Day 88: Fun at the Amsterdam Marathon

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My mom and I had so much fun dancing on the sidelines of the Amsterdam marathon today, cheering on the runners. The music was loudly playing and we had balloons, a large, Dutch flag, American flags and British flag themed umbrellas we were twirling and waving around. Can you imagine how much fun we were having, being silly and loud? Too bad the video clip was too long… but it sure was good! I laughed, at least! Can you see me laughing?? 😉

The runners were so happy and were giving us high fives and cheers and smiles and were waving their hands up in the air with us. There were over 30,000 runners from several different countries, but we all smiled in the same language.

We were there to support Becky and Anthony and were so excited to see them run up to us. Jeff is so good with maps and we had an app with their race numbers to track where they might be on the route. We were having so much fun anticipating their arrival that we forgot how cold it was outside. At least it wasn’t raining, and we were successful finding each other.

After the race, we hosted a family dinner at our house for 20!! My mama and I cooked together yesterday and prepared and served everyone today, along with help from Dad and Jeff.

Her special spaghetti sauce was a hit, as always! It’s so nice to have her and my Pops home with me! Salud!! xo

Day 87: International Family Gathering in Amsterdam

Today we celebrated my sister-in-law’s (Becky) 26th birthday in Amsterdam.

Becky and Nate live in London and love celebrating life all over the world! I love how adventurous they are. They got married last year in Napa Valley and brought our families and their friends together for the wedding of the century. And tonight she did it again!

She and her brother are running the Amsterdam marathon tomorrow and she brought us all together to celebrate her birthday and to watch her race tomorrow. We all had a good time, eating and drinking and socializing together. Happy Birthday, Becky! And many, many more! Good luck at the race tomorrow. We’ll be cheering for you and Ant!

19Oct2012

Day 86: Going to the Doctor

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A stomach virus is going around school and our little one happened to catch something! He seems well until the middle of the night, and then doesn’t feel good anymore. And then in the morning, he’s fine again. But today at school towards the end of the day, I received a call from Nurse Anita at the school. She is a typical Dutch lady who is full of pride and loves her job and the kids and has a strong opinion. She asked me to come pick him up and told me how this virus was going around school. She told me I didn’t need to see the doctor, but I already had made an appointment.

: Dutch Doctor’s Office

I don’t like going to the Doctor and don’t like to be a hypochondriac but I thought I should maybe take him in, just in case there was an obstruction in his tummy or something. When I called the doctor at 3:15 pm, he actually answered the phone himself. He told me that I was calling a bit late, and to come in at 5 pm.

When we arrived and checked in with the receptionist, she told us to have a seat in the waiting room and the doctor would be right with us. I didn’t have to fill out any paperwork. I didn’t have to show any ID or insurance documents. The doctor came into the waiting room to greet us, shook our hands and escorted us personally to his office. We sat down at his desk and chatted for awhile and then he invited Char to climb up on his examining table that was also in his office. There wasn’t a nurse or assistant doing anything to help out. They didn’t take his temperature. Nor did they weigh him. I kind of liked the personal touch of being human and not scaring the shit out of my kid. There was no intimidation and rather it was quite peaceful, even though we’d never really been to the doctor yet in Holland. He listened to Charlie’s stomach and let Charlie hear his own stomach. He told us that everything sounded and felt fine, and to watch and monitor him and to call back tomorrow if there was more discomfort. He told us of a delicate pain medicine we could give him over the counter and that we could pick it up downstairs in the pharmacy. When we went down to the pharmacy to buy the medicine, again they didn’t ask any probing questions and gave us the 50 pills that cost 1 euro and 20 cents. Really? Can you really believe that was even possible? Really? I think I like it here.

The doctor also gave us the number for the local hospital in case we needed care. He shook our hand, patted us on the back and wished us well as we left. A true, family man and a new friend in Holland.

