Tuesday Morning.

Yesterday morning at 8 o'clock, I was sitting on the sofa, watching the teletext news and waiting for it to be time to leave for my creative class, and a terrible tiredness fell over me and I started to fall asleep and I realized that more than anything I wanted to go back to bed and sleep some more, so that is what I did. I slept for another 3 hours and when I woke up I felt ever so much better.

I could tell that I needed to sleep some more, because I was starting to feel a little bit defeated and that is always a sign that I better go back to bed and not do anything else. If I don't get sleep when I need it, it affects my mood so much and that is one thing I don't want to happen. It did mean that I missed my creative class, but I figured that sleeping was more important at that time. I was right about that, because the rest of the day went smoothly.

The only thing I am having a problem with right now is doing the household. I am being very lax in it and I am leaving some jobs undone and just can't find the motivation to do them. I keep postponing jobs and promising myself that I will do them tomorrow and then I still don't do them. I suppose I don't care enough if they get done or not, otherwise I would put some effort into getting them done. I am so not a typical Dutch housewife.

I did do groceries yesterday and I am eking out the money that I have left until the 20th when I will get my welfare payment again. It's a challenge to go to the grocery store and buy what is absolutely necessary and not spend a penny more. There is a sport in that and I am not complaining, because I'm still better off than other people who have nothing. I count my blessings every day and I did have the added expense of the new glasses, which are not covered by my health insurance, believe it or not.

I do like a challenge when one comes my way and I can be a penny pincher just as well as the next guy and, even though I like to buy pretty things, I can withstand the allurement and close my eyes to them and walk away from something very attractive, even when it is a very good deal. I'm lucky in that I've found some shops where I can get decent clothes and accessories for a good price, because I certainly don't need to shop in the expensive clothing stores which abound here and which the town is famous for.

So far I have gotten 4 Christmas cards and yesterday I sent out 5 more and I think I need to buy another box of cards and some more stamps, because cards are coming in from people that I had forgotten. So, you see that despite myself, I am getting in some sort of Christmas mood anyway. I do enjoy sending the cards and receiving them, especially when people have gotten my surname right. That's a real big one! Some of the cards are very pretty and I enjoy looking at them. I am not at all a Christian and the purpose of the season is lost to me, but I appreciate the little rituals that come with it.

Today I get to see my SPN and I am so happy that I see her once a week, because she is one of the steady things in my week that I always look forward to. I feel very grounded when I have been there. We have tried to make our appointments every two or three weeks, but it has always been necessary to go back to once a week. I suppose it is not possible yet for me to do without her for a greater length of time. I have an enormous amount of trust in her and I like discussing my thoughts and actions with her. She always gives me good feedback.

I also have to go to the Obesitas Nurse Specialist to get weighed and discuss if my gastric band is going to be filled some more. I have to go to the hospital for this appointment and it is late in the afternoon, so it will be dark when I get home. I very often take the bus, but today I am going to ride my bike over. It's really not that far, but I always like the luxury of riding in the bus, which delivers me right in front of the hospital. Now that I write this down, I may change my mind and take the bus anyway, so I won't have to ride my bike in the dark.

The cats surprised me. I bought a box of cheaper cat food yesterday and I honestly thought they might not like it very much, but they are eating as heartily as the more expensive one. I don't understand this, because they are usually so finicky. I suppose if they get hungry enough, they'll eat what's being served. The Überhund is being finicky and I have to take away his bowl of food regularly, because it is just sitting there. I have two kinds of dog food, but I don't know what he wants anymore. Today I am going to serve some of one of them with some broth and see if he likes it that way. I have a huge bag of it and I hope he will like it. What he wants, is to live on treats.

I was going to show you my collages, but the photographs I took this morning didn't turn out well. I took them with and without flash, but I'm not happy with them, so I want to redo those in daylight. So I owe you those.

Well, that's it for this morning. I hope you all have a great day. It's foggy and 2 degrees Celsius here. What I wouldn't do for a bit of sunshine.

Ciao...