Last day of April

It's the little moments that count, isn't it. Today, I was one of about ten percent in our office who went to the office. On a day like this, where there's a weekend, one working day, then a holiday, not many people bother coming in, they rather take the day off for a minibreak. I'm not judging, I'm planning on doing the same on the 18th of May, the Friday squeezed in between Ascension Day and the weekend. If only I'd find cheap tickets to fly somewhere, anywhere... Anyway, I digress. I had a lovely working day, it's amazing how much shorter a 6 hour day is compared to the usual 8. Right now I am watching two 3-year olds play, Em and L (remember him?). In a moment of unusual kindness (probably caused by the fact I had just been given a lift to do my weekly shopping and a trip to IKEA), I offered to babysit L overnight! What was I thinking, what of my own 1st May sleep-in??? Well, it's all paying off in this moment as I watch the two cousins sit in the sunlight that's shining in on us, heads leaned against each other, Em teaching L how to lay the Peppa Pig puzzle. What a wonderful Kodak moment! Of course, if I had a Kodak camera, or any functioning camera for that matter, I'd have captured it!

New beginnings

New Job,
New Apartment,
New Friends,
New Projects,
New Routine,
New Laptop (woohoo!).

All I need now is new phone and I am all set for this brand spanking new year.

What's new for you in 2012? Is the year looking promising?

London

I'm standing at Vauxhall station waiting for a train from Earlsfield. My jacket's still a bit damp from this morning's rain, but now it's sunny and dry. In front of me, planes are appearing out of the sky.

Up they fly, drifting in and out of the clouds. It takes about one minute for each plane to pass above me, then it disappears out of my eye's reach, above the stations roof. As soon as on has passed, another appears in front of me. In between the planes, I hear announcements being made:

"The 10:20 London Waterloo train will be delayed by approximately 32 minutes. This is due to a suspected fatality at Wimbledon. We apologise for any inconvenience caused."

As my own train's arrival time keeps shifting, 10:40, 10:48, 10:50, 11:01, it is only the sweet sounds of Adele that keep me calm, as I calculate how late I will be for my appointment. The train, finally, surprisingly shows up at 10:53 and I arrive 'only' 15 minutes late.

On my way home several hours later, with the melancholic "Someone like you" playing in my ears, the Evening Standard confirms that a woman in her sixties was indeed hit by a train and killed at Wimbledon.

Another day in London has just passed by.

Self realisation

Don't you love those moments when you see something and think:

"Oh my God! Who did thaaaat? What a selfish/reckless/inconsiderate/(add your own) thing to do!"

Only to, a few moments later, realise that: "Oh yeah, that was me, oops!".

Or does that only happen to me? :-)

Floating

This year has been crazy. Absolutely crazy. I thought last year was bad, but somehow this year has just ran by, it feels like I'm chasing a train and just as I manage to get hold of it and I'm about to jump on, I lose my grip and have to start chasing again. The past three weeks just added to the madness. My mother (read babysitter who'd pick Em from school when neither Virgo nor I could make it back to Tema in time) left for Sweden. The week after that the househelp ended her year-long contract, as agreed.

A few days later I had my wisdom tooth removed surgically (surgically meaning, since it hadn't surfaced, they had to cut through the flesh, drill through the bone, split the tooth in half before yanking it out). Needless to say, once the anesthesia wore off I cried all the way home on the motorway from the pain. A few days later, Virgo was off to London on business. Of course we had no idea when we planned this, that I'd be in excruciating pain when we said our goodbyes. The next day, Em got some kind of stomach infection which meant potty training was put aside and a whole lot of diapers were used. Of course this coincided with our water being cut off for 36 hours (I'm sure I've mentioned that we NEVER have water problems in Community 10).

And how could I forget to mention that the washing machine decided that this would be the best time not to work! Still, that didn't matter much as once the water was back, we had 12 hours without electricity, three times in a period of nine days.

Now I know you think I'm lying or exagerrating, but this happened during the most stressful and challenging work-weeks this year, so on top of everything else, I'd be sitting in a meeting, not hearing what was being said because I'd be wondering how on earth I would ever make it back to Tema to pick Em from school before closing time at 17:30.

However, since yesterday, we're all together; Virgo, Em and I, and there's even grandparents around! I've given myself a much need 48 hour rest from work (well, not a complete rest, but I'm just reviewing one agreement before noon tomorrow) and I can finally take a few deep breaths.

No more chasing racing trains, just floating and gasping for air.

Introduction to potty training.

I usually let Em run around without a nappy for a bit every day to air her little botty, it just feels a bit cruel that this little person should have to wear a nappy 24 hours a day. Also, I read somewhere that children who go diaperless are pottytrained faster. This evening, she was running around, no nappy in sight, being a little busybody, when my mum - who had been taking care of her all day whilst Virgo and I were in business meetings - said "She still hasn't pooed today". We continued doing what we were doing, watching TV, on the internet, eating dinner when suddenly I catch something happening. Almost seeing it in slowmotion, I watched in horror as a solid, soft, brown mass fell between Em's legs on to the marble tiles.

"Poo, poo, poo!", I heard mysef yelling as the next few minutes turned into what looked like a well choreographed farce. I threw myself over the newly bought toilet roll, ripping of the plastic as fast as I could, as my mum tried to identify any other defacated areas (there were four in total) and Virgo simultaneously picked Em up, took her to the bathroom and washed her down.

All this took place in a matter of about 90 seconds after which we all got back to normal as if nothing ever happened. Well, it's good to know what to expect in the next few months when potty training begins!