Family

Work today was really good. I explained a few things to one of my managers surrounding project work. I think the message landed, which is a good thing, because I would like to do the right things right first time. I also held a presentation to middle management about servicelevel management. I heard rumours at work that the company I work for is looking for servicelevel management tools. During the presentation I demonstrated the knowledge I have in this field and translated a few standards to the needs of the firm. Middle management decided to take this presentation to the teamleaders, which is awesome! I look forward to the results.

After work Leann and I had dinner at my parents. My Dad cooked some yummy fish and chips with peas and carrots. After that, I couldn’t have any dessert any more. After dinner we went to visit the wife of my uncle that passed away. We had some coffee and shared some memories. After that we visited the chapel where my uncle is in a closed coffin. It was the last chance for us to see my uncle. It was emotional. We agreed again that he died way too young.

Tomorrow will be Friday. I’d be happy when this week would be over.

Two weeks ago Leann and I visited my uncle in the hospital. It appared that he was doing better and better. A few hours ago I received an e-mail from my aunt, with some very disturbing news. It apears that last Friday night the situation has become very critical. A lot of blood went into his stomach and there was not much the doctors could do about that. My aunt was called to the hospital during the night, because doctors thought my uncle would not survive this. My uncle has received a lot of blood and they tried to stop the bleeding. Saturday morning it looked like that it worked at least up to a certain point.

The situation now is that things are still very critical and dangerous for my uncle. The blood that flooded into his stomach is still there and the doctors can’t do a thing about that right now. The doctors will continue to do all they can to keep my uncle alive. Up to this point it’s unclear if he will or not. We’ll have to wait and see.

Now going to visit my parents and help them cooking. My parents have spent all day in the hospital. My Dad will appreciate the break from cooking.

Today is our 4th wedding anniversary. I still remember our wedding day as if it were yesterday. It was an amazing day and … very hot, too! I had to go to work today and Leann also had a few things to do, so we didn’t really celebrate. That will come later. Last weekend I did see a nice piece of meat which is called Chateauxbriand. This is one of the finest pieces of meat available and it was on sale. If it weren’t for that, it would be really expensive. Now it became affordable for us. We decided to have that on our wedding anniversary and that’s what Leann cooked us today. It was really nice.

I took some mouthwatering pictures that you’ll find here. Have fun looking .

Yesterday my parents celebrated their upcoming 60th birthday. My Dad wanted to make things easy for himself, so he rented a party boat in a city called Alkmaar and invited all family for a boat tour.

We were expected to be there by 3:30pm. I decided to go really early, to leave me time enough. Alkmaar is a crappy city to drive in and finding a parking spot is even worse. We arrived early and did find a parking spot, but we found out that we were actually one of the last to arrive, even though it was 3:15pm. Everyone greeted one and another and at 4pm the boat left as scheduled. The boat tour included drinks and dinner. So, the crew was stuffing us with drinks while we enjoyed the tour. The real bonus was the weather. It was wonderful sunny weather and pretty warm.

I took 300+ pictures during the three hour boat tour. Some pictures include family pictures of my parents, their children and partners and the grandchildren. You’ll find the pictures here. Some family members wanted to have their pictures taken, as well. Have fun looking.

For those interested in booking a partyship in or around Alkmaar, I can warmly suggest this one. They have a fine, pleasant and helpful crew. You’ll find more details at Alkmaar Cruises.

After five weeks vacation Leann is coming home today. It was a close call whether she was going to make the flights or not. Chicago has been covered with nice thunderstorms making it hard for flights to land and leave. Fortunately Leann’s flight to Amsterdam originated from a different city, too, so that flightw as as delayed as Leann’s flight from Nashville was. The only thing for me to find out now is, which website gives me the right estimated arrival time. Three websites are telling me different things within a time span of an hour.

The past few weeks I have been joking once a while how it is so nice to send the woman on vacation and have the house to myself! The truth is that I have started to miss Leann… not just a little, either. Five weeks without Leann appeared to be a long time. It’s how it was, though. I am not sure if I would do this long again without her.

Last night I managed to get the last few things done. Now that Leann is so delayed it actually allows me to run the car through car wash and clean that. I also would want to go through grocery stores to make things happen. We’ll see how that goes, though. The car wash has priority, so that’s where I’ll start.

Later today the Dutch national soccer team will play in the world cup in South Africa. I look forward to that. I am not sure what we’ll be doing the rest of the day. I guess we’ll play it by the ear

It’s been a while since I updated. Things with the funeral of my grandma have been very hectic. Time for an update, though. The ceremonies were very pretty. A ceremony was held at the church and one at the funeral home. I managed to help a lot with the preparations of the ceremonies. It’s about time for me to get some experience in this, as well. I hope not for long, but some day it will be my time to prepare a funeral and take the lead in that.

