Yay, we're almost off to Mexico. We're staying near Cancun at an all inclusive resort. Strangely enough, I'm not all that excited. I'm sure I will be when I get there. I think it's because life is just getting into a rhythm and here we go again. But it's an award for Rick's team at work, his company pays for it and it's a nice chance to spend family time together. It'll be great. I feel conceited thinking I'm not looking forward to it! And that's not the entire truth, it just takes so much work to travel, but once there it is going to be fun. Ok, enough convincing myself.

I worked hard at getting my summer stuff in order today too. I still had hundreds of pictures to work through and I needed to empty my flashcards for new pictures. So Aruba pictures can now be viewed here.

I'm off to bed now, better sleep well, we have to get up at 5:30!

Just got back from a fun dinner out with Rick. Katja babysat. It's nice to have a child old enough to do that! We had dinner at Neisha's a Thai restaurant. We've eaten there before and ordered the usual appetizer of salmon rolls. They're absolutely delicious! Then I had Thai Sukiyaki and it was very good, quite spicy!

Two Dutch ladies sat next to us having dinner. It's funny to be able to understand someone's conversation when they're oblivious to the fact that you can. Not that they said anything remarkable. Too bad kind of, I always think it would be fun to have someone make a snide remark about you and then show them that you understand them perfectly well. We've had that happen a few times in Holland.

After dinner, we went shopping. Katja has turned me on to low rise jeans from the Gap. She was mortified at the thought I'd wear classic fit. And to be honest, the low rise is much more flattering. At least from the Gap. So I got another pair tonight and a jeans shirt, the first ever in my life, but it looked so good, I couldn't pass it up! I'll be the Western girl yet!

Then we got a towel for the dog to lie on, as cheap as possible and new casual silverware, as we seem to have lost almost all of our forks of the old one. Who knows where they went!

Today was kind of quiet otherwise. I worked out hard, highly necessary and then went to Trader Joe's to get ingredients for quesadillas for the kids. I also got this really delicious bar of mozzarella and prosciutto, since the doctor told me to eat more protein. Oh and I got turkey jerky too. Love that stuff!

Kai needed material for his mealworm project, he needs to make a maze. So we went to Michael's and of course, besides the stuff he needed, I had to get some Halloween and Fall stuff.

Time for bed now, it'll be a nice and cold night!

Pff, last week was definitely not one of my better ones physically. I just can't understand what brings on such a major flare. If I could, I could prevent it.

Thursday was the worst day, I had to take Saskia to the dentist at 11am and therefore did not really work out. Christine and I went for a quick half hour walk, but, stupidly, I felt I was entitled to a day without serious exercise, but came to regret it. Frustrating, that I always really have to get my muscles working and heart pumping to receive the benefit of a workout.

At the dentist, I couldn't even stand. I felt myself getting annoyed at a little boy who was sitting in the only chair available for adults there. Of course I didn't say anything, but I had to bite my tongue. And that's just so not like me to feel upset with a little kid! But I was almost desperate.

The day only went downhill from there, I tried to take an hour's nap, but even that didn't do any good. Thank goodness Christine told me to take Saskia to dance and Katja to tutoring, because it is my job, or I'd have canceled both. And she was right, I have to make sure I at least get the kids to their after school activities, as it is for their health and benefit. But, oh boy, was it tempting to give in to the fatigue and mysery.

Thursday night was Back To School Night and I had Rick go alone. It really should be called "Let's pounce on parents to volunteer some more" night and I'm trying to scale back the volunteering, doctor's orders. But I'm the worst at saying no, so I'd rather hide. Cowardly, I know.

Yesterday was a much better day, thankfully and today isn't too bad either. Saskia had a birthday party at Build A Bear from 1 to 3pm. Very cute, they made a curly bunny (Saskia started out with a meltdown, because she wanted the pig, but all was well in the end, as she got to dress her bunny in Halloween clothes).

I tried to find some more jeans at the Gap, but they didn't have my size. I need Long and it seems like that is one of the most popular lengths. So I'm going to another mall tomorrow, as I really want more jeans.

