It’s good to be home. I had such a good trip but I missed Joel like crazy. My trip back was basically uneventful. I sat next to some nice people and my plane from Amsterdam to Memphis had “on demand” movies and games which was really awesome. I could start any movie I wanted whenever and fast forward or rewind as much as I liked. All my luggage got where it needed to go and yeah, it wasn’t too exciting one way or the other. My plane got into Chicago on time and I was home by about 10pm. To Joel’s dismay I unfortunately was wide awake at about 5am since that’s noon on my body clock right now. Oh well, lol. It was nice to spend the day with my husband. I made pancakes and did the laundry I needed to do and we relaxed around the house and enjoyed each others company. Then, when Joel had to go to school I met up with my mom and hung out with her for a couple hours. Today I’m back to work which I’m actually looking forward to. This evening part of my family is coming over for dinner which should be a lot of fun. I know that I haven’t updated pretty much at all since last week…I will work on that over the next couple days. So yeah, back to reality. *grin*
Month: January 2007 Page 1 of 3
Last night I got sick. I was up until about 1 in the morning with an upset stomach so today I tried to sleep most of the morning. I got up in the morning of course and got the kids off to school but after that I rested. I knew I didn’t have the flu or anything, I didn’t have a fever but I was quite afraid to eat much of anything and as a result felt like crap. When I finally got up the courage to eat anything I started feeling better but not long after that I had to pick up the kids from school and things. That’s the long version of why there aren’t any Disney/Paris pictures today…I’m sorry. I’d promise that I’ll put them up tomorrow but…well we’ve seen how that goes. That’s the plan anyways so if nothing goes wrong, tomorrow you’ll all see pictures of me and the “happiest place on earth”…. I hope.
No pictures today, sorry. I screwed up a couple really good pictures and in trying to fix them I ran out of time before I had to pick up the kids…Anyway, hopefully there will be something tomorrow, I’ll work on it tonight and see what I can do…grrr.
I had an extremely wonderful weekend. That’s all I’m going to say for now because I’m exhausted. Tomorrow I will sort through all my pictures and make a thorough post all about my weekend. Until tomorrow *wink*.
One of the worst storms in years rocked Europe yesterday. It was pretty intense. Thankfully I didn’t have to go anywhere other than picking up the kids from school so I didn’t see much of the craziness. Today it looks much nicer but unfortunately the weather forecast for Paris this weekend is not great. Windy, lights showers and 55F…I’m still hoping that will change somehow though. No matter what I plan on having a great time there but it would be much nicer if the weather cooperates. Also, I’m hoping to have internet access in the rooms but I’ll only be able to use it if it’s WiFi because of my poor gimpy little laptop. So if you don’t hear from me that’s why and I’ll have updates from every day when I get back. *big smile*
It was wonderful! It started at breakfast where I received my presents. Even my chair was decorated!
Twenty one candles are hard to light and keep lit, but Robbert pulled it off.
I blew out all the candles but then discovered there was a trick one *shakes head* Ineke makes the best apple pie, by the way!
Most of the rest of the day I spent relaxing and reading a book. I also got birthday phone calls from Joel and then my mom which was very nice. Then in the evening I got ready to go out to dinner.
Here we all are ready to go out.
They took me to an amazing restaurant called Rosso. (on the site you can click on the circle that says Rosso and then the square in the middle that says Fotos to see pictures of the place, just keeping clicking to see them all.)
Everything was sooo delicious and beautiful, I just loved it. And yes, being my 21st birthday and all I did have a glass of champagne. It also had a cherry at the bottom which made it quite good. *grin*
The staff at Rosso was very nice and knowing it was my birthday they made me a little firework.
The whole day was so special. Robbert and Ineke, I can’t thank you enough for everything. It all was just perfect!
