The Nosers In Nederland

Homesick at Home

2009-10-27T14:42:00.003+01:00

Yeah, I've got a lot of catching up to do. We're back in the US! I'm running like mad with photography work! Megan isn't speaking Dutch to us anymore, and she's grown 4 inches in the last 16 months! I haven't left Houston to see anyone, I've been so busy. It's weird- I'm home, basically back in the swing of things, but I'm getting homesick for Holland.

Maybe it's the weather- this morning the temperature was flirting with the mid-40s, and you could almost see your breath. I busted out some scarves and hats that I made while in the Netherlands. I'm craving a giant Chai tea and a meandering conversation with Kaat. I want to hear the playground at the end of Soendastraat giggling and squealing with busy children.

Most of all, I want to walk in my woods. I want to see the mist hanging in the trees, hear a thousand unseen birds, smell the sweet decomposition of the fallen leaves. If I close my eyes just right, I can almost experience it, but it's fading more every day. I need a recharge, renewal, inspiration- that is what the woods did for me. I only wish I could have returned the favor somehow.

Oh, sure, there are woods here in Houston, but it's just not the same. The biggest difference is the mosquito population- I don't feel like being ex-sanguinated first and foremost. I am almost sure that there are 1,000 mosquitoes per human in Houston, and they tend to hang out in un-breezy places with loads of trees. No thanks. I'll pass, until I get really desperate, or until the first freeze (if that ever happens).

I'm confused and a little winded by this reverse-homesickness. It's not nearly as powerful as what crippled me my first 3 months in Holland, but it's presence is noticeable.

I think I'll go eat a half-bar of chocolate to see if that helps. Belgian chocolate, of course.

Swine Flu And Other Excuses For Not Blogging

2009-04-30T22:39:00.003+02:00

Hello to the two people who still read my blog! (Ok, one if you don't count me proof-reading after I post.) I just wanted to let you know I'm still alive, and I have not been in the hospital with an unconfirmed case of Swine Flu or anything. I'm just trying to cope with the disappointment I know you are all feeling when I post something lame like this, and not a cool and funny run-down of what we did in DECEMBER, because as far as you know we all fell in the ice and have been in suspended animation since then, not doing anything interesting at all.

Well, we haven't. For example, my parents are here currenly, and we celebrated all three of our birthdays this month. I had TWO- count them, TWO!!!! - paid photo gigs, and may have more in May since the weather is becoming much more not-freezing-and-unbearable. I met my Dutch Twin, and started a project where I take a picture of myself every day (which is just as exciting as it sounds), and my sister is doing the same, and we're gonna put them together in a book, we think. So, see? I've been doing stuff, just not blogging. Which is like a downward spiral of procrastination and guilt and stress.

So, this is basically a non-post, a nicety to let you know I am not dead from kissing pigs, and that I promise I will post at least one more time. But not this month. I mean, I'd only have about 2 hours, and lord knows this kind of comedy gold takes at least 2 and a half hours.

Lunch Conversation

2009-03-12T20:18:00.002+01:00

Megan: "Tell me, what CAN'T Santa do?"

Me: "I know, right?"

Megan: *silence, staring at me*

Me: "Oh, you really want me to tell you what Santa can't do."

Megan: "Well, yeah."

Me: "Ok. Ummm, this may be a pretty short list, 'cause he's a pretty impressive person."

Megan: "It's ok. Tell me."

Me: "Well, Santa can't make every day Christmas."

Megan: "Yeah, I know that."

Me: "Ok. Ummm... Santa can't bring presents to kids on the naughty list. It's one of his rules."

Megan: "Yeah, I know that."

Me: "Ok... umm.... Santa can't bring things like puppies or babies as Christmas presents."

Megan: "Yeah, 'cause puppies come from mommy dog tummies and babies come from mommies' tummies."

Me: "Right. Ummm... Santa.... uh.... Santa can't bring anyone back from the dead."

Megan: *totally unphased* "Right."

Me: *almost a minute of silence*

Megan: "That's it?"

Me: "No, uh, oh! Santa can't ride a bike. Well, maybe he can- I forget he's got that huge workshop."

Megan: "That and he's pretty fat."

Me: "Yeah, but we don't talk about that- I hear he's sensitive about it."

Megan: "Oh, and he can hear us, can't he?" *louder* "He's not fat, he's just... he's handsome!"

Me: "Well, he's what we call pleasantly plump."

Megan: "Right!" *then does the 'whew' wipe of her forehead*

Me: "Oh, it's a little known fact that Santa can vaccuum like nobody's business. He's a wizard with a vaccuum cleaner."

Megan: *finally impressed* "REALLY?"

Me: "Yep, it's true. I can't think of anything else he really can't do, he's quite an accomplished guy. I mean, he can take presents to all the good boys and girls all on one night. If you can do that, most other things must seem really easy."

Megan: "Yeah, I bet you're right."

In Limbo, AGAIN

2009-03-09T19:11:00.004+01:00

Kip may kill me, but I just wanted to broadcast that a few weeks back we got word from his office that we may be moving back to the US this summer. MAYBE. It's been a few weeks of meetings and discussions and fact-gathering and case-making as to why they should bring us back early, and it appears that they are going to try and get this in the budget for this year, but I am just not holding my breath.

Why? Go back to the first 10 entries of this blog. That's why.

So, I'm diving back into my old bad habits because of the stress- eating tons of chocolate, not exercising, stress-sleeping (weird, I know, it's an avoidance tactic), generally being in a grumpy state... so, needless to say I'm a lot of fun to be around!

I'm trying to keep my mind off things with projects, and I've started a photo project that I have been on the fence about for a couple of years now: 365 self-portraits. That's one a day, no cheating. I have a pretty bad track-record with completing things like this, but I am channeling my stress energy into this project, and I really, really want to finish it- my sister started her own 365, which inspired me to go ahead and start, and I want to put our photos in a book together when we're finished. I just love the idea of having an entire year of our lives, side-by-side even though we're miles apart, something I can pick up and look through for the rest of my life. And if we do get sent back home, what a year of pictures it's going to be!

So, I hope this helps explain why I have been quite remiss in getting the last few stories from Kathryn's visit completed- I'm such a stress-scatterbrain, but I will get them done and up as quickly as possible. As soon as I finish alphabetizing the spices and windexing the DVDs. (That's windex, not index- it's glass cleaner, for those of you not in the know.)

More Of The Rest Of The Story

2009-02-25T23:20:00.002+01:00

Delft, Or How To Freeze Your Child

Monday the 29th we headed to the train station and went south to Delft, home of the famous Delft blue pottery. Monday is not the best day to go and do much in small villages here, businesses that are open on weekends are sometimes closed half the day or all day on Mondays, so we only saw a few things while we were there. It really was beautiful, though- the churches filled with Dutch royals and history, the wide open market square... I see quite a few more trips to Delft in my future.

New Church and Market Square

I love the bell tower of the New Church.

UNNNN-fortunately, Megan was not completely wowed with Delft at first. Sulky McGrumpypants had to be warmed and fed, and documented. In multiple mediums.

Fortunately, with food, she perked up. Poor kid.

After we ate, we trekked over to the Prinsenhof - Megan got all excited when we thought we were going to see where William of Orange was shot- complete with BULLET HOLES in the walls! But it was closed. We finally managed to get her to smile after telling her we'd see some cool windows and stuff in the Old and New Church.

In the garden of the Prinsenhof

Inside the New Church, William of Orange is entombed under an amazing monument, members of the Dutch Royal family are buried here as well.

It was soooo cold that day- I think it warmed UP to -1 (almost 30 for you Fahrenheit fans) and the cold really wore us out quickly. She was such a trooper- she kept up with us as we walked in wide zig-zags, reading the tombs on the floors of the churches. She covered her eyes at some of the skulls and other gothic representations of death in a few of the monuments. So many things were closed, so we saw what we could, then ran back to the train to get back home and warm our frozen toes and fingers.

I hardly did our trip justice- we saw some beautiful sites, so take a look here to see more!

Ok, The Rest Of The Story

2009-02-25T20:40:00.007+01:00

With the Yoburns in Paris, Kathryn had us all to herself finally! In the day or two before Christmas we hung around town, seeing the farm and the woods again, and grabbed some last-minute gifts, and did a lot of wrapping.

Oh, yeah, and ate more oliebollen and pancakes. I mean, we had to- it was cold.

First Christmas In Holland

After some tree decorating...

... we were ready for Santa! It was really helpful to have Kathryn here for the holidays- I think we would have been very homesick had we been on our own. Plus, who can bring this kind of fun around except Kat?

On Christmas Eve evening we went down to the park/football field at the end of our street for a wonderful nativity a local group organized. There was something so peaceful and quaint about the production, from the candle-lit trail through the woods to the kids with cotton-ball sheep outfits... it was nothing like I'd ever seen before.

Christmas morning Megan awoke to some cute surprises from Santa, and a bounty from America- we can't thank our family and friends enough for sending gifts, and for Kathryn transporting it all!

After opening all our loot, we made a breakfast fit for royalty, and spent the rest of the morning in a food coma, soaking in the joy of Christmas and family.

I did a repeat of our Thanksgiving meal for Christmas dinner that night, with a few tweaks (I made the cranberry sauce a day in advance in hopes that it would mellow a little). Megan was in charge of setting the table, and she marked our places with charming name cards.

In my lack of blogging, the details of the day after Christmas and the weekend are blurry at best. There was some sleeping in, a few movies watched, and leftovers eaten. Pretty much everything was closed through Monday, so we hung around the house and plotted our next touristy move.

Next.... our touristy moves. Oh, we've got moves.

English Is Her FIRST Language

2009-02-13T13:10:00.002+01:00

Megan: "I think we're going to have a lousy day today."

Me: *surprised* "What? Why?"

Megan: *points to her leg and mouths something totally indecipherable, raising her eyebrows several times for emphasis*

Me: "Huh?"

Megan: "You know, those days where you say, 'Oh, I'm just soooo LOUSY, I'm gonna stay in my pajamas and watch TV all day long!"

Me: "Ohhhh, you mean LAZY."

Megan: "Right. Isn't that what I said?"

Just a little Sunday Fun For You

2009-02-08T09:40:00.003+01:00

It's Not You, It's Me

2009-02-03T16:50:00.004+01:00

Good grief! Has it really been 3 weeks since that last big post? (I'm being facetious- I've gotten more guilt trip emails and reminders than I know what to do with, I'm finally caving here, people.) Let me see if I can pick-up where I left off...

The Barfing Flu

This family has a love-hate relationship with the barfing flu. We've all had it, once all of us in the same week, and it's just a gross part of the winter, like fruitcake and frozen dog poop. I left off the first Friday of our visit with the Yoburns and Kathryn- it was a short school day for Meg, and at noon we were all going to get Meg from school, hop on a train and head into Amsterdam for the afternoon/evening. Kip and Jesse were going to the New Model Army concert that night, so we planned on doing a little sight-seeing, grabbing dinner together and then going our separate ways for the night.

Well, I'm sure you can all guess what happened next- Megan hopped on the couch, said, "I don't feel great" and then went Barf-zilla on us. Not LITERALLY on us, but you know what I mean. Poor kid- they had eaten leftover goodies from the Kerst dinner at school that morning for snack, and she barfed all kinds of Christmas treats. We felt a total Deja-vu from the trip to Paris, and tried the "wait and see" approach, but she couldn't even keep down water, so I volunteered to stay with Meg while everyone else went into Amsterdam. With no kids. And lots of free time. And no kids. And no real agenda except a concert at night. Oh, and no kids.

Poor Meg was, at one point of the evening, sitting up on the couch with a tupperware bowl under her chin, watching Pippi Longstockings and throwing up water, not breaking eye contact with the television. I had to admire her commitment to the film. I also managed to have a total client drama that I had to address that evening, which just made things worse, and had to borrow the neighbor's car to try and get some prints made, poor green-faced Megan in tow with a to-go barf receptacle in her lap. After our failed attempt at solving client drama madness, Meg was finally able to hold down a little oatmeal and water, and I put her to bed, and the vomit part of this story is totally over now, sorry to those with weak stomachs.

Sister-Loser, The Sequel

At some point later that evening, perhaps around 11-ish, an email exchange began with Kip and myself in regards to the key to the house and whether Kathryn and Tewlyn had one. Kip and Jesse had left them around 8 PM, and since public transportation from Amsterdam to our house basically ends shortly after midnight, the guys started to worry and left the concert (and a chance to hang out with the band) to "find the women."

Now, I make no excuses for either party- it was hilarious to see how totally bothered the guys were that the girls had not contacted anyone as to their whereabouts that evening. My opinion was that they are grown women, they can find their way home whenever they want, I hope they had fun and have lots of stories to tell when they arrive. Now, sure, they guys almost got me on their worry-train of gloom and doom, and I did have pangs of "I hope they're not in a ditch somewhere, or went the wrong way on a train or something!" The guys got home around 1, Kip hopped in the borrowed car to see if he could get to Hoofddorp just in case they were stranded at the train station with no cab (last bus to our neck of the woods ran around midnight) and Jesse started walking to the bus stop to see if he could catch them on their way home.

Ah, worry warts.

The gals showed up about 20 minutes later in a cab, not a ditch, and with many tales about their evening in the city. After they parted ways with the guys they decided to make the most of their visit to the city and did what tourists do- they toured! They saw! They experienced! And, since they had no cell phone, they didn't call! So there! But, oh- those stories. They are much more than PG-13, and since I cannot change the names to protect the innocent I shall not tell all here, but oh, the stories. I was so jealous of their adventures.

Oliebollen, Oliebollen, You're An Oliebollen Baby

Saturday we dragged everyone out of bed at the crack of noon and eventually headed into Haarlem for some sandwiches, oliebollen, shopping and scenery. (I think I ate more oliebollen in the months of November and December than should be allowed by the American Heart Association.)

We strolled around the Haarlem Grote Markt where their old church was dolled-up for the holidays, grabbed some crazy kebabs from a street vendor.

Since we had such a late night the night before, and had a recovering kid, we took it easy and enjoyed a lazy Saturday evening at home.

NO Kids Even!

Sunday was another sleep-in day, since relaxing deteriorated into an evening of drinking and playing board games, and staying up way too late again. I love company!

Meg and Kathryn were going to have an Auntie day so that Kip and I could hit the 'Dam with the Yoburns, and FINALLY I got my day in Amsterdam with no kids! No kids even! Jess, Tew and I headed into town first to go to the Ann Frank museum, and we met-up with Kip afterwards for a quick bite at a pancake house - almost as good as ours here in Heemstede. ALMOST.

With about 2 hours to burn before our dinner reservation, we wandered the city and I photo-nerded around the entire time with my new 50mm lens. It really is fast, and it was made for the 5D- with the sunsets, busy store fronts and finally night shooting I was in heaven.

Seeing Red
Dinner was with a co-worker of Kip's, Tom, who is re-locating to Houston in early 2009. We met at Red, an upscale surf-and-turf restaurant with decor I would kill for. I ate dinner sitting on a smoke-grey velvet sofa, at the table. There was velvet everywhere, and a giant boudoir photo on the ceiling. I wanted to move in- or at least do a shoot there at sunset.

We had a great time talking with Tom and his girlfriend Kay, and found out that he has a very strange addiction to bad American movies. He cut the evening short, declining a night wandering Amsterdam with us, because he had "Short Circuit II" waiting at home. So, with no one to judge us, we marched STRAIGHT into the Red Light District to see what on earth it was like.

We Saw Things
Oh, dear, did we see things. Strange things. Terrifying things. Hilarious things. Stupefying things. Confusing things. It was an education just to look at the shop windows at the "accessories" and films. You never feel more normal and sheltered than when you are peering into an S&M shop window.

We even decided to take in a show, but did not heed advice of others and went to the club Moulin Rouge. I will not go into detail, but it was NOT great. It really was weird, and I just won't recommend going to see a show at that establishment. Now, the content of the show aside, the venue itself was off-putting: it was set up like a church, with pews, but then had a tiny stage, and then a bar. It was like if Charlie Sheen set up a church. And to top it off, after each "segment," the performer wrapped in a sheet and mingled with the audience. You had just seen this person and all their glory up on stage, but to converse, they put on a sheet. It all seemed so very odd to me.

Ok, so I'm gonna tell on Tew and Kat here- the night they disappeared they went into the Red Light District and saw a show, the BEST show according to everyone they asked in the area, and that was partially our inspiration for heading into the RLD for the night. Tewlyn kept reassuring us that the show THEY saw was a thousand times better, and when we got home later she made Kathryn swear she'd take me into Amsterdam to the "good" show so that my opinion of the RLD would be redeemed.

Sending the Yoburns Packing

Monday we took another trip into Haarlem for more shopping and sight-seeing (and oliebollen, of course), and to wrap up our visit with the Yoburns- they headed to Paris on Tuesday for 5 days of awesomeness, and we were so sad to see them go.

With the departure of the Yoburns, Kathryn had us all to herself! Next post, the Nosers take on the Netherlands, with a vengance! (Or at least a healthy sense of adventure.)

I Swear I Remember Y'All

2009-02-03T00:02:00.002+01:00

Did I capitalize y'all correctly? Anyhow, I'm working on a new blog post, and it's a doozy, but it's taking time to piece together- when you sit on a story for 2 months, the details somehow seem to escape you. Soon, my sweets- soon.

2008, A Year In Quick Review

2009-01-13T14:36:00.004+01:00

I believe that having a blog makes you a better procrastinator. Having something to put off over and over and OVER again makes the off-putting all the more easier and, really, worthwhile. Also, I have started an afghan for Megan that I MAY finish before she is in college, if I stop sleeping and blogging. I'm sure her great-grandkids will love opening it for her. Seriously, it's gonna be huge, I had no idea what I was getting myself into, and I'm at that point where it would just be sad to back out now.

2008, In Short

About 285% of bloggers do a recap of their previous year, a jaunt down memory lane to build a sense of closeness with their new readers, and to draw repeat readers in with inside jokes and stories. I'm not your typical blogger, as I do things like ignore my blog for a month and then get all upset when I don't average 12 hits during "the lull." But, for what it's worth, here's a quick run-down of 2008:

Oh my gosh! We MIGHT be moving! I KNOW! We'll know more in two weeks! I mean, in two MORE weeks! Uh, make that two more weeks. Um, I'll let you know if we know. Ok, yes! We MAY be going! Yes, that's different than might! I'm going to quit my job in preparation for the move! Crap! Two more week- make that months! Bureaucracy is awful! Waiting is hard! Yay- we finally have a date for our flight-wefoundahouse-ohmygod,wehavetopacktheoldhouse-we're here?!? Ok, did you know that the kids here ONLY speak Dutch? Ow! My finger! Ah, a bike, and freedom. Thank god, I have an American neighbor, with kids. Cheese, beer, chocolate - now visitors? Who is that with Santa? More visitors? Who is blowing up the neighborhood? Happy New Year!

Now, To Catch Up

So much has happened in the last month- the Yoburns were here, and Kathryn, and then there was Christmas and New Years holidays, and in between we ran all over the place hosting our guests, showing them not only the places we know, but a few that are now favorites. And, of course, I brought my camera (thank goodness- or I wouldn't have remembered what we saw when!). Here's the first installment of catching up- this may take a few posts to accomplish!

