random bits #1

today's post has no main theme - no catchy bits or attempts at comedy. just some musings from the past week that really don't fit anywhere else.

this week was actually a bit on the dull side - both kids were ill with fevers on different days so we had 2 days where we pretty much did nothing. we went back to the library on tuesday for storytime but had to leave as soon as it was over because naomi was lethargic and clearly needed to be in bed. we did manage to get some good new books include Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, which david is just in love with. oh, and i love the library's book check in system in which you slide a book into a conveyor belt and it scans it and then it disappears. and since we left early we didn't get to sample the cafe's offering.. oh well, next week.

the weather has been pretty warm but very wet. there was one day that would have been perfect for a canal tour that we had planned but illness kept us from doing that.

i went to another playdate - mostly dutch women who were all friendly and welcoming. we biked there in the rain and i almost dumped the bike making too sharp of a turn. we biked through vondel park afterward and i know we will be going there a lot more when the weather is dryer.

mike is on his way back here now - taking a night train from dresden. i couldnt hear him well on the phone but i did get that he was really really glad to have a first class sleeper cabin because he could not imagine what a second class cabin would be like. i saw on CNN that the dresden area is refered to as 'silicon saxony' due to the number of semiconductor facilities it had. just thought i would share that little info nugget with you.

i have been keeping up on LOST and American Idol due to my speedy internet connection!

a very large boat docked across the canal from us. just the other day i was looking at the empty space and wondering why there was no boat there. i am not sure how the spaces are doled out - sold? rented? but not 24 hours after wondering i saw them docking this very large boat that had 3 kids in it. hmmm, potential playmates for mine? we shall see.

i am still totally in love with this houseboat. it is so pleasant and peaceful to be in and has everything we need. the kids love feeding the ducks that come to our window. i like watching the flow of the canal change direction as the tide changes. i like how in the middle of the night the water is completely calm and like glass. i love the simplicity of basically a single rectangle with 2 partitions for bedrooms. i like the little bridge, just 1 boat over, that is all lit up. however, i am looking forward to being able to take a stand up shower again.

my coffee consumption has increased 2 fold.. i know, that isn't very good for me but my coffee making system here produces awesome coffee and i just can't seem to stop drinking it. but i wonder how much caffeine i am really taking in because i had 2 cups in the afternoon and then promptly took a short nap while cuddling with the kids.

i am looking into a conversational dutch tutor. you can get by on zero dutch here - not even pleasantries in a restaurant so if i am going to pick up any it will have to be with a class or tutor.

i read in another blog that the dutch like clean windows so i cleaned the exterior of most of the windows. i have to say, they look quite nice. david was watching people cleaning windows on the 4th story of a building with a massive hose on a pole and declared he wanted to be a window washer when he grew up. aim high kid, aim high.

weather

it rains here a lot. enough said?

for the love of god, why is everything so small??

pictured here is a coffee cup (left) and what i am currently drinking my coffee out of (right). the object on the right is a bowl. the spoon is their version of a teaspoon, and i suppose if you use those tiny cups it fits well. i added the standard fork in the picture for size comparison.

my front loading washing machine, which i am completely grateful for and does a wonderful job getting our clothes fresh and clean, is approximately 8.5 inches deep. i don't think i can put more than 2 full sized towels in it.

my refrigerator, an under the counter style and slightly larger than a dorm fridge, is also pictured. here you see it fully stocked which will only last a few days. we have been to the market frequently!

milk is sold by the liter which is a couple drops more than a quart. at home i typically buy multiple gallons of milk during any given shopping trip.

they have the tiniest cars here - lots of smart cars and some even smaller than that! i have seen cars with only 3 wheels, too.

i guess this is just the american in me - marveling at how quaint and cute but sometimes frustrating everything is in miniature. growing up with larger than life grocery stores, homes, and other simple necessities is certainly the american way. but honestly my fridge is big enough for what i need, the washing machine does it job in a very small space, and i have a bowl to drink my coffee from. what else do i need?

