Quiet weekend and Dodensherdenking

Needed to catch up with my pregnant hot mamma girlfriend, so got to The Hague. We had traditional chips and delicious salad to go, more beers, waiting forward to the baby. Preparations were being done, from baby’s room to clothes, diapers bin, baby bath, toys and cradle. Everything’s in da house..

I move on to see my uncle and spend good family time together. We have some laughs and catch up, think about all the housy things done and what else to improve. Think about the future and the past, talk about politics and football, tv shows and popularity, news and job descriptions, uni and Dutch language. The night just passes by and I need to go back home next thing next day…

A friend’s visiting. I need to clean up the house a bit before Nicole thinks that’s a mess. I take care of it and prepare to entertain her. We go see the city, take some natural tours. Unhappily I need to be again in the Dam Square – the top of the tourism, the summit of the most famous and disgusting place in Amsterdam, the centre of the unknown-once, then it all revolves around it, so I made it my purpose to try to avoid the Dam Square for as long as I live in the Netherlands.

Except for one occasion. Next day – Dodensherdenking – remembrance of the dead, actually the people who died during the 2nd Word War. [after some normal saying good-bye to my friend, walking her to the bus, doing a jog in the park, and basically run to get there in time] The Queen was there, the Royal family was there, so I was finally able to see them live – from distance. The personal and other guards, nice people, even making fun, authorities, other known and unknown people. In the thousands of people covering all the grand surface of the Dam Square, there was one moment of silence. It gives you goose skin, it’s so damn impressive you didn’t feel nothing like it!! And I was there, holding my breath…

Girls' Weekend

Friday

What happens when girls come together?! A lot of talking gets done. One of my colleagues invited me at hers. We got down to pasta and proseco with a taste of office gossip. We moved on to more interesting topics like boyfriends and relationships, advanced to image and improvements, with a touch of housing and decorations. We got again back to love and relationships and somehow got to families, contraceptives, children and going out. Happiness is debated and how magical it is. Can’t give the details though, the woman would sue me. She’ll be turning into a piranha and I’ll be the innocent child swimming in the clear waters.. All I can say is a bottle of proseco is good enough to pull up stories of a lifetime ;)

Saturday
Another day, another girl. You womanizers should be eating your hear out! We walk around trading-yourself stands at the RAI. I find no one to sell my soul to. The company people monologue around me, I think I want to be a freelancer once the crisis is over. Is it going to be over soon, btw?! It was supposed to be funnier, people experimenting all the crazy stuff, like during war. You-never-know-when-you’re-going-to-die kind of mentality. But no, it’s actually alienating people – scared not to lose their jobs, they sit quietly in front of their computer and wait for hours before they spend 5 minutes at coffee. Get a life, you Armagedon kamikaze!! Soon I’ll be greeting zombies at the lift. I care too much about my skin to be able to unrecognizably work my ass off.

Had Belgian beer and some digestible food at a bar around the corner. The waitress was flirting with my ballerina. Get a life, bi’ha! I get a ride home and we call it off for the day. I’m getting in the housewife housy mood and deliberately spend my day in the kitchen. Food responds accordingly. I’m patting myself on the back.
Attempted to go to sleep early.

Sunday
Yes, I’m meeting yet another mermaid, different city. Gigi’s in NL so go to Arnhem to see her. We’re doing our talks while checking out the closed shops, damned them be!! We shall return for the goodies some other day, shall it be. As per usual, we’re discussing the stories of our lives. I’m not particularly enjoying the mature us with housing, real estate and mortgages stories, but can’t help them. We dig an eating bar in the center and get good food. We discover at some point that we’re the only clients left with the waiters at a decent time. We decide that’s no big city. We hug the hasta luego and swear to see each other some more. Yay!

House Weekend

Saturday

7:37 a.m. – I receive a sms from Anna telling me she’s awake. Must be one of the few persons in the Netherlands!! I try to go back to sleep, but a housewife consciousness takes over and makes me clear awake and in sudden need to clean up everything facing me!

8:00 a.m. – Sure a coffee would be good.. though I’d need to decalcify my coffee machine.. aaaarrgghh! I hate mornings!!

10:00 a.m. – I start cleaning up the kitchen – yey! The absolute statement this morning – everything needs to be brand-new shining.. as I carry on with scrubbing, puffing detergent, cleaning off and other nice verbs I avoided to use so far in my life.. I discover 1. this is going to take ages; 2. This is never going to be brand-new clean. And thát I hate!

10:38 a.m. – I figure it out that the yellow “thing” is not some weird mutant dirt, but real paint that goes off if you clean up the cupboards - a bit - more.. Damn!! They must have never cleaned up – the paint still stays on everywhere!! Aarrgghh!!

