Song of the day:…well,
a whole variety of Bryan Adams songs. Was a nice change not to have just one
song in my head.
Lots has been going
on, lately, of course. Nothing of it very interesting, but I’ll tell some of it
regardless.
On the plus side, I do
feel I’m slowly calming down from all the turmoil. Not without difficulty, mind
you, the other day old problems threatened to crowd close, and as a result my
stomach acid jumped up, blood pressure went up and panic clutched at my chest.
Still, a walk out in the woods, and all of it slowly subsided as I reminded
myself that there is only so much I can do, and the rest I need to let go.
The whole number thing
with town hall still hasn’t been solved yet, naturally. This is bureaucracy we’re
talking about. Of course they haven’t solved it yet. That would be just too
much to ask for, wouldn’t it? Instead I get to wait with…basically everything.
Insurance being one of them, the bank account that is still on the wrong
number, ah, I get tired thinking of it, so…let’s not.
Had a few
wonderful bike rides…oh, did I mention
yet that both big brother and I were both successful in procuring a bike.
Together 200 bucks, which isn’t a bad deal considering big brother’s turns out
to be a custom made one. Hah. Anyways, I had to bring my bike back to the store
because it was making a strange noise at the pedals. Luckily it was still in
the warranty, so they put in a new chain, meaning she runs like a dream now…except
the gears because I still have to adjust those a little. Sixth and seventh just
aren’t working. I’ll get to it, though.
Work: We have several
options going. I’ve left my resume at a caterer, who didn’t seem displeased at
all with my question about a position in his company. Have applied as a cleaner
and handyperson at a sauna as well, which is, according to another worker
there, a very viable options. They are in rather desperate need, so we’re
keeping our fingers crossed. Thirdly, big brother might be able to get a part
time job at a Mercedes garage, while I have volunteered at a 2nd
hand store, which seems to be happy enough with me to consider paying me for my
work in the near future. We’ll see how that goes. In the mean time I am having
a lot of fun in the store totally redoing the displays, the shelving, and all
else that is there. Even had a professional display guy coming in the other
day, saying how wonderfully surprised he was at how good the displays looked.
He said that you didn’t see that much anymore these days, and he really enjoyed
it. Was a really nice chat. How lucky am I that I always enjoyed doing window
shop displays, eh? Applied for work for
events, but that was pure whim applying for that. I’ll be pleasantly surprised
if I get invited to come in for a chat at some point.
Had a couple of
friends over the other day, which was very nice. Made veggie chili, with
chickpea, red beans on the side, along with a rainbow salad with a yogurt
dressing. It all worked out rather well, I’m happy to admit. The food was
tasteful, the table nicely made up, got a nice bouquet from the wild, and the
experimental dessert of cinnamon/nutmeg pudding with crumpled cookies on top a
success. Added to that the evening was filled with nice conversation and
company, so I would say that it all went well, especially for a first dinner
party of sorts. The fact that both guests were extremely nice helped a lot too.
Hah.
We (big brother and I)
also went to their housewarming party last week, which was nice, too, despite
that all the “youngsters” there made me feel somewhat old. Hah. We arrived
sometime around seven (we already knew that we wouldn’t be able to stay long,
because we were going to stay the night at tenant’s, Cousin Ed’s and Grandpa’s)
and then left just barely on time to make it to the train station, on our bikes,
for the 21:15 train to Arnhem. From there, we still had to bike to grandpa,
meaning that it was dark before we got there with sore bums. Boy aren’t we used
to biking distances anymore. We…me in this case, ah, survived the ordeal, as I
did survive the many bike trips that we did before and after. Regretfully my
knees are so not used to that particular activity anymore that I had to take a “break”
this Saturday and Sunday, and not bike. Seriously, my knees were so swollen
from it that I could barely get up and down the stairs, so I have been taking
it easy a little for the for the past couple of days.
I am finally starting
to get to know the town a little…by bike anyway. The other day I had to go pick
up grandpa in Landlady’s car and got completely lost in all the little streets
here. Yep. Things look very different from a bike than they do from a car, but
I’ll get there…which reminds me, considering Cousin Ed and tenant left on a
long planned vacation last Wednesday, grandpa has been staying here with us in
the room that will be big brother’s at some point in the future (it still needs
some work). He did manage to get up to the attic the first day, but with his
condition that is just too hard, so a ground floor room was essential. It’s
comfortable, and he says he’s fine there. He’s even been out helping me in the
yard for a bit, and though he tires quickly, we both enjoyed that. Looks really
good, too, which is definitely an added bonus. It really helped a lot that the
weather was still good then. Now it has actually been pretty stormy for two
days with quite a bit of rain.
Finally found a closet
for our attic the other day at one of the thrift stores locally. It cost about
20 bucks, but it looks nice and now we no longer have suitcases lying about on
the floor anymore, which is a very nice change. Turns out that big brother now
has more clothes than I did, and here he was complaining while still back in
Spain, that he could hardly take anything because he was taking his PC in his
suitcase. Turns out he forgot how much clothes he’d already taken along two
weeks before our departure when he went to stay with grandpa for a few days.
Hah.
Regretfully our attic
is too dark for my herb plantsies. Basil already gave the spirit, chives is
going too, and sage is really close behind. *sob* Such a pity, but alas.
Nothing to do about it. Herb plants are going to have to wait until we get our
own place.
Writing hasn’t happened
yet, except for the blog and correspondence, but I have noticed a change in my
dreams. They are slowly becoming more vivid again, and some ideas about “Gun”
have been starting to play through my mind, which I’m seeing as a good sign. At
least my mind is no longer being overrun by worries so there is no room for
anything else left…at least not as much as it used to. I actually have days now
(occasionally) where I don’t constantly worry, so that is progress, right?
Well, I’m going to
leave it at this for now. It is late and tomorrow I will be working at the
thrift store as a volunteer again. Let’s hope the weather has improved by then.
*sigh*
