Subtle hints

Song of the day: “Superheroes” by the Script. Not a bad song, but annoying to have as an earworm when it is only the chorus repeating itself. *sigh*

So I’m going to pop in a short one, as one of the attempts to revive the blog a little. The way I figure, I’ll be able to do this thing more often if I don’t need to put loads and loads of info into it. So if I do it frequently, there will be less to say all at once…does that make sense? Not to me. Hah.

Well, what to say. Working still…no we haven’t been fired yet. Imagine that. In fact, right this moment big brother is doing over time…again. I have noticed, that when big brother gets tired, he becomes distracted. He hears even less than usual, is in fact far, far away in his head at most times, which makes our communication somewhat one-sided at times. Rather frustrating, if you must know, but you can hardly blame the guy. I mean, seriously, I’m no fun when I’m tired either: I get emotional, cry at the drop of a hat, and get so insecure that I start making mistakes. No fun. But such are the facts. Not much to do about it. Everybody needs to work with what they have.

Got a new watch. Mine died about two weeks ago, and I saw a reasonable one on sale, so I am no longer time-impaired, asking everyone who passes what time it is. I have time! Sorta anyway. Hah. I can hear you think, why not just check your phone. I did! But imagine what happens when you’re scrubbing out toilets with bleach and you reach with your gloves into your back pocket of your black sweats…yeah, not funny.

Big brother had a free day yesterday, and he used it hanging our kitchen cupboard. Yay! So when I got home, we could actually load up supplies from the floor, put them away and create enough space in the chaos called our room that I could vacuum the floor, I kid you not. Hallellujah! Now all we need is some extra closet space and we’re all set. Yay.

What else. Well, I made some soups these past few days. The weather here is rapidly turning into autumn, so sturdy soups are definitely the thing. Tomato and pumpkin so far, which both worked out well, and went down beautifully. I love sturdy soups. They warm you right up. The weather has been appalling, lately. Lots and lots of rain, with fierce winds picking up regularly. Already made our first spinach potato mash, which is genuine winter food for as far as I’m concerned. See loads of that coming in the winter…well varieties of it, anyway. Beet potato mash, carrot, kale, broccoli, leek, sauerkraut…the varieties are endless, which is a good thing, considering we wouldn’t want things to get boring.

Worked at the shop again, which is starting to get to be a regular thing. Not getting paid much, but I am able to get stuff either for free or very cheaply, so that counts. Got rugs, a bed couch, kitchen ware, bed linens, clothes, a fridge and so on. Might not fill the wallet, but it keeps it from draining too fast, doesn’t it?

There have been some issues with our old insurance back in Spain, the power bill, phones bills and so on. Strangely enough all the hassle we went through to arrange all that, didn’t work out, or a lot of them anyway, meaning that there were some hiccups in the payments after all. Don’t get it. They were changed at all locations (drove all over the place to get that done in fact) and yet it still went wrong. Stupid bureaucracy!

Another little hiccup was our driving license. Had to change it to a Dutch one, but no one warned us ahead of time that it would be taken away and that we would have to not only fill in a form at town hall, but also at the big traffic agency in a town some odd fifty miles from here, and that if they found anything wrong, we would actually lose our license. Grrr. So there we went, in a borrowed car, driving the distance and paying ANOTHER 30 bucks for a friggin paper that basically states under oath that you consider yourself fit to drive. Insane, I tell ya. They’re all friggin’ nuts. Anyway, a few days ago we got a letter stating that everything checked out and that we are now allowed to apply for our new licenses. Very reassuring, that, I was worried there for a moment. Already I could see all that money of our lessons and exams go down the drain.

What else…well, I found a very simple red quilt for my bed. It used to be a curtain, but the size is just right for the bed, and it matches those rugs I mentioned. Still not sure about the borrowed zebra print, though. It just isn’t me, I guess. I’m looking for something dark green to add to the mix up here in the attic. That should keep things interesting, or otherwise a bright yellow. Hah.

