Time is fleeting

Song of the day: “Lament” by the Cranberries. I know, an oldie, right, but I recently heard this awesome band again, and was assaulted by all this old earworms, including this one. Hah.

So, I’d ask y’all what you’ve been up to, but am well aware that most of you are mostly here as readers, not to be bugged with pesky questions. I’ll get to it, shall I?

It’s been a while since my last blog, I know, but life has been terribly hectic and what little time I had left I ended up vegetating, rather than doing something useful like writing the blog, a book, sleep, eat, breathe...hmmm. Does that sound a bit extreme? Yeah, I guess it does. I’ve a flair for the dramatic, I’ll admit, but there are times (when you’re tired and emotional, you know) that it feels that way.

Did a lot of hours at work, in part because, let’s face it, due to the loss of many colleagues during the course of “restructuring”, there is a LOT to do, and the other part being (you’re seeing this one coming, right?) that I have a hard time saying no to paying work. Hah. I should. I mean, seriously, there are times when I really should say no, and just don’t because it is something very necessary, and I’d feel like a wuss for saying no. How bad is that, right? The other day, big brother and I were talking about it, actually, where he pointed out that I’m a bit like Jim Carrey in “Liar Liar” that way. Remember that scene in the courthouse where he’s beat himself up completely (hilarious scene, by the way) in an attempt to get out of the trial, only to have the judge ask him outright if he “really” isn’t able to continue on. Which, of course, he can. Everyone CAN, unless they are lying unconscious, or dead on the floor...technically, anyway. *sigh* Doesn’t mean you always should, should you? An FYI, in case you’re wondering. Doing cleaning with a capital C (as in professionally) is not something anyone should be doing full-time. We’re talking high content calorie usage here. A rigorous fitness workout of three hours stretched into 8-9 hours.

Anyway, pacing is still something that I obviously need to work on. Am a wreck at the moment, so it’s a good thing that this is my free day. Have been taking it easy all morning. Did some stretches, some bootcamp exercises and made a tasty high protein breakfast (lentils, veggies and egg) that should suit me just fine on this day that I have planned to spend behind the computer for today’s blog and if I’m lucky some actual writing. I’m even pondering turning off my phone, because the last few times I tried this, I got phoned three times and apped 6 times, claiming a lot of my day. *sigh* Gotta keep up with the homeys, dontcha. Haven’t decided yet what to do. Hah.

Was smart last night (yes, it does happen occassionally that the old braincells give a tiny spark of life after all), by the way. After getting home from work (had a short work day for a change) I took a long nap, ate lunch, picked up big brother and then spent what was left of the day cleaning my apartment. The way I figured, if I did that during the afternoon, I’d truly have a free day today...which I do, except for a wee bit of laundry which is not something I see as a terrible task, as you well know. *wink*

As for a bit of bad news: Tenant is not doing well. We visited her a few times around her B-Day, which she really enjoyed, but things are slowly getting worse for her. Just the past week or so, she’s been in and out of the hospital; this time due to an extreme shortness of breath. Just last night she woke up cousin Ed, screaming (for as far as that was possible) that she couldn’t breathe, so she had to be brought to hospital. The tubes in her throat, ya know, the ones you breathe too, are too narrow for some reason and this is causing loads of problems. Added to that, her immune system is completely shot, meaning more and more meds that aren’t helping the matter at all. It’s sad to see, in particular since it is getting to a point where cousin Ed is no longer able to take care of her. She needs too much of it, so a nursing home is the only solution. Sad.

Also went that direction a couple of times because Cousin Ed finally found a place to live for herself, once tenant has settled in a nursing home. She wanted our opinion for a couple of options, and finally came to an agreement that the second, slightly more expensive one would be the best. The quality was way better, so maintenance would be lower. It’s a tiny place in the woods, and she can see herself live there in the immediate future with her doggies, so all is well.

