Black and White (and Gold - Go Saints!)

Aside from the big Saints win, this past week has not been very exciting. Exams have started and I got the flu. Not much to write about there. So, once again I'm relying on something Ryan sent me that inspired a post. Here goes.

It was a piece from the NY Times that talked about boring books. This is the excerpt that hit home:
“Pay close attention to the most tedious thing you can find (Tax Returns, Televised Golf) and, in waves, a boredom like you’ve never known will wash over you and just about kill you. Ride these out, and it’s like stepping from black and white into color. Like water after days in the desert. Instant bliss in every atom.”

The black and white he's referring to is like my Industrial Organization text book, or the Public Management slides I have to memorize. I haven't been as good about studying as I should be because I can't really take it anymore. I have read more about minutiae than I care to, so today I stepped out into the color, and went grocery shopping.

The cheese men at the fancy store are always so friendly, and today did not disappoint. I was choosing a Gruyere (which is my new favorite) when one of them tried to start a conversation. I replied with my standard, non parlo molto Italiano. To which he replied, something in Italian. But it ended in buono so I assumed it was... but you spoke that so well! I thanked him and he gave me cheese.

Because I had a pretty, furnished apartment to go home to, I decided to take advantage of the one cheap thing here in Switzerland - flowers. I got almost a dozen tulips for $8, and they're gorgeous. I'm hoping they bring a little color into the next few days.

Here's another funny line from the Times article - “Bliss — a second-by-­second joy and gratitude at the gift of being alive, conscious — lies on the other side of crushing, crushing boredom.” You know what's on the other side of my boredom? My family is coming to Lugano over the Mardi Gras holiday! This cannot come fast enough...

Oddly enough, the Times piece was not referring to studying, but rather a book about accounting. Here's a little antic dote from my accountant. Ryan "ran home" on Saturday after going out with some guys in the building. It was 3 in the morning, he was cold, and wanted to shorten the 30 minute walk home. Running seemed like a good idea. Problem - he was in dress shoes and a blazer, the only one on the street not in a car, and again, it was three in the morning. So, here's the plan he concocted... run, but when you see a car, start walking, so as to not look like a crazy person. Brilliant! Guaranteed those cars saw him running and stopping for their benefit. No crazies here, right? We had a good laugh about that when I got woken up by said crazy person, coming into the apartment out of breath.

BIG Saturday

I just have time for a quick post, but I thought you'd like to know that WE HAVE PLANS! Typical Saturdays include sleeping in, Ryan's music, facebook, coffee, then venturing out to walk around the city or pick up some groceries. Not this time... take a look at our packed schedule and tell me you're not jealous.

11:00 - 1:00 - Ryan goes bike riding with a neighbor. The neighbor is an ex-professional athlete, but recently hurt his knee skiing, so Ryan is confident he will keep up this time with no problems.

1:30 - 4:30 - grocery shopping in Italy with other neighbors. Elsa is French but speaks very good English and her husband is actually American! I've been hanging out with her and her baby (Leoni) the last couple of days. She is very Parisian... carefree, beautiful, and ultra-cool. She introduced me to a face cream that costs $545 (for the smallest amount possible) and showed me the most amazing purse she received as a Christmas present. I feel as if I'm always on the verge of looking square, polite, and basically not-cool around her. But, she seems to like me (either that or she's incredibly bored in the apartment by herself during the day). Her and her husband have a car, and offered to take us to an Italian grocery store they go to every Saturday. A lot of people do that here... it's cheaper, has everything, and you can stock up for the week (as opposed to going daily, like we do).

7:00 on - dinner with a guy from Ryan's office and his girlfriend. This never happens - usually people from Ryan's office don't socialize after hours, and most of them go to homes outside of Lugano for weekend fun. So, this is extra special. I'm hoping we impress this guy, enough that he'll ask us out again.

Here's a picture of Ryan before he left. Can you tell we're excited? I whipped out the camera and he made no protest about the picture (just that I shouldn't get the light behind him because he would appear too dark).

Fairly Interesting

I'm studying for exams, starting with a class I don't like so much... Organizational Behavior. It's the test structure that stinks, not the content of the class. Anyway, I came across something in my reading that I thought might be worth sharing. The subject matter is self-esteem in the workplace, and how it can be used by managers to predict (and improve) employee behavior. So far, I haven't learned anything beyond common sense, UNTIL, I came across this.

