Chasing away the Sunday blues...

I don't really have the Sunday blues, or if I do, I only have them in the slightest form and I hardly notice them. I'm mostly frustrated with what's on television, although it was interesting this morning when there were programs on about literature and politics. This afternoon there are sports on and that's usually okay, but I'm not interested in the kinds of sports that are being shown. The highlights of the rugby game between France and England aren't being shown until 5:30 pm. I hardly have enough patience to sit and wait for them. 

I took my usual nap on the sofa and for a change I'm not so discombobulated. That's quite a relief because I don't like the long drawn out process of rejoining the living when I am. I did make myself a cup of coffee immediately, but I hardly needed it as I was pretty clear headed right away. That goes to show you that you can't compare one day and one experience with the other and that each one is different. You can't always anticipate everything ahead of time because it may turn out quite differently than you thought. 

Nevertheless, I am having another cup of coffee because it's putting me in an excellent mood and I like it. I'd rather feel this way than hopelessly confused and in search of a good one.

I never did turn off the television, but just turned the sound down low. That way I am keeping track of what's on without it being intrusive. It's a little bit like having company without having to concern myself with it. The voices of the newscasters and the sports commentators are very familiar and they sound like old friends. It's pleasant to hear them in the background. I know I am thoroughly integrated now because I know everybody who's anybody on television. 

There are little buds on some of the hedges in the neighborhood. Some of the trees are starting to show buds too. Some of the bushes in the gardens show colored buds and I think they are about to flower. There are more daisies in the fields and I'm waiting to see other kinds of flowers, though I don't know which ones would come up next in the wild. We need more sunshine, but all we have is this drizzly weather and gray skies. We do have mild temperatures and I think spring will be here early this year. 

I have to watch the news now and see what is happening in Libya. 

Have a good evening.

Ciao,

Nora

Outside it's raining...

I have to keep in mind that I'm an optimist otherwise I'd forget about it. I'm in search of my good mood because I just woke up from a nap. At this moment everything seems sort of dreary and dark, but that is doubtlessly also because of the gray and damp weather. The cobwebs that are still in my head from sleeping are adding their own shadows to my present outlook. 

I have made a cup of coffee and I'm counting on the caffeine getting me over this somber state of mind soon. It doesn't do at all to sit around feeling burdened by pessimism. That's not how I normally go through life and I think it doesn't suit me at all. I'm not a doomsday thinker and I do always assume that every cloud has lots of silver linings. 

I always very much look forward to my nap in the afternoon, but I have to tell you that it's a struggle to come back to life when I wake up from it again. The first few seconds I think I'm okay, but when it comes to functioning it's a whole different story. Suddenly everything seems unsurmountable and I think I can't make it through the rest of the day. 

Luckily, I know this is a temporary condition and I'm only momentarily fooled by it. I know I have to take action. I have to mentally point myself into a whole different direction and completely overhaul my attitude. And make myself some coffee.

That's just what I've done and I'm already starting to feel better. I've even had something to eat. I mustn't neglect my stomach and feed it on time. I can easily ignore hunger pangs and only feel them in my subconscious where they hardly register. I have to be really hungry before I realize it. Eating is not a big item on my agenda. It's something I have to do to survive, but because of my gastric band, it's not something I do with a lot of pleasure. 

It keeps raining and I still have to take Tyke out. I will have to choose an opportune moment when it's not coming down too hard. Tyke is sitting in front of the window looking longingly outside. He wants to be out there very much. I don't think he realizes how wet it is. I will have to let him out back first. 

Gandhi was out there for a little while, but came back in quickly. She's a typical cat and dislikes getting wet. She has yet to enter the bathroom when I'm taking a shower, unlike Tyke who sticks his head around the curtain and licks up the soapy water.

Have a good evening, all of you. 

Ciao,

Nora

New hair...

I got up early this morning, which turned out to be much too early, and I had to go beck to bed for just a little while before I went to the hairdresser. I wouldn't have made it otherwise, because I would have fallen asleep in the chair there while she cut my hair. 

I dozed in bed for an hour and a half and then got up and had a cup of coffee. That was enough to return me to the living and I got dressed as soon as it was possible. It only takes me five minutes to walk to the hairdresser, maybe less, and when I got there, I was attended to immediately. 

The woman who cut my hair has cut it often and she does not need me to tell her what she needs to do. She knows enough about my funny hair to know what to do with it. How on one side it always wants to stick out and how that needs to be thinned out extra well so it will lie down flat. 

She cut off an amazing amount of hair, because it had really grown a lot since I had been there last. It had only been about six weeks ago, but my hair grows fast. I saw myself emerging as she cut it. That's my favorite part: watching her cut my hair with the different scissors.

As she cut my hair and it dried up, it got lighter and by the time she was done I had very blond hair again. I don't know why that is, but it always happens. It had gotten a bit darker during the winter and it was a joy to see it brightened up. It matches my face and eyebrows better. 

I now have very easy to manage hair and it will be a breeze to take care of it. Washing it will be so easy and it will not be any effort to style it, because all I will have to do is rub it dry with a towel. I've got a spunky hairdo. I had picked the clothes to match my hair beforehand, so I looked good when it was done. 

I'm one of the few women I know who doesn't completely redo her hair when she's been to the hairdresser. Or maybe there are more of you who don't and the story that there are is just a myth. 