11:20 a.m. – Have you ever seen The Adams Family?! Tara-nah nah, ching ching! Tara-nah-nah! Well, the previous inhabitants of my house must have loved it! There were spider webs everywhere.. I guess it took them several months to grow them, but they finally succeeded – what a satisfaction! Well, I took up the horror task of bringing them down – I’m such an exorcist!!

11:25 a.m. – enough fun for me – I go back to scrubbing the kitchen! I’m so good with beauty treatments!

12:14 p.m. – One moore tiimmee! I hear my music – and I go – One moore tiiimee…

12:45 p.m. – I hurry up to the AH for super-fast shopping – I only pay for half, must be weekend discount

1:00 p.m. – I meet the building sort of administrator who gives me precious advice on how to sue the sellers for hidden damage of the house.. do I really need that?!

2:01 p.m. – Anna says she’s going to help me get an armchair, she’d be coming with an Ukrainian guy to look at the bedroom, maybe he can get it fixed.. I sure cannot! She says she’ll run a bit late..

2:30 p.m. – nice to have fun in the kitchen, now some fun with moving stuff to the attic.

2:45 p.m. – I’m thinking – is Anna still coming with the guys?! Am I going to be late again? I’m supposed to have my most expected moment of the month – appointment at the beauty saloon – so long ago that I could relax!

2:46 p.m. – As I have nothing else better to do, I check out the photo’s on my camera – all those memories.. make me dream awaaayy.. ah! I need some action!

3:00 p.m. – I realize the house is not clean enough, so I start rearranging stuff.. as if that made it better..

3:10 p.m. – The Russian speakers arrive.. I only get “material”, “davai” and I can say “spasiva”. So the Ukrainian guy asks me how come I haven’t studied Russian in school.. well I guess I was busy with French – excuse my French! We’re driving far off to the Villa ArenA on Chemical Bro rhythms and chatting in English, Dutch and Russian altogether..

3:45 p.m. – Lucky me I’m with strong men helping me!! I just need to smile and go on..

6:15 p.m. – Yvonne, the beauty treatment guru, breaks the news that I didn’t eat proper meals lately.. I was busy! She doesn’t accept it as an excuse, I need to work on it.. damn!! AND! I need to relax, don’t stress, hey, at least don’t do anything tonight! Just relax!! OK ok..

7:15 p.m. – I arrive home in a state of total relaxation. Man, I love beauty treatments!

8:15 p.m. – I’m shocked! I just got a letter saying if I buy a spot now to be buried, coffin etc., I get a discount! From Eur 4,500 to Eur 3,800 – just round about… Are people cheap when they’re having burials too?! Is buying your death a mean to say I lived rich or I lived poor?! Do you get a place in front? What do I need to pay to sit next to God? Can I buy some wings to fly around in Heaven or some good drinks and chicks to party in Hell?!

8:30 p.m. – I find some old magazine (Off the Record, no. 5, 2008) and read an article about Blof. What happened after Umoja!! How they were singing about the death of a dog and some neighbour came in while they were playing telling her dog just died. So this doesn’t only happen to me!! – Continuity, I mean! (it’s a principle, check it out – and my philosophical @ss ;) ) I don’t even have a dog!

9:10 p.m. – I read: “la scoperta della sessualità, la ricerca di un’identità, il paradossale desiderio di individualismo e il contempo, di appartenenza al gruppo, l’incomunicabilità, le passioni inconfessate, le aspirazioni rivendicate, i riti, le mode. Quella strana energia” – it’s all about teenagers, how they get to discover themselves.. every now and then I’m still going back to those questions. Does that mean I’m still a teenager?!

9:27 p.m. – Despite Yvonne’s recommendations, I start reading some Financial accounting lovely book :P

Sunday

11: 25 a.m. – I discover the entrance door to my apartment is a bit open. Any cat would fit through it. Have I slept with the door open? For how long has it been open really?! Well, at least I feel very safe now. If a burglar, raper or killer was refusing such an invitation, this must be a safe neighbourhood! Look, mom, I’m ok! :)

2:33 p.m. – As a good neighbour, you’re supposed to clean up the stairs that lead to your apartment. I bet you lazy asses don’t do that. There are always cleaners for that. Well, in my building each does a stair case. So I let them see no dust, but super-housewife power!!

2:49 p.m. – As my computer is wasted, I’ll need to reinstall Windows. I start doing so at the same time with my warm-up exercises.

5:10 p.m. – Let it run, let it run.. computer check – installation failed, ok, once more! I’ll take a hair dying and a shower in the meanwhile..

5:30 p.m. – I finish up dying my hair.. the bloody computer is still running his stupid installations..

5:55 p.m. – I blow my hair dry, trying not to get angry about my computer.

11:30 p.m. – Imi bag p*_%*^$#@ in el de computer – I hear myself swearing in Romanian. Now where did that come from?! I give it up, I’m going to sleep!!