A rose by any other name

Last night we ate the pea soup that my friend M. had made and it was very good and really tasted like homemade soup in all its deliciousness. Of course, there were no artificial additives in it, or anything else that did not belong in it, and you could certainly taste the difference between it and a canned soup. It really does pay to make your own soup, but I have done that in the past too and knew that. 

I certainly don't have to worry about keeping the Cowboy entertained because he does a very good job of that himself. He rides his bike to the grocery store every day to do some shopping and always comes back with a surprise or two. When I tell him not to buy anymore strawberry shortcake, he comes home with chocolate covered ice creams. Do you know how hard those are to resist? 

Every day he goes downtown to have a beer at his favorite outdoor cafe and watch the people go by. He takes photos of anything he finds interesting and he posts the best ones on Facebook. He also always goes to the train station to buy an international newspaper or two and spends the whole evening reading them. 

I went to the doctor and he said I had a virus and that all I could do was fight the symptoms and wait patiently for it to leave my system. It will take about a week. I don't feel all that great and all that coughing that I do is hurting my back. The good thing is, that the Cowboy is more than willing to take care of me, so I am in good hands. I can go ahead and be sick and not worry about much. That is very nice for a change and doesn't happen very often. Usually I do have to take care of the details. 

Falling apart physically

It maybe is a good thing that I am taking a combination of tramadol and paracetamol every eight hours for my aches and pains, because no doubt if I did have a fever, it is suppressing that too and I am not aware of it. I would be in much worse shape than I am now what with the pain in my eyes and back and now this terrible cold or whatever it is that has taken a hold of me. I will blame it on some bug that is making the rounds because my grand niece up north is felled by the same thing. I am having a streak of bad luck when it comes to my physical well being at the moment. 

Sometimes I am so hoarse that I squeak or no sound at all comes out, and one thing I can not do is raise my voice to make myself heard, so I have to walk up to the person I am talking to very closely in order to have a conversation with them. And I don't at all sound sexy like a foreign movie star, so forget about that. I am mostly very frustrated because of the lack of sound I produce and the godawful coughing spells I get. 

I saw my therapist yesterday and she made me promise that I would go see the doctor, so now I have an appointment with him in the afternoon, but maybe there is absolutely nothing he can do for me. My therapist thought I sounded like someone with a pneumonia, but I hope it has not gotten to that point. I had a hard enough time with that last year, and I would have to take antibiotics and we all know how grouchy those make me. 

The Cowboy's company is still very much appreciated, especially now that he can help me out a bit. He walks Tyke for me when I am not up to it and gets whatever we need at the grocery store because that is one of his favorite chores. He loves going shopping. But I would appreciate his company anyway because he is such an upbeat and positive person to have around, which is very refreshing. He does have that streak of American optimism and is unbeatable and I appreciate it. I have a tendency to have it myself, so I like to see it in other people. It changes your whole attitude toward life. It is such a nice feeling to be around a person with a "can do attitude."

We got a converter yesterday at the Apple store for my iPad so that I can recharge it and it works like a charm. Apple does have all these neat compact products that are especially developed for their client's convenience and they work well and are reasonably priced. There is not much ado with all sorts of plugs and cables that complicate and confuse. To say that I am happy with the iPad would be an understatement. It works well and fast and does the job. 

We were supposed to shop for a pair of lightweight hiking boots for me, but by the time we were ready to do that, I was so wiped out that we decided to postpone it to another day. They are going to be a gift from the Cowboy who thinks I should be walking around in something better than a pair of sneakers. I have something in mind and the store I think we may find them at, so now it is just a matter of going to get them and we will when I feel a bit more up to it. It will be really great to have very good fitting footwear that is made for the sole purpose of walking comfortably. 

When it rains, it pours

Despite the fact that I am being entertained well enough during the day in the lovely company of the Cowboy, I do have to stick to my old habits and that means being up for a while in the middle of the night and spending some time on the computer. I very much need little bits of my life to stay exactly the way they always are. When you have company, it is extra important to have some precious time of your own, and I do appreciate those silent hours anyway. 

I think one of the fun things we do, is read posts on Facebook and check what sort of comments we get on them and read those to each other just like two old fogies stuck in our respective armchairs spending the twilight of our years together. Except we do a digested form of it in a month's time once a year. It is a really endearing habit that we have developed, especially since we share a child and grandchild. Of course, whatever reactions and comments we get from our daughter are the most important ones, although I think that counts especially for the Cowboy, because you know how it is with fathers and daughters. 

We had lunch yesterday in a not so very warm downtown where the sky was mostly overcast and we sat outside by the crowded cafe. Our waitress enjoyed the opportunity to speak English and was more than attentive. I very much enjoyed my meal and felt I could eat like that once a week, but because I don't, it made it extra special. Walking around downtown later on the quaintly cobble stoned streets turned out to be a bit of a chore for me because (even though I wore my sneakers) it was hell on my back. We cut that exercise short and went home where we were expecting my sister. 

