A Christmas wish

And now it’s almost Christmas. Time has been flying these past few weeks. I’m sorry for not reacting to your comments, or commenting on your blogs. I do read (and appreciate!) your comments here and I occasionally visit your blogs, but I have a hard time with sitting down, taking time and find the mental space to really engage. I will pick things up when we’re back home again.

I used to get my expectations up really high for the holidays. You know, plan all the family events, cook all kinds of dishes I never made before (such a silly thing to do!) and hope for blissfull days without any mishaps. Yeah right. That never happened. Over the years I learned to enjoy the process, but also to toss the lists when things weren’t working out. Just being with family is good enough, even when we’re all just human and not perfect Hallmark movie characters.

Last year, we had the worst Christmas ever. In 2021 we had to cancel our trip to the Netherlands because of Omicron. Back then we didn’t know it was a mild form of the virus. We just saw the number of infections rising and rising and made the decision to stay home. I was determined to have a good time though and planned a whole lot of Christmas fun. And then T.’s kidneystones decided Christmas Eve was the perfect night to start acting up, so you can imagine there wasn’t much Christmas cheer those two days.

This year, I went in without any expectations (well, I tried really hard) and things still went off in a way that was very hard for me to deal with. But I think I’m done struggling with all the feelings I have about that, right in time to enjoy the holiday.

Wishing you all the very best of days. Don’t forget to toss the lists when things get too stressful, have a bit of fun and if things don’t work out, remember that it’s just a date. Family bonding, good meals, peaceful moments and all that good stuff can happen any time of the year.

Merry Christmas!

(I’ll be back next Wednesday – December 26th is Second Christmas day in The Netherlands, so I’m going to linger a little bit longer with Christmas movies and family visits)

Right now

Right now I am…

:: listening to the “top 4000” on our favorite radio station. This is a yearly compromise in our house. I’d love to be full on Christmas music right now, but I don’t think T. would be able to tolerate that. Also, I love hearing all those great songs (most people voting have more or less the same taste as we do) and we will have Christmas music when it’s actually Christmas.

:: not sure what to think of the weather these days. When we arrived in The Netherlands last week, it was extremely cold for the time of year. We do have periods of -10 degrees C (14 F), but usually not until the end of january. Christmas is often warmer then Easter (really, not joking), so the whole country was actually getting excited about skating and real winter stuff. Well, it’s raining now and it will be +10 C (50F) tomorrow and the rest of the year. Oh well… For us it’s still cold anyway.

:: looking forward to seeing R. (not disclosing his full name, sorry) again tomorrow. He’s so beautiful and cute and I’m so grateful that we were able to visit him when he was only one day old and will be able to see him a few more times during these first weeks of his life.

:: still struggling with jetlag, or maybe just with my “normal” fatigue and insomnia (I got sick the month before we left and never fully healed). It’s frustrating, but I’m trying to fully enjoy the short time we have with our family. If that means I have to live on chamomile (at night) and coffee (during the day), it’s okay for now. I’ll deal with the aftermath when we’re back home.

:: promising myself to fully focus on my health when we’re back home.

:: hearing the rain on the roof

:: feeling grateful to have that roof over our heads. It’s not home, but it is ours and that takes away a lot of stress. When we were renting, I was always a bit OCD about other people’s germs, but also very scared to damage something. Also, it’s so great to just know where everything is, both in the cabin and in the village.

:: thinking about Christmas Eve. We’ll probably go to the new parents’ home, but I promised I’ll prepare and cook diner, and we’ll all chip in to get things cleaned up afterwards. I’m not going to make it complicated, just simple food we all love. Thinking about doing veggies and potatoes in the oven, but I need to ask if they have sheet pans. Or just buy them. Add some nice meat (the new mother is very excited to be able to eat red meat again) and find ourselves a gluten/dairy/soy/nut free dessert (ha! that’s impossible, but luckily I’m the only one that has all those allergies, not to mention overreacting to sugar – I usually skip dessert).
No matter what, it will be great to have Christmas dinner together again for the first time since 2019 (I hope I didn’t jinx it by writing this) and that’s what’s most important.

