Mom

Out, Out With His Head

Leave a Comment

After going to bed waaaayyy too late after rewatching the Eurovision Semi-Final, Friday was a bitch. I managed to get through work, but after work I had the last team outing with the emailteam. We ate, which was delicious, and it was nice to spend some time with the people I’ve been in a team with for years. After dinner we had a pub quiz scheduled. But I was so tired by then, and since the pub quiz wasn’t until pretty late, I left after dinner and skipped the quiz.

Consequently, I slept in gloriously the next morning 😀 In the afternoon more good times at my uncle’s birthday. We made it pretty late, but I was home nicely in time for the Eurovision final, wheee!

My favourites were Azerbaijan (lovely dress, too), Norway (although he needs to enunciate more), Montenegro (the intro sounds like 2007’s Lane Moje from Serbia), Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, Malta, and of course Netherlands. I’m ecstatic that we managed to get to second place, that’s the best we’ve done in decades. And I’m glad that, if we had to loose, we lost to Austria.

Today it’s Mothers Day, so this morning I headed over to the Parents for fun times, and food 😀

Remembrance

Leave a Comment

Friday I worked from home again. This time I tried out the bedroom so I could watch more 7th Heaven in the background. I’ve made it to the seasons where I care less about the show because of all the added characters and less of the originals. And more repeats of themes. Not too weird considering many milestones are the same one kid after the other, but it does get old. Especially as the twins are kind of wooden and uninteresting. Ruthie and Simon were much more fun and alive at that age. Anyway, while that was fun for the background, the bedroom itself is not a handy work space, so that was once but never again 😀

When Nienke came home, she had brought Kim with her. So we had dinner together and then watched Frozen. I love Frozen <3

Yesterday was a busy, but good, day. Got a lot done while still feeling relaxed. Slept in, did some cleaning up, unpacked the dish washer. Then went for coffee at the Parents. I suggested we go to the cemetery to bring some flowers to grandma and grandpa. We’d been to the cemetery for my grandparents on Mom’s side recently, but it had been a while for the other side. And that grave gets a lot less visitors to begin with. They thought it was  good idea, so we decided to go later that day.

First, however, I went with Mom to the store to assist her in buying an Actifry and getting a mini vac for myself. Then I went home for lunch after which I repacked the dish washer and then went grocery shopping with Mom. After getting the groceries home, we went to the florist for a nice little bouquet to place at the grave.

Then the three of us went to Mensingeweer where we cleaned the head stone and placed the flowers. We walked around for a bit, where, as usual, my parents point out the various relatives and tell anecdotes about all these people I never met but am connected to, through time. I dig cemeteries.

The rest of the day I spent downloading, filing and archiving. Sorting out computer stuff can be so relaxing 🙂

Today was mainly more of the same. Slept in, watched a movie (Now You See Me, good film), downloaded and filed and archived some more, watched more 7th Heaven, did the administration and played iPad games. Good day 😀

 

Gathering of the Tribe

Leave a Comment

Yesterday was Mom’s birthday. I brought her presents in the morning and then left again to go to Singing Class. I told my teacher I’m quitting singing for now. It frustrates too much, and I was never truly happy with the every two weeks frequency of the lessons (both time and money-wise).

In the afternoon I went back to the Parents for the birthday party. In a surprise move, I found there all my relatives from the other side of the country. I knew they were around since they were spreading my recently departed great-aunt Veri’s ashes. But they never confirmed if they were gonna come by for Mom’s birthday, so I wasn’t really expecting them. I only had a few minutes to catch up as they were leaving again (it’s a long drive back home for them). As usual, the party was great, it’s always good to see family again, especially on birthday gatherings. I went back home early in the evening as I have a cold and wanted to get an early night.

Ooh, I almost forgot! I bought a new TV Friday. Nienke’s TV in the living room is of good size, but our living room is bigger and it is sometimes troublesome to see small things well from the sofa’s. I settled on a nice 40″ Samsung Smart TV which will be delivered next Thursday.

