Evi Jo

The big news of the week is that Kalia had her baby. Just before Grandma and Grandpa got there! Almost perfect timing. They all seem to be doing well, but we will hear more tonight.

I have to work this afternoon, a recruitment gimmick, so that is annoying. I will see if the girls are up for coming along. They have been wanting to see my school. Naomi is still sick (and so am I) so she would like a quiet afternoon.

It has been a really stormy week. Last weekend we were nervous that trees and branches would snap off and fall on our heads when walking back from the Bosrand. This weekend is not a whole lot different, although the main line of thunder and lightning should be missing us this morning anyway.

This week I also discovered Google Earth Pro, and have been planning out options for the land we bought near Marquette. It is rather addictive.

Evi Jo

Fun with Friends.

Spring flowers - yes, those are rhododendron already!

Springtime

Normally, if the flowers come up in January or the beginning of February I would say that they are confused, and it will usually get cold and snowy later on in the Winter. This time, I think it really is spring. I think this will be a winter with only a handful of nights dipping below freezing and not one single day. Not a trace of snow. Too bad. Nice to start spring a month ahead of schedule though!

Abigail got to go to a birthday party yesterday. Amélie watched a show about competitive cheerleading with us, as that is the direction her acrogym will take if she sticks with it as she gets older. She thought it was pretty interesting. Next weekend the girls will start with their swimming lessons. 100 euro/month until they get their diploma. Probably takes a year and a half. Ouch.

I sealed up the bathroom ceiling with some hardwood this week. It was just open to the outside apart form some thin strips of insulation that were not even secured. Stupid 70s construction. Hopefully those critters don't find another way in!

Spring is here!

Wrapping Up

Feels like this week was about finishing up a lot of little things that have been going on for a while. Organized the cellar, finished a good book, did some testing at school, got the latest cold mostly out of my system, etc. The car is even clean.

Yesterday while Amélie was at a birthday party, Abigail and I went to the skate park. On the first of February. She was comfortable in a sweat shirt and the sun was shining. So warm. We had a lot of fun, and she surprised me by being able to run and then climb up to the top of the half pipe all on her own. Didn't think she could do that yet.

I started putting together a book sourced from lots of different websites about some of the knowledge we will need to live off the grid near Marquette. Hopefully I can have the first edition printed off before the summer holiday so that I can bring a copy to the States. That is, assuming the airports are still functioning. Who knows what this latest virus will do...

Great book!

The birthday party Amélie went to yesterday.

Relaxer

This week I had a bit of time to rest. Still recruited a couple to help out with our business - a sculptor who will give a couple workshops and her husband is a teacher at my school and he will play the part of tour guide for Zutphen. Everything else seems to be a bit on hold with this new virus...

On Monday I didn't have to work because of the open day last weekend, so I could take care of the girls. That worked out well, because Naomi had her open day on Thursday, so we could just shift over the daycare.

Abigail's best friend is going to join her at dance lessons, so she is really happy about that. We will figure out how to get Amélie into acrogym at some point.

Abigail playing at her best friend's house.

Hard Work

This week has been a busy one. Got the proposed agenda for our first tour put together and translated along with our CVs. They will be sent to China in a day or two so that we can get an idea of how many students are interested.

I also had to work yesterday at the school's open day. Not fun. But the nice thing is that we get Monday off, so I can work a bit more on the website. Nice to be building something!

Abigail had her best friend come to dance lessons on Wednesday. They had a blast together. Amélie got to try out acrogym again yesterday and she likes it a lot. She got lifted up onto someones shoulders and thrown in the air. I guess they like her because she is so tiny and strong. It will be really good for her to be a part of a team sport if we can get the timing to work out!

College Tours International

Not sure if that is the final name yet, but we have been working hard this week setting up our new business. If you have any other name suggestions let me know! I have been making connections and arrangements with my school to take part in an exchange that we want to set up while Quing has been working on her contacts in China to make things happen there. We have also been building a program and I have made a little start on the website. Naomi would like to work a day less next year, and if this thing works out, she would like to quit her teaching job altogether. We shall see what happens.

The girls had a fun week. It seems like two weeks ago was vacation. On Friday, Abigail had two friends over and Amélie went to a friends house. On Friday night, Abigail went to a disco with her dance class while Amélie happily went to sleep. Then on Saturday morning Amélie tried out some acrogym -a combination of gymnastics and acrobatics. Kind of a team sport. We would like to get her into it if the timing works out. Maybe next year it will.

Yesterday we also went to the forest. We should do that more often. Naomi got some rollerblades from a neighbor that she tried out. Yes, rollerblading in January. We haven't even had a frost at night in quite some time. It will stay above freezing for the next week or so at least. Amélie rode alongside mommy and they even found a big hill. Abigail and I walked through the woods. She doesn't know how to stop talking!

Not Enough!

We sure could use more vacation time. I am definitely not ready to go back to school tomorrow! Amélie says she isn't either, but Abigail wants to see her friends again. For the girls, it is about time. We had a really good week together. Played some games, got plenty of things done, even rested a little bit.

Yesterday we went to Leiden to visit one of my former students from Rotterdam and her parents. Her mom is Chinese, a tax lawyer who quit her job a few months ago. She is thinking about starting up her own businesses now, and one idea she has is to bring groups of Chinese students here who want to study in the West to give them a feel for what life would be like. She wants Naomi and I to give them some lessons so that they can see how different school would be. Hopefully we can give it a try some time this year, and if things work out, it sure would be a nice boost to our incomes!

The girls learned a little bit about computers this week. I gave them a short explanation of how some of the keys worked on a keyboard (shift, delete, return, space) and from that they started typing sentences. Pretty fun to see! Here is Abigail's first email; she sent it to Grandpa:

Abigail types: FRAM DADDY YOU AR GRAF Too GrampA SED WITH DLEPTAP I MAN DADDYZ LAPTAP EN I DNO SAMBATINS ANDU

Translation: From Daddy. You are a giraffe. To Grandpa. Sent with the laptop. I mean Daddy's laptop and I do know some buttons to do.

Abigail drew her seal, again. They both love to draw!