Archive for September, 2008
>How interesting I really am.
>
You Are 56% Interesting |
 You are a fairly interesting person. Many people find you to be intriguing. You have a dynamic, adventurous life… a life that others envy. You are genuinely interested in and open to the world. You love making new friends, and you’re always up for an unusual experience. Like everyone else, you can get a bit boring from time to time. That’s normal. But unlike everyone else, you can pull yourself out of a rut. You don’t stay boring for long. |
>Exuberance.
>In my exuberance to get everything back to normal after I got rid of Ubuntu, I accidentally got rid of a whole bunch of images that I thought I had stored on my memory sticks, but it turned out that I had already removed them from there and now they are all lost to me. I am being somewhat lackadaisical about the whole thing and don’t at all see it as the disaster it could really be. I know that I can get the photographs of my grandson and my daughter from her again and my artwork, well, that’s gone and I will have to create new art from I don’t know what sources, because a lot of that is gone as well. It is the kind of stupidity that I have not committed in a long time, so I am very forgiving of myself and I assume there is a reason for it and I will find out down the road what it is. Something about fate and karma and things in life happening for a specific cause and all that. There is no such thing as an accident.
Today has been a ‘let’s pretend there is no household to take care of day’ and it has suited me very well. After I saw my SPN in the morning, I took a long nap on the sofa and I needed that, as emotional exhaustion needs taking care of also by getting some extra sleep. I had slept on the sofa before I went to see her and had gotten up just in time to get ready and walk the Überhund before I had to leave. Sleeping a lot always signals some sort of turning point for me and I hope this one does too.
I’ve lowered my dose of anti-psychotic medication back to the normal dose, as taking too much of it can make you somber and it is better not to take more of it when you are no longer hypomanic. I wrote my psychiatrist an email telling him I was doing this, but I have not heard from him yet. He has the final say on all my medication, but does give me some leeway when I use my common sense. I do have some on occasion.
I had to bicycle through the rain this morning, but it turns out that I have an indestructible hairdo. I have it trained and coiffed so well that it keeps it shape even when it gets drizzled on and blown about. You just don’t touch it after it has gotten really wet, but let it dry and make sure you don’t interfere with it. It dries like a little helmet on your head and then you can brush it into shape again quite easily, for it has kept its form. This works with short hair quite well and a very good hairspray, not the cheap kind anyway.
But now we have real Autumn weather and I have closed the little windows at the top of the living room windows and now I even have the heater on to take the chill out of the apartment. That’s a first for this season. I have started to wear a scarf when I go outside and I have weatherproofed both my new jackets. Pretty soon I’ll start wearing layers of clothes.
I had to get 2 pairs of leggings for my dance class and I got black ones and I am wearing a pair now to make sure I got the right fit and I must say that they are very comfortable. I enjoy wearing them a lot and can see myself wearing them when I don’t go to the dance class. Maybe I will get more in different colors, but that means spending money and I think I’ve done enough of that for now and I need to stop doing that. I may look in the Hema department store and at M&S Fashion to see how expensive theirs are.
I just had my sister on the phone and she was short and to the point, saying in a very matter of fact way that she is not doing well, but that is just the way things are and what are you going to do about it. Not at all inviting to a discussion or an offer for help. So, I don’t know what to do there. I am discombobulated.
I am unable to take the Überhund for a walk, because it is raining again and I have tried to explain this to him and somehow he has understood it, because he is sound asleep now. These are the dull gray and cold days of the Fall when the weather doesn’t invite you to go outside and gather in the glory of the changes that are taking place in nature, although they are happening all around us. The worst part of it is the darkness of the day, which I fight by lighting the lamps in the living room to make it a bit cheerful in here.
Tomorrow is my ergo therapy class, then I have a one hour break and after that I have my dance class. I like moving to music and I don’t think we’ll be dancing the tango or the rumba. The more free flowing, the better. I do have feeling for rythm and melody and am able to translate that into the movement of my body. I can be quite uninhibited when I really forget myself and get lost in the music. I think it will be a good experience.
I do have to remember to bring my midday medication, as a matter of fact, I think I will use one of those little pill boxes that my mother collected and that I somehow ended up with. I just have a few of them and one of them will come in handy now. That is, if I can figure out where I’ve put them.
