Cheerfulness at midnight...

I'm in a cheerful mood as I sit here in the middle of the night with my cup of coffee warmly ensconced in my bathrobe. That's good news because I went to bed last night in a not so good mood and with a headache for which I took a paracetamol. I dreaded the thought that my mood was going to go downhill and decided that sleep was the best solution for it. I was right and now I feel much better. I have sparks of hope all over the place. The world is my oyster again. 

So, it's with some amount of cheer that I sit here and write this post. I can take my time doing it too because it doesn't matter what time I go to bed. Tomorrow I have no appointments in the morning and I can be as lazy as I want to be, bar the fact that the dog will have to be walked at one point. I do so like being in charge of my own day, at least the mornings when I can get started at my own speed and not have to rush. 

I did something kind for myself yesterday and signed up with Glossy Box.nl. I will start receiving a pretty box once a month filled with five beauty products especially selected for me and every box will have a different content. These include skin and hair products and perfumes. I think it will be fun to await the arrival of each box. It will be like Santa Claus comes to the house once a month.

My first Glossy Box will get here in January and I will write a review about it in a post so you will know what sort of things I received. Frankly, I can't wait. I'm curious enough to want to try different products and it's being surprised that appeals to me so. I will be like a kid in a candy store. That's the kindness I will allow myself once a month. I do need something fun to look forward to. The regime can't be all stark and rigid. 

Glossy Boxes are available in other countries so you can check for them where you live. 

To tell you the truth, I like anything that makes me pay attention to the fact that I'm female and allows me to fuss over myself because I have a tendency to neglect that area of my life. Oh, I do pay attention to how I dress, but I don't mess around with beauty products enough and my skin and hair could use some taking care of. I don't nearly spend enough time on them. I have dry skin that could use some help and my hair is fly away and could use some volume. Hopefully there will be some things in those boxes that will help.

I find you always have to make your life interesting. If it doesn't come from the outside, you have to make it happen yourself in the most imaginable ways. I'm already thinking that there should be a glossy box for under garments and I wonder if such a thing exists. I would sign up for it immediately. Just think of all the cute and sexy things you could get. That is for those of us who fit in our bras properly. 

I am going to check and see if there are more ways to make my life interesting that don't cost an arm and a leg. I am on a budget, after all. The thing is, to make your life as pleasurable as possible because things are dire enough nowadays as they are. The way the economy is turning just makes you want to bury your head in the sand and that's no solution. You have to be able to try and afford something special and you can't wait for someone else to do it for you. 

You have to be your own best friend. That's the one thing I learned about living on my own. That's not to sit around and wait for someone else to make my happiness for me because it will never happen. It's mostly in my own hands. Unless you specifically ask someone for something, nobody will be able to read your mind and know what it is you desire. People don't spend their time wondering what your needs are. That's not how the world works. You have to take care of that yourself. 

Well, after so much armchair wisdom, I guess I'll bring an end to this post. I'm not nearly ready to go to bed and will have to find a way to amuse myself for a while. I will drink some cold milk to get myself in another frame of mind. It will give my stomach something to do too. There's always some entertainment in the middle of the night. 

Ciao,

Nora

The quietude of the night...

At this moment of the night, I'm blissfully unaware of everything that goes on in the world, as opposed to the daytime when I'm regularly watching the news and staying up to date. There's something to be said for blissful unawareness, though I wouldn't want to be permanently stuck in this state. After a while, it would make me feel highly uncomfortable. 

I always want to know what those dratted politicians are up to. And the movers and shakers of this world that I'm part of. I may not be able to do much about it, but I will be well informed. I feel that I can guard myself against any calamity that hangs over our collective heads. More than one calamity hangs there now, so I feel I must be well guarded. I must not be caught unawares. 

For now I can relax and enjoy the uncomplicated nighttime. That's what the quiet solitude is good for. The darkness encapsulates me and makes me feel safe. No political monsters can get to me. All the Dutch ones ought to be asleep. As for the other ones, they are beyond my control. You will have to vote all of them out of office if you so please. Or start a revolution, as is being done in so many places around the world right now. 

I slept well enough for a long enough time. I went to bed early and was asleep in no time. This has to do with the fact that I'm mostly not interested in what's on TV at night. I couldn't care less about most of it. It absolutely makes no difference if I watch those programs or not. It won't make me a better person if I do. I won't be better educated or better informed. It might help if I switched channels more, but I'm too incurious to do that. Let's face it, I'm just not a good TV watcher and nobody should depend on me for the ratings. 

It was a nice enough day yesterday. The weather was still warm, although I'm more than ready for it not to be and look forward to it cooling off, which it will start to today. Then it will be possible to wear some decent clothes again and to dress properly. I do look forward to wearing warmer clothes and can't wait to pull something substantial out of my closet. I do have all these clothes to choose from and I don't want them to go to waste. Although doubtlessly they won't once it is cold enough for a longer time.

The leaves on the trees are changing colors rapidly and they are dropping off quickly too. The sidewalks and gutters are covered in them. It's a lot of fun to walk through them with as much noise as possible. The dog likes the piles of leaves too. He thinks something is hidden in them. I have the hardest time pulling him away from them. 

