Looking back and forward

The very first day in a new year....is always a good time to look back at the year behind and dream about the year that lies ahead. But first a quick summary of the last two weeks...

Wednesday the 19th of Decembre my dad had his surgery, which was a relief. Thursday evening I got a lift from my parents neighbour back to my parents place (from Amsterdam to Friesland). Good to be back again with the family as there was lots of work to do. The house wasn't in a Christmassy atmoshpere, so that's where I started :D The next morning my mom and I went for some serious Christmas grocery shopping and in the afternoon visited my dad in the hospital. He wasn't feeling too great (lots of pain, not moving, tired etc), but that's obvious after such a surgery. The good thing was ofcourse that a) he survived and b) the tumor was out. This Friday we hope to hear what kind of tumor it was/is and what needs to be done (further tests, chemo etc?). The week and a half I spent at my parents place was basically trying to help out on the farm and in the household and spending some quality time with my family. Lots of feeding cows and their little ones, cleaning the stables etc, but ofcourse also time to relax and see some friends. My dad came home the 24th, just before Christmas. We thought it wasn't a great idea, but he really wanted to come home (and I don't blame him, the room he was lying was far from ideal) and the hospital wanted to be as empty as possible during Christmas (my mom said it was a true exodus). Christmas was nice and quiet, no hassle with visitors or food, just simply the four of us.
Friday 28th Marieke was celibrating her 31 birthday in Groningen, so I cruised in the car to Groningen and had a lovely evening with her and her friends! The next morning I went back to Friesland again. Sunday morning I visited an old neighbour of mine who moved to a retirement home and in the evening I went to Gerrit en Susanne :) Always nice to see eachother again and catch up and we played Catan, which I won whoehoe hahaha. Yesterday I left to go back to Diemen again, where I am now, packing a few things, arranging a few things etc.

The looking back and forward.... what a year it was! It started brilliantly in Melbourne, Australia, with my brother there to celibrate the new year with me! From there I went to Perth, NZ, Darwin, Broome and all the way down to Perth again, to end up in Sydney and leave that wonderful country on the last day of May 2007. A very sad day. A few days Hong Kong and off to the very cold and wet Netherlands.... Good to see family and friends, but that's all. Australia stole my heart, and I would go back in an instant if I could find a nice job. It started to go downhill halfway August when I started my new job, which I'm not too fond of and reached a low point in October, when my dad had to go to hospital and got the bad news. My room in Diemen was ok, but my housemates are sloppy and my houseowner is a disaster in paying bills which means lots of stress. End of the year got a little better: I found a nice place to live in Haarlem and my dad had the surgery. The new year will hopefully be good again: my dad getting better, me moving to a better place and hopefully my job will become nicer (if not, I'll look for another one). Everybody a wonderfull and healthy 2008 in which your dreams will come true!