Wow.... today was a weird day!! This week is pretty extreme in the hours that we are making. Every night we have an appointment or parents night or are tutoring children or whatever. We still need to fit in our training in the mornings, so late nights, and early mornings all around this week. Somehow you, or at least I, prepare mentally for this kind of week. I'm able to set my mind to it and keep going and going until I've survived. Today was a weird day though, not something to prepare for and something that can knock you out of your mind set:

5.20 alarm went off.
5.34 I got out of my bed, went downstairs, put the kettle on for a cup of tea, made my warm wrap with banana (it's an amazingly easy, warm, comforting and filling breakfast I discovered by accident).
6.00 chucked my sports gear into my bag, dressed and stuff.
6.35 What's apped Elian to let her know I was on my way to pick her up.
6.50 arrived at Elian's to find her coming out of the door with a laptop bag, a sports bag, a plastic bag with a large pan full of pea soup and a box full of plaster figures.
7.05 checking in at the gym.
7.15 rowing like crazy. I mean... really crazy. Not like we were warming up, we were just racing each other.
9.15 left the gym.
10.00 started working.
12.30 had lunch break and updated our 'King's Empire' game. Right... I know this is just a bit sad, but we've only been playing this for 3 days now, so it's still relatively new, so that's what I'm ascribing it to. It's just the newness of the thing. But we were like 3 adults all focused on their smart phones all in our own world. Although it has to be said... it's not our own world, as it's inhabited by people around the world. It's obviously a question of interpretation.
13.15 work.
18.00 appointment.
19.00 we had about half an hour to eat some dinner. Thankfully we already had great soup (it looks awful, but it's quite good) at lunch so, we just downed some bread.
19.30 headed off to another appointment. We were meeting with someone who rode the Alpe d'HuZes last year so he could give us some tips, tell us about the process.
20.05 Hans actually rode the Alpe d'Huez 5 times in honor of his sister, which is an amazing feat for someone who had started cycling less than a year prior to that. It made it pretty clear to us that this goal definitely puts life in a different perspective and shifts priorities. Everything that's involved, it affects not only our lives, but also the lives of the people around you. We got some great tips and know that finding a place to stay at the Alpe d'Huez HAS to be a priority right now! This is a huge event and Alpe d'Huez is more like a place for winter sports, to go skiing and snow boarding. By the time June arrives, the season is over. Everything is closed down in this period, but for about a week, around the Alpe d'HuZes, everyone opens up their hotels, restaurants and chalets and is booked full. So, we really need to start searching for that. Also had some great tips on sponsoring, some do's and don'ts on preparation, on training and on when to take it easy. It's all not as clear cut as it seems, so we're taking a lot of information in.
22.00 Phone rings. First I want to ignore it, I mean, it's not nice to take on your phone when you're visiting people, but when I check I see I've already had two missed calls. My friend then also gets a call. So I call back. It's my mom. She tells me my dad and her are at the hospital. My mom hasn't been entirely well lately, some health issues going on, so my mind immediately starts to list all possible things that might be wrong, but is abruptly halted when she tells me my dad and her have been robbed. First I think... really... yeah... right... But she continues to tell me that they were threatened with a knife and with a gun, which definitely makes me realize: 'she would never ever ever make a story like this up'. So I start to... 'what? really? but... when where how why... uhm.....?' Immediately the atmosphere around me started to tense up, everyone around me alert, trying to understand from my one sided conversation what's happening when my tone shifts from playful to serious and worried. I try to find out what happened, how my dad is, and when I ask her if I should come to the ER she of course tells me to just do what I'm doing and that it's nothing really serious, just a cut in his hand. She just asked me to block a bank card for her. At that point she started to give me the details and I start to actively dig into my bag to find a pen and some paper. Immediately everyone sees me searching and not finding, of course, so everyone starts frantically looking and pens and papers are handed to me all around. So I blocked the card and obviously headed over to the hospital.
22.30 Elian went with me, and we ended up in the waiting room of the ER. Finally my mom found us and tells us the whole chilling story. After that we sit around, joke about how my dad won't be able to do the dishes (it's a long story, but it comes down to the dishes becoming his private job). It's our way to cope. Just laugh, say silly things and pretend everything is alright. It still didn't feel real. Even though I saw my dad with the doctor. It's like this story that happens to other people, that you only imagine. With knifes and guns and blood and police and ambulances and sirens and meetings... My dad trying to protect my mom, my mom trying to protect my dad....
23.30 I dropped Elian off at her place. Thank goodness it's not too serious, and my dad is able to move his entire hand. He's been extremely lucky and only needed stitches. He will be having trouble with moving his hand because the cut is right in the skin between his index finger and thumb, which obviously moves with every move you make, but it will heal and he'll have all his functions intact.
23.50 we're home. Drinking a cup of tea, which is something to comfort all of us, give us a sense of normality and some time to digest all that has happened. Besides... who is actually going to be able to sleep after all this....? How's my dad going to be able to keep the shop open? He's really stubborn and not the first one to admit something isn't going well or he's got troubles. But we'll work it out. Take things as they come and figure out problem by problem as we go along.
00.30 It has really been a long day. I'm really starting to feel it. Eyes are itching, but now my mind is starting to get creative, making pictures that go with the story. I see guns, my dad on the ground, a knife...

It's chilling to realize... Life can be over in one popping sound, in one movement, in one moment. Just like that. Thankfully my dad has a tough act, and my mom thought on her feet. They're both here and the gift of life is more precious than ever.

01.45 It's time to sleep.