Another update

So yeah, it has been a while, but life has been quite busy ever since that first week of the coronacrisis. You're not going to believe this, but I moved house. Yes, sir, I did. An opportunity arose (yes, partially due to the crisis. Just few less vultures like ourselves, out there, looking for a place to live.) We swooped and scooped at the just the right moment, apparently.
It is a lovely place, a stonethrow away from the woods (yay) and technically due to a split level design, with seven floor. Awesome! More than enough space for big brother and me, which was a thing we worried about. Anti-squattig spoiled us in regards to space, but this one hit us both as just right.
In fact, despite there being quite a few things that would need work, I had "yes, this one!" from the moment I walked in. It, the house, and the area just felt like home for the first time in a long, looooong time.

It wasn't a sure thing. A lot of stuff got harder now with the crisis. We had to meet certain requirements (that we wouldn't have been able to meet just a week later) but in the end it all worked out. The house is ours, permanently. Woohoo. Such a relief, especially since the anti-squatting house was starting to look like it was drawing closer to the end. Not that we had to leave yet. We probably could have stayed another year, or so, but time was running out with the roads coming closer and the state of the house becoming less "solid" so to speak. Apparently we were right on time, too, considering the new people that moved in, had a B&E just a week after we moved out. How's that for weird?

Anyway, school has been a pain. I would like to say that I have been enjoying myself, and that I was in a positive state of mind about the whole thing, especially because I passed all my tests so far with decent grades, but I'm not. I don't know what's causing it, really, but right now I just want to get it over with. I need to do my last exam, a test of adequacy, or some such, and right now it just feels like this massive thing, while all it is, is cooking, really. It's not all that complicated, and yet somehow it has turned into some sort of mountain. Grrr

Anyway, this Tuesday is my last exam, so keep yer fingers crossed that I manage to make it, and get it all over with. I sure can't wait for that to happen. I can't say that I liked the experience a lot, but I did well on my dutch and english, so I got something out of it, at least.

Work has been very slow. After having been shut down for more than 2 months, we were allowed to partially open, meaning there is a little bit more than just maintenance going on, but still it is sad to see so little happen there. It has given me ample time to move house, of course, and that is good, but I miss the work, the purpose of it, so I hope that that picks up some, at least, next month where we will be allowed to open with all the facilities, for at least half our usual guests. Big brother was a lot luckier than me in the work department. He's been working more than ever. Son of a gun. So jealous. I only got to help out in the garden from time to time.*sigh *

Books...well, it has been incredibly slow in that regard, too. First househunting, then actually getting it and moving there. Gawd, the move was so much work. Makes me happy that we won't have to do that anytime soon. It put writing on a back burner even though we did manage to send a manuscript proposal out to our publisher in-between everything.

Sad news...yeah. Mom, after struggling with cancer for many years now, passed away in March, just days after her birthday. Even though we saw it coming for a long time, it hit us all rather hard. She was having trouble breathing for some time, and she was starting to have small seizures, meaning that, despite the corona crisis, the sibs were forced to call an ambulance and have her committed to hospital. A bad time for that, but necessary. She was there almost a week, and got worse, considering one lung had filled with more than a liter of liquid, which they drained and cause a bad pain in her chest. Apparently she had a small heartattack the night after that, and passed away the following morning.
Tests showed that she didn't have corona, not that that would have changed anything, of course, but it made her death more sour, since Spain was in in complete lockdown and little sister wasn't even allowed to visit her in her final days. Nor were the sibs allowed to be at her funeral, which made them decide for a cremation.

Despite having prepped myself for the event a long time, it hit me hard, I'll admit. I cried more than I expected, and not being able to work throughout that time, didn't help in the least. It would have been nice not to have had so much time to think about it all, and though I have worked my way through it, I still get hit by it sometimes, when I realize that she won't be able to read this blog anymore, for instance, or that she is not checking out my facebook page, or that we won't ever see each other again. That makes me sad.

