Checking In

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Yesterday was pretty difficult. I think about my mom everyday, not just on Mother’s Day but all the same I was glad to wake up and have it be Monday.
 
Yesterday was also a day that I made the poor choice to take the boys on the bike because I needed to have Astrid jump started since she had been sitting too long in the garage while I was gone. I discovered this on Friday when I was trying to go to work. They didn’t have anyone available to help since it was such a busy morning at the conference center. On Saturday, the one guy that has the keys to the closet where the jumper cables are stored had gone home for the day already so that left us with Sunday morning in the pouring down rain. Thinking I could get us there faster if we took Beatrix, I put the boys in the basket and jumped on. Well, half a block into our journey, George was perched on the rim of the basket and I went over a big bump and he fell out. Of course, the rear tire going over the big bump had me convinced that I had run over George. But he was fine, just shaking and scared. No yelps or howls and I checked him out thoroughly for broken bones and sore spots. Of course, after he got done shaking, he was right back to peeing and trying to eat chicken bones that someone had thrown out. So, he’s okay and after about 4 more years of intense therapy, I might eventually get over it too.
 
Anyway, after driving 30 miles or so on the highway to recharge the battery, I got gas and jumper cables on the way back. I also need to sign up for the Dutch equivalent of AAA. Especially since I have to go to Groningen again this week.
 
So, Chicago. It went by so quickly. When I arrived at O’Hare, I was greeted by my very own orange wearing entourage holding up posterboard signs saying (in Dutch) “hand over the cheese or Rupert will start cutting it”and “give up the cheese and no one will be hurt” – it was cool. And we recycled the signs for Cedric’s arrival 90 minutes later. As kids we made signs for my Oma and Opa’s arrival every year. My mom would encourage us to work together which was only moderately successful because as the oldest, I had very clear expectations that my brothers should just do what I told them to. I’d like to say that this has changed as I have grown more enlightened but really it hasn’t. It would be so convenient if they did what I told them to but they rarely do!
 
We had alot of time with each other and my dad. I think it went pretty well, considering the circumstances and the mix of personalities. It also helped that during all of the wedding events we were seated at the same table so we had to work on getting along. Funny moment, I didn’t recognize Cedric and Dylan with hair gel. I have never seen them that way. I think the best part of the visit was when we were all sitting on Rupert and Meredith’s balcony before the wind out muscled the sunshine.
 
I did get a banjo strap too! Made in Chicago from recycled seatbelts from the Old Town School of Folk. And I got a chance to play a few measures while I was “making sure the strap would fit a banjo properly”. That was my cover story and they bought it. Who knows, maybe by the next wedding I go to, I will be able to serenade the party with things like the Wedding March played on a banjo!
 
It is nice to be home so I can squeeze all my pets. Of course, since I have been back it has been raining every day which is not so great. I am ready for some warm and dry weather.

Going home

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I’m sitting in the KLM lounge, waiting for the call to board. I can see the big 747 right in front of me and I am watching the loading process of cargo with an air of nostalgia. Seems so long ago that I too was a ramp rat. Loading the airplanes, running around with a set of light wands in the pockets of my coveralls, perfumed in Jet A (aka kerosene) and generally cussing up a storm and paying no attention to the state of my hair. Years later, I still don’t worry much about my hair, my sense of smell has recovered from the exposure to jet fuel and I still have a pair of my light wands in the storage closet.

Leaving here is a little bittersweet. I had to get out of the car before I lost my composure and cried on Rupert, Cedric and Meredith. We had a super dinner last night at The Chicago Dinner (slogan Meat free since 83) and spent the evening watching House Hunters International and creating stormy digestive clouds. Those are the things that we consider family bonding.

It will be good to be home. And I have 14 packs of tortillas with me. So, we are good until my next trip to the US in July. I can’t wait to hug the pets and to get on my bike. And to go back to shopping in tiny grocery stores. I had information overload in the pharmacy here and in the grocery stores. I have a new found appreciation of how BIG everything is in the US.