I've decided not to go to Specsavers for my new glasses, but to go to the optician that my sister went to. I think they have a better selection of frames to choose from and I want something that's not so ordinary. I called my health insurance company to find out how much they reimbursed and it turned out to be a pittance and that is even with the additional package of insurance that I have. I was much disappointed and sorry to find out that everything is costing more money now no matter how well insured you think you are. Needless to say, I'm dropping the additional package at the first opportunity I get. I've got better uses for my money. 

I made an appointment to have the dog's fur trimmed because it is getting a bit long and I do want to get it done before it gets too cold. He always shivers afterwards and I want him to be able to grow some of it back before it becomes winter. I won't have him trimmed again until it's springtime. I don't want the poor thing to suffer from the cold.

That about sums it up for me. I've got to think about going back to bed for a while. I'm expecting the Exfactor later this morning who will do the groceries for me. I've run out of cheese and I'm definitely getting some more of that. It was a nice addition to my diet. The dog and I enjoyed it both. He gets the last bite. 

I hope you'll all have a good day.

Ciao,

Nora

Back to the hunting grounds...

I've already been to bed, but decided after an hour of lying there frustratingly awake that I couldn't fall asleep, so I got up again. I figured that an hour of trying to fall asleep was long enough and that was all the time I was going to put into it. It's really not worth more of an effort than that. My whole body was getting restless, including my legs and I didn't know what to do with them. 

So now I'm up, drinking a glass of milk and smoking a cigarette. Of course I have to entertain myself and what better way to do it than by writing blog posts. I have to use my imagination, which I hope not to be short of, but I will try my best and dig deeply into my brain and come up with what I hope is the best. At least, what is the best of a somewhat dull mind late at night that's not overly stimulated by excitement. I probably should make myself some fresh coffee. That ought to do the trick. 

While I was lying in bed, all sorts of subjects passed my mind, but they all had to do with the state of affairs of the world, such as the situations in Japan and Libya and those aren't exactly optimistic things to write about. They happened to be discussed on the radio too and I wondered if we weren't forgetting other pressing matters that are taking place in the world. We seem to get so caught up in the immediate traumas that we forget the other ones that last forever without end and are ongoing and need our attention too. I'm thinking about the ones in third world countries and that we can't seem to bring to a satisfactory conclusion.

I'm not going to get caught up in a doom and gloom post however and try to fix all the problems of the world. I realize it's a big unfair place to live in and that I'm a fortunate person. I live in a still somewhat civilized western European country that's probably the best place to live in. I'm not going to go hungry or get raped by marauding rebels or have my limbs cut off like would happen to me in some African country. If people talk about reincarnating into another life, they never think they might end up as a poor powerless person in one of those countries.

It's definitely time to drink some coffee now and I've just started a pot. I think I'm a little bit too morose. You may not be used to that from me. I'm a bit of a cynic actually and I don't think a lot of these problems can be resolved by outside help from care organizations. It's the people themselves that have to come to their senses and have to take their lives into their own hands. Otherwise we have to return to some form of colonialism. It would be the only solution.

I'm drinking a cup of coffee now and should be good as new in no time. No doubt the caffeine will give me a more optimistic point of view soon. I will be like Pollyanna again and see the world through rose colored glasses, though I doubt that Pollyanna drank coffee. I wonder sometimes if it isn't better to live in oblivion and be ignorant of most things that happen around you except the most immediate. I feel impotent to do anything about most things, except to leave a small carbon footprint. But that's also because of economic necessities. I live frugally and therefor environmentally friendly. Nothing is wasted or bought in abundance. 

I've discovered that I like soups with pasta very much. There's one brand in particular that's like eating a meal. I can just handle one can of it and it's not too salty. It's got pasta and vegetables in it and it comes in different flavors. I had tomato with pasta tonight and chicken with pasta last night. They were mighty tasty. My gastric band can handle them well and they are nutritious. I always like discovering new foods that are easy to handle and that make me feel satisfied. I heat them up in a bowl in the microwave so I have no dirty pan. I never get the stove dirty that way and I do hate cleaning up the stove. These soups are better than eating Cup A Soups which have no nutritional value whatsoever. They're all sodium and flavoring. Don't be fooled by the advertising. 

I'm just about done with my stint of eating yogurt. It was good while it lasted, but now I'm tired of it. I've got yogurt coming out of my nose. I need to eat something else instead. I'm thinking of chocolate pudding. That would be a real treat for dessert. This kind is pourable and has the same consistency as yogurt. It would take care of my sweet tooth at the same time. I haven't been eating Nutella because I thought it was too decadent and I liked it too much. I did have to put an end to that. I do have to watch my weight a little bit, especially now that I've increased two of my medications.They do have a tendency to make you gain weight.

I'm not tired, so I will go look for other ways to amuse myself. Hopefully I will find some way to do this. I can't change my templates because I've already done that and I think I like the way they look. Maybe there's something else I haven't done yet that I've overlooked so far. I do always want my bit of intrigue when I'm up like this in the middle of the night. It never really does amount to much actually. I don't really get into any sort of trouble. Most of what I do is quite innocent. 

I hope you're all having a good night. No doubt some of you are sound asleep. Those of you who are wide awake are welcome to join me in my vigil. The more souls, the merrier. 

Ciao, 

Nora