Stress wise things haven'g been much better. It impeded on my sleep, so I have been getting too little of that lately, explaining a consistent tiredness. Will need to work on that, but okay, whatever. The only solution to that is just getting more sleep, so I will.

Positive news. A new family member. Since I now have a permanent home again, I adopted a dog. A gorgeous 3 year old Golden retriever from an animal shelter in dire need of a home. Mr. Whitney. He's so lovely, reminding me of how much I missed having a dog afoot. Sure, he has some baggage that he needs to overcome, and he needs to gain some weight and a healthy fur shine to compensate the bad nutrition he used to get, but...well, the pictures speak for themselves. He's awesome! And so quickly gaining the much needed confidence.

*Sigh *
Right now, I am working on letting things go again. On focusing on recovering my equilibrium and basically getting my life in order while I plan on all the wonderful things I'm going to do on my new house. There are walls to take out, a new bathroom and halfbath to install, a garden to set up, and of course a kitchen to plan. So many of those. I can hardly wait...

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.

Busy times...

Song of the day: “It ain’t me” by Kygo ft. Selena Gomez and “Issues” by Julia Michaels have been tumbling through my head quite a bit lately.

So, it’s been a while. Sorry ‘bout that. Life tends to get busy and regretfully the blog tends to take a back seat in that case. Grrr.

Quite a bit happened lately, not all of it good, but worthy of mentioning. Let’s see what I can come up with right now to put here.

Big brother and me were in a car accident. Yep. The zit car has its front folded in. It became clear, for once and for all that a slippery road and unexpected congestion up ahead don’t go together at all. Luckily no one got seriously hurt, least of all the car we rammed into. It barely had a dent, while our hood took most of the hit. I had some serious breathing issues that day, due to the seatbelt slamming into me. It wasn’t too bad while I was waiting for the tow truck, and while we dealt with the necessary forms, but as the evening progressed, there was some pressure there. Luckily, the next morning it was almost gone, so, no harm no foul…and as for the little car: It still runs, and as it turned out it was more outside damage than inside. Only part inside that was damage was the radiator and fan. Having it fixed, and if we get the spare parts ourselves, will cost around 600 buck…which is above our budget, naturally. But, considering that the damage is basically outside bits, we are going to try to do the majority of the repairs ourselves (the mechanic thinks that it is possible) we might be able to get the little zit back to functioning.

I got a job. Yay! Only part-time, which was the intention. Just a couple of days a week so that we can make ends meet. Signed up with a small cleaning company in the village next to ours, and now have two offices/stores that I’ll be cleaning twice a week. Heavy work, considering it’s quite a bit of square meters crammed within a few hours, while a lot of folks work there, making things pretty messy. Hah. Worst of it was, that my predecessor left two weeks earlier, so things were worse when I got there. Now, after two weeks of work. Things are starting to look neat again, smell better, and well maintained, I should be able to go back to a steady 100% rather than over it. Yay! It all does remind me of work at the sauna. And basically it requires very little thought, which is a good thing since I rather use brain power for writing, which I should be able to do around this job. My new boss is able to supply me with the tools/supplies I need asap, so there’s no messy making-due, and that’s a relief.

Regretfully big brother’s job is still a tad sporadic. As in, he’s supposed to work four days a week, but is lucky when he gets three and sometimes even as little as two. It makes the wallet a little tight. But, we’re managing to make ends meet, just barely. It just has to hold out until the book comes out…which could be a problem.

