On with life...

Song of the day: “Subeme la radio” by Enrique, of course.  Don’t know why I have this one in my head lately, but there you have it. Who can understand earworms anyway. Same goes for Imagine Dragon’s “Thunder” which was going through my head on and on and on for a couple of days this week. Hah.

But, let’s get down to business. Life has been busy again with a variety of causes…the lack of a blog proves as much, I guess. Grrr.

No matter. First thing up is that a couple of weeks ago our zit car gave the spirit. Poor thing never really recovered from the accident last spring, and finally just gave up while I was on my way home. *sob* Had to call triple A for that, and the mechanic declared the little thing dead due to a busted cylinder, which made oil burn directly in the engine. *double sob* The fella towed me home…special experience, that. So strange to drive a car where you basically don’t have any control over. Added to the fun was that his navigating device would have send him in the wrong direction, so half the ride I was hanging out the window gesturing which way to go.

Anyway, that little issue mean that we had to look for a new car, which was what we had to sacrifice a free day for soon thereafter. Spent about 10 hours on the road, going to people who had “affordable” cars for sale. Tried out a total of seven before settling on one that has a wealth of cosmetic issues, but which’s engine still sounded and felt good during the test drive. It was a tough job for sure. Exhausting, too. But seriously, you don’t want to see some of the carpy cars we got to look at. But regardless. We’re two weeks, or so, into the new car now, and it is still running and not guzzling an excess amount of fuel and oil, so…yay!

I mean, I hear you thinking, why on earth do them kids need two cars? But with my other job, and the possibility of another one in the near future, mobility is vital. Grrrr.

Visited my dad and the missus a couple of weeks ago. Got to admire the new place, of which the walls were fully up at that time. Nice big airy place that should be done sometime in November. Fun to see the materials they work with around these parts. Different building blocks. Different concrete for second floor landings. And so on. Made my hands itch to get back into that sort of thing once more. I miss building.

Regretfully that was a work day, without me having had the time for a siesta, meaning that I fading pretty fast when we arrived. Seriously, I was so tired that my skin was itching and my eyes hurting. Still, I could hardly say no to a walk from their rental to the building site…a good 20 minute walk. I should have. Seriously, after that I was just about ready to pass out. Of course I sucked it up and played out the remainder of the evening, until it was time to go home again (1.45 h drive) with big brother even more tired than me, because he had worked longer, even. *sigh* Can’t complain, though. Was a nice evening. Don’t get to spend all that much time with family, so it was worth it.

Did quite a bit of experimenting in the kitchen. Made a rather splendid chocolate cake for a colleague’s birthday, and an egg cake with crème fresh and blueberries for another.

Due to my changed diet with an increase in protein. I forgot for a while and immediately  noticed it in my dropping energy levels. Now that I’ve brought it back up, I’m doing much better again. Yay.

But anyway…I’ve been working with a lot of oven dishes. Lots of egg, garlic and green herbs, which are still by far my favourite. Gawd, tonight I had a most wonderful dish. Lightly boiled rice (in broth) with a variety of finely chopped veggies, some cheese, egg and loads of garlic. Seriously good stuff. Loved it.

The past couple of weeks were busy. Very busy. While the plan was for me to work three days a week, four at most, I ended up working 11 days of the past thirteen with one day spent of the car search, and another two on other obligations that made writing/editing practically impossible for those two friggin’ weeks! That I needed to do groceries (on my own, ‘cause big brother is doing a lot of extra time at work) for the next two weeks, didn’t help any either. No matter. It’s done now. Good for another two…oh wait, ten days now! Grrrrr.

Have been working on “A Taste of Life”, since we chose that one to try next for sending out to publishers. It is hard, though, considering we have to cut out a lot of good stuff to get the word count down, dumb down the writing a bit, considering the style I used was elaborate and mostly in dialect. *sigh* Very disappointing. I’m having a hard time with it, to say the least. Ah well, can’t be helped. The writing style this day and age is just different. Will miss the main protagonist’s wonderfully Irish voice, though.

In regards to the book. The editor finally gave the okay for the latest changes!!! Yayayayay! And Saving Nina is now on the desk of the editorial director so that she can put in her two cents, prior to the book continuing on to the copy editors. One step further, at long last!

Have a new couch…it is lovely, and perfect for napping after a long day of work. It cost only 55 bucks at the thrift store, and, miraculously, we managed to squeeze it in, and on top of the Volvo, rather than spend a whopping 25 bucks for delivery! Yipee! It’s light colored, not too heavy (which is ideal if we have to move again) and comfy, all three perfectly good things for a new couch, right?

Yesterday I visited my aunt, which had been more than 30 years ago (weird, I know, but there you have it). Big brother couldn’t go along, regretfully. Lots of stuff going on at the sauna, including the WM Aufguss, which takes a lot out of him. So I went on my own and spent a very nice evening with my aunt, talking about the past and present, talking about what I did and didn’t remember of her house and  the afternoons I used to spent at her place when I was a little girl, waiting for dad to come pick her up for the weekend. Hah. It was very nice. We laughed quite a bit, and got reacquainted, promising to see each other again, soon.

Had the house inspected from the company that provides me with this place. Was a bit worried, because I didn’t have a lot of time to do a lot of cleaning, but it went okay, except for a mention to battle the weeds outside. Yeah. Like that isn’t on my list already.  Have been keeping an eye out for a strimmer for several weeks now, but still haven’t found one, darn it. We’ll have to get to that.

Spent Saturday helping a friend move to a new place, which meant carrying a washing machine down on set of stair and up two, which certainly was an interesting experience. Added to that was this massive closet that we had to get down in two parts (carefully too, due to glass doors) and a massive couch that didn’t even fit through the door without also sticking out into the neighbor’s apartment. Managed to get it all done with the least amount of damage. But it did take several hours, and made me sore as heck when I had to get to work the next day…only to discover that I had mixed up my days and was supposed to have had a free one that particular morning. Aaaaargh!

Did manage to do most of my exercises. Both Qigong and weightlifting. But regretfully not as frequently as I would like on the most part. If I get more free time, definitely looking forward to doing more of that.

And that sums it up for today, I’m guessing. As usual, I am sure I am forgetting a detail of two, but who gives a bloody heck, in the end. It’s not as if I’m living life in the fast lane these days.  Hah.

Gotta go.