To je sranje!

I will leave you to figure that one out for yourselves. Let it suffice to say that it has been freezing cold and snowing since we came back after our New Year's holidays. When we landed, we were shocked to see all of the snow that had fallen, and --at that moment-- was still falling. I have been complaining ever since then, especially as the cold, snowy weather has persisted. And also I should mention that in Ljubljana there is never any sun, thanks to the 'inversion'... Today, again (*sigh*) it is coming down. But Lucy is happy. And so are the birds. No, we did not get birds as pets -- I mean the wild birds. They have been migrating back in this direction (obviously having been misinformed about the coming of spring) and so they are all chattering to each other in the trees, playing in the snowy branches. It is the beginning of carnival, so maybe that will lighten my mood. But I really think it will take a few more degrees and some sunshine to accomplish this... Oh well, off to work now.

Hey! I can see my breath!

Yep, it has been a loooong while since I have posted here. A whole season has gone by, as a matter of fact....

Things HAVE happened though, contrary to what you might have assumed by my silence (you know what happens when you ASSume...)

-- we went to Sarajevo for a fantastic long weekend, we spent a week on the island Cres, we took some day trips, we went to Bad Durkheim for the WurstMarkt -- most of these with the help of our friends, to whom we are very grateful.

You can go to our Flickr page to see pictures, if you have not already at some point during the summer -- those have been kept up to date (mostly thanks to Joe, who now fully comprehends the frustration of losing your captions before they have been saved...)

During the summer we also moved to a new apartment and now we are on the edge of the old town, at the bottom of the hill upon which Ljubljana castle sits. It is a great location, close to everything, and we love it. No more riding the mobile petri dish* to work! Yay!

(* read ˝city bus˝ )


But now, after seemingly endless --in a good way, mind you--
days of 25 to 30 degree temps (that`s 70 plus degrees for you folks using Fahrenheit!) it is finally Autumn.
Just today the whatever they use now instead of mercury plummeted
and it is only 8 degrees at the moment (again, that`s Celsius -- in Fahrenheit I think it`s about 40 - 45 degrees or so). Brrrr!

But honestly, that`s OK because that means that all of those
Delicious Fall Smells are hanging...
I was out with Lucy for a walk this evening and you could smell LOTS of good things: for example --

roasted chestnuts (the chestnut selling carts have already staked out their street corners in the old town),

wood smoke (from the relatively few people that have not yet converted to gas heating, but thank goodness for those hold-outs because I do love that smell!),

and autumn leaves (they smell *especially* good when you know that you don`t have to rake them!) among them.


This update will be short -- in fact, it will end here! Surprise! I hope you didn`˙t bother to sit down.
But honestly, there`s not too much else going on here ...

....like the rest of the world, there´s been a bit of a financial crisis here, although that seems to be easing up a bit for us personally (knock wood) so we are actually quite busy at the moment...
....flu shot appointments need to be booked....
....we need to get the snow tires on the car (I think by November 15th?)...
....Official Paperwork needs to be renewed again in the beginning of January...
....I need a haircut and color...

You get the idea. The word ˝mundane˝ comes to mind except for:

....Martinovanje (celebration of new wine in mid-November) is coming...
....we will be going back to the US for Xmas holidays....

So, that`s all for now. I hope you have (or find!) something to smile about today :-)

Objem,
-Susan-

May Day, etc

Hi! It has recently occurred to me that two holidays which were either previously celebrated or begun in the US are no longer celebrated there. The first is Woman`s Day, May 8th. This holiday, if memory serves correctly (and it sometimes still does)was started in the US by women workers in the garment industry sweatshops, I think following such horrendous events as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, and not to mention the 12 to 15 hour workdays for next-to-nothing wages. But after it was adopted by the ROW and became embued with a `reddish` hue, it was dropped in the U.S. It is still celebrated all over Europe. Women will usually receive small gifts of flowers. It`s quite a nice idea, and those of you in the U.S. really ought to bring it back. Men appreciating women, women appreciating women - you can`t go wrong there.

Similarly, the May Day holiday used to be celebrated over many countries in the world as a recognition of workers` rights. Before representing workers` rights, it had begun as a pagan holiday but somehow evolved from there. Once again, that same `evolution` eventually took on a rather pink-ish shade...and as you U.S. residents know (unless you live in Minneapolis), May Day is no longer celebrated.

But, we are off today. Go, Workers!... Go, workers!... (but not to work today)

Again this year, we did not go to one of the giant customary booze-addled bonfire-lit events last night... um..(sheepish grin).. I actually DID have to work this morning...

Enjoy your weekend, and don`t forget to wash your hands often! (swine flu alert!)

Objem,
S-