Just another Monday

I have learned to loathe Mondays. The weekend and party time is over and it is back to the daily grind of life. Working for a living. Living life for The Man. Paying dues to Uncle Sam. It started off like any other Monday. Tired and groggy, I drag myself out of bed hoping for a snow day, rain out, ice, anything to keep from going to work. I finally make it into the office and rinse out my coffee mug, head to the coffee crack machine and join the other working stiffs for a cup of joe to make the day a little easier.

I start on my work and before I know it, lunch has arrived. The phone rings and it is my realtor. She has good news! The buyer has accepted our counter offer and not only do we have the house SOLD! but we have a lease for 2 months so we only have to move once. I celebrate! I dance! I call hubby and he celebrates with me. The his other line rings and when he gets back to me, he has more good news. Our new rental is leased! Finally!

Don't expect too much more from me this week; I'm off on another boondoggle at a resort in The Woodlands.

Two story

Front view

Rear view

ESPN

I woke up yesterday knowing it was going to be a good day. I even dressed up (in a skirt!!!!) for the occasion. I knew I would finish with the project I'd been fighting at work that morning. I knew I was going to win something and I just knew that we would get an offer on our house.

Well, I did finish the project. And I did win something in a raffle and we did get our first offer at 6:30 this morning. I told hubby all of this and he looks at me and says- Damn girl! You have ESPN!

On a side note, I won a lantern (a lantern?, seriously?), the offer on the house was way less than we are asking, and we also received a letter from the IRS saying we underpaid our taxes last year.

Blonde moment alert!

It's been awhile since I've posted one of these....

Last night, hubby looks at the scented plug in that I placed near the sink to take any musty smells away from the house since the house has to be FRICKEN SPOTLESS 24 HOURS A DAY EVEN THOUGH TWO ADULT SLOBS, TWO MESSY CHILDREN, AND TWO ANIMALS LIVE HERE because the house is on the market and we're trying to sell it. I'm doing fine with it, thanks for asking.

Anyways, back to the story of my brilliance. It's been plugged in for several days and I noticed that it didn't give out much scent. I think maybe the cartridge is in backwards and inspect. Nope, fine. Last evening, he takes one look at it, turns to me and says- You are such a blonde! And then takes the cartridge out, peels off the protective layer and puts it back in.

D'oh!

One story

Sara

Happy Birthday!!!!

Hope you have a great one...

Bird

The boy (TB): Mom? When I buy a pet, can I name it anything I want?
Fuddy Duddy Mom (FDM): Mom and Dad have to agree before you buy a pet.
TB: I want to buy a bird and bird cage. Can I?
FDM: No. Not now.
TB: Uh! What about when I am a teenager?
FDM: Maybe. We don't need to decide that now.
TB: Will they still have bird cages at PetSmart in 9 years? And birds?
FDM: Yes they will.
TB: I'm going to name my bird Gangster.
FDM: Why?
TB: Because it's cool.
FDM: Gangsters aren't cool- they are groups of kids that do bad things and end up in jail or killed. Still want to call your bird Gangster?
TB: No. I'll call it Yo.

They are so cute. Before they can walk and talk.

I received a call from the vice principal at the boy's school yesterday afternoon. Apparently he said 'f#$k' in class and the teacher told him it was not appropriate language. Then he kept taunting her by repeating 'fuh' over and over again. She finally wrote him up and the VP made him call me and tell me what he said. She put him on the phone and I said boy- what did you do? He replied- I said a bad word. I heard the VP in the background saying tell her what you said. Um, I said, well it ends with a 'k' and begins with an 'f' and there is a 'uc' in the middle.
The VP gets back on the phone and tells me the story. And that he will not be allowed to participate in field day. I reassure her that he will be punished at home.

He had a baseball game last night, so as I am telling this story to two other moms, they both told me of the first time their boy said the word. One mom said she has a special bar of soap just for such occasions. I already told him he would get his mouth washed out with soap and I had planned on using liquid soap since that what my mom used growing up :) But I thought the bar of soap was too good an idea to pass up, so I opened up a very special bar of Dial just for him last night. Good times, good times.

You have friends?

I was on the phone with a friend (hey C!) this evening and the kids happened to eavesdrop on me. When I hung up the phone, the barrage of questions began. Why did you say 'whoot'? Why did you say bye?

I answered that I was on the phone with a friend and when the conversation ends, you say bye. They both looked at me funny and said- you have a friend?

I have kids?

This weekend didn't seem like it. Some friends of ours, whom we have not seen since the school year started in August, called in the middle of last week to go out Friday night. We've attempted such a feat twice before in the past year and someone got sick every time. I was amazed when we were able to take our plan to completion. We met at Sherlock's Pub and then headed to a nice French restaurant for dinner.

