Inspiration...

That's what I'm hoping for on this chilly Monday morning. Yes, the week is about to start again and we must get ready for all the inevitable events to take place, starting today with the visit of the domestic help. Oh, hurray! She'll be here this afternoon and that will give me time to clean my desk and put away the clean dishes and scrub the sink and also the toilet bowl with the toilet brush that I've been pointedly told needs replacing. Hrmph...I've not been to the store yet to do this and don't know when I will. It's hard to get out when you're basically a recluse.

Tyke and I went for our walk this morning and for an April day it was cold outside. The sky was overcast and there was a cold wind blowing. You wouldn't think this was springtime, well yes, springtime in the Netherlands, of course. I don't see any happy flowers blooming to cheer up the place, or I must be blind. I think there should be daffodils out now and I don't seem to see any, but maybe I live a sheltered life and I'm not in the right places. I haven't seen any tulips yet either.

My psychiatrist called me this morning and officially took me off the welbutrin and increased my effexor just a bit and that should be it. I should be on the dose now that is going to sustain me and I certainly hope that this is the case, because I don't want to take any more than this. Now I am taking half of what I used to take and I think that is just perfect and an acceptable amount. And, of course, I'm not taking the other extra antidepressant anymore, so that is only good news. Less is more. I don't know if that applies in this case, but lets run with it. I do know that this afternoon I feel good and I haven't had the welbutrin and I did have a double dose of effexor. Maybe that is just all in my mind and wishful thinking (suggestive thinking). Either way, I feel good and that's the way I like it.

The domestic help is here now dusting the living room, actually doing more than that as she's also doing the woodwork, which is more than I would do if I were cleaning the place. She's a hard worker. She cleans things the Dutch way and I clean things the French way, that's what we say here, and guess which way is best? The French did leave their influence here when they ruled the country in the late 18th century. Yes, every once in a while we get run over by a foreign power. It's been a while now, thank goodness. Not long enough to forget, though.

I will have to take Tyke for a walk when she gets ready to vacuum. Tyke won't mind that one bit. He's all for walks, as many as possible and he'll drag you all over the place. All 11 kilos of him. He's a strong dog with powerful legs. I really have to pull hard to get him to go in my direction. It's a real tug of war. This morning he managed to drag me all over the field to the other side, because he was on the trail of something. That reminds me that yesterday we saw a little chihuahua and Tyke wanted to play with it, but the poor animal took a flying leap every time Tyke got close. It was very scared and barked in a high pitched voice. It was kind of cute, but I wouldn't want a dog that was so scared, though. That's why I like Tyke, he's got guts, even when confronted with a big Newfoundlander.

Well, I have to end this now. I have to hang up the laundry to dry and put the dry laundry away. I do have to look a little industrious. I can't sit here like the lady of the house and only do leisurely things.

P.S. I take back everything I said about the flowers. I just took Tyke for a walk in a different neighborhood and I saw all sorts of flowers, including daffodils and tulips and lots of other flowers that I don't know the names of.

Have a great day,

Ciao

Nora.