Alas, I need to end this post and get something to eat and possibly walk the Überhund using an umbrella, although that would mean he would still get wet and he doesn’t like that very much. But he does enjoy getting rubbed dry with a towel very much and I have an old one especially for that purpose.
Take care, keep warm and dry, and don’t let the lack of sunshine get you down too much.
Ciao…
>A Dip.
>I’ve been feeling in a dip these past couple of days, which is no doubt in reaction to the hypo manic period, but I hate to write about it, even though today I felt like crying every time someone so much as pointed at me and I did shed quite some tears spontaneously. I felt overburdened suddenly by everything and incapable of dealing with the most simple things, such as being creative during creative therapy. I had a good cry there and everybody was very supportive and didn’t think it was odd for a normally cheerful person to have a tearful few moments. It wasn’t a very productive class for me this morning, but I stayed and did my best to make something of it.
I went home to walk the Überhund, who must have picked up on my mood, because he was being very disagreeable and wouldn’t listen unless I got very stern with him, which I dislike doing, but I had to. He wanted to walk into the street right in front of the traffic.
I got rid of the Norton Virus Scanner and downloaded the free AVG 8.0 virus scanner, which I have had in the past and which many people assured me was better than Norton. Then I ran a complete virus scan, but it only found some cookies and it took 40 some minutes to run the complete scan. I was watching it scan while drinking coffee and saw things come by that I had no need off and uninstalled them after it was done scanning. I saw Ubuntu come by too, which made me think and later on I saw how much space it took up and that made me think some more.
Then I had to go to the meeting with my SPN and the ergo therapist and discuss with them how things are going with me and the different therapies so my SPN is informed about what is going on with me. I had several tearful moments there as well, but the kind that make you feel better, I think, and it was decided that I should take baby steps and not run and that I should add dance therapy to my curriculum. I will start with that this week.
The road ahead can be as long as it needs to be, I don’t need to go running head over heels down it. I can take my time.
Then, when I came home, I did something that felt very good to me and that I experienced as a liberating deed. I uninstalled Ubuntu and it was very easy. All I did was find the program and go to the uninstall button and click on it and the thing was done. It was mighty good. I think the borderliner in me doesn’t like big changes and this was too big a change. I couldn’t cope with it and it kept nagging me, not even in the back of my mind, but very much in the frontal lobes.
So, now I am back to the comfortable chaos that is Windows and that I know so well. Don’t ever be fooled by me, I will tell you that I like fun and adventure, when I really like comfort and familiarity.
I abhor changes in my environment and everything that does change has to be done in little increments so that I can get used to it. Like having your husband suddenly not there again isn’t a big thing, right? Well, maybe it wasn’t.
So, anyway, that was what my day was like and the dip isn’t over yet, but I’m fighting it. I think I will go grocery shopping now, even though it is after 7 pm. Well, why not, it will keep me occupied.
Ciao…
>Trying hard.
>I have been trying very hard to get caught up on everybody’s posts through the Google reader, but it seems to be an impossible task that I can never finish and every time I go to read some more, more posts have been added and I do feel ever so overwhelmed, so if you don’t find a comment from me, it is either because I have not read you yet, or I have read you, but I did not have the time or energy to comment. I do get so discouraged by it.
There is of course the very distinct possibility that I read to many blogs, but I can not make a choice between which I should stop reading, because I think they all require my interest and curiosity. They all have something to add. I try to stay loyal to the oldest ones, but get side tracked by newer ones, and there is just no end to my list of reading.
On top of that, I have a tendency to get very sleepy when I sit behind the PC reading blogs and I have to watch out that I don’t fall out of my chair in a semi coma. Not because the material is dull, but because I’m prone to take naps during the day and my body wants me to move to the sofa for a nice lie down. Another sleep inducing element is the Überhund who snores right by my feet and who makes you want to curl up and sleep too.
I have changed clothes three times today, because I could not get happy with what I was wearing. It either was too cold or too bright or to revealing, until I found the perfect outfit which is just right in all areas, I will try and take a picture of it later so you can see it and I will post it here, if my arm is long enough to show you enough of it.
I am so vain now, that the main subject of my photo taking is me. I try to take pictures of myself at the cutest angles with the nicest smile. You should see all the pictures I delete in which I look like the wicked witch of the east, was it the east? Anyway, they are the ones that are most unflattering, in which all my features come together as being those of a woman whose face was put together under most unfortunate circumstances. I am sort of like Lady Di, I am not really good looking, but on some occasions, I give the appearance of.
