Today’s post is writing challenge. This is how it works: participating bloggers picked 4 – 6 words or short phrases for someone else to craft into a post. All words must be used at least once, and all the posts will be unique as each writer has received their own set of words. That’s the challenge, here’s a fun twist; no one who’s participating knows who got their words and in what direction the writer will take them. Until now.
My words are:
school ~ melancholy ~ retreat ~ consider ~ react ~ broken
This is a first. It's Thursday, 26 hours before publishing.
An hour from now Colin's gonna come home from school, and I haven't written one word, let alone used six of them and a bunch of others.
I have been busy, sure, especially considering that my coworker is on vacation this and next week, and I am supposed to do her full-time and my part-time job, but mostly I didn't have peace and quiet to let those words sink in and wait for inspiration to hit the way it usually does.
I would really love to retreat to a deserted island, one with Wi-Fi, of course, sip on a cocktail and write without being interrupted. I feel I have been having too much on my plate lately.
Take today, for example.
As soon as everybody had left in the morning, I sat down in my PJs and fluffy socks, with a nice cup of coffee and started my computer to work on this post, to ask about the car seat for our rental car for our upcoming vacation, to order stuff for Colin's birthday party, to pay this overdue bill, and, and, and,… when my cell phone rang.
The hubby. All I could think was "don't make me come to the office AGAIN, I need some me-time!"
Of course I can't say no to him, and half an hour later - in I walked, freshly showered and dressed, to report for office duty.
"Hello, Madam, this is Charlie from tech support, I'm calling about the Microsoft problems you're experiencing with your Windows computer!"
The guy was speaking English with an Indian accent.
Baahahahaha! Could it be my coworker trying to pull my leg? Or was it one of those scammers I heard about? They make you grant them access to your PC and then they steal your credit card info and stuff?
Either way, in Switzerland nobody calls and speaks English. I told him I may have many concerns right now, but fortunately a Windows PC was not one of them. (I am lucky enough to own a MacBook Pro at home.)
Colin came home from afternoon class, starving.
Of course.
After a gigantic snack he did his homework without any whining, and then we talked.
They forgot to deliver the chair but promised to bring it a couple of days later, on Tuesday this week, between 4 and 6pm to be exact. Could we please make sure to be at home when they arrive?
Guess what, I was just on my way back to the office from picking up a broken computer, when - at 2:45pm - my dear neighbor called me on my mobile. "Some guys from the furniture store are here with Colin's new chair, do you want them to leave it with me?"
Nope, I wanted them to carry it upstairs and take the packaging material with them on their way out!!! Now they're going to have to wait, I'll be there in 10 minutes.
A couple of days into his new loft bed accommodation Colin already tested the laws of gravity. Obviously he wanted to reach down for his water bottle… and fell! Hence the bruise next to his eye. How do you say? Good thing nothing was broken?
Anyway. Colin, sitting in his new chair like a boss, and I talked about balanced nutrition and food groups.
This is what he learned:
In the evening it only took him about 30 minutes to finish his lunch plate until he was allowed to have some pizza. Sometimes parenting sucks.
Now I'm pretty proud of myself about the food issue and my post almost being done.
What about the melancholy? I need to use this word, and it's usually something I feel all the time, just now I'm too restless, even though I have a perfect reason to be sad.
Robert, my father in law, passed away on Aug 25.
His daughter, my sister in law, was with him until the end. She did a wonderful job organizing the funeral service earlier this week.
An hour from now Colin's gonna come home from school, and I haven't written one word, let alone used six of them and a bunch of others.
I have been busy, sure, especially considering that my coworker is on vacation this and next week, and I am supposed to do her full-time and my part-time job, but mostly I didn't have peace and quiet to let those words sink in and wait for inspiration to hit the way it usually does.
I would really love to retreat to a deserted island, one with Wi-Fi, of course, sip on a cocktail and write without being interrupted. I feel I have been having too much on my plate lately.
Take today, for example.
As soon as everybody had left in the morning, I sat down in my PJs and fluffy socks, with a nice cup of coffee and started my computer to work on this post, to ask about the car seat for our rental car for our upcoming vacation, to order stuff for Colin's birthday party, to pay this overdue bill, and, and, and,… when my cell phone rang.
The hubby. All I could think was "don't make me come to the office AGAIN, I need some me-time!"
Of course I can't say no to him, and half an hour later - in I walked, freshly showered and dressed, to report for office duty.
Check out the Evolution of the Desk
If it really is 2015, then why is mine still looking like this?
At least I was able to leave in time to make a healthy and yummy lunch for my loved ones. Or so I thought. In case you can't tell - it's fresh porcini risotto.
