I tackled yet another thing on my "Thirty by 30" list -- making my own place mats and napkins. Place mats are done. Napkins are next Friday's project. Of course, this feat was not tackled alone. My mom set me up with her sewing machine and gave me a thorough step-by-step tutorial. Most important take away: starch is your friend. Check.
On the way to my folks' house to re-enter the world of sewing, Henry and I listened to his Music Together CD [again]. Now, I do enjoy this music. I really do. And I enjoy it even more when I can hear Hen sing along in what *almost* sounds like the lyrics. Despite all this, I wasn't really up for nursery rhymes for the ride home. WCCO trumped "Jumpin' Josie". I tuned in just in time to hear Esme Murphy take calls from listeners about their "bright side" of the day. The first few I heard were, um, well..."eh"...not to judge or anything, but I was like, "Really? That's your bright side?" But then almost as if Pollyanna Eric were in the car with me, I was reminded that the small joys and triumphs are really what do get us through our days...or our lives for that matter. Yes, it's cliche. But it's cliche because it's true.
This has me thinking about how I've been seeing the glass half empty lately. I have never considered myself a pessimist. I actually always thought that I was dangerously optimistic ("You want that quarterly report done in a half hour? With added supplements? And 1,000 bound copies? Sure! No problem! I should even have time for a cup of coffee too!"). But my mindset has shifted to the dark side lately. And I think it's high time for it to shift back to where it belongs and is most comfortable. So here it goes....
My bright side is that Eric and I have a date tonight: a one act play at the Northfield Arts Guild Theater (free!) followed by filthy dirty martinis on the rocks.
Take that Mr. Negative Nelly.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
The Netherlands
We arrived home about a week ago from our vacation in The Netherlands. I came back completely rested from my 12 hours of sleep each night in addition to my obligatory naps on the beach. And now I type this blog entry while I consume liquid sleep (coffee) mid-afternoon. It's amazing how quickly that rested feeling goes away... *sigh*
Anyway, we spent eight days with my former roommate and friend, Mirjam (MJ), who lives in The Hague. There really wasn't much planning involved. The whole trip came down to three e-mail conversations:
Ally to MJ: I need a change of scenery. When can I come visit?
MJ to Ally: End of April work?
Ally to MJ: Perfect. See you then.
It had been six years since we last saw each other and only had sporadic e-mails with quick "catch ups" throughout this time. But we picked up right where we left off...as if we didn't miss a step.... A good friend like that is truly a blessing that I often take for granted and hope not to moving forward.
The days often started off slowly: coffee, smoothies, light breakfast, soaking up the sun on her porch as we planned our day. At that point we would hop on our bikes and be out into the night. We did some sightseeing, but mainly ate, drank, played games, and soaked up life and all its goodness. The amazing weather we had while there helped with the latter. More specifically though: we skipped through tulips, drank white beer, became solemn in the Anne Frank house, ate our weight in cheese, wore orange on Queen's Day, and cycled the city like native Dutchies.
Some of our favorite times were just sitting at Bagels and Beans (they had the best ice coffee) talking about life. Mirjam did an awesome job answering all of our [probably silly] questions: What's it like to have a royal family? Why do we call The Netherlands "Holland"? So what exactly is going on with your so-called sinking country? The favorite question I got from her was, "Do you have a cleaning lady?" To which I responded, "Yes, I'm her." Her friends were often asking about our vacation and trying to grasp what life would be like in America with your average of two weeks' vacation.
My favorite day was our last day: we cycled through the sand dunes on the coast (from what I understand, these are the reason why The NL is still around....) and made our way to a secluded old farm that was converted to a pancake house. The pancakes were about 12 inches in diameter and you could get them in as many combinations as you could think of. I went with cheese and apple. Eric had bacon and cheese. Mirjam and her friend, Nicole, shared an apple one. Nicole's boyfriend Get saved his appetite for apple pie. We all took a fresh mint tea afterward to help digest the loads of panakoeken that lingered in our tummies and then made our way to the beach for a nap. Pure bliss.
And now we're back at home. Mirjam said it well when we were leaving: "Holiday is great. But it's even better when you have a home that you are excited to go back to." Couldn't have said it better myself.
Anyway, we spent eight days with my former roommate and friend, Mirjam (MJ), who lives in The Hague. There really wasn't much planning involved. The whole trip came down to three e-mail conversations:
Ally to MJ: I need a change of scenery. When can I come visit?MJ to Ally: End of April work?
Ally to MJ: Perfect. See you then.
It had been six years since we last saw each other and only had sporadic e-mails with quick "catch ups" throughout this time. But we picked up right where we left off...as if we didn't miss a step.... A good friend like that is truly a blessing that I often take for granted and hope not to moving forward.
The days often started off slowly: coffee, smoothies, light breakfast, soaking up the sun on her porch as we planned our day. At that point we would hop on our bikes and be out into the night. We did some sightseeing, but mainly ate, drank, played games, and soaked up life and all its goodness. The amazing weather we had while there helped with the latter. More specifically though: we skipped through tulips, drank white beer, became solemn in the Anne Frank house, ate our weight in cheese, wore orange on Queen's Day, and cycled the city like native Dutchies.
Some of our favorite times were just sitting at Bagels and Beans (they had the best ice coffee) talking about life. Mirjam did an awesome job answering all of our [probably silly] questions: What's it like to have a royal family? Why do we call The Netherlands "Holland"? So what exactly is going on with your so-called sinking country? The favorite question I got from her was, "Do you have a cleaning lady?" To which I responded, "Yes, I'm her." Her friends were often asking about our vacation and trying to grasp what life would be like in America with your average of two weeks' vacation.
My favorite day was our last day: we cycled through the sand dunes on the coast (from what I understand, these are the reason why The NL is still around....) and made our way to a secluded old farm that was converted to a pancake house. The pancakes were about 12 inches in diameter and you could get them in as many combinations as you could think of. I went with cheese and apple. Eric had bacon and cheese. Mirjam and her friend, Nicole, shared an apple one. Nicole's boyfriend Get saved his appetite for apple pie. We all took a fresh mint tea afterward to help digest the loads of panakoeken that lingered in our tummies and then made our way to the beach for a nap. Pure bliss.And now we're back at home. Mirjam said it well when we were leaving: "Holiday is great. But it's even better when you have a home that you are excited to go back to." Couldn't have said it better myself.
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