed it!

Pitman shorthand - I'd struggle to read that now
but I can still pick out the odd word!

And finally, I was grocery shopping the other day when an old lady moved out of my way in the tinned goods section. She asked if I was going to buy "any of that rubbish" and pointed to the canned potatoes. I said no as I didn't like them, but she told me that "she'd never seen them before" and went off muttering to herself that "how can people be so bloody lazy that they can't peel a few potatoes". It made me laugh - but then maybe, just maybe, she might have been Chantal's mom!

 

Really busy!

Last week was so busy there's no way I could write it all down in one go so I decided to break it up! The best news is that André had a meeting with his director at work and has been confirmed in his post. He said he was always optimistic but when your organization has to lay off at least 1,000 people (with the majority being in Geneva) it was nerve-wracking all the same. I thought all that had been dealt with when his boss told him he'd put his name forward for a specific post but he later learned that in order to be automatically accepted he had to have 10 years of service on a fixed contract by 31 October - and he only had nine years and 11 months!!! Anyway, it went through and he is confirmed in his post but with extra responsibilities of course. He's got a massive "unauthorized" payment to sort out, but only unauthorized in the sense that these deliveries were very much time sensitive and will have to go through in the end, but as I told him, you weren't part of that unit when it happened so the higher ups have to take their responsibilities!

Then this week I sent him a message to say I'd received a letter for him from the Swiss Office de Recouvrement (basically debt collectors) and did he want me to open it. Well I did and gave a gasp when I saw the amount of 9,500 Swiss francs (about $10,000) on the second page. But, before he had a coronary I realized that it was a + amount and not a - amount and had to do with his ex wife's financial business from the year they divorced (2020). He told me she had already received the same letter but that even though it was nothing to do with him, she needed his signature to clear up the paperwork (and there was nothing negative for her either). So they met up last week for him to hand over the paperwork and he was telling me on Saturday night that he was just stunned! Seemingly she has turned into some kind of woke valley girl and he doesn't even recognize the young woman he was married to and loved with all his heart. She now no longer speaks to anyone in her family, not even her last remaining grandma (who I remember as a sweetheart) because "while I know she loves me, she doesn't love me how I need to be loved"!!! And this is out of the mouth of my son who still visits grandma on occasion when he's in town. She asked him if he was still playing in his band and when he said that they had played a concert just the other week she squealed about how wonderful that was. He told her to calm down as they were in Switzerland not California, but to say he was shocked would be an understatement! His comment about how "I can't believe I was ever attracted to her and can you believe the relief that you feel when you realize you're no longer married to someone like that" made me bite my lip, but I did, as my ex is still their dad and they have to have their own relationship with him - despite what I could have said!

I told him I genuinely liked his wife but I always thought there was something a bit "off". I wondered if it bothered her that she was mixed race (her mother was adopted from Korea) but he didn't think it was that - like he said, she has her problems and it's no longer his job to sort them out! Shame really as I know he really loved her and was devastated by their divorce!

On Saturday night I was invited to the 40th birthday party for twins Julien and Nico. I know Julien better (he's the intrepid Julien from the Avoriaz dog-sledding expedition) but less so Nico as he is a hairdresser in Paris (he kept adjusting my wig). What a lovely family-friendly event that was. I spoke to their dad (mom and dad divorced many years ago) and said what lovely young men they were so I guess he and mom did a good job. Since they were born in 1985 they asked everyone to dress from that era, but to be honest I was in my early 20s in the 1980s and don't remember anyone dressing like Amazon suggested. Still, never mind, it was a fun way to spend a great evening. Both boys had set up a Lydia account (a kinda Gofundme) for each other and I was very happy to see that they received almost the same amount. Nico wants to go to Japan (I told him I just might go with him) and Julien wants a telescope, so I hope they both get their wish!

It was lovely spending time with the kids (the littles held out very well) and to get time chatting with André, who I don't see so often. He sat down next to me, flicked his wig over his shoulder and asked if I "came here often"!!!! In the course of our discourse he told me he had a date next Saturday and was not best pleased when I asked "with a girl?". Of course with a girl, I don't know why I said that, but she is French, very pretty and a family member of a friend. We'll see how that goes. He also goes out occasionally for a drink with a Russian woman (10 years older and very beautiful, but then Eastern European women often are - and it must be a "confess all to mom" period but I'm happy with that, as long as my kids are happy). He's very open about not wanting to tie himself down and keeps in touch with the wild Australian girl in Amsterdam too. Good for you babe, as long as you're honest with everyone! Well at least I guess he's got his ex-wife out of his system now!

I wanted to post loads of photos of the party on FB but thought the better of it because not everyone wants to have their photos published, so I'll just leave a few here! A bientôt!

Jordan, Charlie and me!

My boys with the birthday boys!

Jen, Charlie, Elynn and Jordan!

This and that!

Life is still fairly busy here in that I'm tending to have commitments/appointments nearly every day of the week, but for the moment I'm fine with that. Actually I'm quite enjoying it as I think it was becoming a bit too easy to sit and read or go down Youtube rabbit holes for hours on end. We'll see how it pans out I guess. Yoga started back up after autumn break and man did I know about it. I'm pretty sure she had us doing exercises we've done before - but not recently - and I ached all over coming out of there. I also went to the gym yesterday because I reason that if I don't go at least once a week it just isn't worth the money. It seems to me that getting there around 2 pm is the best time because most lunchtime gym enthusiasts are back at work and I did indeed end up having the place to myself for most of the time. That way it was easier not to feel quite such a wally when I tried a few namby pamby weight lifting exercises. I don't know if I'm doing them correctly though so I'll have to ask next time I catch one of the staff!