My sister is back from her trip to Greece and I saw her just as she came home and her suitcase was laying half unpacked on the living room floor. She said she had mixed feelings about going on the trip by herself and would go on an organized trip the next time. I am sure I will get to hear the whole story some time next week when she has a spare moment.
Her dog was very happy to see her and did not move from her side and wherever she sat down, he laid down and rested his head on her feet and sort of mumbled with happiness. He expressed his happiness more than the children did. That’s what dogs are really good at, unconditional love.
I am cooking rice in bouillon for the dog and me and I added a bunch of different spices to go with it to give it some special flavor. I am going for as much eastern flavor as I can and I hope it turns out okay. I can’t add meat and I don’t have any vegetables in the house, so it is just rice. I could have added fried eggs, but the last egg I have is a fossil and very badly needs to be tossed out.
Somehow I need to expand the variety of foods that I eat and that I can share with the dog if it turns out to be too much for me to eat. I need to take my time one of these days and walk through the store leisurely and see what sort of things I can come up with. It has to be all vegetarian and the vegetables have to be very soft. Onions would do and canned tomato chunks. I am getting pretty tired of eating the same things every day and I want some changes in my diet. If I base it on rice, that would be good, because rice is easy to digest.
They sell good ragouts at the store that I could mix with rice and they sell ready made Indonesian rice. That may all be worth a try. I must have a closer inspection of these things.
Thank goodness tomorrow is creative therapy, I do look forward to that so much. Nothing nicer than spending the whole morning being artistically challenged. In the afternoon, I and the ergo therapist have an appointment with my SPN to see how things are going and the option of me taking extra classes is going to be discussed then also. I know my SPN is trying to get me ready for the real world and I think my ergo therapist wants me to do a bit more therapy.
In the end, it all depends on what the expectations of social services are of me. I see people in therapy on disability incomes who are not worse of than I am mentally and I do have a double diagnosis and it is still unknown how well I will perform in the real world. I do fine in a safe and sheltered and predictable environment, but how will I handle the pressures of a job? That seems like an unreal and unimaginable situation to me and I don’t know how to prepare myself for it.
The rice was very good. Both the Überhund and I enjoyed it very much and it is all gone and it had a very nice flavor, so I blended the spices well. No doubt he’ll have to go for a walk next to unload all that food.
Well, those are all the kindly and good words I had to direct to you today. Oh yes, I didn’t tell you about those forms I was upset about and now I don’t feel like it. I will tell you tomorrow. I am less upset about them now, after the explanation of the Exfactor.
I hope you all paid attention to my profile picture, because I am about to change it again, I think.
Ciao…
>Indulgence.
>Today I decided to devote the afternoon to me, so after the Exfactor came over to look at some paperwork that had me quite worried and which I will tell you about tomorrow, I decided to have an afternoon that was solely devoted to me.
The weather was great and there was not a cloud in the sky, so I hopped on my bike and rode it downtown, where I was smart enough to park it in the official bike parking underground. I didn’t want to be caught bikeless at the end of the afternoon for a second time and so did a lot of other people, because the underground parking was very full. I think there isn’t enough bike parking in his town and they are just going to have to make more of it.
Anyway, the first place I went to was the Hema department store and I leisurely walked around it for a while until I found a purse that just had to go home with me. It is black and has two zippered compartments up front, under the flap, where I can keep my wallet and my camera, so it is perfect. It has a long strap, so I can wear it across my chest and feel secure in the fact that nobody is going to rip it off my shoulder. After I paid for it, I moved down the counter and immediately transferred all my stuff from the old purse to the new one and I walked out of the store feeling quite perky.
Things I didn’t buy there were an electric water boiler, a thermal teapot and an on sale duvet cover. Savings…quite a bit.
I blew all the savings when I went to my favorite clothing store and right when I entered saw a multicolored top that just begged to have a purple long sleeved stretchT-shirt underneath it, which I found. Then I went to look at their jackets again, because I had a hunch that more of them would be on sale, and I was right. I tried on about 6 different ones, but ended up buying the one I tried on first, which is a brown leather jacket that was on sale for the price of a potato and an egg, so that had to go home with me also.
