Goodbye, 2017

This past week was not quite what we expected. It started out well though. Had a really fun Christmas with great presents and delicious food. As the sore throats and runny noses started to get better, Amélie spilled a hot cup of tea all over herself. They sent a couple ambulances our way and even scrambled a helicopter. Naomi cooled the burns down right away, so the damage wasn't too bad in the end. After some treatment at the hospital in Zwolle I went to pick them up. We had a nice time with my parents although we tried to eat at the castle again and it was closed! Yesterday I got to play squash for the first time in a while, so that was fun. Hopefully it will become a more regular thing again...

This has not been the year we had expected either. I lost a job, lost a kidney, and lost the chance to do a lot of the things I had planned on doing. Naomi has had a rough time dealing with some of her issues. The house has been coming along, but not nearly as quickly as we had hoped. We got a great car. I am happy with my new job. My business has slowly been gaining momentum. Even tried playing soccer for a bit. Abigail and Amélie are growing up so quickly! Happy and healthy girls. At the end of it all, our plans have just been postponed by a year. We hope 2018 will be full of the rest and fun we had anticipated for 2017!

Christmas morning.

Not our idea of the trip to Zwolle we had been planning.

Beautiful hospital in Zwolle.

Opening up a fancy bottle of wine for Christmas.

Another failed attempt to explore the castle.

Happy Grandpa.

The last story. 

Second Christmas from Aunt Kalia and Uncle Joshua.

New Beds

I didn't get a chance to write this morning because Claire is sleeping in this room, and she didn't really get out of bed before mid-afternoon. She is sick. Mom has been really sick. Naomi is sick. Amélie had a double ear infection. Abigail and I have had a cold too. Even Dad had a runny nose! That is like anyone else getting pneumonia!

In spite of all that, we had a really productive day yesterday. Dad and I finished up making the beds for the girls. They were done right before dinner. Mom and Naomi put together some blankets using some wool ones we got from Naomi's mom. The girls were really excited! They did have a bit of trouble sleeping last night though. Being so high up made Amélie a bit nervous.

School went well this week. Naomi was able to arrange things so that she will be teaching less now, freeing up some time for a bit of therapy. She is getting better already, but isn't out of the woods yet. I had a really nice couple days. It helps a lot to be a part of such a nice school now!

Time to wrap up a few presents and get the girls to sleep. I am in a bit of a hurry since Mom made two pumpkin pies that are cooling down right now!!

Watching Sesame Street.

The last night in the old beds.

First night in the new beds!

Helping Grandma make the pies.

Dancing to Christmas music by the fire.

More Snow!!

We got a massive amount of snow (by Dutch standards) this week. Lots of fun! Luckily, it didn't interfere with travel plans, although Naomi did get to stay home on Monday. On Tuesday it took a while for me to brush off the car though!

My parents made it without any trouble. We have been having a nice time so far. Slogged through the rain and slush on Wednesday to pick out a really heavy Christmas tree. Luckily nobody slipped on the ice. For some reason, they still had a few roots and mud in a bucket. It turned out nicely though!

Started on the bed project for the girls. Hopefully it can be finished up on Friday. Even got the coolest light for them! It will be a dream come true for Amélie! Lots of buttons to push...

Claire also made good time last night. He snow tires slowed her down though. The sun actually came out yesterday. It comes through the front window and hits the back garden wall of our house! Strange to see blue skies again...

A chance to try out the snow gear!

Our snowman collapsed after a few hours in the rain.

Lots of work to get to work!

Naomi found a sled to borrow.

Snow!

Never expected it this early, but we got some snow! The girls had a lot of fun with a little snowball fight yesterday, and I managed to avoid beaming Amélie in the eye this time. They both warned me not to do it again! Now there is a big storm marching across from England. Some parts of the Netherlands are supposed to get 6 inches, which is rather unheard of here. The whole country will shut down.

We had another nice week with Susan, apart from everyone being sick. She was supposed to head out today, but not sure if she will be able to travel with the storm...

I have a meeting this afternoon with some nice new neighbors we have - they just rebuilt their house and are looking for some new furniture. Hopefully I can help them out!

Unwrapping their new mattresses - Grandpa and I promised them a bed.

Too tired to stand in the kitchen - still made a yummy supper though!

The first taste of snow.

Christmas present to ourselves.

Susan

We have a friend staying with us this week. Fun to have her here! The girls took a little while to accept her, but now that they have, they are happy too! Now they finally call her 'Susan' instead of 'somebody'.

We had a nice dinner last night in Epe and ordered some new pans for the kitchen. Seems like we found a nice deal - almost half off the individual sticker price! About time, as our current ones are held together with electrical tape...

