I've got my shoes...

...and I think that I will be wearing them a lot as long as I'm not wearing a dress on a regular basis. I don't seem to do that very much anymore hooked as I am on skinny jeans. I'll have to wait and see what the weather is going to do in the near future. If it is going to get any warmer and make it necessary for me to wear different clothes or if it's going to stay chilly and rainy like it has been.

Anyway, the walking shoes arrived and I put them on and they fit perfectly. Thank goodness that I'm such an average size by Dutch standards. Usually things fit me just fine. These shoes are great. It is like walking on air cushions. The only problem with them is that my feet do get very warm in them and my feet aren't used to being warm. They are usually on the cold side and that's more comfortable for me.

It may have to do with the fact that these shoes are weather proof and contain a special lining. This means they will be very nice to wear in the wintertime but I wonder how they will be when the weather is hot? I probably won't wear any socks. Maybe that will help.

On another subject, this depression I am fighting is a mean sun of a gun. I have to literally struggle it to the ground and arm wrestle it for position. This one is so evil that I can't give it any space and I don't want to give it any ground to move around on. I will defeat it and I'm not going to give it an inch. I will be more stubborn than it.

At least I got a good start to the day. I woke up early but the sun was already shining in a bright blue sky so the first few hours of my day were pleasant. The first thing I did when I got up was to open the curtains in the living room so I wouldn't have to turn on any lights. Things cheered up immediately and my first cup of coffee tasted good too. The dog slept late so I didn't have to take him out right away.

I can face the first few hours of the day. It's the hours between the morning and the evening that are the hardest. They are when I struggle and I have to try and get through them in the best possible way. Sometimes that is very difficult. Today the Exfactor and the domestic help were here so that helped some.

Now it's almost evening and the day is coming to an end. I am no longer discouraged but see the sense of being alive again for just a little while. It will last long enough until it's time to go to bed. I just imagine my soul standing up very straight and being very powerful and resilient. It's bending in the storm, not breaking. It has to be strong  and flexible enough to withstand any kind of force.

If there was ever a time to believe in myself, then this is it. I hope I have the faith to do that.

Ciao,
Irene

I'll not give it a thought...

The other day, when the Exfactor did the groceries for me, I forgot to have him buy the ground coffee and now I am almost out of it. Luckily, I still had some of the good brand of instant coffee left and I have been drinking that. It hasn't been as awful as you think. I make sure I get the water really hot before I spoon more than enough instant coffee in it and then add a generous amount of milk. 

This way I have an almost perfect cup of coffee and it doesn't taste bad at all. I don't make funny faces when I take the first sip and it doesn't make me shudder when I swallow it. I can actually say that I look forward to drinking it and that I sometimes even have a second cup, although the first cup usually suffices. I certainly make it strong enough and it carries a punch. 

I just had a cup and now I'm bright eyed and bushy tailed. I had to have some coffee because I was somewhat discombobulated by the unofficial nap that I took on top of the duvet but under the red fleece blanket in the company of the dog. Since it is a cold day, I had also turned on the heater so the apartment was nice and warm and consequently my nap lasted longer than I had intended. 

For a change, I'm very comfortable and not at all chilled. Even my hands are warm which doesn't happen very often. I think it must be because of my low blood pressure that they are always so cold, just like the tip of my nose. It usually feels like an ice cube but that is not a problem right now. 

I'm waiting for a package to arrive. In it will be my new and, hopefully, comfortable walking shoes. I hope they are everything I expect them to be because my feet really need them. I haven't had a pair of sensible shoes since I left the States and have always walked on shoes or boots that were meant to be pretty but not necessarily good to walk in. 

Now that I'm getting older, I'm becoming less vain and more concerned about my feet. And I do want to walk longer distances with the dog without getting sore feet and a backache. That much became clear to me when I had to take him to the trim salon. I can walk that distance but I do need good footwear. 

