Home Sweet Home

With my new laptop in hand since Wednesday, here I am again, feeling at home more and more with every day. Today marks my 7th week since arriving in Holland on Dec. 5.

As you see, Gathering Wisdom has found her resting place.
Almost everything, in fact, is situated...except for all the nic-nacs that go on the glass shelves in the left of this cabinet. We'll work on that in the next week, taking our time to get the right mix of hers, mine and ours.

In the meantime, we've had a bit of a setback with Astrid, who fell off her bike this past Monday while riding to work on slippery roads. She has since found out that everyone and their aunt and uncle did the same thing that day. The temps were just above freezing, which tricked everyone, I guess, into thinking they didn't have to worry. Sigh. Her left arm took the brunt of the fall and was too swollen for x-rays when she went to the doctor. Yesterday she was finally able to get an x-ray and found out her elbow, at the tip of the humerus, is fractured. She'll wear a soft cast and sling for a week and plans to go to work, as long as they allow her to do her job (controlling the manufacturing of cabinets and doors) without lifting/carrying. They've promised and said they need her. So we'll see what happens!

Adding to the intrigue of all that's happening, we received the official paperwork saying we can now get married (and have until June 28 to do so before applying again!). They believe, in other words, it will not be a fake marriage for me to simply gain long-term residence in Holland. It's real. We really do want to be married!

So the date has been set for February 5 at 2p on Friday afternoon, two weeks from now. All marriages in Holland have to be performed by an official at City Hall (whether also performed in a church ceremony or not). So we're getting married at the Gorinchem Stadhuis Trouwzaal (the City Hall Wedding Chapel) by a female official who is downright excited for us. We'll be meeting with her next Thursday to go over all the details.

This is fast and short notice, we know. However, it's something we want to do AND will hasten my staying-permit process which has to be begun by March 5 without my being forced to return to the States for 3 months. We've jumped through too many hoops to let the ball drop at this stage of the game. We will keep going till the opera's over.

Things will be hectic these next two weeks, so we covet your mindfulness of us. We want to "be prepared" but we also want to live in the moment every day and not get caught up in the tyranny of the urgent. Thanks for hanging in there with us...as we create this place we call Home.

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ADDENDUM (Tuesday, 26 Jan.): That was then, this is now. Astrid was in so much pain on Sunday that we went to the Emergency Room at the hospital where they couldn't believe how bruised and swollen her arm still was. In fact, they thought maybe even her wrist was broken. I don't totally understand the Dutch system on such things but they weren't able to x-ray it then. We had to go back the next day (yesterday) and NO, the wrist is not broken. Thank God.

Later in the afternoon she then had to go to her doctor's office to check it all out. The doctor does not think it's infected but after changing her pain med to one that includes an antibiotic, Astrid has been a totally different person...feeling and acting almost "normal." So, who knows! She remains off work till Thursday when she hopes to get back into the swing of things...with her sling on for protection, if anything else, and a message that says she can't lift or do hard work (which she is always offering to do as she controls, wanting to help whenever she can).

Maybe we're out of the woods?!