Maxima

Mom tells me it was early on a Friday morining that I was born.  Six days later we both came home from the hospital and it was a Thursday also known as Thanksgiving Day.  So, that is the true story of Thanksgiving Day and my birthday.

I have my hair back to light golden brown and it had grown out enough that I could have a great haircut.  So, here I am with my new outfit and we decided to take off for a few days and celebrate my birthday.  I know…….I don’t really look my age

The Y is really working out.  All I can say is Y-M-C-A (you supply the music here)

When I was born I was so surprised I didn’t talk for a year and a half. ~ Gracie Allen
You can only be young once. But you can always be immature. ~ Dave Barry

I really like to pass out candy on Halloween and count the kids.  Tonight we had 57.  That is a normal number in the last few years.  But in the 90’s it was normal to have 175-200.  I miss a lot of kids…..a steady stream of kids at the door.  I love the costumes.  This year there were quite a few characters from the Harry Potter series.  My favorite was a little clown about 2 years old.  I could not get my camera to work.  But I did get a picture of this 50’s teenager with the pink poodle skirt.  She must be ‘going steady’ since she has the letter jacket on.  Her brother was all in white.  I am not sure who he was.

Mona went wacko the first few door bell rings.  Then she relaxed some and took advantage and sniffed all the kids as they reached for the candy.  There were two doggie costumes…..one a mutt and the other a dalmation.  No bully behavior from Mona for the dogs   How do you like my favorite Halloween trick?  I remove the screen and the storm window so I can give out the candy without opening the door.  Mona hangs out the window (to get the best sniffs) so I put towels on the window ledge.  We had a great night.  BTW, those are Dutch klompen hanging by the front door.

I went to visit my mom last week.  I was gone from Monday to late Friday night.  When I got home, Mona was my constant sidekick.  She followed me everywhere.  Here she is on her Denver Bronco’s blanket.  She is not a fan….it was just $1 at a garage sale and it is a really nice blanket.  If you sit at my computer and look down from my right elbow, that is Mona’s cave.  She is a very tired girl.

Here is my mom in an outfit that made me thirsty for kool-aid.  I have no idea what she is looking at up there but …..Mom, what is up with that purse?

Her knee is working pretty good.  No cane, no limping, and she even drives.  However, I was driving Miss Helen all week. 

You all know that Blips joined the YMCA with a family membership.  Since Mona is not allowed…..that leaves me as the intended target of the ‘family’ membership.  I started going just to support Blips because he was so determined to get fit again.  Not wanting to waste my time, I have developed a passion for the designed workouts also.  First there was about $200 in workout clothes.  You think you can wear just an old t-shirt but…noooooooo, it has to breathe.(quoting Blips here)  Then yesterday I caught a blip(pun intended) on the TV about MRSA, the superbug that does not respond to antibiotics. 

BUT…here is what is creeping me out.  MRSA used to be just in hospitals.  It now has moved to schools and locker rooms AND gym equipment.  GYM EQUIPMENT, you mean like all the machines people are sweating on at the Y???  The machines I use 6 times a week!  (Maxima shivers) The TV said it kills more people in the USA each year than the AIDS virus.  The Center for Disease Control said, 19,000 died in the US in 2005 from this virus.  Now I am super creeped out.  I am going to the gym today BEFORE all those sweaty guys drip on the machines.  It makes me feel just a little bit better.  And maybe I have to get out my dirty looks or start handing some of these guys the bottle of cleaner and a towel.  There is a bottle of sanitary stuff that you are supposed to spray on the equipment and wipe it with a paper towel as you leave a machine.  And I can hear it flying out of my mouth already…..”hey, you dripped all over that, wipe it down!”  Maybe it would be a good idea to bring Mona along for enforcement.  One look from a pit bull is much more effective than a dirty look from me.

and then I start thinking about the bottle.  You have to pick up the bottle to bring it to the machine to spray.  Yah, the same bottle the sweaty guys pick up to clean their sweat off the machine.  ohhhh geeezzzz, creepy feeling in my stomach returns.

