State of the Lark

So I'm trying something new. Instead of doing a link list as I've done on Fridays past, I'm going to ramble in a stream of consciousness, part essay, part journal entry sort of way and sprinkle links at you within the text. You'll still get your links, but mostly I'll just share my thoughts on how the week was and what we did over the course of the week, subjecting you to my inner monologue. I think you'll like it! I decided to give this a try for several reasons. One, I don't seem to have enough time to post five days per week lately and the Friday link list is not really a full post, in my opinion. Two, I frequently do something that seems "blog worthy" but the daunting reality of taking and editing photos is very off-putting for me (I'm in it for the writing!) and a lot of times, things aren't really enough to make a whole post out of it. Not in 2016 anyway. Back in 2006, blogging was SO different. Just look at this post from Oh Happy Day. And what about this one from Cup of Jo? My how things have changed. These are now more on par with Facebook status updates. Some of these old posts might even fit into a Tweet! What will 2026 look like? Just for fun, here's one of my 2006 posts.

This week, we baked the New York Times' Original Plum Torte Recipe from 1983, pictured. My mom's friend has a huge Italian Plum tree that yields insane amounts of fruit every year. When she first brought me a box of like 70 plums, I'll admit I was a little overwhelmed, maybe even slightly annoyed? Coco ate a lot of them. I ate a few. And then, this glorious recipe showed up in my news feed. Holy moly. So easy, so simple, so absolutely delicious. I have enough plums to make three more and you better believe I'm baking all three today. Two will go in the freezer and one will be for the little patio pizza party we're having to celebrate my uncle (and mine and Coco's) birthdays tonight. If you have plums, make this torte. If you see plums at the farmers market, buy a dozen and make this torte! Be aware: I took ours out at 45 minutes. Watch it carefully. One of the commenters on the Times article said that she baked this during an open house to try to get her house to sell after it had been on the market for a while. And it sold! I totally believe it. It's that good.

Every time the Apple folks come out with a new iPhone, they have to come up with superlative phrasing to out-do the year before, which was the most spectacular thing ever, until now. But, this year, with the camera on the 7 Plus, they've actually really done something. I am hoping to get one for the camera alone. Let's be clear. I do not need a new phone and I should really be focused on the fact that our monthly bill will be dropping drastically now that our phones are "paid off". But, the camera!

Our kids are sick again, if you can believe it. This time it's a fever, cough and stuffy nose. Coco is (more or less) old enough for Children's Dimetapp, which absolutely saved us last night. Theo on the other hand is a nursing monster when he's sick. He called out "NAY! NAY!" all night long and chased me around doing the same all morning before his nap today. I really love that he has his own little word for nursing. Coco just called it milk! But, I was tired of hearing it by about 10 this morning. I think we may need to throw a pot of this on the stove. I've always made enchiladas with the chicken after making stock. What do you use it for? And doesn't this sound like the best stock of all time for a cold? I mean, yum.

So, something that took up a great deal of head space this week was coming to the realization that my family and friends, and just about everyone here who wasn't also in Switzerland (so everyone) does not understand that we are still reeling, grieving and suffering from the loss of it. It seems so completely obvious to me because I am the one who is sad and depressed and can't seem to escape those feelings on a day-to-day basis. But to everyone else, that is ancient history! Truly. We have been back in the US for over two years. But it still feels very fresh to us, even after all this time. So, I heard something that really struck me on that vein. I was reading a post on The Alison Show and she mentioned that Gretchen Rubin of The Happiness Project says, "What you do every day matters more than what you do every once in a while."

That really got to me because it speaks a lot to where we live and what our daily rituals are within our time and place. I think I miss a lot of the everyday aspects of Zurich much more than the big, spectacular, but also wonderful parts of living in Switzerland. I miss riding the tram and pushing the buggy around the city and shopping at our local Coop, where I could have done our shopping with my eyes closed! That's definitely one of the hardest parts for me.

And then I read this article about loss and grieving and it describes exactly how I've been feeling. And continue to feel. Jeez, seems like a dead horse by now, but this shit is hard and it is real. I think it's extra hard knowing it's still there. The decision to come back was our decision and it's not gone. How do you get closure when it's still there and we could just go back? Of course we couldn't go back to our same apartment and same life - Coco is older, we have Theo, etc. But, we wouldn't want to, either. The city itself, that's still there. Brutal.

Okay, enough rambling for this week. I'll leave you with this one last thing: Can you believe these beautiful photos taken down in subways? I love them all. I just realized I've never actually lived anywhere with a subway. Interesting.

I hope you have a lovely weekend. We are taking it easy and hopefully the kids will be over their cold by Sunday as we are planning to go back to Silverwood for the last nice day. Today is the last hot summery day. I've got my duvets airing out on our bedroom balcony and I'm excited to have the patio lights on tonight. See you back here Monday! xo