I created a video that was played at the ceremony. It worked out well. The only thing that didn’t work out well is that the video restarted itself after finishing. It wasn’t playing on my notebook, so I didn’t know how to stop that right away. Oh well… worse things happen sometimes. Both ceremonies have been recorded. One of my uncles couldn’t attend, because he was hospitalized. This is a good way for him to watch the ceremonies anyways. It will also be nice for Leann being able to watch the ceremonies on DVD, as well.

After the ceremonies the closest families went out to have a dinner together. It was a nice way to close the day. All in all we were home by 10pm, which was late enough for me. It was a good day… the ceremonies were beautiful. I am glad it’s behind us now, though.

Today I spent most of the day at my parents. Most of the day was also spent on preparing the my Grandma’s cremation. My Dad looked at the video message that I created and from which I hope that they can play at the cremation ceremony. My Dad worked on a booklet for the church ceremony and I helped him turning it into a real booklet in word. The teamwork between us worked out wonderful.

It’s been a full day. Tomorrow I have a day of rest, which I look forward to. I wanted to make a few more videos for my Dutch training sessions, but I think I’ll skip on that.

This morning I learned that my grandma passed away last night. My dad called my at work this morning to bring this sad message. My grandma leaves an empty space behind. I should celebrate her life, because she passed away at a respectable age in a very humane way. On her age of 86 she actually still lived in her own house and managed to get around. My grandma was a strong woman. Although I should celebrate her life, I feel emptiness. I realize that this is completely normal, which is why I let my emotion speak.

My grandma wanted the world to know that she felt comfortable in her decision to let go. I am grateful that I had a chance to pay my respects to this wonderful woman and to say goodbye to her.

Thank you, Oma Ria for all you have brought to me… now rest in peace….

Today my birthday card from America arrived. It’s a really funny and cute car, telling me what a wonderful son-in-law I am and the wishes for my birthday. Thank you

The past week I have been thinking on how to organize things around vacations and outings. At some point I had to mess with going to America in September. Workwise this decision would be very bad judgement, because in September is when everything starts again. My current contract runs through June 30th, so it doesn’t fall together very well. At the same Leann is feeling homesick a bit. It’s been a year and a half almost that we have been in America, so it’s about time, too.This is why we have decided that Leann is going to America for five weeks next month. It will get quiet in The Netherlands without her. There is some bonus to it, though: I get to see as much soccer as my heart contempts during the World Cup Soccer . After Leann comes back we’ll see what happens with vacation and outings. I am happy with the decision. Leann’s parents are also looking forward. For the World Cup Soccer I need a walking fridge, like the (Dutch) commercial below.

The guy in the commercial initially was thinking of a “Walk-in fridge” (as in a walk-in closet).

Other things are running smoothly here. Tomorrow is Thursday already. Time is flying by very fast. I had some problems with my computer credentials at work today. Hopefully I saw the last of that.

From the archives of the internet I found this video which has Leann’s sister playing in it. For those that have not seen this video, I have posted the video here

Enjoy!

Last Thursday a new daily has been started. The most famous daily that is available in more countries and that brings news is Metro News (link to US variant). The new dailey is called “Tietenblaadje”. They advertised with the punch line: “The daily that noone dared to ask for arrived!”. The other punch line they use is: “Make something special out of your working day and add a bit of beauty to your daily routine.” The cover is actually blank and just says: “Tietenblaadje”. There is a reason for that, though to which I have come now: inside the latest news consist of women lifting their shirts showing their titties (the translation of “Tietenblaadje” in fact is “titties magazine”).

Think I am joking? The link to the article in a nationwide newspaper is to be found here. The actual paper is found in the PDF link printed just over the picture. You’ll get to the “Tietenblaadje” faster by clicking here. Happy reading!

In other news: we got more snow! It’s getting really, really old. We actually went to the mall in a city nearby. After getting a few things, I decided that it would get too dangerous to stay at the mall, since the roads would get slippery. We managed to buy a BIG load of Caprisonne. This is Leann’s favorit drink and also our friends Diana and Larissa like this drink very much. So, with 4 cartons of 10 packages, we have enough for now. We also had our wedding rings and Leann’s engagement ring cleaned.

Kruidvat offers their chocotlate Easter eggs again. The reason for mentioning this, is that the eggs are so good and yet really cheap. I bought two BIG bags, so we’ll have enough for now.

There is more news: our Government decided to quit! So, we’ll have new elections some time soon for a new national Government. I am disheartened. I’ll write more about that in a separate entry.