{The Year 2016 Is Ending...The Resilientista Planner}

It is a sunny day today but rather cool.

My final days for 2016 are not as planned, fighting a bronchitis.

But still, it is a time for reflecting 

Great ingredients for happy days...

Sunshine

Fountain pen

The Resilientista Planner by friend Celia, just click the link!

Tiny Baccarat vase with fragrant Cashmere Bouquet (Clerodendrum philippinum) from Logee's, just click on picture below this vase. 

And COFFEE...

Well, I certainly had all the right ingredients and almost forgot to make this photo... having my coffee almost finished!

Never mind; not everything can be perfect all the time...

Wishing you a happy ending of 2016 and a very Happy New Year 2017!

Thanks for your visit.

{W.A. Mozart Composed this Heavenly Mass in C, K 167 at Age 17}

Sorry for being a bit late, but due to a bout of the flu, I only now manage to put something together.

We did go again to the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Jacksonville, Florida.
Last year in October we were there also: {St. Maria Goretti came from Italy to 54 US Cities - We got to see her too!}
So we looked at their schedule for Christmas and were in for a surprise...

A Solemn Midnight Mass with Members of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra...
So we did look up the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront and booked us 2 nights there at a great price deal.
Not having family in the U.S.A. and for both of us never having participated in the commercial gift giving, there was nothing that held us back.
Our cat-sitter was available and off we went!

The cover of the bulletin did not reveal the big surprise...

But here it was: Mozart's Mass in C, K 167 which got composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the age of 17.
To both of us, this was the most heavenly Mass we ever attended!

What a perfect Christmas this was for us; in its true meaning!
We did call Dad in The Netherlands, around 2:00 AM our time, he'd just gotten out of bed and sounded very happy and in high spirits, anticipating a special sung Mass by the Horster Mannenkoor in which he actively participated for half a century.

Next we went to bed too with a feeling of satisfaction.
The weather was also perfect, around 25°C.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and without the flu!

Related link:

W.A.Mozart - K. 167 Messa "Missa inhonorem SS.mae Trinitatis" - YouTube

{Happy with Husband Pieter's Grand Prize for Jingle In Your Pocket for Christmas}

Yay, Friday, December 16 was such a very special day for both of us.

After breakfast husband Pieter took a shower and was getting ready for posting my parcel, that I'd sold...

I heard his phone ring so I answered and walked over to my husband.

The lady calling started talking about the Jingle In Your Pocket drawing and that Pieter had won the Grand Prize.

WOW!

Not a good photo but this was in Saturday's local newspaper.

Yep, Pieter did win the Grand Prize of $ 1,000 and he is holding out the gift certificates of $ 100, $ 20, $ 15 and $ 10 each for promoting shopping at home.

That's what the entire event is all about, organized by the local Chamber of Commerce.

That was indeed a very lucky day for winning the $ 1,000 grand prize!

It sure did make me sing and dance better when we did perform for our Dublin Rotary Club where husband Pieter is a member too.

After a very tough year, we feel like this Grand Prize was a GIFT from HEAVEN!

The Dutch Government has not been treating us justly and only for POLITICAL REASONS...

It especially applies to ex patriates...

Since 2015, both of us can no longer have a fiscal partner; which results in a lot higher additional taxes over our Dutch pension. 

Two examples of a single breadwinner (top) versus two breadwinners (bottom).

The figure in red is the taxes that need to be paid and in the bottom part it is simultaneously for two; which is a LOT less than for one. 

So they no longer let us have a fiscal partner, meaning we both pay the HIGH WAY...

We hope that the March 15, 2017 elections will change that, mainly for the benefit of the Elderly and that they again learn how to take care of their own country! 

Political Decisions like that, have hurt law abiding and deserving citizens.

The EU Elites and Establishment in Brussels never feel that pain...