Visited with grandpa, of course. He’s looking very fragile lately. And not surprisingly the doctor has postponed his operation because he is too skinny and too week. He needs to do exercises and eat more, according to the experts so let’s hope that he’ll start listening to THEM at least. When it came from us, it was easy to dismiss, but maybe some person with a piece of paper declaring them expert will make a difference. I dropped some very subtle hints, in part to make him laugh (but also to get him thinking) that he take up ballroom dancing again, for seniors, or else sign up with some sort of fitness program. At first he was very negative about it, but he did understand that having to go somewhere to do such things might just help him to actually DO it, rather than sit down and dismiss yet another workout, the way he does now. He might not like it, but he needs it. Also, it will allow him to go out every now and then, meet different people. I am much afraid that he is isolating himself way too much.

Went to the woods today with land lady’s pups. Finding these little ones a homes is starting to look like an impossibility, and that while they already cost her a fortune. Don’t get it either. They’re adorable, and they’re vastly trainable. Am struggling not to like them too much, keeping my distance and such. Can’t handle more attachments at the moment. Missing my own dogs is hard enough; having another to miss at some point is not something I’m looking forward to.

Five in the afternoon. Yikes. I gotta start on dinner, maybe go out a little later still. Gotta work tomorrow, so I shouldn’t make it too late. And we do need to get to town hall once again. *sigh* The days are rushing past, that’s for sure.

Which wraps things up for now, I suppose. I’m outta here.

Overtime

Song of the day: Come on and get it” by John Newman. Don’t like the fella all that much, but the song is very nice indeed. Been hearing a lot of it at work...well, I did at the old location, now we don’t have music yet. *sigh*

Anyway, life has been incredibly busy. We’re still doing overtime at work, which is of course a good thing for our depleted savings, but not so nice for our depleted energy reserves, hah. Seriously, big brother did an 11 hour work day yesterday...but that’s a boring bit of news, ain’t it. Can’t just fill my blog talking about work, despite the fact that I’ve got some seriously nice colleagues that certainly deserves mentioning. We have an artist in our midst, an artist with sound, no less. He loves taping sounds at the sauna and using it for his art. The guy can actually tape the gurgling sound of a pool and then spend an evening listening to it. And he’s nice to boot, so all is well in that regard.

Another colleague is our land lady’s daughter, who actually helped us to get the job. There are some tense dynamics between her and her mother, but she’s a nice girl who makes me feel a tad old, I fear. Hah. Ah well, that’s my problem, I fear.

Then there is our Spanish colleague, who’s been working for the company for a while, but who speak even less Dutch than I do Spanish. Good for me to practice, though, in particular since I appear to remember more Spanish here than I did over there. She’s tiny, wiry and works hard and takes some serious pressure off us, so she too is a keeper.

Had another colleague, but she got a really good job in Amsterdam at a pharmaceutical company, in a corporate position, no less, so we’re definitely shorthanded. She was sweet, and it was a pleasure seeing her at the party the day before yesterday. Yes, I was at a party, don’t laugh. I dressed up and everything, and suffered through an evening of bad music, small talk (though it was nice to see colleagues outside of working hours for a change, all doled up and everything) reasonable, albeit non-vegetarian, food and drink.

What was I wearing? I hear you NOT wonder. Well, I was all in black, naturally. Thin, wide-legged yoga pants, topped by a long-sleeved, thigh-long black T with some serious cleavage, topped by a colorful turquoise and gold scarf that brought out the massive sparkly earrings. I know, interesting, right. *sigh* Anyway, it was fun to see some folks respond all confused at seeing me doled up. There were several of them who were watching me approach, wondering visibly: “I know her from somewhere, but I’m not sure where”. Can’t say I really blame them. I have a strict policy when it come to work outfits. Very non-gender specific and always with a baseball cap on my head, lest I lose my mind from floating hair. Grrrr. I’ll have you know that folk are already calling me cappy. Hah.

Met the boss’ wife, who was a bit stand-offish the first few hours, but who came lose near the end and seemed to enjoy herself better. They’re a somewhat odd couple, but fit well together.

