Friday, December 19, 2008

Meeting Susan in the snow......


Well......

I have been busy socialising here in Engelberg. What fun it has been! Here I am in Central Switzerland, and a blogging friend of mine, who is an American living in Zurich, and I, decided that a visit was in order. Definitely in order. I have a slight advantage here, because I have actually met blogging friends IRL and lived to tell the tale, and I loved meeting every single one. They did not appear to be axe murderers at all! But this was a first for Susan, from Swiss Family Olsen and she was brave enough to leap in her car and drive over an hour to get here from Zurich yesterday morning to meet a total stanger. Me. I am harmless really. Not to mention my sister, brother-in-law and mother.

I was looking out for her car, and made a valiant effort to clear the snow from the driveway as she arrived, so her first sight of me was actually of a slightly mad woman rushing back inside to get on her boots, hopping about on the doorstep putting them on, and knocking over the snow shovel in the process. She must have wondered what she had done, coming up the mountain!

And Susan is so TINY!! Marge and I took one look at her and declared that we felt like Amazons. Giants. However, it took all of oh.......2.6seconds for us to be totally at ease with each other, and we talked so much I nearly forgot to feed the poor girl. In fact we completely forgot lunch, which was something Marge and I remembered as we waved goodbye. We were mortified. I am SO sorry, Susan! I will do better next time. Or we can go to Duke's , my brother-in-law's restaurant.
We had such a lovely time chatting about everthing under the sun from global politics and economics to family and blogging friends. And shops. Sigh. We just needed more time. Susan is a total delight, and such fun too. And you know, I loved having my sister see the blogging world in action too. She reads a lot of the blogs I read, and now she has seen how wonderful our friendships can be in real life as well. As Susan says, it is all Boomama's fault, because her comment section is where we first discovered each other. Three cheers for Boomama!
Marge decorating her Christmas tree.


So.... here is what remains of the mince pies. I also forgot to offer Susan any. Grovel.


I have been entertaining. I loved it.
And then Marge and I popped over to the restaurant to decorate it for Christmas, and I stopped to watch the ski jumpers practicing on the slope. They are also very tiny. And certifiable. That is a loooooooong way to fly through the air. I considered that my weight may give me supersonic speed, but then gravity would come into action and I would either plummet like a stone, or land somewhere on the other side of the village. But, never fear, my knee and I will watch from a distance.


We had dinner at the restaurant, which was wonderful, of course, and then came home to crash in front of the tv. And snooze a little. The leg seems to be growing. It also hurts. But I am not going to think about it at all. That can wait till after Christmas. I refuse to let it stop me from doing anything right now.


Today has been a shopping day. Down the mountain. Believe me, the Swiss shopping experience is a delight. Bargains! Real sales! So many different things to look at and dream about. And the baby things....oh my word. The 4 of us were jammed into the car coming home, covered with shopping bags. Fun. Exhausting. Fun. Did I mention fun?? There were coffee breaks too, of course.

So there you have my latest news. I am having a wonderful time. I am here in the snow with great family and friends. I am grinning.

14 comments:

Sandra said...

Linds, I'm so glad you got to meet Susan, she is one lucky lady, I only wish it were me coming to visit :)

I can't get over how beautiful Switzerland is and oh my goodness, the restaurant and the shopping. Wonderful.

You take it easy, I'm praying for that knee to calm down and let you go about your fun, I would kill for a photo of you skiing LOL
Just kidding LOL

Hugs and kisses,
Sandra

Mary said...

As much fun as you are having - and I can tell you are having WAY TOO MUCH fun - please, please stop hopping on the knee.

I can't believe you forgot lunch! But don't worry when I arrive you can redeem yourself ;)

The kettle is on, right?

Chat soon.

Pam said...

I never forget lunch.

But I'm so glad you're having such a happy time. (It still looks awful cold to me...). Grin on!

Diane@Diane's Place said...

What fun you're having, and it helps keep your mind off that bum knee.

I've met 3 of my blogging friends in real life and so far none of them have been ax murderers. Glad you had a good time with your friend.

Merry Christmas, Linds! :o)

Love and hugs,

Diane

Vee said...

I'm grinning, too, just seeing your pictures, listening to you try to make up to Susan that you starved her to death, and learning more about your experiences there. That restaurant looks so cozy and your sister's tree is beautiful with all the red. Keep right on having fun!

Susan said...

What fun and getting to meet yet another blog friend. It is a very special treat.
Susan

Laurie in Ca. said...

I can see you grinning from here in California! Wow, I only see these kind of pictures in books. What a winter wonderland and I am so glad for you that you are trying to have some fun:) Don't worry, it will come. Take care of that poor knee of yours when you can. It is very important to being able to walk!!! Have a most wonderful time over there.

Love and Hugs, Laurie

Crystal said...

You are so lucky to meet up with another blogging friend! I hope it will be me one day soon :)) I'm so glad you are enjoying every minute of your time away. Thanks for sharing lots of pictures too!! Take care!

Joyful Days said...

What fun to meet a new friend. What beautiful, beautiful photos!! So glad you are having such fun.

Julie

meggie said...

I can see why your grin has entered the Guiness book of records.. from one ear to another!
O what glorious landscape, & wonderful photos. Keep cosy, & keep grinning!! Hugsxx

Barb said...

Oh no. Blogger is eating comments again and mine just disappeared.

Susan is tiny! She'd make any of us look like an Amazon. LOL

I'm so glad you're grinning, Linds. About time. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas.

Needled Mom said...

Meeting Susan sounds like it was such a delightful experience.

I'm glad that you are having such a wonderful visit with your family. It sounds like it is just what you needed.

someone else said...

Reading all about you in Switzerland and seeing the pictures is a little like living inside a fairy tale. I wish I was there!! It was lovely seeing your face again in the picture.

What a treat to get to meet another blog buddy. It's amazing how comfortable it feels when it happens.

Merry Christmas, my dear friend!!

Olson Family said...

Once again - I must just say what a great writer you are. I enjoyed reading your take on our day to my husband who enjoyed listening.

Mmmm - I'm not that tiny but have heard "Susan, stand up. Ooooh - you are" a couple times in my life.

And I didn't starve - we just had too much fun talking. The apple cake held me over until I got to school. Guess what - I had a mince pie! The UK moms brought yummy treats but were surprised I like mince. My dad's mom was English/German and from her - we had mince pies for Christmas. Along with the rigatoni from the Sicilian Gpa.

Starting to ramble - it's a habit. Enjoy the rest of the World Cup ski jumping! I'm off to Germany for a few days....