Last week there was a picture in the local paper of a bride trashing her wedding gown.  Yup, it is supposed to show committment to the new husband….she won’t be needing it ever again.  Well, my first thought was….nobody ever wears the same wedding gown twice anyway so this is really weird.  She was in her gown with jewelry and all……laying on a mucky old log in a swampy lake.  Yewwww, I could even smell the green slime just looking at it.  And yes, her wedding gown was sinking/floating in the green mess as she stretched out over the fallen tree.

My only thought was……what the heck is the matter with people?

It is supposed to be a new trend on the east and west coasts.  They (whomever “they” are) say it is expected to be catching on in the midwest and be really hot soon.  Wanting to add some pictures so you could see what I mean, I went looking and found some great picutres in every kind of setting although the beach is the most popular.  Railroad tracks, dumps, running in the rain, bathtubs…….it has a competitive feel to it. 

I looked thoroughly at these brides.  They have all their teeth and are usually wearing shoes.  But, I am surprised to say…….that I actually got to like it.  Remember in the movie Harold and Maude when Maude took off the very special ring that Harold gave her and threw it in the ocean?  She said, “Now I will always know where it is”.  This wedding dress trashing has that feel to it.  Trash it, now you no longer have to pay $100 to clean it, seal it, store it and always hope it does not get yellow.  Now, you always know where it is…..in the trash.

If I was a trend setter, I think I would have the new husband swallow his ring to show committment.  That way he never forgets to wear it.

Sunday:

It is our final day in the Netherlands and we make it a family day. Lots of laughter and talking in Dutch and Jonna surprised us once again with: “Oh my gosh”

Here are pictures of Opa and Grammy with Jonna and Nancy.

With 31 Euro worth of spices and foods, we head for America.

Doei

Saturday:

A beautiful day with sunshine, we don’t have time to hurry. Yes, you read that right. It is one of Blips favorite quotes, “I don’t have time to hurry”. Think about it….it makes sense. Taking our time, we strolled the streets of Zierikzee. Established in 1248 as a city, there are 10,000 residents.

Some old time musicians played in the city center and it really seemed like 100 years ago. (except for our cappicino of course). It is also Monument Day. This is where there are free open houses at momuments and historical sites all over Holland. In Zierikzee there was a very old mill, post office, orphanage etc. We toured it all. We also ran across many flowered gardens. Here is a pic of Blips and me sitting at a flowered garden between streets.
We had many laughs as we saw a lot of these midget cars. We figured out there must be a gathering close by since it was too much of a coincidence to see dozens of these Italian Fiats. One car had 5 people in it going down the road in front of us. Unbelieveable, these are the size of a toy Barbie car for children in America.

Our plan was to watch the sunset over the sea, but it got cloudy and the desired restaurant on the beach was closed. So, all four of us, being very flexible, went for Chinese buffet. Blips and I noted we miss the free refills.

We ended our evening by watching Mr and Mrs Smith. It was alot of laughs. Sleeping late tomorrow….I can’t believe it is our last day tomorrow.

Friday:

I woke up and heard the clock bong 10. I had slept so good that I was surprised by the time. We started the day with looking at some of the best pictures followed by coffee and breakfast. The food just kept coming, I thought we were back at the buffet in Amsterdam. One special item here was leverpastei, a nice old fashioned liverwurst type treat.

Then on our bikes for a ride through the city to the fish auction. The boats are now in the harbor and sea gulls are everywhere searching for any fish that escaped the nets. The men seem glad to be back on land after 5 days at sea. Back on our bikes, a bit farther to a rarely used (except by locals) walking trail along the shore. We have the trail to ourselves. A beautiful day with perfect sunny weather so there is no need for our jackets. It’s windy of course, but not cold. There is an abundance of black raspberries which we can pick along the trail. Blips warns me not to touch the “itch weed” which is nasty but not quite as bad as poison ivy. I suddenly notice the itch weed everywhere.

We meet a dog on the beach whose owners insist she is not a pit bull but an American Staffordshire Terrier. Pit bills are banned in Holland, so “of course” she is an AM Staff. On our bike ride home, I notice Els watching the traffic for me. I appreciate that since I have no clue about the bike rules here. Sometimes the car and sometimes the bike has right of way. It is good NOT to get those mixed up. And now a reward for our 4 hour bikeride-walking tour: a magnum ice cream followed by coffee.