Yep. The editor got back with a new revision/edit, because, as expected some things didn’t work out as well as hoped after we had to cut out 15K words (50 pages, or so). Duh. Could have told you that. But anyway, there were some suggestions of how we could solve the problem, which literally made me cringe. Was hyperventilating there for a bit, but then we did some serious brain storming that got the okay, thank Gawd! So now we’ve spent the past week or so working on a plot beat sheet, with the twists and turns exposed (including some of the changes) and are now waiting for the Okay to get started on the actual changes. The waiting is driving me bonkers! We are sooooo not going to make the 20^th of April deadline. *sigh*

A sad thing that happened was that our uncle died suddenly, a couple of weeks ago. Was very unexpected for everyone involved, not to mention a big shock for the entire family. My dad was numbed, I think. And considering he had been suffering from the flu, the event didn’t help any. My other uncle got hit by the stress so bad that he had a minor heart attack, so he spent the week after the cremation in a hospital, adding to the family’s  distress. And considering that my dad’s sister hasn’t been well in a while, things are…difficult to say the least.

Anyway, we went to the cremation, of course, more to show our support to dad, than our departed uncle, whom we’d only met once since our return, and barely remember from when we were little. Still, it was oddly intense, the whole thing. Apparently there is something different when it involves family, whether you know them or not. Strange. There was quite a turnout. More than a hundred people and a long ceremonial kind of thing, followed by a reception where a lot of people that I remember from when I was a kid (and a lot I didn’t) came to show their respect. This was followed by a trip to my dad’s place so the older generation could meditate while our littlest brother went for a walk in the woods with us. Had some nice talks, and then later that evening, dad took us all out to dinner at an Italian place. Didn’t get home until midnight, though, which was when we heard about our uncle’s heart attack, and I had to go to work the next day.

Well, what else? I sowed some seeds. Herbs on the most part. But also zucchini, of which one is growing real fast. Gonna have to sow stuff soon, otherwise it will be too late. Looking forward to that. Getting my hands dirty, get my own veggies from the yard come summer. Would be lovely.

What with the news of revisions, and the stuff that needed working out because of it, I didn’t get to any writing except for the stuff of the plot changes. *sigh* Very frustrating that. I so want to be past working on this book, and on to something new…although, the new changes would be exciting to see how they work out. Hah.

So, that’s it for today. Can’t think of anything else…although I’m sure there is more. Just can’t come up with it now. Ah well…we’ll get to that the next time.

R.I.P. Dax

2005-2016

So, I got the news yesterday: an emergency in Spain. My little Dax had been found at the gate, having been ripped up pretty badly. No one is exactly sure what happened, but the working theory is that he was attacked by bird of prey (he's a teeny one, that's a fact and the big eagles have been becoming rather prominent in the past few years. The mountain is hunting ground. They tend to come flying in from the direction of Ronda), which ripped up his leg badly, indicating that he might have been pulled from two sides and broke his spine in the process. He was in terrible pain, and the little one had to be put down, so that was that.

Strange how distance doesn't make this sort of thing any better, does it? Still feels horrid, and I gotta admit that the way the furry one went kept me up most of the night, making work not easy this morning.
I think my colleagues noticed my state of mind, but save for one, I didn't feel like explaining why I was uncharactaristically quiet...part of th reason being that I wasn't sure if I could keep from bursting into tears on the spot. Not a good thing to do at work, I'm thinking.

Anyway, this bit of news ruined any fantasy I might have harbored of going to fetch him at some point, after we get a permanent place for ourselves. Shaite!

Poor Daxie...to him, life always was one big adventure; let's hope the next one will be, too.

Not homeless yet.

Song of the day: “Coconut” by Harry Nelson. Don’t ask me why. It’s been on my mind lately. Can’t explain it.

Right. Coming close to the end of the month, meaning that at least a couple of weeks have passed since my last blog. (Bad Sammie!) I know, I know. I promised more, but I have a good excuse. I’ve been doing a lot of overtime at work, and spare time has been spent looking for rentals, which is turning out to be friggin’ difficult in our price class. Grrrr. Sure, there are some nice places that are affordable, but most of those are up in the North, or down South, meaning an hour or more driving, adding to those costs, thus making it cheaper to get something more expensive around here. It’s a pickle. But anyway, at least we are, as of last week, in a waiting list for an apartment, and according to my contact person, we make a good chance there, so until that time, we’re still looking.

