Waiting for the rain...

As is usual, I'm up in the middle of the night with my cups of coffee and my cigarettes. The dog is asleep on the coffee table and the cat is asleep on the sofa, which is a more normal place to be asleep on. It's a good thing that the coffee table is so sturdy. In fact, it is just about indestructible and can carry the weight of the dog easily. He must know that as he's sound asleep and totally oblivious of everything. 

He's been on two wild goose chases out on the patio looking for I know not what. He was on the trail of something, possibly a hedgehog. He didn't find anything, but wouldn't come in until I threatened to lock him out. He nearly got stuck in the jasmine bush and it served him right. He's way too curious for his own good. He pretends he badly has to go out and do a piddle, only to go sniffing all over the place and ignoring me when I try to get him to come in. 

The cat's a much simpler creature and takes care of herself. She's so uncomplicated. Except for the occasional mouse she brings in, she's not much trouble. There's a huge difference in the instruction booklets of both animals. You need a bookwork for the dog and a pamphlet for the cat. Cats are self explanatory. They are completely fool proof, excuse the unintentional pun.

Yesterday I put together a new outfit of two unrelated pieces of clothing. It looked good and I was much pleased. It seems I always get lucky with my clothes and am able to mix and match a lot. Maybe it's because I stick to the same basic colors and that the main one is black with which I combine others. I seem to pick autumn colors a lot while originally I'm supposed to be a summer colors person. I think maybe I've changed over the years. 

Purging my closet has made it easier to pick out outfits. I have a much better view of the clothes I have available now. I've put things that were folded on shelves on hangers to give me a better idea of what's there. I have more room to do that now. It helps to get dressed if your closet is organized. There's no hopeless searching through clothes that don't fit or are otherwise obsolete.

It helps that the weather has been cooler because this gives me more chance to wear the clothes that I like best. Skimpy clothes are okay, but not necessarily the ones that I most want to wear. I do like dressing up a bit and I like wearing layers.

Today is Friday and one of the days I enjoy the most. I intend to make the most of it. The domestic help will be here and I'm expecting the Exfactor for coffee, but it's really the run up to the weekend and the time I like most. The unstructured time. 

I will be watching a lot of tennis on television at Roland Garros. The weather won't be all that great, so I won't be outside all that much. The temperatures will be low and we're still supposed to get that promised rain that hasn't materialized, but maybe it will today.

I hope you're all having a good night and sweet dreams. 

Ciao,

Nora

An innocent dog...

He is sound asleep in the armchair now and you wouldn't think that he is guilty of waking me up out of a sound sleep, but he is, that darn dog. He had to go out and do a piddle and as a result I am sitting here somewhat grumpy and not quite awake with a cup of coffee. 

He was softly barking at me to let me know that he needed to go out and he couldn't be ignored. It's very irritating to listen to when you are trying to sleep because he keeps it up at a steady pace. There's no rest for the wicked or even for those who have been good as gold. 

Now he is sleeping the sleep of the innocents, not even the cat can wake him, and I'm sitting here yawning. But I will be alright after another cup of coffee and not be grumpy any longer. I already feel my mood improve after this first cup. You can't keep a good woman down forever. At least not for the duration of the night.

Speaking of keeping a good woman down, in two weeks time I am going to start decreasing my anti-psychotics in 0.5 mg increments. My psychiatrist has decided that I'm going to do it very slowly so as not to cause any mood disturbances. He said that we should have learned our lessons from the past and not decrease them too quickly. 

I can only concur and agree to this course of action. I want to decrease a total of 2 mg so that will take me several weeks. I'm much less cocky and assured of myself than I was at earlier attempts when I overestimated my ability to decrease them. I think I actually got in trouble because of that attitude. Hopefully this time things will go much better. 

I got a flat tire on the way home from seeing my psychiatrist and had to walk my way home with my bike. Luckily, it wasn't too far. I have to pump up my tire and see if it is a true leak or just a slowly emptying tire. If it is the latter, the tire won't have to be patched, which will save a lot of work. For the Exfactor anyway. 