Mar arrived home after a busy day at work and we had a nice talk between dog lovers about how they own a piece of your heart forever. Mar made a wonderful chicken dinner with rice. She added leeks, peppers and a salsa type sauce. We all had seconds!

It is Friday night and some shops are open so we go to pick up some Dutch treats for the family back in the USA. We have tirimisu ice cream because it is the only thing I can read in English. Everyone else walked right by the sign, but when I said…”hey, look at that”…all four of us ordered it and really liked it. The people watching was interesting. I noticed everyone under 20 is wearing blue jeans, including the toddlers. In just a few years a whole generation will have switched to blue jeans = no longer the American uniform.

Thursday:

Today is the day we rest our feet from all the walking in Amsterdam. We take a nice drive to Werkendam to see the new house. Much work is going on at the new house. G-J, his dad and friends are doing a marvelous job ripping out the old and updating everything. It was originally two small houses built in 1819. This is going to be one lovely house! On the left, their house is the white one. Jonna’s bedroom(second floor in America, first floor in Europe) is the open window on the right. The new baby’s room is the open window on the left. It could be a girl or it could be a boy.  The world finds out in Januari 08.  Photo on the right is of the ceiling beams in the room which will eventually be the guest bedroom/store room. Below is the kitchen. The big hole is where the dishwasher goes. The refrigerator is the tallest blue cabinet on the right with a freezer on top. In that pic , you are standing in the dining area. Living room is to the right.

Our lunch is an extra large meatball swimming in peanut sauce, salad and french bread. I had a caramel coffee which was only available because we were in a French Restaurant. Fancy coffees are not a Dutch dingetje (thingy).

For dinner Blips and daughter cook for an hour in the kitchen a favorite family receipe of homemade tomato soup. This is nothing like Campbells! It involves cooking certain ingredients, adding a package of herbs and another package of spices, putting everything through a collander/sieve dingetje, adding small meatballs and a bit of thin spaghetti. There is no taste like it in America and I tell you it was delicious. ElsMarStel joined us for a nice family dinner. They then locked us in their backseat (really, with the child safety locks) and took us home with them. As we approached Stellendam, we could see the lights of about 30 sea going vessels lined up to enter the harbor. Friday morning these ships unload 5 days worth of catch at the fish auction. Stellendam has the largest fish auction in all of Holland. Blips, who is not a big fish lover, is grateful that I do not have a bidding number.

ElsMarStel have presents for us. First is a package of edible paper. This gave us all a good laugh, remembering my Christmas cookies that stuck to the cutting board last December. Not a problem now! We also receive a lighthouse wind chime which will look great in the garden. Next is a unique metal fish(Blips favorite kind) that has slits where a tea light shines thorough. Difficult to picture, I know, so you will just have to stop by and we will be delighted to show it to you.

Wednesday:

A great breakfast and packed up our backpacks. We stuck them under the desk in the dining room and will pick them up when we head for the train station. The backpacks are returned to us when we turn in the ourdoor key. If we do not turn in the key, it costs 325 Euro. Here is a picture of our hotel. You go in the double black doors on the bottom and our room was on the backside where the garden was. Don’t forget to go up 3 flights of stairs
It is truely raining (lightly) this time so I use the umbrella and Blips puts on his rainjacket. Van Gogh Museum is our destination. As they take our ticket and we enter, they tell us we must check Blips camera and bag and the umbrella. No previous notice on checking the bags. Everyone walks to the side and complies but we step aside and discuss what to do. Since checking the bags are ‘at your own risk’ we decide to leave. Blips has a small arguement in Dutch with the man who took our tickets. He wins and we get our money back. No Van Gogh Museum this trip. We go to the gift shop and look at the books and posters. Nope, still not a favorite of ours, so on with the day and no regrets.

Rain lightened up so we went to the flea market. Blips gets nervous when I spotted an antique clock but I said, “who needs a clock with the wrong time”. He said, Yah…and got me out of there real fast.:) Walking faster reminded me I had to pee, so off to McDonalds where the toilet costs 30cents. It used to be 20 cents before the Euro came in. These guys are getting ripped off big time. We also spotted this sign that was missing one letter by the canal. We cracked up for a long time.