You see how these items of clothing call out to me from the racks on their hangers to be taken home by me, that is, if I find the one that is perfect. Once I find the one that is perfect, there is no sense in me hanging it back into its place, it is totally useless, because by that time I have bonded with the item and I find it impossible to let go of it. As a matter of fact, I’ll wear it out of the store and have the saleslady cut off the tags while I am wearing it, no matter how hard they are to reach. I figure she’s got to do a little bit of work to make that sale.
To celebrate my good fortune, I went to Café Monopole and sat on the terrace there. Here is a picture of it.
I had a cappuccino there with a chocolate and a cookie and a piece of rijstevlaai, which is something you will have to google yourself to see what it looks like. I only ate the filling, because of my gastric band, and that was more than enough. The cappuccino was delicious and I had a fun time watching the people walk by. For afters I had a glass of dry white wine and that went down quite easy too. I do so like sitting on terraces by myself, because I can determine how long I sit there and what I have to drink and how slowly I drink it. I have none of the awkwardness of a woman on her own and none is directed to me.
After that I started to wander around town a bit and took this picture of the fountain on the big square, although now on the picture it looks like a puny fountain, when in reality it has quite a bit of spray.
In the background you can see the Spanish Guard building, left over from when the Spanish ruled here back in the 16th century into the 17th century, until we kicked them out after the 80 Year War. One of my ancestors fought in it and luckily was on the right side. He was protestant. I am sure more of them did, but I don’t know about them, I only know for sure about this one because it is documented.
Then I came upon these carnavalesque figures and of course, I had to take numerous pictures of them, because they are not always decked out that colorfully and I don’t know for which occasion they were. Normally they are just in their bronze nakedness.
I will spare you the boredom of having to look at more than one of them, so we can move on to the next picture and that one has the oldest private dwelling of Maastricht on it and is now a café called In the Old Ostrich. It is the building on the corner where all the flags are waving for I know not what reason, except to be patriotic and jolly and happy.
You can see how we have such a café culture here, especially in the better seasons on the terraces, but even in the winter time when the weather allows it, we will sit outside with burners going to provide heat and big parasols to keep us from getting wet if it just drizzles.
Anyway, then I walked to Armor Square, which is just a little square that supports a few cafés and shops and restaurants. There’s the column with Armor standing on it. I don’t know the story behind it, just as I don’t know about a lot of Maastricht’s cultural history. Shame on me!
And here is a little side street that runs into it that I thought was just pretty and a little Mediterranean looking, especially with the green vine climbing up the side of the building.
Then I got into the expensive shopping area. You can tell, because of the lack of people walking around. They shop more discretely than the rest of us. Here is where I almost ran into André Rieu, the famous violinist and orchestra director and he smiled at me when he passed me, because he saw I had a camera in my hand and no doubt he thought I was going to ask if I could take his picture, but I didn’t, because I am not like that. I will never ask someone famous to pose for a picture, I find it highly embarrassing, both for me and for the famous person. So, I walk past them without barely a glance and I don’t look around. I walked past Harry Bellafonte that way too.
As a reward for my wandering around downtown I went to ‘t Pothuiske, where the Exfactor and I went in the wintertime and where I had hot chocolate. I sat at a small table outside.
I ordered a glass of wine and noticed the sign right by my table that announced they had 12 kinds of beer in barrels on tap. That’s quite something.
When I walked back to the underground bike parking, I ran into this swinging band and I could hear them from a distance. They were quite good and another one of those inexplicable things that happen in this town that I don’t have an explanation for. Things just happen, I don’t know why. There is always a party atmosphere. Music happens, bands happen. Clowns appear out of nowhere and stilt walkers and I don’t know why. It’s all a mystery to me.
Ciao…
>An Award.
>Diane Clancy has decided with her whole kind heart and everything, to give me an award for which I am very grateful. It has been a while since I have gotten one, because at one point I decided that I did not want to get them anymore, but I have changed my mind recently and become greedy again. I am undecided if I should display the awards that I have gotten so far in my sidebar, or if I should show an award once and leave it at that. It’s a decision I’ll have to make some day. Anyway, here is the award:
Now comes the hard part, I have to give this reward to seven other people and list them here and link to their blogs also and leave them a message on their blogs. This is where it all gets very tricky you see. Try to think of only seven people I would give this award to is hard, so today, I am going for some unusual choices, people you may not have heard of before.
