1st week lockdown COVID 19

Song of the day: "The end of the world" by REM. It's as good a song as any at this point in time, I guess.

Time for an update. Not the best of times, I fear, but strange times for sure, what with the Corona Virus outbreak that has been sweeping over the world for several weeks. The Netherlands has gone into a tentative shutdown (social distancing), after the virus has started raging through especially Italy and Spain, where it has been the worst in Europe, so far.

So how has the virus affected us...well, no zombies yet, so that is definitely a plus. The way I figure, as long as the zombie's don't come shambling through the streets, we'll do just fine. Other than that, work has shut down until at least the 6th of April, just like all non-essential businesses through-out the country.

Although I can manage just fine to keep busy, in fact, in regards to location, this house is more luxurious for a lockdown than most. Heck, I've stayed in worse places than this myself. It might not be fun, but I can survive a month or two with this quarantine without losing my mind. It won't be fun, it won't be nice, or anything, but I'll be fine in the end.
That doesn't take away that the atmosphere in general isn't completely whacky. I mean, there are hoarders, there are those who don't believe that the virus is as bad, some don't care one way or other, and there are those who are scared out of their minds. I can get my head around most of them, of course, but considering we, the people in general, are not in charge of how things are handled, it doesn't matter one way or other how I feel about the matter, I suppose. Most of us are just along for the ride for now.

Well, guess it is time to catch you up a little on how life has been progressing lately. Work and school had been going pretty well...well, a little bit more of the first and less of the latter, which had made me behind on my studies up until the latest disaster hit.

Before the outbreak we had started looking for a permanent place to live, rather than the anti-squatting gig, but that is now starting to look like we'll have to put that on hold for the time being...especially because we have no idea about how things are going to go. For now we're going to be paid one way or other, but that won't hold indefinitely, of course. The company is not made of money, and if this is going to continue on as long as everyone fears...well, then we have a problem.

School, regretfully has not been completely cancelled. Last Tuesday was supposed to be my first theory test, but this was cancelled, of course, because this was the third of fourth day after the lockdown  and everyone was scrambling. Now, it turns out lessons are going to continue digitally. On the one hand that is great, on the other I am trying to find the rest inside my head to pick up writing again. Bad enough the world at large is hammering at me to pay attention to reality, having to worry about school in the meantime is not exactly my idea of fun. But we'll see how it goes. Maybe I'll be grateful for the distraction.

Unlike me, big brother gets to work still, for now. Despite the sauna being closed for guests, behind the scenes folks are putting in a lot of effort to catch up on maintenance that has been postponed time and again due it being too busy. So in that regard big brother is happy, because he can finally get to stuff that he's been forced to put off over and over again.

Personally I will be spending a morning at work, too, because the kitchen staff have been asked to volunteer with the cleanup of the big filters and such above the cooking areas. The other half of the chefs are going to tackle the big fridges on a different day, so we won't exceed the numbers that are allowed to get together. Nice to be able to catch up with everyone, and since quite a few are going stir-crazy sitting at home, it's also a necessary measure. It will be nice to go out for something other than basic groceries.

But back to before the outbreak: It's been a sad period actually. A very good friend died...the one I mentioned with Acute Leukemia. Regretfully he passed away before I was able to see him again. He kept postponing the visit, saying he wanted to wait until he felt a little stronger, a little better. Alas it never came to that. About three weeks ago the doctors told him there was nothing left to do for him, and a few days later he passed away in his home. His death hit me harder than I expected. Especially because I got the news at work, and of course had to ask for time off so I could go to his memorial. Almost burst out in tears right before my chef, and that is just friggin' unprofessional and embarrassing.

Be that as it may, we did go to the memorial, which was a very bohemian affair, much like he would have loved. Spoke and hugged a long time with his girlfriend of thirty plus years, and listened to the performance of his band involving, (brace yourselves, he was a sound artist) vacuum cleaners. A special evening on the cusp of the Corona outbreak.

Another bit of bad news, it's in the air, I'm telling ya, is that Tenant has taken a turn for the worse. Back when she had her stroke in Spain, the swallowing mechanism in her throat started to have trouble. Over the years this has gotten worse, but lately it got so bad she got a pneumonia due to getting stuff in her lungs, like food and drink. This meaning that she'd have terrible coughing fits. This, in the end, has led to her no longer being able to drink or eat, and since she finds a probe tube straight into her stomach so very irritating that she keeps pulling it out, she is slowly dying. What a horrible way to go! So strange to imagine that with everything moderns science can do these days, there is no solution for something like this. It baffles me at times.
Now if all that isn't bad enough, due to the Corona virus senior homes and nursing homes are in a complete shutdown. Hers included, so rather than have many, many people coming over to visit her in these final stages of her life, there are only a handful that are only allowed to enter one at a time, wearing full protective gear like gloves and such. So horrible if you really thing about it. Luckily they have started her on morphine now, so that should make her less aware of it all...I hope.

