Meeting my lovely Goddaughter

Song of the day: “Waves” by Dean Lewis. Gorgeous song, and often stuck in my head. There are way worse songs to have  as an earworm.

Life has been busy since I last wrote. One day flows into the next with such speed, that at times I have difficulty keeping track. Time is flying, the wrinkles on my forehead are the proof of that. Hah. Yep. I have wrinkles now. Whether they are from frowning in concentration too much, or simply because I am forty now, doesn’t matter, does it? Shall we say they give my face character?

Let’s see if I can bring you up to date on what has been going on, lately. The job is still to my liking, despite it not being easy, or even pleasant at times. I do long days, and feel them in my bones. More than ten hours at work is the norm, with a few exceptions. Luckily I only do three to four days of them per week, meaning that I get to recover a bit every time I’ve had a couple of shifts. Although I doubt, I would like to quit completely, I do look forward to the day that I will no longer be required to do this work, and can instead focus on writing full time. I do like the interactiveness with the guests, and the fact that the work is so diverse.

Which reminds me, I have been steadily working on the new project ever since we got back from the US. The manuscript had solid passed the 60K words mark. The characters are fully developed and quite real inside my head.  When an event is about to happen they will quite clearly tell me how they would respond to that given situation…however weird that sounds. I like them, though. They’ve got grit, a will to survive, and they have become fully 3D, just the way they’re supposed to. Added to that, the story has come to big OMG moment, which I had been working towards, so that is totally awesome. Now all that needs doing is work out how they are going to get out of a rather terrible situation, and rebuild their lives. I’m looking forward to that.

Celebrated my 40th birthday a little later in the month. Invited more people than showed up, mostly due to work,  but those that showed up made it a lovely evening of long talks and quiet lights. Really enjoyed it. And the food was good. And littlest brother was there too, which was nice.

My goddaughter was born in February, brought into the world via a c-section, due to the fact that the doctors were unable to get the labor started. She is a perfect little girl, whom I had the pleasure of meeting this eastern, when I visited her and her mom in Finland for a few days, so I could be there for her naming party, and accept my role a godmother. Was a bit startled there, in the middle of the party, sitting with the wee one in my arms when suddenly it turned out I had to join the other godparents in the center of the room during a speech. OMG, that is so not my thing. Hah. But no matter, I was there to meet her, and to see her mom, and that’s what it was about in the end.

As to the actual trip to Finland…that was pretty exciting for me. It was the first time I went on a vacation of sorts all by my ittybitty self. Had to get to the plane after big brother dropped me off at the airport (forgot my purse with money, ticket, credit cards in the car, aaaargh. Big brother had to return with it.) find my way to the train station in Helsinki, get on the train (was supposed to scan my ticket but didn’t realize it until after I got off to get on the long distance train in Pasilla) and transfer from the commuter to the speed train that would take me south to Turku. Half the time I stressed about whether I had the right one or not. I did. Thankfully, and arrived in Turku at the appointed time. Tiina came to pick me up, and we got chat while she drove me to the place I’d be staying at for the duration of my vacation.

Got to meet some really nice people, and we spent the evening prepping some stuff for the party, before calling it a night. Were going to do some prepping the next day, also the tour thing, see the future house (which was splendid, by the way. I was totally jealous, haha), the present house, see some of the area and then some groceries before we headed over to the log cabin that had been rented for the party and the night before. Gorgeous location in the middle of the woods. Big structure Had a lovely BBQ with friends and family before the night was through, and then we were headed in for the night.

The day of the party arrived. Tiina was already there when my hostess and I arrived to help out with the remainder of the party. Met more friends and family, spent some time with the folks I already knew (Tiina’s lovely mom and dad, and inlaws that I met last year or so when we all went to the zoo together. The kids were lovely, especially the little girl who was sooooo busy making a show now that she had such a rapt audience.) and generally had a lovely time.