Went to visit our father this weekend, partly because he and his wife are moving soon, and they had a rather pretty computer closet that they offered to Taffin. Will come in handy for all his gadgets, that’s for sure. And of course because we had some catching up to do again over a nice lunch with talk about work and whatnot. Also got to see loads of pics of the past twenty years or so (and you know me and pics, right?), including wedding pictures where I was looking at folks with like “where do I know these folks from?” until it became clear that it were a couple of known (national) actors who’re friends with our stepmother. Hysterical how that works. You’re looking at a face that seems familiar, and you’re turning and turning it over in your head knowing that you’re missing something, only to realize that the reason you know them is because you saw them on the friggin’ TV. Weird how that works.

Had only one workout at the gym since my last blog (yes, I’ll flog myself tonight, jeez!) but like I said, time is fleeting and in short demand. I just can’t seem to schedule anything in of late, which is driving me effing bonkers sometimes. Grrrr.

Have been cooking regularly (I’m patting myself on the back saying “good Sammie” on that one) so nutritionally we’re doing okay...except for having missed quite a few meals again due to the lack of time. Aaaaargh! But what meals I’ve had were good and balanced.

Have been thinking more and more about starting our own little company, though, in particular with the persistent rumors and trouble at work. A small dining facility, primarily based on take away is slowly solidifying. Even big brother is getting to be excited about it, and yes, we have thought of a name for the place. “Something Different”, which has a nice ring to it, and a name you can play with in advertising. Now, I am going to have to start making time free to do research, of course, discovering if it even possible to open something like this in the surrounding area, what kind of licenses I would need, etc. Who knows, it might not even be possible, so I’m not going to let my head run of with me yet. I’ll keep you posted.

The infection and/or rash on my foot became secondary to the fact that a I slipped at work (colleague used slippery soda soap instead of a degreaser) and slammed my foot into the wall while on all fours in a narrow space. Very unpleasant, walking became even more of a trial due to that, so I wasn’t happy for a while. Both problems have decreased now, thankfully. The redness is almost gone to a treatment of mostly vinegar with an after-treatment of aloe vera and calendula cream. There are days now that you can hardly see the the discoloration anymore.

You’ll be happy to know that the weather is slowly improving. Spring (despite the small setback these past couple of days with a drop of more than 8 degrees) is in full swing. Green is sprouting everywhere (loving that bit) making the world a colorful place to be at least. I’m not even minding the cold (not much, anyway) it is just so pretty.

The load of plants in my apartment are absolutely lovely. They are thriving, growing lushly on the windowsill and my dresser where a selection of kitchen herbs are competing for sunlight. They are delicious, I tell ya. Almost like we have a little yard there, which makes cooking very much a pleasure.

I have, since recently, discovered that my stay in the UK has had a nasty side effect. My accent has become horribly British. That is not to say that I dislike the British accent, I mean former Prime Minister Blair has an accent to die for, but it is not an accent I strive for. Irish accent, sure, American mid-west or even south are lovely, but British is very distinct and will have people look oddly at you, as if you’re trying to show off, or something. I don’t, it happens automatically, so I fear that E’s (former boss) promise to teach me “proper” English, did rub off. I’ll have to work on that.

Did finally manage to do some home improvement during my last free day. Got around to sanding, priming and painting my kitchen table at last, so now it is a wonderfully old, dented homestead style table in a warm ivory white. It looks lovely. Especially with the three chairs I found at the skip months ago. Considering all my colorful furniture elements, I figured that keeping a basis of white-ish for the big pieces was just plain smart.

I like it.

Well, that is all she wrote today. I still want to do some stuff on the books, if I can manage it and then I have to start thinking about dinner at some point, despite it being lunch hour. Time flies, and never more so then when you’re doing stuff at the computer, eh? Hah

I’ll be back.

An update at last!

Song of the day: “Things” by Dean Martin and Nancy Sinatra. Cool song, with several versions that I like as well, but for now this was the one I’ve been hearing in my head a lot. For as far as earworms go, this is not a bad one.

