Random

I've been doing a lot of thinking, some writing, some talking, and have moments of satisfaction next to the moments of numb emptiness that are also there.
I guess that's normal though. Life never is a continuing vale of tears, even though it may feel like it sometimes! Though I have realized that feeling depressed can cast a blanket over every situation, sucking the spark out of even the loveliest moments. Kind of like a damper on the spirit.

Looking back over my last few posts I see that I have not noted any of the things we did during the Christmas break. Just for posterities sake, I will note them now. Because I would not like to read only misery when I glance back in a couple of months or so!
Facebook seems to be taking the place of my blog sometimes. I update my state of mind or what I'm doing on there, and then forget to write about it on my blog. But then it disappears onto the net, and there's no lasting notation of how time has been spent.

So here goes:

- Lots of scrabble was played. Marinda and I experimented with playing in english and she is a strong competitor (like in every other game! I rarely beat her at anything, smart girl as she is!).

- We completed a 1000 piece puzzle in two days. I got started, Marinda finished it off :-).

- We went to Madagascar 2 with the kids. "I like em big, I like em chunky, I like em big, I like em plumpy!" Great fun!

- I baked lots of chocolate chip cookies, with differing succes. On the day after Christmas I brought my offering of cookies to my international friends here, knowing that they would appreciate this gesture. They did! All other cookies were also appreciated by family members.
Fun thing... last wednesday one of those friends returned the favor. Finding out I was not at home, she then hung a bag with a plate of cookies on my door :-).

- Christmas Eve was spent in style at my sisters house. My mom once started the tradition of exchanging gifts on Christmas Eve and it's something we do practically every year. We did small gifts, which were fun to get and give. And then we gourmetted (ate food from little frying pans, each person gets their own pan, you make your own meal. One of my international friends here didn't know what it was, so I thought I'd share!). Marinda and I got some Lush soaps, which are now lying here and there around the house spreading lovely smells. Seriously, when you wash with this stuff your skin still smells like it after a couple of hours.

- We went to the Christmas service at our old church, seeing as we still havn't found a church here that matches with us. It was nice to be there and see old familiar places. Also strange to see that things are still the same.

- New Years Eve was spent with our favorite friends. It's so very comforting and wonderful to walk into a house and feel entirely at home with people. The kids hadn't seen eachother since the summer but they immediately settled down to a game and laughs. So we spent the evening eating, talking, playing games and enjoying eachothers company, followed by Tristans delight.... setting off lots and lots of fireworks.

- I got the year off to a good start as far as physical activity goes. I have a step thingy and have been getting on it regularly. Feels good to get the sweat flowing! During the Christmas break I also finally got some new clothes. Nothing is quite as miserable as having only 2 pants and 3 sweaters in your cupboard (I am not exaggerating!). This way I at least had something decent for Christmas! I went shopping by myself one afternoon and enjoyed the freezing views in Harderwijk and took my own time. I don't particularly like shopping, so was very pleased with what I got!
Stupid thing.. I bought an oliebol at an outdoor stand when I was there. It was covered in powdered sugar. So I made sure to wipe and wipe and wipe my face, not wanting a speck of powdered sugar hanging around to make me feel like fat woman eating... Then, about half an hour later, I looked down at myself and discovered my jacket was COVERED with powdered sugar. Had a good laugh at myself!!

- It's been the coldest 2 weeks in 12 years. There was natural ice everywhere and skating on it was a huge thing. Traditionally Holland is a skating country, so everybody was out breaking legs, hips, arms and legs (seriously, in some places the army volunteered their services in order to cope with the extra workload in the hospitals!). I've enjoyed the cold immensely, I'd much rather have a good chill than have rain falling on my head. But I didn't get out as much as I would have liked to. I only spent one afternoon on the ice, only to discover that my legs were not up to the challenge :-). Major shin burn was all I got out of it...

- I watched the movie The Beach by myself one evening. Lovely to watch something without people walking in or out or commenting!

- I made two new friends on the internet. One whose blog I read regularly and who offered to exchange e-mail adresses. And another person that I happened upon fortuitously. I have really enjoyed the new contacts!

- In a more recent turn of events. I went to a christian womans group here last week with one of my new nunspeetan friends . It was a really pleasant surprise. None of the moralizing, preachy type of christianity that I'm allergic to at this moment. More of a sharing of ones life and how God plays a role in it. I was heartened by everyones honesty and encouraged to go more often. So I think I will!

Well then, I think I've gotten some highlights down! Congratulations to those who have made it down to here :-).