As it turns out, I use it quite a bit.  (Ok, I’ll be honest and say that I don’t use it as much as most Dutch people, but I’m way beyond what an American does.)  I usually take my bike to the grocery store, and I also take it to Grace’s swim lessons.  I’ve met up in the city with friends and gone to people’s homes to visit with it.  I’ve also done things like take meals to people on my bike and gone to Bible study, church and church meetings.

Bikes here are so much more convenient than cars sometimes.  You can go down paths that are shortcuts or that cars are not allowed on.  It’s actually faster to go to our church with a bike than with a car.  Another beauty of using a bike, besides the general healthier factor, is the money that you save using them.  I mentioned something about gasoline.  I just figured out what I paid for gasoline with the last conversion rate we used.  We’re happy because the conversion rate is actually down at the moment.  Still, we pay about $8.40 per gallon.  Crazy, huh?!  Imagine how much money we save by taking our bikes over the car.  Plus, with a bike, you don’t have to pay for parking.  In my head, I’m hearing the sound of a cash register adding up all the savings from riding a bike.

So, do you want to check out my glorious new ride?  Here she is in all of her splendour:

The new ride

Do you want to know how much better this is than my old bike (which I will actually be giving to a friend who needs a bike)?  This bike has a kick stand.  When there’s no good place to park your bike, you realize how important that is.  The brakes work really well.  That’s kind of important.  I can change gears.  The frame is sturdy enough to haul quite a bit.  My seat is complete and doesn’t have holes that take in water like a sponge.  (Again, rainy weather here really doesn’t help that problem!) My wheels aren’t rusted, and the spokes are all attached.  Yes, those are some of the things that are better about my new bike.  With my old bike the way it was, you might wonder why I’m giving it to a friend.  Hers was stolen, and her husband can do some repairs to the old bike.

You’ll notice that there isn’t a picture of me with the bike.  I took it for it’s first spin to the grocery store.  It was sprinkling a little when I left, but if you wait for it to stop raining here to do something, you might never do anything.  So, I went.  It proceeded to rain harder and then hail.  In case you’ve never cycled in the hail, you might want to know that it isn’t the most pleasant experience.  In fact, it’s a bit painful.  I was going to have Mike take a picture of me when I got back with the bike.  I looked like a drowned rat, so that photo shoot was out.  Maybe tomorrow.

I have to say a big thank you to North Texas Youth Ministries who gave money through Speed the Light to help me get my new bike.  There are kids who sacrificed for me, and I don’t take that lightly!  I can remember giving when I was a teenager for Speed the Light.  I thought it was a pretty awesome program then, and I think it’s even more awesome now! ]]> http://www.mikeandanita.com/family/cycling-in-style/feed/ 0 http://www.mikeandanita.com/family/leaves-are-falling/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed http://www.mikeandanita.com/family/leaves-are-falling/#comments Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:08:29 +0000 Anita http://www.mikeandanita.com/?p=353 Things are definitely changing around here.  You can see more and more signs of autumn.  Our time changed last Sunday.  Now, when I take Grace to school, it’s not totally dark.  Unfortunately, it will be before too long since we continue to lose daylight right now.  It also gets dark much earlier.  It makes you really appreciate a sunny day when you get one!  You’d be surprised by how much the lack of daylight affects you.

This might sound like a gloomy post, but for the past few days when I’ve been walking Boomer, I’m reminded of beauty in this time of year.

Leaves on the ground

Just look at those beautiful fall colors on the leaves.  Below it, you can see brilliant, green grass.  A few years ago, we had friends visiting from Africa.  They came in December and were curious about what type of grass the Dutch people planted during the winter.  I didn’t know what they were talking about.  They said, “You know, what kind of grass is it?  It’s so green and it’s wintertime.”  I had been taking it for granted.  We have the same beautiful, green grass all year.  I had a Dutch friend who told me once that there might be a lot of clouds and rain here, but it helps keep the grass beautiful and helps beautiful flowers show up in the spring.

path during autumn

It might be getting a bit cooler outside, but I still enjoy taking Boomer for our daily walks.  If you see the beautiful path where we walk, you would probably enjoy it also.  So, if I can find something beautiful in all these things, maybe I can find something positive about getting into a freezing cold bed for the next few months.  :)

We definitely weren’t your typical dog owners at the beginning.  We didn’t take our dog for as many walks as most people around here did.  We were happy to let him out in the back yard to do what he needed to do.  In the last few years, I’ve learned to really enjoy taking Boomer for a daily walk.  During the week, we walk for 1.5 miles and on the weekends, we bump it up to 2 miles.  It’s something he very much likes to do.  During these outings, I realized that I slowly had become part of the dog-owning subculture or “one of them.”

