What do I do all day?

My mom asked the question on Sunday of what do I do all day while Mike is at work. I think this is a very good question as one would assume that a woman with no children and no job could sit around eating cheese and chocolate and drinking wine all day. Unfortunately, not so. Things are a little less... convenient here.



6:30 Mike's alarm sounds and I roll over and go back to sleep

7:30 Mike leaves for work

7:45 I get up and start to pick up the house. The putzfrau will be in today and I need to pick up the mess from the weekend. I have a glass of water and a glass of orange juice while I straigten the living room, kitchen, entry and put away the clean clothes.

8:30 I take a quick shower without washing my hair.

9:15 I take the trash down to the curb and walk to the bus stop and wiat for the bus. Take the bus to the tram. Take the tram to the Marktplatz. I grab a chocolate Schoggiweggli and walk toward the next tram stop. There is an outdoor supply store so a stop and grab a back-pack.

9:45 I'm at the Bancverien tram stop and catch the Tram 3 to Birsfelden.

10:00 I meet up with a group of English speeking residents of the Basel area and we set out for a 2 hour walk in the woods. We stop at about 11:00 for coffee (wine for me please) and the head out for the end of the walk.

12:00 We arrive back in Basel and I have a Wednesday lunch date with a very nice lady from Korea. A lady from New Zealand needs to go to the store and get a gift and the send it out. I am totally confused about the mailing of packages, so I ask if I can tag along. I picked up some cheese for dinner and learned a very slick way of sending back a small gift.

12:45 We part ways and I head for the Grocery. I keep my grocery list (which has become more of a guideline than a strict list) in my phone and my shopping bags on me at all times. The store has some nice tomatoes and fresh basil so I get what I need to make a Margherita Pizza and green salad with herbed chicken. I also pick up some coffee, OJ, milk and apple cider.

14:00 I'm headed home and holy moley this stuff is heavy! Tram 8 to bus 11 and then 2.5 blocks of walking.

14:30 We have an appointment to see an apartment at 6:15 so I need to prep dinner. I cut the tomatoes, basil, cheese for the pizza. I cut the chicken and mix in the rub. I open the vinegar and oil for the pizza and salad dressing... oh no! I bought lemon infused olive oil!!!! Does anyone know what I can do with this lemon olive oil????!!!!! I watch a little TV in between cutting and see that the US market is taking a huge beating.

16:30 Walk to the bus stop. Bus 11 to Tram 11 to meet Mike at work by 5.

17:30 We stop at a small Thai restaurant and order Spring rolls as a snack and I accidentally order huge Cokes for both of us (huge by standards here; they would be quite normal in the US). OOPS! That wasn't a cheap mistake.

18:15 We look through the two-level apartment and find that it has nice space for entertaining including a private patio off of the dining area. The bed-rooms are a little small, but we decide that we can make-do with the space. The washing situation is a shared room, but we would have 3 to 4 days a month.

18:45 We walk to the tram and change trams at Barfuesserplatz. There is a Coop convenience store, so I grab some olive oil (without the lemon) and Mike gets a magazine.

19:00 Tram to the bus to the walk home, and I am exhausted, but we haven't had dinner. Cheese plate to hold us over, and I work on the salad.

20:00 Pizza is ready! Its good, but the ready-made dough from the grocery store is a little tough.

21:30 After picking up the kitchen a little bit, I am ready for bed. Tomorrow looks about the same and I'm going to need my strength.