Anyway, I’ll write more in the next few days. The wedding survived us 😉 and we did okay with each other. I think Mom would have been proud because I remember her saying after Thanksgiving to the oncologist that all her kids had gotten along for the day and even if they were faking it, that just proved they could do it.

Headed to the Big Windy

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Tomorrow I am off to Chicago. One of our few cousins on the paternal side is getting married on Saturday. We’re of course making the most of our thrifty sides and also using at as a reason for the siblings to get together. What I am trying to keep top of mind is by birth order I am the oldest. And now that we are all adults, I don’t need to manage the rodeo or make sure that everyone gets along or stays out of trouble. I think this will definitely require a conscious effort on my part. I remember Rupert saying to me last summer that he didn’t need me to be his big sister anymore, he was full grown. This really stopped me in my tracks. It was one of those moments where your self defined identity gets a shock. I don’t know that I can quit being the Big Sister. It reminds me of something my mom used to tell me, that no matter how old I got, she would always be my mother. And being mom, I believe she followed that up with the words that I would just have to accept it. We’re also going to be seeing my dad. This will be the first time that all four of us siblings and my dad will be in the same orbit since high school. Again, not my role to make sure everyone gets along. If I just keep repeating it to myself, maybe I will remember!

George totally knows that something is up. He refuses to fall asleep, just keeps watching me with his pop eyes. I haven’t even packed my suitcases in front of them but he still knows. Right now, Henry is wedged against my leg and George is lying on top of him, stuck to my leg even closer. Moortje is staring at me from the arm of the sofa and Lientje is running around chasing things that only she can see. They will be in good hands. Renee is coming to stay with them and they all like her very much.

I would have missed my flight if I hadn’t checked the times today. I had the arrival time in Chicago as the departure time at Schiphol. Whoops! All straightened out now. I am flying on a 747 combi, which means that they board 90 minutes before departure time. I haven’t flown on a 747 in a long time so I am kind of excited.

I debated with Meredith via text today if I should eat refried beans for breakfast in order to create my own inflight entertainment. These are the things that go through my head before I travel. I also thought about bringing my banjo so I could practice and offer others inflight entertainment. I had a really great banjo lesson today and I am going to be sorry not to have it for a week. However, I have already scoped out the Chicago music stores that carry banjos so I plan to visit them and practice under the guise of shopping for a banjo. Today I really had to pick up the pace of the picking and my hand is a little sore. I have to increase the speed so I can get to that classic sound. And I really have to memorize my rolls because I have one down, but there are four total and when I switch to the other three I start thinking about which strings I am picking and then it all falls apart. My banjo teacher has learned that he has to not tell me when I am doing something right because then I immediately fall out of the music flow. Just like with yoga, I could be holding a really painful pose and if the instructor said my name and commented, I would fall right out.

The power went out in our neighborhood today so I had to go and sit on a terrace. I know, but somebody had to do it 😉 I had a nice glass of wine because they couldn’t serve coffee. And when the power came back on, I headed back home.

I have cheese for my brothers, stroopwafels for Meredith and a collection of homemade mustards for Rupert. And for me, I am bringing a loaf of Dutch bread because I know I am headed to a bread desert of sorts. Not a carb desert, because of all of the pizza but definitely a bread desert. Although I will look forward to having a bagel. Pizza, of course.

Tomorrow also marks six months in Amsterdam. It means the diplomatic clause in my lease is now up and the owner can’t move back in before the end of the lease.

Beatrix was super useful today. I had my bike bags full of cheese, the basket full of dog food and cat litter. It is amazing how much you can cram into a bike. My next goal is to get some straps so I can strap my suitcase to the rear and ride to the train station. That won’t work this time so I will take the bus. But I know where we are headed 🙂 I see people carrying their suitcase in their hand while riding their bike but that makes me a bit nervous so I will get some straps.

I had a little bike accident in the woods on the way to work on Monday. I mistakenly thought I could just hop the curb with Beatrix but failed to angle the front wheel so we took a big slide followed by a crash. I skinned my shin and knee but Beatrix is okay. And I learned an important lesson about riding a bike and getting up over a curb. We also made most of the commute in 4th gear. Which feels much more effective than 3rd gear but is a lot harder work.