playdates and such

we are nearing the end of our second week here and we are getting more mobile andadventurous. on wednesday we had a playdate that i found via an ex-pat facebook site. it was a 3 minute bike ride from our house, located in a cute church on the most adorable little canal street. there were 3 other moms there - one from vancouver, one from england, and one from portugal. i forewarned the kids that they would likely be the oldest kids there since almost all kids their age are in school. and sure enough, the only other children there were ~18 months old. i got to chat with some of the moms before the kids got bored and wanted to leave.

the second playdate was one i found through mothering.com for attachment parenting types. it was at a dutch woman's apartment and, i gotta tell you, the woman could not have been any nicer to me. she made me feel very welcome in her home, made the kids a sandwich, took me to a second hand children's store where i got 2 great ravensburger puzzles for the kids, and then we stopped by and picked her 5 year old daughter up from school for lunch. the kids played a bit and she showed me a toy library that we could join. her daughter goes to a nice montessori school, for which she pays nothing.

at the toy library we found out about another playgroup - a community based one with no main group - sort of a drop in public playgroup. we may do that the week following next, as it is closed next week for spring break. so it looks like we could have a social engagement every day of the week except tuesdays.

upon leaving the toy library i began to put away the toys that the kids had been playing with and i was told to let them be and that they would take care of it. they almost thought it was odd that i was going to clean up after myself and remarked that it was because i was an american - and that a dutch person wouldn't think to put the toys away themselves. i put most of the toys away myself anyway.

we have been taking public transportion - today we took a tram to the playgroup and 2 trams back. the kids really enjoy it. they like listening to the announcements of the upcoming street stops. david is developing an ear for dutch. the tram drivers sometimes do not punch my strippenkaart so we ride for free. i am not sure why.

boob tube

some people have asked me what dutch tv is like. it's actually not that bad! we have some cable service so we get a nice variety of channels.

CNN international
animal planet
discovery channel
jetix (if you have a young boy you know what channel this is)
nickelodeon
cartoon network
comedy central (which is not exactly like our comedy central - it shows occasional episodes of the daily show, south park, and sarah silverman, but mostly other comedies like scrubs and that 70's show)
as well as a lot of dutch channels, some of which have really low budget knock offs of our game shows.

all of the american kid's channels are all dubbed in dutch yet the children watch them happily. other comedy shows on dutch tv like the simpsons and family guy are in their regular voice with subtitles.

i have also seen a few movies in english (with dutch subtitles) - flight plan is the only one i can remember even though it was so bad i wish i could forget it.

noise

i had almost completely forgotten how noisy a city can be. in nyc i lived in the west village, in a 2nd story apartment in a very busy area. we had all kinds of noise day and night. and while it was a narrow and low car traffic street, the volume of tourist noise (mostly from chumley's) was unending on a weekend night. my second place was in tribeca on the 5th floor and while it had virtually zero foot traffic, it was on the approach to the holland tunnel. the sounds of car engines and horns were constant. none of this bothered me - i actually enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells of the city (except in august when the street stunk of piss, both animal and human). but after living in wisconsin for 6 years i had completely forgotten what it was like to listen to the hum of the city.

the construction of the houseboat seems to be quite thin. the first two days i was convinced that the sounds from people getting in and out of the car were people on my front entry way. i have a peep window in my front door which i opened countless times because i was sure that somebody was standing mere inches away from my entrance. the first night i could not figure out what the honking noise was - an steady and constant sound that turned out to be ducks in the canal.

i enjoy laying in bed listening to the sounds passing by. as long as they aren't football hooligans.

off to the library

we went adventuring today - an excursion to the main branch of the amsterdam public library. i decided to extend the journey by going by foot there with the promise of a tram ride back home, which excited the kids. we stopped for frites along the way - david is now a fan of french fries served in a paper cone. we chatted with a south african who has been here for 6 months while we stood under an awning and out of the rain. i asked him if dutch people ever smiled. he said no and if you do smile people assume you are a tourist. i am sure people think the kids and i are insane and loud or insanely loud. or both.

the kids held up pretty well with the walk considering it was dreary and drizzling. and the amount of foot traffic and bicycles to manage is exhausting given i have to hold 2 kids hands for most of it or fear losing them because they walk so painfully slowly.

we paused in dam square (pictured above) so the kids could chase pigeons. i was approached by 2 older women who asked if they could pray for us. they were wearing red vests with jesus something or other written on them. they wanted to know if i had jc in my life. i told them no and that it had served me well for 40 years so i was going to stick with that. but they were very pleasant and seemed to enjoy my bluntness. if i am ever starved for adult conversation i now know where to go.