On the nicer part, had a visit with my dad last week. He and my stepmom had a lot of leftover tree trunks and such lying about in their yard, which needed to be dragged out to the curb so they could be picked up. A nice afternoon in the sunshine, dragging some odd 3000 lbs of wood while big brother attacked the trunks with the rented chainsaw. Poor thing practically gave the spirit in the end. So much wiry wood. Was good to see dad, although his appearances worry me a little. He's looking tired, and grayish almost. Poor guy really works too hard. Just hope that he doesn't get the virus, because that just might be too much for him.

Studying: Well, I had gotten nicely up to date due to the fact that my chef was trying to bring my hours down a little so they could work in new people, but now with the virus in full swing I am feeling distracted and completely not in the mood to focus on those studies. Coming tuesday we were supposed to have had our first practical exam, which would have involved making a 3 course lunch at school, but I'm not sure if that is going to happen anytime soon if our troubles are going to follow the example of Italy even remotely. Today they had their highest death-tole of almost 800. This means that the Netherlands is bracing itself. So surreal.
It doesn't mean that I won't try, of course, I'm just complaining a little here.

Still working on two individual manuscripts. Commanding Morgan, the prequel to Girl in the Mist, and tentatively called Girl from the Past for now, has its proposal practically done. And Lost Soul is practically through its first edit, meaning that big brother and I can both start reading through it, working out the kinks and such. I am looking forward to this, and if the quarantine is going to happen, that is definitely going to help to get us to sit down and get it done.

The house, well, I got that pretty much in order now. haha Would be weird if it wouldn't be, after more than 8 days into self-isolating. Embarrassing too. Is nice to have it all sorted, though. Though I tend to keep things up, having been busy so much that past few months, I had gotten a little bit behind. Added to that, i have completely thrown around the living room, which led to a hilarious moment later in the evening, two hours after big brother arrived, walking around, eating his dinner, when he suddenly said, "hey you changed it." Seriously, I almost peed my pants, laughing so hard. I'd deliberately not said anything, wondering how long it would take, but no way did I expect it would take him that long. Gawd, I haven't laughed that hard in ages...felt good. As to why I changed it? Well, I figured with the present situation being this severe, a change would be a good thing for my state of mind, at least.

Well, that' it for now, I guess. I will try to keep you posted, and if I can't feel free to look me up on Facebook.

Back in January

Song of the day: “Someone you loved” by Lewis Capaldi, such a gorgeous song, although it is incredibly sad. Sometimes I find it really relatable, for some reason…but then, admittedly those are my bad days.

Well, life has been busy as usual. The time gets away from me more often than not, and the fact that I work, usually, a minimum of four days a week doesn’t help much in that regard. It seems at the moment that I am only working and going to school, which is ridiculous, of course. There are still two days, off (even though I usually spend some time of those on homework) and infrequent attempts at working on the books. It doesn’t always work, and we are not going fast, but steady and slow at least.

The book, Lost Soul has been finished. At least the writing has. Did that a while ago, despite everything going on. It felt good to finish the story, especially because it is so dark and sad. That certainly didn’t improve my overall mood, despite loving the story. The character is just such a tortured soul, which makes the title rather fitting, in my opinion. It was high intensity, dark and painful, which makes for an excellent combo, when we’re talking psychological thrillers, right?

Work. Well, I seem to be doing it right. Takes effort and time, and there are times that my friggin’ feet kill me at the end of the day, but I get satisfaction from doing it right. The challenge is to get all the parts done proper without forgetting the important stuff, keeping track and basically make things run smoothly. But that’s okay. I know the importance of a good atmosphere, and work hard at that, which pays off most times. I have been doing a lot of sushi (a rather new skill, still) which means I get to practise new tastes, styles and basically anything that I hadn’t thought of before, simply because personally I am not a sushi person. Still, it’s a good challenge.

Christmas came and went, and though I worked from the second day of Christmas, almost straight through to the new year, it was a quiet time, without much, if any obligations. Instead we visited family on the 28^th, so we could celebrate big brother’s birthday too.

Also joined in the catering of a big event at a dolphinarium for a day. This meant prepping food for more than 1100 people. Very interesting, if tiring, and a good experience to have. There was a nice bunch of kids working there, needing some calming experienced guidance, which we managed to supply. It was long day, and I didn’t get to see any dolphins, which I would have liked. Alas, only work.

My birthday came and went. The actual day was spent at work, meaning that folks sang happy birthday, of course, which felt a tad awkward, yet sweet at the same time. Instead of celebrating on the day, I did a dinner party a week later, which was a big success. Had about a dozen people come over, and we had this big Italian style, big table dinner, with everyone talking and laughing. I enjoyed that tremendously.

There was family, there were friends…what more can you ask for, right? Had a lovely four course menu that involved a nice zucchini cream soup, an Asian style spinach, grilled vegetable, satay salad, followed by stuffed peppers, pastry zucchini roses, linguini with a parmesan, cream and lemon sauce, with a dessert of real hung yogurt with saffron and mango. It was absolutely awesome, and I had just  enough for everyone, meaning we weren’t left with a massive amount of leftovers, which I had feared…of course that meant that I hardly had any food for the following workdays,  but in such cases grilled cheese sandwiches with veggies did the trick.

