In a Swiss valley

At work we recently launched a new initiative to improve the health and energy levels of our employees. We had to fill in a quesitonnaire, and one of the tick boxes was next to:

 Meine Energie reicht gerade für einen Arbeitstag

So i ticked that thinking it meant I had enough energy for a whole working day. Apparently though, reading the results, I was the only one who ticked that, and the gerade bit means that my energy only just is enough for the day.
Antlady can perhaps confirm this.

anyway, I obviously misunderstood the question, but thinking about it, maybe I was not so far off the mark. Some days it is quite difficult to keep the energy levels up, and then do stuff in the evening as well. Yesterday the afternoon was tough, I could have used a power nap. Could be I had not fully recovered from the Paris trip last week.

And last night we had a few people round for English conversation evening, and I drank too much red wine, so had one of those sleeps where you totally crash out for about 4 hours, then wake dehydrated and hot, and never really get back to sleep again

So today might be another day with energy lows

and tonight, I am going to the Bruce Springsteen concert, and as tomorrow is the start of the month end close I think this is going to be a tough week.

so, any energy boosting tips welcome. I suspect the choccie bar midday yesterday was probably no help at all.

I never thought I would have to utter the words, but I did today.
My oldest, after finally switching off the TV, and moving herself, was in the porch making going out noises. I wander through to see if she is going out and where to.

Just popping to Svens to pick something up

I look at what she is wearing, a white shirt, belted at the waist, tights, and shoes. That is it.

Have you shorts on under that shirt?

Yes, says she, so I ask for proof, and of course she hasn't any shorts on.

"You aren't going out like that!!" were my final words as she disappeared out the door.

hmm, Teenagers

this morning we went along to a Philosophical cafe in Bern. It was in English hosted by a Philisopher, and the attendees could propose topics, and then vote on the one we were going to discuss for the next 2 hours.
We took my youngest daughter as she is thinking of studying Philosophy, and Psychology at school when she moves to the Gymi in a years time.

It was a first for all of us, but it was really interesting. The Host Philosopher was also a Theologian, and the participants were all non native english speakers ( except us).
The topic we all agreed on was "Belief versus Knowledge" and it was very wide ranging, from what is Truth, to What is Knowledge?, encompassing Wisdom and Faith, and the changing nature of Knowledge through time, and whether there is one truth that people are seeking, why we seek, etc etc.
It was very interesting, and my daughter, although the youngest there by at least 10 years, really enjoyed it, and made some quite insightful contributions. I think she will enjoy studying the subject. She thinks about things, and seeks answers.

When we got home, the eldest was up, watching TV, something like Gossip Girl. She had been watching such stuff all morning! She laughed at the thought of where we had been.
They are so different.

I was doing a competition entry today and one of the questions was about the worldwide incidence of lactose intolerence. I had to check on google, and it turns out it is 90%. That is incredible. But as 98% of Asiens are lactose intolerent I suppose that does bring up the worldwide average somewhat. I know the Japanese tourists have problems with our "everything with cheese" culture here.

I was reading in the paper this morning about a 16 year old Swiss girl who was visiting London with her family. She bought some roasted almonds from a street seller, cos she likes them.
Her Dad tried one but they were so sweet he didn't like them.

Turned out they were peanuts, and she is allergic to peanuts, and she had an allergic reaction, and although the ambulance was there in 7 minutes, she died.

That is so tragic, and such a waste. And that streetseller should go to Jail for manslaughter. Peanut allergy is a well known allergy, with well known affects, and to pass off cheap peanuts as almonds is totally stupid.

freeasthewind asked me about my daughters trip, which I had sort of forgotten about. This was the week before we went to Berlin. The idea was the use of several different forms of propulsion to get around the hills near us.
Day 1 was the hottest of the year so far, 31 degrees and they were cycling up to 1600 metres with a pack on their bike`!
They made it, but got rather sunburned I think.
Day 2 it rained cos it had been too hot the day before. I think they were on scooters that day. Day 3 was walking up and up, and then down again. The girls fell behind apparently, but were with 2 teachers. The teachers suggested to catch up, a sheer descent through snow. The girls were unsure, but the teachers went first and slipped and slided down the hill. Then one by one the girls followed. Becky was last and lost her balance part way, bouncing and rolling down the hill at an increasing rate. She stopped because a teacher stopped her with his legs. Her head just missed a massive boulder she had bounced over.
She was very lucky I think.

Thursday she called me, she was home again, unable to walk much, and covered in bruises. She had got herself home that day while the others had carried on. So thursday night we drove an hour to collect her bike and various bits of equipment from the hillside, before I went to Berlin on the friday. I did feel a bit bad about leaving her, but she was okay, and wanted to sleep and see her mates. Kids bounce back quickly.

When we picked up the equipment we did meet up with the rest of the group, and one of the teachers did have the grace to look embarressed at what had happened, although at that stage i had not realised how serious it could have been until he let it slip!

interesting in comparison to the Uk, is that here in Switzerland 2 male teachers can accompany a mixed group of students, with no female teachers required, and there are no rules about teachers at the front and back of each group etc. Safety is not a big thing here.

apparently it is the first day of Summer officially. Someone should tell the weather, grey stormy clouds overhead and 16 degrees. Hmm.