The Woods and Kerstfeest

Tew and Jesse arrived on a Wednesday, and as international flights make you wish for sleep pretty much the minute you land, we tried to keep them awake as much as possible that day. Well, I say we- Kip did most of the work as I had a photo gig that day, taking portraits at the ESCGH Christmas party. (Which was total bedlam, and not worth talking about much past that.) Megan and I came home to find two sleepy Yoburns at home, and we sat around talking and playing games until 8, the official bedtime of Megan and everyone who comes to visit from the US on their first day here.

Thursday Megan had school, so I took Jesse and Tewlyn into the woods- Tew took a run, Jesse and I photo-dorked out like old times.

After we had our fill of the gorgeousness that is the woods, we ran home in time to pick Megan up from school, make some dinner, and to greet Kathryn who had arrived while we were out. To keep Kathryn awake, I decided to take her along to Megan's school Christmas dinner (no separation of Church and state her, folks), which turned out to NOT be for the family but for the children only- completely foreign concept for me, but since I had the camera along I was welcomed in enthusiastically (everyone loved the Sinterklaas photos) and fed as I photographed the children that evening. It really was lovely- the ambiance of Christmas combined with the classroom setting, it was cozy and warm, nurturing- I can see why Megan is so comfortable at school and with her teacher.

Next... Barfing flu AGAIN? And more adventures with company. Stay tuned!

More Company On The Way! (And Unrelated Photos To Add Interest.)

2008-12-15T21:30:00.003+01:00

The second round of visitors takes off in about 28 hours! Our dear friends Tewlyn (comrade from days at the Pottery Barn, supermodel extraordinare and kick-ass chick) and Jesse (of JBYPhotography.com, co-photo-nerd and target of all my Nikon-related jokes) are landing around 11:30 am our time on Wednesday, with Kathryn (Kip's older younger sister, Megan's twin separated at birth by 28 years, and also known as "Frieda Gilroy") arriving 24 hours later.

WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously- it's one thing to see family, but to have people who aren't even related to you say, "Sure! We'll come visit you!" is just so completely cool to me. I'm even going to clean the bathrooms, that's how honored I am to have them stay with us.

KNP Global, Trying To Fly

I had my first international family photo shoot last week with a sweet family from the ESCGH. Their 2-year-old son was such a riot! The shoot was a 2-parter, the first scheduled time on Thursday was abandoned due to my late arrival which was due to a total rookie error (forgot my camera battery and had to turn around and bike 2 km back to get it) and also because young son was MUCH more interested in playing and pushing buttons on my camera than posing. To try and get him to sit still I told him to push his nose so that the flash would go off. End result? Approximately 50% of the photos from that day AND the rescheduled shoot Sunday have him with his finger on his nose. He remembered the game 4 days later, little smarty!

So, as I type this and totally procrastinate editing round 2 of their session, I must mention that I have another gig on Wednesday - yes, the day my guests arrive, but a paid gig is a paid gig - to shoot photos with Santa at the ESCGH's Christmas party. Poor Megan is going to have to play lighting guinea pig for me, as usual, so I should have a ton of (really poorly lit) photos of Megan and Santa later this week. I just hope I don't bore everyone to death by being in the office to marathon-edit those shots so I can actually enjoy my company- the group gave me a 1 week timeline to get the photos out wich is totally do-able, but I may be moving the Mac downstairs so I can visit and edit at the same time!

Other Recent Mind-Boggling Events

Oh, by the way, my daughter is riding a 2-wheeled bike almost entirely by herself. I would have pictures, but my job is to first clutch the back of her jacket with such viciousness that she knows I'm there, then run like mad and shout "PEDAL! PEDAL PEDAL PEDAL! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING! STEER AWAY FROM THE TREE! YOU'RE DOING GREAT, MEG!" and then let go and whoop and holler, and finally shout "USE YOUR BREAKS!" Needless to say, I am falling asleep writing this. When we started this adventure at around 3:30 pm she was reluctant to get on the bike- she has been using that little toddle bike for about 6-8 weeks and has been zooming around, balancing nicely, and wasn't looking to change, thankyouverymuch. I somehow convinced her to just TRY the bike, and we made it all the way around the block only stopping 5-6 times. By the time we rounded the 4th corner back on to our street, Megan only needed help balancing to get started- she would shout, "OK! LET GO, MAMA!" and I would run next to her with my hands way up in the air so she could see I had obeyed her command. The look of panic/excitement/freedom/horror/pride/exhilaration on her face was amazing- she was independent for just a moment, so thrilled by life, almost six instead of just five-and-a-half. One of the best afternoons of my entire life, that's for absolute sure.

Rounds of Local Crud

Kip and Megan have both been ill for the last 2 weeks at least- Megan is hacking and full of crud, and tummy troubles seem to get mixed in here and there for extra fun. We finally have her poor digestive tract under control, but had to bring her home early from a Christmas party Saturday (where I met some really lovely people that I will talk more about later) with an ear ache so painful it caused her to cry the entire hour and a half it took us to get home via tram then train then bus. She cried herself to sleep with sticky, grapey Children's Advil breath and nose-drops running back out of her nose, and woke up with painless ears the next day (thank heavens). She still sounds like she should switch to Menthols, though. It's kind of cute and I wish her voice could stay so gravely for a little while longer, but I'd rather have her well and not sobbing on late-night public transportation. So I have been boiling sheets, towels and clothes; disinfecting bathrooms and kitchens and I'm ready for everyone to feel well again. I've so far been lucky enough to skip these rounds of crud (knock on wood), and both hands are chapped from all the cleaning and hand-washing.

Really Lovely People From The Christmas Party

I realize that I said I would talk about them, but I am finding myself lacking anything really interesting to say about them. Maybe if they call and invite us for coffee like they said they would, then they'll make the blog. A girl's gotta have standards, I suppose.

Totally Unrelated Photos To Add Interest

I realize I haven't uploaded any new photos in over a week, and may not have time to edit and upload the few batches I have from our recent excursions to Haarlem (Kip bought a bike!) and Sinterklaas morning.

So, here's one of the gifts that Zwarte Piet left for Megan the week leading up to Sinterklaas:

Those are knitting needles, some yarn and her initials in chocolate letters. Totally unrelated to everything here. I'll try to get some more interesting things up soon!

Winter(ish) Wonderland

2008-12-04T16:54:00.002+01:00

Just a few quick shots of Megan in the snow this afternoon...

A Visit With Sinterklaas

2008-12-02T20:56:00.003+01:00

(Please continue to know that this is a Dutch holiday. I swear.)

Sooooo, with the fast approach of December 5th, Kip's office had a Sinterklaas party for all the families that work at BMC here in the Netherlands. It really was well done- the venue was "Chimpy Champ," a Dutch cousin of "Pump It Up" or "Monkey Buisiness" or name your local warehouse full of bounce houses here. It did follow what we expect when we go to local playgrounds - it had a giant, totally cool playscape that never would exist in America outside the 1980s. It was easily 2 stories high, had nets and tunnels, ladders, giant slides- total kid wonderland. Kip raced a co-worker to the top and beat her. Her. Way to go, dear!

There were trampolines, too, and we kicked off our shoes and tried to give Megan whiplash, or at least a concussion:

But, the highlight of the party was the visit from Sinterklaas and his helper, Zwarte Piet. Now, if you read this blog (or at least the last post) you know my mixed emotions about good old Piet. I get that it's a Dutch tradition. I get that they tried to make Piet different colors a few years back and NOBODY thought it was cool, they prefer the Dutchman in black face. Did I smile and laugh when he acted silly? Of course. Did I wink at him (because I knew who he was behind the giant afro-wig and brown face paint)? Of course. Would I bring this tradition home with us to the US? Of course not. But, when in Rome...

Sinterklaas was spectacular. He had the perfect Sinterklaas voice- loud and baritone, warm and reassuring (for those few nervous kids). Piet was just silly enough, but not scary, and had the kids laughing with his antics, and lead everyone in Sinterklaas songs. They gave out gifts to the children one at a time, which I thought was so wonderful- each child was called by name, then stood by Sinterklaas while he recounted a few tidbits on how the child had been a good boy/girl that year (he prints his emails from parents now instead of writing in his big book) and then gave them a nice gift, and a big bag of pepernoten cookies. Every kid. It was just priceless. He even spoke English for Megan (Piet, too).

Megan had such a blast- she made friends with Faye, who is 5 like her, and Tim, who is six. Kip has his eye on Tim- he's older, and likes American girls. Megan had Tim's complete attention from the moment they met, and I think Kip got a headache from giving him the evil eye for talking with HIS daughter. His BABY GIRL.

After the Sinterklaas party Spectacularrrr, we joined a few of Kip's co-workers and their families for an undefined meal at a family restaurant in Amsterdam (yes, they do exist). Tim and his family gave Megan and me a ride to the restaurant, and we listened to a children's music CD the entire trip over. Megan and Tim were singing and singing, joking and giggling. Then Megan put her head on his shoulder and he sat straight back in his seat and froze, eyes open REALLY wide. I thought I was going to choke holding back laughter. Then he said something along the lines of "you can stop that now." Ahhh, cooties.

The meal was excellent, as was the company, and the adults all sat around drinking beer at a giant table while the kids played on the playground outside. They ran in to eat, for dessert, and for other little things like paper airplanes and boo-boo reports, but mostly stayed outside. Megan had insisted that we bring in her Sinterklaas gift, so part of the time she stayed indoors playing with her Littlest Pet Shop and ignoring Tim, much to his chagrin.

Always keep them at arm's length, Meg. Even if they are blonde haired, blue eyed and taller than you.

... and SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CUTE!!!!!!!

I SWEAR This Is A Dutch Custom

2008-11-25T21:06:00.005+01:00

The Dutch celebrate Sinterklaas every December 5th, and in mid-November Sinterklaas (not to be confused with Santa Claus, his cousin who lives at the North Pole) comes to the Netherlands from Spain on his big steam ship with his crew, the zwarte Piets (Black Peter). (I was going to pluralize the translation, but read it and busted up laughing, and decided against it. I digress.) Soooo, this time of year you see ads for everything with a Sinterklaas theme, complete with Zwarte Piet, who is 99.9% of the time a white person painted in black face with a black afro wig. It is so unnerving, being raised in America, and particularly in the South (I was born in Alabama, and lived in Texas for 29 years before moving to the Netherlands).

(image courtesy of Downwind of Amsterdam )

In the holiday tradition, Megan's class put on a Sinterklaas program for the children in the school, and tonight for the families and friends of the students. It was adorable. And uncomfortable. But still adorable, in an "Are you sure this isn't racist?" kind of way.

I'd like to put some cute photos of it here, but I just can't bring myself to do it. I mean, what if she runs for president one day? But, if you have a Flickr account and you're in my "friends" or "family" group, you can see them here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/karibethn/sets/72157610552125737/

It really was cute. Honest. Just really, REALLY uncomfortable. For the Americans.

A Little Downtime

2008-11-20T11:01:00.005+01:00

Oh my goodness- the house feels so empty! The Nosers JUST left, about 5 minutes ago, and the silence is deafening. Well, save for the skittering of the neighbors on the other side of the wall behind me. That Michael- he is busy doing something fun, it sounds like.

The Visit: A Breif Essay, By Kari Noser (Grade 9)

To deliver a taste of Heemstede, nevermind the Netherlands in it's entirety, is a fairly complex undertaking. There were so many things we did not see that were on the agenda, but as the visit drew to an end we realized that we are all only human and cannot consume and digest everything in the area in just a few days. With Kip's family the guinea-pigs for our tour guide services, I hope that we accomplished our main objective- to instill the want to come back and visit, the sooner the better.

Of course, we dragged them to the woods- Heemstede would basically be another dot on the map if it weren't for the Wandelbos Groenendaal. It's current state, with leaves changing and falling, locals and their four-legged companions fogging the paths with warm breath in the crisp air, and the gentle smell of the earth, the ponds, and the decomposition of wood and leaves- the wandelbos IS autumn. We walked the woods twice- once with no real aim, just to see; the other with the pancake house as our layover until we could meander home with bulging stomachs in a pancake daze. Even if you were to fight, I think you still would not keep from becoming enchanted by these woods. I cannot wait to see how they transform in the next three seasons.

With only one bicycle to our name, we lead our guests about by foot a great deal, and the weather was very forgiving. There was only one day of rain, and that was this past Tuesday, and vacation-weary, we all decided to take a day of rest. What we deemed to far to walk we achieved by bus and rail, which expanded the visit outside the boundaries of Heemstede and into Haarlem and Amsterdam.

In Haarlem we took them to one of the grandest market days in the area and gorged ourselves on the fried deliciousness of oliebollen- a sphere of fried dough with something delicious in the middle, possibly rolled in sugar, and dusted with powdered sugar if you desire. Certainly messy. Absolutely lekker.

After oliebollen, we moved on to the marketplace and wandered for awhile amidst the vendors- marveling at the baker's variety, admiring the fashions available from the clothing vendors, gaping at the low price of lobster, shrugging our shoulders at the identity of several produce items, breaking down and getting some fresh and hot stroopwaffle to share, nibbling a wedge of cheese, and finally ordering a cone of fritijes (french fries, but better) to hold us over until dinner.

We hit a cute little tourist shop in search of Delft and souveniers, and then meandered back to the bus as the sun set at 4:30 pm.

In Amsterdam we meandered through the city and took in Anne Frank's house one afternoon, NEMO (a hands-on science museum aimed at the kid in all of us) the other. Anne Frank was heart-wrenchingly powerful and exquisitely presented, and I was able to take it in with two eyes- no photography allowed. I can't wait to go again and again with future visitors, to take in the subtle details and spend more time in the interactive computer-lab part of the museum.

NEMO was such a hit with all of us that we lamented only haivng 2 hours to play there, and not going there sooner- Megan's favorite was the bubble area, where you can put yourself in a bubble tube (with help from a friend) or blow a giant bubble from a window-pane of soap. So hard to describe, better with photos:

The jewel of the visit had to be Paris, in my opinion. I love Paris- understatement of the year, and cliche to boot- many people have a place where they walk taller, breathe easier, as if they had a belt about their ribcage that was released the moment they arrive. For me, that place is Paris. This being my fourth trip to the City of Lights, it was like the embrace of an old friend stepping out of the train station and into the night in Paris. Maybe because it was the first trip I ever made overseas, as myself on a class trip rather than with parents, or perhaps that I actually SPEAK THE LANGUAGE, that I hold the city with such fondness- I told Megan (one of the many times she was working through her excitement and anxiety of going to Paris the week of our trip) that because of who she is, when she is in Paris she will feel her heart open wide and the city will sneak in and take root; after she visits Paris, there will always be a part of her heart that belongs to the city, and she will feel whole when she goes back again and again. I hate to brag, but I was 100% right.

In a whirlwind we saw the Pyramids of the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower (of course), the Arc de Triumph, meals at cafes, the fountains at Georges Pompidou, and Sacre Coeur. All too quickly and too breifly, like a meal of appetizers. Kip and I celebrated our 11th anniversary in the city we honeymooned in, walking through Paris for hours and hours until fatigue and abused feet forced us to return to the hotel. Megan was angry, disappointed and broken-hearted to leave just 43 hours after arriving, and declared that she wants to move to Paris and leave the Netherlands. Me too, kid.

As long as two weeks sounds, they were over far too soon. (Granted, part of their time was spent in France, so it didn't really seem like we saw them for two weeks.) Now off to start the renewal process- laundry, dusting, folding and putting things in place for the next round of visitors next month. Three weeks until the next arrivals- our dear friends the Yoburns and Auntie Kathryn (who's absence was felt so many times over the last 2 weeks- we would board a train or gather for a meal and someone would say, "Who's missing?" and we would realize it was Kathryn). Wait- only three weeks? I may never get my office clean in time!

Off To Paris...

2008-11-13T22:05:00.002+01:00

Well, we're finally getting to enjoy the benefit of living in Europe- we're going to Paris this weekend to meet-up with Kip's family who have been getting the city ready for our arrival. Or sightseeing- I'm unclear on what they're doing there, apparently.

BUT- to tide you over, I uploaded a zillion photos to Flickr this afternoon from our visit over last week, here are a few of my favorites:

My mother-in-law is so cute that it's gross.

Ok, I've got to try and pack all my hair products for the weekend- I'll be back with tons of new shots on Monday! Bon weekend!

Big Picture Upload - Update Coming Soon

2008-11-09T20:38:00.002+01:00

I just sat down and plugged the camera in to upload, and wowzas- 425 images in the last 4 days! I'm sure I'll surpass that in Paris next weekend, and thankfully I have all this week to go through and pick out the good shots from this batch.

We've had a fun visit so far- we went to the woods, the farm, Haarlem, the pancake house, and back to the woods and farm for good measure. Company is packing up for their 6am cab to the airport, they're catching the train for France tomorrow at an ungodly hour, and we have a short week this week, as Megan has no school on Friday. PARIS! We are all so breathless with excitement, it seems like a dream that we're getting to go again, and to show the Megster JUST how big that Eiffel Tower really is.

Company, Round 1!

2008-11-06T08:42:00.002+01:00

Kip and Megan are off to work and school, respectively, and now I am bustling around the house getting those final things taken care of (like washing the bath mats and sweeping the stairs ONE more time) because family is coming to visit us! Wahoo!!!!! To say we are excited is an obvious understatement- Megan hopped all the way into class this morning and told her teacher "Oma and Opa and Auntie come today!"

Flickr Upload Overload
I decided last night to take care of the odds and ends that I had photographed and neglected to upload so that if I put-off uploading photos while we had guests I wouldn't be too far behind. So there are a few shots of moving day, our trip to Haarlem last weekned, and our celebration of Megan's 5 1/2th birthday now up on my photostream, the link is over in the sidebar called "Flickr Photo Site" or you can click on that crazy changing photo-box thing there and it will take you directly to a photo page. Enjoy!

Ok. I'm off to buy a floor lamp so that our guests won't be sitting in the dark this afternoon at 5pm- the days are getting to be so short! I can't imagine what December 21st is going to be like- 5 hours of daylight, maybe? Six? It should be interesting for us sun-loving Texans. Tot ziens for now!

What a Day!

2008-11-04T21:05:00.003+01:00

Today was Tuesday, so I did my usual Tuesday morning bit and rode my bike the 6.5 kilometers into Overveen to go to the Mom's group weekly get together. I took my camera, as it was misty and foggy, and stopped a dozen times along the way to try and capture the stillness and mist that had settled over Noord-Holland.

Mom's group was relatively uneventful- I was adopted by a totally adorable 1-year-old named Sophie, who is a complete scoundrel and is quite mad, according to her mom. No wonder we got along just fine!

After the gathering had disbanded, I rode back through the little wooded area near the path that takes me back towards Heemstede- Megan was staying at school through lunch so I had some time to take time going home. I had a nice long walk, and surprised myself by finding a more beautiful way back to the main road than the way I had gone that morning.

After I had emerged from the woods and thought, "You know? Lunch might be nice." I headed towards home, stopping at the Albert Hein (grocery store) that is on the way to grab a bottle of water and some ground beef for dinner. When I opened my purse before I went inside, I discovered my wallet was missing, and decided to head back to the house to see if it was sitting next to my bottle of water that I had left on the stairs.

