Yahoo! Yippee! My new Airport Express gadget arrived and I am back up on higher speed connection with the rest of the world! LOL! I am such a geek!
Had another Amsterdam adventure yesterday. I needed to go back to IKEA as I purchased four wheels for my Expedit shelf only to learn that I needed six to really allow it to carry weight if the unit is sitting horizontal. Given that all my Sizzlit alphas were going to occupy a central spot I figured it was only a matter of time before I had sagging and warping with four wheels ("I have a few of those alphas", she said with a shrug and sigh). At any rate this trip was on my own, sans Corina and her auto, so I planned to head out direct from the office on Friday. I've made the trip before... it involves a reasonably long metro ride into south Amsterdam but the metro stop is about a five minute walk away from IKEA so doable (and the IKEA restaurant rocks, so I had the promise of something yummy for supper before doing a slow browse through the store and picking up my purchases - all in all a pleasant way to occupy a Friday evening). The metro trip isn't that bad and I've carried a fair bit back to my apartment in the last four years. Some of the funniest pictures (had they been captured) would have been the two times I've carried carpets in addition to shelves and other organisational containers) and one very memorable trip I made when Joanne was visiting when the shopping involved purchases to redo Anna's room. On that trip there were two of us carrying a ridiculous amount of stuff which we subsequently packed and carried on the plane the next day back to her place in Germany as the nearest IKEA to her in Germany is not convenient. The rub of that trip was that one of the boxes came open at the Zurich airport and we realised that the cute this will so go in Anna's new room red drawer cabinet we had purchase was actually white! Did I mention it was a memorable trip??
At any rate on the simple pick up another two wheels for your Expedit unit trip I was on I was not anticipating any difficulties. After all one set of two wheels and maybe a few candles hardly presents a hardship. Heck I had even remembered to pack my IKEA carry bag... this woman had it under control! Famous last thoughts... got on the metro, did Suduko for a bit (totally addicted) as we headed south, conscientiously noted stops so I didn't miss mine (it has happened in the past on trains so I am a bit paranoid). They called the IKEA stop (actually called Bullewijk, which always makes me think of Rocky and Bullwinkle which probably totally dates me LOL!)... and... the metro didn't stop. We passed a station obviously under major refurbishment and I thought okay I guess you're going to the next station and then what.......
So I faced a choice... get back on a metro going the other way OR suck it up and without a map (why didn't I bring the map??) head in the general direction I knew IKEA should be and claim my 5th and 6th wheels! I actually walked in a couple of circles on the metro platform before deciding that even though it was dark I had a pretty good chance of success. Wow am I dramatic... LOL! Obviously I lead a quiet life for the most part if this was memorable. The 'find your way' walk wasn't actually that bad... I found IKEA fairly easily as there is a HUGE sign advertising it that is viewable from a pretty reasonable distance. The rest of the trip was pretty unpredictable but I reflected as I retraced my steps back to the other station that sometimes in life you just have to trust yourself and go for it! A lesson to carry to other parts of my life too perhaps!
Today I am sharing another LO of Rachel. She is growing up too quickly and I've been reflecting lately that it will likely be a whole year between visits that allow time with her... a bit depressing and 'lump in the throat' provoking but I guess it is one of the consequences of choice I've made working over here in Europe. Okay... less heavy Morag... it is a sweet sweet photo (her t-shirt is too cute) so I had some fun with some Colour Conspiracy papers and a new circle border punch from Fiskars. I stamped the background paper with my new Papertrey Ink Perfect Match Fresh Snow ink (great coverage!!) and some Autumn Leaves swirl stamps to frame things a bit along with some lines and doodling dots to pick up on the cute Daisy Ds rub-ons I used to frame the photo. Still not 100% happy with balance but tired of playing with it. TFL.