Early in the morning on a Sunday.

I have been up for a while taking advantage of the peace and quiet to read a few blogs, because I had gotten quite behind these past few days. I only left some comments, because there were just too many new posts and after a while I had to quit reading. My brain stopped taking it all in and you run out of amusing things to say in your comments. Or considerate and compassionate, whatever is called for. I ran out of it, anyway. You start to sound so mechanical and forced and not at all spontaneous anymore. Then you know it's time to quit.

I slept on the sofa, because my friend Joost is sleeping in my bed, and Toby decided to sleep on top of me all night. This forced me into an awkward position, with my right leg bent out of place, and that woke me up. I had a bit of a hard time pulling it back into place. I thought I was crippled for life.

Then I was so wide awake that I decided to get up and spend some time behind the computer, because these last few days I've not had time for that. I want to blog and visit Facebook and Six Sentences, but I never get around to all of them.There are not enough hours in the day and I don't have enough energy left over to do them all. I worry that old age is catching up with me. Most likely, though, I'm just not used to this pace of life anymore and I need to figure out a way to fit it all in.

Since Nouri is gone, it has gotten more quiet around here. You really notice that there is a cat missing, not that I mind. I think Toby and Gandhi are quite comfortable with it and aren't looking for her at all. Nouri was kind of a nervous presence and I think that's why it is so peaceful now. She was always a skittish, highly strung cat and that probably influenced the other cats too. Nouri was half Siamese and that gave her that temperament. I am sure she will do fine at the Exfactor's house where there is a big yard for her to roam around in.

Boy, Joost and I always have so much to discuss. We talk for hours about anything. That's what's so much fun about having him around. We exchange ideas and discuss world problems and talk about the most divergent subjects. I like to ask his opinions on things and then think about them and have a discussion about them. We're both socialists, so very often we are on the same wavelength, but we do have our little differences. Joost has a tremendously big heart and is especially caring and generous toward all people. He is such a good and gentle person. That's what I like about him.

Everybody you meet in life is a teacher. You learn something from everyone. Some people teach you more than others. I always like people who teach me to be grateful and humble and kind, because sometimes I forget to be those things.

I did manage, in the end, to get the apartment in a fairly good cleaned up state. I waited almost until the last minute and then got everything done. Of course, my neighbor showed up right in the middle of it and was planning on staying for more than three hours. I couldn't believe it. I helped her out of that dream pretty quickly.

An hour before Joost was to be here, I went grocery shopping and I bought so many things, that when I was loading up my bags, I thought I had too much and wasn't going to make it home. Somehow I found a place for everything and very wobbly got on my way and prayed that there would not be a lot of traffic. I made it home in one piece, somehow again, and made two trips to get all the groceries inside, which makes the Überhund think he deserves two treats. He makes enough noise to make you think I've been gone for days.

The cats were their usual curious selves and had to get into the shopping bag before it was empty. Somehow they always manage to get their head caught in the strap, which makes for an hilarious moment while I try and put away all the groceries. The dog barks at each item, because he thinks it's for him. All in all it's a regular circus. Me coming home with the groceries is a big event around here.

Joost brought me a bouquet of very soft pink tulips. They are very pretty and I have them sitting on my desk. I've decided that this is always the best place for a bouquet of flowers if it's not too big.

That's all my news for now. Well, I could tell you more, but I will do that some other time. I will tell you next time what Aims from Big Blue Barn West sent me. A big surprise!

Have a great day!


Ciao...