Well, it wasn't. It wasn't anywhere in the house. So, after running around and swearing and muttering, "Ohhhh, this is NOT good" about a thousand times, I saw that the answering machine was blinking, and sure enough- there was a message in Dutch, with the very recognizable "Kah-ree Eee-lee-zabet Nosher", so even though I had no idea what the gentleman was saying, I knew he had my wallet.

Then, as I was standing there, the phone rang. "Do you know where your wallet is?" said Kip. "Uh, I'm guessing some man has it, from the message on the machine," I replied. We both chuckled at the fact that the message was completely in Dutch, even the phone number, and I had tried several times to extract the number from the message, but never came out with enough digits. Kip said he asked the gentleman to email me, and when I ran upstairs, he in fact had done so.

Dear ms noser,

A visitor of our estate reported your wallet, found without any money, but plenty of creditcards still in it.

You can collect the wallet at the address in my signature untill 18:30 hours today.

Regards,

Met vriendelijke groet,

Tom van Spanje
Opzichter Kennemerland c.a

Beheer Noord-Holland zuid van Noordzeekanaal t/m Muiderberg.

Elswoutslaan 12a
2051 AE Overveen
T 023-5240360
F 023-5440128
M 06-51365964
t.spanje@staatsbosbeheer.nl
http://www.staatsbosbeheer.nl
http://www.elswout.nl

http://www.npzk.nl
http://www.haarlemmermeergroen.nl
http://www.nieuwamsterdam.nl/videodetail.aspx?ID=1278
http://www.haarlemmerliede.nl/projecten/herinrichting-houtrakpolder.html

Well, I quickly Google-Mapped the address and replied to the email that I would be there by 2pm. I downed a half-bag of Maltesers and chugged some water, grabbed an apple and hit the bike again. I then rode another 6.5 kilometers back to Overveen and found the most magnificent location I have seen in the Netherlands to date.

For those of you who were wondering, I had about 4 Euros in change in my wallet, and it was all there when I retrieved it. I think there may have been a little divine intervention at play- I had ridden past this estate 5 times at LEAST and never knew, nor would I have any reason to know, that it was open to the public, and was one of the most popular locations for weddings and bridal portraiture near Haarlem. Was I panicked that I lost my wallet? Maybe for a few minutes. But the treasure at the end of that adventure was worth it 100%.

Upswing Sunday

2008-10-26T21:30:00.003+01:00

You know, after that total downer of a post yesterday I felt better. Not 100%, but it helped to get all of that out and decide to just move past it. Thank you to my wonderful friends and family- you all are what pulls me through junky times like that!

A Little Structure
There are so many things that I want to blog about, and then don't because of the sheer size of the idea - like, for example, what is different here in the Netherlands compared to Texas - that I shy away from it and think of it as a feat that can never be accomplished. Well, it dawned on me that if I break it down into smaller parts it's not that big of a deal. (You'll never guess who I was talking to when I came up with this revelation. Funny how coloring a big picture and tackling weirdo blog hang-ups can be SUCH parallels.)

SO! My aim is to pick from the following gargantuan topics and try to take a chunk out of them, say, once a week or so:

What's different here in NL compared to back home (didn't see that one coming, did ya?)
Things I LOVE about Holland
Food we've tried here
Things I miss about home
Wish list of the week
Cute Megan-isms of the week

As I think of more, I'll add them here (mostly so I don't forget). So, without further adieu, here are your Cute Megan-isms of the Week:

Be Sure To Laugh If You Think This Is Funny, OK?
Megan is really trying on her comedy wings lately. When she gets a laugh, say for something along the lines of, "There's this lady who's on the 'How It's Made' show? She has curly black hair and she sings really, really, really, REALLY pretty? Actually, I've never heard her sing." which catches Kip and I off-guard and we snort at how grown-up and yet how very five she sounds saying this. She was surprised by the laughter, naturally, as she wasn't aiming for comedy gold at the time, but she says it about 11 more times in the same conversation, trying to figure out what about it was so funny the first time. She got her first lesson on "Funny the First Time. Only."

So she hits me up with her best material when I'm working- at the computer, in the kitchen, when I'm a captive audience.

Megan: Mama. Knock knock.
Me: Who's there?
Megan: Dewayne.
Me: Dewayne who?
Megan: Dewayne the bathtub. I'm dwowning! It's like "Drain the bathtub I'm drowning," but in lisp! Get it?
Me: (slightly forced) Ha! Ha ha ha ha!

*repeat 5-6 times*

Megan: Knock knock.
Me: Who's there?
Megan: Dewayne.
Me: Dewayne who?
Megan: Little baby poops in diapers!

It's like the improv around here, folks. Don't forget to tip your waitress.

What's Wrong With Us?

2008-10-25T22:01:00.004+02:00

Leaping without a safety net. Man, is it hard. It's hard to feel the rush of adrenaline from the free-fall with all this panic of hitting the ground. From trying to get my wings spread as a photographer to Kip's dealing with the world financial situation to Megan trying to make good, solid friends like she had back home, we're a real wreck here.

If You're Bored...
Add to that a photo shoot done, and poor Megan had to endure hours of boredom while I edited like mad. Never do we fight so much as when she is bored and I have something pressing that cannot be done with divided attention. So, part of Wednesday and Thursday we were at home at each others' throats- her bored and whiny, me stressed and pegged below "E" on patience. BUT, we made it through, no blood was shed, and photos were delivered on time. After the hours and hours of editing, I realized that I had a bag of crafts and junk upstairs that I purchased over a week ago to keep Megan preoccupied in case of bad weather or, say, I had to edit photos for hours on end. ARGH! The bag has been moved to my office now, so it isn't overlooked next time. Sheesh- at least she'll have a lot to tell her therapist in her 20s.

Neighborly Love... Well, Not Really
Some of you may have been saying, "If she was so bored, why didn't she go play with the neighbor kids?" Well, Maya and Emerson were busy for some of the week, some of it was my fault, I didn't think to send her out, the weather was crummy part of the time, and- well, some of the neighbor kids are just plain mean. And to clarify, it's some of the Dutch neighbors, not Maya and Emerson- there is one little girl and boy who gang up on Megan when they are together. One will come over and ask Megan out to play, and they'll play nicely for a good long time, then the other will come over and then it's pick on Megan time. And yet, bless her heart, she still is nice to them. She opened her bedroom window to say hello to them one afternoon, and they looked up and shouted "Megan, keep your mouth shut!" to her in Dutch (our next-door-neighbor translated). Here's the kicker- one of the kids' parents WAS RIGHT THERE AND DID NOTHING ABOUT IT.

Now, if you are a new reader who I don't know (which there is one of you- I'm glad you're here! Welcome! Bless your heart for reading all my babbling!) I must explain something to you- Megan is one of the happiest, most warm and welcoming kids you'll ever meet. She would give her last cookie to a friend if she thought it would make them happy. She shares. She takes turns. Sure, she's no saint, but she's damned close- too close for a punk 4-year-old to shout mean things to her. It's totally and completely humiliating, but I want to beat these kids up for her! One of these kids has been mostly cold and mean to Megan since she came to school (she calls him "the boy you give the stink-eye to, Mama" when telling me about her day) but the other was someone who I thought would be a sweet friend, and was grateful she lived so close- now I'm glad she lives close so I can keep an eye on her. Little punks.

ANYWAY, this is all a giant digression, and from this I feel a little relief from venting, but I'm still agonizing for my poor kid. She doesn't understand why these kids are mean to her, and it broke my heart to see her elated one minute that they were nice, then dejected as she came home when they ganged up on her. But it brings a meatier point to mind- if I shield her from these mean kids, is this a disservice to her? On one hand it is gut instinct to stick up for your child when anything bad happens in their life, but I don't want her to be ill-prepared when I can't be there to help her out. NOT that I have come right out and told her not to play with these kids and they are mean, but I have steered her to other friends as alternatives. As a parent I suppose you want to be the Avenger, dishing out justice for your child- I'm not sure if this time I let her have a little heartbreak and scoop her up in the aftermath.

On A Lighter Note
But, enough of that. Megan and I headed to the woods today, and they are still breathtakingly beautiful. The paths are filling with golden leaves, but a lot of the trees have yet to change- something I need to check timing on so that I can book client sessions when the trees are ablaze in their fall colors. We visited the farm first, fed about a kilo of bread to the ducks, scratched a few sheep and goats, then tromped into our favorite part of the woods, where the dogs run unleashed. I toted along pads of paper and crayons, and we made fairies with leaf-rubbing wings. Hers had big, fat pink tears running down it's face- I asked why her fairy is so sad, and she replied, "She doesn't have any friends." My heart fell like a lead balloon.

Don't Tell My Mom She's Right, But...
Before I left Houston, I was telling my mom about Megan's behavior changes over the 6-8 months before the move. She was clingy, and did not take saying goodbye well, even the simple "see you soon" to family that came to help pack, or who had gathered to celebrate birthdays or holidays. She had been sleeping in her own bed, granted it was in our room pushed right up against ours, but she had been sleeping there for months and suddenly was waking in the night and scooting over to our bed. Meals were a neverending battle- first over what to eat, then over not eating or not staying at the table. Getting dressed, clean, in pajamas- ANY transition in the day was a struggle where it has normally been no big deal.

"She is your mirror, hon," my mom said, taking my hand. "Watch her- she reflects what she sees and feels in her parents. I know, because you were mine." Looking at the crying, friendless fairy... well, they both hit the nail on the head. Except the pink wings- as far as you know.

Seven Down, Four To Go

2008-10-24T21:37:00.003+02:00

A week has FLOWN by- I thought Meg and I would be sitting, bored, for most of her fall break, but with the week we had there was little downtime for that!

Iron Chef Dutch?
Megan and I have been cooking dinner together- I know most of you that know me don't list "domestic" or "family chef" when asked to name my virtues (which I'm sure happens to you all the time, getting stopped by strangers shouting, "QUICKLY! NAME THE MANY VIRTUES OF KARI NOSER! WE HAVE NO TIME TO LOSE!!!") but I have been cooking up a veritable storm the last few weeks. Megan has even been adventurous enough to try it all! She's eaten fish two times this month (up from once the entire rest of this year) and has been my little chef, helping with measuring spices, collecting ingredients, and even browning ground beef! The only downfall is that the fridge is quite full, and we often find ourselves at lunchtime saying, "How old is the Shepherd's pie? Was that Sunday or Saturday?" and things like that. With our guests in town in just a matter of weeks, we won't have that problem for a little while.

Library Nerdiness
The library system in the Netherlands seems overly complicated and is weirdly costly- it was 35 Euro for Megan and I to get library cards, and if a book you want is at another branch there is a charge to have it sent to your local library (some upwards of 2 Euro a book! What?!? I can bike to Haarlem for free!) BUT, they have an English books section for adults AND children, so we've been reading a lot this week. On our last trip, Monday, Megan and I had an OCD moment- there is a kid's Lego station that has a bin in the middle that resembles a Trivial Pursuit game piece (google it if you are lost on that analogy) and she and I took about 10 minutes after we had built masterpieces to sort all the Legos into separate bins by how big the blocks were. It was delightfully compulsive, and Megan really got into it. We even roped in a kid that came up to build- at first he watched us like we were weird (we're used to that) then you could see that he figured it out, and he corrected us when we misplaced blocks in the wrong bins. Ahh, OCD is contagious!

KNP Starts With A BOO!
The first photo shoot for Kari Noser Photography went well- you can view images here:
http://www.karinoserphotography.com/ESCGHalloween08/

The kids were great, the mom's were great- I am so lucky to be included in this group! I've even gotten a few potential clients emailing for availability! It really was a great party, even for my poor neglected Glenda The Good Witch. She did surprisingly well, even though I was basically unavailable to her 98% of the event. Such a trooper.

More soon- Kip and I are going to watch The Office!

Ready For A Break?

2008-10-17T09:51:00.004+02:00

Fall break, that is- Megan's last day of school for 10 days is today! I know what you're thinking- "What on earth are you going to do for 10 days?!?!" Yeah, I'm thinking the same thing.

KNP's First International Gig
The ESMGH (Mom's Group) Halloween party is next Tuesday, and I am the official photographer for the event- I am trying to figure out how I am going to get myself, my gear and my daughter 6km from our home without going mad. And also planning alternatives in case it rains. I'm hunting around to see if any of the mom's has a car- that may be the best bet...

Down To Three
With relatives heading into town in just a matter of weeks (wooo!!!!) I am down to 3 unpacked boxes, and 4 unpacked space bags of linens, towels and random clothes. Thank goodness for vacation- Megan is going to be a pro at laundry before it's all over!

We are just beside ourselves with excitement at the thought of seeing family- Megan will be playing, coloring, cooking and then say "Mama? I just miss that old Granddaddy. I can't believe we're going to see him in a few weeks!" I'm so excited I'm in denial that I'm going to have to prep the house for it!

(This is so lame- it's been sitting in the "Edit" list for a week. A week! I will post with a lame explanation.)

I Mostly Blame Facebook

2008-10-12T20:59:00.004+02:00

I really have been slacking a LOT on the blog, folks. I wish I had a good explanation or even a justifiable reason, but I don't, really. I've been out of the house, developing a sort of pattern to life here, and just have not sat down to write in wayyyy too long. For that, I apologize. But enough of that, let me tell you what I've been up to!

Monday
Mondays are a weird day- a lot of the stores are closed Sunday and half or all day on Monday, so my Mondays usually consist of a run to the grocery store to get things we ran out of on Saturday. We go through coffee-milk and milk like crazy, and we're starting to go through cereal quickly now, too, now that Megan has finally adjusted to the time change and is STARVING when she wakes up every morning. Mondays are also job-posting catch-up days, where I send a dozen or so emails that mostly are unanswered. (Oh, and I got my second "Thanks, but no thanks" email from Canon. Dangit!)

Tuesday
Tuesdays the last few weeks, Shayna has been missing all morning, and this past Tuesday I tagged along with her to the English Speaking Mom's Group of Haarlem. Best move I made all week! It was so exciting to be in a room full of women who have their own nightmare moving stories, kids who are bilingual or more, horror parenting stories, and they all want to hear yours! I was so relaxed and felt so at-home with these strangers in just a matter of hours that I plunked down the dues for the year and joined them. When I filled out the application, I put my "@karinoserphotograpy.com" email address and was asked to photograph the Halloween party in 2 weeks. I sure hope this pans out to lots of business in the area- there sure were a LOT of adorable kids (and for some unexplainable reason I did NOT have my camera with me). So Tuesdays from now on will be Mom's Club meetings in the mornings- wahoo!

Wednesday
Oh, Market Day! This is one of my favorite days, mostly because I get to practice my Dutch for about 2 hours as I shop the different vendors that come to our town. I wish I could take a snapshot of the smell of the market- roasting nuts, the kebab stand, the Stroopwaffle vendor, the rotisserie chickens... if you aren't hungry before you get there, you become extremely so upon getting the first whiff of the rich smell of the marketplace. We eat like kings Wednesdays, too- all the produce is freshest, so we dive right in to berries, carrots, apples, spinach, etc. We've been snarfing down Jonge Kaas, too - it's what you would call Gouda, I think, mild and delicious. Now I'm hungry.

Wednesdays are half-days, so I try to get the market-run completed before I get Megan for lunch so we can run errands or enjoy the weather if it's nice. We went last week to a little park near our neighborhood that backs-up to the oldest house in Heemstede- a fort or something- which is now a tea room and available for rent for weddings and private parties. We are never disappointed when we go exploring around here!

Thursday
Thursdays have been different almost every week so far. It's a full school day for Megan, so I try to cath-up on things that would bore her to death (housework, runs to the store for boring things like mustard or coffeemilk). We've also worked in Library visits Thursday afternoons, and a quick run at the playground before dinner.

Friday
Fridays are fun- Meg only has school until noon, so the day is wide open! Last Friday we went to the woods for a few hours and walked, then went to the kinder-farm and chased goats, pet stinky sheep, watched giant ducks, and marveled at the Belgian Giant Hares. One of them (still a baby) is as big as our dog Andy.

Saturday
Gymastics class for Megan starts at 9:45 every Saturday morning. We found out from Femke's mom, Nina, about the class - the instructors were asking the kids to bring friends to help fill the class, so we visited about 3 weeks ago, and Megan loved it! It's not traditional gymnastics, it's more like a balance and movement class. They will have a theme or idea like "We're at the zoo- what animals are there?" and then they run around being tigers and monkeys and alligators and such. Maya joined up, too, so all three girls get to play together 6 days a week.

Sunday
I don't think we have accomplished a single thing on a Sunday since moving here. I kind of like it that way- sleeping in, maybe putting some laundry away, watching a movie or two, or taking a nice long walk in the woods when the sun is out. Today Megan and I watched Enchanted, twice, then ate lunch, she played in her room while I sorted laundry, and then we watched Cars while eating dinner. We all relax and charge our batteries for the week ahead.

Dusty Canon
I am vowing to myself I will go out and be creative this week, my camera has basically sat on the kitchen table for a week now. I've had some ideas running through my head on shots I want to try, but most are wardrobe-limited (why didn't I pack my wedding dress?) so they'll have to be kept in concept stage for now. I do have my first international client on October 30th, so I am pulling together props from our newly unpacked stuff to take with me. I can't let myself get rusty, though- I'll be doing some practice shoots with Megan in the next week to get some ideas for the client shoot, and hopefully I can use them in my promotional materials, too! I'll let you know how it all goes....

Our Stuff Is HERE!

2008-10-06T11:23:00.001+02:00

Wooo! I've been unpacking for four days!!! With 94 boxes (this includes furniture an beds and the like) I knew it would take awhile, but it's here! It's really here!

Things We Were Surprised To See: (aka, the "Who Packed This Mess?!?" List)
- Key to the liquor cabinet (sorry Kathryn!)
- One of Megan's rain galoshes
- Kip's Bonfire axe handle
- Kip's high school letterman's jacket
- Carved wooden embellishment from top of liquor cabinet
- Umbrella toothpicks, wrapped with care in paper
- One Spode dinner plate
- Two Haviland china dinner plates
- Kip's softball shoes

Things We Were Excited To See:
- Our kitchen knives
- Our drinking glasses
- My warm clothes
- Megan's entire bedroom, complete with furniture AND toys
- Our bed
- Our down comforter
- Our pictures and artwork
- Our movies!
- Mixing bowls, dinner plates, flatware- basically everything from the kitchen

Into The Woods

2008-09-30T08:52:00.004+02:00

It is strange being alone in the house all day on the days Megan is in school- today is especially strange- they are having a teacher celebration day, so Megan doesn't come home for lunch today like she normally does. I look forward to our lunches together, it gives us time to talk about her morning (which is normally forgotten by the time school is out in the afternoon) and it gives us a chance to start the day over again on those days where the morning was unpleasant (which has been frequent over the last few weeks).

So I sat, sipping my coffee and eating some kind of spicy chicken soup (heavy with cumin and yogurt) and decided I need to sit down and catch everyone up on what's been happening the last 10 days. The weather has been so nice that I have just neglected blogging, and instead was out experiencing! This week should give me a chance to catch up- it rained most of the day yesterday, and has been pouring all day so far again. The camera should get a well-deserved rest for a few days.