As to our present residence…I kinda like it. Were I on my own, I would totally keep it and make it my own little nest. Seriously. It’s the second floor of this cute little wooden cabin set in the middle of the woods, close to the dunes. I can imagine summer here being downright lovely. There’s a living room kitchen connected, a bathroom with a bath and shower, and a spacious bedroom. Couldn’t ask for more (except for a waaaaay lower price) except that we are with two, and big brother has his bed in the living room at the moment. Hah. And boy, is that boy messy!

Anyways, we might be close to being homeless, but until the end of next month, I’m not going to worry too much about it. We’re doing what we can, and until now that has worked well enough, so I’m going to rely on a little faith and believe that this time it will be no different.

Have been calming down considerably. The solitude here (since big brother’s free days are on different days than mine, I’m having plenty of me time, hah) is soothing, I think, and though the world still intrudes on that at times (will explain below) I can find calm within myself that wasn’t there before.

Some sad news did reach us here in “our cabin in the Woods”. Just days ago I got a message from Spain telling me that Clue, our chocolate colored pointer. died suddenly. He hadn’t been sick, had been very happy, but middle sister saw him lying in her work corner where he had passed away in his sleep. He didn’t suffer, which is a good thing, naturally, but it did drive home the fact that in the near future, there are going to be more of these messages. Our four-legged ones are getting on in age, after all, and there are days that I miss ‘m all very much.

Pretty, pretty Clue

Still, it is never smart to linger on the things that you can’t change, and life goes on.

What with eating badly that last month before we got to the cabin, I have been working hard on cooking good meals again, hitting all the basic nutritional needs. More oats, lentils, chickpeas and beans, with a regularity that would make nutritionists proud again. By no means is it easy, after a full day’s work, added to having to go places to look at rentals and such, and groceries and all those pesky little things that take time and effort. Admittedly, often by the time we get home, I barely have enough energy to haul my butt onto the couch, but since I have been taking my computer to work, and spend an occasional hour or two waiting for big brother to finish, writing, that is not the biggest disaster.

I have actually been getting some writing done again. Yay!!! Yes, I have stuck with my decision to go back to my “roots” and am elbow deep into the cheesy dime novels, which is just so much more fun than complicated thrillers. Sure, if the muses strike and I get a marvelously thrilling idea, I’ll go for it, but until then, I’m going to stick with what I know. Romance! I feel way better writing that than inspirational, mind-bending stuff anyway, so for now, I’m sticking to it. Hah.

Have been to the gym, yay! And kicked the shaite out of a boxing bag, pumped iron. It was marvelous. A different gym of course. This one is closer to where we are at now, and since it is the same chain as the one we signed up for, no extra costs. *phew* Need to go more often, but twice this month is better than nothing, I guess. Like the place, though. Nice staff, and it has more secluded areas than the other one we usually went to.

Will be going out to eat with our father and his wife next weekend, which should be interesting. We’ll be visiting friends of theirs in Amsterdam. Thinking back, I would say that the last time I was in our capital was a solid 22 years ago, so that should be interesting to say the least.

Have been semi-busy at the storage, sorting through stuff that we don’t need…or shouldn’t need, for that matter. Depresses me, so I prefer not to think of the cutesy little stuffsies I managed to gather this past half year. *sigh*

What else? Well, there was work, of course. Plenty of that. Do finally have some extra colleagues, meaning that more stuff is getting done without the original staff of four running their behinds off to try to keep up with the gathering messes of hundreds of guests. Aaaargh. Seriously, some folks are just dirty. Who in their right minds lounges in a quiet “relax room” and removes tampons, only to hide them under the beds? Eeeeewwwww!!!

Been doing a lot of hours, which is not really to my liking, but considering the expenses of our present living arrangement I don’t feel comfortable saying no.

Have been in contact with some old friends, including our mechanic in Spain, who has kindly offered to help out transferring the Opel to my mum. I’m facing some obstructions here with taxes and insurance regarding that car in my name, so we figured it would be best to just see that it is taken out of the equation.