we finally made it to the library and i even managed to get the kids free library cards! score! we can now check out 20 books at a time. naomi would have been heartbroken if we couldn't take books homes. we also stumbled upon an english speaking storytime! actually, i kind of knew about it but the person who told me the info said it was an english speaking book group - so i was imagining an adult thing. so now we have a tuesday activity we can count on!

naomi found a dutch princess book and insisted i read it to her. after countless times telling her i couldn't read dutch i finally said to her 'go ask that man to read it to you' and wouldn't you know she did! she went over to a man who was with his 12 year old son and he had the boy read the book to her. she happily listened to the dutch story. a princess is a princess regardless of the language!

and let me tell you, amsterdam libraries know how to run a restaurant. on the 7th floor there was a gourmet cafe where we had great tomato soup, a brie sandwich with pinapple chutney, a chocolate croissant and a latte. they had an assemble your own stirfry station, gourmet pizzas, deluxe desserts, and a gourmet coffee and tea bar. i could hang out there all day.

i finally bought david a youth strippenkaart (tram pass) and the kids had fun looking for tram #4 for our ride home. their public transportation is very reasonable - our trip back from the library cost 68 cents for david and 1 euro for me. and now we have a tram map so we can figure our the transfer situation. we have a playdate on friday which that will be useful for. more on playdates later this week.

what's for chicken tonight?

this stuffed chicken lives on top of the partition that encloses my bedroom. i do not know why.

squatting

i am finally getting around to posting some pics of what the place looks like. most of these were taken on arrival day, after about 10 minutes of being here. i wanted to capture what the place looks like at its tidiest. but i must say, it is staying much neater than our regular house does.

on our second day here i mentioned something about going home while on a walk. naomi was surprised to hear that we were going home (as in wisconsin). david turned to her and said 'naomi, while we are in amsterdam, when mom says 'home' she means the houseboat'. i thought that was pretty smart of him.

this is a shot from the terrace step looking tward the kitchen, my desk area, and then the kids room (where the partially opened stained glass doors are in the distance). the bathroom is behind the piano and beyond that, the front door. the owners told me that this place used to be a 2 unit - you can see the two front doors in later pictures. i am not sure when it was converted to a single family dwelling.

during the apartment search in december i failed to mention an odd thing i came across from a few people. they were all concerned about when we were leaving and wanted to make certain that we were not staying past our april 30th scheduled departure. i found it odd that two or three people asked me if we were going to change our minds and stay longer. turns out there is a squatter problem here in amsterdam. this is taken from wiki:

In the Netherlands, if a building is empty, not in use for twelve months and the owner
has no pressing need to use it (such as a rental contract starting in the next month),
then it can be legally squatted. The only illegal aspect would be forcing an entry, if that
was necessary. When a building is squatted it is normal to send the owner a letter
and to invite the police to inspect the squat. The police check whether the place is
indeed lived in by the squatter — in legal terms this means there must be a bed, a
chair, a table and a working lock in the door which the squatter can open and close.

I was surprised that so many dilapidated boats line the canals. i was certain that the one next to us was unoccupied until the tenenant stuck his head out his door to tell me my bicycle was blocking his access. upon telling him we were his new neighbors he made strange contorted faces at the kids in an attempt to make them laugh or perhaps to scare them, i don't know. i wonder, is he the rightful occupant of the place or just somebody squatting?

living in a doublewide!

i haven't really gone into any detail about the houseboat yet. we have a houseboat on the keizersgracht canal and it is more awesome that i imagined. however, it isn't really a boat, nor was it ever. imagine a platform built on the water. i will try to post pictures soon. the boats to the left and right of us are actual boats - tug boat shape. but this is more like a trailer (or is it more PC to say mobile home?) set on the water. that is actually a perfect way to describe it.

the place is a large rectangle - about 1200 square feet with a bedroom on each end. it is anchored to the side of the canal so there is no motion even when the water is choppy. we have a small terrace which will be nice when it warms up and a small boat, too. the owners, inez and hans, did a great job getting the kids room ready with 2 small beds - one of them is the exact IKEA bed the kids used to sleep in.