18Oct2012

Day 85: Family Time

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Char was sick last night and was up from 12:15 am to 5:30 am! I kept him home from school today and I think he’s definitely recovering. I think he actually loved having his Oma and Opa all to himself. I hope he was just having growing pains and we can sleep tonight! Poor little guy. He’s been fine all day, so I’m praying for a restful night! Today we took it easy, hanging out and baking and cooking and went out for a short while. So far no signs of jet lag from mom and dad. All is good!

Making bread

Painting nails

17Oct2012

Day 84: Oma and Opa

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My mom and dad arrived safely today from California. I loved waiting for them just outside the customs gate, watching the shaded doors opening and closing revealing the grand entrance of all those departing the plane. I felt the doors were like wrapping paper and you’d be surprised who you would find as the paper came off. I loved watching a mama reunite with her baby, and a man who just climbed Kilimanjaro be showered with champagne and flowers and a banner announcing his accomplishment. All this entertainment, while waiting for my gifts!! I had the same giddy feelings of joy and happiness seeing my mom and dad walk through the doors too! We are so lucky they are here to visit, and it feels like home!

My dad has never been to Europe before and I just want to take him everywhere and show him the world! And hearing my mom speak Dutch to my neighbors, and translating for me in the stores, and reading the local newspaper in Dutch out loud to me is so cool! How lucky am I that I get to have them here for two months?? Some people think that’s a long time. I’m already dreading the day they have to leave…so I’ll get back to living in the moment and just enjoy every minute with them.

16Oct2012

Day 83: Same and Different

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Even though we are living in Holland, our lives are not that much different than they were living in the States. We have very similar routines, just the details are a little different, but for the most part, things are the same.

I clean.
I cook.
I workout.
I eat. Sometimes too much!
I go out with friends.
I volunteer.
I do homework with the kids.
I clean.
I cook.
I eat and drink.
I write.
I play.
I connect with loved ones.
I go to bed way too late.
Repeat.

Tonight was the Grade 8 social dinner that I helped plan, coordinate, facilitate and run to bring students, parents and teachers together for a social outing. It was challenging to volunteer in a new school when you don’t know all the key players and resources, but we all managed and had a good night.I’m exhausted!! Tomorrow my parents arrive! I can’t wait to see them.

15Oct2012

Day 82: Stop and See the Goose

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It’s kind of like stopping to smell the roses, but today I had to stop and notice the goose across from my car before driving off to volunteer at the bookfair. I still find it surprising to see him out of the water and sitting so close to the edge of the sidewalk. I just like to stand and watch him and smile. When a dog walks by, he stands up and stretches his wings to make him really tall and squawks loudly, alarming the dog and his walker. The next dog walker walked by in the street as to not alarm him.

This is a picture of the school book fair, that I thought Brenda and Val would especially enjoy. It was so chaotic and kids were everywhere. It was quite exciting to see everyone so excited about English books. Another small world story… my PEO sister owns the bookstore in Amsterdam that put on the book fair today. So of course I had to volunteer and have fun during the process, chatting with friends and meeting new people. I think that’s one of the joys that comes from volunteering!

Juliana is standing in front of the boxes that included books on hold. The children came through with their classes during the school day and picked the books they wanted. They then filled out a small paper form with their name and their room number and attached the paper to the book with a rubber band. They were then staged here and waiting for them when their parents arrived with their money or PIN (everyone PINS…aka using a debit card to pay; usually credit cards aren’t accepted, so instead of asking if someone takes credit cards, they ask if they can PIN. Did you learn something new??) This process was quite crazy as the little pieces of papers would fall out of the books as eager students looked for their treasures. But there were several happy faces and most of the boxes were empty by the end of the day.

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Did I tell you that tomorrow my parents leave Sunny California to fly and come stay with us for 2 months?!?!?!