I was at Church this morning, got sidespersons duty plus intercessions. I am not so keen on loads of jobs at once, cos I seem to be having to think ahead all the time and can't really concentrate on the sermon etc.
Ah well, it keeps me off the streets I suppose, and our vicar is so calm, that he just deals with any problems that come up, and this morning there were several, not caused by me though

At work I have been very busy, we have some new Finance projects on stream, and so this is priority number 1 at the moment, which means the travel ban is lifted. A collegue will fly over for the day from the UK on Tuesday so we can work on this, and then Thursday we are going to Paris to work on the project as a team. Trouble is we start Friday morning at 7.30 am and then finish at 6pm, which is too late for me to get home before 2 in the morning. Plus I miss the office BBQ. So currently I am planning on spending an extra night in Paris, but that means I will be alone, plus lose my Saturday travelling home. So bit of a bugger really.
Might be a bit more summer like there though

I had to post this here, cos I got promised great things if I passed it on
Plus it is very true of so many women I know, and so many of my blogging friends on here.

God doesn't give you the people you want, He gives you the people you
NEED. To help you, to hurt you, to leave you, to love you and to make you
into the person you were meant to be.

Love yourself.

One Flaw In Women

Women have strengths that amaze men.
They bear hardships and they carry burdens,
but they hold happiness, love and joy.

They smile when they want to scream.
They sing when they want to cry.
They cry when they are happy
and laugh when they are nervous.
They fight for what they believe in.
They stand up to injustice.

They don't take "no" for an answer
when they believe there is a better solution.
They go without so their family can have.
They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.
They love unconditionally.
They cry when their children excel
and cheer when their friends get awards.

They are happy when they hear about
a birth or a wedding.
Their hearts break when a friend dies.
They grieve at the loss of a family member,
yet they are strong when they
think there is no strength left.
They know that a hug and a kiss
can heal a broken heart.

Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors.

They'll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you
to show how much they care about you.

The heart of a woman is what
makes the world keep turning.

They bring joy, hope and love.
They have compassion and ideas.
They give moral support to their family and friends.

Women have vital things to say
and everything to give.

HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE FLAW IN WOMEN,
IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH.

Please pass this along to all your
women friends and relatives to remind them just how amazing they are. .

the title above is supposed to translate from the norweigen as "I am very tired".
I have spent a good part of the afternoon trying to use google in different scandinavian countries in order to look up a lot of our customers for credit control purposes.

it is very hard work trying to google a name you can't pronounce, with letters in it that are not on my keyboard, and then trying to decipher the results!

Still it is done now, Belgium and Holland tomorrow; nothing like a bit of Dutch to challenge the brain cells

Our youngest daughter was looking at the options for if she gets into Gymnasium, which is the higher school equivalent over here. One of them is PAM " Physics and the application of mathematics"

"you could take that" I said (Joking) " there will be lots of boys in the class, and not many girls"

" still would not be worth it" says she

My 17 year old daughter, as beautiful as I think she is, never seems interested in a boyfriend. She likes to have lots of friends of both sexes, at least that is what she tells me.
She had a boyfriend once, that I know about, but he got too much by daring to text her more than twice a day!
Today she sent me a text

Hi. Just to let you know. I sort of have a bf

I had to first think what a bf might be, but once I worked it out, I thought okay, but had little time to text back much. When I got home, it transpired, that not only is he 21 ( and this is why she did not want to tell me), but she has been seeing him for a few months now.
And I had no idea!!!! very sneaky my daughter, wonder where she gets it from

Sunday was carnival day, as in the parades were taking place. 12:30 start until late, so hubby and i decided to head for a bit more sightseeing. Actually, I wanted to go shopping, and had misread the department store opening times on Alexanderplatz. In Switzerland we do not use "Sonnabend" and apparently it means Saturday, so the store was truly closed

But never mind, we decided to follow a tip from the man on the bike and headed over to see an model to raise money to rebuild the Palais de Republic, or something similar, which had been blown up by the communists during their spell in East Berlin, and replaced by their own offices. These in turn had been ripped down after reunification, and the Palais was to rise again, exactly as it had been, but with a modern interior. Incredible feat and to cost €800M!!

5 more photos of this model or bits of it in my media in the berlin album.

After that we thought we would walk to Potsdamerplatz and found this lovely square on the way:

where we had a coffee and listened to classical music, and where the church bells played an amazing tune at 12.

Then further to Potsdamerplatz, but on the way another distraction - an amazing chocolate shop, with chocolate everywhere, and big chocolate models:

so of course we had to go in and buy some chocolate:

and then we finally got to Postdamerplatz which used to be wasteland and has now been rebuilt. Well bits of it anyway, some were just facades on scaffold, must have run out of money.
lots more photos again in my media.

then I was tired of walking, so we thought we would catch a bus to the start of the parade. However, we went too far, and ended up back near Blog HQ
But every cloud has a silver lining. It was hot then, and I didn't want the chocolate to melt, so as our hotel was not too far away, we walked back there, having lunch on the way, in a lovely garden restaurant.

