Under the sea

After this weeks dike burst near Amsterdam, today another dike burst, this time near Rotterdam (dutch article). For the SAME reason: drought!! Last month, experts warned our government that dikes will burst because of the drought. We could prevent the dikes burst by making them wet, carefully. But NO, why do that? Just wait for the heavy rain to come and let it cary away our dikes. WHO needs dikes anyway??? It isn't as we are situated BELOW sea level!

Ironicly, the town of Rotterdam in NewYork was rewarded as "Best tasting water" a few days ago.

Behind bars

I live among the insain. No way this is really happening.

It's an understatement to say we can't get along with our neighbors. Let me say we're decent people and they're eh not. We're searching for a new house because we are threatened by one of them. We can't really get along with any of our direct neighbors, but we can LIVE with that. The one who threatened us is an alcoholic manic depressive middle aged man. He assaulted our previous neighbor. She's a girl in her midtwenties, as I am and moved just months ago to another house.

Normally the neighbors tend to ennoy us by ringing our doorbell late at night, knocking our walls to wake us up, yelling at us.. but now they have something NEW.... They want to place a fence before our porch entry. We share the same porch with 4 neighbors. NO WAY I'm letting myself be locked up with our manic depressive alcoholic agressive neighbor. That is NUTS. He's a f***** (excuse me) criminal an has been in prisson several times. He's convicted for assaulting an officer. Need I say more??

Now the scary part is: the reason why they want a fence placed is because of junkies sitting in our porch. The people downstairs sleep under the stairs and they say they can hear people walking up and down the stairs. At least, that's what they've said to our landlord. But there are NO junkies on our porch. We had a couple of kids hanging out on our porch like 1,5 years ago.. but not anymore. And besides that we sleep directly above the porch and we don't hear a thing. So WHY the fence? WHY?

From a.m. to p.m.

Normally the time difference between the US and The Netherlands isn't really an issue for me.. (WHY should it) But today it kinda sucks, the MTV video music awards will be live on television between 10.30 pm & 5 a.m :((
Can somebody please get me some coffee?????

Is somebody giving us a message here??

I'm not a pessimist. I'm not! I'm a very positive person. FreezeM and I are searching to buy or rent a new house. Today we received a brochure about a new appartment building in The Hague called "Prinsenhof". So just before dinner we spoke about signing up for the new appartment buildings downtown, which are going to be (it's a new project) surrounded with lots of shops, restaurants, bars & offices.
5 minutes later... we turn on the TV. The building is burned down.

Is somebody giving us a message here??

If it's the last thing they do

Reading our evening news I read this tragic story about a 30 year old women giving birth just before dying of her fatale injuries. I wanted to share the story, but found the expatica.com version to be incomplete. While searching on google news I found a second story of a woman giving birth to a son just before dying of her injuries and just 5 hrs prior the the accident that happened here in The Netherlands....

Caught!

So THAT's what they do all day! (click "don't stop here...")

Row row row your house

I'm excited! This might solve our neighbor problems, that is ... if they can swim as fast as they think..
As you might know The Netherlands are located BELOW water level. Silly eh? We're "protected" by dikes & dunes, they are "protected" by our government (so we thought untill people had to row their way out of their house on their beds last night). Apperently one of the dikes broke and flouded a small city near Amsterdam. Rumor has it that it broke because of the "extreme" dry & hot weather lately AND that more dikes will break the next couple of days because they expect heavy weather.
Does this mean I have to get my bikini out of her just started wintersleep and swim to Belgium??? Do I have to be rescued by the Germans? Nevertheless, waking up the bikini might help Robyn with her boobie-thon ;)

Migraine madness

I hate it. I hate it. I hate it.
This morning I felt a light migraine coming up. Decided to go to work anyway. It got worse just before lunch. When I couldn't talk normal anymore (where did my mind hide my vocabulary????) I dediced that it was probably better to go home and take my medicine. Luckely I live 15 minutes away from work, but that was a hell of a bike-ride :(( If you ever had a migraine you can imagine what that was like. Thank God for the medicine my doctor gave me (they're little miracle pills in a blue box :)) I'm still feeling funny but very able to blog! Jipppieeee

One of these days :)

We babysitted FreezeM´s nephew & niece last night. We had lots of fun! It was also very nice to bring them to bed, read a bedtime story and cuddle up on the couch together, with a bag of potato chips and a DVD (Analyze That!, which I might add was a very fun movie!)!