I'm completely trying to ignore my depression. I'm pretending that I don't have it and that everything is great. I think that's the best way to deal with it. That's one subject matter less to talk about. 

I hope you're all having a good day. 

Ciao,
Irene

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

Another day...

Someone asked to see a picture of my slippers, so I'm including it here. Clearly I'm counting on good weather for a while, at least in August and September, so my toes will get a tan and generally my feet too. I'm planning on wearing them everyday until it gets too cold.

I'm reading Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs and I love her clinical descriptions of the brutally murdered, badly decomposed bodies she has to examine and draw conclusions about. Everything is very graphic, yet I read it with a certain detachment as if I were a forensic anthropologist myself. Doubtlessly, I would not be that composed when faced with the actual evidence itself. Things are very gory and don't leave much to the imagination and you do have to have a stomach for it. As thrillers go, it is a good one and well written. Unfortunately, it fell to the floor during the night and Tyke has torn off the front cover and the last few pages. I hope this doesn't hinder me in finishing the book.

When I let Tyke out back last night in the dark, he started barking very fiercely at something I couldn't see and he would not stop and come in when I called him. I got a flashlight and discovered a large hedgehog sitting in the middle of the patio. I pulled Tyke inside by his collar and hoped the hedgehog would have enough sense to leave. An hour later I looked all around the patio and the flowerbeds with the flashlight and he was gone. Thank goodness for that. Tyke didn't realize what he was messing with.

My personal helper has been here and my domestic help too. I am all set for the weekend. My personal helper motivates me to get the jobs done that I've left for later and helps me get the place ready for the domestic help. I'm always very happy when the domestic help is done on Fridays. I feel like the weekend properly starts when she is gone. I like her a lot, don't get me wrong, but it's great to have a clean apartment all to myself.

I just ordered a coffeemaker on line. I just got an ordinary one because it was inexpensive and I will buy ordinary coffee. I will use up the pads that I have for the ailing Senseo machine and then toss it. I've used another bottle of vinegar in it but it is dying. It is leaking and doesn't want to make full cups of coffee anymore. The Exfactor says that I've had it for 3 years and I used it extensively and I guess its time is up. It served me well, but it's time to say goodbye. I'll sing that song when I get rid of it.

I really need to take a nap now. I feel in my bones that I have one in me and I have kind thoughts toward the sofa. I did sleep okay during the night, but I was up early in the morning when I really wasn't quite done sleeping yet. I did go back to bed, but had to get up on time for the personal helper.

It's really better if I have no appointments in the morning. They need to be as free of commitments as possible, unless I learn to sleep properly at night. No doubt my classes are going to be in the mornings too, so I will have to get used to that. I think I must make myself as busy as possible during the day so that I will be exhausted at night and just fall into my bed and sleep without dreaming. I have been having the oddest dreams lately.

I'm going to lie down on the sofa now and watch the repeats of the news until I fall asleep.

Have a good day!

Ciao,
Nora

Slippers...

Today was a nice enough day. I did nothing very important at all and that was just fine with me. I am convinced that there ought to be days like that in which I do nothing earth shattering and that are completely forgetful.

Well, let me correct that, it wasn't quite that forgetful. I did have coffee this morning with my sisters so that was a memorable occasion. It's not very often that the three of us sit together and reminisce about love and life. I think my older sister feels a little bit left out because she lives so far away and never gets to share her feelings except over the phone which is a lousy way to do it.

It has been an eye opener to have the three of us together and to see our different strengths and weaknesses. It was like looking into different mirrors and seeing multiple reflections. I very much saw my own strengths and was not disappointed. I measure up pretty well, but I saw strengths in them too and was surprised. I suppose I saw humanity reflected in them more than anything. The basic state of being a human being.

