One more won't matter

I've fallen into the trap of "one more won't matter". One more cookie won't make a difference. That extra piece of meat? I really need my protein! I'm tired, so I need some extra energy, a bit of sugar will help. I deserve this treat, after all it's a really busy time and there's a lot going on. Tomorrow I'll feel beter and THEN, yes THEN I will watch my food again. But for now, one more won't matter..........

Sound familiar anyone?

Engrained habits are so darned difficult to get rid of. Even after a year of watching my weight,( and losing a lot of it!) I still fall back into old habits. It's like it will take another 10 years before new good habits will catch on and become normal to me. And in those ten years I'll just have to keep being aware of my own pitfalls, recognize my "bad" thought patterns, and consciously chose to change whatever it is that wants changing.
Aaaahhhhh, don't I wish life was just a little bit easier! :-)

Last day of work

Yesterday was my last day at work. Despite the fact that my manager couldn't be there to say goodbye to me, it was a good day. I got a lot of gifts, nice e-mails and a great speech. And knowing me with my love of compliments, it was as good as it gets! It felt strange though to leave a place that I've worked at for 6 years. And to leave a project that has become "mine" in so many ways. I still feel quite possesive of it though I think that will pass rather quickly with the distance that there is now! I took the time write a couple more e-mails after everybody had left and to consciously stand in my office and be aware of the fact that I was leaving. I can be really bad at goodbyes, moving on to new things really quickly, forgetting that it's not only something new I'm moving forward too, it's also something old that I'm leaving behind. But I think this went ok. No tears anyways!
Today we also hand over the keys to our old house. Then hopefully Herman and I will find some time to actually BE together in some significant way, instead of both rushing around doing anything but being together!

Pimping my blog

I don't know if the "pimping" principle is known to everybody. It seems to have blown over from MTV from the States and has even been incorporated into the dutch language. When I use it I only mean making something look better. Weird how something that has such a bad sexual connotation can become so normal in everyday language. Maybe I should protest the term instead of using it?
Anyway, as you can see, I decided to change the blog a wee little bit. I do stuff like that with regularity. Though I now realize I limit myself to small things. I'm not the kind of person who drags around furniture to change the way the living room looks. I do regularly change my hairstyle. I've had it really really short, dramatically asymmetrical, long in layers, long one length, and the shapes between long and short. I have had no glasses, very bland glasses, dramatic black glasses. I've weighed a lot and I've weighed less and adjusted my clothing style. I've had several different jobs, changed sports a number of times, want to go on vacation somewhere different every year and so forth and so on. When things get to be too much of routine I go a little crazy. So a little bit of "pimping" can be a real lifesaver then! (and getting yourself painted by your children will do the trick too......)

Welcome

I just read a post from a fellow blogger who has also just moved and read with envy how she is receiving invites for dinner from people. So then I decided to write a post about the aweful dutch culture, how cold it is, how no neighbors have come by to say Hi, there have been no invites for dinners and how miserable and sucky it is here. BUT then I had another think. Because all the things I have mentioned are absolutely true but there's also another side to the story. The last 2 weeks Hermans brother has driven us to soccer matches, saving us a bike ride through the rain. He has also done shopping with me, saving me another bike ride through the rain. My parents in law have watched the kids on numerous occasions and have also cooked for us. My sister in law watched the kids. My other brother in law cooked us a great meal and helped us figure out our new sound system. We have borrowed my father in laws car so often that I'm feeling awefully guilty. A lady I met once took the effort to come by the next day and give me some welcoming roses. She also invited me to her pottery class, which I will now be attending regularly. Tristans soccer coach really made a big effort to inform the kids correctly about Tristans hemofilia and alopecia which means he is accepted and there are no strange questions asked. Another woman I just met gave me her phone number just in case I wanted to ask her daughter to invite mine to the youth group. So maybe people here are not as forthcoming as I'd like them to be, but I really have no reason to complain. If I make the effort to smile and be friendly, then that is returned to me. So shame on me for feeling envious. I should be counting my blessings!!