{"id":5747,"date":"2010-11-24T22:14:44","date_gmt":"2010-11-24T20:14:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.breigh.com\/wordpress\/?p=5747"},"modified":"2010-11-24T22:34:18","modified_gmt":"2010-11-24T20:34:18","slug":"randomy-randomness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.canadutch.nl\/blog\/archives\/5747","title":{"rendered":"Randomy Randomness"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a title=\"Dad and Carl\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/36166632@N00\/5197628165\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/4128\/5197628165_11163f4dcb_b.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Dad and Carl\" width=\"595\" height=\"407\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<strong>A photo I took of my dad at work when I was home in Canada. Got lucky that he was cutting the hair of a good family friend while I was there, AND wearing the t-shirt I\u2019d brought home for him! If only I could have gotten him to stop talking for two seconds so I could get the photo.\u00a0 If you ever wonder where I get my gift of gab\u2026 there you have it.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m a little out of it at the moment but I feel like writing so I\u2019m going to have one of those blurb moments where I just go on about whatever is on my mind.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m a little worried about my dad, even though my mother keeps telling me not to be.\u00a0 I\u2019m not worried in that OMG He\u2019s gonna die!! kind of way, rather just concerned because his heart troubles continue and now he needs to have a <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Implantable_cardioverter-defibrillator\" target=\"_blank\">defibrillator<\/a> put in his chest in January.\u00a0 It is put in the same as a <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Artificial_pacemaker\" target=\"_blank\">pacemaker<\/a> would be, only rather than keeping the rhythm like a pacemaker, the defibrillator will give him a jolt to start his heart in case it stops.\u00a0 I know it\u2019s not as scary as it sounds but he\u2019s my dad and any operation will worry me to some extent, especially since I don\u2019t fully trust my mom not to try to make it sound less serious than it is.\u00a0 She lies with love.<\/p>\n<p>I am dying to start decorating for Christmas but every year I promise myself that I will wait until December 1st. Will I make it this year?\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure.\u00a0 I have a lot on my mind at the moment and it would definitely make for a good distraction.\u00a0 Plus, it\u2019s already the 24th and there\u2019s only 30 days in this month anyway. It\u2019s practically the first already!<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Bald Eagle\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/36166632@N00\/5201012204\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/5124\/5201012204_8e740ef520_b.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Bald Eagle\" width=\"595\" height=\"411\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<strong>When I was in Canada I got lucky and saw a bald eagle in a tree in someone\u2019s garden.\u00a0 I did not, however, see a moose that I could get a photo of.\u00a0 After watching like a hawk as we drove the trails, I saw one on the side of the highway on the way to the airport to come back to Holland.\u00a0 I swore, a lot.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I am in the middle of a big issue with my gallbladder.\u00a0 If you are friends with me on Facebook you\u2019ve seen me bitching and moaning about it a lot lately.\u00a0 After almost three years of being told I have acid reflux, I had an ultrasound done that found that I have stones in my gallbladder with a small one in a bile duct.\u00a0 I had 10 hours of pain one day while I was in Canada and was taken to the hospital by ambulance on Monday, where they told me my gallbladder needed to be removed but since I don\u2019t have a fever or infection, that it can wait.\u00a0 I\u2019ve had attacks since but they\u2019ve given me painkillers. Now I am trying to get it sorted as I want it out ASAP.\u00a0 There are some other medical procedures I need to have done in January and I want this taken care of first.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.toyota.nl\/cars\/new_cars\/prius\/index.aspx\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"display: inline;\" title=\"prius\" src=\"http:\/\/www.breigh.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/prius.jpg\" alt=\"prius\" width=\"595\" height=\"310\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>After loads of test drives and visits to car dealerships we have finally decided on what our new lease car will be.\u00a0 For months we hummed and hawed over whether we were going to go with the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.toyota.nl\/cars\/new_cars\/prius\/index.aspx\">Toyota Prius<\/a> or the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.opel.nl\/News\/actions\/newastrapackages.aspx\">New Opel Astra Turbo<\/a>, which is what we have as a loaner at the moment, and love it.\u00a0 In the end we liked them both the same and decided it would come down to the money.\u00a0 We were fairly certain that the Prius would come out more expensive, but that turned out to not be the case.\u00a0 By the time we got what we wanted (built in GPS, etc) on the Astra, it turned out that the model of the Prius that we wanted was actually cheaper AND had more included in the package.<\/p>\n<p>Xander enjoyed driving them both quite a lot, but since he\u2019s at a client that is a bit further away and is constantly getting stuck in traffic, the automatic gearshift in the Prius was looking more and more attractive.\u00a0 We liked the look of them both, but also liked that the Prius had the little extras like the video parking assist in the back, the HUD (Heads Up Display) and other bits and bobs that made it unique and fun.<\/p>\n<p>So even though we really love the Astra we are driving at the moment, we did end up choosing the Prius.\u00a0 With the 14% tax we got more bang for our buck with this car over the Astra which was 20%.<\/p>\n<p>Oh, and after our last car and our current rental both being borrrrriinnnng silver, we decided to go with something a little more fun \u2013 Barcelona RED baby!!\u00a0 We are also getting it with a solar roof\/sunroof, pretty sweet.