Prince Friso

Prince Friso is a member of our royal family. He is the son of our queen Beatrix, but not really a prince anymore. The lady, Mabel, he married years ago lied about a criminal she knew and he never asked for permission if he could marry her. So he officially is not a prince anymore. They have 2 kids together.
The royal family has been going skying in the town of Lech in Austria for years. Last week, on 17 February, (prince) Friso was in an avalanche while skying with a friend. Their was a high risk of avalanche, but they went anyway. He was burried under the snow for almost half an hour. His friend was wearing an alarm with which he warned the emergency services. They found Friso and were getting his heart to work for about 45 minutes and was then transferred to the hospital. They kept him in a coma for a week and today, there was a press conference about his condition. His brain is damaged and they are not sure if he will EVER wake up again.
This was big news over here today. This is our queen Beatrix, but she is also still a mother. The worst thing was, that they visited with Friso and when leaving the hospital the press was in their face.
I hope it all turns out well for them.

Love, Astrid xx

Vastelaovend in Venlo and special memories

Years ago, when I was a very young Astrid, we sometimes had my dad's ome Sjeng (uncle John senior) and tante Jet (aunt Heddy) over from the USA. Years later, his sons came to celebrate Vastelaovend. I remember getting up in the middle of the night and driving to Schiphol airport with my dad to pick them up. At that stage I could speak English. Years later their kids (my 2nd cousins) came to celebrate Vastelaovend.
But there was 1 person ... my uncle Chris ...
I knew at some point I was going to write about him. My uncle Chris passed away on 18 January 2011. I miss him every day ...
My uncle Chris came to Venlo a bit more often. He LOVED Vastelaovend !! He would fly in on a Friday, stay the day in Amsterdam and he would take the train to Venlo. We would see him downtown for Vastelaovend to watch the parades. The city where he was born. And on ash-Wednesday, him and I would go downtown to shop and buy presents for him to take back home. The very last night of his stay, we would all meet up at the Wilhelmina Hotel (accross the railway station) and have a great evening together and then it was time to say goodbye.
On the Sunday of Vastelaovend, we went downtown to watch the kid's parade. Malú was dressed up as a ladybug. She walked all the way downtown and when the parade came, she danced and jumped. She had a blast. The last band that passed us played uncle Chris' favourite Vastlaovend song: "Venlo stedje van lol en plezeer" (Venlo city of fun) and the sun came out ...  I'm sure he heard it. Hope the parade looked nice from up there.
Malú then walked most of the walk home. Daddy carried her at the end.
On the Monday of Vastelaovend, we went downtown to watch the big parade. Malú was dressed up as Bumba the clown. We watched most of the parade. Malú had a blast, she danced, jumped and stood on the little fence. She sometimes sat on daddy's shoulders. She got cold and tired at the end of the afternoon and so we went home.
On the Tuesday of Vastelaovend, we celebrated the farmer's wedding and went downtown to watch the parade. People are dressed up as farmers in black and white. The parade was nice, but we went home afterwards, so Malú could take a nap.
And then Vastelaovend 2012 was over. Until next year ...

Love, Astrid xx

Boetegewoene Boetezitting

Malú was 2 years and 10 months old yesterday (and I was in bed celebrating). I can't believe it !! Just 2 more months and she will be 3 years old. We have recently been looking into primary schools for her. There are 2 around here. The one I like is a little further away. The other one is close, it's the one I went too. I want what's best for her, but it has got to work for us too. We haven't decided yet.
My mom and dad left this morning to go vacationing up north for a couple of days. My dad likes to go to the pre-parties of Vastelaovend and is OK to be gone for the actual days. So I talked to them before they left.
Well, we all felt better today. Malú the best of us all. Even the piece of rush I had, didn't want to stay in my body.
Vastelaovend un-officially starts on Saturday with the "Boetegewoene Boetezitting". They put a stage downtown and you can get free tickets. Artists (singers) of the province of Limburg perform. We watched it on tv and had a great time. Malú was dancing, jumping and singing (I taught her a couple of songs). We saw people pass by that were dressed up and Malú loved it. Still working on her special costume ...
Vastelaovend, Vastelaovend ...