The Woods
Heemstede has the most beautiful wooded public park I have ever seen. Since discovering how close and gorgeous it is I have hardly left, and Megan is falling in love with it, too. There is a stillness there you cannot find in Houston, and it has the advantage of not being infested with mosquitoes. In the hours I have walked there alone and with Megan I feel my creativity and spirit recharging, and a sudden re-belief in fairies.

There is a section of the park where dogs are permitted to run unleashed, and you all will be seeing much more of it in the weeks and months to come. There is a main pathway that is as wide as a neighborhood street, lined both sides with wonderfully tall trees that interlock branches stories above the path- it has a very cathedral feel.

Even Kip is not immune to the effects of the woods, his inner Boy Scout stretched his legs on Saturday as we made our way through the forest to the local pancake house, and Sunday as we gathered some fallen leaves, twigs and pinecones for Megan to get crafty with at home.

I Scream, You Scream, We ALL Scream For Pancakes!
I may have mentioned in the Harvest Festival entry about how Dutch pancakes are addictively delicious. That was just from the small taste I had at an outdoor festival. On Saturday we made our way to the pancake house, and let me tell you... there is only one phrase to describe the experience: hartstikke lekker. (Awesomely-absolutely-rediculously delicious in Dutch, bascially.)

(By the way, we didn't actually let her eat the entire bowl of powdered sugar.)

More soon, I promise... I am editing and uploading photos like crazy for y'all!

Bike Fever, Bike Feee-verrrrr

2008-09-26T20:33:00.001+02:00

I got a bike!

For those of you who don't know, we are going SANS car for at least a month to gauge if we will actually need one. Kip is riding on borrowed wheels from Femke's dad, JP, and I was riding a borrowed bike for about 3 days before I found my new best friend ever:

Introducing, Petey the bike. (Named by Megan for a dog who was named for a bike. Full circle.)

So far Pete and I have ridden to Haarlem and back, among other daily tasks like going to the market, the grocery store, and wayyy out to the bank. I can't tell you how much I was praying for Advil about day 3 of having a bike, I think I managed to rack-up around 45 kilometers in that time period.

Now that I am more mobile, I will have a chance to explore the area much more, and hopefully bring some more interesting sites to the Flickr site and the blog.

Catching Up On A Few Things

2008-09-19T19:03:00.009+02:00

The smell of chili and cumin is wafting into the living room from the kitchen- Kip is cooking "tacos" (they need air-quotes, one of the things for my wish-list from Santa is a bunch of REAL taco seasoning packets from Texas). Megan and I just snacked on some "Mexican corn chips", basically taste like taco shells. Still, they're good- just... different.

That seems to be the way we are dealing with lots of things here- finding something to fill the need, and trying to ignore how it may be different.

With Ike fallout going on in Houston, it seems so rude to talk about how much fun we're having here, what with the air conditioning, internet access, houses with no flooding and all. But, we are having fun- let me recap the last week:

Autumn Harvest Festival/Heemstede Spelentuin
The local kid's petting farm had a fall harvest festival, and we went with Femke, Laura and Nina. The quick overview- pancakes are AWESOME:

Little kids climb like goats (even when wearing skirts):

Dutch festivals on farms are just so darned quaint.

After a tearful goodbye,

... we headed over to the Spelentuine (basically playground) right down the road. We pigged out on frites, the girls ran around like crazy while the grown-ups sat and talked, and we finished the visit with a round of decadent beverages.

Prince's Day
A Dutch holiday that boils down to wearing fancy hats. It is the day that the Queen delivers their "State of the Union" address, with new laws and goals for the next 365 days. This was a blip on our radar- we have no hats.

Sports Day
Field day! The kids ran around like insane monkeys all day long and came home totally exhausted! So did our neighbor, Shayna, poor thing- she was roped into volunteering for the event.

The kids each wore headbands they had made, and each class carried a special banner they had colored themselves.

The Coolest Dentist's Office EVAR
I swear I will ride back this week and take pictures- I didn't expect to need my camera when going for a dental appointment. The dentist's office seems to be the bottom floor of his house, which is right on the river- it is gorgeous!

Megan Speaking Dutch - The Movie(s)
If you haven't checked these out yet, you MUST.

I think she's progressing quite well, considering all that she's up against. It's just so darned cute the way all these kids speak Dutch. Cute and TOTALLY incomprehensible, but still cute.

More to come....

Thoughts On Ike

2008-09-16T12:39:00.002+02:00

If you're not in Houston, you're probably reading this. Right now most of our friends and family are assessing damage, living at friends' houses, standing in lines for food, water, ice, gas and are under strict police-enforced curfews. We are totally consumed with thoughts about home, our families and loved ones, and we're eating up all the news we can get our hands on about what's happening back in Houston. I am feeling guilty, I'm not there to share in all of this, and I get choked up when I think of all the weirdness that's happening back at home.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jyoburn/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cricketsoup/

But good lordy- the only hurricane I went through in Houston wasn't even a hurricane come to think of it- it was Tropical Storm Allison. Water was the problem there, and fortunately our house was high and dry. Working conditions were restored through most the city in a matter of days, we never went a day without power, and there were no long lines for necessities like gas, food or water. So, basically, I have no point of reference as to what is going on there, and it kills me. I wish I could fly home tomorrow and help out, but there are so many folks there locally that are out of power and have time and desire to help, I'd just be flying in to sit at the airport, as there's no gas anywhere and who knows where I'd sleep.

All I can say about this is HOLY CRAP we wish we were there to help. I didn't know how bad a hurricane could be until I saw photos of my friend's house with a tree poking through her roof. And images of our neighbors with a tree through their house. And numerous neighbors with smashed cars, houses, and trees down in every direction. Our house managed to make it without damage, and I am thanking every deity, just to cover all my bases on this one. Kathryn reported that everything was looking pretty good, but there are some hanging tree-tops that look a little scary- once tree services are out and running around that should be an easy (albeit not cheap) thing to remedy. Others have it so much worse, which compounds the original guilt. (And, just so you know, Dutch chocolate doesn't help.)

An Appreciation For The Finer Things

2008-09-12T13:34:00.002+02:00

Someone (who will remain nameless) once sang to Megan "Toot, toot, toot comin' out my back door" about a rather funny and embarrassing and, well, socially verboten bodily function. For some reason (say, the amount of laughter said unnamed person punctuated the lyrics with) this has stuck with Megan, and occasionally is sung around the house.

Yesterday was one of those days. After singing the altered lyric, Megan asked (as she often does about songs I, uh, that unnamed person sings to her) if those were the real words. (After all, didn't Pavoratti sing "Meg-a-moo Lilly-ooooo, You are so silly-ooooo!") I told her no, and sang the real line for her. This peaked her interest, so we looked it up online (thank goodness for YouTube) and listened to it about 11 times in a row. Here is the conversation that followed listen #4:

Megan: Mama, who is Doot-Doot-Doot?

Me: What?

Megan: Who is DOOT-DOOT-DOOT?

Me: Oh, it's nobody. It's just a little word to sing.

Megan: What?

Me: Like "La La La."

Megan: *staring at me like I'm insane*

Me: It's a nonsense word. The song would have meant the same thing if he had sung "La, la, la lookin' out my back door."

Megan: Mama, I'm afraid Doot-doot-doot is real.

Me: What?

Megan: I'm AFRAID Doot-doot-doot is REAL.

Me: You think Doot-doot-doot is like a monster or something?

Megan: *eyes wide* Yes.

Me: Noooooo, no no no no no. Did you hear the rest of the song? He's singing about happy things- he just got home and he's happy about it.

Megan: Then why is the Doot-doot-doot looking out his door?

Me: *blink*

Megan: *blink*

Me: Uh, Doot-doot-doot isn't real, it's just silly words in the song.

Megan: *looking incredulous* Then WHY is it looking out his back door?

Me: Because Doot-doot-doots like squirrels?

Megan: Oh. *clicks on "Replay"*

That 5th listen she heard more of the words, and then she was all "Mama, 'Doot-doot-doot' is just silly words! Like la-la-la!"

Mommies are sometimes right. Right?

Home Is Where My Heart Is

2008-09-10T13:15:00.004+02:00

I am homesick. I'm just not going to sugar-coat that one bit, I am totally and completely homesick. We had an appointment to meet our family doctor today, and she asked me what I missed the most about home, and I said "My friends" and I nearly broke down and cried right there in her office. I keep having little crying spells here and there, as I read-up on the lives of people back home or catch-up with emails. It's not so bad that I am completely miserable, but I wish I could be home for things that are happening in my friends' lives right now, and it sucks that I'm 7 hours ahead, I can't catch-up with them in the evening there, it's either 6am while they're still at home for a quick chat or during work hours, which only work for a few people. I can't even imagine how Megan feels, but she's steadily making friends at school and on our street, but that doesn't replace the people she's known her whole life back home.

Star-Spangled Neighbors
BUT! Something so great happened this week- down a few houses on the other side of the street a family with an American mom and Belgian dad moved in! They have 2 girls, one about Cousin Jack's age (born December of '03) named Maya and she is going to the same school as Megan. I got to meet Shayna, the mom, at lunchtime yesterday, and she seems very nice. It was funny- I was talking to Femke's mom, Nina, in English, and Shayna looked over at me, then said in a very hopeful and marginally desperate manner (that I am 1000% positive I would use when running into other English-speakers here) "Are you American?" And when I told her that we lived on her street, I saw a glimmer of relief in her eyes, maybe a reflection of the glimmer in mine. I hope we become fast coffee friends- the girls are already playing together, here at our house so that Maya's little sister can take a nap, and I can feel the relief in Megan- being able to play AND communicate. The giggles coming from upstairs are like an auditory box full of puppies.

The more they play, I realize how very integral a part of learning another language having an English-speaking friend is- they are role-models for one another, taking baby-steps in communicating in Dutch. They're currently playing hide-and-go-seek, and each of the seekers have been counting to ten and beyond in Dutch.

An American Without A Car Is Like A Dutchman Without A Bicycle
The rental car we have is almost due back, and with our brand-new SoFi numbers (YAY!) and with an actual bank account (DOUBLE YAY!) we are starting our search for our own car. Chances are it will be used, and tiny, and possibly diesel. I will no doubt be spending the rest of the day looking online at used car places. I'm hoping that in the meantime I can manage to find a bicycle- I figure one bike and one car will keep things flexible. I can bike into Haarlem easily to run errands or even for work, and if I'm going to start photographing folks again, I HAVE to be able to get around somehow, I'm not going to cart around my gear by foot, that's for sure.

Kari Noser Photography, Global Operations
With the move, I'm casting my net out in the Dutch market of photographers. I've been researching for a week, and basically I can't find anything (no less in English) about the cost of booking a photographer here. The closest I found were prices for wedding packages, which I'm not quite ready to start putting together, so I'm hitting the ex-pat network and starting with some "Portfolio Building" sessions. With that, I've also re-vamped the website, feel free to check it out here:
http://www.karinoserphotography.com

UPDATE - if the above link does not work, try this one:
http://www.karinoserphotography.com/NL/Home.html
As with all things technical, sometimes there is a user interface issue (like the thing between the chair and the keyboard) and I am experiencing a little glitch right now that I should have ironed out in the next 12 hours. I hope.

We went to the market with Shayna and Maya and Emerson later that afternoon, as we're out of fruits and veggies for the most part, and I can't wait to get some more chicken (the poultry vendor is good and very affordable- the chicken tastes so real- hard to explain, come visit and I'll feed ya), roasted peanuts, new flowers, and a giant stropwaffle! So far, that's our week, and for now tot ziens!

New Look

2008-09-08T16:46:00.002+02:00

I have a very bad habit of changing the look of my blog when feeling uninspired. So don't worry - you're in the right place, I just shuffled things around, changed the look of things a bit.

To tide you over until the next update, here's the latest most hilarious photo of Megan that I love so much...

Alfred Hitchcock, eat your heart out!

You'd Think I'd Forgotten My Blogger Password Or Something

2008-09-07T20:41:00.002+02:00

I'd like to say, "Boy! What a week! I was SOOOO busy I just didn't have time to sit down and write!" but then my pants would instantly catch fire. The later part of the week I spent right where I am right now- at the computer, not out doing anything interesting or photographically noteworthy at all. I worked on my CV (Dutch resume) and applied for a few jobs. I know, but put away the no-doze, 'cause it's not gonna be one of THOSE kinds of posts from me this time.

Still Jetlagged And Other Mind-Blowing Developments
Yeah. They say that your body takes one day for every hour of time difference to overcome jetlag. Whoever "they" are- apparently they haven't traveled. Ever. Especially in the "X-hours Ahead" direction.

Wednesday, Megan came home from school, ate lunch, then took a giant nap like she hadn't in ages. At least 2 hours. I, of course, checked her every 30 minutes to make sure she wasn't suddenly burning up with fever or throwing up or anything weird, and thankfully she wasn't. I eventually wrote it off as Megan still trying to adjust to the time change, poor dear. She has still been so bleary-eyed after school in the 3-6pm hours, and she perks up around bedtime. If she weren't five, I'd be loading her up with coffee in the morning, like I do to myself.

But OH the rattiness! Everything that can be an argument is an argument. Things that might surprise you are an argument. What toothpaste to use. SHE WILL NOT WEAR JEANS, ONLY DRESSES. And what's for dinner? Oh, that's the grandest argument of all, what with it's nightly guarantee! If it's not peanut butter and jelly, well, get ready for a war mister. I'd like to say that I've just been letting it all run it's course, knowing full well that these outbursts and misbehavings are all part of her trying to learn to cope here, but I won't lie. Fortunately, after being mad at me she will hug me- it seems that no matter how angry she gets with us, she still needs a hug from mom or dad.

It's a good thing she's cute AND sweet, otherwise she'd be in a lot of trouble.

(This photo is living proof that no one within 100 miles of Megan can stay un-wrapped around her little finger. Seriously, you can see why we're in so much trouble here, can't you? How can you get mad at THAT?)

Market Day
I remembered to bring my camera with me to the market on Wednesday, and then totally stuck out like a dorky tourist the entire time I was there.

As my bags grew heavier, I missed more shots, until finally I just swung my camera over my shoulder, bought a giant stropwaffel (still hot) and marched home. So my strategy for this week is to shop first, then return with camera and business cards (in case of questions) and wear something that looks more professional than jeans, a wind breaker and my dorky American running shoes.

Will Work For... Lenses?
As I said earlier, I applied for a few jobs, two of them with Canon. (Oh, yeah.) I have no idea if I will hear anything, so this coming week I am going to track-down the relocation service's pamphlet about helping spouses find work, and I'm going to see if they can pull any strings to get an interview for me. Oh, how awesome it would be to work for Canon. It makes my stomach do little loopty-loops just thinking about it! Not that I'd totally work there just for a discount.

Blah.
I'd like to keep going, but I am just blah. I'm not totally sure what it is- probably a combination of exhaustion (we have the world's most uncomfortable bed right now), missing home, culture shock, and some identity crisis to boot. Back home I was just starting to really get into a grove with my business, and now I'm gun-shy. I'm pulling together a little package for some ex-pat contacts for holiday portraits, and market research has been a beast- nobody publishes their prices here. I just realized on Friday that I probably should be searching using DUTCH keywords (DUH, KARI) instead of english- finding "Netherlands Photographer" or "Dutch Professional Photography Association" is not easy when the sites are all in Dutch. I do have to say this: thank God for Google Translate. And coffee.

Another Week Over
It feels like we have been here for ages now. It's strange- I keep over estimating how long it's been since I've been in Houston, must be that life was so hectic and frantic in it's pace for so long that now things are more "normal" it feels like time is double it's normal value. I keep telling myself, "Once X happens, then things will start to feel normal again." Arriving in the Netherlands. Getting over jetlag. Getting chargers and power cords. Getting Megan into the school routine. Not injuring myself for more than 2 days in a row. Finding work. Having our belongings arrive. Learning some Dutch. Making some friends. Getting some photography gigs. Seems like the list is never-ending... I suppose it will end with "Fly back home."

Gems from the Megan

2008-09-02T18:40:00.005+02:00

----------------------------------------------------------

Megan: (singing) My Jeeee-sus is aaaaa-liiiiive!

Me: Your Jesus? Are there other Jesuses? Like for other people?

Megan: (very matter-of-factly) Yes.

Me: Oh? What other Jesuses are there?

Megan: Ummm... Snow Jesus.

Me: (choking back laughter unsuccessfully) SNOW Jesus?

Megan: Yes. He isn't MADE of snow, he MAKES snow.

Me: Oooooookay.

Megan: And there's Rain Jesus. He makes rain. But I bet you can guess that.

Me: Of course.

---------------------------------------------------------
Megan: (nonstop wiggle/giggle/goosey-ness)

Kip: Ok, kiddo- time to sleep.

Megan: I can't, daddy!

Kip: You CAN'T?

Megan: I can't! I have too much energy in my coo-coo!

----------------------------------------------------------

Megan: I'm STARRRRRRRRRRRRR-VEEENG!

Me: Uh, ok. Well, you can have a carrot, or a boiled egg, or...

Megan: arrrrgh.

Me: What? You said you're starving.

Megan: What do I have to say to get the sweet stuff?

----------------------------------------------------------

Life is never dull with Megan around, that's for sure.

The One Where Kari Cut The Tip Of Her Finger Off

2008-09-01T16:58:00.004+02:00

Yeahhh. Let's just say lesson learned- you shouldn't use a vegetable peeler in place of a cheese plane. Doesn't end well. I nicked off a nice bit of the end of my ring finger, and instantly said aloud, "Oh, this isn't good." Too bad for me, it wouldn't stop bleeding, or I would have just slapped a bandaid on it and kept going.

I did, however, get to visit our new doctor's office, and they are VERY nice. They're also really close- I walked there in about 10 minutes. Now, in case you don't know me that well, I don't do well with blood OR pain. I was dealing with both, on an empty stomach. The walk over helped a little, but when they cleaned it I nearly passed out. The nurse said, "Yes, that might be unpleasant." I advised her I could teach her a few other English words to describe it more accurately.

After having to pry my rings off and have the wound re-washed (another near collapse event) the nurse bandaged me up and said, "Now, leave this on until at least noon." I told her that I probably wouldn't take it off until next Thursday.

I got to walk over and do our shopping, which got some looks, and managed to knock it a few times, which got more looks as I yelped. Megan was horrified and enchanted at the same time- she watched carefully as I changed the dressings this afternoon after I managed to soak the original wrapping by washing dishes. Good thing is, if you start off your week with a minor injury, chances are the rest of the week can only go better.

Right?

(PS- the text in the photo thing is a total rip-off, I mean homage to The Bloggess, who I worship very un-secretly.)

Lazy Sunday

2008-08-31T14:11:00.002+02:00

Just another hang-around-in-your-pajamas-kind-of-Sunday.

We finished initial construction on the doll house...

(Bob Vila, eat your heart out.)

Skyped/iChatted with a few folks...

(you'll notice I am in the lower right corner)

but basically just hung around and did a lot of nothing.

We have polished off the first of three jars of peanut butter- I may have to start rationing it so that we can make it until we have visitors from the States in November.

Mostly we just lazed around, enjoying this warm, sunny day.

Oh, and we had a hartstikke lekker dinner: (that basically means super-awesomely good)

Ahhh, The Weekend.