There was a 30 year study done in Britain that interviewed parents of all babies born in the first week of April 1970. These children were then questioned at ages 5, 10, 16, 26, and 30. The focus of the study - self-esteem. The result - a very close correlation between childhood self-esteem and adult success. Here's a direct quote from the findings.
"There is now clear evidence that children with higher self-esteem at age 10 get as much of a kick to their adult earning power as those with equivalent higher maths or reading ability. Childhood self-esteem can overwhelm academic disadvantage or social deprivation in determining future earnings power"

Not earth shattering, but interesting. It reminds me of watching Cissy whisper to Maddie when she was WEEKS old, that she was the most beautiful, the smartest, and the best girl. When Maddie was a little older, Cissy would make up cheers about how great she was. I thought it was just the picture of a Mom loving her kid. Bill probably thought it was crazy. Everyone else probably thought it was just Cissy being Cissy. But who knew she was ensuring her child's earning potential???

So Mat, when you're rich and famous, remember your fairy godmother, will you? I don't think I was the most confident at 10, so you might have to carry me a little.

Quote of the Day...

"In order that people may be happy in their work, these three things are needed: They must be fit for it. They must not do too much of it. And they must have a sense of success in it." -- John Ruskin, English author, poet and art critic

My Husband the Comedian

Ryan - good thing you made that last post. It was HILARIOUS!

Quote of the Day

Lately work has begun to take over my life here (not so different from how it was in the US). This has greatly limited my posting to the blog. I feel bad about that because I know Malinda's posts are not funny and we are probably losing readers all the time. So, I've decided to maybe throw a few in that are short and sweet from now on if I don't have time/pictures for anything long.

One of the e-mails I get everyday at work is this accounting news brief. It sounds really exciting, I know, but at the end of them they always have a quote of the day. I read the headlines as quickly as possible and see if KPMG is being sued or anything, then I get to the quotes which are hit or miss. I think I will start posting the ones I like for your enjoyment as well.

Today:
“I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it." --Pablo Picasso

We're Baaack

We've been on a Christmas vacation! And posting, while fun, is a little like work. It takes thought, time, and is prone to Facebook distraction. That should explain why we haven't done it in a while.

The past two weeks found us in New Orleans, Memphis, and Poplar Bluff, MO. More specifically, it found us eating junk food, sitting on our butts, and shopping at J Crew. Since pictures are worth a thousand words, I'm hoping they tell our story.

We started in New Orleans. This was Christmas morning. Bizzy is the only one that looks good that early, so we'll leave it at that. Sufficed to say everyone was happy - Santa brought his A game.

Here's Mossy reading her present - "Emails About Mossy: A Back Surgery Diary."








The cousins aren't as young as I remember. My Christmas memories involve wrapping paper everywhere, lots of noise, and little kids shouting out what they received. This Christmas was more quiet (except for the fake noises coming from the new iPhones at the kids table) and included word games!

Majeau Christmas, however, was exactly like I remember. It included Pepere falling asleep amid chaos and the girl cousins talking about boys. Ryan was a new addition to this conversation, but didn't have much to add.

We spent New Year's Eve at my cousin Tommy's wedding, which I was very excited about. NYE always feels forced and involves standing in a line while freezing. This year we enjoyed being warm, free drinks, and an uncrowded dance floor (which Liam enjoyed - wish I had captured it better). Judging by the pictures, it looks like we hijacked the wedding party backdrop for quite some time. Hopefully the bride knew the Majeau's tendency to take over BEFORE she married in.














During the break, we got to see two new things - my parents' (almost finished) kitchen and Sarah's baby! Both were awesome. The kitchen inspired lots of cooking. Bill got Ryan to help with some homemade pasta... they made about 5 pounds of it.













I enjoyed holding Sarah's baby a little too much, but not enough to want one of my own, even though Ryan suspected otherwise. Jacob and I just really connected... here we are both raising the roof.














We got to spend some time with Ryan's family in Poplar Bluff. They live out in the country and I'm in love with their dogs. They're total characters... here's Ginger watching traffic, one-eyed-Darby, and the white dog Freckles (who is deaf and perpetually happy).


Back at the Kelley's house in Memphis, there were Christmas cookies. This is an integral part of the holidays for Ryan, so his mom made about 12 batches. Every time I turned around there were more in the oven, and more in my tummy.













Our Memphis friends showed up for an open night of dinner and trivia. The table split into a girls and boys side - so effective for catching up. We didn't have to talk about football and they didn't have to talk about who was pregnant!












The trip included a first... Ryan's 1st NFL game! The timing was perfect because for the next two days he was sick and passed out.













We've been back since Sunday night, and I haven't exactly gotten into the swing of things. I don't think my body has either. I wasn't hungry at all yesterday (but managed to eat candy), and this morning (it's only 10:30) I've already polished off a bowl of pasta. Lovely.

It was a great trip... I miss being home, and this picture just about sums it up. On the couch, sharing blankets, enjoying ourselves. Doesn't get better. I hope you guys enjoyed your break as much as we did.