Here they are in no particular order and I am not going to mention the individual’s name, as it is not always known to me. The blogs I am giving this award to are:
- Liebfraumilch and Lipstick
- The Potty Diaries
- Chicken and Cheese
- Her Bad Mother
- The Other Side of Sixty
- Whopping Cornbread
- The Wandering Writer…and her dog
A round of applause for them and for me for getting that part done. Now all I have left to do is go to their blogs and leave them a comment.
Oh boy, I think I am finally recuperated from installing Ubuntu and I am trying to figure out if it was all worth it. I think I will give it a week of working exclusively with it and then decide if I like it or Windows better. I think I have to get used to the way Ubuntu works. It is so simple and bare and not at all cluttered with things the way Windows is. I feel like I am missing things that I should keep looking for.
I think that for my photographs download I will keep going to Windows, unless the Exfactor comes up with a solution like he said he would. He was here yesterday to take a look at it all and to bring me a very small pair of plyers to repair my necklaces with, some of which had started to fall apart. Luckily, all of them while I was at home.
I slept a lot during the day, on the sofa and the Überhund was mighty confused. He does however sleep on his sheepskin rug and shares it happily with the cats, because there is enough room for everybody. It was a brilliant idea to put it under the coffee table, if I say so myself. I think he feels safe there and it is close to where I sit usually.
I have been wearing my high tops almost nonstop, because they are so comfortable and the next time I am in that store, I must look to see if they have another pair in my size, which they didn’t when I got these. It would be good to have a spare pair around in case I wear these out quickly. I think they are cool enough to wear a lot and to safe my boots for when I really get gussied up.
Today I am expecting my last expenditure, a gray long sleeved tunic that is a size 44 and that will hopefully stop my spending spree for now. Unless I find many cheap things at the second hand clothing store. Anything is possible.
Today I must go to the tobacco shop and I really should go grocery shopping, but if I don’t make it today, I can go tomorrow. It all depends on when the package gets here.
We are having some sunny days here. Not quite summery, but pleasant nevertheless. In the mornings it is cold, but when the sun gains in strength, it get positively warm. I thought I had lost that jasmine that I had transplanted to the pot out front, but there are some new little leaves on it, so I am hopeful that it will be okay by another few weeks. It is winter blooming jasmine, so it should be showing some growth this time of the year.
The poor cats have run out of Perfect Fit to eat and now have to eat ordinary Felix cat food and they don’t like it. They have distinguished taste. They have been spoiled by me to think only the best is good for them and they are right. No food additives and no food coloring and other junk. Gandhi is my case in point, the less she barfs, the better the food.
Well, except for the awards, this has not been a very exciting post, but I can’t always be such a sharp and witty humorist. Sometimes, I am just plain dull.
Have a good day people, I think I will yet have a nap or two in me.
Ciao…
>How did I get here?
>I am sure that the last 24 hours have for the majority been taken up with setting up Ubuntu into the tiniest details and I have discovered that whatever Ubuntu does not let me do, Windows will still allow me, like the download program to my new digital camera, which I can’t get to use in Ubuntu, although I am sure someone will tell me there’s a trick to it. I haven’t found it and I’m too tired to try.
I did find a music player that for some reason, unbeknown to me, but very welcome to, down loaded all my music from the real player in Windows and is now playing it in Ubuntu, so that was a nice surprise. It has it arranged alphabetically by artist, so that is convenient too and not all haphazard they way I had entered it. Now, when I want to listen to Björk, I listen to all of Björk until I am sick of it and change to another artist. And so on, and so on.
I did take a nap this afternoon on the sofa for a few hours and that was mighty pleasant. That was after the delivery man brought the Überhunds sheepskin and bag of new food that I had ordered, It is called Dog Chow from Purina and I have never seen him wolf down his food so quickly. That is a definite hit! I stood looking on in amazement as he emptied his whole dish.
The sheepskin is kind of a popcorn fart and doesn’t amount to much. I have to put a folded up blanket under it to give it any substance, but the Überhund seems to be happy with it and the cats too and that is what counts.
I need to go to sleep now or Iĺl fall off my chair.
Have a happy day.
Ciao…
>Early in the morning.
