Life by the numbers (inspired by V-grrrl)
July 4, 2006 at 1:00 PM
by Ashleigh
20 years ago
I was 12 years old, halfway through my first year of High School, suffering from anorexia/bulimia and finding it difficult to fit in. I was in boarding school and saw my parents on weekends. In the week I was skivvy to a 18 year old prefect who tortured me by making me wash her blood-stained underwear.
10 years ago
I was living in Zimbabwe and had just left my ex and my daughter to live with Brad. We were staying with friends and sleeping on their couch. That whole time seems a blur. There were so many changes for all of us. Music brings back the memories more than anything else, especially Alanis Morisette's Jagged Little Pill.
5 years ago
Brad, Seb and I had just moved to England and were spending a very hot July in City Road, EC1. We had a very luxurious company funded flat which we stayed in for the month of July. I was wow'd by how accessible everything seemed in London and terrified of taking Seb on the Tube in his buggy. That August we moved to Chelmsford in Essex.
2 years ago
We had been living in Holland for a year and Seb had been in preschool, but he had just started Dutch primary school on his fourth birthday (in March) and I was trying to come to terms with how to adjust to the Dutch school customs. I also struggled to come to terms with the fact that we were staying here longer than I had originally thought. In July he got pneumonia, then Joe followed and so we spent most of summer recuperating.
Last year
July was warm, August was cold. I was sick in July. At the end of summer I made two huge changes in my life - I started trying to lose weight and I decided to enjoy my time in Holland (however long that might be).
Yesterday
I spent the day to-ing and fro-ing from school and swimming lessons, then went to school again in the evening for a 'classroom cleanup'. Unfortunately only two other moms showed up so it was slow going.
Yesterday morning I had acupuncture and had to wait in the waiting room of the practice with 10cm long needles bristling out of my forehead! I originally went for acupuncture for weight loss, and it has helped tremendously. Now, instead of visiting the GP when I'm ill I visit the acupuncturist. Yesterday's treatment was for the arthritis in my thumb which is gradually spreading to the other joints in my right hand.
Today
Joe had his first day in school. He has five days to 'try it out' before he officially starts on his fourth birthday. Because his birthday falls in the holidays he will officially start school on 4 September. It felt peculiar to be without him on a Tuesday; a feeling which was quickly dispelled when I collected him at lunch time and he screamed for a full hour. Apparently he wanted to stay at school. The rest of the day will be spent under a tree near the paddling pool.
Thanks V-grrrl for the idea!
Comments
Oh, my heart breaks for your 12-year-old self...
I'm glad the twists and turns in your life have led you to a good place--even if that's a place where 10-cm long needles stick out of your head. : )
So interesting to read about you and to know someone living in The Netherlands reading my blog. I like reading things I can relate to like the weather for example. I'm in the south (between Den Bosch and Eindhoven) so it's stinking hot down here. Oh and you are my hero for doing acupuncture. I'd never let anyone voluntary stick pins in me! And I might take up on this numbers thing :)
That was really interesting! Gosh leaving an ex and a daughter must have been hard - do you still see her?
And yes, I'll post the recipe for the walnut slice in the next week or so - enjoy it! Not too helpful gfor losing weight though...
Wow, Ash! I've just learned a whole lot about you!
Glad you're now enjoying your time in the Netherlands. And selfishly, I hope you'll be here for a long time to come!
July 5, 2006 10:59 AM