Such a lovely sunny Saturday...

It's a lovely sunny day, although the temperatures are surely going the 'wrong' way: down. And yes, I've been out again. Yesterday I had a lot to do: visit the pharmacy, the Action for some retail therapy and the Lidl for groceries. Got some towels and yarn and needles to crochet: thinking of taking that up again!

Oh and I ordered a hat from China, lol. It was very very cheap so if it's not what I expected, I won't have lost much. Yesterday I got two packages in the mail again, very cute bow nail charms and a set of chopsticks with a spoon. The nail charms were lovely, really spot on, but the cutlery was a bit of a disappointment. I asked for a pink set but I got grey. Oh well, it could have been worse, they could have sent me the green set!

So today I just had to get some groceries. And while I was in the supermarket, I met a supervisor from my old job. He had never seen me with my wig and new teeth so he said he had to look twice.Well as a matter of fact, I can't remember his name, not even if I got paid for it, hahaha. Something with an R I believe...

And my laptop very sneakily has installed Windows 10! Have to say: I have been working with it for a few days now and I can't say I really like it. Too many bugs still. The other day Dan and I wanted to videochat on Skype but 'something wrong with the recording device'. Very annoying.

Patrizia called me yesterday: she's coming back and will start to look for a house and work overhere. She saw there are many Italian restaurants in the area so she's gonna get them all her resume. Told her she's always welcome here!

Now that it's fall a lot of tv series are starting again and there even are a few interesting new ones! Like yesterday I watched Heroes Reborn. I used to love Heroes and this one looks promising. Doctor Who has started again too, Dan is over the moon. What I like is that they promised to kill off pesky companion Clara, I really never warmed up to her.

Well this is it for now...as you can see my life is quite...boring!

Have a great day you all and keep warm!
Hugz, Anna

I am the Queen of flat packs!

When my son came to bring back my scooter, he also came bearing gifts. Well, he got me back my Legolas' Elven Hunting Knives, I love those dearly ;) But also a very heavy little box from...IKEA! With a drawer insert for the Expedit bookcase (I have the 2x4 version from Maaike with 3 textile insets). 

So today I set myself to making it. Had the electric screwdriver charged so I was ready to go! And really, I don't understand people who complain about IKEA furniture, or at least, complain about how to put it together. Through the years I have learned that if you follow the instructions exactly and count out and put all the stuff like screws and punches and thingies in a row, you just can't go wrong! So I put the insert together in no time and I am f*cking proud of myself, there!

Doesn't it look freaking awesome? I am really soooo happy with it! And I was happy to see I am still the flat pack queen! 

So, DIY safely you all and cya soon!

Hugz, Anna

Guests are welcome!

I am living where I live for 2 years now. And I simply HATED it! Of course most of the time I was depressed, sometimes more and sometimes less. Since my last vacation in Chicago I am feeling rather well though, and that led to me doing all kinds of things around the house to make it more...comfortable.

Like, I bought a little table and Maaike sold me a bookcase for a good price and I finally got a curtain rod to hang the lace curtains on I bought about 3 years ago. And of course I threw away 4 big bags of old clothes and other stuff. I even have a coffee maker now, a real Senseo!

I am starting to feel as snug as a bug in a rug here. Oh of course there is still a LOT to complain about, especially to the landlord who promised to make everything allright here... We're in September now and to be honest: he has taken care of some of the problems here like ventilation and the leaking roofs but he still hasn't done anything about dividing the utilities as promised.

Oh well. I have said what I think is important: I need electricity every single night for my CPAP. But since we're going towards the colder weather I don't expect much will get done here this year. Let's just hope we'll get a winter like last year. Because if everything's covered with snow....

But more fun has happened! As I told you all, Patrizia has been here for almost 10 days. And she gave me something totally awesome: a foldable guest bed! For her to sleep on of course, but also: other people can stay here now. We picked up the guest bed with Monique in her car...that was a lot of laughs! Her car is small and she had her shopping in it and Patrizia's suitcase and that big bed! So you can imagine...

It was the most expensive one at Leenbakker, the store where we bought it, but it was priced down to €80! I just checked to copy the pics and now it's €120 again. It is a rather comfortable little bed and it has even a nice (free) cover. So it's standing nicely folded and covered now. Patrizia will probably be using it again soon but it is good to know (for me) that I can have guests staying overnight now. Not like I expect that's gonna happen anytime soon, but it is a possibility! 

