Poc & Poch

The perfect weather for a good old sit at home and read a book is here. And yet, on these rainy October days, we are installing the new kitchen cabinets.

The house, a total mess, is uninviting and cold. 

My only thoughts are Oh well.. There will be many other rainy October days. In fact, the weather will get colder and colder. And with this excuse, I placed an online order for two pair of boots. Estimated delivery time: two days. Where: at work. So, even if I will have a bad day at work, I will have one thing that will make my day.

Hopefully, we will finish installing the new kitchen cabinets till the end of the day. That would allow me an hour or two to sort through things, throw away what is not needed, clean up and maybe get some rest in the evening. That’s what I am counting on, but my energy levels are getting lower and lower with every passing hour. 

It will all be worth it in the end. A lil bit of effort from our side now, will mean that we will be able to enjoy other rainy October days. That, and the kitchen will look better and will be more practical.

Till then, I shall have to drink more coffee and just keep doing stuff to clean up the place. We will have time to rest next weekend. No plans for then, so that means we can sleep away all day long. 

I was expecting Autumn to come, but I guess I was not prepared for it. It is bloody cold, and October is just around the corner. 

Officially, there are no more road trips, work related trips, team buildings or any other activity that might involve travelling, planned for the next few months. The hiatus of trips of any nature has started, and it will be for an undetermined period. 

It was fun. It was the the most busiest summer I ever had. Going to Belgium & Netherlands (twice), Greece (vacation), Bulgaria (team building), even hiking in Romania (to places I never heard of till now), was an amazing experience which I doubt I will have the chance to repeat any time soon. 

I don’t mind not having any more trips planned for the following months. I could use some me time at home. In fact, even if I won’t go anywhere, October will still be a full month for me. I’m fully booked at work, already planned out the entire month with different battle plans, in order to cope with the workload *fingers crossed nothing goes terribly wrong*. There is also the house that needs a good scrub. That, and the fact that I also want to indulge in some of my hobbies. My hands are itching for some stitching or knitting. I was thinking, I could knit a scarf like the ones from Harry Potter. 

Heck, I think this is the first morning in weeks where I can actually enjoy my coffee and not gulp it down and run out the door. I was even thinking, that at the end of October the daylight saving time will take effect. That means that at least one night in October I will get the chance to sleep longer. 

Plus, now that the weather is colder, Pluto and Marlanu’ tend to sleep with us. It has been a while since all four of us snuggled together in bed. It is cute beyond words.

It feels good to be in a clean house. All the effort paid off in the end, and I can finally enjoy some me time. I can totally get into the whole Saturday vibes thing. In my case, it means drinking a beer and browsing the web for a few hours.

 

After a full day of cleaning, time for a break. #saturday #beer #spitfire #Pluto #relaxingathome #dog #dogsofinstagram #labrador #lab #cutedog #saturdayvibes

A post shared by Alina Constantin (@creness) on Sep 9, 2017 at 8:35am PDT

Today, I was very productive. Heck I was productive all week, especially at work. But, I enjoy cleaning and basking in the results of my hard work. Yes, we all have our thing. This just happens to be mine.

I even got the chance to finish a good book. Long live audio books! I can honestly say, listening to audio books makes everything better. I finished reading (listening, in my case) Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. The book itself is amazing, especially if you love the 80s. But, the audio book made it even better just because it was narrated by none other than Wil Wheaton.

Growing up, Wil Wheaton was one of my favorite actors when I was a kid. I also had a cute crush on him (like most girls of my generation). He was right up there with River Phoenix, Mike Vitar and Devon Sawa. The only drawback of those times, was that we didn’t have internet. Well, thinking about it now, I think it was for the best that we didn’t have internet back then.

It is one thing to enjoy the characters on the TV screen, and another to stalk people and hoard pictures of them.

Moving on, the book was awesome and I am glad I had the inspiration to start it. Sure, I could’ve finished one of the other books that I have started in the last months, but it was highly recommended to me by one of my colleagues from work. 

Overall, today was a good day.

September is here! That means that there only four months left of 2017. It seems that the older you get, the faster time will pass.

I am just happy that Autumn is slowly coming. Summer was nice when I was a kid, but as an adult, it is one of the most horrible seasons. As a kid I could go to the country side, enjoy 3 months of vacation. As an adult I have to go to work, melting along the way. 

I can’t complain right now. The days are shorter and the nights are colder. It makes sleeping so much better. Sure, it is still warm and I doubt I will bring out my jacket any time soon. But, just the thought that we are already in September makes me happy. 

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Today we’ve been to the country side and enjoyed lunch with my parents. It was actually nice to go in the garden and pick out the vegetables for the salad. I am guessing this will be my last chance for this year, since I don’t think we’ll have the time to again in September.

We took Pluto along and he got a chance to play with the puppies. We came back home with fruits and vegetables. We also took back our blankets. You could say we took them out of the storage, just to be prepared in case the weather gets colder. 

It was also nice that we got the chance to see the red train on our way back home. It has been a while since we saw it, and I’m happy it is still running.

Overall, it has been a good start for September and it will only get better. Hiking trip, team building, movie dates, meeting friends in the park. We have a few things planned for the next couple of weeks. I guess we are making happy memories.

Home sweet home

There is nothing in this world like the feeling you have when you get home after a long one week vacation. 

I know one week may not seem much, but it was very long week because of our company. I shall not go into details, since it is not good to think of such things, they are best forgotten. I will happily say that the location for our vacation was perfect: no souvenirs shops, no fancy places, no places to visit. It was just us, the beach, the sea and a few taverns scattered on the beach that offered some of the best food I had.

It was the perfect location to rest and charge our batteries.

It also made us appreciate our home more. Coming back to our pets and sleeping in our own bed, was divine. We might not have the perfect home, but it provides much comfort. 