The remainder of my stay there was spending time with my friend, getting to know the wee one, and then getting back home after our time was up. The trip back was a bit more eventful. Tiina and I thought to kill some time at a lovely thrift store, and the next thing we knew we had to rush into town to make my train. Regretfully we hadn’t calculated the fact that it would rush hour, so I missed my train by a minute. I ran, and jabbed the button but it would not open for me anymore. That meant I had to wait an hour…but at least it gave us a chance to say a proper goodbye. Repurchased a ticket and made it to the commuter train in Helsinki just barely. Seriously, had to run to make it from platform 6 to 2, and that was a matter minutes. Only made it because there was another lady who reached it before me, and opened the doors so I and two other ladies could board as well. Had forty minutes to spare upon reaching the airport. Security took only a few minutes, so I had time to rest and recover before we had to board. My feet were not amused about the entire thing, I tell ya. And when I finally arrived back in the Netherlands, there was more walking to do, because big brother (still sick) hadn’t been able to find a close parking spot. First thing I did when I reached the car, was change shoes. OMG.

Anyway, I arrived home after midnight, with the happy realization that I didn’t need to be at work until a day later, giving me one to recover. Turned out to be two. Apparently they had enough people at work for my chef to let me know to enjoy an extra day off.

My plants were looking awesome when I got back, by the way. When you see them every day, they seem not to change, but afterward they seemed so lush. Added to that, when I left nature was still sleeping, and when I returned everything had sprouted leaves, making nature sooooo beautiful. Spring is finally here, even though we are still being bugged by the occasional cold spell, loads of rain, hail and winds. It does not amuse me, especially not on days that I have to be at work. Nothing is quite as disastrous for my health as working in sauna heat all day, only to step out into the cold rain outside after a long work day. Been battling a cold that wants to sneak up on me. What with big brother having been seriously ill, Tiina and hers as well, it is bound to hit me any day now, but I am still hoping to avert it. I don’t think I’ll be that lucky, though. Been having some dizzy spells, a feverish feeling every now and then, but we’ll see.

Cooking has been infrequent, but as ever, necessary, of course. Had a rather lovely Asian wok BBQ last week for a friend’s birthday. She and another friend came over, and eating together in the lovely sunshine was our celebration. Marinated chicken in a sauce of sweet chili, apricot jam, shallots, soy sauce and some mustard. It worked out splendidly in the wok that I’d set on the open Asian ceramic bbq pot outside. Was a lovely evening.

Added to that I have experimented with bread. A lovely Mediterranean loaf, with sun dried tomatoes, loads of herbs and garlic, and some onion. Delicious. The same went for pizza cupcakes, which were awesome, buckwheat burgers, and tonight even vegetable pancakes that went down splendidly.

Been steadily working out over the past few months, although I’ve managed to go only once since my return…and the week before that also only a couple of times, because big brother was sick and I just couldn’t muster the energy. Been somewhat tired lately. Not eating enough meat, I fear…better that than anything else, anyway. If that doesn’t improve soon, I’m going to have to visit the doctor’s for a blood test, or something, to make sure that everything is alright.

Been working on the cars, and the house. Big brother’s car needed a new radiator, which he reinstalled himself. Yay! And I’ve been sorting the mess in the garage. We are way too good at hoarding stuff, and not taking the time to put it all away. Working on it, though.

Through it all, big brother has really been working a lot…as is his inclination. It means that when he’s off he’s tired, and frustrated about not having the energy to work on the book, but we’ll have to sort that out at some point. For the moment it didn’t help that our company is expanding, and he was expected to help out on the new location, which is massive. I’m curious about the new location, I tell ya. I’ve been hearing stories aplenty about the kitchens there. It should be a pleasure to work in them…even though the new staff is facing some problems of a startup.

Have visited with dad infrequently. What with him working so much, and us, too, it is very hard to match our schedules on any given day. Heck, just big brother and me, trying to match a day off together, every now and then, is a disaster already. But it doesn’t matter. We had a few good visits since the last blog, and that is what matters, I guess.

Also visited Tenant. She had some trouble recently at the home she lives at now. Her rooms, which overlooked the patio with a pond, and all its fauna visitors, were no longer available to her, meaning she had to move to a different spot in the building. She didn’t like it at all. Refused it, in fact, until she saw her new quarters and they turned out to be bigger, and overlooking the main entrance no less. It meant that now she could see who came and went at any given time, and that she liked a lot. Hah

Been making friends at work, and actually went to a bingo night with a couple of my colleagues. It was totally ridiculous, but fun, even though I didn’t win anything. There was loads of laughter, and relaxation, and an entire evening passed without me actually noticing it. I’m thinking we’re going to do it again at some point.

