2011

What a year!

It started out great. Jan. 1 was my first official day as an independant business owner, keeping all my awesome clients happy with clean houses and businesses. In the same month my oldest son left his wife and childeren at home to go serve our country and spend some time in Kuwait supporting the troops in Iraq. That wasnt a great part but I am very proud of him and thankful for his willingness to sacrifice for the good of others.

In Feburary I got offered an appartment through social housing....Finally, after 18 months of living in a sub-let that was less than fit for human habitat and being really sick 2 winters long because of that draughty place, I was getting my own appartment!! Never mind that it needed painting and floor covering, my own place, FINALLY! It isnt done yet and I have been here since March 1st...oh well, slow and steady wins the race. I will get it done...eventually.

Until August it was pretty much getting settled, taking on some new clients, getting my weeks worth of work in place. I spent the day working, came home to my new haven, spent some of the evening on Skype with my sweetheart, keeping our long distance relationship going. Making wedding plans. All was right with the world. He was even thinking of moving here because he knew that I loved my life here and it appealed to him as well. Especially if he had car trouble!!

Life was, for the most part, good! Our only concerns was who was going to move where. Or so we thought.

Most of you know that Tom was my first husband, the father of my sons. We had been in each others lives since I was 15 years old. We didnt always get along and that happens with families, but we were always friends even through all the rough times. No matter what our relationship was at any given moment, we loved each other. Period.

My last blog was August 13.....two days later, my world fell apart. I always got a text message from my Tommy around 2pm my time, 8am east coast time. Sometimes those texts came through immediately, sometimes it took awhile. At 4pm on Monday, August 15..no text, so I called, no answer. That wasnt unusual, sometimes he was in the cooler at work or on the cooks line and couldnt answer the phone. In that case I would get a text, within a few minutes, asking me to call again. No text, again, not unusual. I was still getting a little antsy. I called again at 4:30, no answer. At 5pm (my time) I had been at a clients for an hour and called again. This time someone answered, but it wasnt Tom. He had collapsed the night before, after we got off Skype. His work went and found him the next morning after "Johnny on the Spot" didn't show up for his shift. It was the neighbor who answered his phone. Tests revealed that he had Stage 4 mastastic lung cancer to the brain.

The entire next week was a whirlwind of emotions. My little brother arranged a ticket for the 22nd, giving me time to notify my clients, make mail pick up arrangements, get packed and have my new place ready to be abandoned for 4 weeks. THEN I realized, my American passport had expired in Dec 2010. I suddenly realized that I had a whole other hill of ants to get around! As an American citizen, you are required to travel to the States on your American passport. It has to be current, so my current Dutch passport was not doing me any good. I called the American Consulate in Amsterdam and asked what I needed to do......"Get a letter from his doctor and be here at 8:30 in the morning". Meaning that I had to have this letter e-mailed to me, print it out, get on the first bus to the train station, get on the train to Amsterdam Central Station, get on a tram to the Museumplein and get in line at the Consulate by 8:30am. I managed it. By 9am I had all my forms filled out and was told to come back at 2:20pm to get my emergency passport. I used those hours to try to calm myself. I was going home to take care of my sweetheart.

Monday, Aug 22 was fly day!! Thomas was already there from Kuwait and had been for a few days, taking over for his brother who was the first to get to Lexington. My neighbor got up early to take me to the train station so I would be at the airport in plenty of time. I was getting on the 6:51 train to Amsterdam, Schipol Airport. At 6:30 there was an announcement. Someone had jumped in front of the train between Schagen (where I was) and Heerhugowaard (the next station after Schagen) and the train was not going for who knows how long. At the suggestion of another passenger, I took a bus to a stop that was suppossed to have a bus to get me to a train station that would get me to Schipol on time.....time was ticking. I needed to be at the airport at 9:30, the next bus to that train station was at 8:30...getting me to Schipol at 10am.....NOT GOOD. I thought I would have a heart attack. The same man that talked me into taking that bus flagged cars down until he found one willing  to take me to the next train station and he succeded. I got there just in time and was on my way home to my boys and their daddy.

