The Final Month!

My week certainly did NOT get off to a good start! The weather has been a little crazy for the past couple of weeks, with hot and humid days, then thunderstorms and torrential rain in the afternoons. Of course, that meant that as soon as Marilie and I set foot outside at 5:15pm it started pouring down with rain. Fan-bloody-tastic! I had to, yet again, haul my waterproof boots up from the basement, where I've been stashing all of the warm, winter clothes that I 'don't need' anymore. As an English person the rain doesn't phase me at all, I've spent most of my life outside in the rain. However, what I really hate is morons driving past at ridiculous speeds and absolutely soaking me (Marilie escaped most of the blast because I basically shielded her - yay). It wouldn't have been as bad if I'd have been going back to the house, but I wasn't and I ended up sitting through Marilie's ballet lesson very,very slowly drying out. Oh the joy's of au pair life!

When we got back and ate, I barricaded myself in my room and watched Love, Simon...again. Yes, I did cry as much as I did the first time I watched and yes, I will probably do the same every time I watch it. Even when you know what's coming next, you can't help but feel totally gripped, on the edge of your seat with your heart racing. So, there's another recommendation. Watch it!

I didn't regret watching it until Tuesday morning. At breakfast, I think everyone wondered if I was even breathing because I just sat there silently like a zombie. Somehow I still managed to go for a 'run', although none of my limbs wanted to work and I ended up barely doing it at all. Never mind, I tried...kind of.
Later in the day, after dropping Marilie off at school and being rejected by Krisztina, I finally booked my ferry. At long last I have an official leaving date and it doesn't feel so distant. Thank god. It's been a long old journey and I will sure as hell be glad to be home.
Wednesday is normally my semi-chilled day. Not this week, not at all. It's probably easier if I just list my tasks for that day. Here goes;

• Washed and dried up multiple times
• Baked banana bread
• Precooked dinner
• Did a load of my own washing
• Hung out three lots of washing 
• Hoovered the entire ground floor (the cleaning lady told us she wasn't coming when she was already 15 minutes late. She had a fall apparently.)
• Cleaned my room
• Cleaned the bathroom
• Made Marilie's 'dinner' and drove to take it to her
• Went grocery shopping
• Stripped and made two beds
• Rearranged the games cupboard in my room (god knows why. I must be crazy!)

Kevin had his secondary school induction on Thursday. He seemed to enjoyed it, minus his crazy history teacher who threw his notebook in the bin because he was writing in it. I think he's hoping and praying that he doesn't actually have her as a teacher in September! They had four lessons, music (arguably Kev's favourite), maths, history and science (which he also really enjoyed). His friend, also called Kevin, nearly set the whole school on fire, which amused Kevin 1 a bit too much. Basically, they were using Bunsen burners and learning how to use them properly and safely. Kevin 2 used one of the flammable sticks to, I assume, help a friend light their Bunsen burner, but somehow the flame got super big and Kevin 2 panicked, screamed and threw the lit stick across the classroom. I think he'll be hearing about that for a while and maybe he should avoid flames for the foreseeable future.
I cried laughing at this masterpiece Kevin put in the history section and in the questions section he just asked about lunch. Classic Kev. 

Marilie passed her swimming test and couldn't wait to tell me when she got back. She was a little more reluctant to tell her mum, who knows why. Next year she can move up to 'Kids 2', whatever that means and I told her that I expect to see her at the next Olympics. 
Essentially, I made rice to feed the whole town. This picture shows a deep pan that four people have already eaten from. Yeah, there was a LOT of rice...

After spending the entirety of Friday morning laying in bed (oh the agony of being a female), I forced myself to go for a much-needed walk, otherwise I'd have been inside all day. I decided to sport shorts, despite my slightly hairy legs which have the most bizarre tan. I felt infinitely better by getting out and about, but soon regretted it when the painkillers wore off. Getting back to the house was a struggle to say the least!

Krisztina's request for the weekend was basically to do nothing. Well, wish granted. We grabbed some food and a bottle of wine, then made our way to Chambésy. Basically, we spent the whole day eating and drinking by the lake, perfect! The only downside/life experience was when I had to use the toilet, which was no more than a glorified hole in the ground. It was interesting to use, that's for sure! Potentially an experience I'll try to avoid in the foreseeable future.

What you can't see very clearly in the picture below is that I got a bit frazzled in the sun. I have a very sexy white patch where my hair was, then under that I'm essentially a lobster. 

In the evening, Marilie had her dance show at L'esplanade in Divonne. It was overwhelmingly hot in there, even though they clearly had air conditioning. Foolishly, we assumed that there would be a break, considering that the show was two hours long. Not the case, not at all. We had to sit there for the whole time, sitting in our own sweat with no water and no air, to the point where I genuinely thought Kevin was going to pass out. He did NOT look good at all. We were all beyond relieved when it finally ended and we could go outside to breathe! Criticisms aside, some of those dances were absolutely incredible and I don't know how on earth people can dance like that, I'm so jealous. 

On Sunday, Krisztina and I decided to tick something off our bucket list; a boat ride across Lac Léman. Granted, it was on the smallest scale possible. At only 3CHF, you can ride the little yellow boats (and potentially buses too - who knows?) an unlimited amount of times for one hour. It did the trick, our thirst for a boat trip was somewhat quenched. It wasn't always plain sailing (forgive the pun). A child, who must've been 3 at most, got stuck in between the boat and the platform, narrowly avoiding getting his legs crushed. Thankfully, his quick-thinking dad and the sailor helped him back up and all was well (minus the fact he wailed for the whole journey). I was desperately trying to avoided getting burned further, so had to spend the day in a jacket. Not so easy when it was 27 degrees! I was absolutely sweating when I got back in the car and somehow lost one of my socks in the whole process, who knows how. 

In the evening, Jason and I bought a pizza and some fries to eat at the lake. I hadn't eaten properly all weekend, so I was glad to have actual food! We had a good old chat while the hours passed, before heading home to get ready for yet another Monday. Where on earth does the weekend go?

Monday morning came all too soon. I made it to French, which is becoming harder and harder to do every week, so big points to me! Unfortunately, given the weather the previous day, I thought I'd wear something nice and light and summery. Bad idea! When I left French, it was absolutely pouring down and, of course, I had no jacket nor an umbrella. Hooray. As you can see, I was less than impressed.

I ended up coming back looking like a sad, wet dog and had to change immediately. I seem to be having shaky starts to my week recently, but hopefully it won't continue. 
Keep your fingers crossed for me!