It's not too bad outside...

I just walked Tyke in the not too cold evening air. It just started to get dark outside and I noticed that the days are lasting longer all the time. The wind had stopped blowing and it was pleasant out there. I hardly needed my scarf, but wore it anyway just in case. There were birds chirping their evening song and, although I can't identify them, it sounded pretty anyway. It made you feel like spring was on its way, especially since it was relatively warm and you could almost imagine everything shrouded in a green haze. 

Tyke is sound asleep by my feet now. He always thinks he needs a little nap after his walk. He will come around again in the shortest amount of time because he'll want to play or bother Gandhi. She's taking advantage of the peace and quiet by taking a nap herself on the back of the armchair behind me. That's where the yellow fleece blanket lies folded and she's lying on top of it. Luckily, she's stopped shedding all that hair, so I'm not in danger of getting cat hair all over me when I lie down under it on the sofa for a nap. 

The domestic help has been here and cleaned up the place. It's a load off my mind. I had been keeping up with the chores as well as possible, but everything needed a good cleaning. Because of the holidays, it had not been done in eleven days, so it was about time that somebody showed up. 

I've decided not to watch any television tonight. I watched the news about the earthquake and the tsunami in Japan all day long and listened to it on the radio too. I think I got an overdose of it now. I will wait until tomorrow to hear the rest. No, I won't. I'll hear it tonight when I go to bed and listen to the news bulletins on the radio. I'm sure they'll pay lots of attention to it. It isn't every day that an 8.9 earthquake hits with a tsunami as a result. 

Tyke has woken up and wants all sorts of attention. He doesn't really know what he wants, he just wants attention. He's already had a belly rub as part of the bonding ritual. I'll play ball with him next. 

Have a good night.

Ciao,

Nora

No sleep yet...

I tried to sleep, but found it impossible yet and just laid in my bed and stared at the ceiling. I spent an awful lot of time petting Tyke who had settled down on the bed beside me. He was a very happy dog. He chased Gandhi away every time she tried to get on the bed too. She finally managed to make herself small and lie down beside my pillows. Where there's a will, there's a way...

Now that I'm up, of course, I'm yawning something awful and I'm in danger of dislocating my jaw. I have to be very careful of how far I open my mouth. I will have to go back to bed sooner than I thought, but I want to postpone the moment until I'm falling off my chair from sleepiness or until my head hits the keyboard. Teardrops from yawning are running down my face. 

I can spend enough time sleeping because my personal helper isn't going to be here until 11 o'clock tomorrow morning. That gives me ample time to snooze, even if I have to do it in shifts, which doubtlessly I will. I have yet to sleep through the night in one fell swoop. I have asked my psychiatrist to come up with a solution and he promised to try and come up with one by our next appointment, which is next week. 

The Exfactor was here this morning to do the groceries and I have milk in the refrigerator again, much to my relief. I had been using that awful powdered creamer in my coffee and it was just plain bad and took the pleasure out of drinking coffee. I can also drink tall glasses of cold milk again. You don't know what a pleasure that is when you've had to do without for a day. Gandhi also appreciates her bowls of milk. 

I had asked the Exfactor to buy me some ready made salads and he bought me celery salad, crab salad and chicken salad. I can eat little portions of them. He also bought me some creamed soups. Wild mushroom and asparagus. Those ought to be nutritious and filling. Everything I eat has to be ready made or able to be heated up in the microwave. I don't have the proper pots and pans to heat up and cook things in. I also don't want to dirty the stove (the cooker).

It's time to go to bed now. I'm almost falling off my chair. Hopefully I will sleep well now, maybe until morning. We will see. 

It's been a pleasue.

Ciao,

Nora

 

On a cold Friday...

For a change it's a not so beautiful day today. It is overcast and cold and I've had to turn up the thermostat after airing the apartment earlier. We were promised sunshine later this afternoon, but the cloud cover is still in place and it looks like it's not going anywhere soon. That's too bad, because things always look much more cheerful when the sun is shining. Actually, right now it looks like it's going to rain and, although I would not mind that so much, I would prefer some brightness in the living room and not have to sit here with the lights on.

The domestic help has been here and has cleaned the place and it smells of cleaning products in here. She's even done the dishes, which I'm grateful for. There weren't that many and I'm surprised she did them. I don't dirty that many dishes by myself and have the tendency to use the same ones a few times, at least the glasses and the cups. I don't like doing the dishes and wish to spare anyone the job of doing them. There's nothing worse then seeing a stack of dishes on the kitchen counter, no matter how neatly they're arranged.

My newly ordered denim skirt got here this afternoon and after the domestic help left, I got the chance to try it on. It fits perfectly and I was just guessing as to the size. It's a mini skirt, but not too short, so I don't look ridiculous. It fits very comfortably, so it's nice to wear. I've got it on right now and I have lots of things to wear with it.  I have to dress warmly today, because when I walked Tyke, I needed two layers of clothes under my black leather jacket. I do have to keep in mind that it's only February and that it's normal for it to be chilly. 

I slept until 11 o'clock this morning. I woke up a few times before that, but all those times I wasn't ready to get up. I couldn't quite face the day until I was completely done sleeping. When I got up, I had two leisurely cups of coffee before I got dressed and did my chores. There's nothing nicer than sitting in my armchair taking the time to get my head together. I feel it slowly happening and after the second cup I'm ready to tackle anything. I do play ball with Tyke while I sit there, but it doesn't require much effort. All I have to do is aim right so I don't hit the furniture. 

The afternoon is going by quickly. It is time to finish doing my chores before the news comes on. I did a big load of laundry that I have to hang up to dry and I want to change my bed so going to sleep tonight will be extra nice. 

Have a good evening, everyone!

Ciao,

Nora

Sleeping must be very overrated...

Yesterday I did the chores that I had not been looking forward to and some of which I had been putting off for a while. By putting them off, I had made them much bigger in my head than they actually were, so when I finally got around to doing them, I was finished with them much quicker than I had anticipated. They turned out to be relatively simple and I was well prepared and organized, because I had been agonizing over them long enough.

I must let this be a lesson to me, because it always turns out to be the case that nothing is as bad as it seems and I am always quite capable and in charge. I don't know where I get the idea that I won't be able to deal with something. That whatever needs to get done will be too difficult. By pushing it ahead of me, I only make it worse until I give myself a good kick in the pants and get it done. 

I have two chores to do today and I know I will get them done, because they are very simple and straight forward and I can envision myself doing them. I can see the beginning and the end of them. They are manageable. They don't resemble anything remotely chaotic, which I would dislike very much. My home life is actually very orderly and one in which I can function very well. 

It is due to the good care of the domestic helps that the apartment is always in such good order. I'm able to keep it that way myself by being very clean and organized. I don't like it when things get beyond my control as the odd thing sometimes does. I'm not a typical Dutch housewife, though, and if it weren't for the domestic helps, things would get out of order quickly and I would not be able to set them to rights by myself. 

Because I finished the book in my sidebar, I chose a new book to read from my many unread books on the bookcase. It is Melissa Bank's The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing. I don't actually know if I'm at the appropriate age to be reading a book like this, because it seems to be more about the struggles of younger women, but it sounds very interesting and it got good reviews. I'm ready for something completely different and anything that has some psychological depth is welcome. The novel I read before Laurie's book was completely lacking in it. I think that was Where the Heart Is by Billy Letts.