I felt like I was living in a different world the following 4 weeks. The first two weeks making sure that the nurses and aids...(bless most of them)...were taking care of his needs, trying to make their jobs a bit easier by helping him to the chair, or bed, or wherever it was he wanted to be at the moment without calling them (got a lot of flack from them for it, they were worried I would hurt myself). Most of them allowed me to be sweet but one or two got to see my evil side. I also watched them do various things, like change sheets with him laying in the bed..because I knew that I would have to do some of those things later.

On Sept 1 we went in an ambulance from Lexington Ky to Knoxville Tn to my brother and sister-in-loves house. Tom didnt want to go to a hospice facility if he could help it and Mike and Kathy offered their home for his last days. Tom and I stayed in the biggest guest room, with his hospital bed and equipment and a bed for me.Hospice came in some and if I needed something I could call them, which I did, if it was just to ask questions.Kathy was the best support. She made sure we ate and that laundry was done...goodness knows we went through some laundry!! In the meantime Toms daughters, who live in California, were calling and talking to their daddy. I wish they could have seen him smile while he was talking to them. He was very proud of all 4 of his babies!!

On Sept 12 he lost his battle and left us.

That 4 weeks felt like a whole year to me. The weeks that have followed have also felt like a lifetime. I hated seeing him suffer and while I am glad he isnt suffering anymore, I am NOT glad that he isnt here with us.

Our youngest son has since joined the Army and Thomas is back in the States...almost home from Kuwait.......we have all made it through the holidays and the end of the year is almost here.

I will try to blog more in 2012....I know I can find the inspiration....but my biggest goal is to be positive, help where I can and love life......because life is just too darn short.

Tell the people you love that you love them, find the time to laugh with them and give them a hug every chance you get...Until the next time.....
Happy New Year!!!

Talking to Strangers

    (The pictures in this post are only relevent because they were taken the day I talked to a stranger)

A couple of months ago I deided to take advantage of a beautiful Saturday afternoon and ride my bike to a neighboring village to do a little grocery shopping. I had never cycled to Nieuwe Niedorp before so I grabbed my camera and stopped a few places along the way to take some pictures.

The first time I stopped I looked around and didnt see a house or anyone around so I started cllicking away and suddenly out of the bushes came a man and his dog. It seems there was a house behind the trees and Mr. Hand (yes, that is his real name!) was training his year old chocolate lab, Duno, who is a very lively teenage boy!

The picture I was taking when I noticed that I had company!

Now, growing up in the States I am well aware of the dangers of talking to strangers. I also know that I never know a stranger. I can strike up a conversation with an information operator, beleive me, I have done it!! Chatty Cathy has nothing on this ole girl! However, I live in the Netherlands now and really dont think twice about talking to some random man, with a big dog, on a country road where the next house is probably 1/4 of a mile away. No problem!

Windmill in the county Niedorp. I believe that is Winkel, another small village in the area.

 Mr. Hand approached me, giving him the opportunity to see how calm Duno stays when around strange people, and struck up a conversation. He found it pretty interesting to run into some random American in such a small village and was interested in more of my story. After about 10 minutes he invited me in for coffee. WHAT?? you say...and I admit that as I was walking up the driveway the American in me kicked in for a split second and I thought  "I may become a serial killer victem in just a bit" but it was just a quick thought.

Nieuwe Niedorp

After a couple of cups of coffee and very pleasant conversation, which included why I live here, what I do for a living and his interest in learning more English, I left Mr. Hand in his man cave filled with his hunting trophies and continued on my way.

Add a canal and some sheep to that windmill and you have a pretty typical  Dutch country scene

 Later that evening when I was skyping with Tom (who has known me since I was 15 and knows very well how outgoing I am) and telling him about my day, he got this weird look on his face and said "You did WHAT"???? I guess that was a natural reaction. So I looked up about serial killers in the Netherlands and in the US. It seems that in the last 250 years there have been about 125 in the States vs 1 (yes, ONE, een, uno) in the Netherlands in the 1870's. That gave my sweetheart a little piece of mind.

During the time between that Saturday afternoon and July 1, I was invited back for coffee, conversation, blues and beer. Mr. Hand likes company and is a big blues fan. He is also owner of Hand Horeca, a restaurant supply company in this area. Dealing in all the equipment you would ever need for your restaurant. On July 1 his company became one of my clients.

Possibly teaching the dangers of talking to strangers?

