And one lovely afternoon in September, Jana got married...

... and, wow, did she look beautiful!  I should start by saying that the excitement in the weeks leading up had been nearly palpable, since everyone had been waiting for this day for over a year.  For the lucky person sharing Office 251 with Jana (aka me), it had been a year hearing about dinner courses and nametags, flowers, annoying guests who don't know how to properly RSVP, yes or no to a veil and Mystic Tanning (we went together - it smells strange but it works).  All of this, without Jana ever turning into Bridezilla!  I have no idea how she did it, and pulled off a flawless wedding, but she did.  And so after one and a half years of feverish planning and growing out her hair, Jana finally walked down the aisle.

The church wedding took place in our favorite Swiss village, Dittingen, in the old church there.  It was small but charming and sat perched upon a hill in the middle of the village, just up the road from where most likely 90% of the world's Jermanns live.  I must admit that part of me was feeling the frenzy primarily because I'd been given the honor of singing the processional song as Jana came down the aisle with her dad - quite the responsibility for someone who has a manic fear of failure.

(Kudos to Pischel-pix.ch)

But...it went!  And it went really well.  No one passed out, threw up, went flat or made an otherwise idiot of themselves.  There I was, parked in front of this nice little church in front of some 200 or so guests (a considerable portion of whom happened to be my colleagues, including my boss Barbara who took the great pic of me and Jana above and Claudia, resplendent in a water color-splashed dress that I covet).  Martin, also standing at the front of the church waiting to begin, looked very handsome in his dark brown suit.  We had a little chat as I desperately tried to put off the inevitable before it was time to begin.  And then suddenly there I was, opening my mouth and singing along, telling myself that under no circumstances was I allowed to look at Jana, which I of course did and then nearly started crying.  Before I knew it, my little part was over, just like that.  And so we finished watching the ceremony and then left for the apero.


The apero was at Martin's parents' house just down the hill, so the the guests poured out and skipped downhill just as I imagine they've been doing for centuries in Europe.  The only things missing were the musicians playing the lute and strumming a medieval guitar while young virgins with garlands in their hair jumped about on the path with ribbons as we all made our way down.


A Swiss wedding apero is a time for chatting, photos with the bridal couple and getting slightly toasted in anticipation of the wedding dinner and dance, which in this case were held at the Dittingen airfield (remember the airshow?) above the valley.  After some good food, good company and a very good party (and poor Martin trying to teach me how to dance) - we cashed out early in the morning and slept the sleep of the well-partied righteous!

And while we're at it, September is a poignant wedding month for another reason.  On 1 September my parents, John and Mickie (at left in my favorite Parisian bistro), celebrated 30 years of wedded bliss and three fantastic daughters.  I hold that this is a good omen for Jana and Martin.  No relationship is immune to the ups and downs of life, but I hope that their life will be as good as my parents', which in my opinion as the Beloved Eldest has been pretty crazy (thanks to the Bretz genes), but also pretty fabulously well-lived.  Unless I'm missing something, and Mom and Dad are just really good actors, in which case I'm officially scarred and in need of a really good shrink.


Wedding season didn't begin here, and it isn't over.  Congrats to Lindsey & Nick who tied the knot on 15 August.  The Paris crew isn't done pairing off, either.  In less than a month Maggie is getting hitched, and yours truly will be on site in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin (how ironic, right?) on hand to celebrate.  Tune in next month for tales of the Parisian crew reunion.

I'm feeling positively romantic these days.  I really must do something about that before I start feeling the side effects.  : )

(Again, well done to Pischel-pix.ch)

Carly & Nature reach an understanding

I've never been the scientific type (or the math type, while we're at it), but I think I have somehow restructured the laws of the universe.  I don't think I can describe it in words, so in the spirit of my new-found discovery I've included a very scientific diagram of this Eureka moment below.  I like to think of it as the Law of Things that Usually Repel Each Other Not Repelling (the Things being "Carly" and "Nature"):

