That Monday Morning Feeling....

It’s five years now since I’ve held down a proper job so I’ve not had to suffer  ‘that Monday morning feeling’ for some time. However, this week I realised there is something worse than that Monday morning feeling, it’s that dropping someone back at the airport on a Monday morning feeling.

The university fledgling paid her first visit this weekend. We did our best to give her the ‘taste of Holland’ experience – we took her down a canal and up a windmill. The only thing we didn’t quite manage to do was get her on a bike, but there’ll be plenty more opportunities for that. 

First thing yesterday morning she was off, and back on my own in the house I had my first ‘wobbly moment’ since arriving in Haarlem.

I know from past experiences that there is no point dwelling in despair – the why did we have to move here, I miss everybody, how am I ever going to make any friends,  blah blah blah; it gets you nowhere and the truth is I was more than happy to come to Holland because the last thing I wanted was to face that ‘empty nest’ back in the UK.  It takes time to establish a social life, and after all, we have only been here just over two weeks.

So, determined to beat those Monday morning blues – I focussed, and set out to discover the swimming pool, not because I wanted to swim, but because I was adamant those cycling Dutch Google map guys were not going to defeat me.  And there it was.  I had been looking for a vast sports centre, when in fact it was a modest brick building down a suburban side street - very easy to miss. I was welcomed by middle-aged receptionist who happily translated the timetable for me. Even more morale boosting rather than suggesting I might want to join the ouderen zwemmen – elderly swimming sessions – she thought I might wish to come along with my kinderen – children.  I could have hugged her.

Totally buoyed up, I cycled home and tackled a trip to the grocery store. I had prepped a list in advance and managed to successfully return home with three days’ worth of meals planned. That’s a first.

Could the day get any better? Yes it could. A colleague of Mr T’s had mentioned her husband was a regular at an Irish bar in Haarlem where they have a Monday evening quiz. Last week we’d gone along and although we’d finished second to last we’d had a pretty good evening. This week we returned for more, and finished 7^th out 11 teams, not too bad considering most of the other teams have at least four members and there's only the two of us. Even better, we won the ‘free drink question’ - how much of the Netherlands are actually below sea-water -  a question which Mr T had posed for our own quiz team back in the UK just weeks earlier (it’s 26% in case you are wondering). The day was rounded off when another couple stopped us at the bar as we made our triumphant exit and suggested  if we were all there next week maybe we should join forces and become a regular team…..

Waking up this morning to another day of leaden skies, heavy rain, gale force winds, and no-one but the cat to talk to until tea time, doesn’t seem half so bad as it did yesterday.