I had a nice enough day. Nothing too exciting happened, which is fine with me. I like uneventful days for the most part. I talked to both my sisters on the phone and listened to their tales of woe, leaving me feeling frustrated. And then having to push away that feeling because there's nothing I can do about any of it. Their's are ongoing sagas that seem to have no endings. 

That's why I like my life uncomplicated. There's enough excitement in the lives of the people around me. I function as a sounding board. I hear it all. I would hate to have complications in my own life on top of that. I do appreciate the simplicity of my days. 

Yesterday we had beautiful weather. The sky was blue and the sun was shining all day. Today things are going to look a little differently. It's going to be colder and overcast and rainy and it's going to stay cooler for the next couple of days.

That means a change of clothes and I will have to look through my closet and see what is appropriate. Hopefully, something fun will jump out at me. I'm sure there are still forgotten clothes there that I will rediscover.

I've got to go and rediscover my bed. It's time to sleep some more. 

I hope you're all having a good night. 

Ciao,

Nora

Over the hills and through the woods...

That's not really where I'm going. I just felt like saying that. It's in the middle of the night and I'm sure I'm not going through the woods now. That would be a bit scary even if I had a strong flashlight. My imagination would get a hold of me and I would think of The Blair Witch. Remember that movie? That was pretty gruesome. 

No, I'm staying right where I am, safely inside by the light of the desk lamp with my cup of coffee. I do know where life is good. That's right here with my dog and cat. 

I've already slept and woke up writing a blog post in my head, but I've forgotten what it was about. I was formulating a sentence in my head as I became conscious. I had to immediately let the dog out back when I got up and go to the toilet myself, so by the time I turned on the computer, everything I had dreamed was forgotten. 

I just made myself a small pot of fresh coffee and am drinking the first cup now. For a change, I didn't make it so awfully strong. That was a deliberate choice on my part as I often make the coffee too strong and get too wired. I only want to drink two cups and then switch to cold milk and go back to bed and sleep some more. 

I have to see my psychiatrist at 10 o'clock in the morning, so I do have to get up on time. I'll even have to set the alarm clock.

My SPN told me yesterday that she is pregnant, so we had a happy talk about pregnancy and what I remembered about it. I'm thrilled for her and can't wait to see her belly grow. I had already noticed that the last few times she was wearing the same roomy tops, but had not put two and two together. 

She's going on maternity leave in October and that will be the end of our therapy together. I told her it's all for a good cause. What can be a nicer reason than having a baby? I certainly can't think of one. 

The Exfactor did manage to do the groceries after all yesterday, so I didn't have to do without milk for too long a time. I drank glasses of water when I did. They made me feel a little sick to my stomach and I was happy when I could drink milk again. Plain water doesn't seem to agree with me very well.

I picked up the Metamucil from the pharmacy and mixed a spoonful of that in a tall glass of water and I will hopefully notice the result soon. I'm planning on using it every day and will hopefully get the rewards of it every day. It will certainly be a relief if it works. 

It's going to be a bright and sunny day and feel warmer than it actually is. That means I can wear the same clothes I wore yesterday and I'm glad because it was a good outfit and I felt comfortable in it. I wore my favorite dress.

As I lose weight, the clothes that I wear fit me better all the time, but some things get too big and sometimes that's a shame because I'm attached to them.  I try to shrink them in the laundry, but I only have partial success with that. Some things just need to be put on the obsolete pile. There's no help for it. 

I hope you're all having a good night and those of you who are still up, I hope you are having a good evening. 

Ciao,

Nora

How long will it last?

I'm somewhat sleepy headed as I sit here with my first cup of coffee in the middle of the night and I've been yawning nonstop. No doubt another cup of coffee will fix me right up and I will be perky in no time at all. I wish to be perky and not sit here so muddleheaded and in danger of dislocating my jaw every time I yawn. Besides, I do want to be able to make some sense as I write this and not look like a completely misguided woman. I always want to come across as totally sane and sensible. 