There are so many things wrong with this picture, I almost didn't know where to begin.  And yet, somehow, despite the odds, here it is - courageous and clearly a work in progress (kind of like the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, which is my least favorite construction I've ever personally seen).  Don't be alarmed.  It's unlikely to happen with much frequency, but for what it's worth it was actually a pleasant discovery.  I wouldn't have even made it if it hadn't been for Jana and Martin who decided to get married at the top of the world (aka Hasliberg, Switzerland) and I schlepped up there in heels to watch it.  The ceremony was brief but nice.  I'm always struck by how easy it actually is to get married.  You swear an oath that has to be the shortest of any solemn oath taken: I do / I will / Jawol / Ja.  And that's it, that's all it takes and you're in a legally binding relationship.  No wonder so many people get in trouble in Vegas.  Anyway, after that we had a fantastic lunch in the Alpentower restaurant and enjoyed a few hours of good company.  Then we traded our wedding finery for wandern Kleidung and made our way in down the mountain's slope in the middle of a breezy sunny afternoon.  (Above right: the happy Ehepaar)                                                                                                                                   

It was a lovely, brisk walk.  Along the way I had several full-fledged conversations in German and did my absolute best to enjoy all the natural beauty around me.  Autumn is settling in with her blushes of red and orange, but the slopes are still fairly green with just splashes of late summer flowers.  Jana's grandfather pointed many of them out to me along the way.

      

 

I will not claim that our little wander, though briskly made, was some mountain-scaling, gravity-defying, vertical-flying activity otherwise known to some as "hiking" (you know who you are).  Some of you will perhaps also remember that I recently tried a form of hiking last May with fairly disasterous results.  Despite the fact that I constantly tell myself and others that I don't actually care what Nature thinks of me, this is a lie.  I'm still actually somewhat depressed about how crappy of a hiker I turned out to be, so today was fantastic for restoring that can-do feeling, leaving me cheerfully confident in a shadow of some innate ability to move through nature and enjoy it if I really, really want to. 

It doesn't mean I'm going back to Ratitovec, of course.  I'm an optimist, not an idiot.

Various forms of "flying"

Last weekend was considerably action packed in a very good way.  This began early on Friday when all of our department schlepped out to Interlaken for a firmwide event.  This included (of course) the requisite dissemination of information to all employees concerning various work-related topics before our Chief led us to the festival grounds (yes, they were indeed called festival grounds) for the par-tay.  Several months ago, when we were initially informed of this event, they told us that any over-nighters would be granted accomodation in a tent.  Now, I'm sure you are all desperately trying to picture me in a tent and are failing miserably because the odds of this are about as likely as me becoming a nun in Iran.  This did not mean, however, that I was not going to enjoy the party.  It started off in the best way possible - they fed us.  And when I say this, I mean they truly appreciated the concept of providing delicous, succulent, readily available food:  Käsebrötli, chicken schnitzel, Turkish food, sweet and savoury crêpes, bratwurst, salted ham with green beans and fresh potato salad.  I was weeping at the bounty.  Washing it down was just as easy, with a well-stocked open bar for our drinking pleasure. 

We also had a team building activity - create a commerical using a random object (provided) promoting the firm.  Our object was a strainer ("water out, spaghetti stay"), and I must say our team was IN.GEN.IOUS.  The language lover in me was delighted that we even managed to incorporate "Welcome!" in TEN different languages!  Alas, we did not win, but I am trying not to be bitter about that.

The sun went down, the moon rose high, and we all went inside the festival hall for the musical acts.  Several groups had been brought in to play for us, one of which was headed up by the equivalent of a Swiss American Idol.  The band was pretty impressive (picture above right - check him, um I mean it, out).

The best part of any party, though, are the people.  We have the most awesome, rocking group of people in our department, and I'm pretty sure that we fly the highest at all work events (and this is not ONLY because of the open bar).  I have some of the best colleagues the world has to offer.  See how much fun we had?

Saturday, as you can imagine, required some R&R, which I happily did by treating myself to a pedicure (yay for LABOspa).  Sunday, it was off to Jana's for a BBQ and a chance to see the worldfamous

FLUGTAGE DITTINGEN!!!

(Dittingen Airshow)

For those of you unaware, Jana lives in Dittingen, "Weltdorf mit Herz" or "Worldvillage with Heart," with a lovely apartment providing us with a fantastic view of the airshow.  We had gorgeous weather and tons of fantastic food, compliments of Jana & Martin who hosted a slew of us on their back patio.  For those interested, also available were dips in the hot tub.  It was a great opportunity for all of us to gather outside the office with the sig others and friends and enjoy the last days of summer.  It was the perfect weekend.

I ♥ my people!  : )