Right. I’m late writing again, I know, I know (bad Sammie! Bad, bad Sammie) but I have a good excuse, my computer is suffering from some sort of hiatus that big brother hasn’t been able to solve yet, meaning that I might have been able to write this post sooner, but I simply won’t have an easy way of posting it. Very annoying, I know. Can’t be helped, though. With time as limited as it is at the moment, having to jump through hoops to post anything, is a pain in the behind. Grrr.

Lots to tell this time round, however, considering my best friend from Spain came for a visit last week, and stayed for a couple of days. That meant we had to pack in as much activities during those days as possible, while still being able to spend quality time together. Yay. It was grand. Missed her a lot these past eight months or so, and actually choked up a minute there when I saw her appear at the airport in Germany. It was almost midnight when I got there, had just barely managed to make a very necessary trip the bathroom after driving for more than an hour, and there she was; that very familiar and dear face looking around and then zoning in on me with a big grin. Did the whole greeting bit with hugs and everything, and headed right out into the night where I had haphazardly parked the car in front of the building. Hah.

We were late getting home, of course, despite of me speeding on the deserted highways from time to time, but that was okay. Once there we had some tea, did some more talking and finally were in bed around two in the morning. This of course meant that I had to be up two and a half hours later to go bring big brother to work, otherwise T and I wouldn’t be able to get around by car the remainder of the day.

Let’s just say that we did a bit of sightseeing. Went to Rotterdam because the weather here was horrid on the second day. We picked up big brother at work, and just started driving until the weather improved. Which was in Rotterdam, for some reason.  There the sun was shining, no wind and lots of stuff to look at…including the endless amount of tourists that were teeming literally everywhere. Just love it that T has a similar sense of humor as I do. For instance, we were walking past a lingerie shop, with these reed thin mannequins in the window displays, in all these sensual little poses. We got in this elaborate discussion how, of course, these were exactly the positions women take on once they wear sexy underwear, and that inevitably, when wearing such, we always end up in a pillow fight in a frilly bedroom with muted light…at which point we were chortling with laughter, and big brother grinning.

Did all the silly things, too, naturally, including taking selfies with the three of us in front of landmarks. Even big brother did a couple with this huge grin on his face, despite him being pretty darn tired (big brother is a good sport that way. He went along regardless) so we actually have some shots to remember the afternoon by. Ended the afternoon by having a really late lunch at this cute little bohemian lunch room, run by an eclectic group of people working hard to make everyone feel welcome. Definitely a place to visit if you’re ever in Rotterdam. They had nice daily specials, fresh teas and coffees. Not a single table or chair was the same, there were colorful throw pillows everywhere, and furniture of recycled wood in strategic places. I could have done without the neon lights here and there, but other than that it was downright cozy and the service extremely friendly.

T and I ended up with thick slices of dark bread with garlicy humus and grilled veggies, while big brother went for a chicken wrap that had loads of raw veggies in it (and he liked it regardless *gasp*) so we all had a rather healthy meal in the end.

Didn’t get home until late, in particular since T and I ended up on the couch talking about her new boyfriend and life in general. Had a nice morning at the sauna, too (I’m probably telling this out of order, but what the heck. The separate events aren’t exactly in sequence in my head, never are, so it will just have to do) which included a full tour of the premises, followed by a wonderfully leisured swim in two of the pools. Afterward we both felt that it was time was a sturdy breakfast followed by a rather wonderful nap of at least two hours each. Hah.

We were all sorry to see the days pass so quickly, and before we knew it, we left early Saturday morning, direction south to the place where big brother and I grew up. Luckily T was willing enough to be showed around, our old house, the woods, and then a nice walk through the heath fields on the mountain. Petted Scottish Highland cattle, only to discover a few minutes later that you’re supposed to stay 25 meters away from the lovely beasts, because they’re wild animals, and you just never know. Haha. They were lovely, and the petting was very cool. Never petted one before, so it was definitely a first. Yay.

