I just wanted to wish my Mamaw a very happy birthday. She is celebrating her 83rd birthday today. Unfortunately she is having trouble remembering things and isn't her self anymore, at least not the strong, opinionated woman she used to be. None the less I wanted her to know we are thinking of her and hope she has a wonderful day today.
All our love,
Jan, Jodie, James and Jenna
It is now official ... no one is safe on the dutch roads anymore! James passed his motorscooter license test. So now he can make the roads unsafe. Now the next step is finding a scooter. He is super happy. He and I went to Alkmaar for his test and I think that 3/4 of the people who tested at the same time failed. It was so nice to see him come out after all those others with a smile on his face. He said that if he came out quickly ( he was at table 1) that he had failed. So I had my fingers crossed that he wasn't the first one out the door. I think it hit him about 5 hours later that he had actually passed and would be able to drive as soon as he got his paperwork done at city hall. So afterschool today he is going there and hopefully Monday he can pick it up. My baby is driving ( well at least it isn't a car yet!) ( I would have perfered him driving a car though!)
Congratulations James! WELL DONE!! BE CAREFUL! LOVE YOU!!
Then last weekend we went and saw Comedy Explosion at a local theater. We went with Ruud, Teresa, Jenna and Ruth. James was planning on going but decided at the last minute that it would be more exciting to go with his friends to see a movie. It was fun. My sides hurt from laughing. I am not sure if we will get Jenna to go with us again. I don't think she really appreciated some of the comedy. There were 4 stand-ups and some were better than the others, of course our favorites they didn't like. Typical. Then Saturday Jenna had a birthday party (for Leanne the daughter of her voice coach) and I was asked to help out at the party by doing a scrapbook with the kids (paid). I have never seen so many enthusiastic kids. There were 12 kids and they are all from the theater/ song world. So very creative. It was so much fun to see those kids dig in and finish an album from scratch and fill it with pictures in the same evening. They had taken pictures during the day and had them printed by an one hour service so when we finished making the mini album they could put the pictures in and take home a completed album. I don't think that the adults that I have given workshops to in the past were as hard workers as this bunch of kids.
Then on sunday Jan and I went to Rotterdam for a concert. Katie Melua was in town and Jan is a big fan of her. Well after the concert so am I. She is so good. Finally and artist who sounds better live than on cd. Really laid back music and a beautiful voice. We lucked out because they were taping her DVD that evening so we got to hear a couple of songs twice. We had a really nice time.
I had a meeting with my boss on tuesday to see how things were going. Actually it was a meeting to find out what they thought of me. Well so far so good. They want to keep me. I was also offered a opportunity to take a class so that I can work in the group as substitute teacher. That would mean more hours and higher pay. On top of that there is also an opportunity to go to school and be able to work. They pay for my schooling (ba) and I work 22 hours in a week for a student salary. That has to be okayed by the big boss but she wanted to know if I was interested in it. So I said YES. She said it would be dumb to look outside her own people to find some one to sub, when I knew the kids and the teachers. So that was a super positive meeting. I was also able to voice some of my concerns.
This weekend Nadine got her first swim diploma so we went to watch her swim and recieve her diploma. We did it all on bike and then went to Amsterdam to dinner. There was a carnaval in town so we went up on the ferris wheel. We got a nice view of Amsterdam. Tonight there is a free concert in town a tribute to David Bowie. We are going to try and check out.
Jenna and Stephanie spent the whole weekend together and James and Joshua too. So this morning we had 4 kids in the house. Wow it takes hours to be able to shower with that many kids around. James is going to do his theory test tomorrow for his motor (moped). It is unbelievable how much they have to know before they are certified to ride. Honestly it is 10x's harder than a drivers test in the states. Hopefully he will do well and pass it this time (last time he missed passing by 2 questions).
One more week and then we have a week vacation. Jan and I have a week and a day. Jenna and James have 2 weeks. Hopefully we are going to be able to do something fun the 4 of us. We shall see.
