update

I first of all am glad that Bruine still lives gaily among us. She had to undergo rat-surgery and I was very apprehensive since the last operated rat, Witte, had died after surgery. But it went well. Then on Christmas day we noticed she had an immense hole in her belly; we figured she opened it herself. It looked terrible and irreparable. The vet on duty that day told us just to wash the wound twice daily and give her more antibiotics. And so we did and now she is back to normal. She did very very well and I hope she lives another two years.

The plasterers really did a great job. They worked the whole week before Christmas. Very friendly people and it turned out beautifully. The preceding sunday E fixed our electrics. So now it is embedded into the wall invisibly. Well done. The central heating network has been adapted to the new room (a wall has been removed and left pipes running across the ceiling in the middle of the room which we did not fancy).
In the meantime I have been repairing the hideous job the plasterer had done in my own room. I got the walls fairly smooth and just recently I have painted them. The ceiling I am still working on, because it’s really difficult. But there are only a few spots that need more Knauff attention. After that I can paint the ceiling as well.

I have ordered my hocker and it was delivered last week. Really a nice item in my living room. It now finally begins to look finished. Might not even be ashamed anymore should anyone have to enter, haha. What I still need are chairs for my table. But those are hard to find. Most of them are ugly or don’t suit the table. I also want a small comfy chair added to the living room, but there’s no hurry. We also need to buy a few storage closets for our junk. It’s best to put ugly junk (like paints, tools and other stuff) behind door. Then we can try and find ourselves a new kitchen….. seriously.

My parents and brother with gf visited last Saturday and they seemed to like what I had done. They hadn’t seen the new floor either and they were quite impressed even though it wasn’t finished yet. We did a photo shoot with the rats, but my parents didn’t really care for holding the sweet creatures. Strange when I consider the picture of my mother wearing a large snake round her neck. We walked to town and had tapas. All in all it wasn’t too bad.

Just before Chrismas I was asked to respond to a job opening. In a different group, though in the same lab space. In the new year I had two conversations and now the job is mine. I start the 3rd of March. I am going to miss my co-workers in Amsterdam, but the fact that I can take the bike to work is really nice. And the fact that I will join a research group here really excites me. In the meantime there is a lot of stuff that needs to be finished. But I don’t yet feel the stress. Great, no?

Last Friday I attended A’s party and Sunday me an M went to the movies and I realised that I really had a relaxing time. So I hope there’s more to come. I am looking forward to my holiday in Ireland in februari and yesterday I looked up stuff about Iceland. Maybe me and J are going this year.

Best to now get back to work… :)