Didn’t like having to drop T off at the airport at three in the afternoon, where we had to say our goodbyes and promise to see each other again soon…including an invitation to come vacation in Finland this summer, which we’re definitely going to try to arrange. Would love to see where she grew up for a change, and to spend a few days in the wild. Should be fun…in particular since we’ll meet T’s boyfriend. Am incurably curious in that regard.

On the way back I dropped by Tenant’s and cousin Ed’s for a quick visit. Both their birthdays are coming up, so in case we couldn’t make on the days in questions I wanted to drop of their presents already.

Was a tad sad when I got home, but that couldn’t be helped. Summer will be here soon enough, I’m guessing.

On to the next business…if I can remember. Hah

So, what else? Well, we had a rather nice workout session at the gym last week. Kicked some serious bag behind, rowed a mile or two at top speed, hiked the treadmill up a number six incline at a four mile per hour speed, pumped iron until I was about ready to pass out after the usual morning of work.

Had a couple of good swims as well, so I’ve been pretty darn active on the overall what with walks added into the mix and everything.

Cooking wise I did very little experimenting, but we have been eating nutritionally well balanced on the overall. (Good Sammie) Not a lot of meat though, I find it just too difficult to do that regularly. I mean seriously, how do folks manage to eat meat without it giving you the idea of wrecking the wonderful  taste of the veggies? It is so strange.

I did do some writing in the past few weeks. Managed to bring the latest manuscript over 15K, which is a milestone at least. Added to that I have started editing “Titan Rising: Conner”, which has been fun. Haven’t done a lot of that on this particular book, so it has been a road of discovery for me with all sorts of wonderful surprises. It is rather wonderful to read back what I wrote some odd two years ago, and discover little treasure troves of sentences that I’d completely forgotten…not to mention that I am falling in love with the characters all over again. It has been too long ago that I worked on this particular book. I think I should have been sending it out for all this time already, and yet for some peculiar reason, I haven’t.

Work wise things have been hectic, again, in particular since T went back home. Did a double shift this Tuesday, in fact, meaning that I worked from 6 AM till 10:30 AM, went home to sleep for a couple of hours, picked up big brother after three in the afternoon, went home again to cook dinner, relaxed with “Crimson Peak” for a bit, and then went back to work at 10:30 PM for my second shift at 11. The next morning there was going to be a photo shoot, so cleaning had to be done before that. The whole thing took a little longer than expected (4:30 AM, in fact) and by then I was so friggin’ tired I went to bed and lay awake feeling too tired to sleep until 6. Grrrr. Did finally drop off, until 10:15 when I started to worry about whether or not I had managed to get a particular wall of glass properly cleaned at work. I know, I’m nuts to worry about that, right? Hah. Did fall back to sleep until around one, meaning that I had to rush something fierce to get ready for the remainder of the day. Had agreed to go visit Tenant for her birthday, and if all went as planned, big brother would come and pick me up before three so we could beat rush hour on our way to her place.

Did arrive on time at Tenant’s place and she was very happy to see us both for a late birthday celebration.

A week or so ago I scraped open the tops of my feet while cleaning underneath sauna benches. It didn’t actually break skin until there was blood, but it was a like really bad rug burn.  It is somewhat infected now, almost looking like a rash, so I’ve started cleaning it with rubbing alcohol and cider vinegar, which is showing some improvement, even though the treatment is somewhat painful. Still. Rather than get some chemical/antibiotic thing from the drugstore, I prefer to keep it clean and treat it with the vinegar and leave the body to fix it by itself. I’ll keep you posted.

My apartment was a mess after work, T’s visit, Tenant’s birthday trip, so, as usual a part of my free day was used to clean up. Pity that, but can’t be helped. Added to that, there were two loads of laundry…had to get a new machine, by the way. The ten bucks Siemens we got five months ago gave the spirit after walking through my bathroom ten days ago and this strange screechy sound in the engine for at least five weeks, so we got another one at the thrift store. It’s a different brand, not the best, but relatively new at least. Cost about the same as having a repair man come over to check the broken one, so we figured, what the heck. So far it’s been working fine, so, yay!