I am still getting mail from my 'friends' in China regularly. The day before yesterday the mailman brought me 2 packages, yaaay! One was a black 'velvet' wig head and the other one the much expected Hello Kitty tote bag. The wig head was awesome, I immediately ordered another one. But the bag was a big letdown. The zipper was broken, the handles weren't finished and the lining feels like paper (and sounds like paper too). In short: not the quality I expected and it wasn't exactly a cheap bag! Of course I complained, and they had the gall to offer me $1 in recompense, that is €0,91! Well, I let them know they can stick that where the sun doesn't shine.

Since my stepdad sent me a bit over what I asked him, I ordered 2 pairs of shoes, I really needed those. So I am hoping and praying they will be nice, good quality ones. And there is some other stuff in the pipeline too! Some nail charms, 2 brooches, some kitchen gadgets...all from different sellers so all coming one by one. And of course the wigs Patrizia ordered will be arriving here too! I am gonna have fun opening my mailbox every day... Although some items will be delivered at home by my friend the mailman!

Well, you all too live in happy expectation!

Hugz, Anna

Thelma & Louise part 2

The visit is over, Patrizia left. She left so fast she even forgot to greet Nerys, lol. Oh and she forgot her hairbrush. But she had an appointment in Wageningen today and the trains on Sunday are really hopeless, a 2:05-2:25 hrs travel while the rest of the week it's just 1:35 hrs.

She's going to see if she can find living space overthere but she left the option open to return here, she fell in love with Alkmaar apparently. Well, while my scooter was still working I took her to see some sites and we visited the local second-hand stores and the shopping center. We even went out to dinner once, at a Greek restaurant! And when we were scooterless, we walked towards the train station and the easiest way back to my place.

And as I said before, we had long talks about everything and nothing, we cooked, she helped me clean and made my place look even better with some little changes. Of course we made our Thelma & Louise selfies too!!! We're still just as crazy as 35 years back.

Thelma & Louise 2015

On daily life now: thanks to my stepdad my money problems are solved, that's a HUGE relief for me, big bills and debts drive me crazy! And I never had any problems with the Tax Office but now I hate them BIG time :p Oh well...they'll get their money (well, MY money, I am still very pissed off but can't do anything about it) and my scooter will get fixed and I have money for eats until the end of the month. So all is good in my world ;)

And Oh My God, as I am writing this a terrible rain and thunderstorm started! And I mean a big one...raining cats and dogs (luckily I got my cat inside in time!). But...I am inside and I love the sound of the rain on my roof and even the sound of the thunder, so relaxing! I pity all the poor people outside though...

Have a great day and stay dry you all!
Hugz, Anna

Thelma & Louise

My friend Patrizia came to visit me. We've been friends ever since we were 18 years old and between us there's only a 2 month age difference. So this year we've been friends for 35 years! We hadn´t seen eachother since my divorce more or less but I´ve been to see her in July and now she´s here.

And as good friends: we picked up where we left off almost 6 years ago! Been showing her the beautiful city of Alkmaar, we talk a lot (and eat a lot ;) ) and are having loads of fun. Yes, Thelma & Louise are back!

We gave ourselves those nicknames after we had both seen the movie 100 years ago and it still fits.We still do stupid stuff together. Like the other day, we ordered me a wig on one of those Chinese wholesale sites :p Only €10 so even if it is a horrible one, we won't have lost much LOL.

The only thing we haven't done yet is make a selfie of the both of us. So for now you'll have to do with this photo here ;)

Ok, I wish you all a BFF like mine!
Hugz, Anna

News from the cleaning front!

When I got up today I didn't have time for breakfast because...I had to go to hospital to get the results of those eye pics. Well they looked well enough so no need for lasering yet. But I'll have to return in 3 months because they wanna keep a closer look. Ok, I can do that. That was in and out of the hospital in 15 minutes!

After my belated breakfast I went to the Action, my retail therapy store! Not for the therapy, I don't need that now, but to find a cleaning tool to use on those pesky walls. But I bought one of those air duster cans too for the laptop and some of those microfiber 'rags'. And I found the (almost) perfect tool! It's called a sponge mop.

I have the exact same one only mine is turqoise. Of course I tried it out immediately and it does what it has to do! Just not under the heating pipes but I don't really care. I have a half white bathroom now! Tomorrow the other half, my back started to play up and I had to go cook too.

Oh my, and I put the air duster to the test too! That was fun. The laptop was very clean after I passed it...it's just, my desk was covered in gunk, lol. Unimaginable how much dust and stuff was under the keys of the lappie.

I cooked some delicious food: stringbeans, panfried potatoes and breaded boneless porkchops. And of course I had my cleaning fun! And of course I learned something new, about sponge mops. Think I'll use that one for the floor from now on...(and for the bathroom walls on occasion).

Clean carefully you all!

Hugz, Anna