Heard that a very good friend of mine has been diagnosed with acute, malignant leukaemia, for which he has been hospitalized. He is now going through his second round of aggressive chem therapy, but the prognosis is very bleak. This saddens me. This friend always reminds me of grandpa, so that is doubly sad. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that something awesome happens for him, right.

I have not been liking winter. Despite a lack of snow, I’ve been finding it cold, and yes, I have bagged my first sickness with a bad nose cold, that followed up a just as bad throat ache that went straight up my nose two days later. The only thing I am grateful for is that it didn’t sink into my lungs this time.

Studies are…elaborate. I’m not sure if they’re supposed to be, just that I seem to take a lot of time with them. The assignments, the reading. I hadn’t realized the extent of them until this who experience. Did quite a few already, and I did my first tests, several of which I passed already, thankfully. The dutch seems to be less of a problem, but I’m pretty sure I flunked math…but we’ll see. Maybe I did better than I expected…I doubt it, but hope springs eternal, I guess.

The big wall in the living room is finally painted. So much better now. So much more light, and so much prettier to boot. I might alter more there in the near future, but for now it is rather comfy…and looking good, because we passed two house inspection, maybe even three, since the last blog. A relief that, even though the inspections are more frequent these days. I think the company has changed its policies.

Went to the cinema recently. The Joker. Considering we had gotten a cinema gift certificate it seemed like the right thing to do. A fascinating movie. A little slow maybe, and dark, but the acting was incredibly powerful. Also, it was a fun night out. We don’t get many of those.

Although there have been some cooking sprees of late, for the most part cooking is something I do at work and in bulk for the days that I work. This means that I don’t have a lot of pretty images to post. Instead they have been sustenance, which is important too.

There are some changes coming, but they are not as such that I can share them yet, regretfully. Still, they ought to be interesting, or at least I hope so.

And this makes for today’s blog. It is late, and I have an appointment in the morning. Added to that I had school today and that took longer than usual since I was chef de partie for desserts today. It went well enough from my perspective. All the guests were content, and that’s what counts.

But now it is time for bed. I’ll be back.

Book review!!!

So sorry. Am very busy at the moment, so y'all will have to do with a book review I did this week.

The Cowgirl Takes Her Man by Barbara Catlin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Barbara Catlin’s The Cowgirl Takes Her Man

The plot: Life-long neighbors/friends decide for an arranged marriage of sorts, while deeper feelings lurk beneath the surface. A nice concept, that always works out well when the friendship in the story is strong…which it was.

First impression of this story is that it is sweet with a low heat level, which is often (and this time around that was the case as well) a pleasant change of pace when reading romances. I enjoyed the opportunity to read this story, but there are a few points that made me unable to give it more then a 3.5 star review. The main reason for this is taste, I fear, so don’t take it too seriously.

Personally I found that the description of the wedding arrangements were a bit too elaborate. Very unfeminine of me, I suppose, but I don’t get particularly excited about the ins and outs of finding just the right cake, or right color nail polish, hairdo, dress, etc. But, like I said, that’s taste. Loads of women love it, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.

The characters, protagonists and surrounding casts were likeable and it is clear that the author feels a deep love for the area she writes about. It made for a pleasant introduction into her world with characters that are bound to pop up in the series. The villain was not unexpected, albeit introduced a little late in the story. There were a couple of conflicts based primarily on insecurity, which felt a little…well, I couldn’t get on the bandwagon with them. I can’t really explain why. Perhaps they appeared too suddenly to my taste, and then disappeared again, just a suddenly.

Author Barbara Catlin added some very realistic medical problems that can pop up in relationships/marriages, and though the realism was a pleasant change, it also took away some of the romance for me. Luckily she managed to balance this nicely with how the characters dealt with it, and how they grew closer together because of it.

All in all, and regardless of the points I mentioned, I enjoyed the read, (in fact, read it first, despite my stack of "books to review" and actually finished it before the others, so that speaks for something!) and would aim romance readers in its direction if they’re looking for something just slightly different, but in a nice way.



View all my reviews

Blog update...nothing new

Song of the day: “Bring Sally up” by Moby. It has been in my mind off and on for the past week, don’t know why, considering the only thing I know it from it Gone in 60 Seconds, and I haven’t seen it years, really. Weird how that works.

Well, I don’t have a lot to tell since the last blog, basically life has been evolving around editing the manuscript, duh. That means I wake up after nine the morning, go down for the morning rituals, follow that up with 45 to 80 minutes of working out (I’m doing a mix of qi gong, weights and boxing t the moment), breakfast  while getting up to date on the latest news, and then getting down to business with the edits.

