My hard-drive on my mac went belly up. I am able to occassionally check e-mail from one of the two other computers, but I will be asking you -- friends who read my blog, to please send e-mails to me when we get me back up and running. I think that we will be ordering everything come Monday...and add on two more weeks, so after Yom Kippur I will be able to blog and will want everyone to send e-mails so that I can capture e-mail accounts again. I have a pretty good personal memory, so there is a chance that I will remember you even if you don't feel like writing to me...but it will be a new Jewish Year, so well worth it.
In the mean time, I will be blog-free. So, your clue that it is time to write to me will be that you see a new post!
Thanks for your kindness and patience.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Eileen this Fall
It is officially Fall -- or as they say it here: Herfst. I learned that from one of Eileen's Dutch board books - a gift from our neighbors. Eileen and I had a morning tromp through fallen leaves on a dreary, cool day. Then returned for a morning nap and a brew of caffeine free peach tea.
We had our physical yesterday -- finally. She is slightly shorter than average, but not much, and same on weight. The doctor said that she was way ahead on milestones. She is officially 7660 grams (16 pounds, 14 ounces) and 68 cm (almost 27 inches). This means that according to the charts, she should grow up to be 170 cm (I am 150 for those keeping score).
Dutch lunch and breakfast are remarkably the same, and usually are not served hot. Think a slice of lunch meat between two slices of buttered bread. But, with lots of tile floors and a chill in the air, I have been cooking an egg, or reheating dinner from the night before. Eileen hates socks at the moment. She is trying to learn to walk and socks make it slippery...however, they taste great and it is entertaining to watch Mom slow down to pick them up as they are flung, stripper style, one at a time from the stroller (she also likes tearing off her cardigans, though Mom figured out that buttoning them under the chin prevents that).
Time to admit that the Dutch love children, but that they do that by criticizing complete strangers in public places like grocery shops (how dare I let her shop without socks on, or amble with her down the dairy aisle with its refrigerated cases). I have found that the best thing I can do is smile and nod and thank them for their concern. Mostly, it just feels weird. I know that there are people who act the same way in the US, but usually you know them -- they don't just walk up to you in a museum and start touching the baby your are holding (usually).
We had our physical yesterday -- finally. She is slightly shorter than average, but not much, and same on weight. The doctor said that she was way ahead on milestones. She is officially 7660 grams (16 pounds, 14 ounces) and 68 cm (almost 27 inches). This means that according to the charts, she should grow up to be 170 cm (I am 150 for those keeping score).
Dutch lunch and breakfast are remarkably the same, and usually are not served hot. Think a slice of lunch meat between two slices of buttered bread. But, with lots of tile floors and a chill in the air, I have been cooking an egg, or reheating dinner from the night before. Eileen hates socks at the moment. She is trying to learn to walk and socks make it slippery...however, they taste great and it is entertaining to watch Mom slow down to pick them up as they are flung, stripper style, one at a time from the stroller (she also likes tearing off her cardigans, though Mom figured out that buttoning them under the chin prevents that).
Time to admit that the Dutch love children, but that they do that by criticizing complete strangers in public places like grocery shops (how dare I let her shop without socks on, or amble with her down the dairy aisle with its refrigerated cases). I have found that the best thing I can do is smile and nod and thank them for their concern. Mostly, it just feels weird. I know that there are people who act the same way in the US, but usually you know them -- they don't just walk up to you in a museum and start touching the baby your are holding (usually).
Monday, September 22, 2008
Urban Planning?
Eileen and I have explored many ways to travel between Volkel and Uden (the big town-- order of magnitude bigger than Volkel). I was speaking with a friend from the west yesterday. She has been here for four years and finds Europe sometimes difficult to navigate. She mentioned that she was used to cities laid out in a grid pattern. I started to warm to the subject of 'urban planning' as I think of it: Chicago after the fire. Then, I started to think about these old cities and how they were planned to confuse enemies trying to overrun them. So, I guess I was being biased - chaos can be urban planning.
In other news, NEVER throw money at the street artists in front of the Rijks museum. One of them had money thrown at him by an American yesterday; the artist then started a bellicose scene accusing all Americans of being rude, obnoxious, and secretly bringing nuclear things into his pristine country. I wonder whether the American had to pay extra for that (and if he somehow made it seem like: 1) he was bringing in something nuclear or 2) knew Condoleezza Rice personally, so could change foreign policy if he wanted. Moral: If you must give the artist money, put it gently in his hat (and only use Euros). I do find it curious in a country that irradiates much of its dairy -- (they call it shelf stabilized) that the word Nuclear is dirtier than The Sex Museum.
In other news, NEVER throw money at the street artists in front of the Rijks museum. One of them had money thrown at him by an American yesterday; the artist then started a bellicose scene accusing all Americans of being rude, obnoxious, and secretly bringing nuclear things into his pristine country. I wonder whether the American had to pay extra for that (and if he somehow made it seem like: 1) he was bringing in something nuclear or 2) knew Condoleezza Rice personally, so could change foreign policy if he wanted. Moral: If you must give the artist money, put it gently in his hat (and only use Euros). I do find it curious in a country that irradiates much of its dairy -- (they call it shelf stabilized) that the word Nuclear is dirtier than The Sex Museum.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)