UBC January 2025 - Answering your Questions

Welcome to the last instalment of the January UBC.

In her introductory post Mystee asked: What are you most looking forward to in 2025? 

Have you set any creative goals?

I had not - and yet, here we are, wrapping up a month of daily writing! I posted every day, so I must have achieved some creative goal even though I didn't formulate and communicate it.

I'm not one to set fixed goals, but more often than not I'll reach them anyway. Sounds chaotic, but that's how I roll. Since my time is limited, I tend to work with to-do lists for what's of urgent importance, and I know some of you are laughing at me, thinking I'm obsessed with productivity, and you may be right, but it gets the job done. 

Look at this, you know what this is? A two-in one ;-)

My lovely son got me a bag of Christmas Blend whole bean coffee for Christmas, and I wanted to have them ground while it's still January. Even though the Christmas Trees went to sleep for a couple of months, it feels acceptable to drink Christmas Blend as long as it's January-ish, right? 

It's also the hockey socks that were one fart away from ripping. The lady at the taylor shop fixed them, and we picked them up  on our way to practice last night. Two games are scheduled for the upcoming weekend, so the clothes need to be ready.

Wrapping up this challenge I'm gonna answer you guys' questions.

Kebba noticed in my Top Twelve post that she must have missed my post about the outdoor sculpture park. She actually didn't because I never got around to writing one, which I rectified by publishing about our visit to the Bad Ragartz.

She then proceeded to say "I wonder if Schweiz would pay you to be some kind of tourist marketer?" 

Well, Switzerland has a lot of tourism marketing companies and platforms, and there are a lot of self-proclaimed "experts" out there who do "paid partnerships" and post their hearts out. I don't want to do this. I'll write about my experiences when and how I please, without having to sell free tickets or the like. 

Amrita planned on maybe painting some of the sculptures she liked. How awesome would that be? Please share if you end up doing it!

After reading about my Mom and I visiting the Christmas market in Colmar, Kebba asked whether my mother was a professional. photographer? No, actually my Mom is a retired Kindergarten teacher and active part-time nanny who's always been passionate about photography.  I guess her status is semi-professional by now. Many organizations and private people will hire her to cover events. She's also the designated photographer for our town's quarterly magazine I write for.

The next one isn't a reader's question, but I have a question for Jeanine. On my post about running errands she stated that she never wants to have more than three or four items per day. This stuck with me. So if you have more, you'll just push them to the next day and the day after? Or refuse to do them? What if they're time-critical? 

A.J. Blythe, who is a lovely fellow A - Z blogger whom I met several years ago asked on staying sober during the Holidays whether we don't have "bottle shops" in Switzerland as they do in Australia? No, we don't. Around here, selling alcohol simply requires compliance with federal and cantonal regulations, including age restrictions (16 for beer/wine, 18 for spirits) and licensing for on-premise consumption. Unlike countries with strict retail controls, alcohol is widely available in supermarkets, convenience stores, and gas stations, eliminating the need for specialized bottle shops.

My post about bad customer service at a licensed Starbucks store, prompted Martha to ask how does one know it's a company or a licensed one? That's the thing, you can't tell them apart from the outside.. In Switzerland, both are on the website's store locator. Typically, you will notice it when you want to use your loyalty customer card and it is rejected. The one that is within walking distance from your home sounds like a company one. They're friendly and care for humans and doggies! 

PS: Martha, last weekend, prior to Colin's game, as usual, we did some sight-seeing in the town he was playing at, and we came across this artsy yard. The angel reminded me of your yard 💕

After reading about our New Year's Eve, Doug asked a very legitimate question: "What are you like in the kitchen? Do you accept help or do you say I got this, just get out of my way?" You nailed it, I am the latter. Big time. And I need to get better at asking for help and accepting that other people won't do it my way, and it'll still be OK. 

Interestingly I work quite well with my son, but less with my husband.

For Striving vs Thriving, Jasmine, aka Jazzy Quiles, wanted to know "How do you focus on what truly matters when life feels hectic?" That's the million Dollar question! I think it is person-related. First and foremost, I make sure that my son is doing well. That can mean that I leave the office early to cook for him, although he can of course throw a frozen pizza in the oven himself. In return, I continue to work from home later. Was this the kind of focus you were talking about?

Jasmine also asked "How do you keep energized for those late nights?" after reading about my routine as a Hockey Mom. Enthusiasm keeps be energized! (Plus snacks..)  I am curious about new arenas and the town they're at! I'm looking forward to the game. I hope the boys will play well. I will film the game to make videos, I can't miss anything, as long as this is going on, I'm fully awake. I can't speak for the drive home though. Wenn we get home, I usually drop into bed...

It is a wrap! Thank you all so much for being part of my blogging journey! Connecting with you is what makes it worthwhile!

Hope to see you back in April!