Hospitality

At some point in the past I’m sure I’ve blogged about hospitality and about how Herman and I like to have people over. That hasn’t happened much since we moved here, almost two years ago. Not as many people coming over, no friends from the kids dropping by, and usually me going for coffee elsewhere, instead of people dropping by here.

This weekend has been one right on the other end of the spectrum, and unexpectedly, I’ve been really enjoying it. I say unexpectedly because sometimes people in the house feel like a claim laid on my time and attention, a claim I don’t always enjoy. But friday one of Hermans “clients” from his work came to spend a night. I was kind of expecting a doped up, mentally unstable type (seeing as Herman works in a therapeutic setting), but this boy was definately on the mend and was fun to have around. The kids ended up staying downstairs to visit instead of fleeing upstairs and all in all it was a good time!

Then yesterday Marinda and I visited a friend of hers, who used to come by. A bit of a troubled girl, a real sweetheart. She appreciated our visit so much and will be dropping by for a weekend soon. And today 4 of Hermans “clients” (for lack of a better word) are dropping by. Not sure what types they will be but I’m more ok with it than I thought. I think I’ve forgotton how rewarding it can be to open up house and home, and most importantly heart (though that is the hardest part for me) to people in need of a bit of hospitality. It really doesn’t take a lot.

Perhaps this is what Herman and I do. No hip dates with hot shot friends at great places to eat, or nights at the movies, or visits to concerts. Maybe it’s just a matter of opening the doors and letting people in, for our house to be a welcoming place to stay a while. And then people will move on and others will come in their place.

Busy

Contrary to my expectations, this has turned out to be a somewhat busy week. What with the shopping, the speaking, the working, the cleaning (could hardly let my cleaning lady work while I lounged on the couch, could I??). Tomorrow a trip to Amersfoort to pick up a computer for a friend, a guest who’s staying a night, a trip to Leiden on saturday with my girl, guests on sunday…. Nope, not a peaceful week!
Guess I’ll have to get my rest some other way.

Presentation

So tonight I’m going to my mother in laws womans bible group (place apostrophe  somewhere) to do a presentation about hemophilia. The group is structured around bible study first, done by the pastor, then a short break, followed by a presentation of some sort. Usually somebody showing nature slides, or slides of their recent trip to Israel. The ladies group consists of 70 year old ladies and, according to one person I spoke, has functioned in the same way for the last 40 years.
So I’ve decided to show them a power point presentation. I had to go to the church beforehand so that the caretaker could show me what he had. And they did have all the neccesary equipment. The kind man had not the slightest clue how to set it up, didn’t even know what the various objects were, so I will be called upon to set everything up myself. Which is a challenge, because technical stuff is not my strong suit.
Hopefully all will be well. I’m wearing my new pants. Which should be flung into a fire according to my daughter. And my new coat, of which she approves.
Let’s hope technicalities and the confidence evoked by a pair of pants that actually fit will not fail me tonight.

Random

More random stuff. It’s amazing how I can come up with so much insignificant blithering.

It’s saturday morning. Husband and son are on the soccer field, luckily the day is nice and clear. The trees are turning beautiful shades, and yet I still don’t want to really accept that fact that it is autumn. I wore my summer coat until last week and even though I’ve scraped ice off the car windows in the morning, autumn won’t sink in. I should head off to the woods and really enjoy the changing of the seasons. But I’m not.

Feeling totally zonked after three nights of little sleep. Last night it was two before I crawled into bed, due to my daughter having a party and me having to pick her up. Glad to do it though because that girl just doesn’t party enough. How weird is it for a mother of a teenager to be saying that?!?

Autumn break is coming week. There’s a load off my mind now that my event has been and gone. I’m taking a day off next week. It kind of feels like a nice clean break is ahead of me. Though I tend to think that the housewifely duties will cloud that break. All it takes is a good look around to realize that there’s a lot to do around here .

