ziek plus droom =

woke up at 2:30am and immediately thought "yes i do like camping. i can talk about my nails but definately not in a different country and definaetly not before camping.

is it because im sick or its 03:00 now

Ijs

Went to Vlaardingen with Ed & Vera - was leuk. Ed & I did a little walking, Ed did some falling (so did Vera oc) and slipping, Vera did skating, we all did a little snow throwing here and there...was a great time. NOW LOOK!

Hmmm does someone need a diet?

And would a post be complete without another little Vera in it? Here she is sitting under the bridge. 

But all that was Saturday I believe, and once Sunday came the ice started to melt. No more ice skating for people, and no more ice walking for me. Here is where I run in Ijburg, and it's also starting to thaw. Wish I would have taken a picture of it when it was frozen...so beautiful.

And of course, to carry on tradition...here are my shoes. Liz - they are starting to get holes in them again...whatever shall I do?!

Little Michiel was sick so I stayed home with him. It went from "Pain pain pain I don't want to do anything but watch television" to "can I have chocolate milk ALL DAY LONG?" to "can Tym come over and play?" ... and did I spoil him? Maybe. How? By saying Yes to all three of those requests.

After dinner I asked what they wanted for Dessert. Michiel as usual said Magere Yoghurt. Femke said ... more mashed potatoes. Maybe a little strange. I might have a little Katy Hoogendam on my hands.

Sneeuw

IT IS COLD

Here is the same canal I've posted before. Isn't it great you can see the stages. (think great, not boring, hey I pass by this canal every day so get used to seeing it).

All canals here are frozen...not all are good enough to skate on but yesterday I took Femke & Michiel skating Femke is great, Michiel needs a hand to hold. I have no skates. And apparently I am a very slow ice-walker.

The kids don't complain about walking home from school if I bring the sleigh. Because of the cold they always ask ask ask (they can be zourkousen sometimes) for the tram...but I want to save my money (even if it is just a euro or two) so we will walk. It's only a 10 minute walk back home. But when I bring the sleigh, man, you can forget trams even exist. The snow is starting to leave now though...

The little soccer field by the house freezed over so on the way back from school we had a little time there.

Femke. Happy because this time we did take the tram, because I was a wimp and didnt want to be cold. I gave her my hat. She was even more happy. It was super cute

And this is me when it first started to snow. It was a Friday, and I wanted to go to Schiedam that night, so I was a little worried that the snow would cause problems with trains. Everyone said not to worry it would be easy. but they were wrong. Took me 3 hours and a train switch to get to Leiden...which should be around 30 minutes or something more or less...at Leiden Ed got tired of waiting (and i got tired of canceled trains) so he drove to Leiden and picked me up. Quite the adventure.

Etc

Central Station (and I am safe)

My shoes on the way back from school (they look different if they are on the way to school, right?)

It's easy for me to just take things as they come and "Yeah of course" everything, but I've been trying to really realize the magic of it all and not "of course" it. A street is a street, right? Yeah well I remember trying to think of what it would be like to walk on brick streets. And now every day everywhere I walk on brick streets. Yeah, of course. But really, I want to remember this and realize how long I've wanted to be here, and finally I am here. HERE. I remember being 8 and trying to imagine what I'd feel like if I ever did get to visit. And now I am here, for the second time, and this time for a longer time that I never thought possible...and now it and so much more is possible. It's really unbelievable. I'll be walking to school, and, "oh a canal." but man, it's a CANAL. Normal, and I feel like I've always been here, but I know I'll get so much more out of it if I realize the luck of it all.

Ahem.

The plant GertJan en Marlies gave me:

The kids like the food I made (finally)

Yeah, it's a little cold.

Great time playing soccer with Michiel (it's a habit)

The canals are freezing (and so am I). I definitely do not have very warm clothes. Ah but it will pass. Just like it did in Idaho...I wasn't quite warm there either.

And just when you thought I couldn't get any whiter... THINK AGAIN

(no editing involved, promise)