Saturday, I played in a golf tournament at Tour 18. It was 50 degrees and 20 - 25 mph winds. Perfect weather for golf :) After 5 1/2 hours on the course, we finally defrosted in the club house waiting for the results. And MUCH to my shock, awe and amazement- we won! I guess it helps to have 2 people on the team with a handicap in the 30's. Surprisingly enough, we didn't have the worst overall team handicap.

Sunday, I dropped the boy off with my grandparents for church and the girl off at a birthday party. The parents took 4 girls to Disney on Ice Princess Classics. They are much braver than me, but I was told she was perfect. She's the luckiest girl in the world because they bought the girls everything- cotton candy, mermaid wand, tiara, coloring book, picture with the princess..... everything mommy and daddy won't buy.

Mom and I took advantage of the free time and picked out some of the tile for the new house. There are so many decisions to make, it is completely overwhelming. Thank goodness Mom's an interior decorator who specializes in remodels and new construction. She's done so many kitchen remodels in the past few years and they all turn out beautiful.

Monday morning- back to the daily grind.

We have a foundation

This was fun!

Weekend recap

Friday evening was the ball and a Czech from class and I went to the ball together. We took the tram, but because of an accident on the tram, we hopped off and walked about a mile to the ball at an old church in Den Haag. We left early to catch the last train, but did not have the right coins for the machine, so we walked and walked and walked and finally caught a taxi back to Risjwijk.

Saturday, I spent at Scheveningen with a Zambian now living in Germany and his French friend now living in Germany. They were heading back to Cologne and I wanted to tour Amsterdam, so we drove to Utrecht to sight see and eat lunch. They headed off and I took the train into Amsterdam.

I stepped out of the train station and was almost panicked seeing all the masses of people. I was determined to see the Anne Frank House and was also determined not to be seen as a tourist, so I walked around in circles until I finally relented and pulled out a map.

I found the house and then I saw the line halfway around the building. Even though the sun was starting to set and I wanted to be back on the train by dark, I knew I must stay. I finally reached the front and went inside. It was an eiry feeling knowing that I in the very rooms that 8 people hid from the Germans for years.

After the tour, I wanted to see the red light district. I walked and walked and walked and nearly gave up until I started seeing sex shops and knew I was in the right place. I walked quickly down the street as it was Saturday night and I could tell the clientel was changing and I was by myself. I then headed back to the train.

Sunday, I spent at Keukenhof with my former supervisor and his family. The flowers were blooming and the weather was perfect as it had been all week long.

Monday, I headed into the office to meet a few people and then toured the Bodies exhibit and ate a quick dinner before heading back to my hotel.

Highlights

I had some particularly memorable moments on the trip. I will recap a few here...

- Being the only girl in class. Not only the only girl, but the only one from the US to ever attend the class. And everyone repeatedly pointing it out. As if I didn't notice.

- Part of the class would go out to dinner as a group in the evenings. It always sounded like the beginnings of a joke. There was a Dutch guy, a German, a French, a Brit, and an American girl....

- Watching a 6'8" Czech imitate Snoop Dog

- Showing up at a ball in my work clothes. I happened to be in town the same weekend as the annual 'Young "Insert Company Name Here" Ball' and was invited by several in my training class to attend. Thinking that crashing a party was better than sitting alone in my hotel room, I decided to go. I also mistakenly believed that European women are much less judgemental than American women, and no one would even noticed that I had on pants and a sweater. I was sadly mistaken when I took off my jacket and three women on my left in their fancy ball gowns began to whisper and stare. However, it was worth it just to hear a Dutch band singing Diana Ross.

- I tried to blend in as much as possible while alone and I apparently did an excellent job. Until people spoke to me. In Dutch. One man in particular seemed insistent in starting up a conversation Saturday evening on the train on the way back from Amsterdam. He asked what I had seen in the country and I told him I visited the beach earlier in the day. OF COURSE he had to ask which one (Scheveningen) and then corrected me three times as I attempted to pronounce it. Which I still can't get right. There is a reason the word was used to out Germans attempting to pass as Dutch in World War II.

- The boy had to write a sentence in school starting with the word Mother. Here is what he wrote:

"Mother Mother Mother
Mother My Mother
Went to Apster dam.
by, the boy
need need need
I need you."

What I've learned

I came here for technical training, but more importantly, cultural awareness. Here is a just a few of the things I have learned this week:

Stereotypes about Americans:
- overfed
- overpaid
- oversexed
- not funny
(Hopefully I dispelled at least 2 of the stereotypes...)

What I've learned about Europe:
- German is not the ugliest language; Dutch beats it hands down
- We do not speak the same language as the Brits
- There is a lot of farmland in The Netherlands
- Europeans do not eat healthier than Americans; McDonald's is everywhere, chips and soda and candy are staples in the grocery store- but they walk or ride bicycles everywhere

What I've learned about myself:
- I can survive alone
- I can make friends with anyone around the country
- I look Dutch
- I love being with my family and miss them terribly when they are not around

2 more days until I leave for home!