:: wondering if I’m finally learning not to stress about things like that, or if I’m just too tired to worry.

:: wishing you all a great start to your week!

He’s here!

We interrupt our regular scheduled programming to announce that yesterday morning our grandson was born.

Mother, father and baby are doing great. Grandfather is extremely proud of all of them and Grandma can’t stop taking pictures (but only because holding him was not an option yet).

Cycles

I am reading a book. Well, I am reading many books. Most of them just simple novels that I fly through in a few days (I love “paranormal cozy detectives” and luckily my ereader subsciption has a big supply of those). But this book, I’m just reading slowly, one chapter at a time. I’m not going to tell you what book it is, because that would kind of force me to write a whole lot of words about what I think of it and frankly, I’m not sure at all if I like it or not.

But in one of the very first chapters, the writer mentioned that we live our lives in cycles. Not just our hormonal cycles, but in many, many ways, far beyond that. She then proceeds to compare those cycles to the moon cycles and the seasons. I can relate to moon cycles, but I really don’t like that most books with nature based philosophies assume everyone lives in a region with real, distinctive seasons – I never did and a lot of of us don’t. But I digress.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot. You know, I have this image in my mind of how (or who?) I’d like to be. And sometimes I am that woman. But other times, I’m not. I always blamed myself for not being consistent, for “falling off the bandwagon”. But life is not static. We move in circles. Or ideally in an upward spiral, evolving and growing each time we go around, but I guess it takes a lifetime to really see that growth.

But the point is, it’s not wrong to have ups and downs, it’s part of the cycle. Like dark moons and full moons, like ebb and flow, and – okay – like winter and summer.

So now I’m trying to accept that, and I’m striving to understand my cycles. In all aspects of life.

Energy levels for instance. That’s a big one for me. I have very active days, but they are always followed by days of exhaustion. People tell me all the time that I should spread my activity, but that just doesn’t work. Or they just think I’m exaggerating my being tired, because the other day I was fully capable of doing so much.
And then I feel frustrated being so “weak”. But since I’m trying to incoorporated this idea of cycles in my life, I am slowly learning to accept that I have these tired days (sometimes weeks). Because now I have hope. The active days will come again.

Herbs are a big part of my life, but sometimes I’m almost obsessed with studying and using them, and other times I’m just drinking my chamomile tea and leave it at that. And it’s the same with my other interests and hobbies; knitting, sewing, writing, reading, gardening, photography… I always feel like I should stick with one thing and immerse myself in it every single day. But my interests come and go, and come again. I’m not inconsistent, I’m just moving in cycles.

This way of thinking actually helps me to understand myself better. And more importantly: to finally accept myself for who I am.

And that’s why I’m sharing this. Because maybe you need to hear it too. It’s normal to have lesser days. You can’t always be a full moon, high water, or a summer. Sometimes you need to take a step back. And that’s okay. Time will turn and good days will come again.

Getting there

Thanks for all the well-wishes on my last post. I’m getting there. Still not feeling completely up to writing comprehensive sentences (and probably overthinking my posts way too much because I’m a bit off emotionally) , but defintely better than last week.
I’m sorry for posting a non-post again, but don’t worry, I am working on real posts for the rest of the week, so I hope to be back with something a bit more interesting on Wednesday.

Hope you’re having a good start of the week!

Giving up

No, not on blogging. I’m still trying to keep going. That’s actually why I’m writing this post to announce that I don’t really have something to post today. I have been sick most of the week, to be honest, but I had some posts prepared and decided to publish those. But if you’re wondering why I’m slow with answering your comments and not commenting on your blogs at all, this is why. And now I’m just giving up.

So today I’m calling in sick. I’m going to sit on the couch, drink some tea and read a book. I hope to be back on my feet on Monday. Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

These rainy days

The cat is not amused and wants me to end it. My husband’s mood is more or less the same.

My philosophy is that it’s best to just take things as they come and I strive to find beauty in everything.
Today I couldn’t really find the words to express that beauty, but luckily there are some very talented ladies who have done that for me (I couldn’t chose just one poem – they both speak to me in different ways).

