Is this a typical boys thing?

Stefan was taking part in a football camp all of last week (the word 'camp' is loosely used here: Basically, it was a week of playing football from 09:30-15:30 Mon to Fri, incl. fruit and weather dependant breaks one of them being lunch at a nearby hotel) and when I picked him up yesterday, he told me that one of the other players had asked where he lived so they could meet up here and play together sometime.

I'm all up for Stefan growing his social circle, so I ask the, to me, obvious first question: What's his name?

Stefan: I don't know.

Okay. I put on my detective cap, which is getting more and more worn out due to Stefan's, in my view, often total ignorance as to where he last put things, which YouTube video or song he's referring to etc. and move on with my questioning: 

Me: What does he look like?

Stefan: He has dark hair.

Okay. I have a couple of boys in mind and move onto more in-depth questions:

Me: Does he have curly hair?

Stefan: No, it's sort of like this: (he makes circle movements on top of his own hair. I conclude that yes, it's curly, but Stefan doesn't know the word 'curly')

Me: Does he have dark skin? 

Stefan: No.

Stefan then remembers some additional information and tells me that the boy won a trophy and wasn't on his team. This boils the number of potential candidates down to around six. 

I ignore his reply to the question about skin colour and ask him if it was Sharon (who's of Indian descent). But no.

Then I ask him if it was the boy he said 'Adé' to (I guess it's a Swiss-German version of 'Adieu') when we were going home and result!

Stefan's new friend, whose name he doesn't know, is a black boy with a short afro who won a trophy for being an allround nice player. 

Name: No idea. He doesn't go to the same school as Stefan. We don't know where he lives. BUT, I'm positive we'll bump into him again as this part of Zürich is quite small and the children tend to go to the same playgrounds. He might even be on the same football team when the new season begins next week.

And, now at least I also know what he looks like. 

This brings me back to the title of this post:

Is this a typical boys thing? 

Losing It

Losing It

Having danced on trails
Embraced mountains

And somersaulted into oceans

We got lost

In the roundabout

Of good-buys

This is a recent poem (2018).

Growing Up

We notice how you grow

not only by having 

to replace your 

clothes, shoes

(and our knowledge of

Netflix shows)

on a regular basis

but also from your

ever increasingly

(in your mother's eyes)

daring antics

on the playground

(June 2018)

My New Therapist

My new therapist is German, has lived in Switzerland for more than 20 years, is married to an American, and uses the F… word.

I like her.

She came recommended by my GP, when I mentioned, during one of several appointments last year (apparently, going to the doctor with diffuse symptoms on a regular basis can be a symptom of depression), that I was considering changing my therapist.

The thought of trying to find someone new and going through everything that had happened since my post natal depression once again had just felt too daunting earlier. But this day at my GP’s, I realised that the only benefit I had received from my weekly appointments the last two years was a very intense German conversation class (without the homework and discussions on finer grammatical points). My head wasn’t any clearer and I was still struggling with the same issues on a daily basis without having been given any tools to try and deal with them.

One of my friends, who’s also known to therapy, once told me she wanted to change her therapist. She explained that she found it difficult as she didn't want to upset her current therapist by leaving. At the time I didn’t understand her. To be honest, I thought she was being ridiculous. Now I’ve been in the same situation as her, I wish I hadn’t been so harsh on her and quick to judge. Because I totally agree with her sentiments about not wanting to hurt someone.

It IS silly, if you look at it logically. These therapists provide a service to you and if you’re not happy with that service, you should take your business (you) elsewhere. Most people would do that with their hairdresser, dentist, tattooist...

I’m so thrilled to have found someone who seems to ‘get’ me. She doesn’t agree with all my theories about why I might be feeling this way or that, but she gives me useful feedback and makes me think about why so and so and how so and so. (We're a lot more specific in our sessions.)

What I really appreciate about her is that she seems to care. Genuinely care. You leave her office with the feeling that she wants you to get better and not that you’re another patient (product) she should try to squeeze money out of for as long as possible.  

If you are in a similar situation and want to change your therapist, please don't make the mistake I did and wait too long. Had I not made the change in November last year, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have got the help I needed earlier this year. Or I would have got it when I was in a much worse mental (and physical) state.

It’s your mental health that’s at stake, and you deserve and need someone who’s right for you to help you get better.

Mail

Mail

sent my heart

through the mail

now my life

depends on

postman cyberspace

Lost

Lost

when you left

you took the directions

of my life with you

now I'm not only

heartbroken

I'm also completely lost

Another poem from my pre-being-a-mother and pre-married life...

Easy Spinach and Feta Quiche

I'm always on the look out for new ideas when it comes to what to serve for dinner - and as I know many of you guys probably feel the same, I want to share this healthy, time and family friendly, oh, and did I mention easy? recipe with you.

This quiche is so easy to make, delicious (both hot and cold) and a total hit with all three members of the family. Stefan refers to this as 'the second pizza' (we often have an easy-to-make home made pizza which I guess must be the first one) and he loves, loves, loves it. 

STEP ONE

Ingrediens and method:

Pre-heat oven to 220० C (or according to the instructions, see below)

Ready-made dough for quiche (32 cm in diameter)

6 large eggs mixed together

200 g feta - crumble and add to egg mixture

200 g defrosted or fresh (if fresh, blanche it first - 2 mins in boiling water) spinach, squeeze as much water as possible out of it and add to egg mixture

Salt & pepper

To fluff up the quiche, and / or if you happen to have some half / full cream left over, add 1 dl to the mixture

 STEP TWO

Playing with Dough:

Follow instructions on pack. 
Mine say to place paper and dough in the tray, make it look pretty, cut off extra paper and manically pierce holes on bottom with a fork.

STEP THREE

What to do with the Mixture:

Pour mixture into tray.

STEP FOUR

How Long to Bake and What to Expect Post-Baking:

Bake for 35-40 minutes in the bottom part of the pre-heated oven and it could look like this when it's finished.

If the quiche starts emitting hot air when you cut into it DON'T PANIC! It's not ruined and won't implode like a not-totally-baked-through souffle (not that I have any experience making souffles but I guess my explanation might work). I don't know why this happens but could come up with many theories. However, I won't. 

Suffice to say that this baking phenomena happened during the making of above-pictured quiche and as you can see and read below, everyone was happy with the outcome. 

BONUS PICTURE

History Behind Bonus Picture:

Don't ask me why I decided to illustrate what the quiche looked like inside by placing one slice on top of a dark pink spatula on top of the quiche itself. I don't know. The quiche was so delicious that it was eaten before I got around to taking a new picture. 

The few times there were some leftovers, these were served cold the next day - when they were as quickly devoured as newly baked the evening before. 

En Guete!