i-130

We took the first big step toward getting a green card for Naomi this week! Spent about 6 hours filling out form i-130. Nice that it is possible to do online, though! Set us back about 550 dollars, but hopefully we did a good enough job. My move to the NL was so much easier and cheaper in comparison!

The girls had a rather normal week. Amélie is really enjoying school. Abigail finds it too easy and a bit boring. This was also the last week of masks and social distancing. Everything back to normal for the most part, just need to show proof of vaccination to enter certain places. 

I was able to make a deal with a colleague who is willing to edit my novel with me. Very excited about that! I want to finish the editing phase within a year, and then move on to self-publishing. I don't expect it to go anywhere, but it will be really nice to have the project finished before leaving the NL. 

Amélie has been making nice lunches and fruit salads this week.

Rusty Stainless Steel

 Our silverware, the knives in particular, have been rusting out for a while. We made an appointment with this mostly online shop in Amersfoort to see what they had in person. Apparently the kitchen stores are closing down as people aren't really investing in their kitchens anymore. The guy was really helpful and it was great to check everything out. We ended up buying what we liked to begin with, but it was very expensive. We are really happy with it though - makes eating much more enjoyable. Now our plates are looking pretty rough...

I have been making progress on the website and with opening up a financial pipeline from China to the US. The Dutch pipeline as at capacity from a tax standpoint. Long list of things to do on the computer, but it feels good to make progress on this one. Hopefully we will be able to find some students in countries outside of China. 

It was a strange school week. Monday the girls class was cancelled as there was Covid. For one day. Not sure what the point of a 1 day quarantine is, but okay. Then Wednesday the teachers had an inservice, so I took the girls to the zoo. Friday they were too sick to go to school, so they stayed home. They only had two days of school this week and I only had one! 

Silly outfits.

The exact center of the NL in Amersfoort.

Nice old city.

Tasty lunch place!

The new silverware. 

Thunderstorms

 Our beautiful sunny stretch of weather was broken up on Friday by some big storms that rolled through. Things are back to the cloudy, rainy norm. At least the sawdust bricks were mostly dry before I had to bring them in. Hopefully they don't get too moldy! The house is very humid. 

Naomi started her crazy diet this week. It has actually been going better than expected. She already notices some positive results - sleeping better, shoulder less painful, more energy, etc. Some of the food she came up with so far is quite tasty, so she is also happy to explore different kinds of food that she wouldn't have tried otherwise. It is a lot of extra work though!

We made some plans this week to try and expand the online teaching business outside of China as their new rules are making things difficult for us. To help with that, we took on a new partner. She has been teaching for us for a few months now, but has a marketing background, and seems pretty enthusiastic about the project. Not sure if it will go anywhere, but it is worth a try. 

We went on a nice hike last Sunday.

Lots of spider webs!

A pathetic year for the gardens. 

Naomi and Amélie went to the beach.

Sawdust Bricks

We lucked out with the weather so far! Great summer weather in the States while it was cold and rainy in the NL, and now that we are back it has been a nice stretch of beautifully dry fall days. Too late for the tomatoes, but just in time to make some sawdust bricks out of the sawdust I have collected throughout the past year in the workshop. Even the girls had fun helping out. They sure can do a lot more now!

The girls have also been settling back into school. The transition has been a whole lot smoother than last year thus far. They have also really been enjoying playing at the school after hours. Yesterday they were there for over three hours. Glad we live so nearby. 

Our first week of teaching went as well as can be expected. My schedule is pretty relaxed this year as I went down to 2.5 days instead of 3 per week. They even managed to schedule everything in on two days instead of the three that were expected, so that is really nice. Hopefully we can figure out the extra lessons for the girls - choices between different kinds of dance lessons, different kinds of gymnastics, scheduling problems, swimming lessons, etc. Big puzzle!

Great helpers!

First day of school.