The fun thing about babysitting is that it made me feel like a teen again.... snuggle up on the couch together... waiting for the parents to come home.. but where is that mommy-wannabe-feeling coming from?? Be quiet I tell you ;)

It has to be done

I have to do it. I have to do it now... Get up! Do it! You can do it!
I have to put a self-cleaning-house on my wishlist....

Struck

Melanie (Reese Witherspoon) in Sweet Home Alabama pretended to be dead after being struck by lightning. For this Cancun bride it was no joke! On her honeymoon she wasn't only struck by her new hubby but by also by lightning.. and died...

Cheers!

Thanks to my dear friends Kevin & Melanie for all the nice gifts they brought back from their trip to the US! :)) We're enjoying the BIG tumbler glasses!! The clothes I ordered from Macy's.com fit perfectly! :) Thank you guys!!!!!

Speak now or forever hold your peace..

I finally added a new guestbook. The old was was eh.. broke... it just died on me. Luckelly I was able to save the old entries.
let me know you're alive :)

Stuck in ... traffic

We got stuck in traffic BAD yesterday! We did manage to get to Amsterdam. We totally missed the flashmob, but had fun :)

Sin City

Today we're going to Amsterdam with some friends! Amsterdam is fun to go to! There are a lot of nice restaurants, bars, museums, buildings & other sights. I call it Sin City because of the red light districts and the many many many many many so called "coffee shops" (the marihuana shops).
But today we're not sight seeing. No! We're attending a "flash mob"! And being Dutch luny I think that's pretty funny :)) I only saw a "flash mob" twice on television, the firtst one in Manhattan (hundreds of people worshipping a huge dinosaur at Toys'r'us) and anotherone in The Netherlands (people gathering for a local grocerie shop to make pictures of people coming out of the shop like they where celebraties, that was in Amsterdam).

House Loft

After work today I visited a loft in a very very nice area of our city with our broker. It was a very nice home! Tomorrow I'm going back a second time, with FreezeM :) We did never really consider a loft (can't afford a "real house" in that area of town) but it's very nice. It's just across a cute little church..... we'll see.

Clumsy me

I started this morning by feeding the cats cereal in stead of cat food. I'm happy I noticed it before I put the milk over the tuna/salmon food of Simba & Moby and ate it:)
It didn't end there ofcourse I spilled my (3rd this week) glass of water over my keyboard at work. It's a miracle that it's not broke yet... Oh well.. it's weekend for me :)))) Jahooooooooo!!!!!

No please no nothing

Remember the Olson (FullHouse) twins saying: "That is so RUDE!!"? They should come here & visit The Netherlands. I can promise them this: there's no custumer service here (read: the cassier won't even say "hello", "how can I help you" and "how are you?" is definately out of the question).
Today I went to the store to buy a greetingcard for a collegue who's ill. When I arrived at the counter I said "Hello". The girl, not saying anything, looked at me, and said: "2.25 euro". No please no nothing. When I gave 10 euro's she asked said "5 cents".. Guessing what she ment by that I answered "No". After groaning she gave me back my change. Ofcourse no "good bye". no "have a nice day" .... This store is no exception. At a lot of stores you visit in The Netherlands you are more or less treated this way. And Dutch are used to it.. except for me and FreezeM.. We're funny...
I miss US customer service ....