In the afternoon I took a long nap on the sofa because I had only slept 5 hours during the night. That was not enough sleep to make it through the day. I was watching Sail 2010 with the tall sailing ships and gently drifted off to sleep. I was awakened by the loud ringing of the intercom because a delivery person was there with a book I had ordered and the package didn't fit in the mailbox which was highly inconvenient. It's horrible to be awakened like that. That bell rings very loud and it scares you half to death.The other book I had ordered had been sent separately and it had fit in the mailbox because of different packaging. The one hand not knowing what the other hand is doing, I guess.

I had a cup of coffee to clear up the cobwebs in my mind and a piece of Brie against the hunger, that always helps. I do love the flavor of a good piece of Brie and it satisfies me so much. Tyke likes it too. It is our favorite snack.

My younger sister called me at 7 o'clock because she had bought me the slippers that I wanted. I had told her about them and said that I had been looking for them and she had found a pair downtown. After I walked Tyke, I rode my bike over there and tried them on. They fit perfectly and are very comfortable and exactly what I wanted. They are preformed for your foot and the slipper fits high on your arch so it doesn't slide off easily. My sister wouldn't let me pay for them and said they were a gift. My older sister had already given me money so I have been spoiled enough. I have very kind sisters.

We had coffee together out on the patio because the weather had decided to turn nice. There were pretty clouds in the sky and both the sun and the moon were out. The temperature was just right and it's supposed to be warm and sunny tomorrow. That will be a change from the cloudy and cool weather we have had all month. There will be no more rain for the next couple of days.

I have to send away 5 books for Bookmooch and I was worried that no one would want the books that I had listed. Every morning there is a new request. I have to finish mooching books myself, but I have to take some time picking them out. Maybe I'll do that tonight. I feel like staying up for a while because it's so cozy here by the desk lamp with my glass of milk and my cigarette.

Tyke is sitting on the dining room table looking out the window. I gave him special permission and he realizes how lucky he is. He is behaving very well and he's small enough to allow him to do something like this. He thinks he sees all sorts of interesting things outside, but I think they are all illusions. I won't let him know this, though, and let him keep on believing this.

I hope you all had a good day and are about to have a good night.

Ciao,
Nora

A long nap...

I took a three hour nap this evening and now, of course, I find myself wide awake, so the planning may not have been all that great. Regardless, I needed it, as I was feeling quite down and out and could think of no better solution than to go to sleep. It did make me feel better and I was in much better shape when I woke up. Now I've had one cup of coffee and one glass of milk and I'm about to have another one for the sake of my thirst. I don't quite know what to do, as a long night stretches out ahead of me and I don't feel tired now and I won't go to bed for awhile.

I've got an ache in my upper back from sitting improperly behind the computer and I'm now making an effort to sit especially straight with my body upright, so I won't slouch. This is causing the muscles in my back to ache, but it's better than getting an ache from sitting bent over sideways. You do develop bad habits when bent over the keyboard. I imagine it's just a cramp that's gotten a hold of me and I've just taken a painkiller so I can sit here comfortably. It will take awhile for it to work. In the meantime I'm figuring out the most comfortable ways to sit.

I don't know if it's such a good idea to write about my depression, because there seems to be some misunderstanding about how I should tackle it. I will just mention it casually in passing now and then and not dwell on it too much, although I have a great desire to write about it and that is one thing that this blog is all about. So, I'm feeling stifled., that's true, and I don't know if that is just. If I don't follow up on suggestions, people will say I ignore good advice. If I say I'm not capable of it, they will say that I boycott my own process at getting better.

My high tops are comfortable, except in the places where my toes are already sore from my other shoes. That's mostly on my right foot on my big toe and my little toe. They must have been pinched a lot and now I'm finding out. Still, I can walk in them fairly well and I took Tyke for a longer walk yesterday afternoon. It was overcast and 23C and not all that unpleasant to walk in. We'll go for another long walk today with the personal helper who will be here in the morning. I was making a list for her with future goals that seem unattainable right now and that will have to be put on hold. I can't, in this frame of mind, attempt any more than I'm doing and that's enough. I don't want to add anything to it.