I wonder what it will feel like to be back in the US? And to hear English all over the place? Right now, I am always listening because there’s so much Dutch and English. If I was surrounded by people speaking Chinese, I would be able to give my brain a rest because I would have no idea what they were talking about.

Yesterday I had a fantastic orange and lemon sorbet from the ice cream maker on the corner. It was amazing! Next time I am going back for the red grapefruit! I had been wanting to stop there for some time but there’s always a line out the door and I am not that patient. I was walking back from the garage yesterday and there was no line so I made the most of it! He makes ice cream too but I was all about the vegan sorbet!

I think we’re going to sleep now since George and I will probably be up 10 times in the night out of nerves. Always good to have a companion in your anxiety.

Another moment

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A year ago today, we landed at Schiphol. Tomorrow will be the year marking the day that Mom’s ashes were placed with Oma in Marum. I was there today, on my way back from Groningen and I couldn’t do much more than cry against their marker. I didn’t have words today. Normally, I manage to spend some time talking while I am there but today I just couldn’t stop crying.

I had been in Groningen yesterday for work and since I knew I was going to be in meetings until 9pm, I decided that I would be better off staying in the north and then coming home today so I could go by Marum. I stayed at the mineral springs again and early this morning before checking out I soaked myself and tried to meditate. It is not very handy to meditate in salt water because you keep floating up every time you try to sit properly for meditation. The springs were mostly empty this morning, unless the rush of nude German wellness seekers like last time. Of course, last night I also stopped in at the little café to check out how things were going in the town. It was nice to see people again and hear the latest newest. I also had some good strategic discussions about going into business for yourself and what is necessary. Sometimes it surprises me that I know those things considering that I don’t really run my own business.

Tomorrow is Kings Day. Picture orange everywhere. I myself have a smashing orange hat with orange flowers that promises to be very sweaty on my head. I already had orange clothes as a regular part of my wardrobe. I am not going to the centrum to celebrate, that’s a bit too many people for me. It is also the first Kings Day since before Willem Alexander, it was 100 plus years of queens.

I don’t feel much like writing tonight. I am pretty exhausted emotionally. I think I am going to watch some Netflix with the boys. They got a bath today because George smelled like a sushi roll so they both got a bubble bath. And now they smell delightful.

Rough patch

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I am feeling pretty all over the map right now. I left work early on Friday because the cough was getting far worse and I still had to make it home on Beatrix. It took longer than usual but I made it. As soon as I got home though, I collapsed into bed. I spent the next 48 hours only getting up to feed the pets if absolutely necessary and to drink orange juice. I couldn’t do much else except sleep, sweat, freeze, cough and have nightmares. This is also how I discovered that my tried and true Alka Seltzer cold formula had an expiration date of 2011 and who knew the date would really mean something? I thought I had gotten to the point that I was immune to the Alka Seltzer. It was a really bad 48 hours. I left the door open to the terrace the whole time and every so often would throw the boys of the bed with the instructions to “Go potty” . At least I think that’s what I was telling them.

Sunday afternoon, I realized I was out of food for the boys which meant I would have to get to the store. And I was trying to get myself moving which was really hard because I was sweating up a storm and freezing and getting winded walking to the bathroom. This is when I realized that there are times that not having a partner really sucks in the most practical of ways. If you are someone who has a partner, regardless of all of their annoying points, etc – I am going to bet that you do know that when the shit gets bad, at least you can count on someone to go to the grocery store or walk the pets or just call 911 if it gets really bad. To be fair, I have two amazing dogwalkers so the longest I would have laid undiscovered was another 24 hours until Monday (Kate’s day). But walking a block to get dog food was seriously beyond me. But it needed to be done because your pets don’t understand when they don’t get food. So, with the dogs, I managed to make it to the EkoPlaza to get their food and everything that goes in it. It was a close call, I almost passed out waiting for the cashier. He told me that I didn’t look so good.

