The pressure is getting to me... :)

Where are my deep thoughts today? Has anyone seen them??

I've been with my grandparents today. This morning I drove them to the Daniel den Hoed hospital for a check-up for my grandfather. Still one month to go before they'll do new scans of his lungs to see how much of the cancer cells have disappeared. My grandfather is very optimistic, says he can't feel them anymore :) Throughout the whole ordeal (sp?) he kept his sense of humor. Love that man.

After lunch he felt so good that he went into the garden to pull some weeds and just be outside. All winter he had been either too sick or too weak to do anything outside of their home. Today I could see the lights twinkle in his eyes again when he put on 4 layers of clothes and his warm winter jacket. My grandmother wasn't too happy, but I think we both realize that the man lives to be outside. He has been cropped up in their home more in the last few months than in all of his 77 years, I think!

My grandmother and me looked out the back-window to watch my grandfather. For a moment it looked like nothing had happened... nothing was different... never had that frightening disease entered our lives... but then it all came back for me. I'm just so grateful he's still here with us... and enjoying every moment together, even if we're just sitting across each other at the dinner table, him browsing through 'De Kampioen' and me solving today's Sudoku in the newspaper...

I sensed my grandmother was still a bit worried about him being out there in the cold, so I suggested a little 'retail therapy' to take her mind of things. Hey, she may be well in her seventies too, but retail therapy works for all girls, all ages :) Especially when we're talking about cheap retail therapy ;)

So off we went to Hoogvliet, home of the region's Miss Etam/Promiss-outlet store. Walking up to the front, I noticed the store was quite crowded... entering the store it became clear it wasn't just crowded: there was a waiting line for the cash register that went almost ALL AROUND THE STORE!!! What the ...?! After some inspection I noticed there were little sale signs everywhere! 50% of the lowest price on the tag! Considering I liked the prices at this outlet already, I LOVED them now :)

Grandma and me did our round around the store, gathering all clothes we liked and that were available in our sizes, before we went for the fitting rooms (where it was surprisingly quiet). I don't like to go back and forth to get other/more cloths, but this time I could hardly carry my load... *blushing* It didn't all fit me or my style, but most of it was too good to pass up. So, over an hour in line and 47 euros later, I was the proud owner of 11 new garments (and one for my mom). For your information, grandma bought 2 t-shirts, but not the ones she tried on and when we came home they didn't fit like she liked them too, so I'm taking them back tommorrow...

But the spending (ok, MY spending) aside, it was just great to be with her for an afternoon. Just the two of us (and like it felt HUNDREDS of other women in that store...) talking and laughing and laughing and talking some more.

So no really deep thoughts today... But a lot of pink and fuzzy feelings about this quality time with my grandparents...

This (older) layout is from their 40th wedding anniversary last year.