Getting into the spirit

...of not having to go to work. I slept till 8.30 today. It was great. Unfortunately tomorrow the alarm will ring again at 5.30.
The problem is that I just can't shower in the evening and sleep longer the next day. It doesn't feel right, and the hair would be catastrophic. So it'll have to be 5.30, as usual. There is the small consolation, however, that this week has only 4 working days.

The only productive thing I've done so far today was toenail-varnishing, and that's stretching the meaning of "productive". I can't even be arsed to go shoe-shopping, which is a rather alarming sign, especially as there wouldn't only be shoes: I wanted to get artsy stuff as well, and one or two nice blankets (who knows what there will be on offer in Skopje; things are available here, and nice and cheap, and I get them tax free). All is not lost yet, though. I might decide to go later. Right now I don't have the heart to deprive ze boyz of sitting out on the balcony, and I have to keep them inside when I'm out. Too many children around, who might get stupid ideas about throwing things or such nonsense.

Righ now I'm deliberating what to have for lunch. I'd love an omelette, but that's the kind of food that makes me so tired that going out won't be an option. The dilemmas one has to face...

I still need to buy sunglasses, or I'll go all wrinkly.
It's a good thing, really, that laziness doesn't result in wrinkles, or I wouldn't be looking a day less than eighty.

Soup

Soup makes me tired, too, or so it seems.
I know it sounds horribly geriatric, but I just love to settle on the couch after lunch with a book, and to doze off for about 30 minutes while reading.

For those who like recipes:

I had homemade beef broth with lots of carrots. So all I had to do was dice potatoes and half a small onion, roast in olive oil for about 10 minutes (they must not get brown, so keep the temperature low and stir often). Add broth & carrots, let simmer until the potato cubes are tender. Add ground cumin, a very small quantity of fresh ginger (ground ginger will do, too, if you don't have fresh roots), cayenne pepper and fresh coriander.
If you don't happen to have beef broth, never mind. You just have to dice the carrots, too, and add water and instant broth.
Then put into a blender. (The trick: don't put all the carrot and potato cubes into the blender at once, because the soup might get too thick. If you cut the pieces small enough, just leave the rest in the soup as they are) Add cream and fine-tune the seasoning.
Yummy!
For those who don't like oriental spices, you could try parsley, nutmeg and black pepper.
I don't add cream to everything, but this soup definitely needs cream. Especially if you've overdone the pepper and need to tone it down a bit.

Somebody please hit me over the head with a stick, because I want to watch Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth, Jennifer Ehle) YET AGAIN. I must've watched it at least five times since I got it and can't seem to get enough. As obsessions go, it's a pretty nice one, but still...