(c) manuel mc

The weather these last few days has been so lovely, life here has been looking good for the coming months.

Saturday

Was a lovely day. After Keith’s party the night before, which was rather strange to stand in the same kitchen with all the boys, dressed as … well boys and not in drag as at the last party. The sun was out but there was still a nifty breeze when you were in the shade. Didn’t stop me having a lovely afternoon in one of my summer favourites, Tomaz on Begijnensteeg. Its a lovely little tapas bar that serves a slightly sparkling rose in the summer months, yum yum. Its on a tiny medieval side street off the main shopping street Kalverstraat, on the way to the amazingly peaceful Begijnhof. In fact the lane way itself was the only entrance to the Begijnhof originally, so it truly is a medieval route. And coupled with some spring sun and a nicely trashy paperback, things were good.

Sunday

Proved equally relaxing, having got my bike back and repaired good as new. I did a bit of shopping, first time in months – I have been a good girl. Went for a bracing cycle around Westerpark, hung out with friends for a lovely dinner at Burgermeester . Sunday is usually quiet for me, I like to be ready for the week ahead.

Monday

(c) ayalon

The weather got even better,  and it’s so nice to cycle home along the Weesperzijd’s riverside cafe’s. I got a good bit done at the office and left work bang on time, headed to another local watering hole, Struik on Rozengracht. I sat on the picnic benches outside with a verse munt thee (hot water, fresh mint and honey)  and chatted to some people, before continuing to chow through the aforementioned cheesy paperback. Then me and my freshly made lamacun went home to watch Great British Menu, Richard Corrigan gives me the shivers, he’s like a cooking version of GRyan! I even managed to stay up way past my bedtime to watch our Mr Mulley on Q&A

Tuesday

Can we spell pre-monstral! Oh yes as the wonderful Xbox might say the Red Menace is nigh. And I am having a tearful day. Please, for those that don’t understand this concept, the ladies lucky enough to not get teary pre the monster, and for boys reading that are not gagging right now. I am NOT actually upset, nor am I down or depressed. I will just cry at the drop of a hat, nothing alarming about that, is there? Things that make me cry right now are homeless kids, upset kids,  cute kids, babies,  – yes I see a theme too – and thinking of my Gran, Uncle or Cousin who have passed on.

Today listening to Phantom, I zoned out from what I was doing to hear, or should I say listen to, as I had heard it a million times, a Road Safety ad. James’s dad spoke of how James lost his life when he was walking home in the dark from a debs and was struck by an articulated lorry.  Tears quietly escaped while his fathers voice haltingly said “Oddly I miss him most on fine sunny days when I think he should be alive and out enjoying himself” and “if only he had worn a visibility jacket that night”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Anyhow, the day went on and I came home, read more of my book (nearly finished it) and made a yummy salad, it really is yummy and I will put the recipe, thrown together as it was, up here soon. I sat down for another installment of Great British Menu. I’m willing the only woman, Clare Smyth,  amongst this years contenders to get through the heats. Afterwards the second an possibly the most bizarre reason to shed a tear snuck up on me.

Yep I cried at Snooker!    Snooker??     … Yeah Snooker.

Hurricaine Higgins

I promise I have not lost it, well no more than usual.

My Gran was a snooker nut, and stayed up till 3am to watch all the greats, during my childhood it seemed as though Snooker was on all year, and certainly every time I went to my gran’s. My grandad used to watch it on a black and white tv in his bedroom right up until he died. Snooker watching on a black and white with a snowy reception is a passion of its own. But the quiet sound of the commentators and the smack of the cue on white will always make me think of Gran. The clincher for me tonight was Steve Davis’s return to the Crucible!! Gosh I remember how much she didn’t like him, and how bored I was listening to her as a kid. I know she’d have loved to watch him get his ass whopped.  Alex Higgins was my nan’s toyboy, she even called the budgie after him.

Wasn’t really up for much more beyond that, late night last night, at a Drag Party at Keith & Ronan’s glitter-ball bedecked apartment.

Came home and decided that tea and a bubblegum movie were the order of the day.

“Because I said so” was sitting forlorn and unloved for a few months now, time to try that one I thought, looks like it wont take any mental processing, perfect for today.

With the tagline of

“She’s just your normal, overprotective, overbearing, over-the-top mother.”

perhaps this was a movie for last Sunday, but nevertheless I stuck with it. I love Diane Keaton and have a small crush on Piper Perabo which explains why I have this movie in the first place. Have to say “stuck with it” is really all one could do, it wasn’t the greatest movie ever made, it was annoying and cliched in many parts, but still something about the mother character played by Diane Keaton kept me involved.

The story struck a chord with me, a woman who has devoted her life to raising 3 daughters with their father out of the picture, just wants the best for them and determined to ensure they didn’t make the mistakes she felt she did. My mom all but raised us on her own, and while she’s nowhere near as overprotective or involved in our lives as Ms Keaton’s character was in her daughters, the sentiment remains. She had to do everything for us and built her life around us, its something I am very aware of, and when I left for college I was more upset for her, than excited for me.