I put the new book down on the table beside my armchair along with my reading glasses, but then never got around to reading it, because I got distracted by other things and the day went by quickly. I hope to start reading it today and, as a matter of fact, am going to make a point of it. I will set apart some time to, because my mind wants some other stimulation besides watching television. It's been engrossed in watching the developing revolution in Egypt and the international politics of my own government and that of the European Community. 

Tyke seems to know when it is weekend and I have time to spare and he demands his share of it. That means he wants to play with me and have extra cuddles. He finds all sorts of ways to get my attention and I have to give him points for innovation. You can see him sitting there thinking about it. We play ball a lot and if I ignore him long enough, he does drop it by my feet so I can pick it up and throw it again. We also wrestle over rawhide bones, but I always let him win. He's a little dog and I'm a big person. I can stand to lose over a rawhide bone. 

I think I will go back to bed now and sleep a few more hours. It's not nearly time to start the day. Besides, it's Sunday and there's no rush. The neighborhood will stay quiet for a long time. 

Have a nice day today.

Ciao,

Nora

Slow time...

Although I really slept well last night, I took a four hour nap on the sofa this afternoon, which seems pretty incredible to me too. I can't believe I slept for such a long time and needed a cup of coffee immediately when I woke up. 

It did me a world of good and I felt very satisfied and sated afterwards and in a good mood. I must have really needed that sleep, which goes to show you that I tire easily from doing the most ordinary chores and that I don't always get enough sleep at night and need to catch up on that every once in a while. 

The first thing I did this morning was go to the patio and clean up Tyke's poop that had been covered up by the snow that now had melted and revealed everything. It was quite a unpleasant job and I had been putting it of. 

After washing my hands thoroughly under hot water, I took the laundry off the drying rack and folded it and put it away and took the next load out of the washing machine and hung it up to dry. 

This is one of the jobs I like to do and I think it has to do with my sense of order. I like hanging up things neatly and putting them away, knowing that each thing has its place. When I get frustrated, I know it is because my closet is not in order and I need to clean it up.

Next, I got the mail out of the mailbox and was rewarded with my new health insurance policy which I had been waiting for. I had taken care of changes on my policy on line, but because there had been problems with the website, I didn't know if the changes had gone through properly and I was expecting all sorts of problems. I had called the help desk of the insurance company, but their computers were giving them problems and I only got a vague promise that it would be taken care of. 

It's nice when something does work out right. This had been bothering me very much and was one of the reasons why I had been so nervous, because I anticipated all sorts of difficulties which I would not be able to put to rights and which would end up costing me precious money. I guess I do have to trust in the competence of other people and happy endings. Let this be a lesson to me. 

I stripped my bed with Tyke's generous help and put clean sheets on it, which makes me look forward to getting into it tonight. I think Tyke looks forward to it also. I put the used sheets in the washing machine and am hoping to add some other laundry to it. I have to go around the apartment and look for some.

I cleaned up the kitchen, which always needs cleaning, and picked up the leaves of the ivy plant in the living room. I had given it too much water and nearly drowned it, and as a result it lost more than half of its leaves over a period of time. I am waiting for the soil to dry out and won't water it for a long time now. 

That's one thing I always do wrong. I always over water my plants. I'm good with outside plants, but I don't do well with indoor plants. I don't have a green thumb for them at all and don't have any feeling for it whatsoever. I've already nearly killed another plant and I'm waiting for it to come back to life. I think I should have fake plants, though I would probably try to water them too in a subconscious attempt to kill them.

That's when I succumbed to my need to take a nap and I turned up the thermostat and laid down on the sofa to sleep for a while, which turned into a long while. It took up most of my afternoon. 

Oh, now Tyke wants to play with me and the ball and I'm supposed to get it away from him. That's an endless exercise in frustration unless he decides to kindly let go. I'm just going to ignore him until he drops it beside me. I think that's the best method. 

Have a good evening!

Ciao,

Nora

 

Under the weather...

I'm sitting here in the late afternoon with my second cup of coffee. I am enjoying it very much. It is hot and tasty and freshly made. While I am writing this. I also have to throw the rubber ball with the bell in it for Tyke, so I'm doing double duty.  It was stuck beneath the sofa, so I had to get it out from underneath first with the help of the African walking stick. It is his favorite ball now and he completely ignores his tennis balls. 

Today we got a pulling rope with a latex tennis ball attached to it in the mail. You can all guess what happened to the tennis ball in the shortest amount of time, right? He was tearing that apart within no time. I had to cut the rest of it off before he swallowed all of it. Luckily, we still have the pulling rope and it seems to be pretty sturdy. I think it will last a while. Fingers crossed. 

I may or may not be coming down with something. I have just a bit of a sore throat and a cough and a headache and I was especially tired today and spent a lot of it sleeping. As a matter of fact, I'm still in my bathrobe and pajamas and have no desire to get dressed. I have sore muscles and I'm tired. I have been around a lot of people who were or are sick, so it wouldn't surprise me if I picked something up. I rarely get ill, though, and I bet I'll be over this in no time. I'm a pretty sturdy woman. I'll take some aspirin and be as good as new in the shortest amount of time. 

It snowed a little bit this morning, but we're not expecting any more now. Tomorrow it's going to rain and on Sunday as well. Things will turn into a nice slush and be drabby. After we had all that snow yesterday that coated all the ice, I'm almost sorry to see it go, but it will be nice to have clean streets and sidewalks for as long as it lasts. Who knows what the winter will bring us? I hope this was it for now, but I'm afraid to be hopeful. I remember last year very well with the seemingly endless cold and snow. 

I was playing ball with Tyke, but he just rediscovered his pulling rope, so he's forgotten all about me and the ball. That means I can sit and concentrate on what I'm doing. I don't know if it will make any difference as to the quality of my writing. I think the distraction may have been good for me. At least it prevented me from daydreaming. I must not fall into reveries now... 

Well, he let me play tug of war with him very reluctantly. It's his rope and I better remember that. 

These are the boots I ordered with the profiled soles. They are from Scapino, but they look like Ugg boots and they are lined also. I expect them to be pretty comfortable. I hope they withstand the test on the ice, that's the most important thing, but if they are warm also, then that would be good too. I don't have any warm boots. I can already see myself walking in these like a Laplander, ready to go get my reindeer.  I wish my sheepskin coat matched them in color, but I have no such luck, drats. Now I must save up my money to buy such a coat.

That puts me on a whole new train of thought. Those of winter coats and how to get the best one and when to buy one. I must put some thought into this. Mmm...

I do get ideas into my head that get stuck there and that are hard to get rid of once they do. I do fixate on things. I will be looking for the coat I want everywhere now. As if I can afford it, right? I would probably have to steal it and I'm too honest for that. I couldn't get away with it. Darn.

Have a good evening!

Ciao,

Nora

On a Sunday afternoon...

