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I’ve traded cleaning jobs for dog-walking

not as much money, but it’s  a lot more pleasant

so far, I have 2 new girlfriends that I walk 3 times a day. Lady is a beautiful border collie and kayla is a shiny blonde lab

being outdoors and getting more exercise is making me feel healthier than I’ve felt for ages

time to go pick up my girls and hit the park

I sat up on the roof and thought about how things are just not working out like I’d planned

I’m not sure how that happened

but I’m not happy about it

not to mentioned freaked out when I start running out of  money

so I put my nose to the grindstone and went to work last week cleaning up other people’s messes

day in and day out all week long I did it

but I managed to pay a bunch of bills and  buy some groceries  and stave off the poverty monster for a little while longer

I think I’m going to see if I can’t find a more pleasant (and more profitable) way to bring home the bacon in the future

I went to the market again today and bought more peppers (called “paprikas” here)

because the dutch don’t celebrate thanksgiving

also because we don’t have big ole turkeys in the supermarkets here. they  have to be special-ordered from butchers – and that’s expensive

so – in honor of america – yesterday’s thanksgiving menu was hamburgers, potato salad and apple pie. apple pie is something the dutch do very well, except they call it “appeltaart”. there’s no piecrust – instead it’s something sort of like a thin, spongey, buttery layer of cake that sits underneath the apples

I made enough to have leftovers because thanksgiving leftovers are a tradition not to be broken, right ?

it’s warm for this time of year. I just came in from going to the market and only needed a jacket. no gloves. no scarf. no hat

but OK – today’s treat is massive blue skies full of fluffy white clouds. loads of sunshine

I’m on my way out again, soon’s I put the bread and veggies away

I just want to walk around and revel in the fact that I’m not cleaning anyone’s apartment today. I’ve spent the past couple of days elbow-deep in the debris of other people’s lifes. ugh. the less said about it the better

I’m going out to play now

no, I really mean it. I get the cheapest one in the store and jazz it up with extra stuff. it’s a real good time to clean out the fridge: beans, peas, broccoli and corn are all excellent pizza topping choices. just about any veggie will do. ditto any little bits of leftover meat. then scatter some  shredded cheese on top to hold it all together and you’ve got yourself a masterpiece

tonight’s pizza has lots of onions, some green peppers and a little chicken

OK – supper time !

no cash means desperate measures . . .

I need euros-in-hand right now, so I have 2 choices/reliable old stand-bys:

1 – pawn my guitar (gasp ! choke ! fall down and begin shaking violently . . . I think I mentioned before that I tend to be melodramatic ?)

2 – clean a couple of apartments (an only slightly more agreeable idea)

but if my guitar’s in the pawn shop, it ain’t here. and if it ain’t here, I can’t play. and I feel like playing more than usual these days. ragged (REALLY ragged) blues stuff

so I guess I’ll look on craigslist and a coupla other sites and see what I can find. um . . . I’ll do it tomorrow, though. I can last another day with no cash

whoop-de-doo ! I was dashing around the apartment – singing and laughing and doing the happy dance – feeling better than I have in weeks – when I realized I had sort of a major problem in that I have no euros.  none.  zilch. nada.  no money. and none coming in because I’ve been sick for the last couple of weeks

uh-oh

then I panicked and felt bad for a little while before I realized that just plain feeling good is no small feat in these wicked times and I ought to be glad I can still do it

so back to the happy dance

I’m no pollyanna, but I’ve felt unwell for so long lately . . .  this is definitely a major improvement

worry can wait til tomorrow