Happy Birthday to me! I’m 21 today. It’s been a great day so far, I’ll post more about the day with pictures tomorrow. For now though I took this quiz (by the way, they never ask anything about your birthday it’s all about personality) and was a bit surprised by the results. I guess there’s something to these internet quizes after all, haha. *big smile*
| Your True Birth Month Is January |
 Social Logical Easily jealous Loves children Rather reserved Highly attentive Likes to criticize Needs close friends Ambitious and serious Smart, neat and organized Hardworking and productive Loves to teach and be taught Quiet unless excited or tensed Sensitive and has deep thoughts Knows how to make others happy Searches for the greatest romance Resistant to illnesses but prone to colds Romantic but has difficulties expressing love Always looking at people’s flaws and weaknesses |
Crazy. I’m weirdly excited about this birthday, more than any of my recent ones. I guess now I will feel much more like an “adult”, only because I won’t be kept out of places and events because I’m not old enough. It’s not that I’m that excited about being able to drink legally in the states. I’ve never been that interested in alcohol…don’t know why, it just never appealed to me. But to be told I can’t sit somewhere or I can’t go in someplace simply because I’m not old enough is annoying. Especially when I’m married and a “grown up” in basically every other way. Plus, I lived in Europe for heaven sakes, if I was going to drink I’d have done it then where it’s perfectly fine and exceptable. Whatever, that period in my life is over. I won’t have to be left out of going out places with friends because I’m too young…I guess that’s what I hated the most. It’s not like I go out to bars on a regular basis or even have a desire too but it sucks when your friends are all going somewhere and you can’t cuz you’re too young. Well, no more! yipee! lol. Tomorrow should be fun. In the daytime I don’t have any big plans, if fact, right now my plan is just to relax, hehe. Then, in the evening Robbert and Ineke are taking me out, which is really exciting. *big smile* It should be a really great birthday!
Most of you who know me know I’m a pretty easy going person. I’m fairly low maintenance when it comes to most things. That includes food, I’m probably one of the least picky eaters you will ever meet. Even if I don’t love something I’ll eat it and even enjoy it to a point. There are however, some things that I really like to eat. Here’s the list of some of my favorite things to eat (in no particular order):
really good steak
salmon
shrimp
most fish in general
mushrooms in any form but especially stuffed
strawberries (I’ve been known to down a whole carton in one sitting)
melons
lemons (yes, just plain)
artichokes with white sauce
green peppers
most other raw fruits and veggies
dark green salad with light raspberry vinegarette dressing
goat cheese
aged cheese (especially Old Amsterdam, mmm)
really thick french fries with lots of ketchup or with mayo
pretzel sticks
taco salad with western dressing
spinach soufflé
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I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, most cookies and candy I could live without but there are a few things I could die for like:
Mint chocolate chip ice cream
chocolate frosting on chocolate cake
dark chocolate
olie bollen
pumkin pie
apple pie
cheese cake, especially turtle cheesecake from Fazoli’s (the one thing I can still enjoy from there, haha).
My favorite thing to drink is water followed by Earl Grey tea, Diet Coke and coffee.
Now I’m sure there are lots of stuff that I haven’t metioned that I really like, I really love food, haha. I just can’t think of them right now so if you know me and you know I’ve left something out feel free to remind me. *wink*
When I lived here as an Au Pair a year ago there was a specific group of friends that I hung out with. It was a great group. We were all Au Pairs, so we had that much in common anyway but other than that we were all very different. We had different backgrounds, most of us came from different countries and if not at least from different parts of the country. That’s a big part of what made it so much fun. We all had different opinions about things and different points of view so I had some of the best discussions ever. At the same time every one of us were open minded and accepting of the others opinions and beliefs. So while there were discussions where everyone didn’t agree, I can’t think of a time that anyone was looked down on or thought less of for thinking something different.
I miss having a group of friends like that, to be honest. Actually I miss having a big group of friends period. It’s strange as you grow up how people change and move away and suddenly I find that I haven’t got very many friends at all. I have one great one but I hardly ever get to see her usually. I don’t want to sound pathetic or like I feel sorry for myself but I do wonder when I will find my “place”. How does someone like me (a young adult, married, no kids, etc.) find a group of friends? *shrug* I’m open to suggestions.
Anyway, today I went to Utrecht and visited with Kathrin, the last of “the group” to still live in The Netherlands. She is, of course, not an Au Pair anymore. She lives with her Dutch boyfriend Peter who is in a band called Illicit. She’s going to school and is working at a daycare center. It was really great catching up with her. We sat at a Dutch cafe, ate apple pie and talked for hours. It’s really a shame that we have to live so far away from each other. Oh well, maybe in a few years we won’t, who knows where Joel and I will end up. *wink*