Tonight we're getting a friend of Saskia's for a sleepover and Kai is prepping for his second sleepover in a row elsewhere. We're in prime sleepover season it seems!

I feel a whine coming on, when I really have no right to. But what is better than an internet journal for something like that. Firstly, I really have nothing to whine about, which I'm super well aware of.

However...the pain is getting to me! Ok, I admit it, I'm just going through the motions of living right now and feeling like a truck has hit me all along. And the frustrating part is: no one can tell! I don't like to complain (though I do so more online than in real life and interestingly, I get a lot more understanding online than in real life, hmmm), mainly, because I'm always afraid to be discarded as the one "who is always sick" and "who can never do anything".

On orders of the rheumatologist, I have been working hard to diminish my commitments, so I have energy for the kids and Rick when they get home from school and work. Last year, I did way too much during the day, leaving me exhausted by 3pm and not the mother and wife I want to be.

But, oh boy, is it ever hard! Once you're in the volunteering mill, the word "no" barely gets accepted and if it does, than grudgingly so. One person had the audacity to tell me that sitting in child sized chairs all afternoon handing out fund raiser gift wrap orders "would take my mind off things". Um, well, it would rather do the reverse as sitting is painful as is, let alone sitting in those torturous chairs!

And yesterday, a neighbor who had seen my webpage claimed "there is someone with too much time on her hands". WTF? That page has taken me 6 years to create! But she's envious of me, because I've finally had to hire a housekeeper two days a week to alleviate the big household tasks and she feels she can't afford one. And yes, it is a luxury, I'm well, well aware. I'm super lucky that we're well enough off to be able to afford it (which is something else: in Holland, people with fibromyalgia get subsidized household help). This is something I've kept at bay for years, thinking it was a waste of money and why can't I do it myself. But, humiliating as it is, the fact is: I can't do it all myself. And Rick got stuck with the brunt of it after work and it's not like he doesn't have a busy job. So this was the solution for our family to take away a stress we didn't need. Just because my neighbor has a second house and a boat and therefore can't afford household help doesn't mean she should be jealous of me. But then again, she doesn't see me when the pain is so bad I can't sit, lie or stand and Rick does and unfortunately so do the kids.

This is getting to be a long ramble, but I'm so sick of judgmentalness! My best friend, who also has fibromyalgia, was told by a neighbor (guy) on Sunday, that he wouldn't mind trading with her, so he could have an excuse to do nothing. EXCUSE ME??? Nothing??? Guess who's having his daughters over at her house playing almost every day and making a mess?

I've long been aware, that it's almost impossible to know what it's like to live with chronic pain and fatigue if you don't have it yourself. I understand that. There are many such occasions in life. But where in the h*** is the empathy?

Do I have to really walk with a limp or lay myself up in bed to be taken seriously? According to my rheumatologist I'm doing everything I can do to function as well as I can with this disease. I'm guessing people see me exercise and think, well it can't be that bad, if she can run and lift weights, but what they don't see is the pain I have to bite through every time I do.

I've been having very serious burning pain on the right side of my body, all the way from my neck to my heel. According to the rheumatologist all par for the course, but it's so exhausting, because I can't get away from it. Nothing really helps, not even the exercise, not any kind of painkiller and I've tried just about all.

I truly love my life, I see all the beauty in it: Rick's love, the kids' love, nature, the pets, but when the pain takes over, like today, I can't help but feeling worthless and yes, I admit it, a little depressed. I'm trying hard to not let it get me down, especially not in front of the kids, because I don't want them to remember a mother who was always in pain. But I can't always do it!