I go from being wide awake to being half asleep. I think in a little while I will have to go to bed. I want to stay up, but I think it is impossible. Sleep will force me to the bedroom. The good thing about being awake during the night is that I don't feel half as mad as I do during the day.

Ciao,
Nora

The Blue Afternoon.

I am sitting here with a cup of coffee and my cigarettes and have just read the blogs I was behind on reading. I left comments on some and on others I didn't. I don't always know what to say. Sometimes I even think it's inappropriate to make a remark. I feel that anything I would say would be the wrong thing, because I may have missed the point of the post. I'm not all that smart all the time. I don't always understand people's most pertinent emotions, just as I'm probably not always understood myself. It's so easy to dismiss things or to trivialize them or to ignore them as not being important enough.

The simple things are always the easiest. The quick to grasp ideas that some people are very good at presenting. Things that don't need long explanations in six paragraphs or more, which is the way I write. Some people don't make long stories, but keep it short and to the point. You almost think it's a shame that they do, because you want more of them, but they said what they had to say and that's it. I like it when people ramble on a bit, because that is my own style, and some people are so pleasant to read. You want to know more. You want information. Trivial bits of knowledge.

The Exfactor was here earlier. He arrived just as my psychiatrist called, like I had asked the secretary for him to do. I took the call in the bedroom for privacy reasons, but of course the Exfactor knew something was up. I don't know if he overheard me speaking to my psychiatrist or what. The Exfactor asked me right away, when I was done, if I was not doing well and I had to answer him honestly and say that no, I wasn't. We talked about that for a bit and about what the reason was and he understood it quickly enough. He said that people shouldn't expect me to run when I'm doing a fine job walking and to be proud of the fact that I walk so well. I can only agree with him. I can run in the future when walking has become the most normal and natural thing and I've stopped falling down.

Sitting and being alone by myself has become a chore now. I no longer enjoy the silence and the solitude and try to avoid them at all cost. I try to keep myself busy, but am hard pressed for ways to do it. In a little while, I'm going to do some jobs. Really things that the domestic help should do, but I need to do some things myself. I'm even thinking about ironing, that's how bad things have gotten. It's not a frivolous chore I take on. I'm also going to change the sheets on my bed again. For luxury reasons.

I feel like listening to music and I think that I will go to Deezer and put together a play list or listen to the latest hits there. This is in an attempt to keep my mind occupied and to not dwell on other unnecessary things. The possible subjects that pop up into my head now are very negatively loaded and I'd rather not be confronted with them. They are a waste of time to think about, but I'm almost compelled to. It's a neurosis. I'm like Woody Allen in one of his movies, but maybe he's like that in real life too.

My high tops were just delivered and I will have to try them on in a while and see how comfortable they are. I'm looking forward to wearing them. I've been wearing sandals, but I don't like them very much, because little pieces of dirt and twigs get stuck between my feet and the soles of them. That's the drawback of open shoes. Sandals are funny kind of shoes anyway the way they expose your naked toes.

I can now walk Tyke and maybe that's a good idea for me to go and do. We can go for a longer walk and enjoy the dry weather. It hasn't rained all day, although it is overcast. I don't have to stay home and wait for that package anymore. I'm sure that Tyke will enjoy the exercise and it will be good for me to get out of the apartment. I mustn't turn in to a hermit.

Right, off I go into the wild blue yonder.

Ciao,
Nora

Waiting for the finish...

My Monday domestic help is here and I think she is not pleased about having to clean the bedroom windows and woodwork. She doesn't seem very happy anyway. She's making it extra hard on herself by ignoring a very good cleaning product that I recommended and the glass cleaning product. She wants to be stubborn and do it her own way with an all purpose cleaner.

Oh, look at me, talking badly about my domestic help. That's not very mice. I mustn't do that and change my tune immediately. It's the result that counts in the end and I will praise her for that. If she wants to use more elbow grease, then that's up to her.