Also spent a couple more days at the thrift store. One of those was boring stuff like organizing clothes and shelving units, and another setting up new window displays. Was fun to have the young salesgirl there for the first time noticing that you can actually make stuff look good if you display them right. I don’t think she realized that before, so I’m hoping that there will be a time when she gets interested enough that she wants to learn how to do it. The last day there was fun, partly because my colleague there had been forced to take her 2 year old along to work. Kept stuff interesting for sure. Was fun playing with a kid again. He loved it when I started to make him bounce through the store and then fly right on outside when his grandpa finally came to pick him up.

Spring is really here, by the way. Plants, trees and whatnots have burst into green in a timespan of a single week. Been enjoying that massively. Even now, as I sit at my desk writing this, I am looking outside at the everything quickly coming to life. I missed this bit about the north tremendously.

What else, well, I finally made first contact with littlest brother across the big expanse. I worried for a while if I should, considering that I didn’t want to be pushy, or anything, but, finally I thought, what the heck, it’s his B-Day. Might as well break the ice, so to speak. He did write back that morning, so he’s a little easier in the communication than big brother and our father (can I say for the record that I find it exhausting that some folks are just incapable of communicating, be it by email, chat, app, phone or whatever. Some folks literally need to have a pitchfork behind their bums to get off them and communicate. I wonder if it is a male thing. Stepmother seems to have very little problems with it—such a relief that—she is one of few people who makes it an equal give and take in communication. Don’t folks realize if they leave it all to one person, that person starts to fear that he/she is considered to be a stalker or some such? Of course when I ask this of big brother, he is more like: I don’t know what to say, which makes me go Aaaaaargh.) But anyways…it was nice to hear from littlest brother, who seems to be looking forward to meeting face to face, too. I gotta say I’m curious about him and am impatiently anticipating getting to know his quirks, likes and dislikes, just to see if we have anything in common. Genes can be odd that way. Hah. Now, after first contact, I start wondering if I’ll scare him s**tless by writing back in my usual elaborate style. Might be smart not to, ya know, but then I think, he might as well realize up ahead that I can get a serious case of TMI when it concerns communication. *wink*

Went over to our father’s new place down south a couple of weeks ago, which was a nice relaxing afternoon despite me being slightly cross-eyed with exhaustion. Good thing big brother drove back that night, because I sure wasn’t capable of it. Got to pet a nice big ol’ husky while we were visiting, which was totally cool. They (father and stepmother) had talked about the beasty before, saying how they found it so sad that it was always on its own in the yard, but I was happy to see that we were right in pointing out that Huskies are really good on being on their own, and that it being quiet wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Took the furry one only a short time to warm up to me, and start trying to play with my hands and in the end scarf, hah. He was lovely. Reminded me of big brother’s Cham, some years back…but then, most dogs I meet these days remind me of one dog or other from the pack. Darn it!

So, that about sums up today’s blog. I know, finally some stuff happened, eh? I told you, life isn’t always boring here, it just sometimes seems that way. It is choice, however, more than anything. There are so many busy days, including work, visits, trips, groceries and whatnot, that on the rare occasions that I have a night to myself, I’m enjoying me solitude tremendously.

Gotta go.

"Haven´t laughed like that in years!"

Song of the day: “Took a Pill in Ibiza” by Mike Posner…the remix. Cool song and it has been in my head off and on for a while.

I’m sorry. Bad Sammi! I took way too long since the last blog, didn’t I? I feel bad, but my excuse is that I’ve been busy at work (tired because of it) and that big brother got sick, resulting in me being sick as well for the past five days or so, which didn’t improve on my energy levels. Hah. Still, they are  excuses, which don’t do any good, so…moving on.

What’s been happening?