I just got very frustrated suddenly this afternoon. I had a bear of a night with the kids staying awake till 11pm, arguing, because they were afraid of the storm outside and we all slept in one room, since Rick is out of town. Then the stupid dog woke me up at 12:50am to go outside. I swear she never does this when Rick is home! Katja, who was sleeping next to me in bed, had to get up again for school at 6:20am and I get up with her, because she likes the company. So I'm beyond exhaustion and in so much pain, I couldn't even lay down for a nap because it hurts too much. And yet I still have to take Katja to tutoring, have 3 kids playing in my house with the necessary messes and have to feed them tonight. It all seems like monumental tasks! I hate my body!

Ok, pity party over. Somehow it feels wrong to write so much about this, without the disease, my life would be darn near perfect, so is it right for me to complain about that one part? Probably not, but it does feel good every once in a while, especially since I always downplay how I feel in real life.
Well, on to having too much time on my hands: working on the PTA website for the school.

Wow, what a weekend. Ok, what a 4 day weekend is better put! We survived the storm fine, just 2 trees down, neither one touching the house, which had been my big fear. I was glad I prepared by getting extra flashlights, batteries, water and filling the bathtub, as we were without power for 26 hours (minimal compared to most of our neighbors!) and still can't drink the water until further notice.

The schools are starting two hours late tomorrow and Rick is going out of town, so life is returning to normal. I went around the neighborhood yesterday to record some of the damage on film and that can be seen here.

Today, we went to Great Falls, that too was quite a sight and also recorded on film here.

This was definitely the worst storm I have experienced in almost twenty years here and really my entire life!

It's getting down to the wire. We just got the message, that the schools will be closed tomorrow and that several of them will be set up as shelters. I hope so that they won't be necessary!

Meanwhile, we've secured as well as we can all loose items outside. I just put some bottles of water in the freezer, so we can keep food cold a while longer in case of a power outage. I think we have enough candles, flashlights, water and definitely enough food.

Hopefully we'll keep power, that's my main concern. The sunset clouds are bright red, in Dutch we say "evening red means water in the shed" (creative translation as the true Dutch word wouldn't rhyme in English), so it looks like it will come true this time.

Well, I have to admit to getting nervous about the hurricane. I went out to get extra batteries and water today and for the rest we could probably survive for weeks on all the food we have in the house, because I already had a stash in case of a terror attack (yes, I know, but still better be safe than sorry). It's funny how I always have this sense of sillyness when I buy extra emergency supplies. This morning too, I purposely also got some other stuff, so it didn't seem like I was one of those panickers.

Tomorrow we'll secure the lawn furniture and other loose stuff in the yard and then that's really all we can do. I do pray, though, that the storm weakens more, so that overall damage will be limited.

Besides all this, I've been feeling terrible physically, so bad that Rick had to massage me with mineral ice last night. The rheumatologist, whom I saw yesterday, didn't have anything new to recommend, so that was a little bit of a disappointment. I did like that she commended me for the way I was taking care of myself. But that doesn't help me on bad days.

I have to admit to feeling a bit down with all this. Can't wait for Saturday, when all this weather stuff is supposed to be over and hopefully, we'll still have power.

Wednesday was my 42nd birthday! It will forever be the day before September 11th, I'm afraid. But I decided to make this a memorable birthday: all 3 of us girls would get our ears pierced. I never did yet, because my mother didn't like it and then I never got around to it. Now the girls had been asking and so I thought it would be a great thing to do on my birthday. So here we are, all pierced ;).

On September 11th, I took my pc over to Christine's house and worked on my pictures there, while the others did Creative Memories. I don't have the patience for that, but I have plenty of pictures on the computer and I didn't want to be alone on that day.

The weather had been gorgeous all week, so we had good hopes for Friday, since that was the day of my party. Wouldn't you know it, it started pouring down rain around noon :(. And Rick had arranged for sand art for the kids. We ended up having that in the garage. The party was great! We ordered food from Schwan's and some from Giant. And we had the sand art and a roulette table. There were about 30 people and it was very, very nice!

Yesterday, I was a little hungover, I have to admit, so I took a long nap in the afternoon. Then I went out to dinner with my friend Ann and 2 of her other friends. Ann has moved to Philadelphia and came to visit with her daughter, who's Katja's age. We had Mexican and it was a lot of fun chatting till late in the night.

