Song of the
day: "Stargazing" by Kygo. Gorgeous song, but it was literally
blaring through my head during the course of the past few days. Hah.
Well, let's
get started right away, shall we. It has been a while, I know but the
publishing company came back to me, with yet more changes for the book, so I have
been working on that full time practically since the last blog…or a week after
that. It's been very, very hard (not to mention frustrating) to get everything
done while life got way too busy and work took so much time. It was hard to get
it all done. The days simply weren't long enough. But another step was taken, at least.
But enough
about that for now, there was some interesting stuff throughout the course of
the past few weeks, I assure you.
My best
friend Tiina came for a visit…for several days in fact and it was lovely,
despite me having to share her with another friend living nearby. Had a
wonderful trip to the zoo while she was here, spending the afternoon with her in-laws.
Was a very nice end of the day, despite the cold temps. A lovely zoo, cosy,
with good looking animals and lots of places for small kids to play, which was
good, considering we had three kids along.
Before that
we went to the local dunes for a nice walk, meaning that at the end of the day
we had walked for about five hours in total. My hip wasn't happy with me,
probably because I did a misstep at the dunes. Luckily a good night's rest
solved that.
Tiina
brought me henna for my hair, and was nice enough to put it in my hair for me
the second night. Got a nice warm red color again, which suits me well, I
think.
Spent
another afternoon shopping, which was also nice. Although I only bought a
sweater, which I returned right after because I didn't like the model at all.
Was sorry to
see her go, especially because it will probably be a long time before we see
each other again. Good thing we have whatsapp. Almost as good as seeing each
other every day. Almost…but not really. * sigh *
After
dropping Tiina of at the airport five days after her arrival, I drove on to
visit dad and stepmom, considering I was halfway there already anyway. Was nice. We talked a while, they showed me
the new house, and told me of all their plans, and it was so nice to see them
all excited about it. It was really bringing them together again, I think, and
that's lovely for them. Went to eat at a nice restaurant afterward. Wagamama.
Very good food, I tell ya, and lovely smoothies. A very pleasant evening that I
ended with a strong coffee in hopes of it keeping me alert enough to make it
home in the two hour drive. It did, just barely. And when I say barely, I
really mean, barely. The last couple of miles were with the windows wide open
(freezing cold) music on loud and chewing peppermint like a lunatic, trying not
to fall asleep. Made it in one piece, so I guess you could say it was a
success.
I burnt my
wrist, darn it. Was making myself tea in one of those old-fashioned kettles and
was struggling to get the whistle off (it sometimes has trouble getting off)
only to get burnt by the steam. Seriously, I've got a burn the size of a small
lemon on my wrist now. Hurts like heck.
Quit my job.
Was already thinking about that for a while, of course, and as a final attempt
to make the work work out, so to speak. Finally decided to offer my cleaning plan,
more or less a "take it, or lose me" kind of thing because the
present way they are cleaning is not working…and I think the new supervisor
realizes it. When I turned in my resignation, she even went as far as saying
that she would like to use my cleaning system in the future, once she's got a
new team. A compliment, in a way, but still, kinda nasty that she is going to
take credit for something that I worked hard on for a long time. But then, f**k
it. I got enough of that place and the way it functions. Their loss if they
wanna lose all their good people. So now I am doing my notice month…well, am
half way through it already just doing the basics that they want, rather than
the extra mile I am used to going for work. Makes it very unsatisfactory, but
if that is the type of thing they expect, it isn't the right place for me
anyway.
So, I have
been looking for work and now I am facing several options. Got a night job
lined up, for which I will start a trial run sometime this week. Yay. Got another
option, maybe, at the store I used to volunteer for. They might be able to
offer me a paying position, so I've got to think that through. And then today I
got a call if I would be interested in another job, near Utrecht, so I'm going
to have to think things through well.
I'll keep
you posted on how things work out, and on which job I'll settle in the end.
They all have their advantages. The store would be fun, the one I'm going to
try out this week pays really well and the other…well, it would be an
interesting job, more than anything. I'm still hoping to hear from the catering
companies I applied for, though. Now those would be really nice. But we'll see.
Cooking wise
I have been creative with leftovers on the most part…and a batch of old apples
and plums that I, for the life of me, couldn't finish (big brother doesn't like
fruit) and made a rather wonderful pie of. I added some spices, some
crandberries, walnuts and a spicy crust. Add a little sour cream and Mmmmm. Yummy.
Great dessert. I just hope that I can finish it on my own, considering big
brother's attitude toward pie. Sorta like my attitude toward chocolate, I guess.
Hah.
Had a short
interruption of the edit with doing a blog for a friend, a proofread re-write
thing, considering it was translated from Danish into rather bad English. It
takes some puzzling to make that work, but it is nice enough to do.
As to the
book. It is difficult to combine work with the edits. I am tired after work, so
usually I will have a nap and then hope I am coherent enough to get some computer
work down. Regretfully that was a not an optional thing for the past few weeks,
that mean basically spending every free minute on the book, making me work a
full-time job at home and a part time job added to that. A bit much, but it had
to be done. And is done. Sent the manuscript yesterday, so basically it is out
of our hands now, which is a bit of a relief, sorta, kinda. Now I can take a
few days to get the house in order again, earn some extra cash, do proper exercises
(had to do minimal exercises this past week, just to save time) clean, do some
social stuff, and all in all, prepare for what comes next.
Had a few
nice get-togethers with friends here and there, except for the last two week,
basically. Will be good to have some more time for that, though, including a
couple of parties that we've been invited to. A kid's birthday party and a
housewarming party, so, that should be fun, right?
Went to the
dentist the other day. Remember that tooth that broke back when we had to drive
grandpa to the Netherlands a few years ago. It had been bugging me, the edges
becoming too sharp, a bad taste (can I just state for the record that I do not
appreciate my old dentist having wrecked my perfect record. That tooth was
damaged, it didn't have a hole, until he started messing with it. Grrrr) and
enough of a problem with it, to warrant a fix. According to my dental pics,
there is some damage on a few of my teeth, (I'm guessing from my time with
Pica) which the dentist would like to fix, but I'm going to have to spread that
out, because for now I am not insured for dental stuff.
Which about
sums it up. I am sure there is more that I'm forgetting, as usual, but this
will just have to do for now. Will try to write again soon.