I know, aren’t I incredibly boring. What kind of stuff is this to write about, right? Can’t make it any better than this, though, so I’m going to leave it at this and hope that have something a little more exciting to write about the next time. I’ll be back!

R.I.P. Grandpa Jack

Grandpa at his best

No song of the day, today, I fear. Just a post to let y’all know that as of this morning Grandpa passed away at the hospice just short of eighty years in life. His heart didn’t manage to hold out, and so the body had to concede defeat regardless of the willing spirit.

Visited him yesterday, sat with him for a few hours, and managed to talk with him a little, despite his overwhelming exhaustion. Weird to see him that way, withered, old…and very fragile. To see that picture in your mind of him vitally climbing fences and trees no less than two years ago, only to have him practically disappear in a white sheeted hospital-like bed…I severely dislike that. It will be a long time before that last image of him will disappear and only the good will remain.

Anyway, he didn’t see very well, partly because of the exhaustion, but he knew I was there. We had a few moments together where we managed to talk. I had to ask him if he was scared, because grandpa was often plagued by fears, and he said that he was—just a little. More because of the unknown, the “what will happen next” than anything else, and because he always had this nasty belief that his karma was bad due to his past lives, explaining much of his difficult life…this is one thing I dislike about the whole karma belief; it makes no sense to suffer for something that you can’t remember, does it? I don’t believe that it works that way, makes no sense.

So, anyway, we talked quietly about our thoughts and beliefs, and how I thought that he did well, and did exactly what he was supposed to in life…especially when he admitted that he was afraid that he hadn’t always done his best. That made me sad. Had to assure him he did it right, and that he was great friend and grandpa, and that he would have to take my word for it if he didn’t think so himself.

“I’ll try,” were his words, after which he assured me that he’d always loved us even when he couldn’t say it…not a man of many words, grandpa.

After that, and holding hands for a bit, we returned to more mundane subjects before he practically ordered us to piss off, and claimed he needed his sleep.

He went to sleep just a little while later and didn’t wake up anymore, which is good, because he was so very tired of all the suffering. Frequent reports during the evening and morning, indicated that he was departing rapidly, his breathing becoming choppy. He didn’t suffer in the end, the nurses say, he just…stopped, and I gotta say that for him that is the best thing that could have happened.

So, how to wrap this up…rest in peace, Grandpa? No. I’m going to end it on: It was good knowing you!

Momentous decision

Song of the day: “Born this way” by Weird Al Yankovich. What can I say, I’m in a really, really strange mood.

So, I would like to say that all is well at the moment, but it isn’t not really. Since I got back, I’ve had maybe one day that I didn’t need to go anywhere, meaning that I feel seriously stressed out. Can’t be helped at the moment, I fear, but it is starting to take it’s toll.

What can possibly have taken so much time that two weeks have flown by, I hear you wonder. Seriously, you do not want to know how often I’ve visited my insurance agent (she was a darling, I tell ya, but I really don’t need to see her that often) went to the garage, a lawyer (on the assistance of my mechanic) and all for…naught, really. Yes, they finally agreed that I was entitled to 600 bucks for towing (yay) the car to the garage of my choice, only downside was that already 232 of that was already spent on towing the Trooper to the French garage where it had been stored (for a whopping 8.50 per day) for the past two weeks or so. So that meant that from the moment I made the decision to take the car back to Spain, I would have needed to pay that myself, and since I would then have to arrange for the tow to actually happen so much money would go down the drain that in the end we just had to give up on the Trooper and let it go. So, figuring that the insurance is not going to waste more time and money either, the poor Trooper is probably junk now. Such a pity. 

Moving on, and all that, I find is very difficult at the moment, but we are. What with the losses of funds due to the disastrous trip, the car’s break down and consequent loss, and all those little things that have been eating at what is left of our savings, big brother and I have both come to a momentous decision: Within a few months, we will be moving back to the Netherlands.
 