In the beginning, I never let Boomer off his leash.  Inside our house, he was apt to bark at anything – especially dogs – that walked by.  He also wasn’t the most obedient.  I was afraid that if I let him loose, I’d never get him back.  Plus, he constantly pulled trying to get to other dogs.  I only saw the bad that could come from that.  I eventually got to the point that I started letting him loose, but only in certain areas where everyone else did.  I started to encounter the same people/dogs everyday.  It reminded me a bit of children’s church.  While I might know all the kids’ names, I have a hard time with their parents’ names.  I found myself talking to the dogs and calling them by name but having no clue as to the owners’ names.

One day, I met a lady walking her dog.  Sometime into our conversation, here’s what was said:

Her – “Ben je een Nederlander?” (Are you Dutch)

Me – “Nee, ik kom uit Amerika.” (No, I’m from America.)

Her – “I’m English!”

Since then, when I see Harvey (I still don’t know her name), I immediately speak English.

Not too long ago, while Boomer and I were out for our walk, I came across someone with their dogs that I’d never seen before.  I went a little further and ran across my neighbor.  Yes, I do know his name.  :)  As we were talking, he pointed to the other man with his dogs and asked me if I knew them.  I said, “No, I’ve never seen them walking around here before.”  It hit me then: I’ve become one of them.  I’ve found that when I’m jogging, other joggers greet me like we’re great friends.  When I’m walking my dog, I really have built relationships because of Boomer.

Last week, Boomer had to have surgery to remove stones from his bladder.  He has stitches and isn’t allowed to scratch them.  In the house, he has to wear a t-shirt that is more like a onesie.  It even has snaps that go on either side of his tail.  It’s better for him than a cone, but it’s a bit of a hassle for us at times.

Boomer's onesie

When I’m taking him for a walk, it’s definitely in the way, so I take it off.  Until the stitches come out, he has to stay on his leash while on walks.  I feel like we’ve stepped back in time when I was afraid to let him loose.  I’m also concerned with what the other owners will say.  Yep, I’m definitely “one of them!”

My favorite season is spring. I love the hope that comes after a long winter and gray skies. I love the flowers making their first appearances and warmer temperatures. We’ve had a few days of warmer weather. Well, I guess warmer is relative. I saw that for family in America, it has been much warmer than it has here. Nevertheless, I’ll take the warmer temperatures we’ve had. The highs have been 10 – 15 C (in the 50s F). I got so excited that I decided to wear a short sleeve shirt and flip flops when we went out. Mike laughed at me, and I realized that it was a bit too soon for that. I’ve added a hoodie to my t-shirt and traded my flip flops for warmer slippers.

We can see flowers beginning to bloom everywhere. They’re so beautiful. With that, blue skies and warmer weather, it’s hard not to get excited. Now, if it will only get a little bit warmer, I can break out the flip flops and not freeze trying to wear them!

Living in The Netherlands, you’d think that I would love Spain more than anything – especially since we’re from the South in America where it’s warmer and sunnier.  You’d think that, wouldn’t you?  Yet, when I look out and see Madrid, I see a brown landscape that doesn’t do much for me.  There were people at the training from other parts of the world who talked about how much they loved it in Spain, and I was thinking about how much I’d rather be home.  It didn’t help that I got sick while I was there and away from my husband and daughter for seven days.  Thank God for Skype that allows me to call them while I’m away!

Yesterday in Madrid, it was 20 degrees.  For those of you who don’t speak Celcius, that’s 68 F.  It was sunny and beautiful.  In The Netherlands, it had warmed up to 10 (50 F) and was rainy.  That’s not an unusual occurrence.  I had to leave for the airport this morning at 5:45 and didn’t sleep well because I was so worried about having everything set for the flight.  Luckily I got to catch up on some of that sleep on the flight.  The pilot announced that it was windy in Amsterdam (no shock there!) and that we might have turbulence before landing.  Every bump brought me closer to home and got me happier and happier.  When we finally broke through the clouds and I could see the ground, so many things brought me joy.

First of all, there was GREEN everywhere.  I forget sometimes how comforting that color can be.  Secondly, there was water.  When we fly into Dallas, Texas, the only water I see on the ground is in swimming pools, but here in The Netherlands, it’s au natural.  Then, I saw the houses, and it made me think of our house.  After that, I saw bicycle paths on one of the streets.  Once again, it was comforting.

