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Today I discovered that, as comfortable as a wheelchair may be, I hate being pushed around. And, if momentarily vacated by the injured party, said wheelchair makes a great gaming chair fora  tired 12 year old!
A churros stand in Solihull made me smile - I'll be back next time there's a market for more! As did Jude's face as he tasted his 'ginger latte' - so ginger that it burnt the back of your mouth.  We'll stick to your juices next time, Joe!
Sunderland's win made me smile broadly as did Jose Mourinho's post match interview as he is something else!

And this time last year...

I miss Zumba - and 'the girls!'

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Looking for a picture of me as a child at Christmas, I came across this one that my sister had uncovered a couple of years ago whilst make me a book for my (big) birthday.
She captioned it 'What's with the life size doll, Lisa?"
Quite!
I also question the length of my dress. And the wallpaper?!

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I have a new 'gadget' - my last birthday present has finally arrived! So I've spent the day obsessed with how many steps I've done, and amused by how much sleep I apparently had last night (not much of it deep according to UP) I've exceeded my target by over 80% at last count (not difficult as I went for a run this morning and that got me up to 75%!) We'll see how it goes - certainly don't have time to chart ALL my food and drink intake when it's not half term!

And Jude found a new friend in Solihull. Shame he couldn't come home with us!

Reading through my university notes and essays this afternoon and I was struck by several things;

I had really neat handwriting once upon a time.

I typed them all, but before I did that, I wrote them by hand then literally cut and pasted them (Or stapled them to save glue/paper!)

My English lecturer was a plonker!

I miss Professor Heathcote et al - they were great times and I loved reading and studying when I had all my time to do it.

I must read some of these books again, especially the Golden Age ones.

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Thank you to the scary Skeleton Pirate for the lovely cakes. 

John returned from Zürich with suitcase full of iced tea, Apfel Farmer bars and Kurbissuppe. 

And I spent an amusing hour looking out through old Earnshaw newsletters and the 1993-4 Earnshaw yearbook. 

Cue picture of "Jesús and his (muddy) disciples" otherwise known as the International inter-wing football team - I'm bottom right!

And evidence that my ability to 'unintentionally say things that could be misinterpreted' is longstanding.

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Just come downstairs to find John ironing whilst watching Victoria Wood on TV. Oh the memories! If you were to ask my university friends about me, my Victoria Wood impressions would feature high on the list if things they'd say - along with my love of Winnie the Pooh and possibly a mention of a purple shell suit...

I can see the smiles as I was asked to recite another sketch - usually about Kimberley and raspberry yoghurts!

And then there was Accrington Stanley... 

Also makes me smile today -

*a run in the rain that reminded me of running in the shadow of the Matterhorn in Zermatt. 

*the return of EdTechRoundUp - and embarrassing myself as usual!

*Jude's rendition of songs he learned on camp about bananas, teapots and Superman. 

*amusing exchanges on FB and Twitter. 

 Translation - There are always reasons to smile. Look for them!

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This time last year, I found this magic box. Made me smile then and makes me smile now!

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This time last year....

Stein am Rhein - that was the day we met a man dressed as Jack Sparrow. Like you do!

A good day at school (although I'm exhausted!) 

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I'm about to leave Switzerland and I can't say I'm currently smiling. But I'm doing as Dr Seuss advised so here are some things that made me smile here.

And so many more things. 

Auf wiederluege xx

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21 years on, almost to the exact day. The dungarees were paler blue and patterned, and the hair longer; John had more hair and Converse trainers but here was are in Obergesteln where it all started. And as we drove through the Goms Valley, the memories flowed:

• the men from Oberwald (g-dong)
• a mountain walk that was more challenging than was originally expected
• the bench by the church (still there!)
• a football tournament that a very competitive man called John (not my John) lost to everyone's amusement
• cycling to Munster along the airfield
• giving pigs indigestion with the remains of our curry
• ice cream in Ulrichen
• the 'sprawling metropolis' of Brig 
• sliding down an ice flow in Fiesch

And the trip over the Grimselpass too - although there were no breakdowns this time, we weren't in a coach and it wasn't as scary this time!

I did feel like I was in Les Revenants though as we passed the reservoir...

and then John saw a child that looked just like Victor scooting past in Zermatt. I'm watching out for zombies although I can just see lots of Japanese tourists at the moment and they're less scary!

So we're in Zermatt now and it's lovely. Some beautiful old buildings, the mountains around us are stunning, and it was nice to feel a bit chilly this evening (and get slightly damp as the rain bounced off the edge of the restaurant canopy!)

Up a mountain tomorrow - must pack the Rescue Remedy in case of cable cars!