I’ve been reading Wilbur Smith. Gotta love his books. Will be asking my secondhand book man to dig up some more for me. Funny thing about this man. He has a TON of books, and yet does not read himself. Books are just business to him, though he will make the effort to find you certain type of books if you ask him.I most likely would not get around to selling them, if it was my business.

My last therapy session is coming up. Yes, I have learned some things, but it hasn’t really given me enough tools to cope with daily reality of life as I live it. I was hoping to gain a lot better understanding of myself but that hasn’t happened. There’s an option to extend my visits, but I’m thinking I won’t be doing it with him. It’s such hard work getting on the same track with him, there’s no natural click, and not enough of the aha moments that I love. You know, when something just falls into place and all of a sudden understanding sinks in? Love those moments. The more the better, otherwise I get stuck in the mire in my head.

I used to think that the mundane things of my life might be interesting to others. Now I find myself almost embarassed by the stuff I write down. Because really, why should anyone care if my house is a mess or what books I’m reading? I truly don’t know. What is it that makes me want to be seen, makes me put myself out there and get a kick out of being acknowledged? I don’t know…… I confuse myself.

Preparation

Good preparation is half the work, it truly is.

So I had a work thingy today. Lots of volunteer organisations (23), lots of high school students (320). I was worried, but I am pleased to say my worry was in vain because all went well.

And I have decided I can do this. Despite the fact that I had spaghetti hanging out of my mouth when talking to the alderman…..

On strike

I just walked into the kitchen, viewed the dishes, and am seriously considering going on strike. Just to see what would happen. When people would start cleaning up after themselves, instead of after me reminding them, or asking them.
The only problem is the mess that will ensue. I will feel so uncomfortable in my own house. So uncomfortable I’ll probably end up cleaning again.
So I’m hard put to know what to do. Most likely I will end up doing the dishes. Or throwing them .
PMS must be getting to me.

Random

1.
It’s not friday, so this is not an official 7 quick takes, but I thought I would post some random stuff. I wasn’t sure what to write, and then I end up writing nothing. Now if I just write random stuff, it might help me get back in the flow of things again.

2.
I have this feeling that I might be suffering from some stress incontinence. Yes, a delightful subject. It scares me and it worries me. I’m 38 for pete’s sake!

3.
A family member sent out a mail to see if people would babysit on certain days. She and her husband have just become parents. When I expressed my total and complete non interest in any form of babysitting, my husband “you’re really bad, aren’t you?”. Hinting that my aversion may be a bit overdone.

Am I bad?

4.
There’s a womans weekend coming up. I’m looking forward to going. It’s a church thing. I was also looking forward to being away for a weekend, in the company of woman, but now it turns out we’ll be sleeping at home. Unappealing. Because how it works with me is that when I walk in the door of my house all the responsibilities of home come crashing down. And I end up doing laundry, dishes, or listening to the kids stories, or my husbands. All of these things are not bad! But, when I think of a weekend with spiritual subjects, with my head and heart being involved, and then having to come home to deal with the humdrum of daily life… it just doesn’t mesh. So I’m looking for an alternative.

Ideas anyone?

5.
On thursday it’s time for my big work event. I’m kind of nervous.
Around 375 people will be involved, with me at the helm. Nerves, sleepless moments and worry.

6.
I’ve been pondering on joining Weight Watchers. The last time I lost weight, no wait, the time before that, I used weight watchers principles and it worked well. I did it on my own then, no group sessions, thank you. I’m ballooning badly and I have this feeling that it may also play a part in aforementioned incontinence.

7.
I seriously can’t believe I’m writing about incontinence. But I’ve always told myself that if I did get something which is not to be spoken of, then I would. Maybe because of my past experience with leprosy. I remember feeling so panicked, having to keep it a secret. I don’t want to do that again.
On the other hand, who the hell wants to know about my urinary issues? Probably nobody. But it helps make it more real for me to write it down here. I must be crazy.

7 must be a logical limit because I’m all wrote out.