But the party went well enough. Socialized, ate, drank and left at a decent 10 PM because the working day started again at six the next morning. You’d think I would have had enough sleep, but I didn’t. It was a full moon, and clearly that suddenly affects me. Grrr. Instead of passing out the way I have the past few weeks, I lay awake until about half an hour before it was time to go to work. It didn’t improve on my disposition the next day...well, depending on your point of view, I suppose. Apparently, when I’m tired, I start making silly, or sarcastic jokes to a point of annoyance...and I mean that literally. I got seriously annoyed with myself. Gave myself a serious berating through the hours of work, was determined to

Anyway. On the most part, I don’t dislike the job. It’s not easy, there’s enough movement to rival a fitness club, but I’ll take that as bonus for the time being, considering that we simply don’t have the time to sign up at a fitness club yet. We’re determined to, I tell ya, in particular since I’m noticing the lack of my kick boxing. I get more emotional when I don’t pound on that ball every now and then, and that isn’t good at all.

Did receive our 6 month contracts just this week, so money wise we don’t have to worry all that much for the time being. Until mid-winter, that is coming in at least.

Haven’t heard much from Spain, but for now I’m okay with that. Hearing a lot about the dogs just makes me sad, so I avoid that issue for the time being.

Though it is hard, I am trying to keep up cooking healthy meals, which is hard with our limited time for such frivolous things. On the overall we have a nutritious meal five days a week, so we’ll just have to contend ourselves with that for the time being. I have made veggie lentil bread twice now, which adds to healthy nutrition. Also I have eaten my beef twice now (good Sammie) with a load of peanut sauce, so I should be able to keep my levels up.

My leg has still been bugging me every now and then, in particular when we have long days. Once or twice I’ve had it bad enough that I could barely get up the stairs, and just wanted to sit down there at the bottom and cry my eyes out, but on the overall it is slowly getting better. There is still some swelling, and yes, a couple more varicose veins have appeared from under my skin, but not so that it really bugs me.

My feet...well, I haven’t felt like I’ve walked on glass for a while, so in that regard it has improved a lot. Still, lately, what with all the activity, it has played up again, so I’m going to have to start looking for good shoes soon.

Writing wise, I haven’t been able to do much lately, though I have started reading bits and pieces of “Gun” again. Need to get back into shwung in that regard, but time is just too limited at the moment. When we’re not at work there is sleep to catch up on, meals to prep and eat, groceries to be done and cleaning that is a never ending trial even for us up at our small attic. Hah.

Added to that, we still need to arrange things at town hall, one of them being changing our driving license into a Dutch one. Regretfully that is not as easy as we’d hoped for. Now we need to travel to Arnhem at some point (takes some arranging with work) to fill in some form that we are not yet able to do via the internet due to some errors in the system. *sigh*

Grandpa has had his talk with the doctor, and the reason he hasn’t been operated yet is because at the moment he is too weak and to skinny. So now he is meeting with a nutritionist and geriatrics doctor who’s going to help him overcome that particular obstacle. Now he is told to take regular exercises already, and tomorrow he’s going to hear about his diet.

Which bring us to the end of today’s blog. More has happened, naturally, but I’m not going to bore you with all the details. Just catching you up for now.

Gotta go.

Work and opportunities

Song of the day: “Foolish Games” by Jewel. Don’t ask me why, but I’ve been having it in my head off and on while working at the sauna. I’d completely forgotten about it, actually.

So, the weeks in flashes, then. It’s been rather busy, and I’m ashamed to say that I missed a day in my diary, so some of the dates have become messed up, with me being unable to figure out where I went wrong. Grrr.

First off, finally…FINALLY all the registration stuff has been dealt with, and I am a citizen once more without any errors this time (I hope, knock on wood and all that) . Took forever, didn’t it? Well, apparently it is harder than it seems. I mean seriously, how hard is it to sign someone in at townhal. Grrrrr. But anyway, none of that matters.

Work is now official, yay! Both big brother and I were hired at a local sauna as the early morning cleaning crew of a local sauna. Not a bad job, all things considered. In fact, we were pretty lucky in regard of being in the right place at the right time. I get a lot of people asking me whether I like the job, which I find odd, considering it is cleaning after all, but all in all it is vastly doable. At the moment we’re a little overworked, considering we were hired for four hours per morning. Instead we’re working 6 to 8 hours because the sauna is relocating at the end of the month, meaning that our time is split up between the two locations…the new one being incredibly grimy because it is incredibly new. Added to that, the work is a sweaty one. Nothing makes you sweat like a sauna. Hah. Nothing like a sauna showing you how dirty people can be, thank you very much. You get to think about where you drop stuff, in particular when you are in places where you know a cleaning crew cleans up after you. I am never going to drop another wrapper on the floor, I tell ya.