Blips spots a camera shop and disappears inside for 20 minutes. It is small so I wait outside. I watch a young girl (20-25) set up her music stand, music, get out the saxaphone, open her case for people to put money into. This takes her 12-15 minutes. She plays 1/2 a song and the guy from the camera shop comes running out and tells her that he can’t hear his customers talk. He makes her move. Blips said he never heard any sax playing in the shop. Blips makes a purchase and saves about $50 on the item and is very happy.

And here is a picture of biking in the rain. This lady had 4 kids in her ‘wagon’ with a plastic covering. Kindergarten schoolbus?

We decide to go get our backpacks. By now we really know our way around and we head straight to the B&B. Thinking it would be nice to have a snack on the train, we get two sandwiches and a soda. Our train tickets are simple again as Blips gets them from a machine in the station. We head to Dordrecht on some very comfy seats in the upper deck again. About half way, we get out our sandwiches. I had BLT and Blips had fried egg and bacon. We split the soda, which is plenty since we are now used to European sizes.

Arriving around 7pm, we are dead tired but Jonna has waited up for us to say goodnight. We brush our teeth together. We learned that she explained our absence to herself by saying, “Opa and Grammy working in Amsterdam”. She looks so much older in just a few days. Her mommy explains that she cut her bangs, so yes, she does look older. She learned a new phrase too. She handed me something and said, “there you go”.

It feels good to put our feet up and know that tomorrow we will not be trucking around Amsterdam. The rest of me can go alot longer but my feet need a rest.

Tuesday:

Breakfast with 15 items on the buffet and Dutch coffee and an omlet made with chives from her garden. We were joined by another international couple. A guy from San Francisco and his wife from Iran. He grew up in Grand Rapids, Minnesota (small world). We had a fun conversation for an hour about our traveling experiences and different cultures. We walked back to the Dam where we had a smoothie, strawberry for me and banana for Blips. Carrying an umbrella to keep away the rain, we spend 3 hours walking the Jordaan, one of Amsterdams most elegant neighborhoods where slightly older yuppies reside. This is a delight to see a real city without the entertainment area.

Back at the Royal Palace, the doors remain fenced with big iron gates . No chance to ring the doorbell to get in. A sign said, “Closed due to Circumstances”. So, we wandered, having some ice cream and walked through a door marked Amsterdam History Museum. We found ourselves at the Begijnehof, a cluster of houses originally built for women to live without a husband and without becoming a nun. It has the cities oldest house (1425). There is also the Engelse Kerk (English Reformed Church, 1607) and Roman Catholic Chapel (1671). Very few people were there, maybe 10. It seemed like such a secret find. Out another arched door and onto a busy Amsterdam street again. We are looking at the American Book Center. We stop in and Lynn, my classmate from highschool is behind the counter. I stand there just tickled pink to listen to her speak Dutch and see her success as a Dutch business woman(she owns the place). She notices me and we are both a little surprised we recognize each other since we have not seen each other for at least 25 years. Our conversation is short but very nice, sharing laughter as we update our lives. As we leave, she refuses to let me pay for a book I want, stating….”your money is no good here”…an old Minnesota saying

It now was 3:30PM and our lekker breakfast is wearing off. Blips is hungry for chicken satay and I am hungry for muscles. We take a chance on Petit-Restaurant De Rozenboom. Our lunch/dinner is excellent and we enjoy it very much until we get the bill. The waiter had given a Dutch couple across from us free coffee but ours was 3.80 Euro. So, this ticked off Blips which equals NO TIP! He was also ticked off that we were charged 1 Euro for mayo and ketchup, but I convinced him that is normal around here. Again it rained while we had dinner but the entire day I have not needed to open the umbrella.
Looking for a t-shirt souvineer shop, we found ourselves in the red light district. We both noted that the women in the windows looked older, fatter and to quote Blips, “ugly”. So much for a sexy high paying job.
Tomorrow the Van Gogh Museum.
We got back to our room and “As the World Turns” was on the TV with subtitles in Dutch. How funny! This is the soap opera that my mom has been watching for over 50 years. I could tell by the story, that they are about 1.5 years behind the story in the States.
No tatoo yet. And BAM,we still have our fake wallet. You know the one that the pick pockets are supposed to find while your real one is somewhere else.