I'm expecting the Exfactor and really need to make a shopping list, but some things are already written down. They are mostly more cleaning products and vacuum cleaner bags. Those women do got through those things like crazy. Things that may last me a few months are gone in several weeks time. They prepare one bucket of suds after the other and spray cleaner and degreaser as if there is no end to it. I must say, though, that my apartment is very clean. I never got it that clean myself.

The Exfactor has gotten here in the meantime and has had a cup of coffee and has now gone to the store armed with my shopping list and my bank card. Before that, Tyke got a hold of his motorcycle glove and was chewing on it. It had been left in the wrong place. There was too much temptation. The Exfactor hit him over the head with it.

The domestic help has just left. She got the windows and the woodwork and the windowsill very clean and I praised and thanked her a lot. We were both pleased. It had been a tough job for her, I get the feeling. She'll have to do the same job in the spare bedroom next week. I must always remember to be appreciative of her, no matter how stubborn she is.

I got 5 hours of sleep this morning. It wasn't really enough, but I will catch up on the rest of it tonight. I didn't want to be caught asleep in bed by anyone, but as it turned out, I had lots of time to wake up and do a few chores and walk Tyke. It never did cool off in the apartment more, even though it was cool in the beginning of the day. Now the sun is shining again and the light is coming straight through the living room windows, warming up the place.

The Exfactor fixed the blind that I had broken. I had moved it and caused the cord not to work anymore. I couldn't pull the blind up, try as I might. I fiddled with it, but couldn't figure out how to fix it. I knew I didn't have the insight to repair it and that the Exfactor did and I was right. He repaired it in a few minutes and turned the blind over so the other side of it would show and did the same thing to the other blind. Now they hang free of the window and allow more of a draft to come through. Isn't he smart? He has more technical ability than I do. That's why he should have been an engineer. I kid you not.

Now he is gone again after he delivered the groceries and had one more cup of coffee. I'm all on my own again with Tyke and the cats. Toby is lying in the paper box and Gandhi is outside on the patio.

I can't wait for my high tops to get here, because my feet are very sore from my shoes, but I have to wear them. Of course, I could try on some sandals. That's what I'll try next. Maybe they will be more comfortable. I have tan lines on my feet from my shoes. That's how often I've worn them, with no regard to the health of my feet at all. I just ignore them and suffer. How silly of me.

I'm wearing a denim skirt and a silky black tank top with my black and red and purple scarf. I do like the feel of the scarf around my neck, it gives me a sense of security, like a kid with its blanket that it carries around. I did find my denim mini skirt. It was in the closet right where it was supposed to be in the stack of skirts. I must have been blind when I looked before. I think I was looking for a different color denim and just didn't see it, it didn't register. So, that mystery is solved. Well, there was no mystery, actually.

I've just had my last cup of coffee. One thing I mustn't do is drink any more coffee now. I'm pretty sure that's what kept me awake last night. I must stick to juice and milk tonight. The Exfactor got me some multivitamin berry juice and it looks very appetizing. No doubt it will taste great. My mouth is already watering for it. I do have to get my vitamins in and stay as healthy as possible. Sometimes I get a shortage of them.

No doubt I will be writing another post in no time at all. I seem to be a bit addicted to blogging right now. This in spite of the fact that I do turn the computer off as much as possible and do get other things done. It is a temporary addiction, possibly, maybe because I'm a bit hyper and high strung. I'm not going to worry about it. I don't think I'm in any sort of trouble. I just need to drink less coffee and more milk. Warm milk, preferably, and I'm going to take a tranquilizer in just a minute. Just one to slow me down a bit.

Have a terrific rest of the Monday. I have to take my medicines and walk Tyke again.

Ciao,
Nora

Taking a break.

