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Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Dag Oma
This week we laid to rest Bets van der Boom- Hanegraaf. Joris’ grandmother was 90 years old and had been ill for some time now. She was not a tall person to start with, but within the years that I know her even, she had shrunk some inches. As we said goodbye to her the final time we saw her, this tiny matriarch of Den Dungen, it once again made me wonder about the relative size of things.
When you are little, all things seem so big and unreachable! When you are anticipating something fun, 3 more nights sleeping seems like an eternity. And you can be 6 and a half years old, because that half year really counts. As you are growing up, relatively speaking, every year that passes by is a smaller fraction of your life up to then. As I am approaching another birthday, the last year, a 1/31st of my life, has passed by with 25 times the speed it used to when I was 5 (or so it feels).
It’s the same with places. The first time you go into a new workplace, it seems so huge and confusing. As you get more used to the place, it seems to shrink and become so known to you that you can never look at it like you did before. If you are lucky that is better than before, or it becomes a bitter disillusion (the jury is still out on the HEMA for me, they are killing my HEMA-love with HEMA-worst!).
People are not much different. With time, they become bigger or smaller in your view. Sometimes it is an ongoing up and down process, sometimes they shrink so much they disappear altogether. And a very few times, they grow so big, you can’t look past them to view your future.
My dear husband of almost (!) two years, is of the latter sort. In this time of trial, with a house that is hanging together with Alabastine at the moment, no kitchen, many early mornings and late nights, tight planning and even tighter budgets, he is still growing in my eyes. In real life he is 6’4” or about, big enough, but as he is standing there, with his hands at his sides, looking up at the fixing of the ceiling and explaining to me how he is going to make it work….His patience, genuine goodness, love for food and ability to talk 24-caliber nonsense attracted me from the beginning. And still does.
As I stood behind him, waiting to enter the church, the four grandsons accompanying their grandmother through the aisle towards the altar, it hit me. The lady we were saying goodbye to, from which the lifeblood of my husband came, possessed all the characteristics I love so much in him. I had felt that I did not know her that well, but now I know that I am blessed to be able to admire her living legacy every day, for the rest of my life, till death do us part.
When you are little, all things seem so big and unreachable! When you are anticipating something fun, 3 more nights sleeping seems like an eternity. And you can be 6 and a half years old, because that half year really counts. As you are growing up, relatively speaking, every year that passes by is a smaller fraction of your life up to then. As I am approaching another birthday, the last year, a 1/31st of my life, has passed by with 25 times the speed it used to when I was 5 (or so it feels).
It’s the same with places. The first time you go into a new workplace, it seems so huge and confusing. As you get more used to the place, it seems to shrink and become so known to you that you can never look at it like you did before. If you are lucky that is better than before, or it becomes a bitter disillusion (the jury is still out on the HEMA for me, they are killing my HEMA-love with HEMA-worst!).
People are not much different. With time, they become bigger or smaller in your view. Sometimes it is an ongoing up and down process, sometimes they shrink so much they disappear altogether. And a very few times, they grow so big, you can’t look past them to view your future.
My dear husband of almost (!) two years, is of the latter sort. In this time of trial, with a house that is hanging together with Alabastine at the moment, no kitchen, many early mornings and late nights, tight planning and even tighter budgets, he is still growing in my eyes. In real life he is 6’4” or about, big enough, but as he is standing there, with his hands at his sides, looking up at the fixing of the ceiling and explaining to me how he is going to make it work….His patience, genuine goodness, love for food and ability to talk 24-caliber nonsense attracted me from the beginning. And still does.
As I stood behind him, waiting to enter the church, the four grandsons accompanying their grandmother through the aisle towards the altar, it hit me. The lady we were saying goodbye to, from which the lifeblood of my husband came, possessed all the characteristics I love so much in him. I had felt that I did not know her that well, but now I know that I am blessed to be able to admire her living legacy every day, for the rest of my life, till death do us part.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
It's been almost a year....
Hello there!
Today the weather is not that great, and all the cats are inside, sleeping within 3 feet of me, while I am drooling behind the laptop. I was flipping on the television, looking for a nice background show, and came across Nigella. We have been without television for a while, but since we do, I think I have gained 10 pounds, just by watching cooking shows and gasping air....Nigella just made fake (no fry) donuts in 10 minutes, it's all I can do not to lick the screen!
I could show you the state of my kitchen, but just take my word for it. It was not awesome to start with, but half of it is standing in the living room and the other half is being demolished (heheheh, jee!). Not a lot of donut-making or cooking going on these days.