It’s going well, all things considered. We’ve cut out more than 13,000 words now, have added 2,000 plus in romance, as per the publisher’s request. A bit of a pity to lose the in-depth information bits, which now has to be dispersed with paragraphs throughout, but what the hell, we’ll get it to work again, somehow. Right now…well in the weeks to come, it is all about checking the changes, and reading through the entire thing to see if the flow is still right and none of the important information is missing, and then, by the end of the month (sent the publisher an update last night and heard that they won’t be expecting it until then, yay!) we can send it over. So, that gives us some breathing space, at least.

Besides the endless editing, I know, not very interesting for you guys, but for me this is still an infinitely fascinating time, there has been the normal stuff of course. Keeping the house clean, cooking dinner, visiting friends, doing the groceries, all very simple and straight forward.

Have been reading some new (well, new for me, but older stories) of one of my favourite authors lately, and some have been awesome, while others were so darn frustrating I was often at the verge of throwing my phone against the wall. Ha. Strange how styles change over time, isn’t it. Also what was considered attractive back then, and what is attractive now. I’ll say this much, if men were still the way they were described in late eighties romance novels…I’d have probably conked one over the head with a frying pan once or twice during my lifetime. But, thankfully there has been some change in that regard…as in women, I’m happy to note. Both sexes were utterly nutters. Jeez!

Well, I gotta go now. Lots to do still today, including the all-important edits, naturally.

The new place!!!

Song of the day: “Things” by Nancy Sinatra and Dean Martin. Such a cute song, right? Never bores me, this particular song.

Sooooooh, I don ‘t have a lot of new news, since the past couple of weeks basically evolved around moving house and dropping half dead from exhaustion. Hah

But I survived the ordeal, and as of last night we are basically comfortable at the new place. Yay. It’s a gorgeous place, really, despite the fact that I was a teeny bit shocked when we first walked in (it was a friggin mess, I tell ya!) there was this old (strangely familiar) scent of old farm houses wafting from every corner, the walls were covered in cobwebs, the windows (which I still need to do, btw) are partially obscured by the same webs, there was black dust everywhere, and did I mention the smell? Hah.

The worst of it was, the first day we didn’t have enough time to do some actual cleaning, except for the kitchen cupboards, which you could simply not touch due to the greasiness. Eeeeewwww! First of there was the tour of the place, right after meeting our new handler for the first time, that is, which took longer than I would have liked. Was pretty tired already, you see, considering we had spent the previous evening loading up the rented trailer with as much big, unmanageable stuff as we could get in it. Then we’d gotten up around six thirty in the morning to stuff as much little bits and pieces in as well, before heading towards the new town in time for our eleven o’clock meeting…were late, too, considering we had to get off the highway because the friggin’ trailer started dancing on the asphalt like some bouncy puppy, almost tipping over due to fierce winds. Simply didn’t want to risk it, so we ended up taking small roads, protected mostly by houses and trees. Grrrr.

But anyway, we arrived only ten mins late, so within no time we were signing contracts just as soon our handler was gone, we started unloading. This was a lot less frustrating than loading up, if you must know. During unloading we had the trailer right beside the front door, meaning we could basically get the thing empty within thirty minutes…good thing too, considering we had our meeting at town hall around 16:00 hours so we could register…that’s one of the requirements of this type of living. FYI.

Be that as it may, once we had everything from the trailer we organized some in the living room, of which we had quite  bit of furniture along, so we had a relax spot in the house. The smell still bugged me, but that would have to wait until I had time to take out the cleaning stuff and attack the dirt. Got everything done that needed doing, had a very late lunch, or more accurately supper after having skipped lunch, hah, and then dragged out tired butts back to the apartment so we could prep for the next day by taking apart the last things that could be taken apart for transport.

A couple of weeks ago we already reserved a moving van for our actual moving day, and we were once again up around six to get ready to go pick it up in the nearest big town. We were a bit on a schedule so what followed were six harrowing hours of hauling stuff down from the third floor (using an aggravatingly slow elevator that was also, of course, being used by our senior fellow residents) and stuffing it into the van. We had to be at our new place at five fifteen, at the latest, for an appointment and due to that we ended up stuffing some final bits and pieces into the van somewhat haphazardously, and leave what was left of smaller pieces, at the old apartment to make it on time. Grrrr

You know what is the most frustrating thing of the whole thing? That which took six arduous, exhausting hours to get into that friggin’ van, was unloaded within one hour due to the fact that we could just lift it out an carry it into the house! Seriously, a slow elevator, two stories, several electric doors that were on timers rather than movement sensors and a effing load of thresholds aggravated the loading up tremendously. Hah.

No worries, though, the ordeal is over and done with, and now, after spending a day of cleaning, walls, ceilings, floors, doors, stairs, windowsills, a fireplace mantel and everything inside the kitchen, the place is looking pretty darn good! Both our furniture integrated perfectly, meaning that our office area is in light hues with fresh greens, turquoise, beige, birch wood and white. The dining area is rustic white, while the sitting area is in warm reds, browns, highlighted by plants and some light yellows. I like it.