Even though I slept for a long, long time, I had to make a pot of coffee, because I was getting so sleepy that I was getting ready to lie down on the sofa for a nap. I didn't want to spend a whole afternoon sleeping, though, therefor I made the coffee and I just drank a cup of it. It is so strong, that it is waking me up already, although I won't jubilate too soon and better wait for what the second cup will do to me. 

I don't know why I thought I could do without a cup of coffee when I woke up. I actually did without for more than three hours and in that time I also let Tyke out. Am I a silly woman, or what? I didn't even have a glass of juice to compensate, nor a glass of milk. I sat here with my cigarettes and acted like I didn't know what I was doing. Maybe I didn't for a while. I have been know for my absentia.

Now Tyke is expecting me to play with him and the ball and his rawhide bone at the same time that I type this, so I am slightly distracted. I throw the ball and he brings it back, but he won't let go of it. I'm supposed to get it away from him. He finally lets go of it if he gets too frustrated with me. That's when I ignore him, tired as I get from trying to get it away from him without success. It's basically an exercise in mutual frustration. 

When we went out for a walk, we met the Yorkshire Terrier puppy and I let Tyke off the leash so he could play with it. He had a very good time running around with it. Tyke towers above that puppy, but he thinks he's still one himself, so it's lots of fun watching them play. That little puppy is fast and runs underneath Tyke and jumps around him like a rubber ball bouncing. It's good for Tyke to try to keep up. It wears him out. 

It's a colder and overcast day today. It's already on the dark side in the living room and I really ought to have the lights turned on. I'm sitting by the light of the desk lamp. There are kids playing outside, so that does create some liveliness. Otherwise it would be a dull day. I am doing alright today, though, compared to yesterday when I was not doing well at all. Yesterday was also my daughter's birthday, so I'm sure that contributed to my feeling bad. 

Oh, it has just started to rain outside, that must be why it is so dark in here. It is because of the rain clouds. We are nice and cozy inside here and don't have a thing to worry about. I don't mind the rain as long as I'm inside and I don't have to go out in it. It's a different matter altogether if I have to go out on my bike. It's better to walk places under my umbrella if it is at all possible.

Yesterday afternoon the sun was shining, but I was not in the proper mood to enjoy it. As far as I'm concerned it was a wasted day and not one worth repeating. Days like that are so unnecessary and I don't think I learn anything from them either. They are a complete waste of effort and emotion. 

Thank goodness there are Sundays on which you can recuperate from Saturdays. You can sleep a lot, which is usually what you need, and you can take your time and do whatever is right for you at the moment. 

I like to be a bit unstructured, because it's the only day on which I allow myself that. I sleep more, as if I have to catch up on that. It's the one day on which I don't worry all too much about how I'm dressed. I take a break from that. I just wear whatever is lying in my rattan chair. I don't worry about my hair and how it's fixed and if it's good enough. In other words, it's a real day off. 

The coffee has completely cleared my mind of cobwebs and I'm not sleepy anymore, although I am looking forward to going to sleep tonight. That's just the coziness of getting into my pajamas and under the duvet. A person can look forward to that very much. I still have the windows open at the top and it's still not very cold in here. It's 46F outside, but for some reason the apartment stays warmer. 

I hope you're all having a nice Sunday. 

Ciao,
Nora

Mondays that don't hurt...

It's already afternoon and the day seems to have flown by. No doubt that has to do with the fact that I slept until 9 o'clock in the morning. I don't know how I managed that feat either, but I thought it was worthwhile mentioning. I couldn't believe it when I looked at the alarm clock and saw what time it was. I had been up twice during the nigh, and those had both been opportunities to stay up, but I withstood the temptation and went back to sleep, rightly so, it turned out. It seems I do have enough sleep in me at night to stay in bed and take advantage of it instead of getting up and artificially arousing myself with numerous cups of coffee, only to collapse again in the morning.

I took my time getting started and had two cups of coffee while I sat behind the computer and smoked cigarettes and answered emails. To me that's the only way to start the day. Reach out an touch someone. I must get my brain in working condition right away and coffee and cigarettes help me get there. I does feel good when all the synapses fire correctly. There's nothing like some mental activity to get me in the right mood. I would be a talker if there were someone pleasant to talk to. 

The first thing I do, though, when I wake up, is abundantly greet Tyke who sits beside the bed waiting for me to open my eyes. I make a big deal out of saying good morning to him as if I haven't seen him for a long time and not just a while ago when I let him outside to do a piddle. We have our bonding ritual with much petting and hugging and that really starts the day of right. I wouldn't want to have to do without it. He is very friendly and good natured first thing in the morning, but then he really always is. 

The hard part is waiting for the coffee to get done, even though it really doesn't take all that long. It just seems like it because I want it done instantly, which makes me sure that I want a Senseo machine again. Once I have my cup of coffee, I am truly satisfied and think that all is well with the world and for a while I am the most contented person around. I don't think there is anybody on the block more happy. They can all make the claim, but I won't believe them. 

So, I sat in my bathrobe and wasted some time behind the computer and waited for my personal helper to show up. When I knew it was time for her to arrive, I shut the computer off and emptied the overflowing ashtray. She does smoke too, so I like to present her with an empty ashtray. Once she got here, I jumped in the shower and got squeaky clean and dressed in a clean set of clothes. I sprayed all sorts of delicious things on myself and Tyke had a very good sniff of me when I surfaced again. 

It does feel good to be a reborn person, if only on the outside. It makes you feel as if you've gone through a little metamorphosis, because there is such a big difference between you in your bathrobe and you in your nice clothes, all dressed up. I had very shiny clean hair and for a change I got it in the proper do all at once and sprayed hairspray on it to get it to stay that way. Even I liked the way I looked. And I'm a critic. 

We walked Tyke in the cold foggy morning air, with the sidewalks all covered in yellow leaves, and it was very pretty and I liked the way the air felt on my face. It was a very typical autumn day and perfect for the first day in November. The timing of the weather couldn't have been better, but it would have been very nice to have been out in the countryside to really appreciate it and the beautifully colored trees and the fields that are fallow now. You do appreciate this time of year when you realize what's up ahead and you want to take advantage of it all the more. 

We had coffee and a long chat when we got home and the domestic help showed up before the personal helper had even gone. I had the apartment full of help. I do so appreciate it and feel very lucky. The quality of my life has improved tremendously. When the personal helper left, the Exfactor showed up and had a cup of coffee also and told me about how he had had to work yesterday when the weather had been so beautiful. It had been unseasonably warm and the sun had been out in a bright blue sky in the afternoon.

As a matter of fact, when I had coffee with my sister, we sat outside the front of her house in the sunshine without our jackets on and it felt like a summer day. We stayed out there until the sun disappeared behind some houses and it cooled off to remind us that it was autumn after all. 

The Exfactor took my list of groceries and went to the supermarket on my bike with the large shopping bag and my bank card. The domestic help finished cleaning the apartment and when she was done, the Exfactor returned fully laden. The fun part is always finding room for all the groceries while Gandhi and Tyke try to poke their noses into everything and generally try to get in the way as much as possible, until I distract them with food, which is what it is all about. 