Yes, I know the dangers of talking to strangers but if you never talk to strangers you miss out on lots of opportunities! In this case, gut instinct and openess landed me a new client. It also gave me the chance to do a little research and confirm to myself and to others that I live in a pretty safe place.

Till the next time, be safe, use caution but talk to people, you never know what can happen!

What Mamaw saw.......

My grandmother, Inez Stephens Barber McDaniel was born August 5 1909. She liveed to be 99 years and 9 months old. She would be turning 102 in a couple of days.

I recently saw a headline of an article "What our childeren will never know". It was about technology that our childeren will never imagine living without. It made me reflect on my grandmother, and all that she had seen in her almost 100 years on this earth and how amazing all of it had to be to her. Everything from instant coffee to color television, jet engines to wireless internet. Everything that came about in the 20th century, she saw. Most of those things we all take for granted, just like the childeren from now will take what amazes us for granted. They will take the internet for granted. Something that amazes me on a daily basis, whether I am skyping with my sweetie, my son in Kuwait or my grandchilderen. It amazes me when I am listening to a Dutch radio program with my friend Sunny in Nashville or watching a live tornado with my friend Cyn in Toledo Ohio. Mamaw saw a piece of this this too.


Just a couple of weeks before she passed away she got to do one of the things that would probably amaze her the most. She got to Skype, and talk to her grandaughter that was over 4000 miles away. Not bad!

I will always miss my grandmother. She wasnt technology, but she was AMAZING!

The mystery of the ratty socks........

Today is laundry day!! Yay, I love laundry day....NOT. 

Every one has lost socks in the machine, it is just a fact of life, your washing machine eats your socks. Admit it, you have a whole drawer dedicated to socks with missing mates that you are hoping the mate some how re-appears.

Well, today, I had no lost socks, quite the opposite.

I went to the hamper this afternoon to put a load of whites in the wash, WHEN.........

I found these...........rolled up, just like that, in the middle of my dirty clothes.

I have no idea who they belong to or how they got in my hamper.

No one has been in my appartment and I have not done anyone elses laundry.

The sock portal has apparently found its way to my appartment. So if you are missing socks, dont worry, they may appear in "The Hamper" in the near future and I will be able to return them to you. 

Way over due.......

I never got around to this blog and it was one I was really looking forward to doing. So because Thursday is the Day of Ascension and that still ties in with Easter I am going to post this now. And just because I just want to. Also just because my client/accountants kids are just too darn cute not to let my friends and family see.



The Easter Bunny doesnt come to the Netherlands, we have his cousin, The PaasHaas (Easter Hare). While the PaasHaas hides eggs, just like the Easter Bunny, he doesnt bring baskets.

Andy and Melissa got lucky this year. The Easter Bunny went on vacation with his cousin and Santa. The three of them went to visit Sinter Klaas in Turkey where Sint was telling them about some really sweet childeren in the Netherlands. Childeren who always make beautiful artwork for their parents and whose bedrooms are always straightend up when I come to clean every week. Childeren who are 4 and 6 years old and did their best to sing "We wish you a Merry Christmas" in English for me while presenting me with a bouquet of flowers at Christmas. It just melted my heart and brought me and their mama to tears.

The Easter Bunny thought that since I knew these children he would mail me Easter baskets for them.

Melissa (4) discovering a  "Robin egg".

Peeps and Bunnies

Andy (6) said "WOW, That smells good"!!

A little suprised at all the goodies in that bucket!

 This may have to become a new tradition!!

Something a little different...

While making my dinner tonight I thought "Hey, blog this sandwich". That was after I had made the sauce, of course. So further down I will give you a rundown of what is in the sauce.

I eat a lot of Paninis. They are easy, filling and pretty darn healthy (if you make them that way). Recently I saw a Roasted Red Pepper and Chicken panini and decided to use that as a basis for my own vegi version.

I dont do exact measurements....everyone has different tastes..here is what I thought was tasty.....

The sauce:

Put....

 sundried tomatoes in oil (I also used a little of that flavorful oil)

pesto

lemon juice

salt and olive oil

in whatever it is you use to puree such things and blend till roughly fine.

Then mix with mayonaise till it suits your taste

I also mixed up some olive oil and pesto...you'll see why in a minute.......

I sliced up some red onion, roasted red pepper (from a jar, no mess and more flavor, it is one of my cheats), a pepperoncini and grabbed two big ole slices of mozzerella.......