I’ve scrubbed toilets (eeewwwww, the stuff I’ve found. I can write horror stories!) vacuumed football fields of salons and lounges, mopped those same floors, washed windows, wiped horizontal surfaces, and cleaned out three hundred lockers (almost half of those that still need doing) and basically realized that for as far as I’m concerned I will never use a rag or vacuum cleaner again. Hah. Can’t, of course. It’s a good job, that pays well, so we’ll schlog our way through it. Big brother is lucky. He gets way more variety, because our manager is overworked and loves having a dude around who can help him out. Ha.

Still, we have a nice team working together. Land lady’s daughter works there, too, and a variety of fascinating people, ergo characters.

It is not easy work (in part because it is boring, to the point of mind numbing) but I keep reminding myself that it is not at all like the last job, and the atmosphere a lot less stressful. In fact, the mind numbing bit is rather good, I think, because it also means that I have less responsibility, which is good in my present state of mind. The moment something reeks of responsibility, I start to panic. Or when I hear disturbing news…

 Like the other day I got a semi-upset/angry message from Spain, about the dogs having dug up the bones of what we think was Jelly. Turns out the body wasn’t buried deep enough (poor big brother, what with him catching everything while I was incapacitated that last month, he did dig as deeply as usual, didn’t in fact think of it all that much until we heard of the latest problem), so the dogs had a field day, scattering bones all over the place. Distasteful, I know. Was a tad nauseous, and seriously upset  myself for several days, so I can only imagine what it was over there, but I had to not be in contact after that. Especially not since there were several more events that day that, all combined, had me seriously hyperventilate for five minutes, and my heart running up so high that I felt it in my ears, or something. Not good. Had land lady all worried, not to mention big brother, who agreed to field any messages for me from then on, just so it wouldn’t happen again. At least for now.

Am also still working at the thrift store. Very nice that, am getting along with my colleague well there, and thought pay is very, very minimal, I am able to get clothes for free, a bed couch and other things that I might need. I also like it. I still get to play with displays. Hah.

Had some serious trouble with my knees. Had to take it really easy for a while. I guess my legs were no longer used to all that biking, so the biking we did was a bit too much. The fact that I almost fell  while walking land lady’s dogs, didn’t help either. Had to catch myself on my right leg, because the left still wasn’t working properly yet, and popped my hip, and in effect dislocated something in my knee which made walking difficult for more than a week. Didn’t feel better until many days later when I was turning my bike around somewhere, that something snapped inside there (rather noisily) and the pain slowly started disappearing.

Have been doing our research in regard to where to get the cheapest food. I hate spending too much, and so far, that stuff we have found, makes it that at least we’re not spending more on food than we did in Spain.

Spend a nice Sunday on a river boat this past month. Our land lady’s ex lives on a boat and needed help putting new air tanks under the floating deck behind his boat. Big brother was still staying with grandpa the first bit of the day. So the others and I already started. First we had to find out a way to get the partly sunk deck up high enough to so we’d be able to take out some of the old tanks, or at least drain them with a small submersion pump. So, using any flotation device we could get our hands on, we actually managed to get the float up high enough by the time big brother arrived. In the end we managed to add two more tanks under the float, having wrecked a rubber boat, and Land lady nicely cold from going in the water twice to assist (she insisted, hah) with the placing. It was all very difficult, but we had fun doing it, mainly because stuff kept going wrong while we were busy. Hah. Seriously, I hadn’t laughed like that in months. Here Ruud (the tenant) and I were balancing precariously on a ladder stretched on floating metal bars, trying to submerge a tank into the water that didn’t want to go down no matter what we did…well, we did manage in the end, but I was sore for days after. Afterwards there was a barbeque, which was very casual and nice.