Oh yes, I forgot that I had stated that I wanted to be completely honest at all times and that I would show my less positive aspects also. So I don't have to be perfect. I can be muddleheaded and misguided. I'll be it for just a while then until the coffee starts to work. When the caffeine kicks in, I'll be right on track again. 

I'm sitting here with my short hair totally sticking out all over the place. It looks like I've been in a bad storm and it has gotten stuck that way. No amount of brushing will get it in place again. I will have to wash it with a good shampoo to get it to look decent again. I don't know what I do in bed to get it to look that way, but apparently I rub it the wrong way. It's not even static electricity that makes it look like this. I do this all by myself. 

Those are the lesser side effects of having short hair. You very quickly look like a porcupine.

I'm having my second cup of coffee and the yawning is lessening. I do think I'm becoming more clearheaded. Any minute now I'm going to break out in a song and dance routine. 

Well no, I don't think it will be as bad as that. I'm not known for quite that much exuberance. It would cost me an awful lot of effort. It would probably knock the wind right out of me. I don't think I will ever do a tap dance and I can only sing in the shower. 

I almost forgot to be happy that today is Saturday. Isn't that wonderful? I have most of my chores done and the day to myself. It really and truly will be a weekend day to enjoy as I please and as far as I know, the weather is going to be decent also. We're supposed to have sunshine all day. 

In a way, that's not so good because we ought to have some rain to replenish the rivers and canals and groundwater supply. We do officially have a drought now, so we don't hope for a long hot summer. On the contrary, we wish for rain. The dikes along the rivers and the canals are drying out and that may cause a break and a flood and some of them are now artificially kept wet. The Netherlands are not a wet country anymore.

It's with some amount of anticipation that I look forward to going back to bed. It will be nice to lie in the semi dark and listen to the radio before I drift off to sleep again. 

It will be equally nice to choose which clothes I'm going to wear today. I'm still looking for that unfindable cardigan. I have yet to figure out what I've done with it. 

I hope you'll all have a nice day. I'm planning on having a very nice one. God forbid anything should stop me from having it. 

Ciao,

Nora

That gosh darned dog!

The darn dog woke me up from a sound sleep. He decided he needed to go out back for a piddle or two. When he came in again, he decided that he was hungry, so I had to feed him something until he was satisfied and went to sleep. By that time I was wide awake and not ready to go back to bed, as I never am under these circumstances. 

I made myself a cup of heated up coffee and made the best of it. I'm going to have to make some real coffee next, though, because this stuff is undrinkable and I'm worthy of better. It will do to get the first cobwebs out, but it's no good for my enjoyment. And my enjoyment comes first after Tyke has been settled down. 

I was sleeping very nicely under the good smelling sheets. They had still not lost their good scent from having been dried outside. I was having a dream that I remembered fleetingly when I woke up, but that totally has escaped me now.

I've been having very interesting dreams lately and my body mimics the actions I perform in my dreams. I wake up that way. If I dream I hold a paintbrush, I wake up with my fingers positioned that way.

I dream that I travel all over the world, to the very edge of it, at the danger of falling off. I go to Tierra del Fuego and it's barren there and unwelcome. All the natives have been decimated. Hardly anyone lives there.

I go to places that don't exist, that are on the edge of an imaginary map, like Columbus did. They're dangerous and hostile places with only a single airfield and not much else.  The ground is about to break up and we are going to fall through it.  You have to walk lightly there. 

It's probably a reflection of the insecurity I feel every day about being in this place. I never quite feel safe and at home. There's always this undercurrent of hostility I feel. I'm a stranger in a strange land.

I've made myself a fresh pot of coffee and very nice it tastes too. You wouldn't believe the difference between it and the old heated up coffee. Or maybe you would. It's so nice to treat yourself decently, especially in the middle of the night when it really counts. When you are having your best hours. 