It is so hard, when you are there on your own, not to make your kids the center of the world and inevitably they grow up and leave you, as they are supposed to do, but I can imagine it is hard to let them make their own mistakes.

This quote made me laugh, while crying, and it resonated with me, even as I thought of my nephew, whose raising I have been really involved in..

I want you girls to understand something about motherhood, ok?
It is the most impossible love, you tell me, when it ends, when it stops?
All I know is, its absolutely fine for me to teach you how to walk and talk, and then you grow up and you head off in the wrong direction toward a cliff, and I’m supposed to stand there and wave and say good-luck?

You watch this small person grow, and it depends on you for everything, its hard to give that up. Its hard to look at him now and not see the tiny thing on a hospital bed the morning we brought him home. Even though he’s six and nearly as tall as me, and asking all manner of bizzare questions, its all I can do not to think of the little bundle I would hold in my arms all afternoon as he slept.

My mum was trying to have a second child (me) for 6 years, I cant imagine how bitter sweet it is to watch that person you tried so hard to create, grow up and away from you. In truth, as anyone who knows me will tell you, I’m never very far away from her, well emotionally anyway. And while other people may be delighted to get as far from their parents as soon as possible, I’m happy that she is the first person I think of telling when something happens.

I wouldn’t be the person I am today without her, and I’m pretty sure there is more than 50% of her in who I am, which is great as she is amazing and because of that I love who I have become.

We don’t always agree, and I’m sure I have made many decisions in my life she wished I hadn’t, but she allowed me to make them and I knew that if I needed her she would be there. Which is the best feeling in the world and gave me the confidence, in a way, to make those mistakes and learn from them.  So she’s not a “helicopter mom” as Ms Keaton’s character, but her love and support of us is unquestionable.

So there you go, an outpouring of motherly love, a week late, but then again who says you have to wait until Mothers Day to write about how great your mother is?

I leave you with the only other good thing about the movie, the soundtrack, and in particular this song by The Weepies

Click here to view the embedded video.

Giant Blue Hand

Yesterday, I took the nephew and his best mate to Dublin for the day. We had planned to see the Big Blue Hand in the ARK. Last year I really wanted to take him to “Beware of the Story-Book Wolves” but what with moving to Amsterdam, and tickets being more popular than I thought it never came to be.

This year I was a bit more organised, and on hearing the adverts on the radio I decided to book the tickets fast. With a bit of to-ing and fro-ing we got the dates sorted and told the boys.

It was good timing all the same (depending on your idea of good) as the Denny Family Day Out was on Sunday too.

Anyhow, after a train ride, where the boys were amazed at a teen aged girl applying eye makeup, who they proclaimed to be a Rockstar, we were on our way to the ARK in Temple Bar. Cue: many many questions on the route, I’m glad it was almost our saints day, cause two 6yr olds would try the patience of many saints.

Finally at the ARK and after a short wait, we get seated in the round. I have to say the theatre is fantastic, as are the staff.  The play began and it was everything I had hoped it would be. There were many levels of the play, and some things went over the heads of younger kids, but kept the parents and older kids entertained in a family friendly way.

The play is dark, and being a play, with real children that the younger audience can relate to and believe in it packs a solid punch. The themes of love and loss and fear and triumph, were well treated with the addition of with a good laugh thanks to some toilet humour and an action packed sword fight to round it all off.  It is aimed at the over 7′s and while I brought two 6yr olds, I do think that any younger than 6 would find the play a bit too much.

The cast were amazing, and as predicted Aunt Farticus Fume was both the most impressive and almost the scariest character after the eponymous Giant Hand. The younger cast members were the real stars, and very believable as they carried the majority of the story.

If you have a chance to beg, borrow, steal or just bring a child to this do. Tickets are selling fast and with good reason. The ARK plays are always a treat and this one is no exception.

I am going home to mind the spawn of Satan, otherwise known as my nephew.

He’s 6, full of energy, an only child and madder than a bag of squirrels.

I will be sleeping with one eye open lest he does something like this to me.

iBike
Course it would help if i had an ipod nano! – the new ones are nice tho!!

Time Capsule 1tb
Running out of space on my (borrowed) 500gb drive – sorry!!

Philips Living Colour Mini Lamp
Seemingly winters here are darker and more miserable than at home (don’t see how that’s possible) so this might help! My excuse and I’m sticking to it.

And I dont really want this… but it does look fun…. for 10mins
USB Real Thumb Drive

Things I’ve done:

Had some lovely me time last night:

Beer and Biterballen and a nice quiet read in the evening SUN!! (those reading in Ireland, the Sun is the yellow orb that used to be in the sky, before CERN harnessed it to make those lazers they are busy firing at each other)

At the weekend we painted this mural on my nephews wall (all thanks to my lovely GF who designed and masterminded the whole thing)

I also saw him in his swimming lesson – next Micheal Phelps I think (no family bias at all… nooooo)

Anyhow… theres a few things that are making me shiny happy these days!
Elf