The Rimes Times

This may very well be my last post from Geneva, depending on how much time I can carve out of our graduation day on Friday, so I thought I’d make it a first, for both piggie and me!

I’ve never been much of a connoisseur of seafood. Sure, I enjoy a nice fillet, and the occasional pot of muscles, but I’ve tried to stay clear of oysters. There’s something about the idea of putting a raw, slimy, slug-like object in my mouth that has kept me from enjoying them…until last Saturday that is! I enjoyed several very salty, yet slightly sweet, soft yummy oysters, fresh out of their shells. If you’ve never had fresh oysters in a sunny farmer’s market in Southern France, I highly recommend it

As for piggie, he enjoyed his very first “Swiss Day” fireworks. The first of August is the Swiss equivalent of the 4th of July in the U.S., and they certainly know how to party here in Switzerland. Just a bit down the hill from the John Knox Center, piggie and Daddy R traveled down to the festival square where we enjoyed fries, soup, and sausage (although piggie not so much on the sausage). Afterward we hung out with a group of friends to watch a fireworks show that would have been far too close to the crowd in the U.S. for litigious reasons, but close enough that we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Enjoy the pictures!

Daddy Rimes has been trying to live a bit more frugally than I did last year while in Geneva, and thus I’ve been eating my own homemade dinner of delicious cured meats, yogurt, and other goodies from the fancy French supermarket nearby. That is, until Wednesday evening, when I just couldn’t take another homemade sandwich. So piggie and I ventured out with a group of people from the grad program, and headed out to Fifty-Fifty, one of the BEST Italian restaurants in Geneva. The Pizza Capricciosa was fantastic, complete with the fried egg in the middle, but piggie thought the Salade Nicoise was quite delectable.

The gruff-voiced owner was even nice enough to bring a special ice cream treat for piggie, complete with a cute little cowboy hat. On the way home, piggie felt like it would be fun to play some pool, so we stopped at a local sports bar (plastered with Spanish flags from the recent World Cup victory), and played a game of billiards while enjoying a nightcap.

This is why I made a pony for my boat.

It’s late July, the humidity in Michigan is stifling, and families everywhere across the Northern Hemisphere are vacationing in the sun. Which means Daddy Rimes is spending three weeks away from his family in the Swiss town of Geneva. Doing what you ask? Being a geek, talking about games in education, computer programming, web development/coding, and many other forms of geekery.

Why then would my computer hate all this as the title implies? Because yesterday, in an attempt to strike fear into the rest of electronic devices, I flung my laptop from my backpack onto the floor; the stone slate floor, from quite a considerable height. Apparently zipping your backpack closed is a good idea before slinging it onto your back, and while the laptop suffered quite a nasty blow, you have to give Apple a HUGE amount of credit for making such excellent hardware, and then wrapping it with a sturdy aluminum shell. Thus far, my laptop has continued to function admirably, and I have my fingers crossed that all of the damage is purely cosmetic.

Piggie has full faith that my laptop will continue to perform above and beyond it’s normal call of duty given it’s harsh treatment.

Our little ballerina had her recital a couple of weeks ago, and I forgot to post some pictures.  I don’t have many, because they asked us not to take any while they were up dancing, but I do have a couple from the day to share.

First, she wanted to do her own makeup.

We remedied this before we got on stage.

There was much anticipation and she had a great time playing with friends backstage before her two dances.  The first was ballet to “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” The second dance was tap to “Baby Take a Bow.”  Both were very good.  I was very impressed with her performance mostly because the day before during rehearsal, she just stood there like a bright eyed lump.  But, she pulled through when it counted and did all her steps that they had been practicing since January.

After the show, she got lots of flowers, and enjoyed all the attention from everyone.

Even the Donut enjoyed it.

Daddy told me a funny story and I just had to share it.
Last night, I was away at the library knitting while Daddy took care of the kids. Donut was getting a bath, and Miss R was helping out.
She really likes helping out with bath time.
Anyway, they’re doing the bath thing when the baby does what babies tend to do in warm water; he made a fountain.
Miss R takes a look at Old Faithful and then says to Daddy, “So that’s what it’s for!”

Miss R to Donut: “You are so Ridicwyious!”
Daddy to Miss R: “What?”
Miss R to Daddy: “Ridicwyious Daddy, Ridicwyious!”

I wonder if that spell would put bunny ears on a little brother or maybe some squiggly antennae?

Miss R: Look! Donut has on my ring!
Mommy: Oh, honey, that’s not ok, take it off.
Miss R: Why?
Mommy: Because he could put it in his mouth and choke.
Miss R: And that wouldn’t be good because then I couldn’t use my ring.
Mommy: No, that wouldn’t be good because you couldn’t use your brother anymore.

Busy being a crafty elf, will be back soon!

Just 2 questions this morning.

How is it that you totally forget that first night home from the hospital and how you get NO SLEEP while trying to entertain your newborn?

How is it that you convince your 4 year old that she needs to use her whisper voice early in the morning because Mommy and Daddy feel like they have the worst hangover ever?