We went back to our normal routine as soon as we stepped the threshold, and I couldn’t be more happy. 

I am also happy that summer is slowly coming to an end, and we won’t have to endure the city heat. Meaning we will be able to take longer walks with Pluto, and be more active during the day. I am happy that the days are slowly getting shorter and the nights longer. This summer was full and amazing, but it’s just too much of a good thing. 

I can’t wait for Autumn!

Good things are still to come. Until they come, I plan on making the most of my free time. I don’t care if there are no more adventures for a while. I just want to enjoy each day as it comes, and tomorrow is no exception. It might be Monday, and I will have to go back to work, but I missed my friends and I can’t wait to see them. 

I will also have new books this week. I will get the chance to cook, which I haven’t done in months. So, I can honestly say I will enjoy the small things. I think that a bad vacation makes really opens your eyes and makes you appreciate the normal standard routine. 

I know for sure that this past few months I’ve changed a lot. I have experienced things that I have not dreamed of. And yet, I still find myself in weird situations, being pulled back to old places and towards old friends. 

Unlike the old me, who would’ve been most upset, the current me is amused. I’ve just lost a few friends today. They are dear to me, but I cannot deal with them anymore. I cannot deal with the gossip, with the she said, he said things. This situation just proved me that I don’t need that kind of people in my life. It also showed me which people need uprooting from my life. 

It is also another step forward. It is a step towards focusing more on myself and what I need to do with my life, rather than on other people, their problems and so on.

Sounds silly, I know..

This year keeps surprising me in the most unexpected ways possible.. Leaving aside the amusement on fast news travels, it is a bit sad knowing that you can never know whom to trust or not. Bad business this is. Trust is important in any kind of relationship, and I as proven over and over again that most people do not care about that.

This is why it is important to me to have this written down: a reminder for future times.

It is a beautiful Sunday morning to do whatever our hearts desire, be it nothing, everything, or a just a lil bit of everything. I have missed this feeling and the quietness of a Sunday morning.

For someone who slept less than 5 hours, I am feeling fresh and happy. Staying up late (till 2 AM) to finish a book, was (in my opinion) time well spent. I cannot feel tired after doing something that I love. 

I needed a weekend like this, to bring me back to reality and to recharge my batteries. I did nothing of great importance to be reported, nor did I waste time. It was just a normal Saturday, and today (most likely) will be a normal Sunday. I couldn’t be more happy about it all. 

I will do some cleaning, some going out (even if it is just to walk the dog), some reading and I will also spare some of the time for myself, a bit of tender, love and care for my body, plus some plans and notes for the future weeks (which are fully booked).

I was thinking that in September things will go back to a normal routine. But, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Things are changing, and so far all has been for the better. I am hoping that things will keep up. John is in the process of quitting his job. His last day at his current workplace will be the 4th of September. I am happy for him, and I hope he will find something less stressful. 

I already booked one Saturday (16th of September) for a hiking trip (another girls only weekend). There will also be the company team building, which will take place at the end of September (in Bulgaria). Hopefully the team building will not be on the same weekend as the hiking trip, since they have not announced the date yet.

These are just a few plans that are set (more or less), and I know that many will come. So, having a relaxing Sunday morning at home (while my three boys are sleeping or lazying around), feels like a good break.

I must admit that I have spent six amazing weeks, but it is time to say “Goodbye Belgium“. I can honestly say this has been a life changing experience for me. 

I know this will sound selfish, but I had fun being on my own. It was nice to have time for myself. It was nice not having to worry about being on time, to take the dog out, feed the cat, not being tied up to any responsibility. It made me realize how much I missed being by myself. 

Don’t get me wrong, it feels great being back home, but this experience was an eye opener on many different levels. I like myself a lot now, and I do believe that I can achieve a lot of things if I set my mind and heart on them. If this isn’t confidence, then I don’t know what it is. 

I must admit, it is really hard not to feel happy after spending 6 weeks in Belgium. It is an amazing place, that can go from peaceful to down right crazy.

I came back with a lot of great memories, and souvenirs and some great friends from Belgium. I am happy beyond words. I do believe that for a while, I will not have time to settle back in a routine. I have this feeling that good things are still to come and that I should just go with the flow. 

Goodbye Belgium!

New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings – Lao Tzu 

I am not sure of what I want to say, or what I am feeling. The only certainty that I have is that this is a new beginning for me. 

It only took one simple hello, and everything followed after. To put it simple, I got a new job and met new people. I’ve actually started one week ago, and I’ve had my hands full ever since. It is a normal job, from 9 – 5. I have the weekends off, and vacations are not a problem. There are also benefits, plus a good pay check.

That would be the simple description. 

Yet, it is not that simple. It is much more complicated than that, and the benefits are far better than I could imagine. I was so happy all week long, that my new colleagues thought that I was either that kind of person, or that I smoked something before coming to work. None of those are true, of course. I am not the happy go lucky kind of person, nor do I entertain myself with smoking week (cigarettes are my only poison). 

I was happy that I got a chance to start over from scratch in a place where no one knows me. If that is not a new beginning, I don’t know what is. 

It will be interesting to see where this will lead, since the entire department is new. Basically, we will be the foundation of a department of 30 people. At the moment, we are just 6 people.

Those 6 people – myself included- with the team leads, will be flying out to Belgium for training. Three weeks, followed by a break of two weeks at home, and then another three weeks of practical implementation. This is a huge opportunity for me. I have never been on my own (without John), and never for such long periods of time. 

At the beginning, I was unsure if I will be able to manage the challenge, or if I want the responsibilities, but now I am good. Why? Because, I’ve already been through the process. I know what to expect and what to do now. So, that old job of mine did had some use. It will be the base for my new beginning.