I had to change Tyke's dog food, as he ate the stuff I had for him very reluctantly. Luckily, he liked the new kind very much and ate it within the shortest amount of time. Gandhi also like it very much and I gave her a small portion on a little dish on the kitchen counter. She didn't realize this was her lucky day and that there are many lucky days to come. She does owe her luck to Tyke's generosity and his willingness to share. 

The Exfactor had another cup of coffee and then was off to do his other errands and I was finally alone with the animals again. Tyke's gone to sleep at my feet and Gandhi, who was locked into the room with a vacuuming domestic help, is now sound asleep in the armchair. She was very upset about the vacuum cleaner and walked out of the room very indignant when we rescued her. The poor cat does have a tough life here, what with all these people coming and going and wanting to be friends with her and saying how pretty and lovable she is. 

Oh, by the way, there was some doubt in my sister's eyes when I presented her with the cardigan that didn't fit me, but once she put it on, and saw that it fit and how nice it was, she was happy with it. So, I've done a good deed. 

Have a nice day all of you!

Ciao,
Nora

What I did with my Sunday...

I finally did manage to get to bed some time early in the morning after having been up all night amusing myself behind the computer and thinking I would never go to sleep. I need not have despaired, though, because when I was finally in bed I slept like a rock in a hidden meadow.

I do vaguely remember getting up once to let Tyke out, but I didn't really wake up properly to do this. With half closed eyes I made it to the back door and back to my bed and went on sleeping until some time in the afternoon. Tyke slept on the bed with me and was very cooperative. I couldn't ask for a better dog.

I made myself a half a pot of coffee when I got up and soon was completely back to my senses. I felt pretty darn good and ready to enjoy what was left of the day. So was Tyke and we wrestled and played together and I made him speak. He thought it was funny that I barked and he did bark in return, but sometimes he gazes at me with a puzzled look and his head held to one side as if he doesn't quite believe what he's seeing. I do so appreciate a dog with a sense of humor. I do have to get my timing right.

It's been raining all afternoon, but you all know how much I like that and I think it's very cozy. It makes me feel very sheltered and safe inside the apartment. It is dark in here, but that's why I have the light in the corner of the living room turned on. Tyke is sitting in front of the window enjoying the view. It's now become a habit that he sits there and it's another way for him to amuse himself. He does very often have to share his space with Gandhi as they both like to sit there.

I haven't gotten out of my pajamas yet and think I won't because it has now become evening and I think I won't be going anywhere. I do very much appreciate a lazy Sunday like this and I'm glad I got to sleep so late. Your brain functions better on a happier plane when it's had enough sleep and you can't fool your body.

I'm not going to turn on my Bright Light Energy Lamp, because I think I've got quite enough energy. I'm afraid it will make me hyper if I do. I think it's too late in the day for it too. It's best turned on in the morning when starting the day. I think I used it too late in the day yesterday and that's why I made it such a late night. I just couldn't come down out of the clouds and settle down to a lower plane.

I still have to look through the top shelf of my closet and see what's up there. It is a hard shelf to get to, because everything tumbles down once you start pulling things out. I also keep my winter sweaters there and it's a cramped space as a result. Maybe I'll find things there that I've forgotten about, but it will definitely be the last place where such things can be. I will have covered every conceivable place where clothes can hide. The fact that I've lost weight makes it interesting to find things, because I never know it those clothes are going to fit me or if I have to put them in the bag with lost causes, so I do have mixed feelings about that.

I still haven't figured out a proper way to store my shoes and my boots. I have the ones I don't wear in a big box and I should go through them and discard the ones I won't ever wear again. The ones I do wear are put away wherever I think they are safe from Tyke. That's wherever I can fit them and that's not very organized. I do know where they all are, but I think I need a better system. I think the most important thing is to get rid of the old ones. I'm sure I can make the recycle shop happy with the ones that are still in good shape. That will be a chore that I will have to apply myself to one of these days. I will plan it in my head first and then carry it out. The same way I finally cleaned up the closet.

It looks like autumn outside and it feels like it too. It is only 13C and even inside it has gotten quite a bit cooler. That's nice, because it has been too warm in here all summer. It's finally gotten down to 21C. It's stormy outside and there's actually a draft in here, which makes it nice and cool. I did have to put on my bathrobe to keep from getting too chilled. There's nothing better than hanging around in your bathrobe. That used to be called cocooning. I think it's gone out of fashion. It's a leftover from the 80's, I think. Having been a yuppie I should know these things. Or rather, having been the wife of one.

I've got to clean the place up a bit for the domestic help tomorrow in case I don't wake up in time in the morning. I can just see myself sleep late again. It was such a nice experience today. I can highly recommend it. I have some chores to do and I will try and do them now. There's no sense in wasting time and I am wide awake again. I have to tire myself out a bit.

Have a nice evening. It's raining buckets here.

Ciao,
Nora

In the morning...

I think I've slept sufficiently enough and now I'm ready to start the day. I woke up before my alarm clock went off, but I'm fit as a fiddle and wide awake. I'm drinking my first cup of coffee and will have another one shortly. It sure tastes good this morning as coffee does some days. Maybe that's because I just opened a new pack and the coffee is fresh. I inhaled it deeply when I did.

I'm going to see my SPN this morning after failing to see her last week because I slept through the time for the appointment. I will make no such error today. I'm looking forward to seeing her because I've been feeling very sane lately and it will be good to talk to her under those circumstances. Not that I normally feel that crazy, you mustn't get that impression, but lately I know what I'm doing very well. I feel very normal. It's nice to have your head screwed on straight and to know it.

Tyke's tennis ball was temporarily lost, but I just retrieved it from underneath the sofa and needless to say, he's bouncing it around the living room now and pretty soon I'll have to get involved in the game also. Right now he's managing without me. As long as he's amused for a while, I'm happy.

It's cold out today and it's going to rain again. Right now it is only 15C and it's even cool inside, which is about time. I'm wearing my bathrobe because I'm sitting in a draft. I would have been thrilled about that last month, but now my feet are cold. I'm not going to close the windows, though. I won't do that until frost threatens and that's a few months away yet. Knock on wood.

For the past 15 minutes I've hardly been able to type because Tyke has involved me in his game and I've also had to retrieve the tennis ball from hard to get to places numerous times. I think he displaces them on purpose. He comes to me with a sorrowful looking face and leads me to the spot where the ball is stuck. He's so happy when I find it.

I've got to stop writing because I have to get the show on the road. I have to get showered and dressed and take Tyke for a walk. It's not raining yet, so I have to take the opportunity while I can.

I hope you'll all have a good day.

Ciao,
Nora

To bed, to bed...

I'm supposed to be in bed already. As a matter of fact, I was there until a little while ago after I had already taken my sleep medication, but then I decided that I was still wide awake and I got up again. Apparently, it wasn't cozy enough in bed, although I can hear the sound of the rain and I have clean sheets.

I think I was just not really ready to go to sleep and the animals were distracting me too much with their shenanigans. They kept climbing on top of me making it impossible for me to read my book properly. Tyke was especially breathing down my neck. He does have a way of making his presence known.

All afternoon and evening we have been playing with the tennis ball. That means I have to try and get it away from him and toss it through the apartment without breaking anything and he chases it and comes back to me holding it tantalizingly close to my hands, but just without reach. I have to trick him into letting it go so I can toss it away again.

