The Nosers Have Landed

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.