Talking about food: Meet (Fruit)Loops! A few weeks back we were called by the Poezenboot, to see if we had place in our home for another special needs kitty. This wobbly cat had been brought in with her mother. Apparently the mother had contracted a virus while carrying and this has affected the system that controls the balance of this adorable, loopy baby. Of course we had place in our home and heart. We still miss Minion like crazy, and would love helping this kittycat.
The garden is doing great! We have eaten the first tomatoes and many, maaaaaany more are growing outside. I have already collected pots to store all the sauce I'll be making and freezing at the end of the summer.
Our home is a bit of a disaster these days. The demolition has started and the orders have been placed for the new kitchen. Our fridge got here a week ago, veeeeeery nice. There is a lot to do, but it is very fullfiling to be working on our own home! As school is closed until September, there is more time to go at it, besides all the jobs I am holding at the moment to bring in some extra DIYcash.
School went really well, just today I got confirmation that I am accepted into the second year. Considering the fact that we have migrated north after some years living abroad, cancelled the world trip, new study, new job, moved around about 10 times, looked for and bought a house, all while still having fun together, I would call it a good year.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Misread between the lines
So my sister send me this app message about a contest they had trying to stuff marshmallows in their mouths, on the other side of the world. I read, the winner had stuffed 20. We were having a nice, slow Sunday on the couch kinda day, so we thought: Challenge accepted!
It was only after I had almost died laughing as we tried to reach 20 Dutch mallows and not even getting close that I reread the message. They were talking about the Jumbo jet puffed kind and the winner had stuffed 2 in his mouth....
Thursday, June 16, 2011
The allnighter
This is why you go to college when you're young....
At 17: You realize the day before the deadline, that you even had a deadline. Out of thin air you produce the amount of words needed, finish by 21h, just in time to watch that movie that you have been watching the commercials of with 1 eye while typing.
At 25: You start a few days in advance. The final night you finish with a flurry, look at your watch and think: Hey, I did not realize it was 1 am already! You go finish your book in bed.
At 30: You start stressing about the deadline weeks in advance. No matter how often you think it, the words just do not come out right. You muster the enthusiasm to sit at it for hours, even though the quality is not what you want it to be. On the final night, with every passing minute your willpower reduces just a bit more. At 3 am you give up and hand in the paper as is. It takes you a week (and under eye correction fluid) to recover.
At 17: You realize the day before the deadline, that you even had a deadline. Out of thin air you produce the amount of words needed, finish by 21h, just in time to watch that movie that you have been watching the commercials of with 1 eye while typing.
At 25: You start a few days in advance. The final night you finish with a flurry, look at your watch and think: Hey, I did not realize it was 1 am already! You go finish your book in bed.
At 30: You start stressing about the deadline weeks in advance. No matter how often you think it, the words just do not come out right. You muster the enthusiasm to sit at it for hours, even though the quality is not what you want it to be. On the final night, with every passing minute your willpower reduces just a bit more. At 3 am you give up and hand in the paper as is. It takes you a week (and under eye correction fluid) to recover.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Middle-class bliss
As I am writing this blog, I am supposed to be writing a paper about the touristic potential of the South of the Netherlands, in respect of the future mining potential of the area for the following 50 years. Right....
It's sunny outside, the cats are frolicking around, the husband is screwing something or other in the garden (literally), and I am not getting anything done.
So I move on to the funner things in life: sending you some pictures of our very bourgeois, nothing to report life.
I’m back at home for a week now and the cats and I have become good friends. It took all of 5 minutes.
On the last day of fieldwork I decided to go out with my significantly younger classmates. I was physically and mentally exhausted, I was feeling blue, had had enough of not being at home and felt like dancing. Let’s just say that this is not the right frame to go out with students which are prone to binge-drinking. Ask me about that story next time we speak, online let’s just keep it at: when I got home next day around 16h, I was not in the best shape.
I want to take this opportunity to thanks my wonderful husband for meeting me halfway to trade the car earlier in the week, so I could drive myself and some of my classmates home instead of sitting in the bus and then train for many, many hours to get home. As I am very prone to carsickness, especially in busses, the last bit of decorum I could gather would have been lost in that trip home...We had Tiësto on the radio in the car, and the moment we pulled up from behind the bus, on the Autobahn in Germany and I could really step down on the gas, honk at the bus and glide away at 160 km/h is still one of my happy moments of that week.
