Llama

Thanks Vic and Tru. Made it in time and found my place, now all I can do is sit and wait. Stress levels are going down considerably now that I'm no longer capable of influencing anything.
 
Have fun, Llama xoxo
 
Train ride was awful, but only because the chairs were super uncomfortable. All else went without a hitch. Busy, fun, struggling to keep my fingers out of the cookie jar but doing reasonably well with it and being quite active so I think I'm doing ok.
 
Is the train trip much cheaper than flying, Llama? It's a shame the chairs were uncomfortable. I hope you have lots of fun with your family xo
 
Cate said:
Is the train trip much cheaper than flying, Llama?
Click to expand...
Not at all. Flying's actually cheaper most of the time, but it's also terrible for the environment so I'm trying to do better now that the option exists again. (The overnight train didn't run for years and only came back early on during covid, at which point it didn't seem safe. It still feels like a bit of a risk to be stuck in a small room with strangers overnight but at some point I have to let that specific point of anxiety go and get back to normal life.)
vic32 said:
Enjoy your time with your family.
Click to expand...
Thanks Vic. So far we've had my mom's birthday (with a very full house), a rock climbing visit, a couple of walks, two short skate tours, some games, entirely too much food, and a lovely time. Today I'm going shopping with one of my sisters and later we're doing an Ottolenghi-themed cooking workshop for my mom's birthday present.
 
Thanks Cate and Vic.

Our little shopping tour was very successful: I got 2 t-shirts, a pair of cargo pants, a cap, hiking shoes, and a new wallet. After that we had the cooking workshop; my job was to make mixed mushroom lasagne and it was super good. Will definitely save the recipe and make it again. And before bed I went for another skate ride with my nephew. Very tired after all that!

Today I went for a 3.5 hour walk with my dad followed by a lovely lunch near the nature reserve we visited. Had a very nice salad with chicken strips. Got a light sunburn because the wind was just cool enough I didn't notice I should've put on sunscreen. Helped my mom with dinner (peppers stuffed with sweet potato mash and feta, a large mixed salad, and rhubarb crumble for dessert) and went for another 5.5 km walk with Mom and Sis3 after dinner.

Tomorrow's a long hike with sisters 1 and 3 (Sis2, her husband, and Nephew3 went home this morning so things are a lot quieter around here) with a visit to the best icecream parlor far and wide at the halfway point and probably not much else. I hope my feet will be ok walking in new shoes two days in a row. They were suprisingly ok with them today.
 
Thanks Cate, Vic, and Floater.
Cate said:
I love how active your family is & how healthy they eat.
Click to expand...
Me too. I don't think I'd stay as long, as often, if they didn't. I'm eating more sweets this time than I normal would, mostly because they're homemade, but I'm active enough that I don't think I'm gaining weight. No way to know until Wednesday, I guess, as I don't get home until Monday morning and I have an early shift on Tuesday so I won't have time to weigh then, either. Not looking forward to Monday's shift!

Going to the high rope park plus lunch with a friend and her tween daughter this morning, by bike (15 km each way), and I'll probably go for a walk in the afternoon. Tomorrow I hope we can get some activity in in the morning because we're celebrating Nephew1's birthday in the afternoon. Nothing planned for Sunday yet but I'll be leaving for the railway station right after dinner... Time really does fly!
 
Blew up my back tire on my way to the high rope park yesterday. Thankfully I'd heard a strange new sound (the bulging tire rubbing against the side of the mudguard ever so slightly) and got off before it exploded. And - again thankfully - my dad heard his phone and had time to bring me to the park and take the bike home. Climbing around was good fun and the kid enjoyed herself as well - I don't want to be "Mom's annoying friend she'll sit and talk to for hours while I'm bored to tears". Kind of crashed in the afternoon and was super hungry but kept things in check and went for a short (5k?) Walk after dinner. Slept over 9 hours! The weather is glorious today so we went for an early walk along the path we'd walk (in my recollection) every other Sunday when I was a child. I quite enjoyed it then but the forest is so much more beautiful these days: it was planted for wood production but the soil there is terrible so they were very sad-looking, spindly trees (after 50-60 years of growth!) with no undergrowth while these days there's mostly local trees with plenty of herbs, moss, lower bushes, and smaller trees in between.
 
Llama said:
I quite enjoyed it then but the forest is so much more beautiful these days: it was planted for wood production but the soil there is terrible so they were very sad-looking, spindly trees (after 50-60 years of growth!) with no undergrowth while these days there's mostly local trees with plenty of herbs, moss, lower bushes, and smaller trees in between.
Click to expand...
I love it when nature is able to fight back. Yay for the understory!
 
Thanks Liza, Floater, Blue, and Cate! Last day here (I'll be leaving after dinner) and it's just my parents and me now. I had a lovely time and I'm always a little sad to have it end but at the same time I'm looking forward to getting back to my own space, eating my own food, seeing my friends, and walking my own walks. Fingers crossed I'll sleep a little better on the train this time because if I don't work tomorrow is going to be rough. But that's a worry for later.
 
There really is no place like home. Although my parents' place always feels like coming home as well so things are just strange all around.

I'm on the train again and at least I have a window seat this time. Had to politely chase someone out of my place. They're now sitting diagonally across from me, drinking too much wine and fidgeting with their feet (which sometimes involves kicking me). Their partner seems extremely neat and somewhat autoritarian though, so I don't expect real issues.

Skin's been super itchy for the past couple of days, probably a combination of pollen, fatigue, and being on a different schedule. Didn't bring my steroid cream so nothing to do but try and relax. Sis1's MIL mentioned having had bad eczema for the past 6 months or so and my sister suggested she drink celery juice every day for a couple of weeks. I know it's a medical medium thing from a couple of years ago and the guy makes me gag but if it helped her it's worth a try. Celery isn't cheap but a lot cheaper than most remedies and without any obvious risks or side-effects. Not that I'll be able to tell if it makes a difference - going home and getting back into my own groove will probably help all on its own - but a bit of placebo effect can't hurt.
 
I hope you manage to get some sleep on the train, Llama & the pesky passenger doesn't kick you again or annoy you. I also hope your skin settles down when you get home. I think it has been good for a while now.
 
It has and it's been lovely! So I'm quite invested in keeping it good.
Diagonal neighbor kicked me at least a dozen more times, but it didn't hurt because they took their smelly feet out of their shoes. They also coughed and snorted through the night, which I sincerely hope was due to allergies and smoking (no smoking on the train, of course, but they've been rolling cigarettes in anticipation of getting out later).
Ticket check came at 1 am, just when I'd fallen asleep properly. Not feeling too bad though. Starting to get hungry but I'm not paying train prices for breakfast. Interestingly they stopped announcing the stops at 10 pm to avoid waking everyone up (yay!) and they haven't started back up yet, even though it's a quarter to 8.

All in all I'm less uncomfortable now than I was on the way out, despite the weirdo in our - again completely full - compartment.
 
Home, bathed, and freshly dressed: feeling tired but much more human. MUST remember to go to my doctor's appointment after work tomorrow and I'm afraid my sleep-deprived brain will forget. All the more reason to go to bed right after work today.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top