I love my country, please buy my garbage.

April 30 is queen's day in the Netherlands. It started out as princess's day in 1885. One of the reasons is to celebrate the unity of The Dutch kingdom. It's one of those days we don't argue about ethnicity or religion. Black or white, atheist or muslim, we all celebrate queen's day.

Queen's day is a national holiday so if people are working that day they get 200% paid (kaching!). I've done that before. It's not worth the money. Everyone is having fun and you are working your buttocks off. Besides the queen and her familiy visiting two cities, parties and booz we have the 'vrijmarkt' (free market). It's like a nationwide flee market. You don't have to have a permit to sell on the street and you don't need to pay value added taxes (again, kaching).

This year I helped out bff RJ to move his stuff to the city centre. The day before he found a nice spot and wrote down occupied and his name. Later that day he used duct tape to mark the spot just in case the rain would wash away the chalk.

But the next day some hoochie mama stole the spot. She said she didn't see any markings. Ya right, liar liar, pants on fire. Oh well, some nice lady told bff RJ he could sit next to her so the selling could begin. I arrived a bit later cause the trolley I had was way to heavy for me.:( The day was quite relaxed, everyone was happy and our 'neighbours' were nice. I did some strolling but I didn't need anything. I did a lot of eating though. I've bought a lot of food and drinks and at the end of the day I've bought 5 boxes of strawberries for € 5,- (kaching). I think it's the same stall from last year's queen's day, where I bought 8 mangos for € 1,50.XD

5 p.m. is the official ending of the 'vrijmarkt'. Around 6 and 7 p.m. the city will start with cleaning the 'vrijmarkt' area.

Last year I was just strolling around the 'vrijmarkt' and at the end I hung out with bff W and we had a huge load of mango smoothies.:D

Last year bff W introduced me to skrepping, scraping or scrapping (? I don't know the actual name). Before the city starts with cleaning the 'vrijmarkt' you will see people walking around scavenging the stuff people at 'vrijmarkt' left behind to be removed by the city cleaners. I saw old ladies with a toy wagons to put their new found treasures in it. I mean, I've never seen this phenomenon. A whole new world opened up for me. Like that scene in Men in Black II when agent K regains memory and spots the aliens in New York City.

I didn't need anything so I searched around the garbage for usable stuff for bff W (I know I'm the best bff of the whole world ;)). Found a lot of flower pots, pasta in glass and a cake mold. I've got myself some books. I did read one. It wasn't really good but I didn't mind, it was for free!

Have a nice life.

Happy new year everyone. I have no resolutions for this year cause I feel quite blessed by the big dude. I remember I made some bad ones with Michelle last year. I hope for the both of us we burnt our lists. Hope she's doing well in Israel serving Jesus. Well for now I just want to share a list for those (and myself) who have some stress now and then. Found this list on common ground consulting. Anyway, have a nice 2010.

40 Tips for a Better Life in 2010

01. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant. I already take one everyday. Check!

02. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Should do that more often. I'm having problems with sitting still.

03. Buy a DVR and tape your late-night shows and get more sleep. What's a DVR? 0_o

04. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, 'My purpose is to __________ today.' Grote kei in GTD taal.=)

05. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy. Doing that already.

06. Play more games and read more books than you did in 2008. I hate reading books.=( Do computer games count as well?

07. Make time to practice meditation and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives. Amen to that.

08. Spend time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6. Elderly people are awesome. Don't like kids that much.

09. Dream more while you are awake. I do that all the time.

10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured IN plants. Intending to do that more often but so expensive.:/

11. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds, & walnuts. I don't like green tea.

12. Try to make at least three people smile each day. Alrighty then.

13. Clear clutter from your house, your car, your desk, and let new and flowing energy into your life. Doing this since december and it really works.

14. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, or issues of the past, negative thoughts, or things you cannot control. Instead, invest your energy in the positive present moment. Avoiding the Telegraaf (tabloid newspaper), SBS6 (Camping tv -___-) and blogs like www.pinkisthenewblog.com and Perez Hilton (never read that one though).

15. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class, but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime. I'm a wannabe teacher.=P

16. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card. Pizza for everyone?

17. Smile and laugh more. It will keep the negative blues away. I have yellow teeth.=(

18. Life isn't fair, but it's still good. Yup.

19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Boo to all the haters.

20. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does. Ow?

21. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree. Really worked for me last sunday.:)

22. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present. Amen to that.

23. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about. Amen to that.

24. No one is in charge of your happiness except you. Amen to that.

25. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?' Amen to that (seriously need to go to bed so I won't comment every tip from now on -___-).

26. Forgive everyone for everything.

27. What other people think of you is none of your business.

28. Remember, faith heals everything.

29. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

30. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

31. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful, or joyful.

32. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

33. The best is yet to come.

34. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, and show up. I heart fashion.

35. Do the right thing!

36. Call your family often. (Or e-mail them to death!) Or write a letter. You know, with a pencil and a piece of paper.

37. Each night before you go to bed, complete the following statements: I am thankful for __________.Today, I accomplished _________.

38. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

39. Enjoy the ride. Remember this is not Disney World and you certainly don't want a fast pass. You only have one ride through life, so make the most of it and enjoy the ride.

40. Share this with those you care about. I just did. May your troubles be less, May your blessings be more, May nothing but happiness come through your door!

Staying alive

Happy Chinese New year. My roommate is very exhilarated cause his last name is Ox.=) Since my last post it has been crappy in my life. Talking about karma, karma is a very nasty lady. Two weeks ago I had a sleep over at Michelle's but that didn't go the way we've planned it. I staid at her place for a week. Well, her window got damaged three times. Someone on this planet must be very bored.-__- Michelle's neighbour, we misinterpreted her name Rita Eenedieva (which we Dutch would read like, some kind of diva), got injured so I practiced first aid on her. The next day I was covered in glass. Great.-__- Don't worry, I'm fine. Just have been a bit confused for 10 days. Must have been a sign from the big dude to put my ducks on a row. Well one ducky isn't that tidy, so I did some decluttering. I threw away a bag of damaged clothes. I'm going to donate another bag of clothes and I did a lot of laundry. I'm preparing myself for my potential job at the the thrift store of the new Salvation army building (I signed myself in. I'm not persuing a job but who knows, maybe they will need me).:D

The plumber came by to check the central heater. It was about time he came by cause the walls next to the window has mold.o_0 So the problem is, the pipe next to the expansion tank oxidated so it's leaking and the switch on the heater in my room got stuck. He couldn't fix it so he called the office to tell the problem so they can search for a mechanic to fix it for me. So what else can I say? *Immer schön fröchlich sein, immer schön fröchlich sein.*

Last sunday I celebrated new year's eve with friends. My plan was to cook vegetarian cause my colleague from the island J was coming over. I bought a lot of tofu (In my opinion fish is not vegetarian so I didn't have a lot of choice) and tried to make vegetarian spring roles. After frying the tofu was still way too wet and the rice noodles were over done. J is a bit sensivtive so she can't watch horror movies. The guys were teasing her with 'Pitch black'.-__- She almost started to cry so the guys felt a bit sorry and my neigbhour wanted to put on a happy animation. She didn't like animation so she asked for a romantic movie. I'm kind of sick of Amelie right now, seen it so many times so Reinder and I declined. We watched Donnie Darko. J's reaction at the end. I'm feeling depressed now.-__- After the movie we talked a bit till 3.30 a.m. J was too scared to cycle home. I suggested that one of the guys would chaperone her but eventually she slept at my neighbour's house. The next day she came by to ask if I wanted to have breakfast with her, I was like what the ...? I'm still asleep and my neighbour was also not in a talking mood. So she went home and tonight she's going to make dinner for me. Vegetarian of course. It's kind of a private farewell party, she's going to move out of town for a new job. I will miss her.:(