Back in the 'Dam

I was about to write that after about 6 weeks our life has returned to normal and we are back in the 'Dam, but then I realized that P just left for New York this morning, so I guess it's still another week until things return to normal.
That's the same time M goes back to school so I guess I will have successfully gotten us through summer vacation.

After 4 weeks on Cape Cod, we spent last week in Dublin with P's family.  M loves spending time with his grandparents and we all had a good visit.  Since we have returned M has had half-day gymnastics camp every day (and will through next week) and as a special treat we went to the circus yesterday!  It was a small tent circus, just one ring and we were in the front row.  The show was over 2 hours long and included every act you can imagine.  My favorite was the tight-rope walkers and P liked the trampoline guy.  M loved the clowns.

This morning M and I tried out the family tandem.  Last year I considered buying a bakfeits but ultimately decided M was getting a little too big for that.  Instead I bought some time with a 10 Euro second-hand bike trailer.  While the bike trailer isn't exactly the Dutch way, we figured we'd get a family tandem as our Dutch bike.

We were both a little nervous at first to ride such a huge bike, but after a few minutes of riding around Vondelpark we were used to it and loving it!  We road through 2 downpours and didn't mind.  We'd love to find a used one but I'm beginning to think that won't be easy.

Sailing

Some members of my family are natural sailors.  The jury is still out on me.

From the time I was a little girl my parents liked to sail.  I most decidedly did not.  I think it had something to do with never getting used to the combination of speed, rocking and heeling.  Feeling strongly about continually challenging myself and since my husband and son both like sailing I figured it was important to give it another go so I signed up for a week of sailing lessons and decided to bring my mother along as her birthday gift.

The first day went well.  It was really easy, mainly because there was little wind so the lesson went by at a very slow pace.  I was proud of myself that I was feeling fine on the launch and was able to steer the boat.  Today  I was pretty proud of myself that I steered the boat despite livelier seas and actual wind.  The lesson was a bit more nerve-wracking, but I'm proud of myself by reducing my stress by talking about it with my instructor and sticking with the lesson.

As for Peter and M, they had a nice afternoon out with my parents, Rey and the cousins.  The kids did really well on the boat, despite flying over the wake of a sport fishing boat early in the journey.  M was unfazed:  he later fell asleep!

My little Amsterdammer

So, he had to come to Cape Cod to learn, but our little boy, not even 5, is a true Amsterdammer:  he now rides a two wheeler!

Food Friday: Our Boy Makes Us Breakfast

A couple of weeks ago M decided he was going to make us breakfast and there was no talking him out of it.  Basically, he scrunched up a tortilla in his hand and served it with a little peanut butter spread on it, garnished with some apple slices.  This is a variant for "breakfast burrito" which we often serve to him, a lover of the tortilla.

It really wasn't that bad, but we did bin some of it when M walked out of the room.

Looking pretty proud of his breakfast creation.

Food Friday: Beer Can Chicken

I've never made that thanksgiving dish with the winter squash and marshmallows.  My favorite white trash food is Beer Can Chicken. I saw someone make this on the Today show about 10 years ago (it might have been Bobby Flay, but then again it might not have).  He had special seasonings he used and did it on the grill, but basically I just adapted my regular roast chicken recipe and use a half full, opened-with-a-church-key beer can as an upright roasting rack.

My delicious roasting chicken, next to the pot of brown rice I also cooked in the oven so we could go to the playground while it cooked.

I hadn't made this in a while, basically because in the States we didn't often buy beer in cans.  I made it Monday and it was delicious!  I seasoned the outside with onion powder, garlic powder, salt and paprika, removed the top of the beer can by punching it about 4 times with a church key, poured out about half the beer and plunked the chicken on top.  I roasted it for about 90-100 minutes at 175'C, which is about 350'F.  Served it with some brown rice and green beans.

And here's  a big Thank You to my friend Devina, who watched M on the playground for 15 minutes so I could get it started.

At dinner, when I told M how it was cooked he said, "I'm not eating THAT," but when I reminded him he already tasted it and seemed to like it, he changed his tune and said, "I get to taste BEER!"

Rain

Pardon my French, but it's absolutely pissing down with rain. I'm not usually one to complain about rain, and good thing, since I live in Amsterdam.  But this isn't any ordinary rain; it's the kind that sounds like a freight train from inside the house and gets you soaked to the skin outside the house, especially if, like me, your 5 year old Gortex jacket took this week to stop being Gortex-y.  Gortex has a shelf life, and once you are past it, the jacket becomes as rainproof as a dress shirt.

Anywhoo, I took M to school this morning and forgot my intention to stop by Blocker to pick up garbage bags.  Last night I took out the trash (I almost never do this but Peter wanted to iron some shirts for a business trip to Paris today and it was already 11, so I decided to be nice and take the trash downstairs).  I wasn't nice enough to put the bag in the trash, however, and when I woke up this morning I thought, "how nice, Peter put the trash back together."  Fifteen minutes and three particularly messy bits of trash later I realized he hadn't put a bag in, and since I never take out the trash I didn't immediately recognize that the reason was we are completely out of trash bags.  And, thanks to our environmentally conscious bag-bringing, we don't really have a whole lot of plastic shopping bags in the house, either. So, I'm waiting for a break in the weather to head out to Blocker.

The view from my window when I started this post.

I haven't quite identified my relationship with the weather here, but it's shaping up to be one of mostly ignoring it. I don't know if it's a regular thing or just lately, but it seems like the forecast is almost never right. Case in point last week, which was supposed to be rainy all week.  Actually, we had some really gorgeous weather with a few sprinkles.  We even attended an outdoor birthday party on Saturday, which was forecast as a wash out.  For a forecast of about 10 rainy days, we actually got to the playground a whole lot.  A friend here recommended not paying much mind to the weather forecast and carrying on with whatever you want to do.  I've been following that advice for about 6 weeks now and haven't really been disappointed (or significantly rained on).

OK, so it's not incredibly sunny, but it is noticeably brighter and nothing is falling from the sky.

So, now it's brightening up and I think it's my chance to head off.  Here 10 minutes can make a huge difference with the weather here.

Back With Big News

Ever notice that people fall out of touch for a while, then re-emerge with big news?  Haven't seen your neighbor for a couple of months? Well look at that, she's pregnant!  Haven't heard from the college roommate in ages?  Uh oh, he's getting divorced.  Coworker been unavailable for lunch?  She's found a new job.  I think people tend to turn inward as they make big decisions or maybe even to digest news before they are ready to share it with the world.

Well, we have some big news here.  No, no babies or divorce.

We're staying in Amsterdam!

A few months ago there were some changes at Peter's company which created a great opportunity for him.  At the same time, the more perspective I got on my job the more I thought it might be time to leave.  And, of course, the more time we spent outside of New York the more we realized how hectic our life was there.

Since our little guy was born almost 5 years ago we have made many different choices to be sure that he could have the best quality of life possible.  When he was 7 months old and I returned from maternity leave I used my vacation to work a 4 day week until his first birthday.  For the next year I worked one day 3-11 so M and I could have a midweek morning together.  We lived in a one bedroom apartment for two-and-a-half years so that we wouldn't have an extra minute of commuting to keep us away from him.  Once we did move Peter and I both adjusted our schedule to pick him up from school once per week.  So, naturally staying in Amsterdam is yet another choice we are making for our kid. Living here gives him a better quality of life.  And believe me, he appreciates that we are staying.


And with my renewed commitment to the blog there will be even more adventures posted for your reading enjoyment.