Morning view from my run this morning

Today started out beautifully with a nice run through the forest. That is one of my favorite parts of where we live. I run for about 7 minutes and then I am in the “wilderness.”  It’s gorgeous and quiet and peaceful. I ran for 40 minutes today, mostly on a gravel trail. I still don’t know how people run marathons for hours. 40 minutes is pushing it for me! But I guess if you train and put your mind to it, then maybe it’s possible? I’m curious how to do that, not saying that I will ever do one, but am curious about the mind over matter and sore feet part of a much longer run!

My mama loves the cloudscapes – so when I see the clouds I think of her.

Love the clouds and sky reflecting in the water.

After my run, I cleaned up the house some and showered and went shopping for a toaster oven, a hand blender and some items to create a California Surfing Photo Booth for Global Village Day. That’s when my day wasn’t so fun.  I wanted a simple hand blender to make soups and smoothes. They had a bunch on display, but take a look at the shelves!  They had the cheapest model and the most expensive model and nothing in between. So frustrating.  I decided to get one, but wasn’t happy with my limited choices.

empty shelves! UGH!!

Feeling unsuccessful, I walked over to look for the toaster oven. And guess what? Yep, same problem!!  No inventory on the shelf. The one model they had on display of one that might work, had the display with a broken handle!!  Why would you display a broken model?  The problem with shopping in Holland is that I don’t know where to go to find what I need. So when I do find a place to go to get what I need and then the shelves are empty, it leaves me frustrated!!

Look – another empty shelf!! WTH?!

And of course, it’s really not that big of a deal, but I took the time to drive across town to go to the Makro (think kinda Costco like) and left empty handed without what I expected to find. I went over to Hanos because they have the same sort of supplies, and their shelves were empty too except for the display item and a super duper big one. *big sigh*

I need advice friends – please tell me where to buy appliances! And where your favorite places are to shop and to eat.  I also need to know where to buy blue material, or shower curtains, or flat sheets, or paint drop canvas’ to make a backdrop for our surfing photo booth. Any tips? I need help!

I don’t want to end this post on a frustrating note, so I’ll share that I also loved playing tennis again today. I’m glad  there are (expensive) indoor courts to play on near my house!  I also loved that my mom and sister and husband called me from the states this evening. Technology can be really cool!

Life is good…