Watched some movies, including Hereditary with Toni Coletti. It was the first movie in ages that actually freaked me out. Seriously. The last time I was affected that way was when Event Horizon came out. Hadn’t expected it of this movie. In fact, I was already dismissing the whole thing as Coletti being mentally disturbed when it turned out it was something else entirely. OMG. Definitely a movie to see for folks who love a good horror.

Well, that’s about all I can think of right now. It’s late, and soon it’ll be time for me to get my behind to bed…hopefully feeling a little less sickly tomorrow.

Semi on time...right?

Song of the day: “Heartattack” by Enrique, of course. Don’t know what it is, but somehow he always manages to write songs that stick really well, as an earworm. *sigh*

Sooooo, I’m relatively on time this blog, aren’t I? *pats self on the head: Good Sammi!* I do write when I get the time, you see. It is only when there just aren’t enough hours in the day that I resort to skipping the things that aren’t a matter of life and death…though in regard to the blog, that is of course debatable. Hmmm. I must consider this more closely, I guess. It is of course vital that I keep my readers happy. I’ll have to get back to this at some point. *wink*

Yeah. Okay, what has been happening? Well, thankfully not a whole lot. In fact the past week or so has been mostly about settling in, resting when possible, and still doing some running around besides work.

The latter is still busy as always. Never a lack of something to do at the sauna, I assure you. Doing about 40 hours a week at the moment, I think, 28 of those involving cleaning, the other technical stuff. But we’ve been cleaning like little demons, fear not…although there is some friction going on with the new colleagues. Yep, we finally got some, but it has made us all miss the set-up of our old team. It always went so nicely, all of us working together to get everything possible done. We were all well matched back then, I guess, while now three have to fit in, while we have to readjust to new team members that have, of course, a different way of working. It is quite an adjustment, and it is not going all that well.

A pity, too, since the point is that we get the work done one way or other, in the way required by our team leader. I, or someone else might disagree, but that doesn’t change the fact that in the end we only work there. *sigh* I dislike the frictions going on, I’ll admit. I mean, you guys know me, I’ve got opinions about everything, including my opinions, but confrontations I find unworthy of the time and effort—not to mention the aggravation. I mean, folks are always saying, be honest, express what you feel, and then when you do (or they do) more nasty stuff gets said, and more gets wrecked because no matter what, there are very few people who forgive and forget anything that gets said in the heat of the moment.

Ergo, I rather not let it get to the “heat of the moment”. Talking about ones true feelings is all nice and fine, and in some cases very necessary, but one should never forget that no matter what gets said, no matter how forgiving the other person is of any unmeant slip-up (let’s face it, when you’re pissed you sometimes say something you didn’t mean in that way, or you just said it to take a swipe at life in general), you cannot take it back. You might want to, you might need to, but no matter the “forgive and forget” bit, you can’t! It’s out there, lying between you like some slimy gooey thing that you try not to look at because it makes you nauseous, and thus something is broken that you can’t ever really fix. It’ll stick somewhere, niggle, scrape and all those unpleasant things (don’t get me wrong, you can ignore that all through understanding, but that doesn’t take it away, not really. In the next heat of the moment, it’ll rear its ugly head once more). I find that a pity. That is how you lose friends, and in some ways even family. In the end, everything wears, though, even resentments about things that were said…thankfully, so time is usually a very pleasant thing to help with this particular thing. (Not talking about folks who enjoy holding onto, and nurse their resentments, but that is a whole different kettle of fish.)

Luckily, on the most part, we all have choice on our side, and in the end you can, naturally, just chose to ignore whichever hurt was caused because you “understand” the why of it, and shoulder on as if nothing happened…when you feel that a relationship (in any shape or form) is worth that. And in most cases they are, aren’t they? That is how “forgive and forget” got into being after all.

Well…On to other things. I do hate it when I get distraction by such thoughts as above. I much rather be far more superficial and babble about the weather…which is cold, in case you’re wondering. Winter is here, and we have been scraping ice off our windshields quite a few times. We’ve had more snow, cold nights when the radiator didn’t seem to be doing any good (I gotta say I’m extremely happy with my down-filled blanket. It’s light, fluffy, warm and doesn’t make me sweat like a pig the way the synthetics do) and clear blue skies that didn’t allow any heat to linger outside. Luckily I haven’t minded all that much. Work is of course always warm (to the point of being ridiculously hot) so that helps, I guess. Seriously, there are days that I have to crawl under those wooden sauna benches (hands and knees work, folks, while it’s soaking wet) when I’m literally gushing sweat. Work like this does smother any inclination of ever going to a sauna for the fun of it. I sweat more than enough on a daily basis, thank you very much. Hah.