We both have our own bedroom upstairs, with an extra for sleepovers, such a T. Strangely enough my bedroom, at the moment, looks like that of a teenager. Somehow I ended up with all white and birch wood furniture, meaning that everything is very light with dark blue carpet (now contrasted by my bright red knotted rugs), gray and white striped wallpaper and white ceiling. It looks cute, but hardly my age. Hah. Big brother’s is much simpler in that regard. His are mid-dark woods, same carpet, and blue and white striped walls. Both rooms are nicely spacious, however, which is all that matters for as far as I’m concerned.

Did finally get around to cooking a proper dinner again last night. First time round that I did that in the new kitchen, by the by, and boy did it taste good to have fresh veggies with tomato sauce and macaroni. Sometimes you just need a dose of carbs after several days of surviving on snacks mostly. I get that gnawing feeling when I don’t have proper food for a while, making we want healthy stuff, nutritious stuff, makes me wonder how people manage to survive on fast food…personally I can’t stand it for more than three days in a row. Hah.

First night at the new place was a tad fretful. Didn’t help that I was achy and extremely tired, I guess, and a bit worried about the fact that the bathroom is on the bottom floor, and the stairs are one step up from a ladder leading to the second one. A bit scary to go down and up that while you are half asleep. But I managed without mishaps and now, after going up and down there a gazillion times with clothes, any small closet I could find (can’t have my fancy big closet, because we simply can’t get it up the stairs) and all else that needed to go up to the bedrooms. The biggest problem to get up the ladder…ehm, stairs, were the beds. Seriously, that took some maneuvering!

The kitchen is the least nice place of this here, especially since the old, dark oak cupboards are, like, forty years old, and even though the doors are good material, the insides are basically falling apart. In regard to this, I have opted to acquire a very nice, 2^nd hand, classic commode that will serve rather beautifully as a commode. I love it. Makes cooking a rather pleasant experience. I was forced to use my antique glass and lead cupboard in the kitchen as well, but it looks rather lovely there, so I don’t mind no longer having it behind my couch. Hah. I’ll let you have a look at the primary pics of the main living areas.

I’ll spare you the pics of the ancient toilet, the somewhat basic bathroom, and for now the bedrooms, which still have boxes and suitcases in them. Those will be for the next blog.

At that time, I will also post some pics of our outing to grandpa’s family homestead, which is also incredibly cute. Until then, I’ll leave you to it…

The kitchen...duh. Once it was clean, it became nice and airy. Do you see the mantel there over the fridge? Used to have an old cooking stove there, I think, but the fridge fit in perfectly. Love the plants on there, btw.

Over by the far windows is our office. Nice big table, enough space for both of us, and on the right behind the red couch the nice table for when we have people over for dinner, or when I need to do sewing, or something. Seperated the two areas nicely, I think.

Love the high ceilings, and the all the light from the big windows.

Well, I gotta go now, so...seeya!

Pat

Song of the day: “Royals”, but rather than by Lorde, I hear it from Jasmine Thomson, which is a really cute acoustic version.

Hi all. Sorry to have took so long, but my last post was difficult for me, and I was reluctant to return to the “scene of the crime” so to speak. But I’m back, and life has settled once more, so...let’s get to it.

Work as usual, although there have been some trials and tribulations in that regard. First off there was that little incident with my hip that took a couple of weeks to get back to normal. Seriously, do not slip when you are washing massive windows. I paid for that for a solid two weeks, thank you very much. And secondly, wear a hat, always, when working underneath the benches in the saunas, (for hosing it out, ya know) because builders are not picky about what happens underneath with screws and such. I was under there about four days ago and am still enjoying it. There I was, hosing out gawd knows what dirt (eeeeeewwww) and wham! I slammed the side of my head into one of the top beams. Wouldn’t have been all that bad either, had it not been for the screw end that stuck out and went straight for my temple, right onto the double-lined edge of one of my favorite baseball caps! (Love that cap even more now. I’m thinking of framing it.) Yep, yours truly has a genuine, if mild, concussion. Had a doctor’s visit and everything—meaning that we have an actual GP now, as is obligated round these parts, or so we discovered on that particular day—with this very nice older GP who will do just fine. His practice mixes traditional medicine with holistic and dietary, so it will be a good match.

The head hurt for only a little bit, but what worried me...and my colleagues...was the rising nausea and unsteadiness. In the end I got forced to sit down for half an hour with an ice bag on my head, while I struggled to keep down what little breakfast I had had. Did just that for a bit, then cowboyed up and got back to work. It was slow going, like wading through molasses, but still, got the job done. Had planned to finish my full Monday workday (which is usually nine to ten hours) but was feeling increasingly worse, so in the end I asked our teamleader if I could stop a bit earlier, and got permission to do just that. Went home, had doubted for a bit if I should drive, but only the nausea had remained by then, and being extremely tired (physically, not mentally, duh) so I risked it. No problems there, thankfully. Got home fine, went straight to bed, only to be interrupted by big brother with the concern that I might have a concussion. Debated a bit because I wasn’t experiencing any actual headache, except for an occasional stab and a somewhat floaty feeling in the back of my head, went over a list online about symptoms: nausea, dizzy, unsteady, blurry memory, light and noise sensitivity (I turned off my music player during work!!! *gasp*) sluggishness, etc. Finally we did decide to find a doctor, which isn’t all that easy. Did find one, and after explaining the symptoms, I was invited to come over within the next ten minutes. Since it is around the corner that actually was possible.