Tyke smelled my hair when I got home. He must have thought that it was just a bit of an unfamiliar scent. He laid down submissively and I scratched his belly. Gandhi just wanted a bowl of milk. She didn't care one way or the other. Cats are uninterested in those things.

I'm now waiting for the Exfactor to get here. I never know when he'll show up. I can start doing my chores in the meantime. I'm still a little bit tired and I think I'll have to take a nap this afternoon. At least my hair will be in place when I get up. 

Have a good day.

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

Keeping up the happy patter...

It is with some amount of satisfaction that I sit here, because I've had my outing for today. It doesn't happen very often that I go somewhere out of the ordinary, because I usually don't have the desire to. Today I took the opportunity to go buy fake plants, because the Exfactor came by to drink coffee and I talked him into walking to that discount store with me. 

It wasn't difficult really to talk him into it, because he likes going there for all the good buys you can get there. Everybody else in the neighborhood likes going there too, as is evident by the long lines at the cash registers and the very full parking lot. We didn't let that bother us and shopped to our hearts content.

I finally bought a set of tall drinking glasses that I had needed for the longest time. There are six of them and I will have to make room in the kitchen cupboard for them somehow. I haven't got around to doing that yet. I have to sit and think about it first. 

I also bought Tyke two big rawhide bones and he is very happily chewing on one of them right now. Actually, he thought everything in the bags was for him like he usually does. He thinks I go shopping just for him.

Of course, I hung out in the perfume section, where they sell the best ones  at discount prices, and I tried out a couple of them on various parts of my body until I found the one I liked best. It was very inexpensive and I got a big bottle of it. When I got home, I spritzed myself liberally and I'm completely swooning over the smell of me. It's so delicious. It's too bad that you get used to it after a while.

I've got the fake plants and they are of a decent enough quality for me to be happy with. There wasn't that much choice, because some of them were just plain ugly, but I picked out the best ones. I put them in their pots and they look good and the most important thing is that I won't be able to kill them. At most they will get dusty and then I will rinse them off under the kitchen faucet.

We went to the tobacco shop after we were done shopping and I was greeted with a lot of compliments by the owner's wife about how I looked. She had not seen me in a while and was pleasantly surprised. I had not realized what a difference there was between me now and a few months ago. I guess it is really obvious. I certainly was pleased about that. It seems that reducing my medication is very good for me. 

So, now I'm sitting here with a tall glass of milk resting my legs. The exercise has actually been good for my knee, which was bothering me a lot earlier. I must walk over to that store more often. There are enough reasons to go there. Anywhere there are that many discounts is a good place to go. 

I hope you're all having a good day.

Ciao,

Nora

Imagination and the use of it...

The day is passing by very slowly for some reason. It seems the hands on the clock don't move at the speed that they normally do. Every other day goes rushing by in no time at all, but not today. It is crawling by at a snail's pace and I have to use my imagination to fill up the hours. I've already taken a nap to fill up one hour. Of course, that didn't take much imagination at all.

I wasn't very tired, so the nap didn't last very long. I also had to share the sofa with Gandhi and Tyke, so I wasn't very comfortable. Then the delivery person came with the package I ordered from the on line store and, of course, I had to try on what was in it right away. It fit and that meant I had to put some clothes away in the closet and that was the complete end to my nap. I had no hopes of going back to sleep. 

I folded and put away the dry laundry and made the bed and cleaned up the always messy kitchen. Gandhi's paw prints are always all over the counter, no matter how often I wipe it. It's the place where she hangs out, because it's out of reach of Tyke. There's no way he can get to her there. His legs are too little. 

I was ruthless the other day and threw out all my dying plants. There was no sense in hanging on to them. There was no hope that they were going to make it back to health. The domestic help cleaned all the pots and arranged them nicely throughout the living room and told me where I could get fake plants for a good price. All I have to do now is go there. 

I have two little pots and four large ones to buy plants for. All the pots are lime green. I had bought them at different times without realizing that it was my preferred color. I wasn't paying attention to such things then. I would be much more alert to them now that I'm not in a medicinal stupor anymore. A lot went past me when I was.

The book I started reading is lying unread in a cubbyhole of the bookcase. I can't get myself to sit down and pay attention to it. I have a blockage in my head. My eyes see a book and glaze over. Areas in my brain shut down and refuse to pick up the book to read it. Suddenly that seems like an awfully complicated task to do. Maybe I see the activity as too passive, but then again, I do sit in my armchair and daydream. I haven't quite got my mind around it yet. 

Sometimes I think I have a fear of books, just like I seem to have a repulsion for creative activity. I probably associate it with another time when I was not at all doing well. Maybe I link it to me when I was another person and much more insecure and needy. I need to establish the habits and hobbies of the new me. I need to give shape to myself the way I am now or the way I am shortly going to be. I'm almost the end product of the three year long journey. 

It's been a beautiful day today. The sun has been shining all day and it has been relatively warm outside. I've worn my black leather jacket, which is my springtime jacket. My other leather jacket is too big on me. I've walked Tyke a couple of times and it was very pleasant, although Tyke acted like a lamb set free from the barn and was all over the place. He pulled me along at amazing speeds.

I must find something useful to do. I have to fill one hour until the news comes on. 

I hope you'll all have a good rest of the day.

Ciao,

Nora