Today was a nice relaxing day. Got up late, had an Easter brunch, then played games, and worked on my ticketstump scrapbook (a very basic one). While doing that, I listened to a Doctor Who audio book, which was fun. But it did reinforce that audio books really aren’t my thing. It doesn’t feel like a book, it takes more concentration just to stick with the story (as opposed to reading where it sort of happens automatically). I can’t just sit and listen so my hands always have to do something, which then distracts from the story. When reading, since I’m holding the book then, I don’t have that problem. I will however subject myself to it again, as there’s also an audio play of Romeo & Juliet with David Tennant I haven’t listened to yet.

I did a quick trip to the Parents to retrieve birthday leftovers, as we do each year, and once back home I had cake and finished Sorcery and Cecilia, which is a fun book.

Murphy

Leave a Comment

Sunday afternoon, Nienke called me downstairs. Murphy wasn’t acting normal, continuously going to the litter box but barely doing anything, being lethargic and meowing sadly. We had to go to the vet with him. The vet said it wasn’t a blockage, but a bladder infection. So he got shots and we got pills for him, and home we went. But it didn’t feel right.

The next day, he was still sick, and only seemed to be getting worse. So back to the vet they went (I was working). There they decided to keep him overnight, flush out the built up toxins and hydrate him and see what would happen. But it didn’t look good.

Today, Nienke went to see him this morning. She said he seemed to be slightly better and that she had to call around 16:00 for the blood work results. When she did, they had bad news. It wasn’t helping, his liver was failing and there wasn’t really anything they could do. The only question left was to end it today or take him home and do it tomorrow. With great pain, it was decided to not prolong the inevitable. Around 17:00 we drove over there to say goodbye and send him off. Rest in Peace dear Murphy 🙁

20130810_105403

20130713_164713

DSC_0554

DSC_0323

DSC_0301 DSC_0484

DSC_0489

DSC_0409

DSC_0438 20130811_103248

Everything is Awesome!

Leave a Comment

1896772_10151991815823155_1701450211_n1897667_10151991838918155_1913042448_nWe have a new kitchen cabinet! It is awesome and glorious! Nienke’s parents had it in their hallway, where it stood in the way for years. So they offered it to us since we were looking for a better cabinet. We went to pick it up Tuesday. So thanks to Nienke’s Parents for parting with it, and Dad for driving us there to pick it up. We ended up putting it against the side wall (left of where it is in the picture) because that fit better, and also allowed us to rearrange some other cabinetry. Bottom is for large(r) tools and random crap, top for plates. And on top of it…

Wednesday Gert and I went to the movies, double feature time 😀 We started with an early afternoon Vampire Academy, which is a very uneven movie. Disjointed story, jumpy cuts, and it doesn’t know whether it wants to be a high school dramedy or a supernatural vampire movie. I did like the girl playing Rose and the dude playing Dimitri, though. In between we walked around the city and ate at La Place before going back to see The Lego Movie. I had low expectations of it, but it was definitely awesome!

Thursday I got the day off, which gives me a glorious four day weekend! Played lots of Warcraft these last few days. Also stopped at Bruna yesterday and picked up some comics. Today I got fresh bread stuff from the bakery for breakfast, made a giant pan of soup, stopped at the Blokker and got a lantern for the window sill and read my comics 😀

Also ordered tickets to two shows that are coming up at the Stadschouwburg. On April 8 there’s a play/music theater version of Gone With the Wind which seemed interesting so I got two tickets for that, we’ll see who wants to go with 😀 On June 2, Daniel Lohues is performing so I got two tickets for that as well to go there with Mom.

Where’d You Go, Chair?