I've walked Tyke and washed the dishes and changed my bed. Then I fooled around with the look of my blog. You know how it is, while I was waiting for the washing machine to get done, I couldn't leave well enough alone and I found a great website with lots of blogger backgrounds. Well yes, I am fickle and I do change my mind. That's my prerogative as a woman and I must be very feminine. Not that I hadn't noticed that before, but I do exaggerate sometimes. At least I don't wear nail polish on my toe nails. I haven't quite gone as far as that. I'll let you know when I get to that point.

I've even changed my glasses and put on the pair that I thought I had lost, but that showed up in the box of art supplies. They are rectangular, as opposed to my other pair which are oval. They look quite different and until I get comments on them, I don't know how I feel about them. You see, I can't make up my own mind. The woman in the shop helped me pick them out, but once I had them, I got enormous doubts about them and didn't wear them that often. Well, just often enough to lose them for a while. I thought they weren't meant to be until I found them again.

I've misplaced a denim mini skirt and I have no idea where it is. It's not in any of the usual places, so it's a mystery to me. How can a mini skirt disappear? It's not that little. I did have to fit into it. It will probably show up in some odd place where I haven't looked yet and that is completely illogical for a mini skirt to be. I'll let you know when it shows up.

I just walked Tyke again in the hot noontime sun. The clouds that were here earlier burnt away and now we have blue skies again. There are some clouds at the horizon, so there may be rain yet, but I doubt it. It doesn't look threatening enough. It's hot in the sun and I didn't make it a long walk. We did that in the morning when it was still cool. There's all sorts of shrubbery blooming now, which I can't identify, but which smells good. Most of them have white flowers. That seems to be the most common blossom here, except for the fruit trees which are pink and white. Some of them are still blooming too.

I should now get the laundry out of the machine and hang it up to dry, but my feet are sore from walking. I want to get some black high tops with white laces and wear those with my black leggings. I think they will be comfortable to walk in instead of these summer shoes and sandals. There's always some area of my foot that's being pinched by something.

Well, I took care of that quickly. I just ordered some on line and they were very reasonably priced and I bought them on credit. They will be mine in less than four payments. That's the way to do business. I will pay them off quicker than that, though. I don't want to walk on unowned shoes and I can't buy anything else until they're payed for. That's my rule. It will be nice to walk in something comfortable and not be pinched everywhere. My toes and my heels will be very grateful, I'm sure. So will the soles of my feet.

I will try not to take a nap today, even though I got up very early. It's better to be totally beat tonight. I think I will just find more chores to do instead. I've cleaned out that cabinet I was talking about the other day. It turned out not to be so much work. I just needed a plastic bag for the junk and a paper bag for the obsolete medicines that can go to the pharmacy. The rest of the things in there needed to be organized and that was done quickly.

I need the same kind of initiative when I clean out the chest of drawers. It just needs to hit me that it is what I'm going to do and then nothing will stop me. Actually, the Exfactor needs to look through them first and see if there's anything that belongs to him before I throw it away, because I'm ruthless. I have no mercy when it comes to tossing things out. I don't like to hold on to useless items.

Speaking of useless items, I have to remember to put the trash out tonight. It's that time of the week again. Last week I forgot to put out the recyclable paper and I now have a big box of it sitting in my hallway waiting for the next pick up day. These used to be the Exfactor's jobs and I'm still not used to doing them and have a tendency to forget. I'm only reminded because I see other people's stuff sitting out on the curb. Then I walk inside and forget about it again. I'm very absentminded. It's a good thing my head is screwed on tight. If I live carefully and pay close attention to the details, I do okay. An agenda is a very handy thing to have, though. Especially if you look in it every day.

Well, I'm going to hang up the laundry now and dust the living room. It looks pretty spotless, but you never know... A domestic help sees hidden dirt. Dirt that an ordinary person is unaware of. I see some myself now on the baseboard under the radiator.

Have yourself a nice day. I will take some pictures of the living room and post those soon.

Ciao,

Nora