Mr C didn't think so. He reacted as if I had put something really disgusting on his plate. I don't know why, but he has been unusually picky lately. Last night he wasn't happy about the lasagna I made.
I didn't expect him to jump for joy about the broccoli, but lasagna used to be one of his top three favorite foods?? I was kind of heartbroken. A home made lasagna means standing in the kitchen for a long time. Just me and my glass of wine ;-)
Turned out he expected "killer pies". Because, Wednesday.
Just like Plätzli on Mondays (scroll down to Q like quitting) we're always supposed to have pies on Wednesdays. And if we aren't, so he explained, I am expected to tell him in advance and negotiate an alternative meal. Spoiled much?
At bedtime he told me he was hungry. It was a bit hard, but I told him "you should have eaten your dinner, can't help you now."
Anyway, today he barely touched his food, more like played with it, dropped it on the floor.
We told him it's fine if he's not hungry, he can finish at dinner time, however Daddy and I were going to have pizza.
"Setting rules - that's all you ever do!" C said, rolling his eyes.
Can't say that I minded him going to school soon after.
In the afternoon I had a phone call on our land line from this interesting number:
The guy was speaking English with an Indian accent.
Baahahahaha! Could it be my coworker trying to pull my leg? Or was it one of those scammers I heard about? They make you grant them access to your PC and then they steal your credit card info and stuff?
Either way, in Switzerland nobody calls and speaks English. I told him I may have many concerns right now, but fortunately a Windows PC was not one of them. (I am lucky enough to own a MacBook Pro at home.)
Colin came home from afternoon class, starving.
Of course.
After a gigantic snack he did his homework without any whining, and then we talked.
Did you notice his new furniture, by the way? Before / after:
They forgot to deliver the chair but promised to bring it a couple of days later, on Tuesday this week, between 4 and 6pm to be exact. Could we please make sure to be at home when they arrive?
Guess what, I was just on my way back to the office from picking up a broken computer, when - at 2:45pm - my dear neighbor called me on my mobile. "Some guys from the furniture store are here with Colin's new chair, do you want them to leave it with me?"
Nope, I wanted them to carry it upstairs and take the packaging material with them on their way out!!! Now they're going to have to wait, I'll be there in 10 minutes.
A couple of days into his new loft bed accommodation Colin already tested the laws of gravity. Obviously he wanted to reach down for his water bottle… and fell! Hence the bruise next to his eye. How do you say? Good thing nothing was broken?
Anyway. Colin, sitting in his new chair like a boss, and I talked about balanced nutrition and food groups.
I made him do a meal plan for next week considering every lunch and dinner needs to contain protein, fiber and vitamins.
This is what he learned:
- This whole groceries shopping, cooking and meal planning thing is pretty tough.
- Luckily there's protein in the cheese that you sprinkle over your pasta.
- Veggies and fruit cover fiber and vitamins, it's two birds with one stone!
- Candy is not part of "five a day", even if it's strawberry flavored
In the evening it only took him about 30 minutes to finish his lunch plate until he was allowed to have some pizza. Sometimes parenting sucks.
Now I'm pretty proud of myself about the food issue and my post almost being done.
What about the melancholy? I need to use this word, and it's usually something I feel all the time, just now I'm too restless, even though I have a perfect reason to be sad.
Robert, my father in law, passed away on Aug 25.
He was 78, and his health was declining badly. A couple of weeks ago he fell, and his femoral neck bone was broken.
The surgery was long and complicated. When he woke up, he had trouble breathing and was basically faced with the following:
If he managed to recover, he was going to need another surgery, and until then he wouldn't be able to walk. Being in a wheelchair would force him to move into a nursing home, which to him was a huge no-no.
His lungs were filling with fluids, and he developed an ultimately fatal pneumonia.
His daughter, my sister in law, was with him until the end. She did a wonderful job organizing the funeral service earlier this week.
Tomorrow - the day this post is going to be published - we'll meet at the grave for the actual burial. Half of his ashes go to the cemetery where he is joining his late wife.
The other half is going to take a trip to his second home in Cape Town, South Africa.
When we agreed to do this, my husband was joking "I hope I won't end up like Mickey Gordon whose father's casket was lost at the airport."
Can you believe they mixed up the two urns at the crematory, and we'll have to go back and have the wooden one that what we are taking abroad sealed and stamped for customs?
I'm pretty sure I'll blog about it, if not about the ashes, then about our trip, so stay tuned.
These pictures were taken two years ago when we last saw him. We met at the annual miniature train exhibition which he loved. The video is from the previous year, the guys in the red jackets are my own parents.
I was just thinking that one day - many, many years from now - I may have to go to this video to see them. All right, here's some melancholy :-(
Now go find out what my friends' words were, and what they did with them:
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