2008-08-30T18:16:00.003+02:00

Friday went pretty smoothly- Meg only had a half day of school (for real, not due to my inability to read the information packet) and after we had lunch we ran a few errands in town. Thanks to coffee, my mid-day slump is growing easier, but poor Megan is still suffering with it- I try to keep her moving so she doesn't fall asleep in the afternoons.

After a run to the Hema, the grocery and a strange almost-Walgreens kind of store, we stopped to feed the ducks that live near the shopping area, then came home to cook dinner. We ate pretty well- I made rough hamburgers with the ground beef I got a few days back, and made a little salad and some carrots to go with them. Megan ate her entire burger (no bun) and ate about 1/4 cup of roasted peanuts, too! I'm happy to see her eating anything, of course.

Kip came home about the time Meg finished her movie, so he got to tuck her in- with the hedge roll at the end of the month, he expected to be in the office until midnight, so we were happily surprised to have him home at bedtime. Progress on Meg's doll house is slow, but since I'm no professional, I'm not too concerned about it. She, however, is confused as to why it isn't complete, along with central air and heat, and a pool in the back yard to boot. I told her she could build the next doll house.

Chicks and Ducks and Goats
Saturday we headed out to a sweet little farm on the outskirts of Leiden with our friends Elaine, Craig and Daniel (he's the little cutie who's first birthday we attended on our homefinding trip).

The farm was a great success- Megan got to feed baby goats with a bottle, and big goats with a paper cup.

There were little pigs, loads of ducks, and a few other misc. animals (horse, storks, etc) but the goats were the most accessible. We had goat's milk ice cream

(oh, so good) and bought some cheese and honey while we were there. And chocolate covered pindas. (You know, peanuts. Your Dutch word of the day.)

No, I couldn't talk Megan into a pair of klompen. I think the world would have tilted due to the gravity of her cuteness had I managed.

After our fill of farm smells, we walked a short way to the town of Aa. Said "Aaah." Like they were awe-filled when they named it. Or lacking in inspiration. Or possibly trying to be the first town listed on any map of the Netherlands. Maybe it used to be down a tall hill. Or there were lots of Ear/Nose/Throat doctors living there. Or visiting there explained everything you wondered about. I could go on like this for hours, but I'm afraid it would be no more hilarious than it has been, which is not very.

We had a nice lunch in Aa, in a cafe near the lake. Megan and Daniel took several trips down to the shore to play in the water- it was downright HOT today! Not a cloud in the sky, it got up towards 90 degrees F! There were tons of natives swimming (the water was a bit too icy for us) and gobs of sun-worshipers out on the sandy shore of the lake. I'm sure the beaches are jam-packed today!

After lunch we headed back to Elaine and Craig's place for coffee and a visit, then had to literally drag Megan (who's favorite thing to say to Elaine all day was "I'm hungry. Do you have anything to snack on?") kicking and screaming out of the house- her witching hour is later and later as the week progresses, so 5pm was about right for a bad jetlag meltdown. She snoozed a little on the drive home, and is upstairs now with Kip playing an exciting game of Moose in the House.

The First Week Wrapping Up
With the first full week over, I am feeling exhausted, but not that gross stressed-out exhausted from the move, more like a getting adapted to our new surroundings, true mental exhaustion type of thing. Folks here speak enough English for me to get by, I think, and the more time we're here the more I'll pick up, I believe. Will this place ever feel like home? Time will tell on that, I suppose.

Typing that sentence did cause me to take a long pause to think- I don't know if living someplace where your language is not the primary means of communication could ever feel totally like home. It does make me stop and think about the scores of international residents in Houston, and I now feel an appreciation for the way they must navigate life in an English-speaking city. I'm not sure if I've mentioned here the reality check I had in the grocery store back home, watching a Spanish-speaker and her bilingual child, realizing that could be Megan and me in the near future... Honestly though, life here so far is comfortable. With a roof over our heads, great food everywhere, friendly neighbors, an outlet to contact friends and family, there is hardly anything to truly complain about.

20 Questions
Top Questions Asked By Friends and Family This Week:

1) Is it really cold there?
- Nah, not that cold. I think my first reaction to the weather is not too unlike the reaction you have when you step out of the hot shower and into the rest of your house- it feels far colder because you were so warm and toasty to begin with. Coming from highs in the 90s to 100 in Houston with 3000% humidity, 65 degrees with low humidity feels downright frigid.

2) What is the food like?
- So far it has been one of two things- surprisingly good for it's either a) looks/smell/description, or b) possibly based on a drunken dare by a fellow Dutchman and we are frightened to try it. Example of a: cheese. Example of b: pickled herring.

3) How are you getting around?
- Walking. Megan's school is just a 4-5 minute walk away, the shopping street is about 15 minutes, and I haven't had occasion to walk anyplace else yet. Driving isn't too scary, but I've only done that one day- parking is the true nightmare.

4) Are there a lot of bicycles?
- Approximately 2 per person. I believe they multiply when parked in dark places. And there are scores of brand new ones in shops in every town. Or, to put it in an American comparison, there are about as many bikes as there are cars per person in the US.

5) Do Europeans really smell bad?
- Not that I have experienced. Unless they work in a cheese shop, I suppose.

6) I've heard Dutch is really similar to English. It shouldn't be a big deal to learn it, right?
- Sure. There are similarities, but Kip and I have found that assuming it is so similar only leads to confusion. Fortunately, there are a few common roots shared with French, so all those years of Francais I took are paying off a little here and there. Reading it is a little easier than hearing it spoken, but when you read something you have to give it an "auditory squint" to figure out what on earth it could translate to mean (thank you Jesse for that excellent imagery). Good Example: Dat is goed nieuws! Bad Example: (sticker on food) REKLAME (means "as advertized")

7) Europe is RIGHT THERE! Are you going to go visit wonderful places?
- Yes. Last Sunday when we were trying to decide what to do, Megan said, "I have a GREAT idea! Let's go to Paris!" Even she is clued in to what a great opportunity we have here to see the world. Unfortunately, until we get the whole SoFi number thing straightened out and can get a paycheck from BMC, funds are very tight.

Thank You. Yes, You!
Thank you to everyone reading for your comments, emails, video chats, etc- the more we hear from y'all, the closer we feel to home. As more folks get set-up for Skype and other video messengers I'll start keeping a schedule so we won't forget and go to, say, Paris on the Saturday afternoon we're supposed to be visiting with you.

For those of you reading but not commenting, emailing or anything, just click on the thing below that most likely says "0 Comments" and let us know you're here.

(PS- this goat kinda freaks me out.)

You Know, One Day I May Just Figure This Out. Not Today, Though.

2008-08-29T08:46:00.002+02:00

I think it's part of normal human psychology to think, "Hey! I think I'm getting the hang of this!" just to keep you from spiraling into a pit of despair, even though you really have no clue as to what you are doing. Not that a little positive thinking doesn't hurt, but it can sometimes cause to feel a bigger disappointment at your shortfalls, if and when they rear their faces. Thursday wasn't a total disappointment of a day, but I did make an unintelligent assumption about Meg's school and got a little bitter taste of how lost I really am because of the language barrier.

The paperwork that was given to us when we enrolled Megan at school was all in Dutch- no surprise there, it's a Dutch public school. They had given us a few basic pieces of information (school starts at 8:30, lunch is at 12 noon, Wednesday school is out at 12:15, Friday at 12 noon, etc) and we told them that if we had other questions along the way that we would ask. Tuesday I picked Megan up at noon, as she had no lunch packed, Wednesday at 12:15 and yesterday I showed up at 1:15- the only other time printed in the school documentation about school times.

Megan's teacher and class looked totally surprised to see me, and Megan ran to me and said, "Mama! You're late." I told her I was right on time, as I had waited around outside for her for about 5 minutes and finally went into the school building to get her at 1:15 right on the dot. I told her to go shake her teacher's hand, and then we would leave. Megan lept at Luz and hugged her (which I thought was so dear, and so did Luz it appears) and Luz said, "Going already?" I must have looked totally lost, and she continued, "Lunch was at 12 o'clock. Are you running late?" I replied that I was picking her up at 1:15 like the paperwork told me to, and then looked at all the other children - they were sitting in their circle, it looked like they were getting ready to do some more learning. Luz gently informed me that school is not out until 3:15 normally, but since Megan saw me already that she could go. Ugh, I felt like a total buffoon- I assumed that school was part-time for some reason. I had even spent part of the morning online, translating the text from some of the paperwork they gave us to better understand it. I know it's only been a week, but I wish speaking Dutch was as communicable as the common cold.

Not All Bad, Though...
Meg and I returned home, and while we were fixing a snack (she loves the young Edam cheese I got at the market! yahoo!) we got a video call from our friend Jesse- it was 2pm our time, which was 7am Houston; watching him yawn and wake up was more evidence why the 1-3pm time frame is so difficult for Megan and I, we're not morning people. After a good 10-15 minute talk with Jess, Megan and I had a snack, tinkered around on the computer, then went outside to practice riding the bicycle the neighbor loaned to us. No training wheels. She'll get it, I think, but training wheels will help- one more thing to look for at next Wednesday's market.

We spent a good portion of the afternoon working around the house, cleaning (she calls this "playing orphan" thanks to the movie Annie, and twice I had to stop her from wringing out a soaking wet rag on the wood floor), and then inspiration struck me on a project we could work on together that would help her bide the time until all her toys arrived in October. We are taking the giant box (200cm X 80cm) that's in the extra room and turning it into a doll house. I got a few rough plans drawn, with some input on what sorts of rooms and things she would want, and have an exoskeleton sitting upright now, waiting for tape or glue or something to hold it together so I can continue construction. With the camera being powerless, it was nice to have an outlet for some creativity!

Almost Like Home
We had hot dogs (well, the closest I could find to hot dogs) for dinner last night, and Meg did pretty well. They were butcher-produced, not machine produced, so the casing was a little thicker than she's used to (it crunched a little when bitten) but she ate the entire thing and reaped her reward- a big glass of Chocomel. I had one, too, along with a few mini-stropwaffel. Let me describe Chocomel: take a pint of Dutch Chocolate ice cream and let it melt. Yep, that about does it. It will be going in my coffee most mornings from now on.

Kip worked late last night, we're coming up on the end of the month hedge roll which is his busiest time (he expects to be at work until midnight or later on Friday). We had to busy our evening without him, which is not totally unfamiliar, what with being without him all of last week in the US. Meg took a hot bath and when she was putting on her pajamas, the computer rang again- this time it was Aunt Kristi and Jack! We had a few technical difficulties, but we got to see them and they could see and hear us- it was great to do a little catch up and have the kids shout greetings to one another.

Tomorrow is an early dismissal day, I made sure to double-check, and Fridays are 12 noon school endings- I think Meg and I will run into town to get some supplies for doll-house construction and maybe cook some burgers for dinner. Cooking makes such a difference- food has less of a foreign feel when you make it yourself, even if the ingredients are not what you're used to.

PS- Kip got an electrical converter at the airport tonight, now I can charge my camera battery and upload! This blog will start to take on some character soon!

To Market, To Market and Start of Civilization

2008-08-28T09:53:00.004+02:00

Wednesday is market day here in Heemstede- actually, in most towns Wednesday is market day, come to think of it. Now, my preconcieved idea about market day was 100% based on my experiences with "Farmer's Markets" in the US- great produce, random home-made junk, tree-hugging organic everything, and WAY SUPER HIGH PRICES. Oh, how totally wrong I was, and how very delighted and surprised I became as we walked around the market yesterday morning!

Let me set the scene: imagine one block of a main street closed to traffic all day. It is about the width of an American residential street, maybe a little more narrow, lined entirely with vendor booths. Now, "booth" is super vague- the vendors have spaces as simple as fold-out tables with pop-up tent-like covers over them, a few bars to hang consumer goods from, and a mid-sized vehicle parked behind so they can get out of the weather if it gets uncomfortable. The most extravagant vendor set-ups were similar to what you would see at an American Fair serving food, up off the ground with full electrical power for lights, ovens and refrigeration compartments. There was a huge fish vendor set-up, and it looked as if they had moved a huge fish store, complete with iced-down refrigeration cases with glass window fronts, right there to the street. There was a nut vendor with giant bins of fresh roasted cashews, almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts... it smelled like HEAVEN, and they had 3 ovens in the back making fresh batches to sell! There was a chicken vendor, two chese vendors, two produce stands, pet supplies, several clothes vendors (one vendor who's specialty was underwear- that was interesting to see out on the street!), and 3-4 flower and botanical vendors. Candy, bicycle supplies, fabric, beads, sewing supplies, books, hats and scarves, stockings and hosiery, shoes, hand bags, the list goes on. I was floored at the variety, and how very permanent these one-day vendor slots looked. I can't believe that much effort is put in for the market- it seemed inefficient, but knowing the Dutch, the cost-effectiveness is there, I just haven't figured it out yet.

I made three trips to the market yesterday- mostly due to disorganization, but also it helped to go home and put things in the house, I have no bike or wheeled cart, so things became heavy after awhile. I bought a good amount of produce, a roasted chicken, some flowers (less than 10 Euros for 20 Gerber Daisies and 5 Sunflowers), a nice wedge of young cheese, and Megan picked out peanuts- in and out of the shell. I ate a "Kabab" which seemed very close to a gyro- deliciously seasoned lamb sliced paper thin, fragrant onions, bright red tomato- it was HEAVEN. I even found an ivory pair of leggings for Meg for 4 Euro, better quality than what I had paid just about the same for the day prior at Hema.

Jet Lagging Behind, Still
When Megan and I made it back from the Market for lunch, she scarfed down her PB and J and I fell asleep sitting up at the table. I still haven't managed to get my clock turned around- 1-2pm is the hardest time of the day for me! Megan seems to be really spacey and a bit ratty during that time of day, as well- it's like her ears turn all the way off, and sometimes like the word "NO" or "DO NOT" mean the exact opposite. I keep having to remind myself that she doesn't experience jetlag, stress, or anything else the same way Kip and I do. I have made many mental notes (hopefully they will begin to stick) that when she's acting "ratty" I should not gripe at her for it, but try and figure out if it's hunger, jet lag or stress at the root of things. Poor kid. I'm trying.

So, once I finally collected myself from the weirdo little table nap I took (Megan shook me awake saying "MOMMA! WAKE UP! LET'S GET CRACKIN'!"), Meg and I headed back into town for a much-needed supply- a coffee press. We nabbed a few more staples from the grocery store, and saline for Kip at the I-don't-know-what-to-call-it-but-it's-like-Walgreens-but-minus-the-pharmacy store, and headed home. I made a pot of coffee- words cannot describe how wonderful it was. The entire house filled with the aroma, and I was awake for the first time in days. We washed a carton of raspberries as a snack, and couldn't eat them fast enough- next week I'm buying at least 4 cartons instead of 2.

I <3 Our Neighbors
Let me take a minute to gush unabashedly about our neighbors. When I started reading about the Dutch, in preparation for our move, the books I read made it sound like we were going to be pretty much on our own here, with the Dutch being pretty reserved and kept-to-themselves. So far my experience is 100% the opposite- even strangers on the street give a friendly "Goededag" in passing on the street. Heck, I got help from a total stranger in the Hema on Tuesday- I flagged down a woman who had 2 daughters that looked to be around Megan's age, and she helped me figure out what size clothes to buy for Megan. Total stranger. Helped me like she worked there. I thanked her 47 times, too. But this isn't about strangers, it's about neighbors.

The house to our left (when facing the front of our house from the street) is a young family about our age with 2 boys, 6 and 3. The husband, Marcel, speaks excellent English, as does his wife, Suzanne. The boys aren't bilingual, and the youngest is very shy at first around Kip and me, but warms up after awhile. They have been such a gift- Suzanne loaned us the Littlest Pet Shop toys, which haven't had a day's rest since Megan borrowed them. She and Marcel loaned us their patio table, a tablecloth and chairs so we wouldn't have to sit on the floor to eat. Marcel not only helped Kip move our bed up the narrow and steep stairs to the second floor (1st floor in NL), but he loaned Kip his tools, offered us gardening equipment, and has been a resource for neighborhood information (like trash days, where to take recycling, etc.).

To the other side, we have an older couple, Hans and Marijka(?). I don't see them quite as often (I bump into Marcel everywhere- the market, school, the front yard), but they have been very kind. Marijka brought the blocks and puzzle over for Megan to borrow, and shared some insight about how the market works yesterday. They speak a good amount of English, and have offered to help us practice our Dutch in exchange for practice with their English. They are a sweet couple- Hans volunteers during the week to drive the elderly to medical appointments and to run errands- he has been retired for 6-7 years, he says it "keeps him young." I feel so fortunate to have such giving and kind people living around us!

I did run into Marcel everywhere yesterday- at the Market, where he told me the best vendors to visit, then at school when I was picking up Megan (he told me the short-cut to get to the school, which saves us 5 minutes!) and again later when Megan and I were coming back from our trip to the market. He let us borrow his older son's old bike, which is still a bit too big for their younger son- Megan and I plan on working on her bicycling skills after school on Thursday, she hasn't ridden a 2-wheeled bike without training wheels before, but I think she'll get it pretty quickly.

Could It Be? Normalcy?
We ate like kings last night for dinner- roast chicken, spinach salad (the spinach was so gentle in flavor!), fresh roasted peanuts, and chocolate-chip bread for dessert. We sat at the table as a family, with napkins and plates and everything- a nice taste of civilization to go with the great food. No meltdowns today- I think adding a touch of a normal routine with school, dinner together, and familiar foods helped a great deal. Megan did try to tell me that she wanted to take tomorrow off from school, but I told her that we didn't really have that option. She seemed to understand- I suspect it's just boundary checks for now.

Reach Out and Touch Us. Uh, You Know, Virtually.

2008-08-28T09:41:00.002+02:00

Just a quick blurb about getting in touch with us- we have Skype and iChat here at the house, and would LOVE to hear from you! (Send me an email if you need our ID, of course.)

Here's a rough idea of our schedule right now, in case you are one of the folks that has already added us on iChat or Skype:

7:30-8am NL - Waking up, getting Megan ready for school, walking to school (12:30pm-1am US CST)
8:45am NL - Kari gets back home, except Wednesday which is market day (1:45am US CST)
12:00 noon NL - Megan gets out of school Fridays (5am US CST)
12:15 am NL - Megan gets out of school Wednesdays (5:15am US CST)
1:15pm NL - Megan gets out of school every other day (6:15am US CST)
2pm NL - Megan and Kari are home from walking back from school, GREAT time to call during the week(7am US CST)
6-7pm NL - Kip home from work most days, theoretically dinner time (11am-12am US CST)
8:30pm NL - Theoretically Megan's bedtime Sun - Thurs (1:30pm US CST)
11pm NL - Theoretically Kari's bedtime (4pm US CST)

The weekends are the best time to contact us for those who don't have the flexibility to call during the mid-day in the US. I will keep a calendar of video chat appointments so we don't forget and run to ee-KAY-uh when you're trying to get ahold of us- we can't wait to hear from you!

Megan's First Day of Dutch School

2008-08-27T22:29:00.002+02:00

Yep, that's right- DUTCH school. For those of you who read this but don't speak with us on a daily basis, we decided months ago to put Megan in Dutch public school instead of an American or International school. Mostly because it is butt-expensive ($15K-21K per year), but also because we were going to be here for a long enough time that we thought it wise for her to have friends in the neighborhood and pick up Dutch along the way.

