I wish I was a chicken

Despite the wonderful summery weather, my head has been pretty stormy lately. So many things have been going on, and it's hard to keep track of everything. The short version:
This week I had to go to my college town 4 nights. Monday and Tuesday three of my friends had their final music exams, Wednesday I started rehearsals for my own exam (which is scheduled for 21 May) and last night I went to a friend's house for dinner and help on some exam arrangements. Of course I played the piano (almost) every day to prepare for my exam, and did voice exercises.

On top of that, we also met with the priest, set up an appointment to meet with the minister, picked out and ordered our wedding invitations, picked out rings and flowers and did some other random wedding prep work.

Just so we wouldn't get bored, we also gathered paper work for the mortgage company (unbelievable how much stuff you need to sign and copy). Oh and of course I had my last practical day for my thesis, and did a bunch of reading and writing.

I think I remember teaching school too, and doing housework.

I remind myself that in a month from now, my practical exam and most other stressful things will be over. After that it's just preparing for the wedding and enjoying the summer. But so many things have to be done before that... Please think of me and forgive me if I don't write as often as I usally do!
And yes, I still schedule nap times and lay-out-in-sun times and try to enjoy them without thinking too much of the things I have yet to do.
I wish I was one of my chickens, then all I had to do was eat, sleep, drink and make an occasional egg...

Too busy

Sorry folks, I'm too busy to blog actively at the moment. I'm studying and working and I'm still tired too... I'll catch up soon, I promise!

Proud

Inspired by Ashleigh at Stitched in Holland, I took this picture. Call me crazy, old-fashioned, weird or silly, but looking at this just fills my housewifey heart with pride and joy.
Can't wait to sleep between the air-dried sheets!

My fireman

When I drove home from work yesterday, I noticed big black clouds of smoke coming from a campsite close to our town. I thought of M: he would probably be paged because it was a fire in our municipality. As I got to our house and parked our car, M came running to me. "Can you take me to the fire? I missed the truck, I was too late." So off I went, with him.

At this campsite (which is also sort of a trailer court, because most people there have a trailer that they use as a weekend house) one of the trailers had caught fire. The person in the trailer had started to cook food, but then fell asleep. Thank goodness he wasn't hurt but as you can see the trailer was totally ruined.

M jumped out of the car and I helped him put on his suit. He ran off but asked me to wait, so I parked the car and waited. Because I had recently bought a new cell phone with a pretty good camera, I decided this was a good moment to give it a try. It was interesting to see him work (isn't he a cool fireman?) and to see what all happened. Because of the long Easter weekend, lots of people were at the campsite and they all came and watched. It was an interesting crowd of people.

If you're interested in all the pictures, click here and click on "view as slideshow".

Small town

The town I live in is a small town. There are about 2000 of us so it's a pretty close-knit community. Of course my M is involved in both the fire department as well as the shooting guild so we know a lot of people. But the people we don't know, are usually friendly too. We try to contribute to the community.
This afternoon I was studying in my back yard (I had to enjoy this sunny 19 degree (70F) day) when I heard the girl next door cry. She's 9 and considers herself a big girl, so when she cries something is wrong. I heard her talk to an adult voice and say: "but Mommy said she'd be home, and I have the key but she bolted the door and now I can't get in!". The adult said: "Why don't you use my cell phone to call your mother and ask her what time she'll be home". I decided to walk over and see if my assistance was required. She was on the phone and said: "Mommy, Nicolien is home, I'll go over to her house and wait for you" which of course was ok. So I took her home, gave her some lemonade and a cookie and listened to her story of her day. And by the time she was cheered up her mom was home.

Today I took a walk after dinner. The weather was still awesome (I didn't even need a jacket!) and the days are getting longer and longer, so I decided to get some exercise. I walked on the dykes by the river and enjoyed the view. I heard lots and lots of birds sing. I noticed that tulips are popping up in many gardens, and some are already in bloom. The narcissi are everywhere (there's hardly a garden without them) and everything seems to be sprouting and budding.
I had such a good time during my walk! People walked their dogs, their children or - in my case - themselves. And almost everyone I encountered greeted me. Some didn't, but that was ok too. When I got home I decided that I love living in this town. And I love the fact that it's spring again.