english words that came from dutch

thoroughly fascinating as this is, it's not helping my dutch any. does anyone out there want to speak to me?

happy st paddys to ya!

drunk and ready for bed by 10pm.....a good night had, to be sure, to be sure. but where did i get the large guinness hat?? hmmmm. i am sure there will be photographic evidence somewhere. it's been a while since i've posted as i've had to work after so many days in bed and of course they actually expect you to work while you're there! wow. you'd think they paid me or something. ha! i am excited, of course, as moo an i are off bed shopping tomorrow, so lots of new ones to try out and snuggle up into. let's see how many dutchies we can freak out by falling asleep cuddled up in the middle of a department store! speaking of cuddling, i'm off to bed......

day 3

ok - it's now my third day back in the office and i'm not sure whether i'm more bored here than after my fifth day home sick. hmmmmm. concerning. well, at least it's thursday and hopefully i will be well enough over the weekend to be able to enjoy it. let's hope it's not raining again.

so i feng shui'd (is that a word??) the bedroom the other day. apparently computers in the bedroom are a BIG no no. too much yang energy for a space that's supposed to be yin energy. i think yang is the male side. makes sense - computers are more male and i'm sure my bed is a girlie. ha! the indian feng shui guru (who knew - i always thought it was solely chinese) suggests having this picture in the bedroom......i'm not sure it's going to help me sleep more restfully though..........

back off to do some work.....only 4 hours and counting........

emergency sirens

whoa! i've never been home at noon on the first monday of the month so was suprsied to hear the test of the emergency sirens, that's for sure. there's no missing them from here - what a relief! imagine if there was an emergency and we couldn't hear them......without a television or radio, moo and i just might miss the nuclear attack. though a bit annoying when you want to take a nap...........

day 5

wow. i had always thought it would be great to not have to go into the office but it's now day 5 sick at home and i am the chairman of the bored.......of course, being sick means no going outside so it's quite easy to go a little stir crazy in 70 square meters. i have managed to read some good books between naps though and wanted to let everyone know about them. sal, bless her heart, brought "Angelas Ashes" over on saturday which kept me busy for a few hours. i know it's been out a while but it always looked really depressing so i never read it. it isn't at all depressing, though it is sad, and reminded me that i have a lot. and while having a cold feels like the end of the world, it isn't. i'll have to buy the next book once i'm up and out and about again. it's the first book that i've been able to get into since i finish isabelle allende's book about her dying daughter, "Paula". that deserves a seperate comment though so i will do that when i'm more inspired and can do it justice. the other book i've been reading is also great. i was going to say one for the girls but actually, i think guys should read it too. it is excellent and hopefully i can keep some of it in mind when i'm back at work. it is one thing to know what to do and a completely different thing to actually do it however. but i will try! anyway, i said i was going to try to be productive today, so i'm off to see what the feng shui rules say about the house cause i'm ready to start moving some furniture around!

who needs a map?

i found this pedestrian/bicycle gps thingy for amsterdam a couple of days ago. and i must say, what a great idea. i actually had the same idea about 3 years ago. but they had the techonology and did something about it. i stayed in bed. it's comfy here and i don't need a map.

are you sure they can't steal it?

i see mercedes have designed an 'auto' bike for release this year. got quite excited as i thought they'd finally managed to make a bike that would ride there for me......but actually, for a couple of grand what you get is greater "safety and comfort". i don't think they knew about the pizza boys hurtling at breakneck speeds down the bike lanes in amsterdam. nothing will save you from them. just ask my eye.

but it is shiny!

let's go dutch

after 5 or so years here i've decided to try to learn dutch again. i say again, cause i did try when i first arrived but without success. got too bored, as did everyone else when they tried to speak to me. i am much more interesting in english. i think. anyway, i have found a fun place to learn dutch in amsterdam finally. wessel makes me laugh! wish me luck - i'm going to need it.

the right direction?

so i'm bored. sick in bed but can't sleep so i am now wandering down the path of self exploration and questioning my existence. (don't panic - this happens a lot when i'm bored and isn't a bad thing.) anyway, to cheer myself up, i went and picked my card for the day. it brought a smile to my face so i thought i'd share.....

pjs, socks and all

i thought it was going to be just another day off work, "sick" in bed and "wasting my life away" (as my moo would say) - but no! i've been productive. somewhat. this is it. i finally got around to getting a blog spot set up. i've been wanting one for so long and now i've got one i'm not sure what to say. i'm sure i'll think of something. i always have an opinion on something.

oh - something else i found today was byron katie's website. worth a look. i don't know that i'm totally sold but i do think there something in what she's saying.

ok - i'm done. i am actually sick. back under the covers i go. mwah.