Our other expat friends gathered together at our house for dinner on Christmas Day
The hardest part about life as an expat is missing your family and friends, I don’t think there is an expat out there who can argue that… and in the age of Twitter, Facebook, and instant messengers, it’s [...]
We all know I’m terrible for taking long, agonizing walks down Memory Lane, right? Well… I’m at it again!
Out of the blue a few days ago I started humming the theme song to The Littlest Hobo. When I told my husband about it he had never heard of the show so I started singing the [...]
I just got back from dropping my mother off at the airport. I’m a bit down and I miss her already but I’ve learned over the years that if I let myself wallow I can sometimes not drag myself back out, so I try to keep myself occupied until it passes. When I got home [...]
OK, about 42,000 people have tagged me on Facebook to do this ‘25 things’ meme, so I’m gonna do it here and not tag anyone. If you read this and want to do it yourself, by all means – meme your little heart out.
Since I’ve been in winter hibernation and feeling a little Fuck You [...]
Last night I crawled into bed and heaved a big sigh. Our new bed is so comfy and with the fleece sheets on in the winter it’s like crawling into a cloud. I was tired, it was almost 1am which is pretty late for us but not unusual lately since Xander has been working from [...]
shoppers and crystal tree by wvs
Every day I visit the website daily dose of imagery because I have serious photo envy, and because I like to torture myself by looking at photos of Toronto and getting homesick.
Yesterday he posted this photo of one of the big shopping centers in downtown Toronto [...]
A while back I saw that Zhu had a post called Pay it Forward. I first thought of the movie by that name, but it turned out she was taking part in the same sort of thing only over blogs. Here is how it was described:
the exchange focuses on doing an act of kindness without [...]
Today while I was in town I took this photo of the Christmas decorations in the city center. Everywhere I turn there are people complaining about Christmas decorations and items being out already, but I honestly couldn’t be happier about it. I think here in the Netherlands we are slightly early as well because we [...]
If you had asked me a month ago if I had any space in my house I would have laughed. Between me, the pets, my husband and all our furniture I felt like we were completely crowded.
I SO wish I felt that way again right now.
My parents left this morning and if I’m honest, I [...]
Oh my god I can’t believe I’m finally saying this, but my parents will be here NEXT WEEK!! We’ve been counting this down for months and it’s almost here. Mom and Dad hugs, Canadian goodies, all my favorite people together again in one room!!
I’m excited! I’m freaking out!
I know most other expat women I know [...]
Today Xander had to go in to the office for a few minutes. He is on a new project with the government in Dordrecht and the first day he was there he went to hunt and gather for lunch. He phoned me telling me that there was a quilt shop around the corner, and a [...]
Last night I had the strangest dream, and I blame this photo which I first saw on my friend Gail’s blog.
In my dream I was with my husband walking up some random street in Toronto. All along the street people were playing games like basketball and all those dart throwing, ball chucking games that you [...]
I keep forgetting about the photo hunt lately, but there’s still a few hours left of this Saturday so I’m not too late.
This is a photo of Seal Island Bridge in Cape Breton, taken from one of the viewpoints of Kelly’s Mountain.
For me, it’s always the sign that I’m almost home. Once we cross [...]
Why does psychiatric care in Dutch have to have PSYCHO in it? It makes me feel so… Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys :/
As any long time reader of my blog knows, over the years I’ve had some pretty nasty bouts of depression. This was mostly brought on by homesickness, my lack of ability to cope [...]
Passport – CHECK!
Tickets – CHECK!
Petsitters – CHECK!
I AM GOING HOME! YAAAAAY!!
Now all I have to do is wait until it’s time to go. It’s not so bad because we leave in just a little over a month. I know the time will go by fast though because it seems like just yesterday I was saying [...]
Last night Xander and I were in the car on the way home from the pet shop. We had just turned a corner when I saw a car coming towards us and I instantly screamed out…
PADIDDLE!!!
… then quickly smacked the roof of the car.
To me, this was an instant reaction, a reflex, something I do [...]
Tunnels of Blood (The Saga of Darren Shan)
by Darren Shan