He never tires of this game and has finally figured out that he has to drop the ball if he wants to get my attention so I will pick it up and throw it. He barks at me to alert me to it. Sometimes the ball disappears underneath the sofa and I have to use the African walking stick to get it out from underneath.

It's been raining nonstop all day. It hasn't let up once. Sometimes it rains a little more and sometimes a little less, but it always rains. It's supposed to rain all night until tomorrow morning and then some. We may get a break later in the day. It's very cozy inside, but I have been unable to walk Tyke. He has been out back for little periods of time and I hope it's been enough to take the pressure off, but he's not begging to go outside. He's been watching the rain steadily fall from the heavens and he doesn't like to get wet.

Besides playing with Tyke, I've been watching sports on television. I've had my share of sports now as I've watched them all afternoon and evening. I even watched football and I watched games I didn't care about. I also watched the European Championships Swimming and that was mildly interesting as we did win some medals, but no gold. Just bronze and silver ones. There was also athletics on and that interested me more having been the mother of the Californian State Champion. I do like athletics having done it myself also when I was young and I'd like to come back as an athlete again in my next life. One without exercise induced asthma which I suffered from.

I also laid on the sofa and watched the rain fall down and felt lucky that I was inside. When it rains, though, I feel very sheltered inside and I don't feel at all depressed or anything. That's probably because I don't have to go out in it. That would change my attitude quite a bit, I'm sure. I would be awful to have to ride my bike in it and I don't have rain gear. My sister had to go to work and had to ride her bike through it and got soaked, but she was very cheerful about it. I would have been a grump most likely.

All the time that I'm typing this, I'm still playing with Tyke and the ball. He can't get enough of it, but I'm going to bed now. It's time to read my book and get comfortable under the duvet. I'm going to make myself a glass of warm milk to help me sleep.

Have a good night.

Ciao,

Nora

The second cup of coffee...

I don't really drink that much coffee. I've been up for two hours and am just now drinking my second cup. I get so busy doing other things, that very often I end up drinking my coffee cold and I have to throw out the last bit of it. So this myth about me being a great coffee drinker has to end right now. I love coffee, but don't actually drink that much of it. I usually drink milk and juice after I've had my coffee in the morning and just once in a while have a cup in the evening. I'm always afraid that it will keep me up. It does make me awfully cheerful if I need cheering up, so it is good for that, but lately I've been in a good enough mood without having to resort to it. If I'm depressed, I drink more of it. I use it as a mood altering drug and try to artificially fix my humor with it. It works for a while anyway, so I drink more cups of it. It helps me think straight, but I don't drink pots of it. There is a limit to how much coffee I drink and I mustn't exaggerate it.

It rained during the night and when I let Tyke out for a piddle he came in fast enough again. He hadn't quite counted on getting wet. It was very pleasant to stand by the back door and listen to the rain fall down. It was a little cold too and I was not dressed for it. At least it has cooled off a little bit in the apartment, but some of the summer heat is still trapped in here regardless of the top windows being open. The sun does shine on the living room windows every afternoon and heats it up in here again. It never gets below 23C, day or night, even when it's cooler outside.

I had a very quiet day yesterday, which is befitting for a Saturday, a day on which nothing special usually happens. It is a day off, just like Sunday, and as a rule I have nothing big planned. I watched a lot of cultural programs on television, as that seems to be the day for it. I spent a lot of time bonding with Tyke. He does need his share of attention and likes nothing better than to be petted and cuddled and played with. He lets me know if he suffers from a shortage of this.

I went to bed early with my book and read for a long while before I fell asleep. I have clean sheets on the bed so it is an extra pleasure to be there. The mattress is very good and I never wake up with a backache, which I sometimes did in the old bed. I'm sure it's a great healer for my back when I have problems like I did just recently. Those have cleared up as if by magic, but I'm sure it's also because I'm limiting my time behind the computer. I have it off all day and don't feel compelled to turn it on and check every email and write yet another blog post. I'm not obsessively drawn to it right now. I find it isn't necessary at all to have the computer on all day. I just waste energy if I do and that's not even just metaphorically speaking.

Today I will do laundry and clean up the kitchen. I'm always cleaning up the kitchen and doing laundry. As soon as I have one load, I turn on the washing machine. As soon as I have enough dishes, I'm doing those too. The kitchen counter top is not that big and things do get in the way. I would love to have a kitchen twice the size instead of this little cubbyhole. It really is a one person space. A cat and a dog are just allowable if they don't move around too much.

It is raining again and it sounds very cozy when you're sitting inside nice and dry. Rain is the nicest sound to fall asleep to, which is what I'm going to do shortly. I'm more than ready to seek some more sleep in my hopefully warm bed. More rain is predicted for today, so it will be a day spent indoors staying as dry as possible.

Have a nice day. Enjoy your Sunday.

Ciao,
Nora

At Dawn...

I'm very cozily sitting here with my cup of coffee after having been mightily entertained by Tyke and his tennis ball, which I had to roll across the living room numerous times. Of course, we couldn't make too much noise for fear of waking up the neighbors, but we had a good time anyway as silently as we could. I didn't bounce the ball off the furniture too much.

Yesterday evening I took the big African walking stick and swept it under the sofa and all sorts of things reappeared that Tyke could play with and he's had a good time ever since. I had not realized that so much had disappeared under the sofa. He found a good rawhide bone to chew on too, so he's intermittently been busy with that. I'll be regularly sweeping under the sofa with that big African walking stick now.

Yesterday was a nice enough day and overall I felt content enough for no reason in particular except for the fact that I was alive and well. Sometimes you just count a blessing as simple as that, especially if you've just watched the daytime news and seen the calamities on it. It does make you feel very safe and privileged and you're thankful for the country you live in. Still.

I always like Fridays, because that's when my hardest working domestic help gets here, who takes special pride in really getting the apartment spotless and I'm always so grateful to her for doing that. She always looks at me with a great deal of satisfaction when she's done and it is a wonderful start to the weekend for me. I completely relax in the afternoons, knowing that everything is in order and that all I have to do is pick up well after myself.

I dress with care every day, as if I'm going to meet someone important, and I do it purely for myself so that I will feel good. I decorate myself with something extra if I'm in the mood. A necklace or a scarf. Usually I'm in the mood. I check myself in two mirrors. The bathroom mirror and the long mirror of the closet door. Both of them show me in kindly light and hide my imperfections and that is fine with me. I don't need to be closely scrutinized by myself. I pretend the world sees me in the same way.

My sister gave me two English language books. They're both literature and a little hard to get through, she found. That means they're going to be a challenge and I like challenges. I like it when I have to pay attention to a novel and really have to make an effort. When I'm not just reading for relaxation, but also to use my head and figure out harder to understand concepts. The books are "A Woman of Salt" by Mary Potter Engel and "Unconfessed"by Yvette Christiansë.

At the rate I'm amassing books, I'm not going to run out of anything to read for a while. I've still got about 40 unread novels. I'll read them in due time if I don't get side tracked by something else. I'm really into thrillers right now and there is the lure of another Inspector Linley. I'm perfectly willing to be completely surprised by their outcomes. I read them purely for pleasure and I don't necessarily have to know ahead of time who the perpetrator is, although it's nice to speculate.