Yep. For the both of us, the Spanish adventure has definitely come to an end…and added to that we are going to have to find work, which is not something we feel we can do here in these troubled times; at least not enough to make a difference in the way of life that we’ve all been used to. Changes are going to have to be made, the biggest of which being the dogs.

We’ll be looking for homes for some of them, while the rest of them are going to be staying here with mom and the younger sibs, who have decided that they want to stay here and make a go of it. So for the time being big brother and I will be trying to send some money home every month and hope that it will be enough to tide them over until the younger sibs have found work.

Talking of the dogs, we lost Jelly and Matti this past month, the first of old age, and the latter had to be put down because little brother found him in serious agony one morning, basically incapable of movement. Some serious tests later, it turned out that he had a degenerative disease in his spine that made the disks grow out of shape until it paralyzed him. Scary thought that. Had never heard of something like it before.

Also had a big scare with Clue the other day. Big brother were on our way out of the house when the silly dog decided to jump out the window (about 5 foot high) and somehow managed to land wrong. He was lying there, seemingly completely paralyzed, blood on the floor around his head, and his breathing shallow, looking more like some sort of spasm. We seriously feared that he’d snapped his spine, and were more than a little weary about doing anything. So I went to get the Land Rover while big brother and middle sister carefully slid him onto a wooden board.

Next we carried him out, and rushed him to the vet, fully expecting to have to put him down.
Strangely enough, about half way there, he was raising his head, a few blocks away he was trying to sit up, and by the time we got to the vet he was walking again…albeit wobbly, and more cheerful than a drunk who won the lottery. The vet couldn’t find anything wrong with him, thankfully, but did put him on an anti-inflammatory and diuretics because it was clear that he knocked himself out hard enough to almost croak. He seemed drunk and extremely happy for several days, but has slowly turned back to his serious self. At least he’s okay.

We have been working constantly on the Land Rover. Now that we have made this decision we really need to sell it, for so many reasons that…well, no matter the reason, there really is not much of a choice. It feels like I’m losing the last thing (besides the dogs who are not things, thank you very much) that was a part of life here in Spain, so that is hard. Will have to get over it. If for no other reason than that there is no time to mourn it all. We’ve got our tickets arranged and they’re set for mid-July. Fast, eh?

No sense in postponing the inevitable, I guess.

Another thing that kept us busy is figuring out all that needs doing once we’re back there. There are long lists of places we need to go, folks we need to talk to, and of course finding a place to live. At first Cousin Ed and Tenant will be there to “catch” us, so to speak, but that should only be temporary, of course. Can’t mooch off them, despite their assurances that they’d love to have us there. Everyone needs their own space.

In regard to my varicose vein, I went to see a surgeon and heard the disturbing news that to get lasered the whole thing would cost a 1000 bucks, which I don’t have, of course. But Cousin Ed has offered to loan me the money for the operation, so I’ve told my doctor to proceed with the arrangements. Monday I will have my pre-op exams, and that same evening I will meet with the surgeon again, at which time we will talk about the whole procedure and get it all sorted. They think that we can get it all done within a couple of weeks, so let’s hope that it works out. That way I can have it all done before moving away from Spain.

Grandpa has slowly recovered from the trip somewhat, slowly getting used to a very different way of life. There are often times that he doesn’t know what to do with himself, so I have suggested that he go along with Tenant to her “daycare” meetings and see what that is all about and whether he would enjoy something like that. I just hope that he can find himself some sort of purpose over there.

Been going to the gym, of course, an average of four to five days a week, regretfully not with T, who has been too busy, which has been my saving grace really. I would have gone nutters without those workouts, that is a fact. This is definitely not an easy decision to take, but what can you do, really. Sometimes you have to let go and see where life takes you, rather than grittily holding onto that which you know.

Well, more has happened of course, but it is late once again, and I HAVE hit the highlights, so I’m

going to leave it at this. I need a glass of wine and then I’m off to bed.