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i just realised that the one thing which has taken up most of my last 2x months & i haven’t even posted about it at all!! How terrible is that?! Well, not really – i emailed people about it, just not here but for the record – for the last 2x months, we have been waiting on Walter’s office & his client in Texas to decide if we would go there for 2x months or not. It started with we’ll definitely need to be there for at 8x weeks or more (Dec & Jan) & then when Walter came back in Nov from Texas – still no confirmation. In the meantime, i had go round cancelling stuff & classes so that we can prepare to go. i also emailed people to find out what Tobi & myself could do there while Walter is at work – a few gave wonderful suggestions. (so if any one is on their way to Forth Worth, Texas, let me know & i’ll pass on the list of activities) At the end of Nov they said that it’ll likely only be for Dec. Then Dec gets here & we still don’t know – people kept asking,”U still here? When are u going?”. Finally, the 2nd week of Dec they confirm that we’ll not need to go in Dec & now the status is we “might” need to go in Jan – but all is still up in the air – SIGH! So we wait once again.
i was & still am frustrated with all this waiting – i’m not the most patient person in the world – sigh! Maybe Tobi & me will just stay here even if Walter has to go in Jan – we’ll see how it goes.

Walter has to go off to Germany tomorrow (again – he went last week too) for a few days – i pray he gets back in time for us to get our tree on Friday (the day we set to get our tree)
Ok better get back to BSF homework & then Christmas cards.
syc

Today is the day that Samichlaus & his Schmutzli traditionally come & visit the children. He’s like Santa but the Swiss/European version & the Schmutzli is his companion. i have been told that if a child is good, then Samichlaus (looks pretty much like Santa) gives him/her goodies. If a child is not good, then the Schmutzli (dressed in all black with a black beard) will bag the kid & dump him somewhere. i’m not sure when this Samichlaus comes on this date – at Christmas over here – it’s the Christ Child that comes & gives gifts.
There was also the big Chase the Samichlaus thingy – the Kuessnachter Klausjagen – which happened last night – it’s a big event in a little village called Kuessnacht. Every year we try to make it there but we never do get to it – sigh! Hopefully next year.

So today we went to our local supermarket to see Samichlaus – it’s Tobias’ 1st Samichlaus (previous 2years don’t count – he was too small to do anything) Tobias was a little unsure what to do with a big man in a red suit with a white beard & his little help in all black. He sort of warmed up to them when they told him to open his bag so they could give him the goodies (peanuts, chocolate & mandarin). The Schmutzli had to bribe him with a chocolate so he would stand with Samichlaus for a photo. Here’s the photo (i forgot to ask the Schmutzli to get into the picture):

It has been windy & rainy – not nice weather at all – the temps are bad – just wind & rain makes it all gloomy – hopefully this will pass & we’ll get some nice white snow for Christmas.
Now to get off my bum & get to writing cards – yep haven’t even written them – let alone send them out!!
syc

We saw a little hedgehog on our back terrace a couple of nights ago – i had wanted a nice little photo but unfortunately it was dark & i didn’t want to flash at the little guy so we didn’t get a picture. So check out Hedgehog Central then you guys can have a look how cute they are.
Tobias was really excited – it was cold so we wrapped him in a fleece blanket & let him stand at the doorway looking at the hedgehog. We turned on the light to see it better but the little hedgehog walked away after a while. It did come back but went away quickly as i think it didn’t like being stared at by 3x pairs of human eyes ;).
We’ve been hoping to see it again but it hasn’t appeared – maybe i’ll try & put out some food for it to see if it will come back. Now that i know what it eats that is – just concerned that the neighbourhood cats might beat the little guy to the food.

On other matters which occupy our lives at the moment, we are in a frustrating waiting thingy – we’ve been waiting for Walter’s office & client to confirm if we are going to Texas or not & when. It has been like this for a month now – sigh! At 1st they said 2x months, & now they say maybe just Dec & now they aren’t even sure – sigh! Hopefully we’ll know within the next few days – i’ve been constantly telling people that we are going & people keep asking when & i keep saying i don’t know (especially hard with the Krippe & our Music & BSF classes, the latter 2x i had hope to be able to carry on if we do go there) – the other frustrating bit is not knowing how much we can plan for – esp during this festive season – sigh!!

On a good note, Tobias has started telling the ladies at the Krippe (daycare) when he needs to go to the loo – which is great!!! He’s also picking up more & more Swiss now. i have to now listen hard to see if he’s saying something in Swiss or English, which has it’s funny & frustrating moments – i must remember to write down what he says.

So that’s it – now to motivate myself to start on writing Christmas cards & sending them out before it’s too late. Tired from waking up early to drive Walter to the train station – he’s in Germany till tomorrow.
syc