Moneyz

My god I spent an obscene amount of money last week :-s

Since I ripped my leather biker jacket last Monday (due to being so horribly old and worn), I decided it was time to finally get some new stuff.

– helmet € 125
– safety jacket, Goretex, black and sexy: € 250
– leather water proof biker gaunts: € 47

Hmm.

Bought a new pair of fancy shoes, actually to use for the wedding: € 72

Went shopping with my mom in Roubaix yesterday, decided to change my wedding outfit (need new shoes now):
– skirt (I already had that one: € 100)
– top, black: € 66
– long purple see-through vest thingy: € 106

– ordinary black top: € 10
– a couple of new bras (very cheap there, as opposed to the stores around here)
Three bras and one matching pair of knickers: € 59

Ugh. Damn. € 835 in total (about $ 1000). Will need to save up for a few months now.

Bezig dagje

My day didn’t start quite as well as it should have, but turned out to be quite fine after all.

Could sleep long (ie. 9.30) since Bart took care of Wolf this morning 🙂
Wanted to take a shower, but the water supply had been cut (kinda missed the announcement, d’oh !) so felt kinda grumpy, which wasn’t enhanced by the fact that the milk I poured over my breakfast cereal turned out to be sour. Ugh ! Dog liked it though.

Finally got dressed and did some paperwork for Netlash. Left for delicious lunch with Faust and his love Jurryt, had coffee and crême brulée there too 🙂 And since they were both so very enthusiastic about tiramisu, we went for groceries and I made them a large pot of tiramisu. Hope they enjoyed it.
A most enjoyable, very housewife-like and cosy afternoon was had, chatting merrily and laughing a lot. I REALLY need to see that guy more often, it’s so good for my mental health. Every woman should have her own gay, believe me !

Played tag with Bart once more, being that he left as soon as I got home with Wolf. Played with him, fed him, played some more, and put him to bed real early for him, being 19.45. Haven’t heard him since, so all’s well 🙂

Had a long (1.30 hours) phonecall with my former eloquence teacher, who is very ill, and finally finished the books for Netlash after that. Tired now, gonna take a shower and sleep.

And yes, still thinking a lot about the LARP, but it’s wearing off slowly. 🙂

Weekend

Long story from over the weekend, and last week.

Spent nearly a 1000 euro, ouch (over 1000 $)… 600 on the table and the two chairs, but I’m really happy with them, so they’re worth every penny. I had bought some offwhite fabric a while ago to make a new tablecloth, but with the new table, that wouldn’t work anymore. I decided to make some …

Ugh. Failure of English vocabulary. Hmm.

Long pieces of cloth, about 50 cm wide, that are draped over the table as well, leaving most of the surface to show (tafellopers dus). Three for the big one, two for the little table in the living room. Which will, incidentally, be replaced by an exact copy of the new dining table. To cut a long story short there: the small one was maimed, under guarantee, but no longer in production, so I have to choose a new one for the same price. Luckily they make the dining table in a smaller format too. Anyway, the new pieces of fabric look really nice on the tables. Yay for my sewing machine !

Then I spent 200 euro on glasses. Hmm. One of the glasses in my glasses (yay for English language) was chipped and had to be replaced. Which made me ponder the following thought: I’m blind as a bat without my glasses, and with a toddler around, something far worse than a chipped glass is due to happen any day. So I ordered a new pair of glasses as a back up. Nice little thing, and with tiny specs, so they can recut the old specs to fit into the spare pair. Did take quite a lump out of my budget nevertheless.

And then, on Saturday, my eldest brother got married. Well, the legal part anyway. The church wedding, with the white bridal dress, the reception, the gifts and the big party is due on November 12. I was a witness nonetheless, and wanted to look my best. It poured all bloody day though, and was really cold too, for a day in August. I had this green (yes, folks, green!) Chinese top, with a very special pair of black pants. Went to the hairdresser at 2 PM (wedding wasn’t untill 5.30 PM) and decided afterwards that the green top looked a bit plain without anything to go with it, besides being a little chilly. So I went into town and passed by my favourite boutique. And yes, she had the perfect green shawl to go with it. Have been complimented on it all evening :-p 25 euro though. Hmm.
And then I saw this really beautiful long black skirt, heavy linen, special cut. Fell in love with it right away, decided to buy it for the actual wedding. Haven’t got a matching top yet that I like, but still plenty of time. Another 100 euro though.

The wedding itself was really nice. Small ceremony in the town hall, with champagne afterwards, and then off to this really fine restaurant, the Nenuphar in Afsnee. A delicious meal, a great time was had by all. My brother positively beamed. Glad he got finally married though: he’s 35. I sure hope the marriage will last, cause I still have my doubts about that, as does my mom, dad, husband and brother. Oh well, it’s his choice. At least he’s happy for the time being.