Monday, acting real Dutch, we walked to the Waterbus which took us to Dordrecht where we walked to the train station. Blips got tickets to Amsterdam Centraal Station from the machine. Our train was in the station and leaving in 12 minutes. Woo Hoo, what luck. We took the upper deck seats with a lovely view of koeien(cows), schapen(sheep) and grafitti. We stopped at Rotterdam, Den Haag, Leiden, Schiphol-airport and finally Amsterdam Centraal at 12 noon.

We checked our map and headed for our hotel. There were so many things and people to look at, that we took two wrong turns but still arrived at the hotel 25 minutes early at 1:35PM. Our hotel is all no smoking(yeah!) A warm friendly welcome and we head to the third floor. I had forgotten that zero is the bottom floor, so we are going up 4 flights of stairs. Good for our fitness We unload our backpacks and head out for coffee. Stopping at a terrace on the Dam, where the waitress was blunt and snotty, our coffee and apple pie was 14 Euro or $19.00 Yikes!!! Coffee was good and pie was mediocre.

A beautiful sunny afternoon calls for a canal tour on a boat. Blips had a great picture taking marathon, 216 pictures. We got outside seats but while waiting for the boat to go, the fumes were making me sick. So, I waited inside until the boat took off. While inside, an American couple sat down across from me. There were discussing their day so far. He told her, “I lost more than the map. I took my watch off my wrist and put it in my pocket and BAM, it was gone!” I had to hold back my giggles. It is called pick-pocket, NOT pick-wrist.

There were some great looking Indonesian and Shoarma restaurants but we have had quite a lot of that lately, so we pick Italian. Blips orders lasagna. It had ham in it making Blips quite happy. I had chicken pizza with the thinnest crust ever making me happy. We sat in the no smoking area. Since there were no ash trays, the table next to us asked for one and promply lit up 3 cigarettes. Welcome to Amsterdam! It rained while we ate but again was beautiful as we walked 10 minutes to our hotel. Up those 4 flights of stairs to our third floor room.

And tomorrow is Tuesday

Well, it felt like Tuesday again today.  But it turned out to be a nice family day.  So, Sunday it is.  It started when Nancy and mommy arrived for some fun in the garden.  The weather is again beautiful and so we went to a petting zoo in town.  It had lots of goats, so a big hit with me also since I adore goats.  I almost got locked up inside the rooster house. 

They were closing and we did not know it…….all of a sudden, in Dutch language everyone was saying to get out.  I was busy staring at a periwinkle colored parakeet.  So, beautiful and so unusual.  Suddenly, Blips rushes in the bird house and says…hurry, hurry, they are closing

Our lunch was one of our favorites, saucijzenbroodjes(sausage inside a buttery baked flaky bun) with salads and homemade breads, cheese, ham…….

We played in the playhouse and on the whip/wop (teeter totter).  Nancy has her own language but also a few American words….WOW… is one she uses.  She is a very active girl who is easy to smile and give out kisses.  She smiles with her whole face.  It just makes you want to scoop her up in a big hug…..but she is gone doing something else before you can wrap your arms around her. Jonna and Nancy play very nice together and are considerate of each other and share the toys.  It was a content and happy day to just spend watching our granddaughters play together.

We had Chinese take out for dinner and our favorites were included…curry pork and satay chicken.  Tomorrow we are off to Amsterdam for 3 days.  It is supposed to rain on Monday but we don’t care because it seems like Tuesday anyway

