...and also the doggies....

The inventions of the iPad the iPhone & FaceTime have really improved our ability to stay in touch with the kids' grandmamommy, grandpadaddy (my parents) and grandpajerry (Bryan's dad).  It is so nice just to see their smiling faces & hear their voices... technology amazement!

OK seriously...everyone asks me "WHAT do you do all day!?!"  Not having Vegas markets, client meetings, load-in days & invoices to keep me busy here in Amsterdam, I was recently wondering the same thing myself! 

Well, here goes: while the kids are in school (besides the work outs, the ironing, the food-getting & the delicous coffee) there's the school field trips we can chaperone, (Bryan & I have each attended one) the lunches out with the other moms & dads from school, (Bryan has joined me at least twice now) as well as educational trips & classes (drawing class starts soon) that have been keeping the grown-ups quite busy.  I am also going to an open day at a photography school in March where I might soon get to take classes.  When the weather is agreeable, we also spend a lot of time biking around exploring, checking out the outdoor flea/food/artisan markets, taking photos & trying to see every museum, street & canal in this gorgeous city. 

Once we pick the kids up from school, there's quite a bit of time spent either waiting for the other one to get out of their after-school activity, (at the cafe across from school) doing homework, knitting, reading & of course messing around on computers...  We only have about 2 English-speaking channels on TV so when we turn it on, it is BBC or TLC.  Needless to say, we were happy when the Olympics started so we could trade wedding dress shows for speed skating!!

When we are not all cozy up in our warm apartment on a cold night, we sometimes get dinner at a favorite Italian restaurant or walk over to the nearby pub/cafe for bitterballen, fries & a game of Scrabble.  It is all very gezellig which is basically a Dutch word for cozy... we are certainly getting in A LOT of family bonding time!!  Sometimes, I think there is too much close-quarters bonding & if it was going to be for more than a year, we would have to get a bigger place with a room for each sibling.  But for now, they are learning how to share & make space for each other... a crucial life skill that will serve them well with their college roommate!

So this week we are lucky enough to have Bryan back here with us & we all seem to get along a lot better when he is here to share in the nagging I mean parenting.  😉 It is so nice to have him here & the kids are happily showing him around, impressing him with their orientation around town, their biking expertise, Kai's karate form, Sabrina's improved organizational skills & their growing Dutch vocabulary!!  Truth be told, Bryan, yes the one who spends half his time in the USA, is the one with the largest Dutch vocabulary!  We are very proud of our studious family member who works hard at everything he does & is able to order his meals entirely in this country's mother tongue.While on the other hand, I'm living here & still struggling...😙

We are going to Greece for a week on Saturday & we are all so excited to go check out some of the things we have read about.  Check out the short reports Kai & Sabrina have researched on Athens & Santorini, where we will be spending the majority of our time.  Following the trip, we can add more facts & sites as well as some beautiful pictures!  I know it won't be bikini weather but we will really love to soak up the sun & see the sites when Greece is not completely crowded.

Signing off for now... if you are interested in learning more about anything in particular that we are experiencing, please leave a question or a comment so I can write about your topic!!  I am so grateful that people still continue to tell us that they enjoy our blog!!  I feel it is something we will visit in the future & find funny to read, wonderful to remember exactly what we went thru during that wonderful year abroad.👍

-- Thursday, January 9, 2014 --

January is always the beginning of a new chapter... for everybody.  Nothing new here...nothing to see, move along... ok, um no?  You have nothing else going on today so you are going to keep reading?  Alrighty then!  I thank you & applaud your tenacity.

I have had this page of the book (the book that might be titled: "THE YEAR of ADVENTURE: A Field Test of Luggage Wheels") set up nice and blank for a while now.  I have held some expectations about what might occur for certain segments of this ride but I knew once I got past the landmark holiday trip (check out Sabrina's blog post for a play-by-play of the "Raydon Family Christmas Cruise"), things were going to be a bit loosey-goosey. 

The first weeks here were clearly the "settle-in" weeks.  The first months were "meet some people & find your way around" weeks.  I had small tasks with clear deadlines like booking travel, absorbing local culture, keeping the kids in food & school uniforms, jumping through bureaucratic hoops.  (BTW, I still have some daily fun with Google translate & trying to make sense of the mail I receive... including the return of a couple bills I tried to pay last month!  I still have no idea why they were returned & what I did wrong??) 

I have now been a resident (with a pending status! and a passport sticker!!) for four months and I am feeling really comfortable & confident.  It is time to do SOMETHING*!

*...anyone have any ideas?

Wait, ideas are not what I'm lacking!!!  I'm always inspired!  I love to draw & paint! I love photography! I checked into classes at the Fashion Institute! (yikes! pricey...)  I've earmarked flyers & bookmarked webpages for all kinds of shows, exhibits, classes, cooking series, meet-ups, sport teams, wine tastings, climbing events, film festivals, you name it!!  I visit all the art galleries & have met a lot of local knitters & crafts-people!  Ideas are running amok  inside my feeble head...I'm even considering making my own personal laminated signs to keep the Dutch from letting their dogs poop all over the neighborhood.  (Wow, seriously... what is that all about!?)  I'm in that mode of 'analysis paralysis' trying to decide on what to focus.  Well, for sure the focus is the kids & their experience here but when they are in school I can't simply iron clothes & run in the park ...I need to do more lest I become dull, dazed & disoriented when I return to the U.S.A.

SO!  Where does that leave us, dear reader?  I'm having a really self-indulgent moment (afterall, I was treated like a princess yesterday for my birthday so perhaps I'm getting rather self-absorbed!!) and will sit & ponder my next steps.  Bryan & I discussed my work & what I should be doing when I get back to the states this summer.... I think we have some ideas which will keep me super busy & will help out his company.  So I only have about 7 months for whatever it is that I latch onto!!  I'm sort of tired right now from the photos I've been editing & the blogging Sabrina & I have been doing so for now, let it be known I'm going to watch Homeland & veg out until I pass out.

Again, many thanks those of you still with us on this adventure!! It has been spectacular & I'm getting sad that we are closing in on the half-way mark!!!!

until next time... or if I have an epiphany, sooner!!!

🙃