No I haven't forgotten how to use a computer ...
July 7, 2007 at 3:22 PM
by Ashleigh
Just BUSY! Busy approaching hectic, approaching 'I am not sure what to do next because I have too much to do'. I have been seeing a dr about some health issues and he told me that he feels I have too much to do and perhaps I should reduce my obligations.
Hah!
How to choose which obligations to reduce? Shall I stop being a mom? Stop being a wife? Stop being a gardener/cleaner/flower shop worker? I want to do everything and everything else! I don't want to miss out on anything.
So, in order to reduce my blogging obligations I'm going to list our accomplishments this last few weeks instead of writing thousands of words about them. How's that for taking the doctor's orders seriously?
- Brad is having his eyes lasered as I write. He's gone for the EQ-Lase which is a kind of PRK surgery. His appointment was at 12.15 and it's now 14.30 and he hasn't gone in yet. I guess the dr did not reduce his obligations.
- I harvested 10 kilos of plums from my plum tree and made plum jam and plum and redcurrant jelly. I still have four kilos to be made into plum crumbles for the freezer. I have blackberries and apples to harvest but pretty much everything else drowned in the rain we've been having. There are some carrots, but otherwise it's been a bit of a loss. If we had to live off our garden we would be very miserable and rather skinny around now. Fruit is wonderful, but sustain a person it does not. Bloody weather! I also bought some cherries and made some cherry jam using David's no-recipe Cherry Jam Recipe. Yum! This is absolutely awesome spooned over plain greek yoghurt.
- The last week of school was hectically busy. Seb's teacher, who is a wonderful woman, has left to go to a new school so we had to make her a gift. I got the kids to make handprints with fabric paint on plain fabric and then we labelled each one with a fabric pen and I made them into a quilt. Seb made her a frog from Hama beads and I took it along to the shop where we put it on a wire and pushed it into a plant with a lime green pot. Karin's favourite colours were blue, yellow and lime green so I tried to use those in the quilt. Picture of the quilt up top, and more here
- I'm working in the shop for 2 and a half full days a week and I'm so tired! Working at home, being a mom is tiring, but working at home and being a mom and working out of the home too is pretty exhausting. It's not that the work is more demanding, it's just different and I guess it takes some getting used to. Luckily the customers seem to like my bouquets and once I have the training under my belt in September I will feel more comfortable working with the flowers.
- I resigned from the PTA (Ouderraad) at school. There was too much politicking and bitching. Why do women do that when they're in large groups? I thought high school was long behind me, and it should be even further behind some of the women at school as they're ten years older than me, but apparently not so!
- We had our last swimming lesson of the school year yesterday, which is always a 'parents swim too' day. Seb was at a party so I swam with Joe. It was really fun but Joe was very naughty and got a stern talking to from the teacher. Just before swimming we had a friend over to play and Joe and Storm (his friend) were so sweet with each other. When it was time to go they had to hug and kiss each other but they did it in real 4 year old boy fashion - with a bit of wrestling in between. Both Storm's mom and I got all teary over it.
- It was goodbye too from my Dutch class which won't be re-assembling next semester. We went out to eat at the Koffiehuis van den Volksbond right near Artis and the Scheepvaartmusuem. It was great! I had the morroccan lamb with apricots and pumpkin followed by an icecream parfait with mango sauce. I shared a greek salad with one of my classmates. Definitely a place to go back to. I recommend it for kids too - just take some colouring pencils and the kids can draw on the paper tablecloths. It's magically beautiful in that part of Amsterdam and incredibly quiet too.
I have enjoyed my classes so much, despite the amount of time they took up. I will feel quite lost with my Tuesday and Thursday nights completely free all of a sudden. The people I met were amazing and my teachers especially. Both of them had a real gift for education and a wealth of real-life experience which made it fascinating to go to class. I will miss them.
- The week before last we ate out at the Greek restaurant here in Amstelveen. I asked if they had a non-smoking section and was astonished when they said that they didn't have one. I asked what they would do when the smoking ban comes into effect and they said that they would change the whole restaurant to non-smoking but apparently up until me, no-one had ever asked for a non-smoking seat. But hey, I suppose this is Holland.
- The boys did well at school this year. Joe goes to Group 2 and Sebastian goes to Group 5. Seb got all A's for his CITOs and got 'goed' for all his subjects in his report so he's doing very well. I am still struggling to decide whether he should stay at his current school or if he should go to a school where they can challenge him a bit more. He moves into a bigger class next year - 22 children of whom 19 are boys. And boys at least a year and sometimes 2 or 3 older than him. I'm giving it until the autumn vacation to see how he settles and if it looks like he hasn't we'll be changing schools.
I always feel that changing schools creates more problems than it solves, but perhaps there comes a moment when you just have to grit your teeth and do it.
So, how's that for a list? I'll spare you the one with all the undone household chores, the unmade beds, the washing piling up, the painting that was started and never finished...
Happy Summer Holidays to everyone!
Comments
Whew, you've tired me out with all you've been doing!! I hope Brad's surgery has gone fine and that he has a quick and hassle-free recovery. I hope you continue to love your new job. And good luck trying to cut down on those obligations!!!
Wow, I really admire you with everything you do! What a lovely idea to make a quilt like that,a really beautiful gift. And all that fruit from your garden, that takes a lot of time, although fantastic of course that you eat your own produce.
Are you all finished with the dutch course or do you continue that somewhere else?
O happy day it will be when they finally ban smoking in all public places... it's horrible. I think the customers will increase, instead of getting less (What they're afraid of). We had a small exclusive restaurant that made a smoke-free evening just for me (I'm getting asmatic from too much smoke) when we asked for a smokefree zone (in advance). so it's not the same everywhere thankfully.
I really can relate to nr. 9. It's a tough decision to make. We have a girl (10) that is just too smart. I've been trying for 2 years to get the teachers to let her do different more challenging things... it's a long road.
Please take care of yourself... rest is needed sometimes!
I get tired just from reading all you do! Would it be a good idea to show yr doctor this post? I hope Brad is fine, it'll take him a couple of days to recover... Add Florence Nightingale to your list of chores =:0
Love the quilt you made, the strawberry fabric is gorgeous! PTA..what can I say..
Goodness, it does sound like you've been busy lately!
I am amazed at the fact that despite all of the obligations you still managed to make a quilt as a gift. I'm sure the teacher will just love it.
And I am envious of all that fruit you are harvesting. I miss having an orchard with cool-weather fruits.
Hi. Good to see you back.
And man, those quilts rock. I'd almost get into edumacation just so someone would give me one.
Almost.
Wow Ash, you put me to shame. I'm taking a couple of days off to catch up this week and I don't have half your commitments.
That quilt is gorgeous. Hope that you are still enjoying the job in the florist shop.
Gosh you have been busy! You sound like me... only I do completely different things to you so not the same at all ;) I did do some baking last week though and made fudge, chocolate squares, 2 trifles and dark chocolate champagne truffles. It was for a charity dinner...
One day I'll get back to blogging...
Congrats on your job, your garden, the beautiful quilt and your gorgeous sons doing so well at school. Hope Brad is 'good looking'* now.
Jane
* i.e. He can 'look good'... you know *see*! ;)
Hi Ashleigh,
I have just seen your tutorial for the lined pocket on Focus on Finishing and was wondering what the name of the chart you used to stitch the design is please.
July 7, 2007 8:24 PM