Leave a Comment

So I did start Where’d You Go Bernadette on Thursday. And finished it, as well. It’s an easy read, and captivating enough that I wanted to keep going. It took a while to really get a feel for the book, but I was intrigued enough about Bernadette’s past, and I liked the narrator voice (her daughter, Bee) to keep at it. Because of the format of the book (short bits written by multiple characters (notes, letters, texts) narrated by one person) you get insights in all characters and shows that there’s always something behind everything. And most of the ‘bad guys’ are only trying to get through life just as everyone else. Everyone makes mistakes, so you might as well own up to it and try and fix it. Plus the ending is a hoot.

Also went to the thrift store on Thursday to find me a new dining chair. We’re getting rid of the rush seated ones cause the cats keep using it as a scratching post. Particularly Monkey, which leaves a mess on the floor. But, the other chairs, that actually go with the table I find terribly uncomfortable and wobbly, so I wanted a different one for me. Didn’t find any traditional ones, but found a glorious fabric upholstered one on wheels 😀 So I bought it and it now sits at the head of the table 😀

Saturday I went to the mall with the parents again. We had lunch at Hema and I bought some stuff for the house and for crafting. Sunday Ingrid came by. We watched movies (Frozen, Tangled) and played games. After she left, I ended the evening watching Frozen again and playing Warcraft.

Today at work, I assisted the Webcare people since they have workload and we don’t. I don’t mind at all, it can only be good for me in light of the job application. Playing more Warcraft tonight, working on leveling Aranthar to be my third level 90 and trying my best to level his main professions along with it, so I don’t have to keep going back.

1920201_10151986411853155_70993512_n

Paper Stuff

Leave a Comment

I forgot if I mentioned this on here, but the Webcare department at work has job openings. They’re looking to drastically increase their size, so I applied for that. And Monday I got an e-mail from their manager asking if I could make it to the selection meeting on Tuesday. Of course! So Tuesday I went. It was 50/50 useful. They started by telling a bit about what Webcare does and who they were (the managers). Then there was a language test, which makes sense. It was a piece of cake, considering I’m currently in the emailteam. After, you had to pair up with your neighbour, chat for a few minnutes and then introduce the neighbour to the rest of the assembly. This was a rather ridiculous excercise.  The whole thing took about two hours. I’ll hear if I’m through for an interview in two weeks.

Today mom stopped by for tea and brought my package (which gets deliverd to the Parents cause they’re home more often). Added to the letter paper that arrived yesterday, I’m all set for reading and writing. The letter paper and the notepads come from Zartbesaitet, a lovely German shop with all kinds of paper products in this and related designs. The books (Where’d You Go Bernadette, Sorcery & Cecelia and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society) are what we’re reading in the LEP book club. I plan to start in Where’d You Go Bernadette tomorrow as I have the day off.

1507956_10151982074523155_615899462_n

The Heart of the Matter

Leave a Comment

Dad was diagnosed with severe heart failure earlier this month. After I’d joined the LifeLines project, I invited Mom and Dad to join as well. Mom did so fairly soon, but Dad didn’t until this year. While most of the results from his base line test were okay, the heart graph was off.

To figure out why, he had to go to the hospital where they did another heart graph, which was also off. So last week he had to come back again, this time for an ECG. Then they would have to come back about a week later for the results.
Halfway through the Mom called me (I was watching the dog) to tell me they’d be home later than planned, as the ECG wasn’t good and they would get results the same day instead of later. And indeed, after another doctor came to check on Dad, they brought in the cardiologist who informed them that Dad has heart failure. He was put on medications right away, has to be low active and eat a lot less salt, and had to stop smoking right away.

Last Monday they had to go to the Heart Clinic for a follow up appointment and check up to see how he was doing so far after a week on meds and new regimen.

