Apparently some people think "Hey, she's from Belgium too, so I'll add her as a friend, without any accompanying message to introduce myself because being from the same country is enough". I know Belgians should stick together, especially these days, but knowing each other is pretty important too

I have a knack for being sore in strange places. I started doing weights again, last Saturday, And I'm still sore now in my... armpits!

In the meantime I've set myself some ambitious (impossible?) goals: to run a 10K race in October (in 60 minutes) and to run a half marathon in April next year (in 2h15min)! Without some sort of goals, I would never be motivated enough to advance well with my running. Curious to see if it's realistic, those goals are MILES away from what I'm currently capable of

I'm wondering why I keep coming back to this website... Certainly not to perve, the blogs are the main reason, but most of the people I know have gone, or don't blog very regularly themselves. As for my own blog, it's mostly a case of hoping someone else is interested in what I have to say?

I recently started blogging on another website, with about the same 'popularity', but at least there I have a reason to blog that doesn't involve others: to keep track of my weight loss, how my workouts are going, etc.

People are vain creatures, thinking that amongst so many others, our daily lives are interesting and worthwhile to read about.

It turns out I have toxoplasmosis. Not the diagnosis I expected (if I expected any at all) but glad to find out it's something relatively harmless. And it explains the lymph nodes and why I've been feeling a bit under the weather.

Since about a week I have some swollen and painful lymph nodes in my groin. The doctor suggested waiting it out for a weeks, but she also took some blood to find possible causes, and to get a general blood panel done, as it has been ages since I last saw a doctor.

Results will be in Tuesday evening, hopefully no bad news...

Aside from some pain around the lymph nodes, the weekend went pretty well. Yesterday evening we had dinner at some friends, and then we went out for some drinks.

Today, as it was a glorious spring day, I actually did some gardening (not my favorite pastime). Nothing revolutionary, just trimming bushes and trees and gathering up loads of debris and dead leaves from last year. Cleaning up after me will be boyfriend (making messes is more fun than cleaning them up )

And another weekend gone too soon...

It was a very unpoetical weekend, but constructive.

I managed to wash 5 machines worth of dirty laundry, finally the backlog is gone! Although it won't be long before there's more

And I sorted out the mountain of papers that was on my desk (I couldn't see my desk anymore). Only a few more mountains of paper left in my bookcase
This year I will be prepared for filling out my tax papers...

In between the constructive work, I managed to watch a whole bunch of antiques and animal shows (recorded on TV), so eliminate yet another backlog...

Oh yes, side note, I got a fabulous new computer screen, a whopping 5 inches bigger than my previous one. The bad news is that I have the same calibration issues as with the previous screen, so I'm looking at 175 euros to buy new calibration hardware...

Let's hope the work week is as constructive, it feels great to get things organized, messy surroundings make me feel stressed and out of control...

And curious to see my boss's answer to the e-mail I sent, to explain my refusal of her offer...

But my boss's right hand has proposed a new task for me, all the while minimizing its impact and trying to win me over with "I can't see anybody else for this job", "they need someone like you, structured and organized". The proposition actually comes from my boss, but she's on holiday so I can't talk to her.

My ideas:

1: euhm, have you ever seen my desk? NOT a sign of a well organised person, lol. I'm analytical, yes, but messy too

2: pretending that this task will take less than an hour a day: do I really look that naive?

3: I want to cut down on my overtime, not increase it... I don't get paid for it anyway, I'm tired of coming home at 7.30PM (and so is bf), and one day I'm going to crumble into a burnt out mess if I keep these 10 hour work days up.

My answer was already to refuse the proposal, but it was like talking to a wall: "think about it". Career opportunities versus exhaustion...

When every morning is mourning for another day passed.

Waking up, barely, staring at the black sky, waiting for daylight and life to assert itself.

Hovering between an empty mind and the future, I begin the series of routines that brings me to wakefulness.

Let the day begin again.

Wednesday evening:

I run to catch my train, and then try to catch my breath as my heart beats in my throat. This demonstration of my lack of fitness is quite superfluous, I'm quite aware...
An unexpected surprise actually, as I fully expected to miss my train.
Tonight I'm not going home, I'm going to sleep over at a friend's house, as she lives in Gent and I have a one-day course on "performance indicators in the non-profit sector" Thursday in the same city.
As we cook some "fast food" (pre-cut wok vegetables and frozen scampis) there's the usual chit-chat. What follows is more unusual: we have both brought work with us, and we spend two hours each working on our 'home work' (workaholics).

Thursday:

A pleasant day, an excellent course, snacks and a warm lunch included! And as cherry on the cake: it finishes at 4.30PM, which makes a nice change from working till around 6PM...
Coming home early has its advantages, bf picks me up at the train station and we have time to go and order some sheers for the bedroom (I'm tired of always having the curtains closed to avoid neighbors looking in).
At 10PM my boyfriend announces that I will not receive a massage unless I go running, so I don my running clothes and shoes and leave the house at 10.30PM. Despite the fact that it's been 4 months since I last went running (I started again this Monday), I run for 23 minutes straight. Damn near miraculous! It's better than when I stopped running in December. Asking myself how this could happen is probably a waste of time, but I can't help wonder

Friday:

I have the day off! Perfect, sleeping in, being lazy, everything a long weekend should be... I also have to choose my menu for a dinner party Saturday, not an easy task considering I have to avoid wheat and meat for my friends.

Saturday:

Friends are coming over for dinner, so I spend the whole afternoon cooking (leisurely pace). The evening goes well, calm and cozy.

Sunday:

Sleeping in again... A joy to realize that this isn't the end of the weekend yet, Monday is a holiday too!
Activities: choosing a new computer screen (for processing photos), and loads and loads of laundry...
The weather is dismal so far today, but hopefully I'll be able to go running again tonight (and hopefully it will go just as well as last time)

All in all a pretty good end of the week...

Two close-ups of the facade of this well-known (unfinished) building:





And now bedtime again, time flies... And tomorrow will be a long day...