Really and truly...

I am now really and truly awake and better able to write a post than I was early this morning, although I don't do badly then considering the early hour. It wasn't anything important that I wrote, but then a lot of times I just babble anyway and nothing much is lost by not reading it, except that I stated that Tyke might be a cockapoo. The more I consider that option, the more I come to believe in it and I wish they had just written that in his passport instead. Maybe they did a lot of wishful thinking, ignoring all the short, curly hair. I've had him for 2 months now and there is no way that he is a long haired American cocker spaniel.

My niece celebrates her birthday today, she is now 17 years old. I still have to go and buy her present, but I know what I want to get her. My grandson's birthday is on the 17th and on the 16th is my son's birthday, which is always a tough day that I'm mentally preparing myself for now. I don't let the day sneak up on me, because experience has shown that this is a bad idea. When I say that I'm mentally preparing myself for it, I have no idea what exactly I mean by that, other than that I am aware ahead of time that the day is coming up and that I'm ready for emotional turmoil.

I've been out with Tyke twice now and we met a 7 month old Labrador who very much wanted to play with him, much to Tyke's delight, and the owner was an American, so I got to speak some English too with my Dutch accent which even I can hear now. I hear myself talk funny and try not to, but it can't be helped. If I were in the States for a few weeks, though, I would be speaking English like a regular American in no time. Right, I can make that claim, because it won't be tested any time soon. I won't have to be sardined into an airplane for a while, much to my relief.

Besides taking a nap this morning, I took one in the afternoon too, on the sofa in the sunlight. It was most pleasant and I slept for 2 hours. Tyke manages to stay out of trouble during that whole time. I think he is past his demolition days and can now be trusted with books on the bookcase. I love taking naps, but I really need them too, because I stop functioning well if I don't take them. I think that is because of my medicines and I think it is a side effect, but one I can easily live with. As long as I don't have to perform at a job all day, there is no problem. I would get into trouble if I had a job to go to and steady hours to work. I don't know how well I would handle that and what it would do to my general moods. Being "on" all the time would be hard without regular breaks. I think it would exhaust me to have to perform constantly and be up to par all the time.

I have to wash Tyke with a warm soapy wash cloth. He really need a trim and a bath, but I have to co-ordinate the appointment for that with my sister, who often works during the week. I figure I can make him look and smell good with a quick wash and then brush him. So, I'm off to do that now.

Have a nice evening and I hope you've all had a nice day, or are still having it.

Ciao,

Nora

An early day...

I started of this day remarkably early, I think I was up a little bit after 4 am. That is, of course, because I slept most of the afternoon and evening on the sofa, and by the time early morning came along, I was all done sleeping.

I didn't mind one bit, because I was wide awake and so were the cats and they were ready to eat, so I fed them first and they acted like hey never had any food before. I had a hard time emptying the pouches into their dishes, because their heads got in the way, making everything rather messy.

At the sound of chomping down cats, Jesker decided to wake up and come and investigate and decided that he needed something to eat also, so he got a Bonzo bone and then had to be let out for a piddle.

In the meantime, I had made my mug of coffee and was looking forward to drinking it and having some quiet time reading my emails.Of course, I had to do some extensive petting of the dog first, because he does need all his loving first thing in the morning. That's how we bond together. We have our rituals every day.

I spend a long enough time reading and answering emails and then decided to go and have a good look in my closet and decide which clothes I was going to wear today. I was torn between dressing my age and looking sporty, or dressing younger and looking a little bit spunkier. That meant that I changed clothes an hour after I got initially dressed, because I changed my mind and went for the spunkier look. The one with the mini skirt and the leggings. That's also the one that allows me to get on and off my bike easier.

With plenty of time to spare, I went to creative therapy and entered the smoking den with a cup of coffee. Luckily, there were only two people there, so the air was not too polluted. I was without a lighter again and had brought a box of matches that worked very badly and one in three didn't light and had to be tossed away. I buy new, expensive lighters that work 2 weeks and then give up the ghost. I'm losing my faith in the manufacturing process of gadgets.

Soon enough it was time to go to the studio and work on my silly doodle that everyone seems to like so much, and I'm really only making it because I didn't know what to sculpt. It's just a silly doodle, with silly birds on it. I have finished it today out of sheer stubbornness and because it was there and I didn't want to leave it undone.

The thing is, that while you're working on it, you can have entertaining conversations with the other people around you and so I did. And let me tell you something, the men like a good chat as well as the women do. They don't really stop talking the whole session and they discuss everything under the sun, just like women do, if not more.

I ate 6 cookies and they were all good. Two were shortbread and four were gingerbread.

When I got home, I was greeted by Jesker and Gandhi and tried to pay equal attention to both, although Jesker tries to hog his. I had a big glass of juice and a cigarette and called my older sister and talked to her for a while, but she was very busy with customers. Then I took Jesker for a walk and the sun was shining and it was nice if you stayed out of the wind that was blowing.

At 2 pm I went to my sister's house where my niece was with her husband and her daughter, because they are staying in a cabin in the Kempen in Belgium right across the border from here. I had not seen them for a couple of years and my niece cried from the emotion of seeing me again, which I thought was very heartrending.My grandniece had become as tall as I am and very grown up.

We had a nice afternoon reminiscing and laughing and looking at old pictures and telling old jokes. You do realize you share a lot of history together.

We sat in the garden that is surrounded by hedges, so we were out of the wind and in whatever sunshine there was, although a few rainclouds passed to the right and to the left of us and we felt some sprinkles, but nothing could deter us from sitting outside.

And now I'm home again, full of apple pie and pieces of goat cheese and other unidentifiable snack food. The goat cheese was soft and smooth and I'll have to buy some off it on my next shopping expedition. That makes Brie and Camembert and goat cheese that I have to look for.

Now I'm going to put my pajamas on and get comfortable, because I've already taken my medications and I'm feeling pretty mellow. It's time to relax.

I hope you all have a splendid evening and may I direct you to this weblog for a special poem?

Ciao...