I already wrote last week that Gouda still feels like home for me. So, being down with flu and manuscript fever, it was the perfect place to do a bit of last minute Sinterklaas shopping.
I do visit Gouda almost weekly. The cheap supermarket there has good parking space (better than the one near me), I love their thriftshop and I also go there to buy office supplies.
And I’ve been to Gouda to visit a dear highschool friend. She found me through Facebook and she is living in Gouda now. Which is kind of weird since we grew up in a very different town, far (for Dutch measures) from here. It’s a small world.
But I hadn’t been to the old town for a while. And yet I immediately felt at home. I knew where to find the good shops and I knew where fun little shops come and go each year. I smelled the incense of “that New Age shop” (that still is going strong where it’s always been – as is the Christian bookshop) and strolled along the canals like I did twenty years ago. I saw myself walking down the Kleiweg, first pregnant, then with the double twin carriage, and then pregnant with the double twin carriage. I saw women with toddlers and was reminded of my own kids at that age. That made me feel really nostalgic and could almost imagine myself living two decades ago again (it sounds even longer ago when you say it like that).
Luckily I was distracted by someone that wanted me to donate money for a good cause. She asked if I had children. Oh, that’s such a mean trick to make you weak… But than she asked how old my ‘little ones’ were and I giggled. ‘Well, I think they’re your age!’ That did bring me back to down to earth, all right.
Since I was in the neighborhood, I popped in at my optician’s. I had to have a checkup, but forgot to call to make an appointment. But she had time. A lot of time, since we chatted away for more than half an hour. We have known each other for fifteen years, I think. My eyes were a bit better again. But that’s not good at my age. If this keeps up, reading glasses may be needed (or bi-focal contactlenses, but I really like the contacts I have right now).
I got all philosophical and thought that this is proof that people change a lot faster then the places they live and I had few vague thoughts about the transitoriness of men and the lastingness of towns like this (Gouda is almost 800 years old).
But then I wanted to take the passage next to the C&A back to the car park and that was not possible. That whole little shopping center was gone. Oh well. Nothing lasts forever.

I was planning to write a long post about Sinterklaas, winter and everything that goes with it. But I’ve had the flu and I really need to work on getting my manuscript to the editor today. So I’ll let the pictures do the talking (again).

:: before: wrapping, writing rhymes, cooking (pea- and tomatosoup)
:: during: lots of sweets, laughing, eating, talking, unwrapping
:: after: full stomachs, empty dishes, colorful mess, happy cat

:: this is the cover of my new book (that will release late Spring 2013). I love it.
:: the title is “Tegenstelling”, that means “opposites” (as in ‘opposites attract’)
:: it’s a sequel to Incognito and Dilemma (a trilogy, isn’t that great?)
:: this is the first book that I got contracted for before I wrote it
:: even worse: the flyers were sent out into the world last week and I was still writing it
:: I thought I had six months to write this book
:: but life got in the way. In a big way.
:: that’s the reason I have been stressed out these last weeks (months)
:: but now it’s finished
:: well, almost. I’m having second thoughts about the ending. A romance novel that doesn’t end with a kiss. Is that even possible? (it does suit the main characters, that’s a fact)

This morning, the winter sun painted a work of art on my wall…

I love Rotterdam. I never lived there and it isn’t really a beautiful city (though it does have it’s charme – I should take some pictures of those places someday), but I still love it. I went there yesterday to shop for Sinterklaas and of course I visited the market. To look for Sinterklaas presents. Well, that was my story. But mostly because I like browsing there so much.
There was so much to see. It’s a shame that I’m still camera shy. I don’t feel comfortable taking pictures in places like that, not even with my small camera. So you have to take my word for it. There were vegetables and fruit, bread, nut and fishes. I even saw some big crabs, though I didn’t like that at least one of them was still alive.
Some boys were dressed up as “Zwarte Piet” to collect some money for a cause that I forgot the name of. I gave the first of them some money and told the rest that I already did. The fourth time I said: “I keep running into you guys.” He said that there were a hundred of them. But when I was looking for one of them after shopping to give them the rest of my small change they were all gone.
There were lots of booths selling covers for phones that I don’t own and other booths that sold great cloths in sizes that I don’t have (anymore). I decided that now I really want to loose some weight, but first I bought myself a bag of double salt liquorice (that didn’t taste quite as salt as it used to do when I was a teenager).
Of course I had to check out the second hand stuff. Really, when you know you can’t see all the booths, the logical part of the market to choose is the part that has the antiques and vintage stuff, isn’t it? It’s the good part. And the expensive part. At least it usually is. Yesterday I didn’t buy anything. The only thing that appealed to me was a little cute box to hold incoming letters, but I have nowhere to hang it, so I left it behind.
There was a man buying a big vintage leather suitcase and someone said he should, because you can never have too many of them. I think she’s wrong. In my house there isn’t even room for one of them.
A woman asked for the price of a box of silverware and I thought it was her husband that broke out in spontaneous laughter when he heard it. But that was an other man. I have no idea what he thought was so funny, but it was the good kind of laughter. The kind that makes you smile.
And I think that’s the reason I like the Rotterdam market.
There is always someone there to make me smile.

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2011

It’s that time of the year again. While blogs from other parts of the world talk about “starting to plan” for Christmas, I’m rushing to get things together before Sinterklaas again. It always comes down to the last few days. But that’s okay. I love it.
Traditionally in our family the big bag is filled with small gifts, each with a little rhyme about the gift and it’s receiver. Good for hours of fun and laughter and togetherness.
To get into the spirit – and because I’m running out of time (I need to go shopping for it today, fun, but exhausting) – I’m (re)posting some pictures of Sinterklaas in earlier blogyears.
Yes, I’m looking forward to it!

They say knitting is soothing. I think that’s true, but I also find that for me, it doesn’t work when I’m really stressed out. And that’s why I stopped knitting that cowl that I was working on in September.
I was stressed out, sick and tired. But let’s not go into that. I just wasn’t able to relax and knit.
I am better now. So much better that I picked up my knitting this week and finished that cowl. I started on a matching hat (of course!) and finished that too. I’m ready for winter now!
From the leftover yarn I made a square for Knit-a-Square and then I started a new project, my mind buzzing with more ideas. I love that.

Now that all the excitement of new books and vacations is over, I can return to the normal of my days. Catching up on household chores, enjoying beautiful sunrises (isn’t that the one advantage of these short days and long nights? I don’t have to get up early to see stunning sunrises like this) and a bit of knitting. Oh my, how I missed knitting!
And there are some other things I need to do, but more on that later… 😉 (ha, cliffhanger!)