. . . bad day, good day, and great day!

Thursday - "Mama said there'll be days like this . . . "

After not having posted much this week, I guess I should explain why . . . Wednesday was boring and I did absolutely nothing. And then Thursday started out as one of my worst days here so far, and it was unfortunately because of my sick dog. Without going into too much detail, Murphy must've gotten into something because his stomach was tore up. By 11:00 am I had done enough clean up to last any person a year, maybe 18 months. I literally texted Keith "I'm a mess" as I'm bawling on my hands and knees with my second roll of paper towels (yes, second roll). Thirty minutes later he was home and found me in a zen-like trance in Liam's room, trying to calm myself. But as soon as I saw him I burst into tears and went all hormonal and pregnant on him . . .

. . . let me pause here and say that I have had a really good nine months of pregnancy and haven't acted this way up until now. And while books, websites and friends all say that pregnancy brings out your hormones, I still was not prepared for the reality of experiencing it myself. I cried about not being ready, having too much to do, needing Keith (who mind you, is working full time and taking care of our house and all the tasks associated with our move), and feeling alone. So Keith hugged me, kissed me, and made me lay down for a nap -- and when I awoke I felt like a new person. He had cleaned up Murphy and the remainder of that last mess, cooked me a delicious dinner, and helped me make lists for what all we needed to do and buy for the house so that I felt better. I know God never gives us more than we can handle, which is why (as my dad reminded me) He sent Keith home to me that afternoon. I think I fell in love with him all over again that day.

Friday - semi-successful day and fun night

Friday was a new day and I was able to get some things accomplished in Liam's room, and we headed out last night to run some errands since most things stay open late on Friday nights (did I mention how everything closes at 5 pm during the week?). So first we hit "Babypark," a baby store about 15 minutes away, to look for a few things that we never did find. Fail.

Then we headed to the MediaMarkt to buy some electronic stuff we've been needing. Semi-success.

After that, we came back to our side of town, parked the car at the house and headed to our winkelcentrum. First we had dinner at the Queen Bee, picked up a new dog pad for Murphy (since we had to throw out the old one), and picked up Keith's dry-cleaning on our walk home. THAT was pretty cool . . . turns out there is a 24-hour dry cleaner here, where you can drop off or pick up dry cleaning with just the scan of your membership card! We also saw a bunch of hot air balloons on our walk home, which we used to see a lot back home, so that was neat too. It was a beautiful night out and it felt good to walk off our dinner and carry our things home that evening. BIG success. : )

The sky is full of hot air balloons!

There was even a FROG hot air balloon!

The 24-hour dry cleaners

Keith picking up all his clothes!

Saturday - and Keith gets a bike!

One big goal for this weekend was for Keith to get a bike . . . so we headed to a couple bike shops around town in search of a good commuter bike for him to ride to work every day. Let me tell you, the Dutch know about bikes. There are so many to choose from, and a purpose for everything under the sun. I learned more about bikes today than I ever wanted to know (from their front and rear lights to shocks to saddle bags to adjustable handles . . . I could go on and on). Keith ended up finding a bike he liked and also bought a few accoutrements to go along with it. I drove our car home from the City Centrum while Keith paid for his bike and rode home.

Yes, I drove in the Netherlands. And notice that the title of this post is not "I hit a bicyclist today." YAY! I consider a drive in this country without hitting a bicyclist a HUGE success.

Anyway, when Keith got home we were going to head to the Albert Heijn to get some groceries, until we found out one of the cables on the battery was corroded and the car wouldn't start. So Keith did what any Dutchie would do and headed to the store on his bike!

In the rain! 

And came home with his saddlebags full of groceries! 

I was so proud of him and impressed with all the loot he brought home! 

all of this was carried home on Keith's bike!

So all in all, we've had a successful day, and there's other stuff to share as well, but I'll save it for another post (a project I'm working on for Liam's room!). Blog soon!

~ Jessi

PS - Here's a pic of me at 9 months pregnant - only a few weeks to go!

9 months preggo in our living room