\u00a0 Unfortunately, it won\u2019t be with us until around March, so we will get to spend some more time with our lovely Astra in the meantime.<\/p>\n<p>Today I bought a pair of pants at the thrift shop across the street because they were cheap and they fit.\u00a0 They are also a smaller size than I have worn yet, FIVE sizes smaller than what I was wearing at my top weight.\u00a0 At \u20ac7,50 I was taking them no matter what they looked like, because I could GET.THEM.ON. and was so chuffed with myself.\u00a0 Even though my husband told me they make my ass look funny and when I asked what he meant by funny, he said flat.\u00a0 After years of an ass that left a room two minutes after the rest of me did, I certainly wasn\u2019t deterred from buying them.\u00a0 I will take flat any day.<\/p>\n<p>As a celebratory gift to myself for losing 80 lbs, I bought a pair of boots.\u00a0 Boots with heels.\u00a0 Not overly high or skinny scary heals, but high enough thick and equally scary (if you are me) heels.\u00a0 In an effort to embrace my girlie side, I decided it\u2019s time I started wearing something other than sneakers and (don\u2019t judge) crocs.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure if this is just a phase, but I\u2019m giving it a go.\u00a0 I wore them to walk the dogs, and I wore them to the car dealerships today.\u00a0 I only felt like I was going to twist my ankle once or twice and I didn\u2019t either time, so I\u2019m taking that as a good sign.\u00a0 I do wonder if I will ever get used to the clomping sound as I walk.\u00a0 I\u2019m definitely not going to sneak up on anyone wearing those bastards.<\/p>\n<p>The boots only go up above my ankles and I sort of hate that because my legs are still too fat for higher ones.\u00a0 Even when I was thinner (I was never actually thin, just not so fat), I couldn\u2019t wear them because I had big calves.\u00a0 Mark my words, one day there will be a post of my feet in tall boots. MARK MY WORDS.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, by that time they will be out of style, but at least I\u2019ll get them on sale.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m still trying to make this as much of a homemade Christmas as possible but not having felt so well over the last while has really put a dent in my \u2018work schedule\u2019.\u00a0 Some things probably aren\u2019t going to get done so I will have to buy a few gifts.\u00a0 It\u2019s not too bad though as I have managed to make a fair few.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve been cutting back drastically on my time on MSN Messenger and other internet stuff.\u00a0 Except Facebook, I seem to spend even more time on Facebook now that I\u2019m not chatting.\u00a0 I\u2019ll have to work on that, but it\u2019s probably because that\u2019s where most people contact me now.\u00a0\u00a0 When I was in Canada I enjoyed just being out and about and LIVING without feeling so tied to the internet, I really wanted to continue that when I got home.\u00a0 It also helped that they upgraded MSN Messenger and made me hate it.\u00a0 It\u2019s the beginning of what will be a slow process of weaning myself off the internet, but I know I\u2019ll be better for it in the end.\u00a0\u00a0 Don\u2019t get me wrong, I\u2019m not going anti-internet, I\u2019m still a big geek\u2026 I just am tired of worrying about not being available to people or like I\u2019m going to be out of the loop or something.\u00a0 I get so much more done when I limited my time on MSN or the internet in general. SOOO MUCH MORE.\u00a0 I need to try to keep getting more stuff done, which means always trying to spend less of my time online.<\/p>\n<p>While I was in Canada I bought plastic weatherproofing for the windows in our flat.\u00a0 I probably moaned about it a number of times on this blog, but we have HUGE windows with only single glazing and some pretty big aquariums.\u00a0 In the winter we get a lot of problems with draughts and condensation.\u00a0 A friend told me to try this stuff that you stick on the window frame and shrink with a hairdryer, and so far it seems to be working!\u00a0 Our windows still fog up a bit in the middle but not like they used to.\u00a0 We\u2019ve (knock wood) not had any waterfalls off our windowsill so far this year.\u00a0 Should save a bit of my sanity and some money too since we won\u2019t be trying to compensate with the heat all winter.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m thinking of changing my <a href=\"http:\/\/www.breigh.com\/wordpress\/101-list\" target=\"_blank\">101 List<\/a> to something by another name.\u00a0 Maybe a Tammy-Do list?\u00a0 Get it? Like a honey-do list only\u2026 whatever.\u00a0 I keep coming up with things I want to add, but then it won\u2019t be a 101 list anymore. It\u2019ll be a 102 list, or a 134 list and that just doesn\u2019t have the same ring to it.\u00a0 So I need to change it so I can add tons of more crap I want to do at some point.\u00a0 Any ideas?<\/p>\n<p>Ok, I\u2019m done.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019m a little out of it at the moment but I feel like writing so I\u2019m going to have one of those blurb moments where I just go on about whatever is on my mind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5748,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[260,233,154,65,114,93],"class_list":["post-5747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-randoms","tag-animals","tag-cars","tag-dad","tag-family","tag-random-thoughts","tag-sickness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canadutch.nl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canadutch.nl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canadutch.nl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadutch.nl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadutch.nl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5747"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadutch.nl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5752,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadutch.nl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5747\/revisions\/5752"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadutch.nl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canadutch.nl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadutch.nl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadutch.nl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}