I've also started getting a mani-pedi and a massage once a month at a Thai lady's place in town. I don't know how long that will last (it often doesn't) but so far I'm enjoying it. I was telling her that I didn't know what to buy for Christmas this year since we've decided we want to give "experiences" rather than gifts for the adults. She gave me quite a few suggestions so it's looking more promising, which is a relief. We also got chatting about what I call "Chinese medicine" but is probably better called "alternative medicine", and I was saying how I'm always willing to give that a go before traditional medicine. She asked me if I'd ever had acupuncture and I told her I had and so had my then husband, but she roared laughing when I told her he'd actually showed up at work with a needle still in his neck which the doctor missed. I said it was a good job there hadn't been thunder and lightening that day - but then again I guess my divorce might have been a helluva lot cheaper!

We're supposed to get our winter tyres on by 1 November over here but I couldn't get an appointment in time so got that done on Thurdsday. I dropped my car off and then caught the old bone-shaker bus back home. When it came time to go pick it up I showed up at the nearest bus stop (after pre-registering for pick-up) along with another young woman and bugger me if the bloody bus skipped our stop completely. So we ended up walking into town together, something which normally takes me about an hour but this time I did it in 45 minutes, so either my fitness level is improving or I didn't want to look like an old granny walking with this young girl. My money is on the latter!

The kids played a Halloween concert down in Annecy last week and while it's definitely not my kind of music apparently it went off very well! Good for them, as they put a lot of time and effort into their music!

Jordan's drum set!

Halloween was fairly quiet, but then that's usually the case as I'm in a smallish village and there aren't too many little kids out roaming around at night. My Nigerian friend Stan's son stopped by with his son and my goodness he's just as handsome (and sweet) as ever. He's the young man who acquired Nigerian citizenship and represented Nigeria at the last winter Olympics and he'll be representing them again this winter, although I don't know where the event is going to be held. Wouldn't it be great if he won a medal this time. Fingers crossed!

My new computer arrived last week and I was trying to set it up at the old fogies club on Tuesday. It's pretty easy but I can't quite seem to get it linked to my current computer so I'll have to mess around with it some more. At club Martine asked me to update the committee list as there was a correction but when I mentioned to her that I couldn't edit the document she ushered me into a corner and told me that she had had to put a password on all her documents because the president (Viviane) kept trying to mess around with them and they were forever ending up having to sort out her messes. At least now I have the passwords and in any case Viviane will shortly no longer have access. We're going to the bank on Tuesday to get the signatories' list updated and after that the new committee takes over - but takes over running by the looks of it because there's a helluva lot to do between now and Christmas!

I was flicking through Netflix the other night because I'd added a few films to my watchlist and was wondering what to watch when I noticed that most of the films I'd added recently were now either for rent or sale only. The first time this happened I just thought I'd made a mistake but this is now the third time that I've seen this happen so it might be time to cancel again as I hate being taken for an idiot!

I'm off to a birthday party next Saturday for Julien (the intrepid dog-sledder that I drove up to Avoriaz last winter) and his twin brother Nicholas. They are turning 40 in November and have asked everyone to dress up in 1980s fashion. Well, I'm not sure I'll be taking any selfies but picture a cross between John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever and Jane Fonda's workout and you might get the picture. I've already contributed to the collection for both of them (Julien wants a telescope and Nicholas wants to go to Peru) but I picked up two birthday cards when I went grocery shopping on Wednesday - and promptly left the cash register without paying for them as I had stuffed them behind my handbag! I was mortified at the thought of potentially being stopped as I left, but thankfully saw what I'd done and went back and paid for them. I don't know about you but for the sake of $10 it just wouldn't have been worth it to do a runner!

I mentioned recently that I'm still plodding on with my Italian lessons and quite enjoying it, but then the other day I noticed they also had Arabic lessons available - so I've signed up! It's starting with the alphabet right off the bat and to be honest it isn't totally alien to me because I took Arabic lessons for one semester up at the UN many moons ago. I didn't get very far because my then boss wouldn't let me change my work hours (by 30 minutes) in order to accommodate my lessons so I dropped out. I don't know how far I'll get as it's probably just another one of my madcap ideas but I guess only time will tell!

I see COP 30 has just taken place in Brazil, you know where the elites fly in on their private jets to tell us that we can no longer spend a week in Benidorm because of climate change! Seeing those that went just from Britain makes me shake my head. I mean why did the Mayor of London need a 16 person entourage and more to the point, some female MP from Yorkshire also went. I wonder how much that little lot cost and what was the point other than a few free jollies!

Anyhoo, I've been inspired by Anne in Alabam and her "oh no, just X weeks to Christmas" series so the other day I looked it up and there were just 56 days left until Christmas. So I got to wondering if I "spring cleaned" (seasonal dyslexia, as I explained to Ms Moon) for just one hour a day for the next 56 days, how good would my house look. Daft I know, but so far I'm sticking to it and to say I'm pretty horrified by the dust being sucked up as I'm moving furniture and cleaning carpets would be an understatement! Nobody would recoil in horror at my place as I keep it pretty picked up, but when you start moving furniture and washing walls - well yikes, just yikes!