When I got home, there was a text. From Renee, our other fabulous dogwalker. She wanted to know if she could take the boys out with her dog because she figured I was probably not with it. What do you say to that? Other than to be grateful that someone would do that and thought of it. I was so relieved. And in ten minutes, she was there to take the boys out and then bring them home good and tired.

I had alot of nightmares. It makes sense since I slept most of the 48 hours, waking up when I was freezing or drowning in sweat. Most of them were about my mom and how I couldn’t find her or I was just missing her a few minutes and in the wrong place. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what they were about. It was really hard.

And today has been better from no more fever now just horrible coughing and nausea. But i have spent alot of the day crying. I also was sorting through some papers today and found alot of cards from my mom. It really really sucks that she’s gone. We’re almost at the year mark of when we were here to place her ashes with Oma.

And it sucks that I am never going to get another birthday card from her or one that she would write on behalf of the boys. And it is so fucking unfair that she is not here. And nothing is going to make that right or convince me that there is a good reason for it.

Back on the Train

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It is early, just past 7:15 and I am on the way to Ede for the Dutch Testing Conference on the train. The sun is steadily climbing and the weather looks like it is going to be much nicer today than it was yesterday! Of course, yesterday was the day I rode 45 kilometers on Beatrix in the rain, hail and an obnoxious as hell head wind. It would have been fine with either rain or headwind. Well, not fine but more manageable but I couldn’t seem to get that to happen. What matters is that I did it and even though by the time I got home last night I resembled someone who had fallen into a swimming pool, there don’t seem to be any ill effects today. Which is good because I will be walking around the conference all day today speed dating over software testing.
 
I am sure you are dying to know how Boy George was… I don’t really have enough words to describe how unbelievably fabulous it was! It was 2.5 hours of delight! He had a ten piece band, no fireworks or costume changes. It was just pure music and interaction with the audience. I really enjoyed myself and I sang along as loudly as everyone else. It is funny, he’s 52 now which is 12 years older than me. It doesn’t seem as drastically old as it did when I was 10. The concert hall was full and people were very enthusiastic. Apparently, he’s got some Dutch fans. I was surprised that no one was dressed up in 80s era Boy George. Slightly disappointed as well, I suppose. Of course, I wasn’t either. I dressed for comfort and height so I could see and not be worried if someone spilled beer on me. Didn’t happen either. I just had a great time dancing and singing and being amazed all over again for the range of his voice. He’s going to the states after this, I would recommend going if you get a chance.
 
We’re just pulling into Utrecht Centraal. No worries, I am not done yet. We have another half hour on the train. It was 55 minutes by train and 52 minutes by car so that was a no brainer.
 
On Saturday I have been invited to dinner in Den Haag at Anna and Trevor’s. Anna was my relocation person assigned for my move to deal with all the registration tasks and finding an apartment, etc. She was also subject to driving Joanne and I around to look at places and generally our chaperone. She kept us firmly in check when we got overly enthusiastic and I think I can speak for both of us when I say that hanging out with her was lots of fun and full of that very important Dutch concept of gezeligheid. We’ve kept in touch and she came to the house warming party. They invited us to dinner but Jo can’t make it so I am going solo which means I will be 50% better behaved than I am when I am with my cousin 😉 And the boys are coming too because they were invited as well. Here in the Netherlands, there seems to be a two week lead time or longer for invitations. Fortunately, I am only half Dutch so I can work with a much shorter lead time like a Tuesday invitation for Saturday!
 
I am hoping to see the Titanic exhibition this weekend. It ends in about six weeks so I would like to check it out.
 
When it gets to be utter crap on Beatrix, I talk myself through by replaying my Mom in my head. She used to talk about how she went on the bike regardless of the weather. There wasn’t another option and I can hear her laughing at the idea that a little rain and headwinds would make someone stop riding the bike. Even when she was sick, she had amazing strength in her legs and the PTs used to comment on it. She would proudly announce that’s because she had spent all those years on the bike. When I was riding home yesterday, in the midst of the rain, across from the runway was a massive rainbow. I kept looking at it until I had to pay attention again to the path because I was wobbling all over the place.
 
