and that’s how I know it has been a while between posts. It is Sunday afternoon and the sun is shining. I had my 10K steps for the day by 1330 and the dogs and I have just had a nap. I need to finish some presentations for tomorrow but I am having a difficult time settling down and PowerPointing — is that actually a verb??? What does that mean then? This afternoon, I am unsettled. Actually, I have been unsettled all day.

I see my banjo out of the corner of my eye and that reminds me that I have a lesson tomorrow morning and still need to practice. Friday night, I went to see one of my banjo teacher’s bands play. This time it was the Stringlers. He’s also in one called the Sons of Navaronne. It was a great show, in a cramped Irish pub just off Rembrandtplein. The woman next to me was English and her son lives in Seattle. And she thought Paul was my husband. She kept thinking that. While I know my language skills are not the greatest, I am pretty confident I am understandable when I say “No, he’s my banjo and my Dutch teacher, not my husband”.

Last night, I went to Rotterdam for dinner and the Cross Linx festival. It is an incredible experimental music festival of sorts. I heard so much beautiful music last night, made in unexpected ways. I came away with the fact that there is something about violin music, alone without any other instruments, that makes me swoon! Don’t worry, I am not thinking of taking up the violin! I realized that I had simply never heard it alone, always as part of an orchestra.

Technically, Astrid is not allowed in the center of Rotterdam due to her age. I didn’t realize that until I had already gotten there. So now the question is will I get a fine in the mail? It is not impossible that at the city limits her plates were scanned. In the Netherlands, there are lots of roadside scanners – flitspalen I think they called. Anyway, you get flitsed – meaning that your plates are snapped if you are speeding and then the ticket arrives through your mailslot which you just pay and don’t protest. There’s very little actual law enforcement on the roads. Automate everything you can in terms of routine things. So, it would not surprise me if Rotterdam had a system in place that scans every auto that comes inside the Centrum zone for age. The good news is, I can still go to the outlying areas of Rotterdam, just not the Centrum. 😉 Or if I go to Rotterdam next time, I should definitely take the train…

Yesterday I also had interview to join a social club. I passed the group interview and will be joining them on a trial basis – which really reminds me of the Groucho Marx quote “I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member”. It is kind of more than a social club but that’s the easiest way to describe it.

So, why am I unsettled? I feel a little overwhelmed right now. I have a lot of pressure at work, which is going to increase this week. And while I am basically an optimist and I have to believe that I will get where I need to go for work, sometimes it is hard. Especially when lots of people consider it a lost cause. I am struggling a little not to take the professional as personal. Socially, I am struggling a little too. I am having a tough time relating to and reading people. Then I think maybe I should stop until I get better at it. But I won’t get better at it if I don’t keep doing it. It is a terrible cycle 😉

And I am getting alot of contact from R. right now. I am so grateful for it since almost 16 year olds are not well known for their communication skills 😉 He sends emails like they are texts. Which means I have to wait for about six of them before I get the full picture! It is heavy emotionally. I can’t tell him that, I just need to be there for him. That’s my role.

And I got the new Macklemore & Ryan Lewis album Friday morning and it reminds me so much of Seattle. So maybe I am also a little homesick…

There you have it, well, enough of it. 🙂 I better get started on finishing these presentations since they are both things I have to deliver tomorrow. Thanks for reading!