On her first day, Meg and I walked the 3-4 minute walk to her new school and sat in the classroom together. (On her first day the director told me I could come and stay with her as long as she needed me.) Several other parents (most, actually) came in with their children, sat a minute and visited with their child or read a book with them, and then left instead of dropping them at the door. Meg's classmates range in age from 4-6, so there were a few hesitant students- I think the parents that stayed belonged to 4-5 year olds.

Class started at 8:30, and Megan's teacher, Luz, called roll while the students sat on benches in a circle centered around a small desk. When she said each student's name they had a chance to share a little something with the entire class, or could say they had nothing to say. There were a few kids that had new items (backpack, shoes, jackets) and when they shared this news with the class they went and retrieved the item (if it wasn't already there in the class) and marched around inside the circle of students while they all sang a song. Meg and I were totally clueless, of course- it's all in Dutch. EVERYTHING was in Dutch. I was totally overwhelmed, but Megan seemed just fine.

After roll call, Luz read a chapter from a book to the students and took pause every page or so to clue Megan in on what was happening in the story. Not an in-depth bit, just a "they are painting a picture" or "that's the teacher's name" kind of thing. Again, I was lost, but could pick out little words ("blau" blue, "rood" red, "meische" girl, "jouen" boy, etc.). Then after story time they separated into groups to do activities. Luz put Megan with a group who were coloring pictures, and told her a few color names and said to color whatever and however she wanted.

I have to take a second to try and describe Megan's teacher with any matter of justice. Luz is probably late 40's to 50's, and not typically Dutch in her appearance- she has brown eyes and hair, and is not super tall like a lot of the women here. She is by no means short, but she is about my height (5'7"-ish) and medium build. Her physical description by no means describes her character- she is delightfully warm, nurturing to the children in her class, and yet at the same time is no-nonsense about running her classroom. She is a Dutch version of your favorite grandmother, with a little less of the stuff that makes them spoil their grandkids. In short, Megan instantly was at ease with her, and the more I watched her interact with the class the more I admired her. She has the patience of a Saint with those kids- not that they were bad, mind you, just that they were kids 4-6 years old.

Oh, and the kids- they were so CALM and well behaved! I don't know what it is, but there was only one kid that seemed distracted while Luz was talking or reading, and even the boys were able to sit still during the circle time. When they split into groups, the boys played calmly and quietly- I don't understand it, but I will be paying more attention to the parenting here. (It could also be diet- there were no spaz-inducing American snacks at snack time, mostly breakfast bar type fruit and bread snacks, which are far less sweet than those from the US, and mild juices, and WATER, believe it or not!)

Megan managed to NOT talk to any of the students for the longest time- she shyly reached for colors and walked around the tables for things instead of interacting with the other kids. There is a boy who is bilingual (Dutch and English) who Luz paired up with Megan, and only then did she start to talk a little. After I noticed that she was trying to get me to do the talking for her did I think it was time for me to leave, so I did. She objected at first, but after a minute was ok with the idea when it was time to change activities. I ran into town for things like a hair dryer and coffee. VERY important.

When I came to pick her up at noon, Megan looked exhausted but happy- she really has missed being with other kids, and I guess I didn't realize how important that is to her. When I asked how the rest of her day was she said "Fine" and when prompted for details I got an "I don't remember" which is totally normal. I figured more of her day would come out in conversation the rest of the afternoon.

We ran back into the shopping district for lunch and to grab some clothing items for her- she managed to make it to the Netherlands with only 2 pairs of jeans, 1 pair of pants, 1 skirt and a pair of overalls. And I think the skirt is wayyy big on her. She has plenty of shirts and sweaters, mind you, just not many things to cover her lower extremeties- nobody's fault but mine, as I didn't pull out the dirty laundry from the hamper before the movers grabbed it and packed it. Aarrgh. If you can help it, NEVER MOVE LIKE I DID. (ie, poorly planned) Anyhow, we picked up several pairs of cotton leggings for Meg, which all the little girls here wear a LOT, and got lunch at a little cafe before we headed home.

When we got home, we did some laundry, I worked some on the computer while Megan played, and then when Kip got home everyone in the house had a total nuclear meltdown. It was UGLY. Don't get me wrong, it is 100% normal- our stress levels are high, what with not speaking the language, not having furniture or anything normal in the house, Megan not eating anything because of xenophobia regarding food, and Kip not getting paid and our expenses starting to stack up. We made it through, a little worse for wear, but we all still love each other, and we managed to get Megan to try some chicken lunchmeat at dinner time, which she ended up actually liking and wanting more of at bedtime, and we all went to bed at a relatively decent hour.

Stress. I think I have had a lifetime of it since May, most of it in the last 2 weeks. It is much harder to handle now that it's just the three of us- we are so used to having more outlets and more of a network to hold us up, and now that it's just us 3 holding each other up, I expect us to fall more often that we have in the past.

But good news- Kip got an email from the shippers Monday night, they have all our stuff packed in a 20-foot container, ready for departure! We should have our junk before the middle of October!!! Nothing like a little good news to brighten a mostly cloudy evening.

Busy Monday

2008-08-26T17:15:00.002+02:00

Monday we went first thing with Letty (our relocation agent) to the Town Hall to register and get our Sofi registration numbers (basically like a SSN) so that we can do things like buy a car, open a bank account, GET PAID... you know, the little things. It went quickly, and we should have the paperwork back in about 2 weeks (and yes, I cringed when they said that- it's a reflex at this point).

The next stop was back near the house at Megan's prospective school- the oldest one in the Netherlands. We met with the director of the school and the organizer of what they call the "Special Needs" program (I heard them refer to it as "remedial" at one point and thought what an oddity it was to hear someone speaking of my bright and wonderful kiddo in the same breath as the word "remedial program"). They gave us a brief introduction to the school, the primary school program, and took us over to see the classes in action. To make it short and sweet, Dutch education is very similar to Montessori- the classes are mixed ages (4-6 years for Megan's class) and the big kids help the younger kids along. This seemed perfect for Megan- she would have kids who already knew they were expected to help their classmates, so she wouldn't seem like a burden or "special needs" student in the class. This set me at ease, and the look on Megan's face when she saw the other children and the classrooms had me almost as excited for her first day as she was.

After the tour, they led us back to the office to hand over paperwork and talk about Megan's first day. I left this decision to her, and when asked what day she wanted to start she said, "TOMORROW." I gave no further worry about how she was going to handle her new school.

After wrapping things up at the school, Letty drove us to register at a nice Doctor's office (like an HMO set-up, everything goes through your family physician), and then drove us around town to show us where the important things are located- hospital, police station, athletics center, shopping street, grocery stores... it was nice to see that our little village is well-appointed as well as charming.

Letty then brought us back to the house and helped us muck through a few forms, some paperwork from a few of the service providers (electricity, gas, water, etc.) and then called her daughter-in-law who lives right around the corner. She is in marketing of some kind, and Letty offered to introduce her to me so that I would have another neighborhood contact, which I greatly appreciated.

After Letty left, we all piled in our loaner car and drove out to the airport to pick up our rental. Until we get our Sofi numbers, we are stuck with a rental. Ugh. We grabbed a bite to eat while at the airport, then Kip took the loaner back to work and Megan and I were off on our first adventure in driving in Europe!

Let me say this- having lived and driven in Houston, Europe was no challenge. Sure, the signs are different, but I only was honked at once (for spacing out at a red light, thank you jetlag) and I didn't hit anything or anyone. Megan didn't even seem phased by it.

We drove into Haarlem to go to an Apple store in their big shopping district, and after struggling to find parking, we walked 6 blocks or so, got a power cable for the computer and headed back to the car. Had I done my homework I could have also gotten a charger for my camera- apparently one of the larger camera shops is near the Apple store, but the sales person at Apple said he didn't know of a camera shop when I asked at checkout. Another day- I can't bear dragging Megan around like I had to that day- poor kid looked like she had walked for days once we were finished with our errand.

After getting back to the car (it wasn't towed or booted! yahoo!) we came back to the house and I hopped on the computer while Meg played with the Littlest Pet Shop toys that one of the neighbors loaned us- it is the biggest success, she will play with them for hours at a time. The rest of the evening was just laundry, getting Meg clean and ready for school, oh- and a run to the fry shop for dinner! For having such an unhealthy array of foods available, the Dutch are very slender. I had a hamburger that was pretty good (granted, I'd been here for 4 days, and I do realize it was NO Beck's Prime) and a gob of fries with frite sauce, which I still continue to like a lot, no matter what you all may think of me.

Megan took a while to calm down and finally sleep, but I think first-day-jitters are more to blame for that than jet-lag this time.

PS- I swear photos are coming soon, I burned some battery power last night to upload a few, and am in the process of editing and uploading.

The Nosers Have Landed

2008-08-25T19:11:00.003+02:00

We are ALL here in the Netherlands now- it's finally, really happened! Megan and I are still reeling with jetlag, but the gang is back together, and Kip has never looked happier. I suppose a week all alone in a big empty house can do that to you.

The house is empty, though, even after the 7 suitcases of stuff Megan and I hauled on the plane with us ($600 expense report there) and a trip to Ikea to get something to sleep on that wasn't flat on the ground. The neighbors are very hospitable- one neighbor loaned us a patio table and chairs so we didn't have to sit on the floor to eat, and they and the neighbor on the other side of us loaned Megan a few toys to tide her over until our shipment arrives. This went over very well with Megan. She pondered later that evening, "I wonder who else is going to bring me some presents?" I sadly had to explain that those were loaner toys, not gifts.

(Shqeq is typing with me right now- thank goodqness for all of us she starts school tomorrow3, r44th ygvvyunynyjyjyfy or I think I might string her up by her thumbs.)

Oh, so many stories, and so many I just don't want to re-live. Moving day is something I may have to seek therapy to get over. I may only post references to that day here- it was excruciating. I have never had a panic attack in my life, and I think I had about 14 that single day. I told Kip late that afternoon that I had only cried 20 times since he left, and 18 had been that day. I'm getting nauseous just thinking about it- moving on!

Friday Megan and I only got about 2 hours of sleep on the plane- we were by the window, which meant we were down a seat, so getting comfortable was impossible. I was traveling with my 3 babies: Megan, my new killer camera, and my iMac. Talk about stress- I had to put on this jerk-face air at every checkpoint to get the computer (in it's product box, which was way above the size limit for cary-on baggage, they reminded me about 50 times) ON the plane. It rode in first class, thank goodness. Wish I could have made the same arrangement for Meg and myself. So, all of you family members that bet against the Mac making it on the plane, pay up. :)

Kip picked us up at the airport in Schipol and whisked us home (after we barely managed to get all 700 suitcases in the car) where we unpacked a few things, changed clothes, and took a stroll around our new town. He had made many walks around town in the week he was here alone, and showed us the essentials- bakery, fry shop, pizza place, etc. We grabbed a bite to eat at a cafe over in the shopping district, then headed home and struggled to stay awake past 7pm.

Saturday Megan and I woke up at 7am and struggled to be quiet while Kip caught up on sleep. We managed to find the bakery after we cleaned up, and then we all piled in the car around 10:30 and drove out to Ikea (pronounced ee-KAY-uh in these parts) in Haarlem. Now, I like Ikea, but this particular location radiated awesome at a level that made me dizzy. We're talking ACRES of Ikea. Uh, square kilometers of Ikea. We grabbed a few kitchen essentials and picked out a futon, then managed to squeeze it all into the loaner Audi from Kip's work and trucked it all home. We grabbed a bite to eat while we were there, too, and I don't know if you remember from earlier posts, but Dutch coffee just blows the doors off of American coffee. Even IKEA coffe is better than any Starbucks I've ever been to. It's insane. I downed 2 cups to take the edge off of my jetlag.

We sped home to get the car unloaded so that we could run up to the grocery store- most shops close at 5pm M-Sat, and are not open Sunday. We nabbed some things to tide us over until Monday or Tuesday and headed home to eat dinner and try to stay awake until bedtime. I think I washed dishes for an hour to stay awake. It really was a struggle that day.

Sunday was AWESOME. We slept in until 11am. Lordy did that feel good. We had cereal with some of the best milk I've ever tasted for breakfast. Then, we went to the beach. I am trying to conserve my camera battery, so I don't have any photos to put in these posts right now (no European charger with my camera) but let me assure you- we did NOT swim. It was beautiful and cold, the beach was clean and freckled with bi-valve seashells. We filled our pockets with little treasures, ate dinner at a little cafe on the beach, and then headed back home to unwind and get some rest- Monday was to be a busy day for us.

A Tale of Two Cities

2008-08-17T05:06:00.002+02:00

Kip is there- he's THERE there! He is living in our Netherland Noser Nest, and Megan and I are still here in Houston, packing, cleaning, freaking out and missing him like crazy. Here's what's been happening over the last 2 weeks and the state of things right now:

The Saturday after we landed, my most wonderful photographer partner in crime, Jayne, and I shot a wedding! It was great fun, very challenging, we learned a lot, and we can't wait for me to move back so we can start doing things like that on a very regular basis. It took me 3 days to recover- 10+ hours of shooting with tons of heavy gear, my shoulder is still a little mad at me!

This last Wednesday night we had a family "Farewell" dinner for Kip at our local Double Dave's Pizza- Karaoke night, which is his favorite. (sarcasm) Megan sang TWICE, once with me and once with Kathryn, and was onstage when Kathryn performed solo. I took photos, but for the love of all things chocolaty, I will not have them up online anytime soon.

Kip flew out Thursday night, after selling one of our 2 cars, he took 2 giant suitcases, his work bag with computer, and just left- Megan's world was completely turned upside-down. Thursday was the hardest day- she cried the entire 25 minute car ride back home from the airport and said things like "My heart is hurting!" and "I can't stop my heart from thumping so fast and hurty" and "The only thing I want in the entire world is for daddy to come back" and "I was so mean to daddy- I am NEVER going to be like that again!" and a million other tear-jerkers. We went home, consoled ourselves with Ben & Jerry, and went to bed way too late.

Kip's flight was mostly uneventful- he said that there was a rowdy drunk they threatened with handcuffs to keep him under control, but other than that it was wonderfully boring and predictable. I'd hoped for nothing more than that!

He went into the office, borrowed the fleet car (we're going to get cars and other stuff once Meg and I are there next week) and dragged his jetlagged self to the house.

Meanwhile, back in the States, Megan and I had a busy Friday- Megan went to the Planetarium with her Auntie Anne, and I cleaned, threw junk away from my bathroom and bedroom, then ran out to the new Houston Outlet center to see if I could find a winter jacket for her, and some new Crocs. (I know- I swear they wear them in the Netherlands, as ugly as they are.) My parents were on their way in to Houston to see us, so they met me there and sprung for some things for me, too- they spoil me, which I totally support and appreciate. I even found a suitcase (with a cool carry-on overnight bag) for $40, so it was a great trip out there. I have been the Queen of Craigslist for the last week, and have been keeping track of and scheduling pick-ups of all sorts of junk we're trying to shed with a small financial recovery. I was up late getting emails sent and things scheduled, but did get to visit with my folks for awhile that night.

Saturday for Kip was a bit frustrating- he drove in to the office for a little while, then headed towards Ikea for some creature comforts, but ended up sitting on the side of the road for TWO HOURS because the car stopped working. (Poor guy- I feel so bad for him, but also a little relieved that it wasn't all 3 of us, I can't imagine that being pretty with a five-year-old: "THIS IS BO-RING! Let's GO, PEOPLE!" I think she may not have survived, what with our combined stress level at the moment.)

After someone came and "rebooted" the car's computer (I still am foggy on the details of that repair technique, but if that's what car repair has come to, I COULD BE A MECHANIC!) he was off to Ikea, which he reported is HUGENORMOUS. He grabbed some things to eat on and with, ice trays, and a few other basics, then headed to our friend Elaine's house for a very international dinner- Elaine and her husband are Irish, and they had their downstairs neighbors (a mixed German and Dutch marriage) up for the evening. He got home around midnight, willing the car to stay alive the entire trip back home.

Over here in the US, I tackled the bags of clothes that plague our garage- my sister is so generous, and every time she cleans out her daughter's closet of outgrown clothes, she sends them our way. We had several bags of hand-me-downs that hadn't been examined in months, some years, and found a couple of jackets (none quite Dutch Winter weight, but will get her by until it gets really cold) and long-sleeved shirts! I got some "don't need now" clothes put in cool vaccuum-shrink bags (these are SO cool) and got 2 giant bags of clothes to the donation box.

We managed to squeak by to my friend Greg's apartment for a pre-screening of a film from the 48 Hour Film Project that I was the photographer for, and had a nice visit with him and a few of the other collaborators from the project, including Kathryn. From there, we all (mom, dad, me, Meg) hit the laundromat to get the pile of linens and comforters cleaned and ready for packing- our washing machine decided to stop spinning clothes the week before we went to the Netherlands for our first visit, so things that I can't personally wring-out before putting in the dryer had piled up considerably. We had a laundromat Subway sandwich dinner, packed my car full with clean linens, and Mom and Dad gave us one last hug and went home. Another hard goodbye- Megan is not taking them well these days. FORTUNATELY, Mom left her pillow and we forgot to give them their souveniers we had picked up on our home finding trip, so we got to steal just a few more minutes with them before they left for home.

We're just not sleeping real hours these days- Megan is up and watching TV, and every time I tell her "Ok, kid- time to brush teeth!" she claims unbearable hunger and gets something more to eat from the kitchen. I can't wait until we are THERE, settled (as much as we can until the rest of our things arrive via slow-boat) and get a normal groove going. No late-night runs to the storage unit, no more strangers in the house looking at furniture, no more tearful goodbyes- just everyday living at it's most boring... maybe then I'll remember to eat and sleep again.

Looking Like A Done Deal! Nether-Noser-Land Castle Details.

2008-08-05T15:44:00.003+02:00

Now that we're back and waiting until our meeting with the moving company on Thursday, I have a few minutes to panic, clean, curse the "Ikea Index" and field questions about the trip. The most common so far is, "Wait- which house did y'all finally pick?" Without further adieu, here is THE House:

Ground Floor

This is the front of the house- it's a row-style 3-story home with a garden in front and in back.

Yep, that's right- #13. With everything else that has gone on, I figured it is good luck at this point!

The front window is large and open, a Dutch tradition. It is customary to keep this window uncovered (it's a Calvinist thing, I think- shows you're not misbehaving) so that your neighbors can peer in, which they would NEVER do, since it is also Dutch custom to protect others' privacy by not peering.

A horrid shot of the front garden. Roses, boxwood, and gobs of things that die from heat exhaustion here in Texas. Things you have only seen Martha Stewart grow on her luxurious estate in Martha's Vinyard or wherever on earth she is.

This is right off the entry room (which without a fisheye lens was impossible to photograph in any way to show more than the doorway), the stairs to the upstairs. Underneath the most shallow part of the stairs is a small storage area, then past is the guest toilet.

Here's the guest toilet- another characteristic of a traditional Dutch home. It is teeny, has a toilet, brush, small trash can, and a tiny sink. Notice the two-option flush; small button for small flush (#1), big button for big flush (I'm sure you can figure this out).