>Well, I have sat here all night fiddling with Ubuntu, getting some things to work and figuring out other things, but having a heck of a time getting onto my own dashboard to write a post and that has something to do with cookies and I can’t seem to get the thing tweaked right. I got in now by a back door, but it may not work a second time. There are still things I don’t know how to do and that bothers me, because I don’t like to not know how to do things. Something stubborn in me rears its head then and I keep going until I have it figured out. I’ll be darned if I don’t find out how to do it.
The Überhund finally gave up on me and went to sleep in the bedroom. He came out briefly very early and had a pity party, but I was not kind to him and told him to lay off and quit the noise and he did, much to my amazement, and then he went back to the bedroom. I have no time for shenanigans, I am doing important stuff here. The future of my PC interaction is at stake.
Actually, when I start up the computer, I have a choice to go with Windows XP or with Ubuntu, if I don’t do anything, it goes to Windows by default. The start up screen of Ubuntu is very pretty. It has a stylized heron on it and a nice color background, very artistic. Ubuntu is an ancient African word that means ‘humanity to others’. It is mine to share with whoever I wish to. Completely free of royalties.
I can’t believe I stayed up all night and I am not in the least bit tired, just a bit cold, so I’m wearing an extra cardigan.
Yesterday, I bought a pair of high tops for 6,95 Euros at a very cheap store. They look like boxer shoes and they are black with black laces and they are very comfortable to walk the dog in. They have zippers on the insides, so they are easy to get on and off. What a bargain, huh? Oh, I love to make a good deal.
My daughter called me yesterday and there was a small chance that she was going to have her electricity turned on again that day after all that time. My grandson has not been to school all this time and my daughter has taken him in to work whenever it has been possible. She said that right after the hurricane, the downtown area looked like Armageddon had happened. An insurance adjuster was going to come by her house yesterday to look at the damage to her roof and see how much it would cost to get it fixed and all that good stuff that needs to get settled on.
Her dog wasn’t in the least bit scared when the storm just kept whipping and howling around their house endlessly. Their cat was in a cozy place inside. My daughter did say that it was as if there was never going to come an end to it, it seemed to last forever.
The Überhund keeps coming out to see what I am doing, but he has not dared to ask for a walk or anything. I must take him out now, though. It is not fair to him if I keep sitting here like a maniac. A fanatic woman. I knew I would get this way once I got started on this darn thing.
Okay, I’ll be good now and take the poor animal out. It will be good for me too.
See you later today, maybe.
Ciao…
>Ubuntu.
>It is 10:30 in the evening, but I have managed successfully to install a version of Linux called Ubuntu on my PC. I am not quite done adding all the fine touches to it yet, but the majority of the work is done and I was smart enough to print out all of the instructions before I installed the CD, which wiped out everything that was on the computer before that. I had also copied all of my bookmarks and printed all my email addresses and I still have to enter all of them.
Ubuntu has a lot of built in programs, so you can look through a whole variety of them and add them as you feel the need or remove them as you see fit. There are several choices of the same sort of programs, so whatever suits you best, you can try.
I got the email program to work. That was my main concern and I have two email addresses and I got them both to work, so that is good. It receives all the mail for both addresses in one place, so there is no hopping back and forth like there was before.
I wasn’t sure when I got the CD in the mail yesterday, if I was going to go through with it, but then I had a memory stick and I started putting a bunch of artwork on it, and when I ran out of space I went to the computer shop and bought another one and put the rest of the stuff that I wanted to save on that one. Once I had done that, my mind was made up, and in between walking the Überhund a few times, I installed the program.
It wasn’t nearly as scary as I thought it was going to be. I mean it wasn’t anything traumatic. The sky didn’t come tumbling down all of the sudden. A lot of junk that was on Windows is gone now, but I won’t miss it. A lot of it is not necessary anymore, like the virus scanner and the add aware program that looked for cookies. I think that, as I get used to it, I will discover which extras I want and which I don’t. It will be fun trying out different things. I am also happy to leave some baggage behind me that I felt was adding unnecessary weight.
So, I’m off to a clean start and I’ll sit here until the wee hours of the night and add all sorts of information and photographs and what not. It will be fun and I don’t have to go anywhere in the morning. And by the way, the Ubuntu CD is free, it costs nothing and no shipping charges either. Mine came from the UK.
Well, now I’m off to add bookmarks to my favorites. Then maybe I wil do email addresses and maybe do the installation CD for my camera. We’ll see how far I get.
