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I've returned from a week away in Amsterdam, which I visited with my mum. The two of us were last there together in the winter of 2005 (although I've been back since, mainly to change trains en route to Matthias's family in Germany), and it was great to revisit the same places in the sunshine — and discover the city, much changed.

I kept a haphazard paper journal throughout the week, and will transcribe it behind the cut.

( Canals like the veins of a city )

I've put up two photosets over at

ronnidolorosa: a general Amsterdam batch, and a collection of cats.

The less said about the chaotic journey home the better (suffice it to say that I made it onto my Eurostar train in Brussels with twenty minutes to spare), but I returned to a fully stocked fridge (so many strawberries and tomatoes!), a bottle of pink sparkling wine, and an incredibly lush garden.

I'm only peripherally engaged with the men's World Cup, but I accidentally stumbled into a very Balkans corner of Instagram, and discovered the absolute banger that is the Bosnian team anthem (a thirteen-year-old song about the bittersweet experience of being an immigrant, reworked by the surprised and ecstatic fans into an anthem for their team). It's so catchy, and the video is gold!

Watch on YouTube

Now to catch up with ten days' worth of Dreamwidth!

jebbypal

Do you need a dose of terminator X mash?

If so see here https://archiveofourown.org/series/5221951

andersenmom

Weekly Score: 100% (11/11)

Goal 1: Increase my spirituality. 100% (8/8)

Review: I didn't get much done on the days my friend was here, and so I'm glad I adjusted it. Managed to get more done than I expected, so that was good.

Goal 2: Write a blog article each week. 100% (3/3)

Review: Writing about the vacation, and trying to get in the details of everything we did, went a long way toward this goal. I'm behind, but I'm still working on it (Seriously, I went to bed at 9:30 two nights in a row. How?)

Goal 3: Make deck available for use. N/A

Review: Didn't work on it this week; it was completely unreasonable to think I would. However, my husband asked if I had straightened the rugs (we have outdoor rugs on the deck), and when I said I had, he said thanks. So that was nice.

Intentions for the future: G1 - keep working on this. G2 - I'd like to write about the hot springs we visited, and make that into a really nice post. G3 - sweep the leaves and vacuum the furniture, and finally get to relax and enjoy the deck!

Current Mood: exhausted
Current Music: Strawberry Cake - Xdinary Heroes

omens

I have been staining tiny chunks of the deck railing, first as an experiment. We had a tester can the people who sold us the house left so we knew what colour to buy and it looks so good and is sooo easy. My tiny chunks are very rewarding, lol.

And I planted the rest of the flowers I had bought which were suffering in their little flats for weeks. Everything can grow grow grow now. A while back I planted dill, cucumber & holy basil in my click and grow and everything has been looking great except the basil, I thought they were duds but they're finally coming up now!

Also made oatmeal banana raisin muffins today (added the raisins bc L likes them), and they're very good.

I'm feeling very go go go lately, I hope it sticks a while.

There are TWO FLIES (at least?) in my house right now and the dog and I are DONE WITH THEM 😤

omens

There is a robin on my rail with an alive worm wriggling in its beak, gross. In more adorable news, earlier there was a juvenile robin on my rail with NO worm AND many many spots :D they're such cute babies.

Sunny is eating well now, her old food moistened (which before she would not touch, but now since chicken flavoured wet food is written off as drugged and suspicious, she is loving the half step toward normality) with fortiflora probiotics. And she's eating her steroid pill normally again, too.

She is, in general, pretty much normal, aside from the diet. Last night she even rattled the closet doors a bit at 3am like a nod to old times >>>>:(

Her mouth is adorable, from what I've seen (mouth is understandably off limits, ty), no fangs on the right side, but still both on the left. I don't know what else they're planning to take, but I know they're not done. It'll be a couple months yet.

Liam's dentistry came in 300$ cheaper than I was quoted \o/

He's signed up for the canadian dental plan \o/ (it was not terrible, the process, mostly just that it required his pc, his phone, his laptop, lolol, he kept having to go find more things - and his tax return, ofc. Hopefully he'll have coverage by his August apointment! And we'll have to remember to renew his application by June 1 of next year. Directly after taxes, I guess.

Kelly's in Montreal for a conference about his new job and working long hours and being social all day like he's back in Alert, lol. Poor guy. At least they sent him BY TRAIN! In business class! And fed him! I'm so jealous. He texted me from the train and said "the woman behind me is calling everyone she knows to tell them she's on a train," hahahaaa I would, ngl. Train!

Lauren and I finished watching Undercover Miss Hong and it was SO GOOD. It is not a romance (it had us afraid that it was, for a while), and it has a cast of wall to wall AMAZING characters ("And also Jungwoo is there," says Lauren LOLOL it's very true, he is the weak link fr (the character AND the actor, lol), but don't be afraid: not a romance). The villains were all so so so good. Heists! Friendship! We had many ships, too! I have millions to say about this drama but it's all spoilery. Really recommended.

andersenmom

Weekly Score: 84% (21/25)

Goal 1: Increase my spirituality. 84% (16/19)

Review: The fall down on this is exactly where I know it to be - on Saturday. Well, this week on Sunday, too, because I didn't go to bed Saturday night until well into the early morning. Still, I feel really good about how it went.

Goal 2: Write a blog article each week. 100% (3/3)

Review: I found this really cool set of prompts for a travel journal, so I'm using those to do some writing. It worked out really well, actually, and I'm looking forward to doing more of that.

Goal 3: Make deck available for use. 67% (2/3)

Review: Oooh, this is going to be good! I got the path to the door almost completely free, and worked some on the deck itself. The furniture is looking a little rough - weather worn - and still usable.

Intentions for the future: G1: I don't have many hopes on this one, because I have company coming in on Wednesday, and I don't know if I'll manage to do any praying or scripture reading while she's here. G2: I will try to work on this, because it's going to be cool and I want to try to keep blogging about this trip. G3: I'm probably going to not do this one at all this week, as I have the inside of the house to clean up for my friend. I won't be able to focus on the deck.

Current Mood: determined
Current Music: Devilish Love - Oneus

there are so many things i'm not allowed to tell you.

ｃｒｙ 'ｈａｖｏｃ，' ａｎｄｌｅｔｓｌｉｐｔｈｅｄｏｇｓｏｆｗａｒ．

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