Just been impregnated once more with three embryos who have been defrosted. Results on March 25.
Pretty busy week, yet a nice one.
Got a really nice surprise on Friday (I was lucky to be home): this big flower bouquet, a dozen of deep red roses, very very beautiful! There was a little card attached, with nothing but a kiss and a Scots name. Thank you sweety 🙂
Bart
and I don’t really do Valentine’s day: I don’t need a date to love him,
or to express that love. On Wednesday I made his favourite dish, and
his big smile from ear to ear and the lights in his eyes are more than
enough 🙂
So we just had our usual Friday coffee and dinner, and
then went home and watched a DVD: ‘Titus’, after ‘Titus Andronicus’ by
Shakespeare, with Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange. Man, it’s such a
good movie, but harsh, violent and cruel, and not exactly Valentine’s
Day fodder :-p
Yesterday I got up real early and started cleaning
the guest room: cleared away all the junk, put a lot of stuff in the
emptied cupboards or back here in my office, rearranged all the
furniture, so that the room looks a lot bigger. I was tired and covered
in dust, but it’s well worth it. Gonna start redecorating next weekend, I
think: stripping the wall paper, painting, the lot.
Went to my
physiotherapist in the morning by bicycle, and proud of that! Not that
it’s that far (like 3 miles/5km or so) but I’m so pathetic that even
that pleases me.
In the evening we went to friends for a most pleasant evening: very good food, delightful company, swell conversations.
Today I worked a bit for school, and then went for lunch at my parents: once more delicious food, then coffee, then a nice walk in the bright sunshine and freezing cold. Hehe.
Tomorrow will be a long day: school field trip to Tongeren, a city with a splendid Gallo-Roman museum and lots of remains of that era in the city too. So I’m going there with 5 colleagues and 101 students (1-2 grade). Took a lot of organisation too, so I hope it will be worth it.
God I feel absolutely blergh. Had a meeting this afternoon with all the
Latin teachers in my school group, and the paedagogical advisor
(inspector). We discussed a lot of things, seems I have to rethink my
way of teaching, like we all have to do.
But worst thing is: if the
minister of education gets her way, Latin won’t be taught anymore from
12 years on, but from 16 years on, being fifth grade instead of first.
Great.
Gwen asked: ‘So, should we start studying something else soon, or do you think we will have some time left ?’ The inspector raised his eyebrows, and consequently his shoulders.
Yep, that’s the way I feel: lousy ! I love my job, I don’t feel like finding sth new when I’m 40 or so.
Does anyone have too much money ? I stood a few moments ago in front of the biker shop, drooling… I really really want a new motor bike, my heart starts yearning as soon as there’s a bit of sunshine. Talked to the guy tho, and he said I need at least € 6000 (about the same in $) if I want something decent second hand. Grrr… Right now I have € 3100 set aside for it, but I’m sure something will come up, so that I have to spend some of that again.
Sniff…
Apparently we’re having one of the first spring days today ! Sun is
shining brightly, and there’s a gentle breeze in the air. Took my
bicycle and did some errants, it was lovely ! I didn’t even need any
gloves or shawl or anything, and I did hang the laundry outside. Yay 🙂
Saw
the first daffodils and crocuses showing their tender green heads too,
just a shimmer of green in the earth. Nice. One has to love spring, no ?
Bart’s going to the loo, pretty unnoticed. He comes back to me, looking
like a little boy, and stammers: ‘Err, could you give me a hand ?’
Surprised look on my face.
‘I’ve got these new pants on, and I can’t work the buckle of the belt. I don’t know that system. Can you open it for me ?’
Needless to say the first 30 seconds even I couldn’t work that buckle.
Poor hon.
Grrr…
Kinda pissed at unterm_galgen:
he promised me he’d join me at the Scottish night at school. I have to
be there, and keep open the whisky bar for an hour and the regular bar
for another hour. If he were there, at least I’d have someone sensible
-although that can be doubted- to talk to. I just called his house to
ask what was keeping him, and his mom tells me he’s at the movies with
some friends.