I'm going to eat breakfast and go back to bed for awhile. I just stood by the back door and I'm cold now. I'm looking forward to getting under the duvet where it is nice and warm. It's the best way to start a Saturday.

Have a good day.

Ciao,
Nora

Enough sleep...

After I walked Tyke this morning, I decided to go back to bed immediately. I was still tired and I wasn't in the mood to do my chores, feeling unable to face them as sleepy as I was. I climbed into my bed and read for a little while and fell sound asleep. I didn't wake up until 1:30 pm.

I was surprised that I had slept for such a long time, but I felt great when I got up, though totally not in the mood to do anything. I turned on the computer and read blogs and comments and wiled away the time. I didn't in the least bit feel bad about not doing any of the chores I was supposed to do. I was the one who had told myself to do them and I would do them when I was good and ready.

I did take Tyke for another walk and he was happy for it. You can't neglect your dog, no matter how lazy you feel. I wonder if it is laziness I feel or just plain exhaustion, considering I slept so much yesterday too. It could be mental tiredness, because I do suffer from that quickly and what seems like an ordinary day to most people can be very tiring to me and I may be putting in more effort than seems apparent.

Likewise when I say I'm very normal and sane. When I say that, I'm probably less sane than I claim to be. It's when I'm less sure that I'm more sane. I think a lot of times I'm not normal at all and I don't know how many of you feel that you are. It's all very well to go around and claim that you are, but it's another thing to actually be it. I think on the crazy scale I'm more often closer to crazy than I am normal. It's exhausting to try and appear normal all the time and to constantly have to check if you are and pass the test.

I think I really ought not to give a darn and just be as I am and not worry about how I come across. That's very brave of me to say, but I wonder if I can do it? Can anybody do that? It would be a world full of eccentrics. I suppose social pressure forces us to adapt to a certain extent. I just wish it wasn't so much. I would feel a lot more freedom if I didn't have an internal judge guarding over me constantly who checked if I behaved socially acceptable. Do you have someone watching over you like that too?

I'm drinking my third glass of milk. I have an unquenchable thirst. I think I will make myself a cup of coffee next and make sure I save enough milk until the next shopping trip. I always have to count the containers of milk and the days left until the Exfactor goes shopping again. I usually make it, but not if I drink it like water from an oasis.

Sometimes, when Tyke is stretched out on the floor, it takes me a while to figure out what's the top of him and what's the bottom. I just had to take a good hard look to find out. I couldn't figure out where his head was, because his eyes were closed and there were all these ears and legs sticking out that looked alike. He is cute once you figure it out. He looks like a big stuffed animal that you want to cuddle with.

I'm teaching him to fetch now and he's slowly catching on. We're doing it with an old pair of rolled up socks, because he likes them a lot. We also found a tennis ball today on our walk and brought that home. He's been playing with that and hasn't demolished it yet. I'll use that to play fetch with next. It will bounce really well. Hopefully I won't break anything in the apartment.

There, I've completely wasted the day. I haven't done anything useful but write some posts and play with the dog and the living room and the kitchen are a reflection of that. Tomorrow is another day. Hopefully I won't waste half of it with sleeping. I do want to get some things done. I really need to be over this wish to sleep now. My bed can't become that much of an attraction, nor can the sofa for that matter. They are both to be stayed away from.

I hope you all have a good evening. The weather was nice here today. It wasn't too warm and a pleasant breeze was blowing. It should always be like this.

Ciao,
Nora

The good life...

I hardly get around to the blogging business anymore since I seem to have decided now to sleep during the bight as well when I normally sit behind the computer. Not only that, I get up for a little while in the morning and then go back to bed anyway, if I don't have an appointment and it is a free day like today was. That is after I walk Tyke and I've taken my medicines and had my coffee. I really sleep well in the morning and have the most interesting dreams. I'm done sleeping when I crave a cup of coffee and a cigarette and I want to sit on the sofa with the blinds open and watch the world go by.

I've had an incredibly uninteresting day and I hope I have a few more like it. Not that I want to dwell in boredom, but I like to be lazy sometimes and it has finally given me a chance to catch up with my blog reading in which I was very much behind. It's also given me a chance to spend some time with Tyke and to try and teach him to shake paws. He does it spontaneously, but now I want him to do it on command. It needs a little bit of work.

He's going to be operated on his eye on Wednesday. He has another swollen tear gland, this time in his left eye, and it has not responded to the antibiotic ointment, as I doubted it would. It doesn't look good and we saw the vet last night. Tyke still likes the vet despite his first operation. He doesn't carry a grudge at all, but was happy to see him.

I'm now getting the same domestic help on Fridays instead of a different one all the time, who doesn't know what to do and needs half arsed instructions from me, who doesn't know what to tell them either. The woman who came here yesterday, made an assessment of the situation and went to work and will be back all the time picking up where she left off. She thoroughly cleaned what I thought was a clean kitchen and some doors in the apartment. She's a real go-getter. I used to get part timers who in real life were students working for the extra money and who didn't really have an eye for cleanliness and had to be told what to do, which was hard for me, because I didn't know.

I have an appointment to get my hair cut on Wednesday. I was messing around with my hair and some hairspray, trying to get it to stay in place, and realized it should be a little shorter to be more manageable. This longer hair is okay if I just want it to hang straight down, but if I want any kind of shape into it, it has to be cut a bit shorter than it is now and it does make me look more cheerful if it's done up a bit. I actually look very boring and old with my hair any other way.

I've been going to bed shamefully early and then lie awake for a few hours reading my book very cozily under the duvet with a glass of milk and something to eat. I'm still reading the Provence book, but somebody recommended two books by Frances Mayes. "Under The Tuscan Sun"and the sequel "Bella Tuscany." I ordered them both and the first book arrived in the mail today. I can't wait to get started on it, because I read it a long time ago and enjoyed it very much then. I haven't read the sequel, so I'm looking forward to that. I've put some other books by her on my wish list and will hopefully be able to get those soon.

I haven't got any new reading glasses yet and am having a bit of a problem reading without them and sometimes have to guess at a word or look for a long time before I can decipher it. I can only read books in large enough print, so I really need to get those glasses. My regular glasses don't help, because those are for distance.

I'm going to get my pajamas on and sit and vegetate for a while in front of the TV and then go to bed. I'm all excited about that. I can't wait to fall asleep after I've read awhile.

Ciao,
Nora

Ascension Day

This is just a post to let you all know that I'm alive and breathing, but that I've decided not to spend so much time behind the computer anymore. Blogging was taking up too much of my time and it had nearly become an obsession and a lot of my spare time went into it. I always had the computer on stand by and every free moment I sat down and did something related to my blog and I thought it had gotten out of hand.

Tyke is the recipient of my free time now, as I spend much more time with him and it's paying off, as he's bothering the cat much less and begging for attention less, because he's getting enough of it now. I take him for more and longer walks and spend more time cuddling with him and just sitting with him and being there, instead of sitting behind the computer. He appreciates that very much. Gandhi also gets more opportunities to sit on my lap, so I make her happy as well.