First off, I’ve got some good news. My best friend from Spain will be coming over for a few days in April, which has me very excited, thank you very much. She can only get a few days off, but still, it will be awesome to see her again. It has been over seven months now, and I’ve missed her somewhat fierce, so that is definitely going to be fun.

The weather has turned, meaning that the awful cold is gone at last and that the first blossoms have burst out…looks rather cute, too, from my top floor window which overlooks a little park with some sort of fruit tree in it. Hah.

Got good internet at last. We folded and took a proper contract on a hard line, rather than just the mobile phones. It was a pain in the behind, because whenever I connected my computer there would be a bunch of friggin’ updates, meaning that it ate away my bites to a point where any speedy internet was virtually impossible. Grrrr.  So there’s broadband now, meaning that I can actually watch an occasional movie and have in fact found my old favorite TV show on Youtube “the Young Riders”. Have been enjoying that quite a bit for the past week or so, whenever I plunked down on the couch and vegetated the last hour or two of the day away after work.

Cooking? Yes! Did some experimenting with noodles that other day and other than that about 90 percent of the time decent meals that fill the stomach and fit the requirements of daily nutrition. Can’t ask for much more than that, can ya…like yesterday I made a rather delicious 2 bean veggie chili that went down rather splendid.

Then, of course, on Tuesday we had New York Pizza, (Tuesdays have a sale of 5 bucks per pie if you pick them up yourself) because I was bushed from work and simply couldn’t stand the idea of having to make dinner after doing a 9 hour work day, sniveling the whole time.

Had another inspection of the company for which we’re in our apartments, which freaked me out a little because it had been a week from hell with the cold making me downright violent toward the idea of doing any more cleaning than for work. And I got that message of the pending inspection while I was doing a very necessary nap, meaning that I couldn’t sleep because let’s face it, I started to worry about all the things that I still needed to clean up before they came. Grrr. Anyway, it turned out okay. I vacuumed, folded laundry, did dishes and set stuff straight while I dusted. Meaning that it was all presentable within half an hour or so. Of course I was still at work by the time the inspection came by, so I didn’t actually get to talk to the folks. All we (yes, big brother had an inspection too…while he was at work) got was a mention of rehanging the fire detector that I hit off the ceiling the last time I burned rice on the stove. Grrr. But it’s fine, the “occupation was perfectly alright” so that’s that.

Last night was a strange night for me. First off, after dinner and relaxing a little big brother and I were talking about some woman who had been all insulted that a guy had been checking out her cleavage…which had been considerable, in a dress that barely covered the essentials and with a push-up contraption that basically brought that very cleavage up to her chin. I’m sorry. I like cleavage, a tasteful amount of it is gorgeous and I’m not shy about displaying my own from time to time, especially if I’ve spent several months as “one of the dudes” in work clothes, but there is a distinct difference between cleavage and Cleavage with a capital C. I’m not saying anyone should not be allowed to display it, I’m not saying it is wrong, I’m just saying that if you hang it out there for the world to see, you shouldn’t be surprised that some dude is going to be staring at it, maybe with a bit of drool seeping from his open mouth. Haha.

Now, this was not the bit that was weird. No, it was my laughing fit when we got to comparing the woman’s cleavage to if a guy ever decided to do tit for tat and display the rounded-ness of his “unmentionable” in a specifically designed pants. For some reason (partly due to the glass of wine I had consumed at that time, I’m sure) it struck me as incredibly funny. Things got worse when we debated the “new trend” and how men would go out to enlarge their dangling unmentionables so that they could better display that “southern cleavage” which had a sip of my wine come spritzing out in yet another laughing fit.

Gawd, I haven’t laughed like that in years, which is a sad thing to realize, but seriously, put down your beverage of choice and give it some thought as you get yourself a mental image of the next red carpet  event where this has become a trend.