When I came home, Rick informed me Saskia had really missed me. I hate hearing that, because of course she was asleep by then and I couldn't go and cuddle with her (well, I could, but she didn't wake up). Poor buddy!

This morning we got up early and took off for the Renaissance Festival. It was great, as always. I have to say, though, it's amazing what people will wear! Some of it is really too much! I loved the little babies and toddlers in Medieval clothes though and I saw a lot of slings and very well loved kids. A great atmosphere there! No yelling parents, just families having fun together.

The food was awesome, I especially liked the fried pickles. Kai got himself a lifelike little dragon to sit on his shoulder and all the kids got their hands in wax. Much, much fun!

Afterwards, Christine, Chuck and Mallory came over for pizza and that was a good end to a great day!

Wow, I've been a US citizen for 4 years today! That was such a weird 3 days 4 years ago: first I got sworn in as a US citizen on the 9th (9-9-'99, how can one forget?), then my 38th birthday on the 10th and my sister's wedding on the 11th (yes, she got married on 9/11 :(, it's annoying now, as it will forever be "the" date. For me my birthday will always be the day before. I turned 40 the day before 9/11/2001, how's that for a milestone.)

I'm tired tonight. I think the season is getting to me already, I always feel so much worse in fall and winter, it's annoying. Saskia is looking for Halloween costumes online and she just said she might want to be a devil, how appropriate :D.

We visited the orthodontist with Kai and Saskia today and it looks like both will need braces within a year. $$$!

Yesterday, we went canoeing on the Shenandoah river. I can't wait to do it again! And I can't believe we haven't tried it before. It was so much fun! And the weather was gorgeous, as was the scenery. It was remarkably simple: we paid, then got life jackets and they took us by van and dropped us off with our canoes 3 miles away from the boat house and then we canoed with the stream back.

We also quickly visited the Skyline Drive, but it was crowded, we saw no animals and we had to leave soon, because Katja needed more school supplies.

Today, I had our new housekeeper starting. I had a terrible night, as my medicine to help me sleep through ran out. I didn't think it would make a difference immediately, but it did! Though it might have been because I stayed up to finish the Da Vinci Code book, reading until midnight and then the premise kept me thinking. I recommend this book to everyone!

Morning came too soon and my sister called at 7am too. So I quickly got 20 minutes of exercise in, before the doorbell rang and there was Dina. I'm so grateful for her! Within a week of putting out feelers for a two day a week housekeeper, she came to introduce herself upon recommendation of the (wonderful) housekeeper of the neighbors.

She only needed a little guidance, though I stayed home all day to help if need be. She was very self sufficient and got a boat load of work done, cleaning and laundry. Yay! This was the right day to have her too, as I got a quick nap in too, even as Saskia had a friend over to play. It does make me feel somewhat like an invalid, but so be it.

Meanwhile, I made an appointment with the rheumatologist again, as I would like to hear her opinion again. The pain and fatigue do seem a lot worse, but then again, I know that happens in the fall every year. But who knows, new treatment may have surfaced.

Saskia started tap dancing today. She did enjoy it and yippeeeee, a parent suggested car pooling. I wish I could find a car pool for Thursdays, though as I'm running around like crazy then.

I fed my probably least healthy meal to the family: storebought quiches. At least I redeemed myself by also serving fresh spinach. But they all loved it. It's just that I just read a Self magazine article about the most healthy foods and the homemade stuff almost always won. This was not only not home made, but it had 50% of RDA of saturated fat per serving. Hmm, I think even a pizza from Pizza Hut has less.

Tonight I helped Kai with math, I love decimals. Two more days till my birthday. I feel like a little kid. Too bad it will now always be the day before September, 11th. Sigh!

Gorgeous weather today and just like yesterday, Christine and I went for a long walk. We keep discovering new parks and are amazed at how many parks there are!!! I hope they won't all get torn down due to sprawl and crawl!