Had to wait for a bit, but since there were forms to fill in, that wasn’t a problem and before you know it, the doctor herded me into his office.

Talked for about half an hour, sort of like an intake. (He’s one of those starers, which could be uncomfortable, but is always better than a doctor who only stares at his computer screen while he asks you questions, hah.) Talked a bit about how I was raised, vegetarian, organic, holistic stuff, and how I am not really positive about traditional medicine except in emergencies, to which he assured me that he is not the kind to prescribe any medicine willy-nilly, so I could rest assured. We touched on sever topics, including my residual weight, and he agreed that the slow way which I have been applying is the best way to go. He is not of the diet mind, apparently, as seems to be the fashion this day and age. Balanced meals, an active life and going at it steadily is much better. Yay!

But back to my head thing. I went through a few tests, he checked my motor skills, eyes, pallor, etc, we went through a check list and he determined that though I could be bothered by the symptoms for up to eleven days, it was unlikely that it was more than a mild concussion. He did advise big brother waking me every two hours just to be on the safe side, which we agreed on.

Considering the next day was another working day, neither of us was happy about that, but what the heck. Wasn’t feeling worse the day after, and could find my Zen at times, meaning that I wasn’t bothered, so all in all that potential disaster finished with the proverbial puff of smoke.

What else...been incredibly busy. Went out to Cousin Ed’s a couple of times. Visited tenant who is now settled at a very nice senior home in her old home town (her choice). She’s got a nice double room, sitting area with an open kitchen and a bedroom with an en-suite bathroom, with a gorgeous view of the place’s wooden garden and it’s massive pond where she claims herons come to hunt in the mornings. She was rather emotional when she saw us, making it clear that she had been feeling a tad down (the way I suspected when I first saw her, and she hadn’t seen us yet), she struggled with tears a bit, had trouble talking, but then she quieted down and we talking for a bit. Then the lure of TV became too big for her (it had just been installed the day before and she’d missed it dearly) so we only stayed for a little bit, considering it was late in the afternoon already and we still had to pick up a free rubber mattress for big brother, who’s been troubled by his back. Guess the spring mattress he got from our last landlady finally gave the spirit, because he’s been feeling the springs lately. Now he’s got a genuine rubber one that should do the trick.

Gotta admit to feeling a little sad about tenant when we left her new place. However cozy and pretty, it felt very much like we were leaving her to spend her final days in a strange place, which is not something I wished for her. Not that there is a different option, it’s just...sad. A pity that society has come to a point where it is considered normal to stuff old folks in a comfy corner where staff takes care of them rather than family, but careers, civil obligations, cramped living spaces don’t really allow for anything else, do they? Like I said, a pity.

On a more positive note, I went to a Bryan Adams concert. Cousin Ed swore that if he ever came to the Netherlands she was going to go see him, and kindly invited me to go along. So…Yay! Was an evening filled with traffic and waiting, standing in line and waiting, going through security, finding a spot within the Ziggo Dome and and then...you guessed it...waiting some more, albeit cosily chatting with BA fans, folks that had been dragged along to the concert by said fans, and youngsters who were surprisingly big fans as well. Were about five yards from the stage, right in front of BA’s microphone, so that was very cool, except for the extremely tall dude who sometimes stepped in front of me. (Bugger.) Then the band came on stage and the remainder of the evening rushed passed with singing, shouting, whistling and bouncing. It was splendid, despite the fact that I liked the Reckless tour performance better, and we didn’t get home until after midnight. Passed out for the night, and didn’t even hear Cousin Ed depart early because she had to go to a job interview.

Went to the fitness club (Yay!) and did about 45 minutes of kick boxing, core training, stretches, weight lifting and rowing...then about four hundred yards into my 1 mile full speed row I felt my energy levels drop (too little sleep the night before and forgot lunch) meaning I managed to hold out half a mile before giving up on the day’s workout. Considering big brother had down a full day’s work compared to my five hour sprint in the morning, that was convenient. Hah.

Did quite a bit of experimenting in the kitchen these past weeks. Had a gorgeous eggplant zucchini lasagna. Made a very tasty pumpkin compote, partly for a colleague at work who is following a diet on medical advise where she isn’t allowed to eat raw meat and cheese, which limited her breakfast options. Made her the pumpkin compote as a substitute spread, and she’s loving it. Yay. Added to that I was inspired to work with oats again. (Always on the lookout for those iron filled ingredients, hah.) Had a sudden vision of three types of oat cookies. Oats, apple, cranberry, and spices, which is yummy, and semi healthy with only some raw cane sugar and honey for sweetness. The salty version would be oats, red bell pepper, onion, Italian herbs and Parmesan, which was just as yummy...and filling, considering could only eat a couple before I was stuffed. (One cookie is about 2x2 inches, at most.)