*snort*

Anywaysssss, that was the first part of the evening, after which I had another glass when big brother went to his own place because he had work the next day. Then, for some inexplicable reason, I got sad, and I hate it when that happens. Wrecked a perfectly fine evening, too. Missed my doggies, all of them, somewhat fierce, so in the end I just decided to say “f**k it!” turned the show off and went to bed before I flooded the apartment with a sobbing fest. Don’t know what was in that wine, but that seriously went from one extreme to the next.

Work has been a tad stressful. They’re having some trouble, being a start-up company and everything, and this has led to about a dozen contracts that haven’t been renewed, so there were loads of folks stressed out, worried, angry and downright scared, which didn’t improve on the general atmosphere. There is still some frictions with the new colleagues in the sanitation department, so that’s not so pleasant either, but we’re working on it.

Fun bit of news is that we’ve been invited by one of our colleagues (Lola, the designer who’s from Majorca and with whom we get to practice our crappy Spanish) to come in for a night of poker. None of us can play, but what the heck: Should be fun.

Another couple of colleagues will be coming over for dinner in the next month or so, and we’ve been invited to come visit another colleagues place to haunt the old sauna location. I’ll keep you posted.

The exercises I got from the physio at work appear to be working. My foot has been bugging me a lot less lately. Of course my leg has been giving me fits (see how there always seems to be something? It’s just ridiculous!). Not enough trips to the gym, I’m thinking. Added to working in hot places without drinking sufficiently…it’s dehydrating me, which means that I have to pay better attention to that. Can’t afford that kind of risk, not now that I need to be at the top of my game for what sometimes feels like a friggin’ full time job. Seriously, I still don’t know how that works every time. I go somewhere for part time work, and end up doing way more than agreed on.

This was a plus this week, because there was actually something better to do than just cleaning and water testing. Instead I got to strip garden furniture and treat them with tropical wood oil together with a girl that works at the reception desk of the sauna. Had a fun time doing that, at least.

Still, I think it has something to do with the fact that I’m…well, we, are very useful, don’t mind hard work, don’t say no fast when more is asked of us, and give most tasks the full 100% of effort. This is not something that I see a lot among employees. On the most part folks are saying no to tasks that they don’t like, or weren’t hired for, and when they do take it they immediately start asking if that changes anything in their salaries. Personally, I wouldn’t mind a change in salary, but I put in my full effort because that makes me feel good, not because it gets me something. To me it seems that very few people are out there working their butts off because that is what makes them feel better, instead they’ll slack because of the “that’s not what I’m paid for” attitude. This is a pity. It makes very few people feel good about themselves in general, I think. *sigh* There are exceptions of course. I’ve been working with some pretty awesome people that don’t whine about the little things and put in quite some effort, so maybe I just need to meet more of those to restore my belief in the working force. Hehehe.

Did do some work at my own place. I sanded and white-washed a nice chest of drawers that looked horrible when I got it from a thrift store for 7 bucks, and now looks like new. Yay. Oddly enough, I'm ending up with lots of white stuff in my place, interspersed with bright colors such as red, green, blue and yellow. I like it! 

Got a new pic up on my blog, and my Whatsapp, and have been getting mixed responses. Some said you look awesome, others said: what are you, like, 16?  Which had me chortling and fretting at the same time. I should be happy that I can look younger like that, right? But then I never did like myself at 16, so...  *snort*

Writing-wise I have been slacking as much as writing the blog, I’m thinking. The old problem, too tired, too scatterbrained and sometimes disheartened due to the difficulties of becoming a traditionally published author. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve been doing the whole writing bit too long to give it up now…it would be like having studied to be a doctor for ten years and then just when you’re about to get that important position at some major hospital, after interning for years, you say, like; ah, this is too hard, I’m just going to give up…It would be ridiculous! I’ve been writing for almost 25 years, wrote at least 30 stories with many more in the making, and to give that up now would be…stupid is the word for it. Be that as it may, it doesn’t stop you from sometimes feeling it, does it? Don’t worry, I’ll get there some day, and I’ll get there writing the stuff I love, one way or other.

Until then…well, you’re stuck with me. Hah!

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.