Mood:  caffeinated

Yup, it's been a while again since I last wrote... Life's a roller coaster once again. More about that later though.

I went to this (for me) relatively obsolete course. Since I was in London for 3 days, I thought I couldn't again let the opportunity go by and not get a piece of the action at all; So I geared up for one of the musicals and picked Avenue Q.

An excellent choice as it turned out, and I can definitely recommend to everyone, cause it is as hilarious as it claims to be.

After the course I popped onto a plane to Amsterdam, because on the next day my little artist would have her very own performance. I was delighted to see that the people from her dancing school had chosen the scene from Cats....

How nice it would have been if this show was still up in London and I could've taken her to see it afterwards. But still, the performance of my little girl was obviously the best, of a kind you cannot get in London, Broadway or anywhere else...

Mood:  blue

I am being rowed throug Paradise on a river of Hell:

Exquisite ghost, it is night.

The paddle is a heart; it breaks the porcelain waves...

I'm everything you lost. You won't forgive me.

My memory keeps getting in the way of your history.

There is nothing to forgive. You won't forgive me.

I hid my pain even from myself; I revealed my pain

only to myself.

There is everything to forgive. You can't forgive me.

If only somehow you could have been mine,

what would not have been possible in this world ?

Agha Shahid Ali

Mood:  not sure

I landed in the Netherlands with @ least 90 minutes delay, literally jumping from the luggage retrieval to the last train east. Sitting in the train and getting no response to any of my messages or calls I gear up for the worst. The possibility dawns on me that I might end up spending the night in the garden unless I would stir up the entire neighbourhood @ 12 midnight. Not my style though… Fortunately a key is waiting for me.

The next day is well spent swimming and blowing away all the fluffiness from every single dandelion along a small forest road (and I mean ALL dandelions). I had planned a trip with the little girl to either beach or Amsterdam, but unfortunately the mom wasted the morning visiting the church (which she can visit on any of the other 3 weekends when I’m not around). When I showed that this upset me, she acted if she didn’t notice. Well, what can I say, she only notices her own sorrows but has never had attention for mine…

Mood:  blue

Today I’m rather sad once more… I have worked in UK for 3 months now and in that short time I have seen the grave social impact of the stunningly high number of broken families here. When I speak to people (mostly the single mothers), what I notice is that the red thread through most of their stories is that in many situations partners fail to work together to further their children’s wellbeing. Though I’m realistic enough to know that some relationships won’t stand the test of time, it fills me with disappointment that previous partners don’t seem to be able to work something out for their children.

Even more so sad since I’m in that same league as well. It is not easy to set aside your personal interests, face a previous partner who has disappointed you so often already, spend a lot of time and money on a regular basis to fly & train over to their house, all for the sole reason that you know it will put a smile on your little girl’s face.

Mood:  hug me

My boss is the greatest ! First of all for hiring me of course  But second of all because she is such a nice person to work with. And last but not least, she is a great support in difficult times. Being a single mum of an 11-year old herself, who is in my position with the only difference of having her child living with her, she can be a source of reflection. With her ex-partner acting just like mine, she can give me useful advice on and off. A week ago I was going totally bananas over the whole thing. I was even at the verge of letting go, not being sure whether I was doing the situation more harm than good. But then I knew that this would also make my little girl very sad. I realised once again that all this is not about me, not about my ex, but about a child. I won’t let go, but I just have to think over what to do. And it will take patience….

Mood:  hug me

Yesterday I was sitting in my room, trying to study a bit and feeling miserable about the nonsense I had to cope with in the past few days. Just when I was driven down to the kitchen by hunger, I bumped into one of the HO's who lives in the same nice new house. Apparently the lot had decided to go out and have dinner with all the O&G-peepz and I was dragged along. I was so happy to get out and unwind a bit, as to get my mind distracted. Such times I realise how lucky I am always to meet so many nice people on my path. Just like when I was still in UM, when having a bunch of fun, bubbly HO's always made working just a bit nicer, however busy or stressed things were. And I'm happy to hear now and then that most of them who have worked with me had an equally good time...