Admittedly there were many happy moments, we had magnificent weather and this last fieldwork was good for realizing how much knowledge we have acquired over the last year. In as little as one week (if I don’t get myself to work on this paper, 2 weeks) I will be done with my first year, which I have passed rather successfully.
And to get home and having a fluffy warm cat crawling on your lap and falling asleep within seconds is awesome…
The garden is doing great, we have already eaten some homegrown vegetables, something I have to learn to do. As with fishing, after all the hassle, I have a bond with it and don’t want to eat it. Joris saying: ai! when I cut into my mini carrots or making little screaming noises when the peas go in the wok, does not help.
But enough lollygagging, I really need to get some work done, I have to write 10.000 words and this blog is now almost 500, which I should have spent more wisely.
Almost vacation time!!!
Here some other moments of bliss: the switching cats (they actually wiggle themselves in the nook of Joris' elbow, from the bottom up.) What is the fascination of cats with printers?
It's sunny outside, the cats are frolicking around, the husband is screwing something or other in the garden (literally), and I am not getting anything done.
So I move on to the funner things in life: sending you some pictures of our very bourgeois, nothing to report life.
I’m back at home for a week now and the cats and I have become good friends. It took all of 5 minutes.
On the last day of fieldwork I decided to go out with my significantly younger classmates. I was physically and mentally exhausted, I was feeling blue, had had enough of not being at home and felt like dancing. Let’s just say that this is not the right frame to go out with students which are prone to binge-drinking. Ask me about that story next time we speak, online let’s just keep it at: when I got home next day around 16h, I was not in the best shape.
I want to take this opportunity to thanks my wonderful husband for meeting me halfway to trade the car earlier in the week, so I could drive myself and some of my classmates home instead of sitting in the bus and then train for many, many hours to get home. As I am very prone to carsickness, especially in busses, the last bit of decorum I could gather would have been lost in that trip home...We had Tiësto on the radio in the car, and the moment we pulled up from behind the bus, on the Autobahn in Germany and I could really step down on the gas, honk at the bus and glide away at 160 km/h is still one of my happy moments of that week.
Admittedly there were many happy moments, we had magnificent weather and this last fieldwork was good for realizing how much knowledge we have acquired over the last year. In as little as one week (if I don’t get myself to work on this paper, 2 weeks) I will be done with my first year, which I have passed rather successfully.
And to get home and having a fluffy warm cat crawling on your lap and falling asleep within seconds is awesome…
The garden is doing great, we have already eaten some homegrown vegetables, something I have to learn to do. As with fishing, after all the hassle, I have a bond with it and don’t want to eat it. Joris saying: ai! when I cut into my mini carrots or making little screaming noises when the peas go in the wok, does not help.
But enough lollygagging, I really need to get some work done, I have to write 10.000 words and this blog is now almost 500, which I should have spent more wisely.
Almost vacation time!!!
Here some other moments of bliss: the switching cats (they actually wiggle themselves in the nook of Joris' elbow, from the bottom up.) What is the fascination of cats with printers?
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Short update
It's been a while since the last blog, but after Minion passed, nothing seemed worth writing about. Everytime I started up the blog and saw her picture....
Now we are expecting our new additions to the household tomorrow in the morning : Lava and Scroll are flying in, so I thought I'd make that the next thing to write about. I won't be there to pick them up, can't wait to get back home Friday!
We are very excited about our new babies joining us in our new home.
We have moved half through May, and we already love living there. The garden has gotten lot of time and attention and still needs a lot of time, our TO DO lists are growing by the minute. The biggest project will be the kitchen, which is being designed and quoted at the moment.
For now, it's back to work for me, this fieldwork is challenging in more ways than one. Sharing a room with a sister wasn't a picnic, but sharing it with 4 19 years old students, 2 of which boys, ayayay.....
But the outfits rock (pun intended)!
Friday, May 6, 2011
Mek mek, Minion, mek mek....
Minion van Lieshout
4 Oct 2010 - 5 May 2011
We have waited so long for you, and you were our darling, cute, cheeseball of a cat for only a few weeks. Now you are off to the Big bird-hunting grounds in the sky. We still can't believe it, but already miss your white paw sticking out from under the curtains....Go get them, tiger, we will never forget you!
Your human Mom & Dad
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Tomato update
Peas are ready for harvest! Pea-count: 5
Tomatoes still 0, but many many flowers are coming out, jeej!
Our new house....with a visitor
We are now proud home owners. Yesterday we had a toast in our new home, sitting on the floor, with the sun on our faces, leaning on our faithfull old jug from back home and we felt like millionaires.