Okay, off to try to get my head in the right space for today. Wish me luck with the speed dating!

Keukenhof Gardens

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We didn’t have much sun today. I had plans to go to Keukenhof Gardens with my English friend, Eliza. At the last moment, I checked to see if dogs were welcome and this being the Netherlands, they were! So long as you agreed to keep them leashed and use poop bags. So, we piled into Astrid and headed off to Lisse, where the gardens are. We spent a good three hours strolling through the gardens. I had my mom’s camera and attempted to capture the right pictures. But in reality, I was just snapping away. The gardens are beautiful even though they aren’t in complete full bloom. They are open approximately two months out of the year. The overcast weather didn’t stop people from coming but the crowds were slightly less than if it had been sunny.
 
The boys did very well. Henry found an entire stroopwafel and ate it up before George could even notice. And they really liked the portion of the park that recreated an old fishing area where there were plenty of bits of herring and beenham that people had let spill as they sampled them. And we had some fun moments posing by the oversized klompen, much to the delight of several other tourists who asked if they could take pictures of the boys inside the giant wooden shoes.
 
Tomorrow night is the Boy George concert! I am super excited! Of course, I have to go to work first. Tomorrow starts my mindfulness course. They are offering at work for 8 weeks to help build mindfulness skills. It is good to know that among my colleagues, many of us have to learn this through a training session 😉 smart people need help with things.
 
The boys are snoozing after their mega walk today. No signs of needing Pepto Bismol yet. Although George is snoring pretty heavily. He sounds like he might be talking.
 
My toaster oven was delivered yesterday. Finally, after a month! I tried it out to cook one of my Tofurkey quiches that I brought back from Seattle and it works very well.
 
Friday was the bike commute today. Beatrix and I made the trip in 61 minutes each way. And I had a great time listening to my headphones and singing out loud through the park. It was fun to notice the reactions of the people passing me on their bike while I was singing along to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis at a pretty loud volume and no doubt, off-key. I didn’t notice a large number of birds falling from the sky so I think I can say that no wildlife was harmed during my commute.
 
Mom and I talked about visiting Keukenhof. And I am sorry that we didn’t get a chance to do it. She would have loved all of the gardens. However, I can also hear her clearly commenting on the arrangements of the flowers and how she would have staged them differently. And if she had been there, I wouldn’t have been anywhere near the camera, for sure!
 
 

Belasting

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Belasting. Or as we say in English “Taxes”. I am waiting for my call to do my US taxes tonight. I have the privilege of paying taxes to the Dutch government and the US government every year. And having just added up all the expenses I can document from 2013, I am slightly dreading the outcome of this conversation. The Dutch taxes had to be filed by the 1st of April so that’s out of the way. To recover from my in depth Excel skills, I am having a small glass of wine and listening to the new Boy George album in preparation for Monday’s concert. Henry and George are giving me their tax advice. It seems to consist of sleeping back to back and letting the human worry about every thing. Oh wait, I think they do that all the time 😉
 
I had a really great banjo lesson yesterday. We have moved to up to chords. This means that I am trying to coordinate both hands at the same time. It will take a lot of practice. The hardest part is that I can’t seem to relax my left hand, which I need to do so I can reach the frets in the right places. I know, what is this ridiculous word “relax”? I have a super great teacher, which helps. But I also am starting to get it, which surprises me because I wouldn’t have thought I would be able to make sense of reading music. But they are patterns and I am really good at patterns and discipline. I think composing might be exceptionally difficult for me. Luckily, I have a book of classic banjo tunes. Just you wait and I will be happy to perform them for you…
 