Speaking of parks, it's almost like a park in our backyard. We have our resident squirrel, a pair of American goldfinches, who love our sunflowers, numerous Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterflies, as well as Monarchs. It's finally nice enough to sit outside!

Christine and Chuck lent me a book "The Da Vinci Code" and it's great! I can barely tear myself away. The subject, with lots of mystery, history, art history and puzzles is right up my alley!

Just now I heard Rick panicky calling my name from the basement and that he was bleeding profusely. Scared the you know what out of me! Turned out he had cut his toe badly, which bled very heavily. But I had visions of blood spurting from an artery, the way he was calling! Phew!

And Saskia has been playing with her friend Mallory and is trying to convince me that she really wants an American Girl doll, sigh!

A quiet day today, I've decided I'm going to try to have way more of those than last schoolyear. I want to make it so I have energy left to spend quality time with the kids when they come out of school and not be so exhausted from volunteering and other stuff, that I'm not able to do things with them.

So, after a workout at the gym, Christine and I went to Whole Foods Market for lunch, their salad bar is delicious! Then we did some shopping for meals and went home. I had a delicious 45 minute nap. I've been feeling so achy and rundown, it really helped to refuel my body. It's a goal of mine to really give in to my exhaustion by napping more. Hopefully I'll feel well enough tonight to sit at the dinner table for a change!

This afternoon we signed Saskia up for jazz lessons, she's starting tomorrow and is so excited, she's wearing her leotard already. The poor child has been suffering a lot from headaches, though, she came out of school complaining of one. Her nose is also stuffed up, so it could well be her sinuses. It's so humid and wet here, I think we're all having trouble with the mold.

As always my house is a magnet for playing kids and as I'm writing there are 6 kids in the house, only 3 of them mine ;). I like that they love our house so much, but I do despair at the messes they make.

Tonight's dinner is barbecue chicken in the crockpot (yummy, Kai's request, he loves it), mashed potatoes and vegetables. I'm ashamed to admit it's the first home cooked dinner in a looooong time!

Well, the first day of school is over. It started very early (6am), with Katja making her toilette in order to leave at 6:45. When one is an eighth grader, there are many necessary things. She's so cute, though (oops, don't let her read this, she doesn't like to be called "cute"). She came home with a huge smile and clearly had had a great day. And her smile lights up a room, that's not just a proud mom writing!

Saskia came skipping out of school and, with some loyalty to her old teacher, admitted that her new one was almost nicer than her first grade teacher. Good, as I had requested this lady, who keeps getting teacher of the year awards, so she must be doing something right. She is just known for genuinely enjoying the kids and making them enjoy school. Well, after one day, she's proven herself to Saskia so far, Saskia felt the schoolday was too short! Yes, you read it right.

Kai, on the other hand, seems to have a general boredom with school. He was not happy last year and I'm going to have to watch him. I requested Katja's old teacher for him and got her. Mainly because this lady is a grandma, who retired and then came back to teaching. She has a great sense of humor and her philosophy is that 6th grade should be fun, as it's the last year they can be children. Yet, she also managed to teach Katja quite a lot. So, I hope Kai will have an equally fun year with her.

Meanwhile, I'm in the process of finding someone to help me in the household. More than just the cleaning ladies I have now (who charge an arm and a leg for just basic vacuuming and dusting). My fibromyalgia is really getting worse and I want to use what little energy I have on my family and not on the household! I'm lucky that we can afford help, though. I was a little bummed to read that people with fibromyalgia get government subsidized help in the Netherlands. Not that I really need that, but it does mean the disease is taken seriously there. Here, I feel I constantly have to apologize and make up excuses, as "I'm in pain and exhausted" just doesn't seem enough. Even on Thursday, I was roped into volunteering, even after saying no and giving the reason. I was told this "would keep my mind off things". Little do they know that worming myself into a child sized school chair for hours on end to organize a gift wrap fund raiser is pure torture for me and certainly won't "take my mind off things".

Ok, done ranting. When the volunteering call comes, I'll just have to say "no", right? But that's one of the hardest words for me to utter! Help!