The photo at the top is of the field where I take Tyke for his shorter walks. I took it a few years ago at the beginning of Spring. I'm taking him there for his last walk tonight, while it is still barely light outside. The days are getting longer, although the weather has been dreary and cold.

Tyke has a little infection in his eye that I'm treating with an antibiotic ointment and it seems to be helping already. He's pretty good about letting me apply it. He only protests a little bit. Maybe he knows it's good for him.

The country has been in the grip of the disaster of the Lybian airline crash in which so many Dutch people died and which one 9 year old boy named Ruben survived. It's been quite shocking, to say the least. It happened one day before the 10 year memorial of the fireworks disaster in Enschede in which a whole neighborhood got wiped out and many people died. Flags are flying at half mast.

I hope you're all having a good day.

Ciao,

Nora

What to do when grouchy!

I woke up from a nap this evening at a little bit before 6 o'clock. I realized immediately that I had to call the pharmacy, because I had medicines there that I needed this weekend, but when I called there, they told me that the delivery boy had already left. They did say that I could come by and pick them up myself, because the pharmacist would be there until 6:15. Half asleep I got on my bike and rode it over there in the busy traffic, past the highway and across the busy road, ignoring the red pedestrian lights, which are not there for me. I got my medicines and rode my bike home, and when I got there, I realized how grouchy I really was and that I felt that my world was falling apart.

I took my 6 o'clock medicines and made myself a cup of coffee and after I had my coffee, I felt a lot better and saw the sun shine again. I was even able to take Tyke out for a walk, which I had not been able to do before. Poor Tyke, he is so dependent on my moods and has to have such patience. I had not been feeling all that great all day and it isn't until now, this evening, that I can say that I really feel that my mood has improved. It's been an exercise in futility all day long and I've slept a lot. As a matter of fact, the domestic help woke me up when I was sound asleep in bed. It was 12:45pm, so she was 45 minutes early, but still... It was a little bit embarrassing.

I took Tyke for a walk when she hoovered the apartment and tried to pay attention to all the flowers and blossoms in the gardens. Some people have beautiful things in their gardens and really make an artwork out of it. There's a hedge that's covered in perfect yellow flowers that I find very pretty. I'm afraid that my lack of botanical knowledge makes it all very frustrating, because all I can say is that something has very pretty flowers or blossoms or that they smell good, like the one bush I keep walking by that has white blossoms that have an overwhelming perfume. A lot of the trees are blossoming too and tiny little flowers lie at the base of them. I don't know the names of the trees.

Around 6 o'clock in the morning the birds start to sing and I can now distinguish between the different songs and can hear the birds answering each other. I don't know, though, what kind of birds they are. I just hear their separate songs. Each bird of the same species does have it's own variation of the same sort of song. The endings seem to differ and some end with a question mark. The problem is that I don't see the birds, but I would not be able to give them a name anyway, unless I had a bird identification book and the Exfactor has it. I'm sure if I lived in nature, it would be easier to discover these things. I would be confronted with them more and out of necessity I would find them out.

Tyke has claimed ownership to one of my old slippers and has a tremendous amount of fun with it. He nearly knocks himself unconscious slapping it around in his mouth. I was thinking of retrieving it, but it's such a comic sight, that I'm letting him keep it. Now we play tug of war over it and he pretends growls and I do the same and say, "It's my shoe!" Any time you say, "It's mine." you egg him on to get even more protective of what he has.

Well, for a change I'm going to bed early tonight. It may mean that I'll be up early too, but I'm bound to go back to bed again and sleep some more. I've still got my book to finish and I do look forward to crawling under the duvet. It will be nice and comfortable there and sleep is a great healer. It cures what ails you and then there is always coffee. I just must make sure I sleep enough in the morning, That's the pitfall.

Have a good evening everyone. Enjoy your hopefully good weather.

Ciao,

Nora

I was right...

I was right, now that I'm sufficiently well aligned with the sun and the moon and the stars and all the other objects in the great wide world and universe, and I did indeed take two Welbutrin tablets this morning, but I feel good and not at all like the sad little woman that I have been during the day and who couldn't find any joy in her life to wrap around herself for comfort.

What an amazing thing this is, and so unexpected too, because I was already dreading the effect of the first tablet and having to sit here feeling sad and downhearted and ending up having to go back to bed because of this effect of it. I certainly didn't think that I would sit here having a good time writing posts and reading blogs and leaving comments. I guess my psychiatrist was right and the one who perseveres wins. He apparently knew what he was talking about. I had to bite through the sour apple, as they say. That's different from tasting sour grapes or getting your just desserts.

I was ready to call it quits, I was so out of patience, but now I'm glad I didn't and that I listened to and obeyed the professionals. Obedience is not my strongest point usually. I have a tendency to be stubborn and want things my own way, because at any given moment I will be convinced that I'm right and it's hard to change my mind. But I know this about myself and try to take it into account when these sort of things become important and decisions have to be made. My stubbornness can make me shortsighted and I lose track of the bigger picture and the details that go into it. It's important that I pay attention and listen well.

I'm just now having my third cup of coffee of the day. I don't know if you could call it a mug. It's on the small side for what Americans would call a mug. My daughter brought me a mug from Starbucks once and it really qualified as a mug. Two people could have easily had their coffee from it together. If they liked each other a lot, like lovers do. Do you hear that song in your head? I can't imagine liking anyone else that much again. I would worry about his germs. Besides, you would have to like the same things in your coffee and people either like it black or with milk and sugar, never just with milk.

I once accidentally put sugar in my coffee and couldn't figure out why it tasted so bad. The sugar was from one of those paper tubes that also held the creamer. I had picked it up along with the creamer, thinking I had two creamers, because that's what I always put in. I didn't finish that coffee, it was impossible. Since I've stopped eating porridge, I have a bag and a half of sugar on the kitchen shelf that's not going anywhere fast, because I don't use it for anything else. The Exfactor takes it in his coffee and that is it.

I was growing chubby from the porridge with sugar, although I kept saying to myself that it was healthy food. Lord, I did fool myself. I have kilos of porridge to get rid off. Not that I'm lying awake about this at night. I like sleeping better. I don't worry about my weight. I am just me, however I am built. The essence of me doesn't change and my mental health is more important. That's what it's all about in the end. I do have to get my priorities straight, but I'm not going to eat that bag and a half of sugar.

Tyke is completely distracting me. He had two rawhide bones, but he wanted me to try and get the one he had in his mouth, which I did for a while, but then I got the one that was lying on the floor and said, "It is mine." He can't stand it when I say that, so he had to drop his bone and get the one I had. We went on and on like this for a while until he got sick of it and laid down and started chewing on the bone he had in his mouth and that was the end of the game. It will start again in a while, I just know it.