Owning a house is new to us, but being able to make it our home is a privilege that we appreciate highly.
We will be moving soon, we'll keep you all posted!
Ohja, the visitor, look closely at the keychain above. Yes, it's the LBT. He's back. If you don't know the story, let me know.
Owning a house is new to us, but being able to make it our home is a privilege that we appreciate highly.
We will be moving soon, we'll keep you all posted!
Ohja, the visitor, look closely at the keychain above. Yes, it's the LBT. He's back. If you don't know the story, let me know.
48 hours ago....
…we were on the other side of the world, on top of the world!
Conspiracy takes years out of your life, but it is sooo worth it….At the beginning of this year I had hatched the plan to surprise my parents for their 35th anniversary on the 30th of April. At that time, we had no house to be bought, so there was no reason it would not be possible. Inge requested the flight and we would hear in March if it would be final or not. I asked Carol if she wanted to go, but she said no, she had made other plans and would be going for the summer holiday anyway.
At the beginning of March I got my schedule from the university and the first hurdle showed: I would be digging that week and would miss some essential days and would not pass the course if I left halfway. A letter to school confirmed this, but by then the longing to go was bigger than before, I thought: though, I’ll have to make it up next year.
Then Inge got sick and lost a few weeks of her schedule. Then she got better and got a Bonaire instead of a Curacao. Then she got sick again. When she called me up in the middle of the night, about 3 weeks before the 30th, I thought it was something bad that happened to one of her cats that had gotten in a fight with a dog that day. But instead: Guess where we are going April 30th????
April 30th meant that we would fly back on May 2nd, the day that we would have to sign for our house and receive the keys. Crap, that was hurdle number 37 or so by then. A call to the notary public, the bank and our financial advisor and for Joris a few sleepless nights later, we decided to go through with it anyway. It took some planning and stress (and money) to get it done, but I could sign for the house through a notary-assistant. We decided to wait until I got back to officially toast on the house.
Then I got sick, had to leave the dig-site and go home to try and get better to be able to finish. I drank some TheraFlu out of desperation, did NOT have time to be sick, and got a nice full body allergic reaction and then even sicker. But WHO CARED? I was going HOME!
We were flying IPB, which meant that we could only go if there were seats available. So Inge was checking the flight daily for the numbers and things were looking tight. By that time the only people not in on the conspiracy were my parents. We had managed to get them to come to the airport to get their present from Inge, that Carol en I were sending.
That morning, at 3:30 am, we woke up to go pick up Carol in Tilburg and drive to Schiphol. There we checked in and sat and waited and waited. We had to wait for all the paying passengers to be boarded, and then they would check for empty seats.
Inge pinged to say that 12 more IPB-ers were on the list and the flight was full. In Curacao people were praying and biting their nails at 2 in the morning, waiting for the final news.
The board-desk was calling out names and with every name our hearts sank a little bit more. To come so far and not to go! When Inge pinged us that the captain had said that all IPB-ers were going, we could not believe it. Let’s just say, the seats we had were not usual chairs….at that point we didn’t care if we had to sit in the lavatory, together in the same seat, or in the belly with the animals….
When the plane took off, we were the happiest people on board, and I think Lisa the happiest person trying to sleep in Curacao. Marieke a close second….
We had a good flight and even though everything was completely full, we had a full service of meals and then some extra Inge care, which is better than business class. The plan was that we would get out and Inge would walk out, see my parents, do as if she forgot something and walk back for us.
Things went a bit differently. They had built this whole new glass door which we walked by and I was sure Pa had seen me, as he was looking straight at me when I walked by. When I switched on my phone, I had all these messages from ma, worried about not being able to find Kwek. So we ran back, put on our big bows and walked to the door. The first one out was Boe, who had sent a ping before that she was going to bring the present along with Ing. No reaction. Then we walked out. My parents were standing right across the exit. Still only blank stares, eyes darting over us. My father started to smile and all the other co-conspirators too. The only one still not reacting was Ma. Then pa told her: Emma, wak! She looked again, froze, made a very loud, questioning sound, said What…How?, rolled her eyes back and simply fainted and dropped to the left. The picture below is me reacting to her reaction. I almost died, I could see the ambulance driving away with her….Pa was standing there to catch her and thank God she came to and was gasping for air pretty quick and kept saying How? How? Is it real? Is it really my babies? Hugs all around and tears everywhere.