Special price: buy 1 house, get 1/2

My heart made a little happy jump when I found a cute little typical Dutch "hofjes" house. "hofjes" are build in the 14th century, are a bit small but very cute. On the it said that there was an oppertunity to buy the house next door. So we made an appointment to see the house this friday.
But we are very curious and drove buy there after work today. Apparently the wall between "the house next door" and this was gone!!! So you can buy half a house. ARE THEY NUTS????? Jeeeeee! Rrrrrrr. Are we supposed to chalk a line in the middle of the livingroom and share it with our new neighbors???? I'm curious what the broker will tell me when I call him tomorrow..

The horror!!

Some of you may know that for the past 3 weeks we where taking care of Sparky & saltwater fish for our dear friends Kevin & Melanie. Last night was our last night feeding the fish and cleaning whatever should be cleaned in the aquarium.

When we where done early yesterday and because off water spillings we thought: "let's clean the floor for them".. Wiping our way out, leaving a clean floor behind, almost done... FreezeM & I take 1 more glimps at the aquarium. We see that the aquarium rapidly is turning from christal clear to muddy... The water turns in to green slimy stuff. THE HORROR!

For a nanosecond a voice in my head (probably my mother) said DON`T WALK ON THE CLEAN WET FLOOR!!

before....................................... and after....

Quit playing with that mouse

..and give me some food!

cats always have a way to let you know what's on their minds...

Ring ring ring

While adding 2 MT webrings today... the De La Soul song, Ring Ring Ring popped up in my head.. I'm nice, I'll share:

Whoops, 2 late!!!

Money money money

Last week I got my diplomas translated & legalised. I'm happy with the result apperently my highschool diploma is equal to a USA Highschool diploma PLUS 2 years of undergraduate education :)

My smile kinda disappeared when I got back the online tuitution & fees from MSU Billings. $ 3300.00 per semester + 40$ per credit because I will be studying online.. Wow! My stomach made a couple of 360 degrees turns...

Now I understand that scholarships are such a hot item in the US!

Here in The Netherlands you can attend a 4 year study at very good university for about $5000.00 ... But then a again, our wish to live in the US is SO BIG and I think it would be so much better to attend an US university instead of a Dutch university..

Also when we do get to move to the US the next couple of years.. maybe then I won't be able to finish my Dutch university education.

What decisions to be made.... I'll have a look on other US university websites :) Maybe MSU is a bit expensive..

Remote Control

Some say I'm nuts, I say: give me back my remote control! Just a few more days till Sparky's parents come back from their holiday and pick him up., We'll miss him!!!

House hunting

Visited 3 more houses today. They all had 2 things in common: TOO little and TOO expensive. :(
Don't give up.. we'll find something I tell myself. Thursday 21th august we have an appointment to look at an appartment in a very nice area of town (close to our friends Kevin & Melanie). It's not too expensive and the description says it has to be BIG! Hope & pray it's nice :)

Rolling rolling rolling

Jippie :) Blogrolling is open for new sign ups again :) So that's what I did.

When the weather is hot...

.. the guys are not... at least no prostitute visiting Dutch guys. This article is hysterical :))

Sometimes I'm SO ashamed to be Dutch...

Some choices in live...

Since we can't change the violent behaviour of our neighbors (and Dutch police doens't do anything about it), we decided to move (dumbass, if you're reading this: you won... oh..... no you probably can't understand English .. can you even read? :))). We started out looking to buy a new appartment, but then again rumor has it that the prices of houses will drop like a brick the next couple of years..

So we're looking to rent an appartment now. Tomorrow morning I'll be looking at a ground level appartment with a garden. If it's big enough we'll take it ;) Cross my fingers!!

My first lemonade!!!!

It's so hot!!! Let's make some fresh lemonade :) In The Netherlands lemonade is not a known drink. We know coca cola, fanta, sprite, ice tea etc. but fresh lemonade is never made.

But this sweet Dutchie LOVES fresh lemonade and here's my simple recipe:

Ingredients (for 4 glasses)
4 lemons (save 1 lemon for decoration)
6 tablespoons sugar
4 cups water
lots of ice

Cut 3 lemons in half & squeeze them. Remove the seeds (they're not nice to eat). Pour into serving pitcher (As I'm Dutch, I only have a Heineken pitcher :). Add the sugar, and let it stand awhile (so the sugar to dissolves). Stir a couple of times.