Last Night the Rain Spoke to Me by Mary Oliver
Last night
the rain
spoke to me
slowly, saying,
what joy
to come falling
out of the brisk cloud,
to be happy again
in a new way
on the earth!
That’s what it said
as it dropped,
smelling of iron,
and vanished
like a dream of the ocean
into the branches
and the grass below.
Then it was over.
The sky cleared.
I was standing
under a tree.
The tree was a tree
with happy leaves,
and I was myself,
and there were stars in the sky
that were also themselves
at the moment
at which moment
my right hand
was holding my left hand
which was holding the tree
which was filled with stars
and the soft rain –
imagine! imagine!
the long and wondrous journeys
still to be ours.

Summer Shower by Emily Dickinson
A Drop fell on the Apple Tree –
Another – on the Roof –
A Half a Dozen kissed the Eaves –
And made the Gables laugh –

A few went out to help the Brook,
That went to help the Sea –
Myself Conjectured were they Pearls –
What Necklaces could be –

The Dust replaced, in Hoisted Roads –
The Birds jocoser sung –
The Sunshine threw his Hat away –
The Bushes – spangles hung –

The Breezes brought dejected Lutes –
And bathed them in the Glee –
The Orient put out a single Flag,
And signed the Fete away –

(poems found here and here)

Right now…

Right now I am…

… struggling with today’s post. I had something prepared, but I wasn’t happy with it, so I decided not to post that. But then it started to nag me that I needed to stick to my Monday – Wednesday – Friday schedule, so here I am, ignoring the breakfast dishes and trying to write something, before it’s too late too post (by rules that exist only in my mind).

… thinking the blog is always a bit of a struggle for me, but this time I’m rather determined to keep it going. I always miss it when I quit.

… feeling a bit groggy. We went out for diner yesterday to celebrate something. I was a good girl and didn’t order a smoothie or ice cream, but I did eat a lot of bread.

… wondering about the human mind and how it processes live happenings. Or is it just mine? I’m kinda weird, I know.
This thing we celebrated has been weighing on me way too long. In my mind it grew into something much bigger than it actually was. I guess it eventually turned into an obsession and I’ve spent nights lying awake because of it (not trying to be mysterious here, but it’s a very personal, complicated and long story that isn’t just my own, so I can’t really share it).
I expected that I would feel relieved, happy, free… now that it’s over. But it’s like my mind is confused. This big thing is gone and now what? Where do we go from here? I am happy, but still not convinced it’s all good (it is). And I can actually feel those obsessive thoughts in my head circling around and trying to find something to return to. So weird! I guess I need a bit of rest.Maybe a few nights of good sleep? That would be great!

… listening to the birds singing outside. I love them so much.

… looking at the trees outside our office window. I think the garden is calling me.

… promising myself some sewing time too

… hoping for a nice and peaceful weekend, with lots of sewing, gardening, knitting and reading. Oh, and sleeping!

…wishing you all a great weekend too

… going to do those dishes now… 😉

Ten good things

When life feels overwhelming, negativity creeps into my mind and worries keep me awake at night, nothing works better than listing the good things in life. So here are ten things that make me happy today.

  1. cute little birds that visit us and sing for us in exchange for a little bit of sugar
  2. our (unborn) grandson growing big and doing very well (and our daughter too)
  3. our other daughter finally getting high enough on the list to believe she will get a house in the area where she works soon (the long commute is burning her out)
  4. knitting
  5. being in the garden, making plans for the garden, working in the garden, even if it’s only for short moments between rain showers and exhaustion
  6. this house. The way to finding and eventually buying it was bumpy (a story better saved for another blogpost), but so worth it. I love it so much
  7. feeling that my body is healing. Slowly, but surely
  8. all-time favorite books that sooth my mind and make me smile (especially during those sleepless nights)
  9. phone calls from the girls and my father. These take hours (literally) out of my days, but I love spending time with them that way. It makes this distance between us bearable.
  10. this blog; the way it makes me think about my life and the connections made through it

What is making you happy today?