the place is fully furnished and has a well equipped kitchen. the only thing i haven't found is a hair dryer and an iron, although i did find an ironing board. but i never iron so who cares?

we have cable and wireless internet - faster than at home, too! i was able to download tuesdays edition of american idol and now i am going to get wednesday's and LOST.

the kids are happy when english speaking kids shows come on but they will sit and watch dutch tv, too. yo gabba gabba in any language is still weird.

this place has a thousand lamps and small lights. i will have to count up how many there are. it has a lot of windows, too and is very bright and open.

the only downside is the shower, or lack thereof. it has a tub with a long hose and shower head on it but no shower curtain. and the walls of the tub are paneled and not meant to get wet. so i will have to get used to taking baths most of the time.

we unpacked right away and put away the suitcases so it really feels homey. one added bonus is that i do not have to worry about the kids being loud and annoying the neighbors like i would if we had an apartment. i had not even thought of that before.

i will post some pics this weekend so you all have a better idea of what i am talking about.

update: i found the iron!

jetlag

let's just say night #2 was a lot better than night #1...

we all napped for 2 hours on tuesday (our arrival day). while the kids did sleep on the plane, it certainly was not a full night's sleep and everybody was tired. mike unpacked some stuff while i napped with the kids. i woke them up so we wouldn't sleep the day away. surprisingly they got right out of bed and we dragged them out in search of food.

that night was pretty rough, though. we put the kids to bed at 8pm and they went happily. i was thinking to myself 'it cannot be this easy' and sure enough they were up at 10:30pm. mike got up to do some work while the kids continued to get in and out of bed and complain they could not sleep. they were in and out of each other's beds, too. at one point i found them cuddling in bed together - and if that isn't the cutest sight, i don't know what is. finally at 3:45am they were sleeping soundly. meanwhile i have not slept at all and continued to toss and turn until after mike got out of bed at 4:45 because he had to catch a flight to frankfurt.

i feel asleep around 5am and naomi woke at 9am. not terrible. david had to be woken up at 11:30am.

we spent most of wednesday out and about. eating and buying a bicycle. more on the bike later.

last night (wednesday) was awesome. naomi feel asleep at 9pm during stories and david at 11pm. naomi woke at 7 and climbed into bed with me where she feel asleep again!

i have to say that they really have been wonderful the past 2 days. and while we have traveled with them before it has never been that far away and they haven't had to deal more than 2 hours of time change. they are really adaptable children. i was telling naomi how happy and proud i was of her this morning and she said 'mama, i am being really brave'.

we're here! and without meltdowns, arguments, or delays! however, we did have 1 vomit incident by david.

the flight gets a solid B+. it gets the less than perfect score due to the previously mentioned vomiting from a large swallowed piece of beef. and it would have been nice if naomi had fallen asleep right away instead of putzing around for 2 hours. but other than that i will not complain - the flight was probably less than half full so we had plenty of seats to stretch out on. mike was the desginated sleeper on the flight since he has to get on european time right away for work. i slept ok, and by ok i mean not more than 2 hours.

we picked up our bags only to find 1 fewer army duffles than we were expecting. well, there were 3 duffles going around on the baggage carousel but one of them was somebody else's. when we were the last people waiting for baggage it was clear that somebody had taken ours instead. as we were waiting to fill out paperwork for the lost bag a man came walking back into baggage claim looking very embarassed. we switched bags and were quickly off in a big taxi (to accommodate our stuff) to our temporary home.

i am about as ready as i need to be with a half day left before we leave.  our neighbor came over today to go over the household specifics - he will be checking in on the house every now and then as well as driving us down to madison tomorrow.  

the refrigerator is almost completely empty and ready to unplug.  it was a good opportunity to purge some ancient condiments from our fridge door.  we found one thing in the freezer that expired 9 years ago.  yum!  

in early fall we bought 4 tons of corn and wood pellets for our stoves.  imagine 200 40lb bags stacked high in the basement.  when we leave tomorrow there will be exactly 2 bags left.  how is that for planning?

we leave the house tomorrow at 10:30am.  i may get a chance to chime in from the airport.  but if not, see you all in amsterdam!  