When the sugar is dissolved, add the water and stir again. Serve it over o lot of ice & a slice of lemon for decoration :)

Enjoy!!!!

Code red for dutch bloggers

While Europe is heating up like a oven last few weeks, Dutch power companies gave code red which means, they except power failures within the next few days! All because of the extreme heat we sort of enjoy. Although would really like to have an airco ;)

Sparky's is keepin'it cool

When I was just a little girl

Jippieee I've added some pictures (as you can see on the left :) ... That was on my TO DO list about a million years or so :)

A Harry Potter moment

I "spotted" this owl at a local pet store..

kinda magical or I've been reading to many Harry Potter books :)

Freedom of blog

As a newbie bloggie I was amazed to see that some bloggers have to password protect their blogs. Blogging to personal (or political) can be risky, Robyn experienced that and she pw protected her blog. Realizing Freeze's blog is all about us wanting to move to the USA and being very critical on The Netherlands & Dutch habits.. maybe in time he'll have to get his blog password protected. While his intention is to let other people read & learn from our steps to get to move to the States, he might has to lose his main blogging purpose.
It's a shame!

Yes he is..

Whoops, 2 late!!

That's it....

... I'm old :) THANX to everyone for the fun & the many many nice presents I got :))) That Samsung phone-camera thingie I got isn't bad at all! It made lots of nice 25th birthday memories ;)

Sparky wasn't happy that he didn't get any meat from the BBQ... he's on dog food diet.

BBQ shopping

Last nights shopping for todays BBQ ;) >FreezM you´re doing a great job!

The shop we went to also had a `American unit´, I would call it an ´American shelf´, but okay.. shouldn´t complain because they actually did sell some nice thinks like Cinnamon cake jippppppppie ;)))

It's my party....

25.... 25.... I'm SO old ..... It won't be for long till I'm all wrinkled, lost my tooth, need post it's to remember what I was doing and lose the ability to exaggerate everything I say ;)

Jungle of stupidity

We live in a appartmentbuilding (read: nuthouse) where 4 appartments share the same porch. Next door to us live a pair of lunies. They're somewhat ennoying because they tend to knock our walls early in the mornings to wake us up and deposit their trash on our balcony. There´s ofcourse our alcoholic manic depressive neighbour who treathened to kill us after we involved our landlord with lunies #1.
No they slipped a letter under our door (thank god not a bomb letter ;) with a cleaning schedule for our porch. They´ve definately lost all their braincells. I´m not cleaning up after people who threaten to kill me or throw trash on my balcony. Maybe it´s time to get get-back-at-your-neigbour-manual! back out again :))

Be carefull what you wish for...

This Friday I'm celebrating my 25th birthday... In The Netherlands it's not uncommon to ask for nice warm weather (as some summers feel more like fall season) ... I already know what I'm getting.... 37 degrees!!! ...

Me and my BIG mooth .. I'll just have to add a swimming pool to my wishlist :)

It's getting hot in here

The thermometer says it's 31 degrees inside... I tried to buy a moveble little airco system thing ... all sold out .... maybe I should go to the beach :))

A dog's life

Wouldn't we all want to live Sparky's life?

Back to school

A few weeks ago I applied for Montana State University Billings. If they allow me to their study, I'll be studying online from my home country (The Netherlands).

The American study system is very different from the Dutch study system.
Here you choose a study and you start directly with the subject you choose. There are no general requirement courses!

I prefer the American system. For exemple, I'm not particulary fond of history classes, but I think it's a good thing to know where you're coming from. But here you only get history classes in Highschool but nooooo history in University, that is, if you don't study "History" :)

A very positive thing about Dutch schools is that they are much cheaper!! I hope MSU gives me a reply to my question: "how much does it cost?" :)

Read more about our dream to move to the USA...