I AM very excited!! Isn’t it strange to think they leave on a Tuesday afternoon and arrive on a Wednesday morning? Only 2 more sleeps…just hope I can sleep! xo

14Oct2012

Day 81: Naarden

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Today Jeff and I enjoyed the town of Naarden, sans kids. We enjoyed an unexpected date, exploring the city, walking by the the fort’s edge, shopping and an early dinner at Het Hart. I would definitely go back there as the ambiance had a rustic bar feel, but filled with couples and families with young kids. The food was delicious too. I liked the laid back feel and great, fast service.

Star shaped fort and moat surrounded the town

Naarden is a town that was established in 1300. The Great Church is one of the oldest surviving churches in the Netherlands and is from the 15th century! The antique shop was a hoarder’s dream but made me feel claustrophobic. We found a cute clothing/gift shop called Leuk! I wanted to buy half the store, but instead picked up some cute coffee spoons!

The Great Church, Naarden

The fortress was built under the grass and there were tunnels and metal stairs surrounding the area.

There was a man sitting in the store, looking over an old, paper card catalog type of filing system and there was so much stuff surrounding him, piled one on top of the other that I was afraid to walk, touch, or breathe! But he was eating an apple, so there was something fresh in there.

Treasure hunting and bringing back the loot, Holland Style. A woman saw me taking Jeff’s picture and asked that she could take one too! She loved it.

13Oct2012

Day 80: Normalcy and Busyness

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Today felt normal.

It was busy, like any day in Sunnyvale or Thousand Oaks, or probably wherever you live too. We had a kid’s sporting event, a kid’s birthday party, a kid’s play date, laundry and more laundry and general busyness. Made me feel normal.

We built an IKEA closet for our guest room – oh joy, what fun! Can you just imagine?? But now we have more storage space – with a place for linens and towels and coats and maybe even room for guests’ stuff!!

I made a big pot of chicken soup with mixed veggies and noodles. One of the kids got a Facebook account today. One felt jealous. One kid got grounded for not listening and ignoring me and had to miss a fun outing. I don’t think they understand how their actions affect their freedoms yet. I think they’ll get it eventually. That’s normal too.

I finally got around to packaging up the I Love You presents that have been waiting for weeks to go out in the post! And it rained. That’s starting to be normal too. And I spent hours researching vacation plans and details. We’re planning to go to Rome soon and are trying to decide a Christmas destination. Got any suggestions?

All is normal and busy and full and content. Life is good. And I hope yours is the same.

xo Adriana

Birthday party favors – so cute and artistic. Juliana loves fondant and shaping it.

12Oct2012

Day 79: One Big Universe

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This was the view of the sky tonight in Amstelveen after a cold and heavy, wet rain. We have two house guests with us tonight from the Luxembourg International School volleyball team, and we are their host family. we were waiting to pick up “Freakin’ Fresh” New York Pizza after Juliana’s volleyball game when I had to run outside to snap this pic. Juliana insisted that I didn’t cook something that they might not like!! I guess this happened to her before.

Our guests are originally from Iceland and speak several different languages. I love this little Universe we all live in. And seeing this sky made me think of Thousand Oaks and Sunnyvale and Texas and the one, big sky we all live under even thousands of miles apart.

And having girls visit from another country and watching them all play together with the iPhone 5 and joking around with Siri, eating Jolly Ranchers, watching an old Friends episode, and talking about how their brothers all play Minecraft, makes me think our world is really smaller than we think. I think we all have a lot in common.

One other small universe event happened this week too. This woman saw me walking through the school parking lot and stopped me, asking if I was new here. We ended up chatting about the international community and how to integrate the various international groups. She was Dutch, but was born in California. As we talked more, she told me she was from West L.A., near the area I was born and that her siblings were from Westlake Village – right next door to my family. Strange!! And then she introduced me to her friend, who is Indonesian. We shared stories of our Indonesian roots and another connection was made. I love how life works and discovering the commonalities and connections. It’s like that 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon…

I hope you all have a good weekend! xo