Ubuntu to you and a good night too.
Ciao…
>Full of Joy.
>I just checked my banking account with a certain amount of trepidation in my heart and the tiniest amount of unwillingness to face the dire truth, but oh, my heart is full of joy, because the tax people have, without telling me, deposited 4 months worth of health subsidy in my account and now I am better off than I thought I was. Oh, hurray, I said a little ‘thank you, Lord’ when I saw that, and I’m not really religious. At least I am not when I am supposed to be normal. I forgot all about getting that money and it is going to make such a huge difference in how I get through the month.
Well, every cloud has a silver lining and I think my clouds usually have one. I must never complain too loudly, because so far, there has always been a solution, even when it has not been the most elegant one. I am still living, breathing, eating, sleeping under a roof and having normal days without fear of disaster. That’s something anyway. There are a lot of people who don’t have that.
This morning, after I had been up for a few hours, I decided I was still sleepy and went back to bed and fell sound asleep until the doorbell rang and the Überhund started to bark his head off. It was a delivery man with a package for me and I asked him, quite befuddled, why he was delivering packages on Sunday. He looked at me very surprised and told me that it was Tuesday today. I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone and completely discombobulated.
Very quickly I went and made myself a strong cup of coffee and smoked a cigarette as deeply as I could and saw that it was time to take the Überhund for a walk, but I was walking around in my pajamas with a sweater on top and socks on and I had a wrinkle in my face from the pillow.
So, first I had to make the transformation into the hip chick that I am when I go outside and I tried to wash the wrinkle out of my face with cold water. I only half succeeded and applied make up and disarranged my hair until it looked floppy and tousled enough, and hair sprayed it, resulting in sneezes from the Überhund. He does insist on watching the process.
When I was dressed properly, I was also quite awake and, even though I really needed more coffee, I bravely stepped outside the door with the Überhund at my side, from which point he proceeded to try and drag me through the neighborhood to all the best places to look for scraps of food, because it had been trash day and he thinks there are edible items in every bush and under every leaf in every gutter. Try and pull 45 lbs of dog in the direction you want to go in.
I finally resorted to getting very angry and scolding him, which helped for the rest of the walk. It helped so well, that he got a reward as usual when we got home and he did ask for it very nicely.
I ordered a fluffy sheepskin with a rubberized backing for him to use in the living room and I think I will put it under the coffee table, because when he is not with me, he seems to like laying there the best. I hope he will like it, but it was not very expensive and I am sure the cats will like it a lot. There may even be arguments about it. I am sure that Gandhi will claim her corner of it and the Überhund will grudgingly allow it.
I am still very pleased with my hair and send admiring glances at myself whenever I pass a mirror. Oh yes, I think, there she is with that new hair color and that really cool hairdo. I think I really forget that I am 54 years old and that I am now having a revival of my youth and am indulging in it in a grand way. I am so happy that I don’t have to dress my age and wear nylons and corsets, although a corset does do great things for your figure. It’s just the constraint I would dislike. Like being harnessed in and not having any breathing space when bending over. It’s no wonder there used to be so many swooning women.
Autumn is definitely upon us now, there is no denying the fact any longer. There is a chill in the air and a crispness that makes the leaves change color. Already some come tumbling down. It will be quite a spectacle as usual and it will be my first autumn as a single woman and I want to specifically be aware of that and really taste the season very consciously and let all the changes not go by unnoticed.
For some reason it is very significant to me. Maybe because in the past years I have gotten depressed around this time of year and I have made up my mind that I am specifically not going to have that happen now, but look forward to it with a new found curiosity. It will be a time to walk around downtown and sit on the café terraces and watch the people go by and take pictures with my new camera in the chill of the afternoon sun.
You see how I have this all planned and I can actually envision myself doing this in my mind. I do need to pump up my bicycle tires before I go and do that. Remember the last time I tried that? Lesson well learned. Those cobblestones downtown are hard on your tires and push out the air with every bump.
Well, now it’s time too have something to eat, because it is that time of day and it is inevitable that I eat, it is a stumbling block in the proceedings, that hunger feeling. I would rather not have it at all, but I suppose I would forget to eat all together and become a little skeleton woman. Ha, that will be the day!
Have a super one, everybody. I think it’s raining in Greece.
Ciao…
Another Splendid Day 