I still like being enveloped by the darkness that is the night and many times I don't wish for it to end. But that is mainly because I don't want the day to start with all of its obligations. The inevitability of having to see people and having to perform chores can seem oppressive. Actually, when I do these things during the day, they never turn out to be as bad as I imagined them to be, but there's always a level of discomfort and a relief when they're all done and gone. 

I have a growing dissatisfaction with my personal helper. I think she is too negative and not such a good influence on me and I feel very often that I determine the fate and outcome of our meetings instead of her. I don't quite feel that I can rely on her to make the best decisions. I feel very much that I have to take the lead into my own hands and know best myself. She's not much of a help anymore. As a matter of fact, she can be a hinder. 

Not everybody in the world has equal amounts of common sense, not even when they have the diplomas to go with it. You do have to take care who you put your trust in. I have to be my own sage. My own wise woman. Foolish people abound. Not everybody who tries to do you a service actually does. 

I will go back to bed eventually and determine in the morning what I'm going to wear. It's not going to be a very warm day. It's only going to be 58F and rainy. I think I've got just the outfit that's good for that kind of weather. I must be comfortable at all costs. I've got just the pair of pants for that. 

Have a nice morning or a nice evening, which ever timezone you're in. 

Ciao,

Nora

Sipping hot coffee...

I greet this day as if it's supposed to be some sort of important day, but really, I have no idea why it should be. Am I forgetting something important? Is it a holiday somewhere in the world? Somebody enlighten me, please. I feel in a celebratory mood and there must be a reason for it. 

If not celebratory, then at least as if it is cause for a solemn occasion that requires a ceremony. Something like that. Like there ought to be church bells ringing and incense burnt and candles lighted. Maybe the news today will enlighten me. May the 14th, people. What can it be?

In the meantime, I'm sipping hot coffee in the middle of the night as is my usual ritual. The coffee packs a punch. I made it very strong on purpose. I wanted a good kick in the rear end to really wake me up. To really get the cobwebs out. 

I got what I asked for and the coffee blasted them out. I've got mouth puckering cups of it. Nice and strong and bitter. They taste like espressos. I haven't created such a nice artificial high in quite a while. 

I'm also celebrating the fact that Blogger is on the air again. It was hard to do without for 24 hours. I didn't quite go through withdrawal symptoms, but I came close. I was ready to go straight back to bed if there was no connection. I didn't even make coffee until I was sure that there was. That must explain why I made the coffee so strong. It is celebratory coffee. 

The Exfactor was here yesterday and told me he is going to be moving house next week. He will be moving into town again so he will be a lot closer than he is now, which will be more convenient for him and for me.  He does all of his major errands in town and he is here several times a week. That takes up a lot of his time and fuel for his motorcycle. 

Needless to say, he's going to be very busy next week and I have to find out another way to get my groceries. I may have to call in my sister's help or do them on my own. I don't know how brave I'll be yet. If I do them on my own, I won't be able to get them all at once like the Exfactor does. I'm not strong enough to haul that many groceries around on the bike. 

First I've got to enjoy the fact that today is Saturday and a day off. I'm going back to bed in a while to finish sleeping and I hope to sleep late. I will have to miss whatever cultural programs are going to be on television. I only have visions of going back to bed now and I'm yawning. It will be nice to make it a leisurely morning as far as the dog is going to co-operate with that. He may have different plans.

I have to find some completely different clothes to wear in the morning as today it's not going to be very warm. It's only going to be 60F and we're going to have spotty showers. That means warmer clothes with long sleeves and not the skimpy things I've been wearing.

I've taken two thirds of the clothes out of my closet as being to big to wear. It's been decimated. I'll slowly have to build up a wardrobe again. 

Right, I'm off to bed. I hope you're all having a good night and that you'll have a good morning. 

Ciao,

Nora