So, it turns out Dad’s heart has a very low pumping rate, only about 30%, which is like half it should be. He’s getting four different types of medication now: a beta blocker, an ace inhibor, two different ones to help get rid of fluids and something to widen the arteries.
The beta blocker (iirc) has been increased slightly after Monday’s check, and I expect the rest of the meds to be increased and fine tuned over the next few months. So far Dad’s saying that he’s not noticing a lot, eiher good or bad, from the meds. I’m glad he’s not having any side effects (yet?), but I wonder if he should feel different anyway.

Although this could be, of course, because his activity level was low to begin with. So the missive to not do anything intensive is easy, in fact we kinda needed to push him occasionally to do go out and walk or cycle before this. The quitting sigarettes is harder. It went well for a few days but then Mom caught him with a fresh pack of tobacco. She yelled at him and hid the stuff. When I came over Monday to watch the dog again, I then got rid of it.

Mom got him nicotine tablets (afer consulting with the doctor) that he can use if the urge is strong. I’m thinking it’s also just habit for a great deal. He has his set moments where he would go for a smoke out in the garage and that’s his routine. Routines are hard to break.

The Parents were already considering moving house, but this news put that into a higher gear. The yard is really too big for them to properly maintain (and they’re getting kinda sick of the neighbourhood as well). Conveniently, the Housing Cooperation is building new senior appartments in a town nearby. They’d talked about this development before, but Dad vetoed it then. Now, he reconsidered, so Mom called the Housing Cooperation.

Turned out there was one place left, so they immediately signed up for it and were selected. It’s expected the appartments will be ready by next spring, although some sources are saying next January. Since Mom and Dad are the first tenants of the place, they get to pick out the bathroom tiles and what kind of kitchen cabinet doors they want. Dad’s not really into that sort of thing, so I helped Mom with the choices. Fortunately, we agreed on everything right away 🙂

As for the rest, it’s wait and see for now.

LZW12

Leave a Comment

Oops, turns out I put this post on ‘save draft’ instead of ‘publish’, so pretend it’s Thursday as you read it 😀

Yesterday I went to the Libelle Summer Week with The Mom one of her friends and a friend of the friend. We went last year as well, and that was fun so when Mom asked if I wanted to go again this year I said ‘sure!’.

The actual content of the gigantic fair that it basically is, is not of that much interest to me, but it’s always nice to hang out with Mom. Plus I like her friend a lot too (the friend of the friend was new, and approved 😀 ).

We went with an organised bus trip so we wouldn’t have to think about parking and all such things, so we had to be at the departure point quite early. We lucked out with the driver, he managed to avoid all the traffic jams by taking shortcuts and smaller roads to go around them, and ended up being one of the first buses to arrive.

We followed the same kind of pattern we had going last year, where the ladies go all around and I function as sheep herder to keep them somewhat together and roughly going in the right direction. The layout was better this year: instead of several square paths with connector lanes they now had one giant rectangle path with little squares added here and there to sit down and rest or eat/drink something. This meant we could just follow the road and we’d end up at our starting point eventually.

Right from the start we focused on the stands that offered samples (most of them food/drink related), which was much fun. We’d go from one tasting and start walking again and one of us would spot another sample area to head for. In between we bought some minor things, did much chatting and occasionally paused to sit down and have a drink.

I bought sausages, two little stone cats and a set of water colour postcards and bookmarks of horses and cows. I also collected a load of brochures and little pamphlets for museums and other touristy things around the country. I’m gonna spend some time this weekend to see if there’s anything I wanna go to this summer.

Unlike last year, we managed to do a full round and see all the stuff there. We even had about 45 minutes left before we had to head back to the bus so we sat down some more for a last drink and chat. Around four we started to  make our way back to the bus so we would be there in time for its departure at 16:45 sharp. It wouldn’t do to be left behind after all 😀

 

The theme this year was China Town, so everything was dressed up with Chinese things, including the welcome girls 😀

 

There was a dragon and the main square had this huge decorated tree in it for people to sit under and around.

 

Mom and the ladies.

And along the way we came across this ‘Beautiful Man’, yours for only €14,95.