Oh well, we'll cross the bridge etc. I'm pretty pooped tonight, so I'll leave it at this and am going to cuddle with my little second grader :).

A new schoolyear, a new month and on with my blog! It's amazing how quickly the summer flew by. I loved it though and enjoyed every minute of it!

So, now, wah :(. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow, getting up early, not seeing the kids all day and the routine of homework and all again. Yuck!

I'm up for homeschooling, but, with the exception of Kai, the kids are *not* interested. I probably couldn't swing it physically anyway, but I just so enjoyed having all this time with them!

Today, Kai and I went downtown to the Natural History Museum. We made a point of reading *everything* in the prehistoric section and the gems and minerals section. Needless to say, we didn't succeed in the 2.5 hours we had, but we did read more than we ever have. The most amazing fact I learned was that a ruby is red, because it's the only color the electrons inside it don't absorb! So, if you were in the total darkness and somehow still able to see, a ruby would be clear.

It's such a cool museum and you can just spend hours and hours learning!

Tonight we're celebrating the end of summer with a Mexican meal and some margaritas. I'm glad I usually really like fall here in the States, otherwise I'd be seriously depressed! Also looking forward to updating this blog way more frequently!

I'm not getting a lot of computer time these days, but I want to post here, that I finished my Southwest trip blog and it can be read at http://southwest2003.blogspot.com . The summer is very busy and I don't think I'll get time again to update this regular blog until the middle of August. I hope everyone is having a great summer!

Meanwhile, we're in New Orleans. Life is in a tailspin and I barely have computer time. We played tourist in Washington all of last week with Zack. We saw 2 museums: Natural History and Air and Space, did a DC Ducks tour, went to Skyline Caverns and to Busch Gardens. We were all sad to say goodbye on Sunday, but didn't have much time to be as we left this morning for New Orleans.

The flight here was nice, Rick left on another flight, as he has a conference here, but the kids and I had a nice non-stop. I sat next to Saskia and Kai and Katja wanted to sit together, so they could play their Gameboys. Everybody was angelic! Saskia and I practiced her Cat's Cradle moves and she figured out how to make a cup and saucer and the Eiffel Tower.

Rick was waiting at the exit at the airport and we checked into a suite at the Royal Sonesta hotel. It's a very nice room, huge, but quite humid, everything feels damp. They were going to give us a room facing Bourbon Street, but I thought that was a disaster waiting to happen with the noise. So I begged for an inside room. Which is when they upgraded us to this suite. We have a patio outside, where we'll eat breakfast tomorrow, very nice. It's a two level suite with a king size and pull out sofa and roll-away. Tonight, Rick is spending the night with us, but tomorrow he goes off to his own hotel and we don't know how often we'll see him this week.

Saskia was quite shocked by all the nudity displayed here, but the other two have eyes wide as saucers ;). Tomorrow we're going to do a swamp tour and are being picked up bright and early from the hotel for it.

Last time we were here, we stayed near the Convention Center and didn't spend that much time in the French Quarter, so this will be a different experience.

We're baaaack! We've been to the Southwest for 10 days and it was WONDERFUL! I will write a separate blog about it, though I'm not sure when I'll get to it, as my 12 year old nephew is staying here from Colorado and we're sightseeing in DC this week.

Yesterday, we picked him up from the airport and ate dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. Today, I took Saskia to camp and the other 3 to DC to watch the Bugs! 3D Imax at the Natural History museum and see the dinosaur exhibit and the gems and minerals.

We were going to swim afterwards, but the weather threw in a wrench. It started raining and thundering just as we walked in the door. At least we didn't get soaked walking home from the Metro.

Tonight we ate at Chili's and went to the movies. The guys watched Terminator 3 and the girls Legally Blonde 2, which has some hilarious scenes.

I'm beat, so off to bed for me.