Another experiment were buckwheat burgers. Gotta say that the Netherlands supplies this particular ingredient a lot easier than Spain. Also, it is much more affordable. Prices are reduced almost by half, which makes it something worthwhile in the kitchen.

Had several visits with our father and stepmother, one an impromptu one, because we got a tax form that we couldn’t make heads or tails of, so our father offered to come and take a look at it with us. The problem is that the form is for half in this country and half in Spain, which is a whole can of worms that I won’t even begin to explain to you. Let’s just say, it is a pain in the behind. We did sort most of it out, about how to file and everything, so let’s hope that this is the end of it. This little visit led to a nice dinner together, including the buckwheat burgers, leftover lasagna and the pumpkin compote.

No writing since the last time, just some editing here and there in the Greek mythology story. Big brother and I are working on getting some sort of schedule worked out where we can work on a story together again, because that is still our future for as far as we are concerned. Everything else is making a living and surviving, which is not something we plan on during for the rest of our lives. Keep your fingers crossed.

Been having some trouble missing the doggies lately. I tend to fawn over dogs that I come across in the streets, which is not a good thing. I think it could freak folks out. Hah. Like yesterday I came across a 14 year old greyhound, muzzled because he’d apparently killed a small dog in his youth and was therefore obligated to wear a muzzle for the remainder of his life, and ended up smooching with the sweetheart that licked my face and ears rather affectionately. Stuff like that is the pits when you try to not remember your own dogs. Grrrr.

The weather has been poor lately. Mostly cloudy, some thunderstorms (not as bad as in the south of the country where it had been declared a stage orange just the other day) and only an occasional day with full sun. Did enjoy those tremendously.

Finally found a place where I can get some decent Jeans that fit proper and are not extremely expensive. Regretfully I’ve not been at all successful in finding anything useful at the thrift stores lately, so I’ve resorted to wading through normal stores, darn it. But these are okay, sturdy and the fit is good, so Yay! Much relief there. Was already worried I’d have to go to work in a bathing suit, or something (Hah) when even the last of my pantses gave the spirit during one of many water tests. Am going to have to go the store to get a couple more and then I’ll be all set.

Our vacation is coming up, of which we will be spending five days in Finland. T’s invitation bore fruit and it is official. It’ll be an experience, for sure, in particular since the other option of vacation would be staying at home and sleeping the week away. Hah. I know, very unadventurous of me. But seriously, sleeping for a week sounds very tempting. Still, the trip will be fun, and it will be splendid to see T again, this time on her turf, and meeting her family, seeing E again, which has been almost a year when I went to pick up grandpa’s dog in Finland, and visiting a country where the sun now won’t set until the 26^th of June! Can you imagine? No night? I’m so curious!

Talking of grandpa’s dog(s)...since tenant is unable to take care of a dog on her own, Cousin Ed was forced to find a home for grandpa’s wee dog Ollie, but he landed splendidly with a family that has two chihuahuas, which he now dominates like the little macho he is. Apparently he’s already very fond of his new mistress, so that is one worry less, at least. Pim, the one I fetched from Finland, has already settled with a bachelor in the North of the country, who lives on a boat (which Pim loves, apparently) and travels to the UK frequently to visit his girlfriend, taking Pim along. So there everything is all neat and pat.

Lots of folks pregnant or trying to be here. An interesting concept that. Makes me wonder how I feel about that. The way I figure, I gotta meet a very special dude to find the idea attractive, because at the moment it would just seem like a tremendous hassle, not to mention one big worry. Am having fun watching said folks being all excited, though. Some of them actually glow with pleasure.

Went with a colleague to a holistic doctor in Zoelen. Was an interesting experience, in particular when I discovered that the guy worked with Vega tests, which was a throwback to my childhood where mom worked with that too. Actually had a really nice talk with the guy, but was was a bit astounded that he couldn’t give me the ingredients used for some homeopathic remedy he prescribed to my colleague. I would think that if you prescribe it, you are at least interested in the contents, but apparently assuming that was a bit presumptuous. Hah. It amazes me sometimes, I tell ya. If you work with something, the least you can do is know as much as you can about it, right? I mean, even I am starting to learn about components of sanitary components. It comes with the friggin’ territory...or at least I thought it did.

Well, that about sums it up for now. Jabbered on for about four pages anyway, so it should tide us all over for a while again, right? Have a good one, I’ll be back!

Socializing

Song of the day: “Madness” by Chester See and Andy Lange. It’s a cover, naturally, but so much nicer than the original, IMO. Another song that has been in my head a lot lately is Mike Posner’s “I took a pill in Ibiza” which is a rather lovely song, unless it is repeating over and over in your head. *sigh*

Right, another blog, this time not so far apart (depending on if I can finish and post it today, naturally, hah) from the last, and with me enjoying an unexpected day off. The plan was for me to work today, but then at the last moment it was changed, meaning I was home, went out on my bike for a bit, and then home again, doing stuff in the kitchen, cleaning the apartment (yes, I know. I’m ruined by my work, I tell ya! I could have been lounging on the couch with a good book and instead I’m running around vacuuming, mopping and dusting. It’s embarrassing!) and putting away random clothes that ended up on the chair in my bedroom.