Today the weather is nice again, but sure to rain once more tomorrow. Half of Europe is flooded by now. So glad I took advantage of the one real nice day on Thursday, and went to the Blaarmeersen with my mom, Vallery and Wolf. He played in the water for hours on end, loved every second of it, and was positively exhausted afterwards. I so enjoyed that day !

He’s sleeping now. Gonna read a little 🙂

On Wednesday, I played with Wolf, helped the cleaning lady move the large couch, cleaned windows, and went to spend more money 🙁 on two more of those leather chairs. With the new table, I needed 8 of them. Ugh, two chairs did cost more than the table. But on the other hand, I really like them, they’re comfortable, and they’re meant to last at least 20 more years.

On Thursday, I dropped Wolf off at the daycare and left for Roubaix with my mom. It seems so far, because it’s in France, but hey, only 45 mins drive, actually. They have a splendid museum there, located in an old art nouveau swimming pool. I was really impressed.
When we started out, it was raining cats and dogs, and we were both really pissed off because of that. But as we progressed, the sun even came out, and we had our lunch on the Roubaix town square, on a terrace in the sun. Just as we had entered the museum, it started pouring again, but when we wanted to visit the cemetary (yes, my mom’s into old cemetaries too, lucky me) the sun was present once more. We were really lucky. We ended our trip in Doornik, had a coffee on the square, and I did finally take a picture of one of the most hilarious Latin inscriptions I ever found. Really want to use it in class.

Came home by seven, quickly stuffed my mouth, showed some stuff to my mom, gave Wolf and Bart a big cuddle, and off I was again, bringing my cleaning lady her birthday present. She’s a political refugee from Chechnia, and lives here in a tiny apartment with three of her twentysomething sons. The eldest is still there, and her 15year old daughter too. They both live with her mother, as she couldn’t get a visum for them yet. Anyway, she wanted a folding bed so one of the sons could sleep in the living room instead of all of them in the same bedroom. 48 euro was too expensive for her, though, so Bart and I bought it for her, as a present. She really is the sweetest woman I know, and like a grandmother to Wolf.

Anyway, I didn’t even get in, just dropped the present off, since I didn’t want to be late for Cthulhu roleplay. Alas, some of the others were way late, so I shouldn’t have had to hurry at all. Was a very weird session anyway, since it was randallsilvers birthday and he already had a little too much to drink, as some of the others. Good fun was had, but it’s no real roleplay this way. Sometimes I wonder if we’d better just meet at a pub or so… We stopped a bit early as well because of that, but I didn’t mind, because I went to bed early that way.

On Friday I dropped Wolf off again at the daycare, last time this month since they’re on holidays now, read the paper, did some housework, and left for a colleague/friend. She had made a delicious lunch, I had a delightful chat with her parents, and off we were for an afternoon of sauna pleasure. Yeah right. The sauna we intended to go to was closed, in spite of the opening times mentioned on the website and the sign at the door. Bummer. The other one, rather near, only opened at 5 PM, but I had to collect Wolf at 5.30, so no go either. And all the others in Ghent are way more expensive. So we headed back home and played Colonists of Catan for two players. Quite different from the actual game, but at least as fun.

Got home, fetched Wolf, fed both of my men, and cuddled and played a lot. I hadn’t actually seen them since Wednesday, so it felt good. Was too tired to leave at 11 PM for randallsilvers birthday drink, although I did feel like it. Was in bed by 11.

This morning I slept long, did a lot of chores, cleaned up the garage, cooked, and then my parents arrived to install the big swing they got Wolf for his birthday. Took us quite some time (had to be four of us), but when he eventually sat down and we swung the little chair, his face was golden 🙂 Pictures are on his site, btw, www.wolfdewaele.be.

Never made it to a shop I intended to go to, but hey, one can’t do all.

Actually loving my life, but can someone please pull the brakes a little ?

Been a busy bee these last couple of day.

– Finished those 6 stools, finally
– sewed 5 pairs of trousers for Bart, which were all too long and had to be taken in
– installed a new clothes rack in the bedroom
– worked in the garden a bit
– started on installing a little stairway fence for Wolf
– finally got the new table, with which I’m very happy. Finally no longer a table cloth (Wolf was getting curious about stuff on the table, and would have pulled it). I also like the new shape very much.

The old one, with tablecloth

and this is the new one.

I know this prolly is just boring stuff to you, but nah, it’s my LJ :-p

Krukjes

If anyone would wonder what I’m up to these days, well, here’s an example. Two years ago I got six stools from the old physics lab at school. They were obsolete and about to be thrown out. I thought they could be transformed into something nice and useful, so I got 6 of them. Revamping them now, along with some other stuff.