Went to visit grandpa, cousin Ed and Tenant several times, big brother more so than I, in fact (partly due to my knees), or grandpa’s state of mind, as much for his state of mind as to make sure that he didn’t spend too much time alone on the days that cousin Ed needs to work. He’s having a hard time of it, and we are worried. He is so tired so often, and his fingers and toes, and lips turn so very blue that it is scary to see. On the 18^th they are going to go through the procedure with him, and after that he’ll have to wait a little longer to hear about when his operation will be. It is getting closer now.

Oh you don’t know yet, but I’ve been to Finland last week. Yes I was. I can hear you think, what on earth was she doing in Finland, well, that’s a really long story, which I will try to put together for you in a short explanation. First off, remember how Pim, grandpa’s dog traveled to this really nice family in Finland? Well, turns out they took him to the vet for skin and ear problems, after which the doctor tested his blood for some unfathomable reason. Apparently he has ESBL, a bacteria of sorts, and the vet was refusing to treat him due to the fear of creating some super bug. Instead he wanted to put the dog down, which is downright ridiculous. We’ve been doing some reading, and there are so many people and animals who have it already that this was just insane. Luckily the people who had adopted him, didn’t want to see him dead and were happy to hear that I offered to fly over to come pick him up.

After talking with tenant, cousin Ed and grandpa, we all agreed that he is going to try to take him after all, meaning that I was indeed going to fetch him. So within a week of hearing the dreadful news, I was on a plane, and arriving in Helsinki. Luckily E, a friend I still know from Spain, who lives in Finland, had offered to let me stay at her place during my two day stay, where I was kindly offered the use of her couch.

Helsinki, and Finland in general is definitely a strange place for me. Very foreign, the atmosphere not at all like I am familiar with, but it was absolutely beautiful. The nature was absolutely unbelievable. So much green. Gorgeous. I arrived late, so I only saw Helsinki by night. It was Friday, so it was bustling with activity. And the next day we went to the meeting place where the woman was going to bring Pim. Was a very emotional moment. At first, upon seeing me, he was merely friendly in greeting before going right back to the lady. He was so different. Then, at a certain point we were face to face, at which point he licked my face, and suddenly he recognized me and started hopping around, all excited, the way he used to be. Didn’t get to talk with the woman a lot. She was (and according to her, her family too) heart broken. They had been so fond of him, and in the week that had passed since I booked my ticket, she had (belatedly) looked up the bacteria and realized that the vet had definitely made it sound worse than it was. So I think she regretted it a little, but didn’t feel she could turn it back. I would have agreed to let him stay if she had told me they had changed their minds, but I guess she didn’t think that it was possible. So instead E and I took him with us in the car, and went out to explore the forests of Finland near the coast, in what used to be Russia.

Had a wonderful walk that afternoon, had lunch at a local pizza place to repay her for hosting me those two days. Again, the atmosphere was very different from all the countries I’d ever been. Odd how that works, eh?

Another nice bit is that recently I went into a lunchroom/catering company to see if they had any vacancies, and got to talking with the owner, who wasn’t looking for anyone, but invited me to send my CV anyway. I sent it right away of course. But didn’t hear back from him until many weeks later. In the letter he repeated that he wasn’t hiring, but that he is looking to expand in the catering area, and if I can create a spot for myself there, he would be interested in such an initiative. Hah. We shall have to see if I can put something together. It is a challenge, isn’t it?

And now, at the moment big brother are staying at the new place on our own. Land Lady is on a short vacation, so we’re house sitting and dog sitting. There is quite a bit to do, in particular since we’re also working…not today, today I’m free, free, freeeeeee!...sorry that just popped out, hah…but that is, thankfully, over at the end of the month after the grand opening. Did take the opportunity of today’s freedom to actually do some cleaning around the house and in our attic (got two nice red rugs for ten bucks, by the way) which are looking remarkably nice with land lady’s zebra rug…I know, I didn’t believe it myself until I saw it either. Hah

Also took the opportunity today to bake some lentil veggie bread, which was a big success, taste wise. Gawd, I needed some serious veggie bread.

Well, that’s it for today. I need to get in bed on time. Tomorrow we’ll go visit grandpa, which has been more than a week, and stuff get to him, so a little company is good. Won’t be able to stay long, in particular not because we can’t leave the dogs here for too long, but luckily we can use land lady’s car as long as we fuel up afterward. Gotta go.

Calming down at last

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 2^nd 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*