Thx for standing me up, man 🙁
* snow has gone… Completely. Shame
* started yesterday on a kind of a diet. It means cutting all sweets, sugar in my coffee, mayonaise-based salads, sugarloaded drinks,… Sticking to low-fat meat, veggies, oil instead of butter to fry with, that kinda thing. I’m trying to lose a bit of weight (should lose a lot, but hey, I’m a mere realist, not so much an optimist). Luckily I don’t seem as heavy as I am: X thought I weighed 15 kilos less than I actually do. Heh. Glad for that. But still very fat tho. Should actually lose 25 kilos (+- 50 lbs.) Gnawing on Bart’s arm at the moment. Frustrated. Grrr.
* have loads of correction work lately. Blergh
* Arm hurts severely again. Physiotherapist said it would, it would get worse before it gets better. Hmmm. Nearly had to take a painkiller after yesterday’s session.
Snow
Ye gods ! Snow is a weird thing: very dangerous, and yet so uplifting !
It started snowing a bit on Thursday, just enough to make a few odd snowballs, but by noon most of it had melted away, much to the regrets of the pupils at school, much to my rejoice, the supervising teacher at noon, and ideal target of course :-p
But no one counted on Friday: when I got out of bed, the world was white, and getting even whiter. During classes, it was snowing heavily, thick flakes, ideal to play with. The kids’ anticipation got almost unbearable: recess = snowballfights ! Yet I had to teach Latin, and yes, they obeyed. In fourth grade, I couldn’t resist tho: not that I could go outside without being killed by both the snowballs and the principal, but I could create a snow intermezzo: went down to the internet room, looked up Horace Ode I 9, printed that, copied it, and we read it in class. It’s all about this weather (keep in mind that Horatius lived 2000 years ago in Northern Italy, close to Mount Soracte) (not gonna put the Latin here nor the Dutch version).
You see how [Mount] Soracte stands out white
with deep snow, and the struggling trees can
no longer sustain the burden, and the rivers
are frozen with sharp ice.
Dispel the cold by liberally piling logs on
the fireplace, and draw out more generously,
o Thaliarchus, four-year-old unmixed wine
from the two-handled Sabine jar.
Entrust everything else to the gods; as soon as
they have stilled the winds battling on the heaving
sea, neither the cypress trees nor
the ancient ash trees are shaken.
Leave off asking what tomorrow will bring, and
whatever days fortune will give, count them
as profit, and while you’re young don’t scorn
sweet love affairs and dances,
so long as crabbed old age is far from
your vigor. Now let the playing field and the
public squares and soft whisperings at nightfall
(the appointed hour) be your pursuits;
now too the sweet laughter of a girl hiding
in a secret corner, which gives her away,
and a pledge snatched from her wrists
or her feebly resisting finger.
They liked it (usually is read in 5th grade) much to my liking.
Right now I’m at home, watching the snow once more: glad I didn’t go to Antwerp for an Elanor show, the roads are just too slippery with this snow falling. I suppose I’d better get dressed and clear the pavement outside. And I’ll feel a lot more at ease when Bart gets home from work: I don’t like him being out with the car in this weather.
Thursday evening most fun was had: Cthulhu game once more, and it’s nearly turning into a soap opera. We lost two characters tho, one of them being randallsilver‘s. He was pretty pissed off, stupidly got shot. Hey, whomever of you understands Dutch is most welcome to read our adventures at www.nyarlathotep.be, complete with pictures of me, Randall, and Grimlach/Nihil.
Yesterday after school I went -as usual- to Faust, and we had some coffee and some long talks once more. Then I picked up Bart and went for food: quiche with goat cheese, apples and honey – yum ! – in this nice little restaurant. We ended the day by watching some manga DVD: Blood The Last Vampire. Nice drawing there, tho the story itself wasn’t too great.
This weekend nothing much has been planned: need to help Bart with a site that is due shortly, and maybe pop in on my grandma who’s in the hospital. Her cancer is getting worse again. But to put it bluntly, as one of the doctors once said: she should have died two years ago. We’re glad we still have her, and apart from that one leg, she’s in very good health and spirits.
Oh, and one last remark: I hate it when Bart forgets to turn on the heating in the morning: I slept long, got up at 11.30h and it was like 12° in here. Has now gone up to 17°, but that is still cold. Grr !
When a tomcat gets castrated, they don’t shave his balls (skin is too
weak), no, instead they pluck the hair off like when you’d pluck a
chicken.
Even I whinced when I saw that.