my packing is complete!  well, i am sure i have a few odds and ends that still need to get put somewhere but basically i am finished.  1 duffel is for the kids, 1 for me, and 1 for odds and ends (shoes, bike helmets, coloring books, umbrellas, etc).  i am sure i am bringing too much stuff but with the weak dollar i really do not want to have to buy stuff that i have here at home.  that gives mike all of the luggage for his stuff - 2 large suitcases and 3 rollaboards.  that is more than enough for him.  we will probably end up checking 7 bags of luggage.

all that is left is house cleaning.  the downstairs is finished and the floor mostly cleared in case we get spring flooding.  luckily there is not much snow against the house so if we do, it shouldn't be bad.  

most of the utility arrangements have been done - satellite tv, land line,  and cell phones are being suspended.  LP tank is full.   the refrigerator will be unplugged so i have to clear it out and clean it.

we have a neighbor that will be taking in our mail (did you know the PO will only put a hold on it for 30 days?  they agreed to do it for 90 for me but my neighbor said it will be easier for him to just clear out our box every couple of days).  he will also be looking in the house for us on occasion - probably emptying mouse traps as i am sure the rodents will move in.  

i am also going to unplug almost everything - typically we do not do this when we leave since we are usually gone a maximum of 12 days or so.  but this trip warrents unplugging, so i shall do it.

so basically i am 1 day ahead of schedule.  not bad!

thinking about jetlag

i have been thinking about how awful our first couple of days will be.  we depart chicago at 6pm for an 8 hour flight.  assuming the kids will be awake for at least the first 2 hours, that gives them a maximum of 6 hours to sleep before they have to be woken up.  we arrive at 9am which will be 2 am our time.  i will have to wake them up and carry them through the airport - customs and immigration.  fun times for sure! 

and while we have taken the kids on many flights, they have yet to experience jet lag. mike will have to take an ambien on the plane so he can be fresher when we arrive, plus he has to fly to london the next morning and needs to quickly be on european time for work.  

i  need to prepare the kids for this but am not exactly sure how.  i need to get the point across that once we get on the plane they need to go to sleep as quickly as possible.   wish me luck with that.

i have to admit that my brief illness did slow me down but not for long.   today was a kick ass day in the preparation department.  after i dropped the kids off at school i went into the dells for some shopping - stopped at kohl's to spend a birthday gift card i received and then to the outlet mall for some new shirt, socks, and jeans.   picked out 2 pair of jeans to try on and bought them both! that rarely happens.

then i got to eat at my favorite local restaurant - the cheese factory.  oddly enough, cheese is not made there nor is it a factory.  anyway, it is a vegetarian restaurant with a cultish 'course in miracles' twist.  i highly recommend it when you are in the area.  i had the veggi-tofu rice bowl.  i believe it is the only restaurant in wisconsin that does not sell brats.  and i got to talk about amsterdam with one of the dutch waiters.  he warned me of pickpockets and bike thieves, both of which i knew about but it was still a good reminder.

i picked up the kids from school after their nice send-off party.  big props to the kids' teachers for sending them off with journals, fresh markers, and a list of kid-appropriate activities in amsterdam. they also put up a world map to show the kids where we were going.   and the cook made muffins because she knows david is a big fan.  david has been going to this school for 2.5 years already and they really like my children so that makes me happy.

i set up a playdate for david so i could focus on more packing this evening.  he got picked up, taken out for dinner and ice cream, and was returned to me 5 hours later!  this is what i call 'the perfect playdate'.  david fell asleep 5 minutes upon arrival home.

but the big news of the evening is that i am 95% packed.  the last 5% are shoes and toiletries. 

i also folded and put away 5 loads of laundry with 2 more in the works.  yes, i am a machine.  

however, now i have a splitting headache.  but i don't care because i am mostly packed.

now if only my house were clean.  :-(

oh, and caring for 1 child instead of 2 is like a thousand times easier and way more enjoyable.  it was way less than half the work.  

ahead of packing schedule AND coming down with dreadful illness.

i casually mention bronchitis in my last post and today my lungs feel like a ton of bricks.   greaaaaat.  

i managed to get 99% of the children's clothes packed today.  and it all fit into 1 army duffle!  

now i need a nap.