The Spanish people clap when a plane lands, and I thought it was appropriate.  I clapped along because I was so happy to be back. When we landed, I saw that our airplane was making tracks in the water standing on the runway.  Yep, it was windy and raining.  Home!  One man nearly fell over when leaving the plane because of the wind.  I smiled – not because I was laughing at him – but because it was somehow comforting to have this weather greet me.  Crazy, huh?

So, I went to get my bag and go by Starbucks.  That’s definitely not a Dutch institution, but I decided to get a hot chocolate.  I guess I needed even more comfort.  I got home and was first welcomed by my dog.  I had really missed him.  Then, Mike and Grace got back from church.  After sitting and talking for a while, Grace said, “Mom, can I give you another hug?”  Of course, I said yes and breathed a sigh.  I’m home!

Today was the first Dutch match against Denmark.  It was played at 1:30 pm here.  Every school that we heard about stopped classes and let the students watch the match.  Grace said that her class started watching it, but the girls got a bit bored with it.  She was happy to have a break from the schoolwork though.  :)

You have to understand what the atmosphere is like around here.  There are orange banners and streamers everywhere.  When there is a score, you can hear people in the neighborhood cheering.

This is just some of the banners you can see supporting the Dutch team. This is in the school where our church meets.

Today while the Dutch match was going on, Mike was having a church “staff meeting” that happened to have the game on in the background.  I was out running errands before picking Grace up from school.  At the bank, I was able to watch the game while waiting to be helped.  At the grocery store, they had the game on the loudspeakers so everyone could continue to follow it.  Mike was also sending me texts so I could know what was going on.  At one point, I heard people honking their horns and blowing vuvuzelas (the horns the fans blow at the game).  A few seconds later, Mike send me a message that Holland had scored.  Everyone was so glad that The Netherlands won the match!

Orange banners in a neighborhood in Leiden

The view during our morning walk

It seemed like a lot of snow to us, but on Sunday, we had much more.  Grace was able to play in the snow before we went to church.  She even had a snowball fight with our neighbor, Dirk.

Grace gets a huge snowball for the fight

While we were at church, the snow was coming down so hard!  I said that it looked more like someone was shaking feathers out of a pillow than snow.  The flakes were huge!

The after-church snowball fight

We came home and made our own snowman.  Because the snow was the perfect consistency, it only took the three of us about 10 minutes to finish.

Our snowman for home

All the snow was beautiful, but it wasn’t always wonderful.  On Christmas day, we had just finished opening our presents.  I thought I heard our dog chewing a new bone he got, but the sound wasn’t him.  I followed the sound until I found our roof leaking.  All the ice and snow had blocked the drain.  As the snow started to melt, it was had nowhere to go.  One part of our roof is flat, so the water started coming through our skylight.  It wasn’t a drip, it was a constant stream.  It started in one place and ended up in about eight different leaks.  Mike had the very good idea to use the plastic tubs we had for moving.  Each bucket held about three leaks.

What a mess!

We felt awful but had to get our neighbor/landlord to come help us.  For now the leak has been stopped, but we’re leaving the buckets out for a little while longer.

Sinterklaas

Chocolate "G"

Most Dutch people don’t decorate their homes for christmas until Sinterklaas goes back to Spain.  I’ve cheated a bit.  I have put everything out except our tree.

The sickness kept me from editing videos.  I’ve finally started on it again today.  We are working on a curriculum for our church that has video segments.  It should make it much easier for the workers, but it does create much more work for us.  We converted our guest room into a studio of sorts.  We’ve shot the video for the first four weeks.  Now, I’m editing it all.  When I’m done with that, we’ve got to get subtitles on it.  Our church is international and it functions with two main languages: English and Dutch.  Het kost veel tijd om iets in twee talen te doen! (It takes a lot of time to do something in two languages!)

So, while I’m working on video editing today, Mike is at the VPE congress.  The VPE is the church organization we work with here in The Netherlands.  Today is their yearly meeting.  It actually started yesterday.  Mike went yesterday to teach a seminar on children’s ministry  It’s nice that we are a team and can keep working even when we’re apart.

Grace at the museum

Leaves are changing and falling to the ground.  It’s beautiful until I have to clean up the yard.

Front Yard

Our time changed last week.  That means that we leave for school in daylight now, but it won’t be long before we’ll be leaving in darkness again.  I really don’t like having to turn on lights or start candles at 4:30, but that’s how it is.  I honestly expected it to be colder than it has been by now.  There were a few days a few weeks ago that I had to scrape ice off the windshields before leaving in the morning, but it’s been pretty nice since then.

It has cooled off a little though.  You know it’s cold in the house when our dog likes to be covered up.  I guess it could be because of the cold or that he’s terribly spoiled or ridiculous.  You can take your pick.

We should've named this dog Linus