Next I spread two pieces of bread (use your fav) with the yummie sauce......

Then I layered on the peppers, pepperoncini and onion.......

 Topped with cheese and then.......

Instead of butter (because I used a little mayo in the sauce) I brushed the outside with the pesto oil.......

Into my handy little table top grill (use a pan if you need to) it went.....

 A few minutes later I had a yummie, gooey, satisfying sammich!

Make one today, you wont regret it. I know I didn't!!

An oldfashioned concept, modernized.

When I was a growing up in the States it was just dead normal to dry your clothes on the line. I always loved the smell of sheets and towels after they had hung on the line all day. It smelled like sunshine. Sadly, unless you live out in the country, it is next to impossible to even be allowed to hang your laundry outside. Forget about trying to put them on a balcony in an appartment or in your back yard in a subdivision with HOA rules and regulations. No one cares anymore about fresh smelling sheets and such only about not wanting to see your skivvies hanging on the line, in your own yard (or on the balcony) where you pay your property taxes, morgage or rent.

It is quite the opposite in The Netherlands. You may be considered wasteful if you put all of your laundry in the dryer. It uses up costly energy and you can make free use of the sun and wind to dry your things. In the winter or on  cold and rainy days you can make double use of your heat indoors by hanging your clothes to dry. Its just down right economical! Its also made easy to do over here.

While I rarely see a clothes line (my downstairs neighbor actually has one) there are several different "drying racks" made available.. No matter where you live, you have a way to hang your clothing to dry. No excuses!

If you have a yard there is a fold up "drying mill" (sorry, no picture) that stands in a hole in the ground. It opens like an inverted umbrella, only square with line stretched between all four sides. There are also fold out standing racks (again, no picture) that you can use indoors or outdoors. I have one that fits on my balcony but it is kind of bulky. Which brings me to yesterdays purchace. Drying racks that hang on things!!

I can hang this one on my balcony or on a door. It is big enough to hold a couple of loads of clothes. I can also hang it over the railing that keeps me from falling out of the bedroom down into the living room. 

I still dont like hanging my unmentionables out for the world to see so I found a smaller one that is very convient to hang...........

On a radiator or.............

 also on the back of a door!!

I dont even own a dryer and do not plan on buying one. I feel like it would only make me lazy and I love that now spring is here and summer is coming. My clothing will all be smelling like SUNSHINE!

Spring......

Spring is here!! I know this not because of the beautiful weather for the last couple of days but by the apperance of buds on plants and BABIES!! I also know this by the abudance of dead ducks on the side of the road that they are on the make like a hormonal teen and just fly right out in front of a car chasing the gal down for a little action. Of course I wont show you a picture of the dead ducks but I will show you a picture of BABIES!!

I love spring in The Netherlands. All the new life and activity. We have a lot of wldlife that you can just come across while you are walking down the road. I will be definately on the lookout for baby ducks and swans this spring but for now I have spotted the first of the spring lambs just right down the road from me. This field full of mamas and babies looks like this farmer hit the jackpot with twins this year. 

Mama and babies haveing a mid afternoon nap

.

The day after I spotted the lambs in the field I saw a clip on television over a sheep farmer and what his life is like during the 6 weeks that his 60+ sheep are "lambing". This old guy has a makeshift bed that is raised above the floor of the barn where he sleeps for that 6 weeks. His old crippled big hands are no longer fit to help a mama sheep out that may be having problems so his wife, who used to assist in human births, does this bit of work for him. I found it all pretty interesting. I also have much respect for these farmers who make sure we have something cute to watch as they grow up running and jumping around in the fields. I'll try not to mention growing up to become yummie food in a year...really, I'll try hard not to.

Yeah, I guess I didnt succeed.  I am just glad that when they do go to slaughter they dont look like these little darlings anymore.

                                     

Enjoying the afternoon sun     

                

I am excited about spring and think I will take a nice afternoon walk on this beautiful day.

Have a beautiful spring day everyone!     

Starting Over

Starting over in The Netherlands is pretty much the same as if you have to do it in the States. You either keep everything you had from your old life or you take what is important to you and leave the rest behind. In my case, if I was in the States I would have my family and a whole network of really good friends. In the Netherlands I have a small network of really good friends. Thank goodness for them and especially my Dutch bestie Arno. He and his lovely girlfriend Anke will get a great Thanksgiving dinner this year. Most of you reading this will know that I will be just fine on my own. I am a big strong willed gal who definately can take care of herself. Now on with a new start.