We had a great weekend! On Friday, I biked out to Alexandria and loved it. I'm really getting into this! There's nothing like pedalling superfast and feeling the wind through your hair and seeing nature all around. This direction of the path is more crowded than going west, but after going through 2 towns, you get into beautiful parkland with creeks and flowers.

Saskia had invited 3 friends for a sleepover, for her half birthday and they had a blast. We ordered pizza and Rick got ice cream and a movie for them and by 11pm they were all sound asleep. Saskia was having the time of her life! She's such a socialite, that girl! In the morning, they woke up at 6:15 (yawn!), but then went to play in the basement, so Rick and I could sleep a little longer. Then Rick got them donuts (I know, I know, but it was the unanimous choice) and the parents picked them up.

Meanwhile, Christine had come over and we went for a long walk with Kai on his bike. Kai did really well and that got me thinking, that biking with the kids would be a good exercise this summer. Saskia is still too little for a big bike, though and the little bike she has would be way too exhausting for her to keep up with us. So I thought about renting a trail-a-bike, to see if she liked that.

In the evening, we had our first cookout of the year, it's been so rainy, we hadn't even used the grill yet. Rick made great hamburgers and hotdogs, since I eat hamburgers about once a year, I did enjoy having one again for a change.

Yesterday was of course Father's Day, so the kids and I brought Rick tea and fresh cherries in bed and gave him a new camera (digital, finally!) and a gift card he can use at different stores. Then we got dressed and I rode off to the bike store to rent a trail-a-bike for Saskia. Kai, Rick, Saskia and I rode out to the path and 6 miles west on it, so it worked well and we decided to purchase it. Saskia is thrilled!! She just wants to keep going on her new bike (that means I have to come along though :)).

We rode it to school this morning and to the pool (across the street) this afternoon. She wanted to go longer, as did Kai, but I'm feeling very run down and tired, so after the pool, I told them I really didn't have it in me to bike too (didn't swim either, too cold!). They were disappointed, which immediately activates my guilt feeling, but I honestly thought I might do something stupid, if I went, like run into a car or something.

Last night, my dad came over and we went to a Thai restaurant of Rick's choosing. It was very nice, but Thai is not the food of choice of our kids. Katja was the only one that enjoyed her food. Oh well, the fathers enjoyed it and that was important.

Wow, it's Thursday already! Life always goes in a tailspin at the end of the schoolyear, what with parties, picnics, graduations etc.!

And the weather has been fine this week too, albeit quite humid, so the moment you step outside, sweat drips off of you, but at least it's not raining all day and the sun comes out at times. We did have some serious storms roll through last night though and are expecting more today.

Saskia wants to go to the pool, but the water is still too cold for me, so I've (successfully) dissuaded her. If there wasn't a thunderstorm only a half hour or so away, I would have let her go, heaven knows she needs the exercise. But I have a feeling it would be one of those sweating to get to the pool and just jumped in and then the first thunder is heard, deals. They close the pool for 15 minutes at the first sound of thunder and don't reopen it until no thunder is heard for 15 minutes. So, that effectively closes the pool for the afternoon if there are storms in the area as you can hear thunder for a loooooong time before and after a storm!

Recapping the week, on Monday Christine and I worked out on the fitness trail in the nearby park. It's really cool, a beautiful forest, with every few hundred feet an exercise to do, like push ups, pull ups, hopping over bars etc. There are 20 exercises that works all kinds of different muscles. You jog between stations and by the end have done quite a good workout.

Katja had a dentist appointment in the afternoon and Kai had his end of year concert that evening. They sounded a lot better than in the beginning of the year. Kai plays trumpet, he doesn't know yet if he wants to continue next year. I don't think our kids are very musically inclined, but if Kai would really get into the trumpet, it would be cool. In the fall we listened to the high school jazz band and that was lots of fun and the kids playing clearly enjoyed it too.

On Tuesday at 7am, my dad called to see if I'd gotten his messages (oops, no, didn't check the machine!) and asked if I wanted to go for a long bike ride. So we rode out to Herndon on the W&OD trail , about 10 miles out. He was a great biking companion keeping up my pace, until the last 3 miles, then he suddenly was really tired.

