Gently falling snow...

I'm drinking my second cup of coffee while outside it is still snowing. It has been since forever, but it is very fine snow now and accumulates slowly. Still, there's quite a bit of it out there and it looks wonderful and white and pristine. No one has walked in it yet and there are no tire tracks. It's too early in the morning for that. Every once in a while, I go to the window and push the shade aside and look outside to take it all in. I seem to especially like this round of snowfall. It fits the upcoming holidays, doesn't it? A white Christmas is something special. 

I woke up very happily with a head of short hair and ran my fingers through it. Every hair was in place and that pleased me very much. I must remember to go to the hairdresser on time, because obviously it makes me very happy. There's nothing better than waking up with a decent hairdo. The only thing that bothers me is the terribly itchy skin that I have on my scalp. I scratch it subconsciously and make it worse. There must be a good solution for it.

Today I have a day off, The domestic help isn't coming, because she is sick and there is no replacement. I didn't want a complete stranger in the apartment and they couldn't tell me who was going to come instead, so I begged off. I don't mind if just for once there isn't anyone here. It gives me a little break. 

The Exfactor is going to try and be here in spite of the weather. He'll probably not make it on his motorcycle, but will take the train instead. The buses aren't driving. All services are canceled and the police are only coming out for emergencies. It's even a question if the trains will run. 

I do hope the Exfactor will make it, because he will bring the spare mobile phone that he's got  to replace the one that Tyke demolished and that's left me incommunicado. I feel very primitive without a phone, but at least I'm able to email when I want to reach someone. It's just a little bit slower if they're not behind their computer at that moment. 

I have to go to the tobacco shop to buy supplies and also buy a new cigarette case, because I'm using old cigarette packages now and they fall apart after a while. Besides, I can never get enough cigarettes in them and I'm always running out. They have nice sturdy cases at the tobacco shop and I will pick one out in a pleasant color. It will be an accessory, so it has to look good. I don't want to go around with ratty looking cigarette packages anymore.  I do have to show more class than that. 

I want to go wash my hair with the blond lightening shampoo. I think the girl at the hairdresser's didn't use it this time. It does make a difference with how well your hair looks and it brightens it up just a bit. It's early in the morning still and I have lots of time to do all sorts of things. I can dawdle for a while before I have to get the show on the road and get serious about anything.

Have a nice day.

Ciao,

Nora

Doo Wah Diddy...

I'm not quite awake yet, but pretending to be. I'm waiting for the coffee to get done and in the meantime, I'm having some milk. I tried to drink some juice, but my stomach violently protested and didn't want it. It was too acid, even the mild kind. I will not make that mistake again. 

I'm sure it has been the cause of the acid reflux I have been having at night. I had not put one and one together, but now I see the link. As a reaction to that, I have been sleeping on my back and not on my side anymore, because that seems to make it worse. It's as though things get squashed and my esophagus doesn't seem to like that.

I'm having my coffee now and a pleasure it is indeed. I expect to be fully functioning any minute. The coffee is mild too, because I don't make it as strong anymore, and I drink it with plenty of milk. It's not a cafe au lait, but it's getting close to it. It does make me burp, but nearly anything does nowadays, so that's nothing unusual. I think I have to invest in a bottle of Maalox. The pharmaceutical industry must be doing alright. It may be something to invest my precious money in. 

It was cold during the night, but I had the thermostat set low and the heater did not go on. It's still warm enough in the apartment, despite the cold outside. As a matter of fact, I was very warm under my duvet and woke up sweating, and on top of that, Tyke climbed  on my chest so I could hardly breath, but he saw it as a moment of complete togetherness. That's when I thought I had better get up. Gandhi was lying beside my head and things were getting a little bit too cozy. The animals do pick their opportune moments to show their love and affection. I've never had it so good.

When I got up, Tyke wanted to go outside, but I know he only wants to go hang out there and sniff around and not come back in for a long time, so I completely ignored him and he laid down on the sofa, slightly miffed. He and Gandhi are curled up together being peaceful now. I don't know how long my peace and quiet are going to last. 

Today is actually the day I'm going to see my SPN, it was not yesterday like I thought. I had the day wrong in my memory and had to check my agenda to find out. Probably it is better that I see her today, because yesterday was not such a successful day and I wasted a lot of it doing absolutely nothing but feel low and uneasy. It was one of those days in which I very much doubted my own capacity to make it through life successfully and when my belief in myself was very low. 

I suppose that everybody has days like that and that you just have to get through them in the best possible way and go to sleep and hope that the following day will be better. It proved to be right and I do feel better this morning and it is only with uneasiness that I look back at yesterday. It's such an awful thing to doubt your own mind and your capacity to think straight. 

All you have to do really is take the day off and not do anything important. Take a mental health day, like I would allow my kids to have when they were young and had a not so great day. That was a day to be relieved of your responsibilities and to get treated extra special. It's something you can do for yourself without feeling all sorts of guilt and remorse. I seem to have a problem with that, as if I need someone's permission to do it. Everybody needs a mental health day now and then. You do recuperate from them. 

I have more zest in life today and look forward to it. That means Tyke will get more of his regular walks and I will get out of my bathrobe quicker. All the things I worried about yesterday, I will not worry about today. Those were spooks in my head. 

The fact that I have very clean hair helps a lot too. And the fact that it is so very blond is another pleasant addition. It's probably getting more gray, but it seems like it is very blond. The gray hair is very finely sprinkled throughout and doesn't really show up. I don't have a thing to worry about yet and I'm going to let it all happen naturally. I'm not going to reach for the hair dye.

I have to get dressed now and walk Tyke in the cold morning air. It's 37F outside and foggy. Time for warm clothes. 

Have a good day!

Ciao,

Nora

Thursday morning...

If you look at the links in the right hand corner of my blog, you will see that one of them has a different name. If you click on that one, you will read the explanation as to why that is. I'm too wiped out to repeat it here. I'm just not going to do it.

I'm sitting here with my last cup of coffee and I really ought to go to bed because I haven't seen the underside of the duvet yet and I would like to put my head down on the pillows. But I'm too tired to go to sleep. I must get into the proper sleeping mode first and I haven't quite figured out how to get into it yet.

Outside the sun is shining and the sky seems to be all blue, at least what I can see of it. There is a bit of a wind blowing, however, and that does not entice me to go outside. Luckily, Tyke is still sound asleep. I will have to get dressed shortly and take him out, but I'm trying to put that out of my mind for now. Actually, I really hope that he'll be happy to just go out back and that I'll not have to get dressed. I do need to go to bed sooner or later.

I've had an adventurous night which I'll tell you about another time, if I can bear it. You haven't heard the ending of it yet. How I fumbled and failed and maybe came through after all. I do do some dumb things sometimes. I truly am the proverbial dumb blond. Maybe I should color my hair so it's not so obvious.

I'm going to bed so that I can sleep and wake up thinking straight. I'm too tired to do a good job of it now. First I'll see if I can get Tyke to do a piddle out back. Hopefully he'll be co-operative.

Have a good day!

Ciao,
Nora