Easter Weekend: Bicycles, Basil, and Productivity

My Easter weekend was unusual, to say the least. There was no egg-dying, no jelly bean eating, and no visit from the Easter Bunny. More importantly, there was no Sunday morning church*, no Easter Dinner at my Grandma's, and no time spent with my wonderful family.

There was also no weekend trip, a bit of a departure from my past several weekends. Although a group of my friends headed south to Lugano, a charming town near the Swiss-Italian border, I opted to pass.

So what did I do this weekend?

 Read. Eat. Run. Analyze Data. Catch up on my massive to-do list. The next few weeks are going to be absolutely nuts (we've got visitors for about three weeks straight), and as boring as it may sound, I really just needed a weekend to catch up (and maybe even get ahead?) on life. I really do love being on the go-go-go, but sometimes I think we all need to stop, breathe, and recharge our batteries.

Some highlights from my (relaxing, recharging, rejuvenating) Easter weekend: 

• Perhaps the most dramatic happening: I was run over by a bicycle! In Lausanne, we have these things I've nicknamed "bug clouds." While running, every thirty feet or so, I'll come across a dense swarm of bugs. The swarms are about ten square feet, three feet off the ground, and often difficult to see until you're practically inside them. If you're not careful, you'll end up with bugs in your ears, bugs in you eyes, and a lovely painting of bugs splattered across your shirt.
  
   I've gotten decently good at avoiding the obstacles, but the kid biking on the other side of the running path clearly had not. He hit a bug cloud, sharply turned, and barreled into me with full speed, leaving my legs and arms a scraped and bloody mess. Fortunately, I wasn't actually injured (the Geneva Half Marathon is definitely still happening) but it certainly didn't make for a happy run.
  
  
• On Saturday, Ben and I took a lovely stroll by the lake. I got two scoops of my favorite ice cream, we listened to a couple songs by an outdoor band, and even spotted some local wild life! 

what, you didn't know camels and zebras are native to switzerland?
my best guess was some sort of circus, but I really have no idea
why these guys were hanging out in the parking lot by ouchy.

along with the camels and zebras: a cage of doves.

there was some sort of charity event going on on saturday-- for 1 CHF, you
could purchase a dyed egg to place in the egg mosaic. the proceeds went
to a local charity supporting the families of children with chronic illnesses. 

ben and I each bought a yellow egg. 

ben: take a picture of me by the flower clock. 

vanessa: that picture was boring. do something exciting, like....act like a
clock.... (I am so strange. I still can't figure out why he humors me...)

• We've been talking about it for a while, but Ben and I finally got our own little baby basil plants! I love fresh basil, and am already dreaming of fantastic summer pesto. 

re-potting the baby basil plants!

so excited for fresh basil! I added a little to my favorite tomato soup
on saturday, and it was fantastic!

our new baby basil plants, aka, pesto 1 and pesto 2 :)

• The weather's been fantastic lately. I'm a total warm-weather person (cold weather is only good for skiing and Christmas) and have been happily putting aside my sweaters and pulling out the flip-flops.

the only downside to the ever-warming weather? the lovely tulips
are starting to die :(

*I did, however, go to a lovely Good Friday service on Friday evening. The music was beautiful, even if I couldn't understand a bit of the French.