Love, Astrid xx

And I was sick like a dog ...

Thursday blurred into Friday (or the other way around).Malú normally goes to my mom and dad on Thursdays, but she stayed home today, because she had a slight fever yesterday evening.
Work was fine. I was on the late shift, which is from 10am - 7pm. Came home, had dinner. Not too long after I come home from the late shift, Malú drinks her milk and we take her to bed. We then just watch tv and I will hit the internet for a while. Wanted to get my hair cut and coloured Friday. My hair dresser went bankrupt a while ago, so I needed to look for a new one. I was sooo bummed, because I really liked them. Then my sister texted me on Monday saying the hair dresser was taken over and was open with the same staff. So Friday was my next option. I woke up early on Friday morning feeling so sick, my stomach felt bloated. It didn't take long before I ran for the bathroom. I called for Herbert (my boyfriend) and I threw up. I felt better afterwards, so I still had my hopes up, but switched my alarm off. A couple of hours later, I made a second run. I kid you not, I sat on the toilet with a bucket and those are all the details I will give you. Poor Herbert did not feel well either, but he got up with Malú. I stayed in bed all day. Didn't get up until 7pm or so. Talked to my mom and dad, because they will be leaving to go up north for a couple of days. I ate a piece of rush with sugar. I pushed myself to stay up until Malú went to bed. We then both crashed around 9pm. Just awesome with Vastelaovend coming up.
And that is how Thursday blurred into Friday ...

Love, Astrid xx

Oh, what a night ...

Yes, indeed !! It started when Malú didn't want to eat yesterday when she came home from daycare. I thought, she was just tired, but when I told her to go lay on the couch, she stayed there. In the end, she had a few bites. Her night started ok, but then when we went to bed, she was crying. Her ears hurt, so I got her up and gave her nose spray (it helps to clear the ears up). I put her back to bed and we went to bed. Then around 5.30am this morning, she started crying again. She said her stomach hurt and she gagged. I quickly got her out of bed and she threw up a little. She also had a slight fever. We put her back to bed and she called for us around 9am, at least a little bit of a sleep in (thankgod she got sick on a day I don't work !!). I got up with her and she didn't want to eat. She said her stomach hurt, which is normally bad news and she again threw up a little on the kitchen floor. She just had a little bit of rusk (rusk to me is food for when you are sick). Then we sat on the couch and watched tv. We don't normally, but I let her when she is not feeling well. For lunch she aparently was hungry as she had a couple of bites from Herbert's bread and then had her own. She went to bed to nap, but it was only a short one (about an hour). I did laundry in the meantime. She played as normal and I read her books until it was time for dinner. She just had a little bit of rice. She didn't want to eat desert either, so I know she was not feeling well. She had a slight fever again. She acted normal though, played after dinner. Bedtime was fine. We have the baby moniter on and we can hear her cough a lot. So far so good. Hope the night will go well as I have to work tomorrow, but will be on the late shift (I start at 10am).
I'm off to bed now too. I tend to go to bed (too) late, so I should take better care of myself. Until the next one !!
Love, Astrid xx

Long time no hear ...

... but, I now have a follower !!
My cousin Maria who convinced me in doing my own blog. I started very enthousiastically, but started slacking very soon. Maybe blogging is not my thing. I used to love writing in my diary (journal), but this is online and way too personal. It should be personal, it's my life, but I can't put my deepest (darkest) feelings online. It's a very thin line.
Today, our weather watchers gave a code red for the entire country to warn for icing on the roads. One of my co-workers said, the roads were very slippery. A lot of accidents happened. The drive to work for me was OK, though the minute I left the house, it started snowing. As you may know, I don't have my driver's licence for very long yet, so I was a bit anxious. Tomorrow, it's a whole new ballgame as the ground is still frozen and it rained today, so the roads will defenitely ice up. I'm leaving our house early tomorrow morning, so hoping for a good drive to work.
Love, Astrid xx