No, instead of that I let him out again and when we were on the field there was another American cocker who is almost 3 years old. It's a female and she came over and challenged Tyke and then ran away and acted bitchy whenever he got close and he likes her so much. He wants to play with her badly and she won't do it and snarls at him. I feel sorry for Tyke, because he needs another dog to play with, but so far we're not having any luck, except for the neighbors' dog and he's never out when we are and I don't know them very well. She doesn't seem to like me and avoids me if she can. He is very friendly and always ready for a chat. Strange, isn't it? (he likes pudgy women and she's lost a lot of weight)

Things to ponder over in my spare time. I try not to ponder too much and to put a stop to it if it gets out of hand. I have an attic in my head where I keep those things and it's not all that full really, just dusty. No cobwebs, though. It's a fairly clean and uncluttered attic with a view of the sea. I have a treasure chest too. That's for very special people. The jewels in my life.

I can postpone hitting the publish button or get it over and done with, because I really have nothing more to say, or I could sit here for another hour and add another chapter. I must figure out the pictures that should head the post. Why don't I just go do that now?

Have a good evening.

Ciao,
Nora

A rainy Friday...

It is fairly early in the morning still and it has rained already. I think it rained during the night too. I have the back door open and could hear the birds welcome the day. It smells good outside, like springtime should, but that could all be in my fruitful imagination, because it is that time of year. When you hear the birds sing like that, you automatically start thinking along those lines.

Tyke has been running in and out and thinks he is having great adventures. He comes in quite excited and then plops down to go to sleep. I think he is just chasing cats that can climb fences and frustrate him and maybe the occasional bird. Oh, he just came to get me. Apparently he can't poop end pee without me watching him. I'm so honored.

I slept very well last night. I climbed under the covers and was asleep within a minute. I slept for 8 hours and could have slept more, but I felt like getting up. There may be a nap later in the day, though, now that I know it doesn't interfere with my night rest and now that I have decent decaf to drink. Welbutrin is supposed to cause you insomnia, but that has not been my experience. What causes me insomnia is coffee.

I just had my breakfast of Brie and a glass of cold milk. I'm still drinking the milk. This morning I had lost 5.2 kg, that's about 11.5 lbs.

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I suddenly found myself so sleepy that I had to shut down the computer and go back to bed where I slept another 2 hours. I'm in the process of waking up now with another cup of coffee. I hope I'm successful, otherwise I'll have to go back to bed and it will be so boring for the dog, who's now looking out the window for people and dogs to bark at.

About the weight loss. I had said I would not weigh myself compulsively, but I find that I go on the scale almost every morning now. Just like I used to do when I was losing massive amounts of weight, so it is becoming a big deal to me and I want to keep track of it daily, so that I know I am losing weight and not unknowingly gaining any. Yeah right, it's becoming compulsive behavior, but I think it is very understandable and forgive myself for it. There are worse habits to have and I only have 12 kg to go. At this rate, it will take me 6 weeks. That's why I'm so excited.

Okay, I have sufficiently calmed down now and will write about something else. Tyke had found a book that had slipped under the bed and has torn it to pieces during the night. It is another fine mess for me to clean up. He had much fun chewing on the cover and spitting out the pieces. If he had hands, I would make him clean it up himself, but then again, he doesn't have the sense that God gave him either. He's more like a very inept small child that's just out of it's Pampers. Every time I think he's done destroying things, he finds something to tear apart. That's why I don't go to bed with a book and my reading glasses. I'll fall asleep with them in place and wake up to a disaster. If you'll remember, he's already destroyed one pair of reading glasses.

Now all I have to say is, "It's my monkey," and he grabs his monkey and keeps it just out of reach of me until I manage to grab it anyway and then we have a tug of war which I let him win. "How to amuse your dog and play other boring games with him. A handy guide book in 10 chapters, illustrated with very interesting photographs.Published by Reader's Digest."

Oh, I just found out that I have a choice of languages now to write in and have a spell check for. Well, that sure simplifies my life. Now I don't have to keep rereading the text for stupid mistakes. I can also point my mouse to an English word and it gives me the translation in Dutch, which is interesting and not always to my agreement, but then nobody asked me first. I think they should have.

Before, it would only spell check in Dutch and, of course, it was underlining every word and giving me Dutch words to put down instead. Now it's reading the text in American English. It gave me that option, so the dictionary must have installed itself anyway. They just assume you'll figure out all these things by yourself, which I did, quite by accident. Maybe I'm a dumb blond after all.

Well, it's time to do something else besides sit here and write posts, though what it could be I have no idea. Well yes, there are several options when I really think about it. None are really urgent, though, but not many things in my life are. They are things I ought to do.

Have a great day. It's still raining on and off here.

Ciao,
Nora

Tuesday morning.

It's really sad when you can't think of a better title for your blog post than that one, but that's all I can come up with for right now. I've just made my second cup of coffee and I'm hoping it will stimulate my brain into better action. I've been up for more than two hours, so I do expect some productivity, but the going is slow, although I have had 6.5 hours of sleep and that should be enough.

I managed to add another hour after I let Tyke out back to do his business, and Tyke did look quite bewildered when I got back into bed. He thought it was time to play and eat and do other interesting things, like kill his monkey that he already pulled one eye off. I'm always going to buy him stuffed animals and sturdy ones that were made for little kids and that are hard to pull apart. We were just playing with it and I was pretending it was my monkey and he became quite possessive of it and started to growl while his tail was wagging, because he thought it was wonderful that we were having a tug of war. He's lying on top of it now, so I won't be able to get to it. I'll leave him in that illusion. He does need to think that he can win from me sometimes, especially when it is about his toys and not about sponges stolen from a bucket.

Well, the second cup of coffee has sufficiently woken me up and I can function now, or maybe it was playing with Tyke that did it. I've taken another menopausal tablet, but it's too early to say anything sensible about it. I'll let you know in a week how it is working. I have them lying on the dining table, so I won't forget to take them. I don't want to take them with my other medicines, in case they interfere, but they are all natural ingredients, so it should be okay. I don't know, you always make these assumptions about things and you easily can be wrong, like I was about the vitamins and minerals capsules.

I've just realized that I haven't bought any French cheeses for a while and that I should really do that again. I like the Brie and the Camembert and I should buy a small supply of them. They keep well in the refrigerator and I can eat a little bit at the time. It doesn't take much to fill me after all. They are a good food source and speaking of that, I keep forgetting about the eggs that I've bought and need to eat. I need to put them in a different place in the refrigerator so I won't overlook them. Anything on the top shelf gets forgotten. I better start making a habit out of eating a scrambled egg on a regular basis. I will make one as soon as I've finished this.

I'm waiting for the Exfactor to get here so he can solve the mystery of the computer speakers. I hope he has the answer for them, because I really want to listen to music. After a silent winter, I am ready for some pleasant noise and my choice has fallen on Jazz. That's what I'm in the mood for and I've made a playlist with "Porgy and Bess" on it as interpreted by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. I've also got Sarah Vaughn and I can't wait to hear her sing "Summertime." I've got Ellington and Monk and Howlin' Wolf, although I don't know if he is strictly Jazz, I think he is more of the Blues. If anybody has any suggestions, then please let me know. I've put Nat King Cole under popular music, I don't know if by rights his music is Jazz. Any opinions on that?

Well, I've got to see a man about a horse as they say, but to me that could mean anything. I think it's a handy expression, although I think it's commonly used only by men. There must be a reason for that. Somebody will have to explain it to me.

Have a good day you all!

Ciao,
Nora