Today marks 23 years since Oma passed. In some ways I can remember it like it was yesterday. I still remember my mom feeding her beets and other nourishing foods in the hospital, trying to get Oma’s strength up and encourage her to go for another day. That’s how I learned to care for my mom, by following her example. I have been thinking a lot about them over the past few days. Partly because you can really smell the manure on the fields since the weather is warming up and I can only imagine what they would be saying. My mom and my Oma could fool you with their ladylike behavior but I really got my oddball sense of humour from them. My Oma is the one who taught me to stand on the sidewalk, in my pretty handmade embroidered dresses, slapping my knees with laughter every time I passed a pile of dog poop on the sidewalk. My mom who would always set me up to catch the blame. Like when we were walking around Green Lake and she tripped over her shoes and promptly and very loudly said “Now why do you have to hit me so hard? Don’t you know I am delicate?” and everyone stopped to look at me in horror. I am lucky no one called Elder Protective Services!
 
In addition to the manure, the cows are back outside and the lambs are everywhere. I drive past these vast green fields and think of how much I would love to walk them with my mom and Oma and the boys. Or passing a smaller farmhouse and hearing my mom say “I could live there, let’s see if it is for sale”. I wear the bracelet that my Oma wore first, then my mom and now me. So, I do carry them everywhere. And I have the name as does Joanne – her’s is in the middle. But all the same, I really miss them both. I hope I can live up to their examples.
 
I have observed an interesting phenomenon in myself. I am starting to lose words in English. Especially when I write. And some times when I am talking, I have to search for the words. Which is not to say that I know them in Dutch either. It is an interesting transition place. Perhaps I won’t be able to communicate at all soon! I will only be able to play banjo and people will have to guess what I am trying to express. That could be alarming.
 
Tomorrow will be time for the bike commute to Schiphol again. I am excited. I especially want to see how much time I save when I don’t go the wrong direction twice and have to double back! I am pushing for 51 minutes. I’ll let you know if I make it in that time.
 
 

Goodbye to outer wear

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I know that spring tends to be a pretty great season anywhere. Especially when you can get out from under the blahs of winter and look forward to daylight. This weekend we went to Daylight Savings Time so I’ll do the math for you. Time difference between here and Seattle, 9 hours. Chicago 7 hours, Charlotte 6 hours. What I like most right now is that the weather is just so pleasant that you are good with a tshirt. No more coats! It is one less thing to fuss with on the bike or to worry about leaving behind on a train.
 
Yesterday I was in Brussels. I failed to my homework and discovered the hard way that Brussels in the French part of Belgium and they don’t really like to speak Dutch. It is not entirely uncommon for them to refuse. Which is ironic because Belgium has two official languages and one of them is Flemish (Dutch). My high school French was not taking me very far. But anyway, the parts I explored were lovely. Like Antwerp, the architecture leans more to the ornate and neo-classical. They do seem to have difficulty measuring things. On the square that is known as the Great Market, there is this fabulously gorgeous building that is asymmetrical. Apparently, during the building of it, they failed to notice that they centered neither the main entryway or the tower above it. When you face the building, you feel like something is off but you can’t put your finger on it. I thought I needed my glasses, I felt like my vision was vaguely distorted. But it was the building and not me. A modern example is that they are renovating their tram system and the new trams they bought after an extended debate about the five different kinds won’t fit the tracks so they are having to tear out the tracks and replace them. The existing track measurement wasn’t a criteria for which of the trams would be chosen. That seems like a pretty critical measurement.
 
I thoroughly enjoyed a great Ethiopian lunch, some divine chocolate and seeing the Manneke Pis statue. Luckily, Barbara speaks enough French that we got around very well. And we finished it off with a glass of wine in a secret garden café hidden behind one of the museums next to the royal palace. And from there, it was back to the train since I had to get home to feed the boys after their long day at the beach with Renee.
 
When it comes to chocolate, the Belgians seriously know what they are doing. I am humbled and amazed by how such a tiny square can taste so fabulous.
 
Tonight I went to the movies. One of my coworkers told me about the Cineville Pas. For 19 euros a month, you can go to as many movies as you like in the theaters that are affiliated with Cineville. It works in Amsterdam, the Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht. They are independent theatres so I can’t use it at the AMC equivalent which is fine by me. The theaters are cool! And since a movie is 9.5 euros per person, it is a great deal! I had to get in another movie this month and I saw “The Grand Budapest Hotel”. I quite liked it. It was entertaining and it was in English! And of course, I was able to get there via bike and back. With this weather, being on the bike is kind of like a mini holiday.
 
