An Easy Week

Two of my classes were in Bath, England this week, so I had a pretty relaxed time at school. I was able to work ahead a little and spend more time at home. The sun was shining a lot so I even had a chance to make some progress on the chest! On Thursday we were able to see the babies again...everything is still going well.

Friday night we had a big volleyball tournament. There were 15 or 20 teams of teachers from all sorts of different schools in the area. Our original 8 turned into 5 as some people cancelled (which is good as far as I am concerned), and we ended up winning the whole thing! Makes sense I suppose as 4 of us had played a decent amount before, and many of the other teams had teachers who hadn't - even though they had nice uniforms and everything. Now we have a trophy to put in the case!

On Saturday morning we drove to the cottage. The first thing we did was to pack the seatless car full with stuff and drop it off ant the second hand shop. They were really happy with it. We also ran into Naomi's cousin there which was fun. We got some things sorted out and also enjoyed the beautiful weather.

This week will be a short one at school - we have Thursday and Friday off for Ascension day. Hopefully we will be able to meet up with Claire in France. We are looking at a place in Metz...

Week 23

Back to School

This week ended well because two of the big issues I have been dealing with (bad Internet and bad counselor) were addressed, so I feel much better. Next week two of my classes will be traveling to Bath in England, so things will be a bit quieter. This is the first time all year where I have felt really caught up on my school work, that I didn't have much on the horizon that needed to be done. We will see how long that lasts...

Work at home and the cottage is the total opposite. There are a million things that I want to do and not nearly enough time. I guess that is another good reason to stay here this summer. We did some much needed gardening this week, went out for an anniversary dinner, and saw some friends and family. Today it is a beautiful day and there is lots to be done, so I should probably get started with heating up some pancakes for Naomi.

Week 22 - her fuzzy sweatpants stopped fitting her along with some of her maternity clothing...

Vacation Over

Over the course of these last two weeks we had about the worst weather possible. The sun only came out two days and the last few have been really windy and rainy. So much so that most of my tomato plants have been eaten by slugs or damaged by hail. I guess I planted them too early.

This morning I did something I haven't done in years - slept past noon. Strange. I guess my body figured it was the last possible moment to get some rest for awhile.

We got so much done at the cottage. The mess has been sequestered to areas where we can shut the door, and things are now more livable. Friday night we had a nice dinner at Hans and Erna's house - Naomi's aunt and uncle.

The list of things to do that we made two weeks ago is only about half done, but we didn't get much time to rest. Good thing we had two weeks off - it was much needed!

Week 21

The Cottage

We have been here in Goor since Monday. It has not been a vacation. There is so much to sort through and get rid of that I hit my limit yesterday. I told Naomi that if I see one more plastic bag I will need to set it on fire or something. I started on the shed and it is a nightmare. After taking away two carloads (with the back seats removed) worth of junk it looks like I haven't even made a dent yet.

I guess it is time to back off a bit, as Naomi's Aunt Erna suggested, and save some for later. Time to enjoy the vacation a bit. It wasn't all bad either. We are setting up a little online store which is kind of fun. It is also a bit of a treasure hunt - never quite sure what you might find. One of the most surprising things I found was a brand new, unopened, Miele vacuum cleaner. Must be the only time that the outside of the box matches the inside.

Today is Naomi's birthday party. The weather says it won't rain, but right now it is cloudy and overcast. Hopefully we will still have a nice time, even though one of the main reasons to have it here was to sit out on the patio. I guess we used up our week's allotment of sunshine yesterday. Tomorrow we head back to Rotterdam, and I am looking forward to it.

I started writing a bit again...nice to get back into it.

A few crisp syllables of Italian reached his ears and without hesitation he grasped the handle fully although a part of him half expected to feel a searing pain. The door opened before him and he was greeted with a billowing cloud of smoke. His eyes instantly blurred and after some of the relatively fresh hallway air cleared the smoke, he took in a scene that put him instantly at ease.

A small voice in the back of his head had been constantly wondering what was leading him to this place, but once Jack saw the poker table before him he figured that on some subconscious level he was searching for a card came. The voice wasn’t appeased for long...

Week 20

It might not look like much progress...but it took ages. 

20 Weeks

On Wednesday I also got to go to the Zoo (which is right across the street from our school) with a few classes and a nice group of teachers. It is quite a nice Zoo, and we had a lot of fun.

We had our big 20 Week Ultrasound on Friday. My school was nice enough to give me the whole day off - but then I couldn't have done much teaching anyway as we were at the hospital from 10 - after 1. The ultrasound itself took an hour and they did all sorts of tests and measurements - everything was normal (by Dutch standards) for both babies. Enjoy the videos...we sure did!

Yesterday was the first King's Day, a national holiday to celebrate the new King's birthday, and part of this holiday involves all sorts of people going to the street to sell their old things. We ended up getting two car seats, a bouncy seat for the floor, and a pile of baby clothes all for less than 20 Euros. Quite the deal. Hopefully we will be able to track down some more things during our much needed Holiday (we have the next two weeks off).

The Bird Show - with the butterfly dome in the background.

Inside the butterfly dome.

Week 18

Week 19

A Growing Belly

This week at school was one of the most difficult of the year. By Wednesday I was so exhausted that I felt as if I had a massive hangover. I almost came home early, but fortunately my Intern was able to help me out. He is a pleasure to work with - too bad his stint will end next week.

It is great to have a three day weekend - Monday we have off - I have been wishing for one of these for awhile! Tomorrow I should be able to make more progress on the Chest. Claire joined us for Easter on her way back to the States while she waits on her work permit in Switzerland. She is a pleasure to have around and is enjoying her time in Europe.

We came to the Cottage on Friday, took care of some things Saturday and did some mountain biking - actually found some hills here that I couldn't get up! Today I finally got the kitchen light installed.  A three day project. Incredible. It should be a matter of hooking up some wires after drilling a few holes, but I had to exhaust myself more than I do at the gym to get that thing up there. It looks great now, though!

In the past couple days Naomi has been able to feel the babies moving a lot. She is lying here now describing the kicks. I even saw the kicking through the skin on Friday - in a few months it will look like a scene from Alien. We have been taking a picture every week to show how her belly has been changing. It is going much faster than average for her - the combination of a small frame and the Twins.

Week 9

Week 10

Week 11

Week 12

Week 13

Week 14

Week 15

Week 16

Week 17

Bulb City

This week was uneventful at school. A lot happened outside of school though! I realized that in order to make the seats/lids of the chest I would need to make a router table. So I did. It turned out quite nicely, although it isn't quite finished - just need to get a couple hinges and a latch for it. I figured while I was at it that a new workbench was in order, so now I have a much improved place to work too!

Today we got up a bit early and went to the Disneyland of gardens. It is called the Keukenhof, located in the middle of a bunch of Tulip fields, and feels like you are coming into a theme park. The crowds certainly aren't much different - but it was worth fighting them.

We got lucky with the sunshine and took lots of pictures. The crowds got to us after awhile though, and we headed over to Amsterdam for Naomi's Dad's 70th birthday party. He has been working on making his apartment livable for the last couple years and finished it just in time for this event. It gave him something to work toward. Finally!

New Workbench.

Router Table.

The Keukenhof (and a couple of the surrounding tulip fields).