Finally made it to the parade about 3.30 pm, and again, lots of photos of that in my media. 1000's of people, and so we watched for a while, and then went for green tea in an amazing little cafe up a side street. At the stands at the end it was heaving. People everywhere, broken glass, and lots of noise. So we called it a day and headed back via Blog HQ which looks like this without the rampages notice:

as you can see - difficult to find

We ate in a turkish restaurant not far away, and again the clouds opened, and the rain poured down, but we were dry. And then back to the hotel, for an early night for a change.

So that was it. Monday we flew home, only slightly delayed by the stairs not coming away from the airplane and then by a medical emergency on board. I really enjoyed the weekend. berlin is great, and all us bloggers got on well, and the non blogger amongst us behaved himself very well too.

here are a few photos from saturday.

Here is a picture of the fountain where we were not meeting for lunch, with the very shiny nipple on the lady, due to centuries of fondling
So Saturday the weather was not as nice as Friday, storms were threatening, so wise to pack a brolly, or even a jacket if you had one ( and some bloggers hadn't )

In the morning hubbie and I walked along the Spree, and admired the views:

and met a nice German on a bike who gave us lots of tips for things to do and see. If only we had more time!!!!
then at 12.30 we met the other bloggers at Alexandraplatz fountain, all except antlady and rampage who had missed the instructions the night before.
We did hang around the fountain for 15 minutes to wait for them, but hunger was calling, so in the end we went to the cafe nearby. The general view seemed to be that antlady would be easy to spot, due to her red hair, and rampage had a mobile phone, so he we could call.

After much table rearranging to allow for wheelchairs! we ordered lunch, Well, we had to order drinks first, as the waiter could not multi task. It was a good lunch though, once it arrived. And fortunately we found rampage too, and he had found antlady, so all was well.

After lunch we went to the Brandenberg gate, and looked at the tourists, and at the huge tamil protest going on the other side. Notbob bought a lot of souvenirs there, and then we
headed to the Holocaust memorial:

some also went in the museum under it, and it was very moving. I chickened out of that bit.
Then we split up again, and la spice, murphymole and GilreanH headed for the carnival stands, the others headed off to get incredibly wet apparently, but I am sure that was not their real intention, and hubby and I went to the reichstag building:

where there was a vary long queue, so we went to the museum at Checkpoint charlie instead.
This is definately worth a visit, and had the bonus of sheltering us from the downpour that hit as soon as we entered it.

The downpour soaked everyone else, who had to go and get changed ( as best they could) making them all late for our dinner rendevouz, so I was starving by the time they showed up. But the 3 bloggers who went to the carnival stands, did put on a little entertainment which made up for it
And then dinner at Lemke's was great, and so was the beer. Notbob was in ecstasy about his sausage, and la spice was in such a good mood she even gave Landers a massage.

lots and lots of berlin photos in my media if you would like to see more.

well, it is over, but it was fun. Friday night we all met at Blog HQ, which was the first challenge. I had the address, and that was easy to find. Trouble is, that it was a house with several apartments, and none of the doorbells mentioned Blog HQ. I had bought no phone number with me, so nothing for it but to ring every door bell and hope someone answered. And someone did Lucky I speak German, as it was explained that the offices would be in the factory round the back!!!
Whoops
So there indeed at the side was an entrance to an industrial bit, with lots of company names up. No Blog HQ again, but instead a piece of paper with yellow writing on it. Through the arch, Entrance A, 4th floor. Well in my excitement I did not read it properly, and off we went through the arch, to entrance 3. No Lift! went up all 5 floors with no luck
Back down again, reread notice, and find entrance A. Lift not working!
I must have been very red in the face when I finally made it up there.
But still, it was nice to meet everyone. I got a hug from Malekeas, who of course I had only worked out on the way who she was, and met sweetymon, so now understand who Rampage was referring to in his posts. She is lovely. I discovered that Scoobydoofus and Landers are actually from Birmingham, so no irish accents from them, but they are really nice guys. Scoobydoofus gave me loads of useful tips this weekend, and Landers was handy for keeping beggers at bay, he has his own direct method for that
Notbob looked just like his media photos, but is easy to talk to once you get to know him. Soy seems very nice, and murphymole was just as I had imagined her, as was antlady in a way, but only cos of the red hair. La spice turned up after us, pulling her suitcase behind her, and after we spent some time trying to track down GilreanH, we all went to the best pizzeria in Berlin, at least that is what rampage termed it.

I have noticed that Berlin is FULL of eating establishments, and drinking establishments, so there is a lot of competition. But this pizzeria was very busy, which may explain why the food took forever to come. It was worth it though. Then some of us went on for a drink or two, while la spice and murphymole continued their search for GilreanH, and antlady headed back to her hotel, which was a bit out of town I think.

Bed was about midnight. A great hotel by the way. Not expensive, quiet, central, and simple. Good breakfasts too. The area was a bit dodgy, but I felt safe enough, if I kept moving

Piccies to follow, and more news too