My sister walked in like a summer breeze, all cheerful and excited for no reason at all, and she and the Cowboy went to the grocery store to buy more supplies and a strawberry shortcake (again). The Cowboy likes fresh things to snack on every day and finds what is in the store here very interesting, especially Filet Americain, which needs to be eaten the same day. They also bought throat lozenges for me because I am very hoarse and seem to have developed some sort of a cold. It is also on my chest, but I have a heck of a time coughing because of my sore back.

We are having a good time and it is important to cherish very moment of it because time will fly by. We are making plans of day trips that we want to make and museums we want to visit. And there will no doubt be many photos I will take with my iPad and post. 

How good can you get it?

Well, much to my joy, the Cowboy is here and I am having nothing but a good time. He fits into the scenery as if he has always been here, that's how easy we make space for him, and both Tyke and Gandhi remember him very well from last year. There were no awkward pauses. He is sound asleep now, getting over his jet lag and I have not heard him snore once. He did run into my bike once that is parked in the hallway when he had to get up in the middle of the night to use the toilet. That was a bit of a racket and we all woke up. I wonder how he came out of that encounter? 

Because I broke the microwave oven last week, we bought a water cooker yesterday so that the Cowboy can make his instant coffee from Starbucks that he brought with him. When it comes to that, he is a real American. He can't do without it. I prefer the coffee from the coffee maker, so we will both drink what we are most happy with. 

He brought with him an iPad that's a gift for me from my daughter and it is so much better than the android tablet that I had been using. There is no comparison. To say that I am pleased with it would be an understatement. It is a super thing. 

We are planning on going out for a late lunch today at my favorite cafe on the Our Dear Lady Square. This is where they have the home made croquettes and the bread baked from the flour that comes from the mill that is still run by the stream that runs downtown. I realize that is almost a run on sentence. I very much am looking forward to that because there also is a good ambiance on that square which has the ancient church and all the restaurants and cafes and shops. It's a good place to sit and watch the world go by.

That reminds me that we still have to raise the seat on the extra bike, but I am sure that we will be quite capable of that and I am also sure that I have the right wrenches to do that with. I do, thanks to the Exfactor, now have an extensive collection of tools. I am no helpless female! Oh no.

Glad to know that

X-rays were made of my back today and I do not have any fractures, so I am moving around a bit better already now that I am not in fear of damaging something in an irreversible way. I think knowing that I will not, has taken the strain of my back. That, and taking the pain medication, should heal me quickly and I ought to be back to normal soon, at least, that is what I assume. I hope to dismiss this subject soon, because it is getting kind of old. I have been concerned about it long enough. 

I just got a text message from my American ex who is now making a stop over at the airport in Houston on his way to Amsterdam. He will arrive there in the morning and take the train to Maastricht. He should be here at noontime. I should really give him a name and I think I will call him The Cowboy. Not that he is in so many ways, but he is an American and I will keep to stereotype. 

Because I had to have the X-rays taken, I missed my hairdresser appointment and that does grieve me. I was looking forward to being pampered which will now have to be postponed. I will try to reschedule it as quickly as I can so that I can be good looking as soon as possible. I did want to make a good impression on the Cowboy and I hope that for the coming week he does not pay attention to me too closely. I will have to use diversionary tactics so he does not notice the state of my hairdo. 

Almost all the chores are done. I have even managed to make the bed in the guest room. I will finish whatever needs doing in the morning and I think that will keep me occupied well enough. I do have to have something to do while I wait for the Cowboy to get here. 

The blog post that wanted to be

I bought a can of extra thick pea soup for my American ex because he loves that so much and it is always one of the first things he wants to eat when he arrives here, but I also have some that was made from scratch by my friend M. and it is slowly defrosting now in the refrigerator. It will be a toss up which he likes best, but the one in the can has sausage in it and I know that he likes that a lot. The one M. made has pieces of ham, it looks like, and I think that must appeal to him just as well, unless it is a vegetarian soup and they are pieces of tofu. I have not yet been able to investigate it well enough. 

I have one day left to get everything in order and I still have to make up the bed in the guest room. My personal helper is going to be here in the morning and I think I will ask her to do that for me, because I do not want to hurt my back. I think she is not going to object to helping me out like that. There is a 5 kg bag of potatoes sitting on the kitchen counter that needs to be moved to the shelf system and I do not think I am going to attempt that. I am getting wiser about what not to do and besides, I would find out immediately that it was to my detriment if I tried to. 

I think I am capable of watering the plants, although it involves carrying them to the kitchen sink and back. The man at the flower shop told me the last time I was there, to give them lukewarm water so as to not shock them. I suppose that would be what a tropical rain feels like. When I was in Cabo San Lucas in Baja California, the water that came from the cold water tap was lukewarm and it was just the right temperature to shower with. That would exactly be the kind of water my plants would enjoy getting. No doubt they would thrive there, although they don't do too badly here. 

I think I will go to bed and find a comfortable position to sleep in. It should help if I take a mild tranquilizer along with the pain medication. I have to be as kind to myself as I possibly can be. Already my back is not behaving well and causing me trouble while I sit here.