Before

After

And on the kids part ? Well, still waiting here. The little embryo has been implanted a while ago, and I’m getting these heavy progesteron (hormone) injections. Great.
Pregnancy will be confirmed or denied soon.

Geplukt

I just finished the new Harry Potter. I did quite like it, although it’s getting to be a little predictable. Anyway, if someone wants to borrow it, just ask.

On another note: I felt like a chicken being plucked yesterday. Indeed, after the heavy hormones I had 15 eggs instead of the usual 1, which is quite a lot. I had full narcosis yesterday, and they picked up the eggs. I just called in, and 11 of the 15 were ripe and have been injected with semen. 4 already turned into embryos, but probably more will evolve. I have to call again tomorrow. They will be inserted in my uterus on Saturday, and then I have to wait 14 days to know whether I’m pregnant or not.

Pretty intense week, I had. LOL this sounds like Yoda :-p But indeed, last wednesday Bart and I went to the movies and finally watched Star Wars. I liked it, and I even liked Hayden Christensen. Ok, some scenes were a little over the top, and the ‘Noooooo’ was downright ridiculous, but that’s the script, and not the actor.

On Thursday we had our biweekly Nephilim session, and I had the chance to admire petjorin’s new home, with the wild garden and everything. The house sure has potential…

On Friday [Bad username: kimmekepunk"] took me to a folk play, in the Gent dialect. Wasn’t too good, alas. I didn’t like the script, and I didn’t like the actors. The woman is usually a pretty good actress, but her Gentish really sucked. Even I can do better than that !

Grr Bart just passed by and told me one of the glasses of my… errr glasses is chipped ! I didn’t notice yet, but indeed, it is. Blah ! Another expense…

On Saturday I went to _leetah_’s birthday party. I didn’t know the location, but quite liked it. Met a lot of people I hadn’t seen in a long time, although there wasn’t as big a crowd as I had expected. Had a lot of fun dancing, as the two DJs were both wackos. I don’t think I ever danced on ‘Star Trekking’ before :-p Was headbanging at some point too, thus giving me an aching neck the day after. Leetah seemed genuinely happy with my little gift too, and I don’t mean the diaper, wimmekepunk !

Sunday was a lazy day, and on Monday we invited my brother and his girl over for a barbecue. Bart and I were virtually barbecue virgins: I just bought one a couple of days ago. I did like it though: the meat was excellent, and apparently my bro is a good cook when it comes to roasting meat on an outside heating device.

Tuesday was another lazy day, although I had intended to go into town for the sales. I did feel nauseous in the afternoon, and it didn’t seem wise to take a ride on the motorbike feeling that way. So I stayed on the couch, read a little, watched some telly, generally did nothing. Go me. I think the hormones are getting to me. Ugh. I’m getting fed up with them. Have a belly ache, and do feel…. blergh. Luckily Faust did come over this afternoon for a nice cup of coffee and a chat. He went to Berlin last week, and brought his memory card full of pics. I liked it 🙂

So yes, my life has been overly exciting. How’s you ?

Bart and I just went to buy this big sand pit for Wolf, and already installed it too. The little guy’s sleeping now, but I bet he’ll be overly excited when he gets to play. I know I used to adore playing in the sand.

I still have to thank zomermaantje an awful lot for babysitting on Wednesday evening. I had a most delightful evening, sitting outside on a little square in Antwerp with friends from LARP, talking it over, enjoying the lovely weather (it still being 21° at midnight (70° F)). The only downside was that the guy I have a crush on (and have had one for over 5 years now, a recurring crush that lasts like two weeks every time I see him, that being twice a year) couldn’t make it due to a swollen ankle. Grrr. Still had a lovely evening. Thank you, sweety !

On another note: the bed really is nice. And yes, we use it for sleeping ! Bart and I have been a couple for over 12 years now, so the passion has subsided mostly, I must admit. Heh, we should have bought a new bed way early: my back didn’t hurt the past two mornings. Not that it hurt that much before, but every morning I was aware that I had a back, and that’s something you shouldn’t be thinking about when waking.

Turtles

Three weeks ago, I put my turtles outside in the little pond they live in during the summer. Hasn’t been any good weather since, but not that cold either. Hardly ever saw them though. Once I panicked, but they were both on the bottom of the pond, sleeping (due to the cold).

Didn’t really worry since. I better had. Because today I saw the smallest of them floating in the water, dead 🙁 I ran out, panicking, but he must have been dead for a couple of days now. So I began to search for the big one. She’s nowhere to be found: not in the water, not in the little garden surrounding it. Yet she couldn’t have escaped, not to my knowledge. Really worried now… Yet I’m fearing the worst: I really don’t have a good feeling about it. I do hope she turns up though.

I’ve had these like 8 years now or so. They’re not exactly sociable, but hey, they’re my pets. Sigh. Not gonna replace them though.