Amy mentions that it’s autumn in New England (hey, did I ever tell you about that time when DrBob gave a guest lecture at Yale on the last Friday before Columbus Day weekend and then, when he couldn’t find a hotel room in New Haven, he decided to keep going north until he found one? Heh. Rookie mistake. He finally tried to park the rental car in a grocery store parking lot somewhere and sleep there, but a cop knocked on the window and told him to move along. Anyway, when he called me at 3 a.m. all I had to offer was, “you thought going further into New England was going to solve your problem? On Columbus Day weekend? BWAAAhahahaha!” I’m such a good wife. But I digress).
It’s cool and windy here in Utrecht, but I think that means it’s still summer. Not sure, as this is my first Dutch autumn, but I’ve lived with water to the north and west before, and I think autumn will be gray and wet. As such, I’m not really looking forward to it, especially because the new house came with an oven that’s too small to bake anything bigger than a muffin (also too filthy, until I manage to locate oven cleaner – you can buy paint thinner at the corner grocery, but not oven cleaner? Am confused), and if I can’t bake, then what do I need autumn for?
Well, knitting, I guess. Not getting as much of that done as I’d hoped, what with the New! Improved! Me! actually trying to get things done AND keep the house cleanish. I know, I’m insane. Hey, at least I’ve quit ironing my dish towels, okay?
What was I talking about? Um. I sat down to write about how insane Dutch bureaucracy is, but now I don’t think I have the energy. So instead I will tell you that we are having our ups and downs, but after two years as a fragmented family I am so happy that we’re all together again. We have established a routine. And the kids say they’re unhappy and they miss “home,” but they’re not acting like unhappy children, so I think, I hope, I think they’re doing okay. Whew.
And I’ll try to write about how insane Dutch bureaucracy is tomorrow. Because hoo-boy, it’s… not really worse than any other country that I know of (“Clearly you’ve never been to Singapore.”), but it’s wackier.
Song du jour of the day: Shop Around, by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.
alala 
September 24th, 2009 at 22:53
Do you eat three kinds of chocolate on bread for breakfast now?
September 25th, 2009 at 08:35
Um, two kinds. We decided to try the cheapest first. That turned out to be a mistake.
September 25th, 2009 at 02:03
Now that the move is over, though, doesn’t it feel good to have sorted and purged and organized? I would ALMOST go through a move just to have that done.
September 25th, 2009 at 08:38
It would feel better if I’d done it more effectively. I wasn’t quick enough or thorough enough, so more purging needs to be done now. And the Dutch have a surprisingly caveman attitude about garbage, compared to the Germans. Surprising because they don’t have a lot of extra space for landfills, you’d think they’d have more of a sense of urgency about not filling this teeny country up with crap.
September 25th, 2009 at 02:04
(I liked my old picture-thingy better. Although this blue one perhaps better represents how I feel most of the time. Agh!)
September 25th, 2009 at 08:38
These are somehow generated in response to the email address you give? I think? Not really sure how that works.