Tomorrow, I go to Gouda for work. Wednesday I go to the Hague and Thursday to Utrecht. Friday, I will go to the office which means I will be trying the bike commute again. This time, I know where I am going and I won’t end up by the KLM Maintenance hangars!
 
I know it is just barely April but I am looking forward to August. I am trying to think of what kinds of things I will do on my vacation. August is the vacation month around here so I will go with the flow. Last August I was waiting to be interviewed for the job and getting impatient that no one was available. A good friend said to me “Just think, next August, you’ll be doing the same thing, being on vacation”. That did sort of help with the impatience. I have 5 weeks a year plus the national holidays. I’ll take a week to go to Chicago at the end of April but that still leaves me with four. What to do with that kind of time? A cottage in France, a trip to Denmark and Sweden? Greece, Malta, Portugal? So many choices! I have some time to think about it though 🙂
 
I hope you are experiencing spring too!

Back to normaal

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With the extra A as the Dutch say it. The Nuclear Security Summit is over and all the major traffic routes are operational. Which was a good thing because this afternoon I had to go Den Haag for a customer meeting. Their location is directly across from the US Embassy which was probably not a good place to try to get near during the Summit. From my understanding, most of the center of Den Haag was closed off. However, by this afternoon, we were in good shape.

Tomorrow it is off to Houten, outside of Utrecht. We have approximately 100 of our customers coming to talk about modern software development. I know, that is a topic that you are jumping out of your chairs with enthusiasm to discuss! Well, for this crowd it will be. Having gotten five different meetings out of today’s dress pants, I feel like I can finally send them to the dry cleaners. Tomorrow I will have to wear something different since I was at the office twice today and I can’t get away with it again!

The boys go to the beach on Sunday with Renee and their doggy friends. She takes a group to the beach every couple of months or so. And I am going to Brussels, to catch up with an old colleague from Seattle years ago. She moved to Paris to get her masters from the Sorbonne and then ended up working in Brussels.  I am looking forward to taking the train down and spending the day hanging out with Barbara and seeing the differences between Belgium and the Netherlands.

I have something even more exciting to share. Tonight I found out that Boy George is going to be in the Netherlands a week from Monday. OF course I bought a ticket! He’s performing in Tilburg, which is by Vught and the nuns. Culture Club’s “Colour by Numbers” was the first cassette tape I ever owned. I was 9. I have been a Boy George fan ever since. When we were living in New York, Lawyerella and I went to see “Taboo” on Broadway which was the biography of Culture Club. Boy George was in it but not as himself and I think it only ran a week. That’s the closest I have ever been to seeing him live. That is about to change. I am so Excited!!!

I remember having all of these enormous Boy George posters in my room. And one time, I was smarting off to my mom and I just pushed her beyond her limits and she tore my posters down. That was declaration of war. I wanted to look like Boy George. All my friends were into Duran Duran but they were just too pretty and normal looking for me. I was already a weirdo 🙂 You might get why my mom would sometimes say that she hoped I would have kids just like me… of course, the steady streak of non conformist that each of us has comes from my mom. We didn’t always disagree about music. I remember her also telling me that “the Ramones were like the Beatles of my generation” and she could understand why I liked them so much. She was also the only mom who would drive me and my friends to Ramones concerts and wait for hours for us to be done. And to really get into the spirit of things, she would have made signs on poster board for the windows of the VW vanagon saying “Ramones or Bust” “Follow me to the Ramones” etc. In other words, my mom was hella cool. I just didn’t get it until I got a lot smarter, past my 20th birthday.

That’s who George is named after, Boy George. Henry is named after Henry Rollins. You could say that they are named after the two men that I admire most and who shaped my attitudes. I think it would be really cool to have dinner with both of them at the same table. Unlikely to happen in my life but cool all the same.