Cooking: Well, we’re eating healthily again, thankfully. No more frequent visits to cafeterias and pizza joints because you’re disinclined to go home (just when you actually feel like it, which is about once a week, haha) and on my free days I take the opportunity to experiment a little. Like today I made Italian style oat patties again, got the recipe sorted out better now, and will post it on the cooking blog one of these days. Also have a very good white cabbage recipe to share with y’all. It is particularly good for folks who are not all that keen on cabbage…but then, also for folks who are. *wink*

No baking, I fear. I don’t have an oven yet, but I’m working on it. I have some ideas in my head I want to try, and determined to get some volunteers to try the dishes on. Hehe.

Writing: Not as much as the last time I did the blog, but some, so it is a matter of, steady as it goes. I do like the characters so far, they are starting to grow on me…in particular the hero, who for me is a returned character from a previous story. He was so funny then, that I had to write about him again, this time giving him his happy ending despite the horrible things that happened to him in “A taste of life”. He’s going to have a time of it, I assure you, but in the end it will all be worth it.

As for my apartment. Except for a couple things (including the oven) I’m pretty much done there, making me very comfortable…if somewhat regretful that I’m done with the decorating already. *sigh* I am just too impatient. I work myself ragged getting it done, and then I’m sorry when it is…but then, I shouldn’t be, considering I have better things to do than decorating my apartment. Finishing a book. Going to the fitness club (don’t swoon, but I only went once this month!). Writing down recipes. Returning emails from friends. Prepping my guestroom for a friend who is going to spend a night. Thinking of what to cook for cousin Ed and Tenant who are going to visit at the end of the week. So many things to do, and so little time to do it in.

Been having very vivid dreams the past week or so, which annoys me a little. Sleep is supposed to be restive, and since, on the overall, I’m getting too little of it already, I rather it not be riddled with confusing dreams. Yesterday I was so friggin’ tired after 6 hours at work that I was actually nauseous. Thankfully I could correct that problem today (have my day off, YAY!) by sleep in until 8:30, getting a whopping 10 hours of sleep. It was marvelous, despite being sore as heck when I woke up. I’m just not used to lying down that long. Hah.

Heard from my pilot pen buddy at last. He’s doing well, despite having some adjustment problems being back in the States after many years of being abroad. Also, he doesn’t like the town he’s stationed in at the moment, poor boy. I’m going to try to write a bit more often, maybe get his mind off things. Nothing like someone else’s yapping to keep your mind off your own troubles, right?

As for big brother…he’s enjoying his own space, too, I’m thinking. He is actually taking his time contemplating his own decoration, getting some paintings that make me look at them and think: Hmmm, so that’s your taste? To which he responds as in: I liked the colors, without seeming to care about the actual picture. Ah well, not my problem. Did find a rather nice big coconut fiber rug to cover the majority of his dirty floor. His apartment had bad carpet (previous owners made a mess of the white-ish floor to floor stuff) and a nice red rug between his couches. He’s still working on it, though, so it will be nice to see what he’ll finish up with. He does seem to really like rattan, so once we have to move and join our furniture again, we’ll probably end up with a lot of that. Hah. We’ll also have to put stuff in storage if we end up at one place again, too. Haha. Ah well, we’ll see how that goes.

Slowly getting to know our neighbors…strange experience to live between seniors like this. Some nice elderly ladies, and a gentleman next door who lost his wife just four weeks ago. Very sad. Turns out that folks have been dying rather frequently here (conspiracy theories, you suppose?) in the three weeks before our arrival 5 died, I kid you not. Admittedly they are old, but that’s a bit much, I think. Although, a friend of mine who works with the elderly, says that it happens a lot in cold winters, despite central heating. Old folks will pass at a faster rate.

I’ll keep you posted on that, considering I do not much like the idea of people dropping dead around me.

Well, this is it for today. Gotta get started on other stuff, including catching up on my mail. Y’all have a good one, you hear?!

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!