2 KLM IPB tickets AMS-CUR: 390 euros
Enough hair dye to dye back the hairs turned white due to stress: 40 euros
2 big blue bows: 6 euros
This experience: PRICELESS
Conspiracy takes years out of your life, but it is sooo worth it….At the beginning of this year I had hatched the plan to surprise my parents for their 35th anniversary on the 30th of April. At that time, we had no house to be bought, so there was no reason it would not be possible. Inge requested the flight and we would hear in March if it would be final or not. I asked Carol if she wanted to go, but she said no, she had made other plans and would be going for the summer holiday anyway.
At the beginning of March I got my schedule from the university and the first hurdle showed: I would be digging that week and would miss some essential days and would not pass the course if I left halfway. A letter to school confirmed this, but by then the longing to go was bigger than before, I thought: though, I’ll have to make it up next year.
Then Inge got sick and lost a few weeks of her schedule. Then she got better and got a Bonaire instead of a Curacao. Then she got sick again. When she called me up in the middle of the night, about 3 weeks before the 30th, I thought it was something bad that happened to one of her cats that had gotten in a fight with a dog that day. But instead: Guess where we are going April 30th????
April 30th meant that we would fly back on May 2nd, the day that we would have to sign for our house and receive the keys. Crap, that was hurdle number 37 or so by then. A call to the notary public, the bank and our financial advisor and for Joris a few sleepless nights later, we decided to go through with it anyway. It took some planning and stress (and money) to get it done, but I could sign for the house through a notary-assistant. We decided to wait until I got back to officially toast on the house.
Then I got sick, had to leave the dig-site and go home to try and get better to be able to finish. I drank some TheraFlu out of desperation, did NOT have time to be sick, and got a nice full body allergic reaction and then even sicker. But WHO CARED? I was going HOME!
We were flying IPB, which meant that we could only go if there were seats available. So Inge was checking the flight daily for the numbers and things were looking tight. By that time the only people not in on the conspiracy were my parents. We had managed to get them to come to the airport to get their present from Inge, that Carol en I were sending.
That morning, at 3:30 am, we woke up to go pick up Carol in Tilburg and drive to Schiphol. There we checked in and sat and waited and waited. We had to wait for all the paying passengers to be boarded, and then they would check for empty seats.
Inge pinged to say that 12 more IPB-ers were on the list and the flight was full. In Curacao people were praying and biting their nails at 2 in the morning, waiting for the final news.
The board-desk was calling out names and with every name our hearts sank a little bit more. To come so far and not to go! When Inge pinged us that the captain had said that all IPB-ers were going, we could not believe it. Let’s just say, the seats we had were not usual chairs….at that point we didn’t care if we had to sit in the lavatory, together in the same seat, or in the belly with the animals….
When the plane took off, we were the happiest people on board, and I think Lisa the happiest person trying to sleep in Curacao. Marieke a close second….
We had a good flight and even though everything was completely full, we had a full service of meals and then some extra Inge care, which is better than business class. The plan was that we would get out and Inge would walk out, see my parents, do as if she forgot something and walk back for us.
Things went a bit differently. They had built this whole new glass door which we walked by and I was sure Pa had seen me, as he was looking straight at me when I walked by. When I switched on my phone, I had all these messages from ma, worried about not being able to find Kwek. So we ran back, put on our big bows and walked to the door. The first one out was Boe, who had sent a ping before that she was going to bring the present along with Ing. No reaction. Then we walked out. My parents were standing right across the exit. Still only blank stares, eyes darting over us. My father started to smile and all the other co-conspirators too. The only one still not reacting was Ma. Then pa told her: Emma, wak! She looked again, froze, made a very loud, questioning sound, said What…How?, rolled her eyes back and simply fainted and dropped to the left. The picture below is me reacting to her reaction. I almost died, I could see the ambulance driving away with her….Pa was standing there to catch her and thank God she came to and was gasping for air pretty quick and kept saying How? How? Is it real? Is it really my babies? Hugs all around and tears everywhere.
We had 48 hours on the island, finally we had traveled about half that to get there and back and it was so worth it. We had quality time as a family, which won’t happen again soon and had the opportunity to hug some people that we have missed dearly. A few hours on the beach was amazing for my skin, that has been suffering from a winter depression. I met Scroll and Lava, our two cats in kitty booth camp at Henny’s (training in how the help read the paper and lay in the way) and made some nice memories to last me to our next visit.
2 KLM IPB tickets AMS-CUR: 390 euros
Enough hair dye to dye back the hairs turned white due to stress: 40 euros
2 big blue bows: 6 euros
This experience: PRICELESS
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