A List of Little Things

• Yesterday I had my appointment with the consulate in Antwerpen for my Dutch citizenship. He praised me on my Dutch speaking abilities, which made me feel very proud and hopeful that I truly deserve to become a Dutch citizen. I will be awaiting a letter from the queen and then the citizenhip ceremong in a year's time. I will then be officially Dutch! Wow! I just hope it all goes through.
• While in Antwerpen, I noticed a bar called 'Daddy's Home'. It has a dual meaning and I couldn't stop singing"Daddy's Home" in my head all day.
• While in Antwerpen I noticed so many different people. I saw a Jewish family, muslims, asians, blacks, whites, beards, balds, curls, tall, short, in a wheelchair, on crutches, and the everyday Joe. It amazes me that in a 1 1/2 hour drive, the culture of the land is so very different from my own community. I like being among all the differences. It makes me feel a bit more like I fit in.
• Jari's last doctor visit made me cry. His skin is dying rather than growing back healthy on his ankle where he had the bike accident. The doctor scraped away all the dead skin in hopes of regenerating new growth. I hated seeing my baby in so much pain. We have another appointment next week which I am NOT looking forward to. I just hope this process works, or we're looking at a possible skin graft. OH MY GOD!
• Kaeden had a tantrum in the middle of the city yesterday. He screamed out curse words so loud that literally everyone on the street stopped, turned, and stared. It was a moment where I wished the sidewalk would swallow me whole. After a disastrous afternoon with our two naughty boys, we came home early and sent them immediately to bed without tucking them in. Erwin and I had a very long night together and it was very strange, but peaceful.
• We picked up the papers for the insurance company for our new car. We should be getting it this weekend. But when we saw the car, some of the damages that were supposed to be done, were still not fixed. Erwin and I talked about the culture of the Limburg people, how very laid-back they are. It would be so easy to get mad and rant and rave, but that's just how it is here and you've got to learn to roll with the flow. It does make me have doubts, though. I'll just happy once the car is totally ready and in our possession.
• I asked my parents if they would like to have Kaeden come visit them this summer. My mom sounded very excited about the idea. When I asked Kaed, he was worried about getting there, but told me the entire process of how it works with unaccompanied minors. Who says travel isn't good education? 'He knows it all, and not from first-hand experience as this will be his first ever trip alone, if we end up sending him. He was given the choice of going to England, to summer camp, and on vacation with us, or to America with gramma and grampa, and he chose America. It will be very hard for me to send him off on his own, but our entire family could use a little break, and I think it will be good for all of us.
• Jari is very interested in the processierupsen. But, he is adorable, because he calls them princessenrupsen. And that they live in the eikelbomen. (In English, instead of saying procession caterpillar, he calls them princess caterpillars. And instead of oak trees, he calls them eikel trees which basically translated means dufus, which is very representative considering all the hairy caterpillars they have covering their branches.
• And so, that's life from here today. This weekend we're attending Kaeden's school end-of-year party and going to the air show open day which is always great fun to see.