Shutting the door to my "in-between" dwelling and to my old life.

This one had to be shut, locked and the keys are in the mailbox for the landlord. The door to my old life is shut!

You know what they say. When one door closes another one opens.

The view from the (balcony) door of my new life.

Now...one of those things that I left behind was an oven. A Southern gal with out an oven is a disaster indeed. However, I still need to paint and put in flooring in my appartment so until I do that I wont be running out for a new oven. I did however take the microwave so I could have some way of heating up some grub for myself. That only took once to think "Yuck, I want fresh food". So I went out today and found myself a little table top grill.

Cute little thing, isnt it?

I can grill with it closed for small meals or....

It opens up flat for bigger meals. I can actually feed company a healthy meal with this thing.

Speaking of healthy, it will help with losing weight because I wont be trying to fix pasta, rice or taters with this thing. Fish and seafood and yummie veggies it is.

Tonights menu....Scallops and Shrimp with grilled courgette, mushrooms and onion slices.

Now off for a nice spring walk in my new neighborhood. I better not forget my camera!!

Old fashioned ways

The Netherlands is still pretty much an old fashioned country. The shops all close at 6pm. The grocery stores usually stay open until 8pm. There is usually one evening a week that everything stays open until 9pm. Every holiday is a bank holiday and Sundays are still sacred. The sidewalks dont completely roll up though. The restaurants and bars are open on Sundays, holidays and until late in the evening. The bars can stay open until 2am if they choose and on Saturday night there is a 2/6 rule. The bars stay open until 6am but cannot let anyone in after 2.

We still have butchers and bakers. We have produce stores and fish markets. Cheese shops and various specialty stores. You will not find a Wal-mart here.

I know some of my friends remember things in the States being this way and I think they probably were even when I was young. Getting used to this way of life has been nice. It really isnt a rat race here. 

One thing I remember hearing about in the States but never actually saw was the collecting of "green stamps". A practice that is long gone where you collected the stamps and could redeem them for items. That practice, or somithing similar still happens in the Netherlands and I love it!!

My favorite grocery store had a promotion recently where with every 10 euro spent you recieved a stamp. 15 stamps made a full card. A full card gets you about 75% off a really nice knife. The set has 5 knives, a steel, a knife block and a cutting board. I completed my set on the day I moved into my new place.

 I just love that block and cutting board.

Nice complete set of blades for me!

I didnt have to actually earn my stamps by buying all those groceries. A friend of mine saved hers for me and I was standing at checkout one day and the lady in front of me handed me about 45 out of her wallet. It was enough to complete my cards for my set and I have passed on any extras to someone who was standing in line behind me that could use them.

The Housing Process. Its a long one and so is this blog!!

Renting a place to live in The Netherlands differs greatly from the US. In the States there is pleanty of affordable housing. Here there is way more people than houses. Younger people ready to leave home and move out on their own, people with roomates that want to break away from the situation or people, like myself, who winds up getting divorced. Those are just a few examples of people looking for housing that I can think of off the top of my head. Of the latter, someone has to move. That is exactly what I did about a year and a half ago.

I was lucky enough to hear of someone who was renting an (privately owned) appartment that he actually wasnt living in but needed to keep the place in his name. A friend of mine is this guys employer and she negotiated on my behalf and I was offered the place at a really good rate, after all, it was helping us both out. I had a roof over my head until I came up on the "list" of the social housing process and he could re-coup some of his money each month. I jumped at the chance. In this appartment I have a neighbor who shares the entryway and hall. He also shares the toilet (I do have my own shower).This can lead to some interesting situations as I have gone to the toilet and just after unlocking the door it came open and there stood my very nekkid neighbor. He screamed like a girl and I had a laughing fit for about 10 minutes. He is a little hard of hearing and didnt hear me in there. The other thing that happens occasionally is if he has had one too many and has to "go" in the middle of the night he tends to NOT hit the bowl. Thank goodness I grew up with boys and learned to look before squatting or this could have lead to a rash of profanities as that is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. The last 15 months have been interesting, to say the least but it was what I needed to do while I waited to climb the "list".