On the right is the living/dining room, a similar layout to our current house. This living room features a fireplace, and the back of the house opens out to the back garden.

The kitchen is very large by Dutch standards, and includes a nice sized fridge/freezer, a 5-burner gas stove, oven and microwave (hidden in the cabinets). Also there is a dishwasher, disguised with a face to match the rest of the cabinetry.

This is the back view of the house (the kitchen is the wood-sided part of the house on the right) and a view of the little gate that connects to the neighbor's yard- Megan is peeking through to say hello to the boys that live next door.

At the top of the stairs on the 2nd (or 1st, depending on your take of things) floor are the bedrooms and the bathroom. Here's the bath- it has both a tub and a shower, and is small, but laid-out very efficiently.

The very first room to the left of the bathroom will most likely be Megan's room- it has a cute fish motif on the walls. She seems pretty fond of it!

The next room to the left is the master bedroom, which is tiny, but has more closet space than our current house.

The last room to the left is SO tiny that I want to use it as a closet. I think it was a nursery for the previous owners.

Up to the top floor is another set of stairs- they have hardware attachments for gates, they are a bit steep and narrow by American standards, but are some of the least frightening stairs we saw in our house hunting.

The top floor is where the laundry machines are located, and there is a lot of room up there, maybe for some sorters or a hanging rack on wheels.

There is a nice-sized bedroom on the top floor, too, which we hope to fill many times during our stay- it has blackout curtains built right into the windows, folks- this is a 4-star accomodation!

That's it! We're in the process of signing the lease today, so we'll have a timeline on our move over in the next few days!

Jiggity Jig. Jetlag Makes For Bad Parenting.

2008-08-04T14:32:00.002+02:00

We're home. It feels a little surreal, almost like the last week didn't happen- Megan is watching Sesame Street and I'm catching up on email and my favorite blogs and online reading. I'm yelling at the dog. I am up to my ears in laundry. There is nothing to cook/eat. What on earth? Wasn't I just in another country YESTERDAY!?!?

The flight was totally uneventful (unless you ask Kip or Megan). Ok, so I dumped an entire cup of water in Megan's lap as she was going to sleep. She had it coming, it was payback for the apple juice bath I got on the way over. And so what if there were thunderstorms all around the Houston area as we came in to land? Turbulence doesn't kill people. Jetlagged parents kill people.

We made the mistake of letting Megan sleep for a little over 2 hours on the plane, though, and she had a hard time getting to sleep last night, and woke up BEFORE 5 AM. I think my least favorite phrases between the hours of 10pm and 8 am are "I'm not sleepy" and "I CAN'T GO BACK TO SLEEEEEP!"

I'm dragging her rear-end out to a park or something today and I'm going to force her to play until it starts to Tropical Storm us back to the car.

Oh, and I'm going to pack or something. (Just in case Kip is reading this.)

Day 6 - Wrapping Up

2008-08-02T12:33:00.003+02:00

We got up EEEAAAARLLLYYY this morning and had breakfast in the Airport with our great friends Scott and Stacey Hutchison- it was great to see them, even for just a short layover (they were flying back to the US from Germany, business trip for Scott with Lockheed Martin). Megan managed to douse herself in hot chocolate, poor kid, but was good humored about it (it was the only dress I packed for her, and she had lamented wearing jeans any more when she realized she was going to have to change, but changed her tune when I reminded her we had one pair of overalls). We headed back to the hotel and I dragged Megan down to the breakfast buffet where she ate a small piece of bacon and one bite of a pancake- this kid is going to starve to death if we don't figure something out quickly.

We went to one of Kip's co-worker's flats in Leiden this afternoon for her son, Daniel's first birthday party. Elaine and her husband are Irish, and the bulk of the folks at the party were, too, and it just made me realize that Irish people are just darned good looking. Plus that accent- it is so graceful and beautiful; I think it lends more to good looks. There were 2 little one-year-olds, they were so different and both so beautiful- big chunky cheeks and baby fat everywhere. The food and company were just lovely, we are so glad to have friends here in the Netherlands.

Oh, and the best thing of all? Elaine's husband shoots Canon. There was another photographer in attendance, a Nikon shooter, and it was nice to see that the rivalry is an international phenomenon. We tried not to make him feel inferior.

After the party we headed straight back to our favorite cafe here in Alsmeer, and our waiter from Megan's Sleeping Dinner greeted us warmly. We had a nice, leisurely dinner and made our way back to the hotel to pack and get to bed early. I can't believe the week is already over- it feels like it was 100 years ago that we were dealing with Anke, and yet at the same time it feels like we just got off the plane yesterday.

The most wonderful thing that could ever possibly have happened today and did?

Megan said, "I don't want to leave the Netherlands. I want to stay here." Suddenly, every nickel of her plane ticket was well spent.

See you in a few days! Holy tuna- WE HAVE TO START PACKING?!?!?

Blah blah blog. Days 3-5-ish.

2008-08-01T23:27:00.003+02:00

Kip has been HOGGING the computer the last few days. "It's my work computer. That's kind of why we're here, I work here now." WHATEVER. So, since he's been burning the midnight oil, I have been catching up on sleep and finally getting over jetlag. Of course, because it's only 2 more days until we leave.

Oh, and this is totally void of pictures- I am running out of time, so check my Flickr site for shots from our trip:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/karibethn/sets/72157606351342735/

Ok, so on to the good stuff! Day 3, or Wednesday, we hauled around the 'burbs around Amsterdam. We looked at 7 properties, none that I loved more than the "Over the Snooker Hall" flat we had seen in Leiden the day prior. Our relocation agent, Letty, said that her son had a friend who was relocated to another town from Heemstede, which was not far from where the final property we looked at (in Uithoorn) was located, and she drove us past. She said that if we were interested after seeing the neighborhood and the front of the house, she'd make sure we had a realtor to help us the next day.

Let's just say that WE FREAKING LOVED IT. Heemstede is a family village, and on the street where the rent house was, there were kid's toys and bikes in almost every front garden. There is a park at the end of the street, and there is a little garden in the back of the house that has a gate that connects to the neighbor's garden, where 2 little boys live. We told Letty that we would want to see the house as soon as they could get us an appointment, hopefully the next day. She called her office to start working some magic.

There were 2 properties that we had seen that day (one in Amstelveen, the other in Badhoevedorp) that we requested more information on, just for grins (and just in case the Heemstede place didn't work out), and we went back to the hotel, totally drained. We hit the cafe that Megan had had the sleeping dinner the night before, and when we returned to the hotel, this time it was ME that fell into a coma sleep- around 6pm I crashed, and woke up long enough to eat a croissant we had snagged at breakfast for emergency rations, find out that we had an appointment with a real estate agent to see the Heemstede house the next morning at 9:30, and brush teeth, then I was right back to sleep. Yeah, we didn't eat dinner. Not that it meant a lot- we had lunch at 4pm, and Megan barely ate all day. She ate emergency rations- a pear and some croissant (gotta love the hotel buffet, next time I'm bringing a huge purse for ration acquisition) and she and I slept while Kip started working on the BMC Treasury End-Of-Month business.

The next day we got up, did a 10-minute run through the buffet (grabbing rations, of course) and made the 15 minute drive out to Heemstede. The house was beyond wonderful, and I fought like a bandit to not let on that I had died and gone to Dutch House Heaven. Megan was in love, too- one of the bedrooms has fish painted on the walls. We struggled to find anything wrong with the property, and finally decided that there wasn't antyhing (besides that it was unfurnished) that would keep us from making an offer to the owners (renting is decided upon by the owner, and we had to bid against a couple that was looking at the house later the same day). We hoped that the fact that we could rent the property for 2 years would be an advantage over the competetion, and gave the go-ahead to start negotiating with the owners.

After the excitement (well, Kip and I were excited) of potentially finding a house, Kip went to work, and Megan and I went to Kid Wonderland. Linneaushof, to be exact. In America, this park would NEVER exist- 99% of the rides were kid (or parent) powered, and were of the likes that litigious parents had removed from school yards and amusement parks ages ago. It was AWESOME. And, of course, I didn't have my camera. So you're gonna just have to take my word for it- AWESOME. They had one of those GIANT slides where you have to climb 4 flights of stairs to get to the top and slide down on a potato sack. They had kid-powered merry-go-rounds, ferris wheels (one kid or parent had to pedal to get the thing to turn), flying swings, zip-line swings... it was fantastic. Megan and I stayed from 10:30 am until 4:30pm, and left with two priceless things: memories, and our first Dutch friends.

We met a woman and her 2 daughters who live in Hoovddorp, maybe 15 minutes away by bike. They have season passes to Linneaushof, which we will SO have when we come back (3 season passes are less than 100 Euros). Megan and the oldest daughter were born one day apart- Megan on Queen's day (April 30) and Rivka on May 1. They had a blast, and you would never have known that there was a language barrier between them- within an hour, Rivka was copying Megan, saying "BIG SLIDE!" and "I LOVE IT!" and "Come on, guys!" Her mom was so pleased, Rivka didn't speak any english before meeting Megan.

Rivka and her family left, after lots of hugs and kisses between all 3 of the girls, and Meg and I departed about an hour later to catch the bus back to the hotel.

Just a word of advice: Never try to navigate a new public transportation system after playing in the hot sun all day and toting an exhausted and starving 5-year-old around. It took us 2 hours to get back to the hotel. It wasn't unpleasant, it was just long- I am certain that I must have gotten on a bus going the wrong direction at least once, and rode the entire route to get one stop the opposite way.

Anyhow, our exodus over, Meg and I hit the showers, ordered room service, and watched a movie in bed. We were just about asleep when Kip finally got back around 11pm, and fell asleep while he finished the month-end hedge-roll.

So that brings us up to today- Friday! We had a leisurely breakfast, as we had no appointments to run to, and gathered maps and books to decide where to run-off and adventure today. We decided on Madurodam, a miniature-city not far from the Hague. When I say miniature-city, I mean a city built to at most 1/25 size. It was a tourist attraction that would send American kids into huffs of boredom, Megan was enchanted. They also had a SesamStraat exhibit- Megan go to dance with Ernie and Bert, and was completely confused that they were speaking Dutch, but then told us that "They're not real, those are people dressed-up like Ernie and Bert) when we said, "Maybe they only speak Dutch when they visit the Netherlands?" Can't fool that kid.

Kip still had some work to do, so we left the mini-world and returned to the hotel, and decided we would head into Amsterdam for dinner. This is no small feat- parking is a nightmare, so public transportation was our goal, specifically the train. We are so lucky that Megan is easy-going and rolls with what we drag her through. We rolled into the Amsterdam Central Station around 7:30pm.

Our hotel recommended a place about 15 minutes from the station. I can see how, if we were to have taken direct roads, it would have taken 15 minutes to walk to the restaurant. Through the Red Light district. On the Friday of Gay Pride Weekend. We didn't feel like answering that many questions, so we detoured, which lead to many wrong turns, and 40 minutes later we arrived. Bedraggled must have been our fashion statement, because with 5 empty tables, "They were COMPLETELY full" that evening. I left before Megan got a lesson in how sharped-tongued her mother could be when faced with a snotty head waiter.

We meandered around the corner and found an Italian restaurant, and Megan ate pizza! After days and days of nagging her to eat, we were overjoyed to watch her scarf pizza like she was at home.

The evening was anxious- Amsterdam is such a big city, with all the negative trappings of a big city (as well as the advantages, of course, but late in the evening with a small child you focus on keeping her sheltered) and Kip had to block us from a pick-pocket, we saw said pick-pocket fail and get caught, and get kicked in the back by his target, and then got to sit through the evader's tongue-lashing he gave to the pick-pocket. Thank GOD it was all in Dutch, and the clearest word was something like "STEALER!" Ahh, city life.

I will post again in the next few days, and will make an entire post about the house, I swear- but before then, we will be back home Sunday!

Day 2. Or is it Day 3? Uh... the Second Day Here. In The Netherlands, that is.

2008-07-29T16:43:00.008+02:00

Megan was up before 6am, even though she didn't go to sleep until almost 11pm last night. (Maybe the nap Monday was a bad idea? Hard to say- what is preferable, a grouch or a spaz?)

We scurried around to get ready, as our Relocation Agent was going to meet us at 7:45am, so we ran down for the fastest breakfast ever at 7:30 or so. Chicken sausage, croissants, teensy muffins, fruit... the buffet was nice. They even had Ratatouille, which was pretty good! Kip and I both downed a cup of coffee, and we were off.

Megan is still barely eating anything- seems she only likes toasties (toasted cheese sandwich) and fruit. She managed to eat most of a pear and a few bites of a dutch pancake, we took some pastries for the road and met our agent.

First stop was Rijswijk (most likely not spelled correctly) which is near the Hague. There we applied for our Dutch residency, and really had a very pleasant experience with Dutch bureaucracy- we were in and out in less than 45 minutes. They are very civilized when it comes to government processing of people- you make an appointment. What a concept!

After we left with more stamps, stickers and hologram stickers in our passports, we headed over to the real estate agent's office, but she was not in. We landed in a cafe down the street from the office and had another cup of coffee with our agent, and Megan and I took turns drawing pictures for one another while Kip and Lette(? I am notoriously terrible with names, and adding a language factor only worsens the matter) went over maps, booklets and general info on some of the cities we would be visiting in the next few days, as well as good traffic routes to take to avoid some of the bad traffic that plagues the Netherlands during rush hour.

With some more caffeine in our systems, we were ready to house-hunt. Our real estate agent, Susan, was very hospitable and helpful. We looked at 4 different properties in Leiden, one of which is a strong contender for the title of "Noser Household, Netherlands." Dutch architecture is influenced by a few oddities- the taxation of property is based on the width of a house, so they are traditionally narrow-faced, but run deep into the property. Staircases look like a dare- they almost go straight up and the steps are almost exactly the depth of your toes and the ball of your foot. Megan wanted to scootch down the stairs on her behind- so did I, to be honest.

Leiden is a disgustingly adorable town- one of the properties we looked at was built in the 1500s, and most of the town center is the same age or older. There is gorgeous gothic architecture everywhere you turn, and, of course, a windmill. Leiden has TONS of canals, and a lot of properties face the water. Two of the homes we looked at were across the street from a canal. One of them was above a Chinese grocery, and yet another above a Snooker Hall (billiards, anyone?)- it's amazing where people live here!

We saw more "A Day In The Life of the Dutch" as we roamed and drove around Leiden. There seems to be an unspoken rule about biking- the maximum allowed passengers on a bicycle depends on how many you have to transport. We saw a mom with a new-style bike- the front wheel is separated from the peddler by a wheelbarrow-like bucket thing- and she had 2 kids in the bucket, one in a kid's bike-seat behind her, and one wedged between the seat rider and herself. We saw kids clinging for their life, riding on the cargo-carriers that most Dutch bikes have, and kids transporting friends on their handlebars.

We also saw a beautiful white swan swimming in the canal by the real estate office! It fearlessly swam up to us, and upon discovering we had no food to share, hissed at us (scaring Megan) and swam away, brooding.

We returned to the hotel, ate some lunch, drank more coffee, and I uploaded a ton of photos while Kip napped and Megan played. While Meg and I were playing Megan's new favorite game which involves hiding 5 rocks all over the hotel room while the seeker hides in the bathroom, Kip did some work. When we had played to the point where there were no original hiding places left, and Kip was still working, Meg and I headed downstairs and rented a bike to ride. She sat on the luggage rack like a good little Dutch meisje, and we rode around the buisness park the hotel sits in. I felt so rebellious riding without a helmet, my child clinging to fist-fulls of my jacket to stay on the bike!

About 7 we headed back to see if Kip was finished trading, and he was just wrapping up. We drove into Alsmeer (approximately 3 minute car ride) for dinner, Megan telling us the first half of the drive "I'm not tired!" and slumped in half asleep the second half of the drive. She was out cold all through dinner, and we kept checking her for a pulse.

I tried 2 things at dinner that I was surprised I liked:
1) Heineken. Well, Heineken in the Netherlands. TOTALLY different beer here in NL. It must suffer terribly during import to the USA.

2) Fries the Dutch Way. I know- it seems SO weird, but it's not actually mayonnaise like we know it in the US, it's sweet, like ketchup, and has a very mild flavor. I was the most shocked that I tried it, but almost equally as shocked that I liked it.

Megan woke up as we were leaving the cafe, and ate her dinner on the way back to the hotel.

I think I am going to try to find a kip a day. Maybe I'll make a coffee table book or something.

Touristy Windmill Photos Of The Day:

Stuff I forgot.

2008-07-29T07:03:00.002+02:00

Wow, it's amazing what 8 hours of sleep and a shower can do for you- I feel like an entirely new human being. Thought I'd make a quick note of a few things that slipped my mind before we go get breakfast:

1) Belgian Chocolate makes Godiva taste like Hershey's. We paid 8 Euros for what I would have paid $30 at Godiva, and the difference is indescribable.

2) The only bike riders that wear helmets are racers, Lance Armstrong types. I did see one kid in a ride-along seat wearing a helmet, but everyone else was without. Megan actually pointed that out to us.

3) The sun was setting when I went to bed at 10pm last night, and was up before 5am. WTF.

The clock here says 20:50, 8pm and the sun is still a shinin' like crazy.

4) Megan wishes that our house could have room service.

5) The Dutch word for chicken (the animal, not the scaredy-cat) is "kip." It's fun to see how many times Kip's name is on the menu, and in combination with what other words:
-kipfillet
-kipsaute
-the fun goes on!

Off to see what mysteries await at the breakfast buffet!

Jetlagged Jet-Setters

2008-07-28T21:09:00.005+02:00

Ok, wow. It's been 9 years since my last international flight, and I had totally forgotten how much being 7 hours ahead really stinks that first day. I am typing this going on about 4 hours of sleep- 1.5 in the plane, 2 or so in the hotel this afternoon. So, thsi should be filled with spelling errors, totally random non-sequitors and general idiocy.

So, like every other one of my posts, basically.

But, I digress. WE'RE HERE! We are actually IN the Netherlands, it's no joke, no kidding- and wow is it amazing. But let me tell you breifly about our adventure getting here.

Sunday Kip, Megan and I fought for about 7 hours getting packed. Om a scale of 1-10 I would say our stress level was a 47 Kajillion. I packed and re-packed at least twice, I have a tendency to overpack (understatement) and I was the main packing agent for Megan, too, so it was insanity. Megan was altered to say the least- she was wigging out all day, one minute jumping on the bed all excited, the next crying and wailing, "I DON'T WANT TO GO TO THE NETHERLANDS!!" At first we tried to be very understanding, after 6 hours we were pretty rude and dismissive of her, saying lovely gems like "There are lots of kids that would LOVE to go to the Netherlands" (lie) and "I guess we can just leave you here, then. See you in a week!" (That should account for a year or more of therapy in her 20s.)

Dear, sweet Grandmommy and Granddaddy Noser drove us to the airport, and Megan listened to her new iPod Shuffle in the car (another source of drama- at the Apple Store she picked out the color, then said, "Oh, but I don't want an iPod" and cried a few times. Stress city). I explained to her the night before that there was going to be lots of rushing around to stand in lines. She took it very well- fortunately the lines were very manageable, and we were through check-in and security in less than 30 minutes. She asked so many questions about security, why they x-ray everything, why we TAKE OFF OUR SHOES- we tried to explain... there are some things you just don't want your 5-year-old to understand. Terrorism is on that list for me.

