25 Mar 2023

FRIDAY's FAV FIVE

I think to write the weekly FFF, I just have to copy and paste the text from the weeks before ! Except this week nobody died ! The weather too was the same, grey, rain, etc just the right weather to sing and dance in the rain ! 

Tuesday for the first time the Family assistant came and it was so funny because we knew each other, she had taken care of Rick. She was sad that he had died and remembered that he used to show her his watch collection. Then she did all the things that are too heavy for me, folded the laundry and tidied up  my closet which was a mess. I still have this lack of energy.

 From now on she comes every week and also helps me with paperwork. This is a great relief for me.

My son came on Thursday morning, the poor boy left Amsterdam at 6 am to be at 11 in Waterloo to attend the ceremony of our Indian friend. He knew him since he was a baby and his and my son were the first friends in their lives. So funny to see when they were a month old laying side by side, one looking like a hedgehog with a lot of black hairs standing up and mine bald, just with a few hairs in the middle like  a punk ! And today it's the opposite, My son has a lot of hairs and his friend is bald !

 


We met at the Funeral ceremony room and arrived nearly at the same time.

I had googled how Hindus celebrate funerals and knew that my friend had tried to combine the Christian and the Hindu "religion" so different. I was a bit disappointed because only the two sons, their wives and the two grand children had respected the Hindu rules. They were dressed in white and all of them had a little speech full of humor which made us laugh, exactly as it should be.

I wore a white blouse and black trousers and a red jacket. The colors of Hindu funerals are yellow, orange and red. As they believe that there is a life after the death, it's not a sad but a cheerful ceremony.

But here with all the posh oldies they came in black and made crosses. After the ceremony we gathered in a room and had coffee, wine and sandwiches. Funny was that I met the mothers of the boys I knew from Kindergarten, we looked at each other with question marks in our eyes, before suddenly we recognized each other, so many years later and with  wrinkles ! 

Of course we all wanted to know what our boys had become in life and I was very proud that the one who had made the best career and had become the best of all, was my son ! And he was so bad at school. The little genius of one of the mothers was proud to say that her son had become a doctor, as if he had become a king ! I said nothing, for me it was enough that he had made such an amazing career. 

After a while I had enough and went home.  D stayed a little longer of course it was so nice for him to see his old classmates again after all these years ! 

The rest of the day he started to do little things which I don't know or had no idea how to solve the problem. The problem was to leave my home  key somewhere, in case I fall and the ambulance has to get into the apartment. My neighbors are all too old and refused it was to stressing for them, which I could understand. 

My son found the solution ! He disappeared, and came back with a "key safe" a great invention I didn't know at all, You put the key in, lock with a code and put it at your door or in another place. I am lucky I just have a space with the fire tube in besides my appartment and put it in there. Now I have to give my code to the Telehelp. 

Then he installed useful apps in my computer for exemple one in where I can stock all my passwords and codes and which opens only with a code. 

But the best thing was, he connected his computer (in Amsterdam) to mine here in Waterloo, so when I have administration problems etc, he can handle them from there. I was really happy ! One worry less. And to end his visit he vacuumed the whole apartment ! After that we had a Hamburger and then he drove home not to get in the traffic jam. 

He left a happy mother who watched a movie and then went to bed ! I hope that next week there will be weddings, births and baptisms. ..... and sunshine !


 


more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.
 
 
 
 
 
 

23 Mar 2023

HODGEPODGE MARCH 23

1. Did you celebrate St. Patrick's Day in some way? If so tell us how. Are you a fan of corned beef? Cabbage? The color green?

I don't even know who was St. Patrick, and why he is celebrated. So I googled, but there was so much to read that I gave up but I leaned that Saint Patrick didn't wear green. That everybody thinks that he was Irish but he was not, he was British. According to Irish legend, Saint Patrick used the shamrock as a metaphor for the Holy Trinity when he was first introducing Christianity to Ireland. Irish immigrants brought St. Patrick to the USA, where it is more celebrated than in Ireland itself; A few European countries introduced him too, but it's not really very well known. Although he didn't like green, the people dress in green and shamrocks (clovers) are a symbol I am not at all a fan of corned beef, which is typical American (I think) I have never seen a can here yet. In Germany yes. Cabbage I like, but green as clothes or decorations I don't like at all. I only like green in nature. The green green grass !

2. March 22nd is National Goof Off Day...will you celebrate? Your favorite way to goof off? Last time you had a whole day to spend 'goofing off'? 

Here spring starts on March 21 (or was it yesterday) anyway National Goof Off Day, I have everyday if it means doing nothing, I am retired and can goof whenever I want to,  Never heard this word and the translation is rather funny, it means doing the fool the whole day ? OK I am ready !

3. Something on your to-do list that has been there more than a month? Will this be the month you finally cross it off? 

No idea ! Each day I want to cross out what is on my to do list, but so far I just did the laundry, this was a must, otherwise I had nothing to dress anymore.

4. In your opinion, what emotion is the most beneficial? Which one is the least useful? 

Happiness when I win  a lot of money and disappointment when I loose !

5. What was your favorite thing to do as a kid? Elaborate. 

Reading ! As soon as I had learned reading, I devoured books !

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I only have sad thoughts, I have to go to the funerals of my colleague and friend, he is the fourth neighbor in my old street ! It's time that nature shows a bit more spring !

 

 

22 Mar 2023

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY





 

The worst is behind us (at least in my part of Europe) since a few days officially spring has started ! I wait to see flowers coming out, the nature full of colors and the trees green ! 

But the reality looks different, our spring started like this 


 

 more participants here, and Image-in-ing

21 Mar 2023

HAPPY TUESDAY - SPRING STARTED YESTERDAY !

In the Northern Hemisphere, the astronomical Start of Spring is also known as the Spring equinox. It starts on March 20, 2023, at 5:24 PM EDT. Spring will last from March 20 until June 20, when Summer officially starts this year.

And if you don't want to look in a book when spring feelings start, just look around you or even better take your children to the zoo, and explain ....





 Linking to HAPPY TUESDAY

20 Mar 2023

AWWWW MONDAY - WEEKEND MARCH 18




              
Our little clown Arthur
 
 
Linking to AWWW MONDAYS
 
 
 
 

*********


Week-end 
 
Saturday I was like a zombie. The fact that my collegue and friend had passed away too, only a few month later than Rick and that his wife went to all that what I had just behind me, occupied my mind and made me sad.
Sunday I felt quite depressed, fortunately my neighbor from the  first foor had the good idea to invite us for à Coffee so my afternoon was very nice.
 
At 4.30 pm I had to leave to say good bye to my friend. We all sat in a room and one by one we went by the open coffin. It was just like with Rick. I met some of his friends and as he was no Christian but Hindu it was a rater cheerful atmosphere. After an hour I returned home and felt so terrible tired I couldn't eat anything and went early to bed.