The return of the warrior – ehm… queen

That’d be me. Tomorrow is Three King’s Day, and here in Switzerland that means… another special bakery item. This bread is baked in the shape of a daisy and a little “king” is hidden inside, and whoever find it is King for a day. Of course, because I am nothing if not prompt (or maybe because I can’t resist freshly baked bread), I already had my first (and.. ehm – second) piece this evening, and ta-da!! I found the king. Didn’t choke on it, either, but only by sheer luck – they really should think of making it bigger. Anyway, now I ma the Queen, and all must do my bidding for the next 24 hours.

This unique opportunity is so wasted on me right now, because I ma just getting over the flu and I am kind of… blah. I think I am suffering from holiday hangover. The holidays came, and there I was, in a cocoon of good food, family, late nights and good books. Then, just like that, the holidays where over, it was 2010 and it was time to get back on schedule, get on a diet, and… just get on with it, I guess. I haven’t been very good about that. I haven’t even done my New Year’s resolutions yet. So off the top of my head, here they are:

1. Lose weight. Or whatever the most widely accepted wording is for it these days. Whatever it is, I’d like to lose a good 2 sizes. But you knew that already.
2. Make more time for myself. I don’t know why women in general (and many moms in particular) seem to have a tendency to feel that dedicating time to ourselves is self-indulgent. We take care of others, and prioritize everyone else’s needs over ours. Why? Aside from being a surefire road to burnout, we also run the risk of starting to resent all the people we take care of. We cannot give give and give if we are the equivalent of an empty well. We need to “replenish”, too. For me, it can be as little as having a little time each day for exercise, a long bubble bath with a good book and a cup of tea, or giving myself a mani-pedi in peace, without interruptions, while listening to my iPod. Trivial, I know. But little things each day might just do the trick. (whoever said women were complicated? )
3. Find a writing job I can do from home. I have been meaning to do this, and wanting to get on this, but haven’t actually seriously pursued it so far. But it’s what I want to do. And I really don’t think I should wait for it to just fall on my lap.
4. Get more active in the Expat community. It’s the thing that (for me) makes living in Switzerland tolerable, being able to connect with other expats, especially if they speak English. (You’d think I’d try to find people to speak Italian with, but somehow English is much more second nature to me, it’s just more comfortable.) I already organize a monthly book swap, but I want to do more. I want to have more fun, make living here more fun. Granted, that shouldn’t be too difficult now that my friend Gwen also moved here! Can I hear a Yay!!?
5. Go to NYC for BlogHer and take the time to also see my closest friends in the area. I have never missed any place I have left as much as I have been missing New York. So it will be wonderful to be there again and see everyone and do a little shopping, of course (’cause shopping here sucks). Attending Blogher10 will be the icing on the cake
6. Start volunteering again. I think one of the main reason for my lack of energy/motivation can be blamed on a lack of focus, of purpose. Granted, achieving point 3 will help a lot, but I think doing something to help others without expecting anything in return is the best thing we can do to find purpose again. I used to do it a lot. I want to start again.

So there we have it. Now that that’s out of the way, let me tell you about my Sookie Stackhouse series marathon: I got the 8-volume collection for Christmas and started reading right away. I just finished book 8 yesterday and I loved them all. And I am getting ready to order the next one, as well as True Blood on DVD, of course. Want to see it again now that I’ve read the books. There goes the last female on the planet exempt from the vampire-fever

And you? What have you been up to?