After some chicken nuggets (stress caused us to forget meals that day), we hopped on the plane and got all situated. Megan listened closely as the pilot spoke over the intercom, and was really the most well-behaved kid I have ever seen on an airplane. She colored, watched the in-flight movie, picked at the dinner they brought us, and managed to fall asleep for 4 hours.

Oh, to be less than 4 feet tall on an international flight. She had her head in my lap, feet in Kip's lap, totally comfortable. Kip and I, however, could not get comfortable. I have a notoriously bad back due to a pinch of scoliosis, and I would doze off and startle awake when I couldn't breathe, I was hunched over so awkwardly that my lungs couldn't fill. I finally managed to lay down next to Meg and get about an hour and a half of sleep.

Pretty much the most dramatic thing that happened on our flight was Megan dumping an entire glass of apple juice on me and the floor when she was finished with her dinner. Even the landing wasn't too terrible. We were just glad to be finished with the flight, and get on to more exciting things.

We got our bags and wandered over to the rental car desk in the Schipol Airport, looking like total freaks- there are these free carts to load with all your luggage- we, being jetlagged and stupid with exhaustion didn't grab one until we had carted our luggage out of the airport, headed towards the rental garage. The carts were EVERYWHERE, and were totally free, which I think is such a nice thing. We had 3 suitcases, a car booster seat, my camera bag, Megan's backpack and Kip's laptop backpack- we were heavy laiden. Mostly due to overpacking on my part, but I have already admitted to that, so don't judge me.

Seriously, she's heavier than she looks.

We hopped in our rental VW Jetta and zoomed off to the hotel- unfortunately the city our hotel is in wasn't on the map, so we ended up taking a 45 minute drive to find the airport, which should have been a 15 minute ordeal. We did find one of the neighborhoods we will be house-hunting in this week, and I ADORE IT, so it was time relatively well spent (unless you are Megan "I have to go to the bathroom!" Noser in the back seat.)

Kip had a meeting at his office at 4, so we checked-in, ran upstairs where we ordered room service while he got ready to go to work. Here's my take on Dutch food so far- um, it's different. Some of it BAD different (hot Tuna pizza, complete with egg on top) and some of it just different (watermelon, beef, salad- not bad, just not the same). After Kip left, Meg and I started a movie for her and I found myself dozing off. Poor kid- she entertained herself pretty well for having a lump for a mom this afternoon.

Kip came back to the hotel around 6, and we ran back to the airport for YET ANOTHER round of identification photos, these for our residency applications. Megan had fallen asleep before Kip arrived, and she slept on his shoulder through the wait for the shuttle, the 15 minute ride to the airport, and our wandering to find the photo place.

She woke up moments before they took her photo, and looked it. I will no doubt call her "Poor Kid!" a million times in this blog. Poor kid.

We grabbed some sandwiches (and ate them with our hands as we watched the Dutch around us use silverware to eat sandwiches. weirdos.) then hit a chocolate shop, then hopped the shuttle back to the hotel.

Kip is now SOUND asleep, Megan is playing dolls next to him, tucking in her Cynthia and her coloring book. As soon as my photos upload, I'm going to take a HOT bath and call it a night... more tomorrow- we go to the Hague and then house hunting!

Oh, and PS- WE SAW A WINDMILL!!!

I almost forgot!

2008-07-24T19:41:00.004+02:00

Kip, Megan and I had dinner last night with one of Kip's co-workers, Olaf, and his wife Greetje. They have been here in the US for 16 months, and are getting ready to move back to their home in The Netherlands in August.

Let me summarize our encounter: Olaf and Greetje SINGLEHANDEDLY saved the reputation of the Dutch people. They are simply wonderful! Warm, funny, helpful, personable- they are the Anti-Anke. They should be declared national heroes. They should have park benches constructed or trees planted in their honor in every park in The Netherlands. (The Dutch don't do people statues.)

They drove-home the universal truth about bureaucracy jobs- they had just the same miserable experience with the DMV and Social Security that we did with the Consolate. So I suppose Anke is off the hook. We'll see how things go Tuesday when we go and apply for the Dutch version of SSNs.

I was comforted that Greetje (pronounced like "Khreh-tcha") had basically been through what I am about to endure with the relocation. She had learned English growing up, but mostly just how to read it. She found herself thrust into an English-speaking world here, and had to overcome her fear of making grammatical and pronounciation mistakes very quickly. She and Olaf made a brilliant point I hadn't thought of- when you move to another country, you don't get a break from the new language. Television, radio, newspapers, magazines- everything is in the new language. Greetje brought stacks of Dutch books so that she could get a reprieve from English. Fortunately, English books for adults are easier to come by in the Netherlands that Dutch books in America- but I will take great care to make sure we have books for Megan in English, and gobs of movies for all of us.

It was wonderful to hear how Greetje's neighbors had embraced her, and kept her thinking and speaking in English. She drove-home the point that a network of friends makes all the difference in the world when you are transplanted in a foreign country. Just having someone you feel comfortable with to sit with, laugh with, someone who knows where the good ice cream and shoe sales are... One of the most wonderful things she said was, "We make such a big deal about differences in people. We're all so very much the same- the same worries, fears, problems, delights- the differences are so insignificant."

I am lucky to have a few online acquaintences who are located in the Netherlands, too- most of them photographers I met through Flickr, and one I found through a few web searches. Funny, I'm starting to feel a lot more excited about the trip now...

T-Minus 4 days and counting...

2008-07-24T06:34:00.005+02:00

Visas? Check.

Airline Tickets? Check.

Panic Attacks? Check.

We're leaving Sunday for our week long trip, and these last few days have felt like I am on a 45 degree slope made of that slidey material they make the "speed skate your way to fitness" mats out of. I have nothing to wear. My hair is a wreck. I'm pretty sure I am going to suffer a stress-induced acne breakout that will cause me to look like I'm headed to The Netherlands on a high school club trip, not a home-finding mission.

But OH MY GOD WE'RE FINALLY GOING! This is where you, reader, heave a giant sigh of relief- the boring posts with "waiting two more weeks" are over! This is the dawning of most exciting part of this blog- the part where I actually BLOG about something!!!

Now that you have all (three of you) changed your pants, since you lost total control of all your bodily functions from the anticipation and excitement you are no doubt feeling, I will run through just a few small stories about the last week with our preparations for departure.

First, Anke. Lovely, wonderful Anke. Megan and I dropped off all the necessary paperwork, AND those all-important forms, last week on Tuesday. Anke was there, and seemed to have no recollection of who we were, but struck up a PAINFUL conversation with Megan while we were in the office:

Anke (devoid of any emotion and inflection): Hello. What is your name?

Megan (with sparkles and hearts dotting the "i"s): Megan. *small sparkly grin*

Anke: What? *leaning closer to paperwork port-hole in glass wall*

Megan: MEGAN.

Anke: Ah. Hello Megan.

Megan: I'm moving to the Netherlands.

Anke: Ah? You are?

Megan: Yes, to Amsterdam.

Anke: You're moving to Amsterdam?

Me: Well, CLOSE to Amsterdam.

Anke (with no recognition I spoke): That's nice for you, Megan.

(pause where I SWORE she was going to ask Megan if she had filled out the paperwork)

Megan: I have on my stripey leggings.

Anke: Ah.

Megan: They match my black headband.

Anke: Ah. (now looking into the office for something to take her away from the window)

Megan: I-

Anke: Nice to meet you Megan. (walked away to desk)

Megan looked at me, and I just shrugged my shoulders. She did the same, and went over to the lovely bench she was so familiar with from our last visit. Poor kid.

Second, our lawyer. (This is not as long and interesting as the Anke interaction, but it happened in the last week, so I wanted to include it.) We had a handful of legal documents we needed drawn up (most of them we've needed for 10 years now) so Kip and I enlisted the help of counsel, namely Hal D. Hale. Yeah. It just adds to our "Texan" rep that we have a lawyer by that epithet. (PS, he reads this. How cool is our lawyer? Ridiculously cool, that's how.)

So, the next update will be FROM the Netherlands. Unless I get a wild hair before then, which is possible, seeing how my hair is reflecting my mental status these days.

Houston, We Have A Date.

2008-07-14T19:09:00.006+02:00

Ok, here's where things should get slightly more interesting! We finally have flight reservations to go on our house-finding mission- we leave July 27th for a week.

THANK GOD. I seriously thought that this would NEVER happen.

I did get my first taste of the Dutch people in dealing with Anke at the Dutch Consolate. She was, um... Dutch. And tall. And looked like she could kick Kip's ass with one arm tied behind her back. Plus, she was contained behind a long counter topped with a window that went from waist level to the ceiling and contained 2 vented port-holes for verbal exchanges and little slots for passing paperwork into the office on the other side of the glass. She was a force to be reckoned with, for sure.

Now, I was born in the South, raised in the South, and consider myself to have a certain charm that allows me to navigate social situations with great ease. The Dutch appear to be immune to this charm, or maybe it's that they are not programmed to detect it. My conversation with Anke went a little like this:

Me: Hello! *big charming smile*

Anke: *barely looking up* How can I help you.

Me: We are here to check-up on the status of our visa application. The Miami-

Anke: *looking at me like I was a 2x4* Have you filled out the application?

Me: Um... What appli...? My husband recieved a letter to let us know our visas have been approved, but our paperwork was sent to Miami. They were supposed to-

Anke: But have you filled out an application?

Me: *glancing down at Megan, who is looking up at me like, "What is wrong with this woman?", then looking back at Anka* How could we get a letter that said our visas had been approved if we hadn't filled out an application? Are there two applications?

Anke: *flipping through top 4 pages of stack of paper 2 inches high* I don't have your paperwork here.

Me: *wait- she hasn't asked the name, how does she know* Uh...

Anke: Do you have all the necessary items with you?

Me: My husband should be here momentarily, he has a stack of paperwor-

Anke: Does he have the applications?

Me: You know... I'll just go over here and have a seat until he gets here.

Anke: *no reaction to the fact that I had left window to go sit down*

Then, about 2 minutes later, after I had seated myself between two brochure towers that were starving for reading material (but contained booklets such as "Dutch Innovations: Hydro-engineering", "Dutch Innovations: Advances in Sports and Athleticism", and many about services from the Embassy/Consolate for Dutch ex-pats) I hear from the back of the office on the other side of the window-wall, "What is the name on the paperwork?"

Now, I am not a spiteful person, but I felt that I had worked pretty hard to communicate with this person, and had shown a lot of grace in the face of our earlier exchange, so I did not answer her. It was her turn to work. Plus, she had on one of those little ear-mouthpiece things that go with modern office phones, so I halfway assumed she was talking on the phone, as she was not facing me or even a burly arm's-length from the glass wall.

This act of ignoring her appeared to get her attention. She turned and clomped over to the vented port-hole and honked "The name on the paperwork." at me, and I kicked the southern charm up to 12 (out of 10) and our interaction continued:

Me: "Oh! I am so sorry, I didn't realize you were speaking to me! My apologies. The last name is Noser."

Anke: *not even looking at the stack of papers in front of her* I don't have your paperwork. You didn't fill out an application, did you?

Me: You know, I'm just going to wait until my husban-

*Kip bursts through the door in blue spandex with a flowing red cape and his hair slicked back, minus a single, casual curl on his forehead. He produces the folder 'o paperwork and on top is a printout of a letter with very official Dutch Embassy letterhead.*

Kip: We're here to check-up on the status of our Visas. The Miami office should have-

Anke: *not even looking at Kip* That's not what I need.

Me (to Kip): *whispering* How on earth does she know? Do the Dutch have eyes on the top of their heads or something?

Kip: *glares at me for my obvious cultural idiocy, then says firmly to Anka* This is what the Embassy sent my office in The Netherlands.

Anke: *Now looking at her stack of paperwork* That's not what I need, I don't have your paperwork. Have you filled out an application?

*I glare at Kip until he looks at me, then give him a non-verbal "I am going to kill this person"*

Kip: *after looking at me like I am TOTALLY overreacting* No, this letter says-

Anke: I know what it says. It isn't what I need. Have you filled out an application?

Kip: The Miami Consulate was supposed to fax our paperwork to this office.

Anke: When?

Kip: Yesterday.

Anke: I don't have it. Have you filled out an application?

Kip: *giving up* Can I see the application?

Anke: *sliding 3 applications through the paper pass-through in the glass wall and looking triumphant* Please fill out one of these for each of you.

(At this point I walk away so I don't cause an international incident)

This is starting to get totally out of hand, and I don't want to put you into shock with such a long post after MONTHS of literally starving you for good reading material here... to make a long story short, we filled out the paperwork (much to our Dutch Hostess' delight, and even made her beam because she shuffled it right back to us because we didn't have some of the information for the forms), and Megan and I are going back Tuesday to drop off MORE passport photos, a huge stack of papers, and the freaking forms to dear Anke.

God help us all.

Wooo ho! Awww, crap.

2008-07-11T05:33:00.003+02:00

We've gotten word that our visas are approved! Yes! I know, right?

All the paperwork is ready and waiting for us at the Dutch Consolate!!!!!

In Miami. Florida.

Kip had fun explaining that it was NOWHERE near where we live.

So.... we're waiting for a paperwork transfer of some kind, but after that!!! It will be about 5 business days.

F*@k! Oh, well. At least I can add to my skill set on my Dutch CV "Can wait like a CHAMPION. Seriously- like NOBODY'S BIDNESS."

Another NON-update. Try not to have a heart-attack and die of not-surprise.

2008-07-08T23:36:00.002+02:00

So, Kip got the following email from the poor HR person in the Netherlands that is assigned to our relocation:

"I just called the IND and they told me that the decision has been made but I must wait for the official letter where is stated if your application is approved. They IND never tells by phone if a decision is approved or not. I’m sure I will receive the letter shortly and then I will let you know."

So... there you have it. Whatever IT is. We'll keep you posted, of course.

Self-Nomination for "Most Boring Blog Ever"

2008-07-07T02:21:00.003+02:00

Wow, in reading all the entries, I can see why we aren't getting zillions of hits daily! I apologize for the bland nature of this web log, but hopefully (cue to cross fingers) tomorrow we will have news on our visas, and then life will get REALLY exciting. Maybe TOO exciting. So, take some no-doze and stay tuned. Things should go from snooze to awesome soon!

There may be a light at the end of the tunnel. I hope it's not a bullet train.

2008-07-01T05:34:00.002+02:00

We may only have one more week in limbo! All our visa paperwork was turned over to the Dutch authorities last Monday, so it is very possible that a week from today we could have visas and be able to plan our first trip!

I KNOW!

So, stay tuned- I know this blog has been dry, dry, dry... I'm taking BOTH cameras with us when we finally get to go house hunting, so I should have some cool stuff to share soon.

No real news...

2008-05-30T18:34:00.002+02:00

So, we're still waiting on stuff. Mostly letters and contracts and stuff that need to be signed and faxed before they will start processing our visas. They have changed our "YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO BE THERE BY" date from June 1 to August 1, so the theoretical plan (since we have no visas or anything and don't know how long until we will have them) is to visit in mid-June to find a school and house, and then move in July sometime.

In the meantime, Megan's last day of school was today, and it is officially summer at our house! With about $100 worth of crafts in a paper sack, I hope to make it through the summer without incident. We have her enrolled in a summer camp, too, so I can keep up with my photography business and all the lose ends that will soon make themselves known around here.

Hopefully we will know things like dates and such in a few more weeks. Waiting is just so AWESOME! It makes for very boring and monotonous blogging.

The Ties That Bind

2008-05-14T18:28:00.000+02:00

Ok, so I am super excited that we finally have an answer. At the same time, any time I think about leaving my friends, family and community here I totally bust up crying. It doesn't help (and this is NOT a complaint) that when some people hear the news they reply, "Oh, how sad" or "Oh no! You can't leave!" Don't get me wrong- if I could take my entire group of friends and neighbors with me, I would do it.

I am so glad we will be missed- we are going to miss the H-E-Double Hockey Sticks out of you guys, too. But I don't want to think about it yet- I will cry the entire flight over, I PROMISE. Until that time, I want to share laughter with you guys, and photos, and wine, and tears, but most of all TIME. Let us soak you in one more time before we go, because it's going to feel like a drought once we get there.

Wait, wait, wait. Wait!

2008-05-12T22:05:00.000+02:00

Yeah.

So, we're waiting on Dutch Immigration (which, no coincidence, if I ever start a Funk/Emo/Polka band, I am SO gonna name it Dutch Immigration). And we're also waiting on HR, too.

It's all good- I am SO good at waiting.

*barf*

Ch-ch-ch-changes

2008-04-11T03:21:00.001+02:00

Part of the fun of getting ready to leave the country is all the paperwork and scrambling for birth certificates and marriage licenses and, "Hey, where is my Social Security Card?" and all that. I had to fill out a passport renewal form, and had two response values on the form that made me giggle with glee:

Shock and Awe(some)

2008-03-29T02:35:00.001+01:00

Well, folks, we're really going. Kip got the offer from BMC today for the transfer, and of course he took it. The departure date is pretty aggressive - June 1. The only thing that would end the deal now is if the relocation package was horrible. And it would have to be REALLY horrible, like, "Hey, you guys have a canoe, right? How about a family ROWING TRIP to the Netherlands instead of a flight? You could pile a barge you make yourselves as high as you want with your belongings! No hassles at check-in!"

*gulp*

I just keep saying to myself, "Good Lordy- I'M MOVING TO EUROPE."

Amsterdam!

2008-03-28T02:38:00.000+01:00

Ok, so here's the deal.

We have been told to start planning our move to Amsterdam.
(insert squeals of glee followed by instant and gut-wrenching panic here)

Now, this may NOT happen- they are working on the financial details right now, making sure that we can afford to eat and have heat when we move over there. But if the numbers work out, we're Amsterdam-bound in June!

So far the story is as follows:

-The job transfer to Amsterdam has been approved all the way up the ladder to the CFO of both BMC America AND BMC in EMEA. This is very exciting on many levels. ("They like me! They really, really like me!" shouts Kip.) The length of our stay will be 2 years, with an option to stay longer if we would like.

- Kip may move over as soon as June 1. If we find an opening in a school, Megan and Kari may go then, too. Otherwise, Kari and Meg will stay state side to finish her school year and take care of wrapping-up all the lose ends here in the US.

- We are very excited, panicked, honored, sad, worried, elated, overwhelmed and flabbergasted about this.

- There are about 11,000,000 things we have not thought of yet, and I am very ready to hear what you, your uncle, your old boss' co-worker, a random person at the grocery store, the girl who babysits your dogs older step-sister's ex-husband, or any other person you know of who has experienced a move overseas has to say on the matter.

- It's looking like Andy will most likely go and live with Grandmommy and Granddaddy Noser, and Sadie will most likely go to Border Collie rescue so she can be placed in an environment that is suited to her needs and energy level. (This is one thing that breaks our hearts most.)

- We are going to miss everyone terribly, and we demand that you all come over (not necessarily at the same time) and stay with us so we can take you to all sorts of cool places all over Europe.

This will be our news headquarters for the Amsterdam Relocation, and then this will serve as a weblog of our time there- subscribe, RSS, whatever so you get updates, or just check back every once and awhile to see what's new.