It all looks good now, though, which is not a bad thing since one of our colleagues will be coming for dinner tonight. I’m cooking Pasta Fungi, a rainbow salad with lentils and feta and cinnamon apples on yogurt for dessert. All very simple but tasteful, which will just have to do for tonight. Should be fun. She’s a very nice woman (from Majorca of all places) who works in our team at the Sauna. Not that she’s a real cleaner, mind you (though very cleanly) in truth she is a fashion designer, whom you can check out online here (www.lolacuello.com) who is trying to get her big break here in the Netherlands…I know, not very subtle, this plugin, but since I can’t “like” her on Facebook (still don’t have an account there, sorry, folks) I figure, I do it here. You need a gorgeous gown, suit, or wedding dress, she’s the one you need.

Considering she’s very good (she was in Vogue, for crying out loud) she won’t be with us long. *sob*

Work has been a b**ch this week. Not so much the work itself, but my friggin’ foot. Yep, plantars Faciitis has been playing up , and it ain’t no fun whatsoever. Finally realized two things: I’d been taking less of my bloodwine (frugality had brought me down to one glass per evening), and I’ve been walking on the same shoes for several weeks. What with all the running about at work, it was bound to start on all the pressure points. So I did something about both errors, taped up my foot once more, and things are slowly getting better again.

Also spoke the physical therapist at work yesterday, and he gave me some exercises that should help with the problem permanently, if possible. Did them with him yesterday, but boy did I regret that. About fifteen minutes later the friggin’ foot was excruciatingly painful, and I wished he’d warned me for that…will have to have a little chat with him to check if I maybe did them wrong, or if this is normal soon…but I ended up having to ice my foot for more than half an hour before it stopped hurting.

Added to that tidbit, for some reason my operated leg has been playing up again, too. That spot, where the laser shrunk shut the vein, the one that hurt like son of a gun back in the beginning has been aching again, meaning I should get back to the gym and get the strength back in that friggin’ leg. Come next week, I’m determined to get to the gym again. Tuesday, probably.

Had a friend visiting a few times this week who slept over for one night. Was nice. Very cosy, watching a horror movie together, having dinner with the three of us. She’d taken her dogs, and it was nice to have dogs in the house again, too.

Still eating properly, what with having my own kitchen, and just taking the time to cook something nutritious in the evening…are way late again most days, of course. Work keeps us busy quite a bit…

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So yeah, this is three days after starting the blog, so I clearly didn’t manage to post it. *sigh* I don’t know why, guess events piled up again, leaving me with no time to continue my report of the past week or so.

I’ve been busy, I’m sorry to say. The dinner invites of the past weeks escalated and all piled together into three evenings of “entertaining”. I have learned that in the future I should be more careful about throwing out invitations, and spread them out a bit more, that almost went wrong. Socializing is hard work, I've found, and it seriously impedes on one's hermit tendencies. Don't know how some folks do it on  a regular basis, because no matter how entertaining, it is still hard work. Hah

My free days are gone again, with no writing done, darn it! They were just packed too full, I guess, and now I’m back at the beginning of my full work-week, Monday being the longest for some reason. I hope it won’t be as bad as last week, when I did a whopping ten hours. Didn’t help that I was really tired that day, felt pretty friggin’ bad and the hours just seemed to drag on…or the other day when I had a strange tingly sensation in my lower back, and then had to hose down the saunas (which means crawling underneath benches for about an hour and a half) which made the tingle turn into a really bad ache for the remainder of the day that had me shift from nausea to cold shivers in the hours that followed.

Luckily that problem was resolved with lots of stretches and a suspicious pop in my spine during one of them. Yay!

Today the weather is pretty fine! There was a clear blue sky (friggin’ cold though) and a wonderful bit of sun, just like yesterday, my free day, which I spent mostly in the car to pick up tenant and Cousin Ed for their visit. Took a long time, but tenant really enjoyed it, loved seeing our apartments for herself, rather than just hear about it, and then spend the evening going through my old baby pictures (one of her favorite occupations, that) and having dinner with the four of us, before big brother brought them home and I collapsed on the couch for the remainder of the evening.

The apartment is still clean. Like I said, work ruined me and I now spend precious free time cleaning. Gotta do something about that. Sure, I need to keep this place neat, but I also need time to get important stuff done. There are taxes to tackle, mails to write to my bank, stuff to arrange…and not to forget, a book to write…would a *sigh* be appropriate here.

Am determined to head for the gym this week. I’m thinking Tuesday. I’ll let you know how that works out. Considering we also have to get the last bits and pieces from our storage box in the city, which is really close to the gym, we should manage somehow.

Well, that’s all she wrote, this time around. I’m sure to have forgotten some witty dialogue, some dramatic event, but that can’t be helped. Got stuff to do, places to see and…well, you know.