It was a beautiful ride, we saw 2 groundhogs, several chipmunks, colorful birds and a fox! The latter was sitting at the top of a bridge looking at us and didn't run away till I was very close to him. On the way back, he was there again. It's definitely the closest up I've ever seen a fox!

Talking about wildlife, apparently, a bear was tranquilized less than 2 miles from our house the other day! This is what the Washington Post wrote about it:
"Wandering Bear Captured in Fairfax

An adolescent bear seen wandering through yards in Fairfax County foraging for food was tranquilized and carried away on a litter after startled homeowners in Vienna contacted police yesterday.

The 80-pound black bear was spotted in the late morning lumbering through residential neighborhoods near Route 123, said Earl Hodnett, a wildlife biologist with the police department's animal control division. The bear was shot with a dart gun and eventually transferred to state animal control officers, who were to release it into woods far from the crowded suburbs, Hodnett said.

Bears and other wildlife -- including red foxes, coyotes and deer -- are becoming a common sight in the suburbs. "This isn't necessarily the only bear around," Hodnett said. "It's just the only one we tranquilized today.""

A little disconcerting to think we could see a bear in our backyard next! Our neighbor said he had recently seen a coyote in his yard and this really can't be called a rural area by any stretch of the imagination!

Back to the events at hand, after the bike ride, I went over to Saskia's class picnic and walked back home with her. We had about an hour before the school would let out, so I took her to the pool. This was a good move, as she got all my attention and could tell me a thousand times "Watch this, Mommy", without being interrupted by a sibling. I think she sometimes really needs that one on one total attention on her.

After Katja's tutoring, Lauren came to babysit and Rick and I went out to dinner to the Pacific Rim restaurant. It's a little bit of a drive from us, but they have the best vegetable roll appetizer: like a sushi hand roll, but then with crispy veggies. Really good!

Yesterday, I worked out at home, boring! Then went to Kai's picnic and helped out with pizza and games. I took Kai home with me as well, but his was over later, so we didn't have much time together.

Saskia had gymnastics and Katja her second tutoring session of the week, so I felt like a total chauffeur.

Oh yes, and it was Saskia's half birthday yesterday. She's going to be an actress that one, I've determined. The drama she can create! You would think she was the saddest little girl, because her birthday is so close to Christmas and she gets *all* her presents all at once and then nothing for a *whole* year (all brought with much flair). So, I decided to let her have some fun for her half birthday. We went to Zany Brainy, where she picked out some Scratchmagic (stipulation for the gift was that it had to be something she could make). And tomorrow night she's having a sleepover with 3 of her friends, with pizza, ice cream and a movie. She's happy :).

Today, I got my nails done, especially my toenails were highly necessary. Rick jokes with me, that I never used to get nails done and now I have to of course keep it up (I have silk wraps). And I like to get my toenails done, so I can get a cool design on my big toe with a little diamond. Ok, so, that's my one little indulgence and I like looking well groomed.

Yes, after rain comes sunshine is an old Dutch saying and thank goodness it's always true! It was pouring down rain all day yesterday, but today it's dry and we've seen some rays of sunshine. We went to the Great Falls park again, as they opened some floodgates upstream which turned the river into a raging rapid, very impressive! We walked about 2 hours through the mud, so we were gross when we came home, but oh was it gorgeous! I'll upload a picture here too.

On Friday night we had a great party for Chuck's 50th birthday. It had a southwest theme, so we brought stuffed jalapenos from Tequila Grande, they're so good, they're stuffed with spinach and cheese.

Yesterday we just kind of hung out, Katja had to babysit and after she left, Rick and I and the other 2 kids went to Renaissance Cafe, our favorite restaurant. The kids were so much fun! While waiting for the meals, I gave them each coins to check out from what year they were and we made an "oldest", "middle" and "newest" pile. The oldest was 1962, so not extremely old.

I'm working on editing my pictures now, so I'm keeping this short.