Ok, it took us an hour and a half but here is how we did it. We were on our way to Scheveningen (the very nice tourist beach on the North Sea) and we took a turn into a parking lot. I was a bit surprised but Blips decided to take me to Madurodam, known as the smallest town in the Netherlands. Everything is 25 times smaller than in real life. It is all reproduced exactly as in real life with a birds eye view of such things as the Reformed Church in Maasdijk, Town hall of Gouda, an Amsterdam canal, Rijksmuseum, Royal Palace in Dam Square, Anne Frank House, flour mills, Peace Palace (International Court of Justice) in the Hague, clog factory, tulip fields, just to name a few. In this shot, I am overlooking the cheese market in Haarlem. If you look close, you can see the yellow cheese wheels all lined up(low center of the shot).
We then drove through my favorite city for just looking and that is The Hague. I love the archetecture and the lifestyle. Next was the beach where we had a perfect day. The sun was shining and the waves were wonderful. Blips took me to our favorite restaurant on the beach, Masada, for shoarma. I had shoarma with pineapple and almonds and Blips had shoarma with onion, mushroom, and red and green peppers. Of course our coffee was perfect. During our walk on the beach we noticed a change in the style. Now along the beach where there used to be tables and chairs, there are couches with colorfull pillows. At the center of each grouping of couches is a fire pit. And here I am in a typical tourist shop on the beach (see the clogs hanging on the left). My ancle is all better, thank goodness.
I keep thinking each day is Tuesday. So, I can’t really say which day we did what because I would just say on Tuesday we did that. We have gone for some very nice neighborhood walks, visited relatives for some wonderful conversation and coffee. A favorite kibbeling(fried fish) we have had twice from the little neighborhood shop. I think that was Tuesday. I DO remember that on Friday we went to Stellendam where after enjoying muessles with onions, we went to a Summer Fairytale of shells on the beach. Somebody made glass shells with a story and music coming out of about 60 shells. With the waves crashing and the wind, you can use your imagination for any fairytale you want to make up. You needed to put your ear to the shell to hear……as you see Jonna demonstrating. It was a great day and we slept very good that night. Today, Saturday, we walked up to the little shop and had kibbeling again. We also stopped at the bakery and got two of almost everything. We made shoarma again and just enjoyed the nice weather outside in the garden . I have been reading , “The Diana Chronicles”. It is 500 pages and I am almost done. I should have brought more books along. It is so nice to just be here and enjoy. Sunday we get to see more of Nancy and then on to Amsterdam on Monday….or is that Tuesday???

So, here we are in the Netherlands.  My camera is not downloading my pictures so Blips let me borrow a couple of his.   Our flight with Iceland Air was very nice.  The food was good and we ate way too much.  For dinner Friday night we had meatballs with sweet/sour sauce in rice, a gourmet brownie to die for, salad and rolls of course.  We were so excited to get on the plane in Mpls that we got up and left behind our water bottles on the bench.  That was a problem since I usually drink a lot of water.  So, I only had two small glasses and two cups of tea for liquid.   We did not sleep more than a half hour before they put on all the lights and said we were decending in Iceland.  We did get water there and drank quite a bit.  Our passports were stamped at immigration/coustoms and our shoes checked again, of course, and we were on our way to Amsterdam.  We were immediately served breakfast…..ham/potatoes/eggs.  All the lights were on so we now stayed awake for the whole flight.  The seats were small but the flight was nice and no crying babies or people trying to save me.

Our first day here was full of family and lots of talking in Dutch and laughing and good food.  I really enjoyed seeing every single one of them and seeing how much the children had grown.  I just wish I could have been better company and said more to the older children.  I was sort of sleeping while awake….felt zombie like.  I think it is because of the water problem and not the lack of sleep although it could have been both.

By the second day, I was feeling much better and we went to our favorite Chinese buffet.  Blips warned me which tray was the deep fried bananas so I would avoid them.. ohhhhhh, that is bad stuff.  Monkey food.  The rest is very delicious especially the chicken satay and the dim sum.  Monday we went shopping in Dordrecht.  That is also where we got married.  We always go to look at the building where we got married since it is so beautiful.  There happened to be a bridal party just arriving.  That was fun to watch all the picture taking and remember our own wedding day.  We took the waterbus back to Papendrecht and walked home from the town center.  Acting real Dutch

Today we went to another of our favorite spots called Kinderdijk.  It is an area of working windmills along a canal.  It is a very unique peaceful breathtaking view.  Our oldest daughter and our granddaughter Jonna were with us making it extra special.  We walked along the canal for a very long time and then took the tour boat along the canal past the windmills.

On our way back to the parking lot, I fell off some uneven pavement.  It must have ben rather funny to see, since I was down before I knew what happened.  Now my right foot is swollen and I think we will stay home tomorrow so I can rest it.  We still want to walk all over Amsterdam next week. 

Today, Jonna started using some more English.  She said, “funny” when something was funny and then she would giggle.  She is also teaching me more Dutch.    I am having a great time and it is going way too fast. We get to see more of Nancy on Sunday and did I say I got to see our third grandchild on the echo at the doctors office!!!!!