You can get housing here one of three ways, buy, which is expensive, rent from a private individule, which is also very expensive or "sign up" for social housing, which is controlled by the government (basically) and is much more affordable. The latter can take a good long time. I have been signed in since Sept. 2009. What happens is you sign in and start earning points. You recieve 1 point everyday that you are signed in, 5 points for every house you apply for and 365 points for applying for a house in your preferred area. You preferred area has to be the city or village that you are registered in. In my case that is Waarland, where I lived with my ex. You can apply for up to three houses every 2 weeks. The key is at first to apply for every house you possibly can to build up those points. After awhile you will be higher on the list of applicants for certain houses because of your point level. You want to eventually be number 1 on that list so when your points start getting high you have to be more careful about applying for a house in an area where you dont want to live because if you apply and deny you lose some points, do that 3 times in one year and you loose ALL points that you have built up. However, you dont always have to be number 1 on the list. My ex and I were number 3 when we got our house. People apply to build up points, hence my point earlier...you have to be careful about applying for houses where you dont want to live. At this point, however, when I apply for a house it is in an area where I dont mind living. I applied for a house on Dec. 10 2010 and saw after 2 weeks that I was number 14 on the list of applicants. No way was that one mine. In the last week of Jan. 2011, I got a phone call from the housing company about just that house and was I interested. Of course I was, I didnt really need to go look at it but I did anyway. There is a LOT of work to be done, but I accepted it. The work brings me to my second big difference.

In the States, you rent an appartment and it has some kind of flooring....wood, pergo, carpet, ect. The walls are painted a neutral color and it has the basic appliances, i.e stove and fridge, sometimes even a diswasher. It always has heat and depending on where you live, airconditioning, usually central.

In The Netherlands central heating is always there, no airconditioning (not really needed here) BUT you have to either live with the color choices of the former resident and the flooring of their choice IF they didnt yank it out of there. While kitchen cabinets and a sink are included, appliances are not. In the case of my new appartment, the colors are horrible and someone ripped out the flooring. So it is re-decoration time for me!!

Below are some before pictures. After pictures will be a future blog.

 The kitchen, while very small, has brand new cabinets, sink and counter top.

 The livingroom (and Arnos head) with some really ugly green paint. I love green and one of my walls will be green, just not this puke color. I have since stripped the wallpaper in this room.

 Looking up into the bedroom from the livingroom. Notice the two different colors of red. The wallpaper on the ends would be acceptable, even pretty but the shiny paint in the middle iis really bad. Both just simply have to go.

 Balcony. I am sooooooooooo happy to have a place to sit outside with my morning coffee or my evening glass of spirits. It's small, but that is fine by me!

 The hall, coming in the front door. That red wallpaper again. Actually pretty, but old and faded in places so it iis going. Since the appartment is pretty much open it will be one color scheme throughout.

 Shower area of the bath..actually a wet room with a sink and toilet. Kind of reminds me of a girls locker room shower at school! To the left (you cant see it) is my very own toilet that I dont have to share with anyone (except the occasional invited guest) !!!!!

 Bathroom sink and that thing to the right is the "central heating". That is also where the hot water comes from. You can pretty much stand under the shower all day and never lose hot water. But since the hot water is going to the shower none is going to the radiators so if you do that your house is going to be pretty chilly after your all day shower!!

 Hall from the stairs going to the bedroom. Left door is bathroom, right door is storage that runs behind the bathroom. Pretty big storage. I was suprised!

 Bedroom. See what I mean about the two different red colors. TACKY!! Comes complete with orbs as well! I am glad they took out the flooring as I found proof of carpet upstairs and I hate carpet. It houses dust mites that shed cells and pooh both of which I am allergic to!!

Looking downstairs from the bedroom. Arno was already attacking the wallpaper for me. What a guy!!

I now have my keys, am registered with the "county" at this address. Internet, cable and telephone is ordered. Gas, electric and water has been switched over to my name. On Feb 28. Arno and some other burly guys are going to help me move the rest of my belongings in and I can finally get on with the rest of my life and get the hell out of limbo, where I have felt like I have been living for the last 15 months.

I hope you all enjoyed  and didnt get the headache that I could sometimes get while going through this process. It is over and no more headache for me....or maybe so.....I have lots and lots of stuff to do!!!