With pleasure...

On this sunny Sunday, I am doing the laundry that my American ex accumulated during his two week trip through southern Europe. After I separated the dark colors from the lighter colors and the whites, I had three loads, so the washing machine will be churning away for a while. Luckily, the weather is beautiful and I can dry everything outside on the clothing line. That means it will all smell very nice when it goes back into his suitcase.

 

My ex, in the meantime, is helping my brother in law lay a laminated floor in the finished attic of the house that he and my sister will be moving into next weekend. The whole house had been renovated and the finishing touches will be applied this coming week. Everything turned out to be more expensive and take longer than was planned, but isn't it always like that? Renovating the house has been a stressful event and everybody will breathe a huge sigh of relief when it is done.

 

Tyke and Gandhi were very happy when my ex returned yesterday evening and wanted his full attention immediately, which they got. It is amazing that my ex had the energy for that after he made the long train trip from Luzern in one day. It is nice to have him here again and to have someone to have long political conversations with because he is very well informed.

 

Of course, he also had lots of stories to tell me about his trip and later today I am going to see all the photos he took that are stored on his laptop. He said that he really likes the southern west coast of Italy and that he wants to spend more time there next year when he plans to be here longer.

 

My English speaking ability has improved dramatically and I no longer sound like I have a speech impediment. Sometimes I even have a Southern drawl. It's nice when you can express yourself well in the other language too because it is so frustrating when you are grasping for the right word. I do sometimes literally translate and come up with funny stuff, but my ex has been around enough Europeans to get the point.

 

I must now go and do the dishes and eat. Normal life does go on.