I finished up a bed project that was started a year ago. Now that it is done, the boys brother is really jealous, so the next one will have to happen pretty quickly!

Ready for Sinterklaas and his horse!

Making a Christmas present for Mommy!

It was a cold walk into town for groceries yesterday.

The bed.

Happy Thanksgiving!

One of my students reminded me on Thursday that it was Thanksgiving. I had forgotten! We did celebrate yesterday though with Clifton and Karmen. The turkey looked more like a chicken, but we had a really nice time. The girls actually had pretty good manners at the table!

I finished up a couple of things in the workshop this week, so it is nice and clean. Always a relief. Tomorrow, I will try to get the bed put together. Hopefully it works...

Today it is rainy and cold, so we will probably light a fire and just hang around the house. Seems like everyone could use a day of rest.

Thanksgiving Dinner

The Return of Sinterklaas

Racism returns for another round. There is still a bit debate about whether or not the Dutch version of Santa is a racist tradition. He comes on a steamboat from Spain, surrounded by a bunch of little people with faces that are painted black. They help him to do his work and make lots of mistakes. They all have the same name - Black Piet. And yet, according to many Dutch people, there is nothing racist about it...

The entourage came to our village last night. Abigail was pretty scared, but she did alright. We lost her scarf though - that brought more than a few tears. Amélie wanted to stay longer.

I made good progress at both jobs this week. The bed for Hessel should be finished up on Monday if all goes well. I managed to finish all my school work without a problem, unlike the week before. We also have the only free weekend in about a month, so Naomi is busy with grading, of course. Should be a nice morning for a walk to the Bosrand...thinking more and more about buying one of those...

Car nap on the way back from Oma's 97th birthday. 

The Piet's taking care of Sinterklaas's white horse.

Music getting louder...

Loud music. Lots of people.

November Stress

November is the worst month of the year for teaching. I had forgotten that, but starting up again at the beginning of the worst month reminded me. Everyone is stressed out, lots of extras to do, no light at the end of the tunnel. Christmas is still a fairy tale. It is good to be back though. I am pushed to the limit of what I can get done in two days, but I am staying afloat for now.

I am expected to have a lot of things figured out by now since I was supposed to be working since the beginning of the year, but in reality, I am just starting. The 'figuring things out' period is over, and now the extra tasks come. That means a lot of extra work for me, but it is manageable. Luckily I have had to do this before, and I am a quick learner.

Naomi got the girls all dressed up for winter this week. Abigail loves her scarf! A couple days ago Amélie hit her head really hard on the front door, and when we tried to wake her up at night to see if she was ok, she didn't seem ok. So Naomi took her to the hospital. The doctor said she was fine, and she seems fine now, but it made us a bit nervous. I have a suspicion that this won't be the last time Amélie gets a big bump on the head...

Ready for the cold!

Full Time +

This week was the first time I have worked a normal week since the kidney problems. In fact, I had a couple extra hours added onto my schedule, at least until Christmas, so things will be a bit busier than 'normal'. It went really well at school though. I still have yet to hear much complaining - teachers just seem to do what is expected of them, and they expect a lot at this school. Strange to be in such a positive environment!

The downstairs toilet broke this week, and I tried to fix it, but it was just too cheap. So I found out that you could just buy a new tank and so we did! I was able to install it yesterday and what an improvement! We decided to leave the sink alone though. It looks ugly, but I don't think replacing it will be so easy. Luckily, most things lined up with the new tank.

Amélie was the one who got sick this week at daycare. Stomach trouble. So once again, I had to stop early with work to pick her up. This time Abigail stayed behind though because she was playing in a different area and didn't see me. She wasn't so happy about later on, but she was having a lot of fun and I didn't want to interfere. By the time we got home Amélie was feeling much better though, and now she is fine. The girls have been playing really nicely!

Carving pumpkins for Halloween!

Amélie's

Mine

Abigail's

Musical Chairs

This week has been a pretty good one. We were able to get back into a normal routine. I started working at school again, although I won't see my students until this coming week as they were in London. Nice to have the time to catch up on grading, prepping, and talking with some colleagues. Of course it all took longer than expected.

We picked up a couple new chairs at Staples this week, so now I am a bit more comfortable as I type this message. Another load to the second hand shop. Good to be clearing more things out!

Last night we enjoyed dinner with some friends for whom I just finished up a project. It was stretched out due to those kidney issues, so it is nice to have it finished. They were pleased with the final result! Should be making some good progress this week with Claire's liquor cabinet...