One month later

No, St Catharines has not been covered over by a volcanic eruption, neither has our home disappeared into a hole in the ground, nor have we been transported to another planet. Actually our phone lines were down for quite a while over the past month, and with no phone comes no internet as well. Last weekend Mike and Dad fixed the problem and we are back to a dial tone again. However, we have been working on the baby's room (former office) and so the regular phone jack for the internet is not so accessible right now, and that will have to suffice as my excuse for not updating this blog in more than a month. I didn't even write one update in the whole month of June!
Things are going well for us over here. Mike is done his first year of teaching, and was glad to see the end although also sad to say goodbye to his first class. It was a good year, and he certainly enjoyed it and is looking forward to September and starting fresh again. For the summer he will be busy driving a flower delivery truck to Buffalo a few times a week, as well as working on curriculum development and, when he has a chance, working on some things around the house. And then of course there are a few stints of camping which I am VERY much looking forward to enjoying!!
Things are going well with me as well - I've been feeling quite well, although the days at work seem to be longer than they were before, and I wonder how I am going to feel in a few months, if my feet are already as sore as they are now at the end of the day. We had an ultrasound about two weeks ago, which was really neat. Everything looks good with the baby, and it was hard to believe he/she was squirming around so much in there when I couldn't feel it!! I can sometimes feel the baby moving although it's definitely not very strong yet. After an interesting painting fiasco in the baby's room, it is now painted a lovely Serengeti Plains green, and Mike has been putting lots of elbow grease into cleaning up the hardwood floor in there. When we first painted the room, it turned out to be a fluorescent minty green which we were NOT too impressed with, but the colour now is quite perfect!
Other than that, things continue on their merry way, excep for the "T" buton on this lapop which seems o be going hrough some personal roubles. There's a baseball game going on in the park, so I think I'll go check it out! Until next time...

Ultrasound pictures - a little hard to see what's going on, but after being

on the fridge for a few weeks, we can recognize him/her quite easily

Twenty weeks

15 Weeks

In order for me to have two posts in the month of May, I should probably write one right now or I won't get to it in the next 6 days, because days have a way of flying by without you really noticing it at all. Unfortunately, my decision to poast something has left me in a bit of a bind, because I really don't have anything to write about. Surely something must have happened in the last 3 weeks that is worthy of reporting to the world, or at least to those out there who care to read about our lives. Let's see. Well, I should definitely post a CONGRATULATIONS to Marty and Rachel Breimer Speelman on their wedding on May 12. You had a lovely day, and you looked so happy! May the Lord bless you as you continue your walk down life's path hand-in-hand.
We planted some annuals in the garden over the Victoria day weekend, which we are really enjoying, except for the part that the squirrels enjoy them as well. We have also been enjoying watching baseball games in the evenings in the park across the street. It's great to just be able to sit in our sunroom and have some live entertainment when we get home from work!
I came home this evening driving through an intense thunderstorm and some driving rain, which normally would make me quite excited. However, the knowledge that my dear hubby, a good size group of grade 6ers and a few others were on an 18 km hike from Beamsville to the school and were probably trapped in the woods with lightning all around did not make me very excited about the storm. Thankfully, there was a phone call from Mike as soon as I got in the door saying that all is well, they were back at the school before the rain started in earnest, and they got to watch lightning hit a pole, shoot blue sparks everywhere and shut off the power. But everyone's ok, the weather cleared up again pretty quick, and the campout is still on, although perhaps they will camp inside. Air mattress anyone?
Three and half weeks until our first ultrasound appointment! That sounds a lot closer than it really is. Time has been doing weird things - sometimes I wonder where the days have gone, yet when you go hourly, like this afternoon, three hours seem like three days. I believe something strange must have happened with the earth's rotation or the fourth dimension or something this afternoon from 2-5, because that was way longer than three hours. My feet were ready to fall off by the time 5:00 rolled around and the thought of standing up from this computer desk doesn't appeal to me at ALL, at least not yet.
Sorry, no new pictures to post. There's still the ones from last post if you like :)

Still Alive in St Kitts

To all those faithful blog-checkers, I am here to relieve your fears about our well-being. We are, in fact, alive and well, despite the silence of the blog. It's been quite busy lately, and I haven't really had much time or motivation to sit down and think of something to write. Let's see, when was the last time I posted... something about the first burgers of the season. Since then, we have had quite a few burgers, almost too much for me. Today, I backed out of the burger and had a sausage instead. There is such a thing as too many hamburgers, and I'm a little worried about what my BBQ-loving hubby has in mind for the summer's meal plans...


Spring is definitely arriving, making my morning drives to work quite scenic with all the orchards in bloom. I'll have to get out there and take some pictures. Spring has also brought out the rugby team which practices in the field across from our house every Tuesday and Thursday, providing some free entertainment. Our grass is growing, and growing, and growing, and I think we're going to have to break down and get ourselves a lawn mower as the reel mower doesn't function like a real mower.


We bought a new car a month ago, a 2003 Oldsmobile Alero. So far we're really enjoying it, the most appreciated difference from the Escort probably being the ability to have normal-voice conversations on our long trips to visit family. If anyone out there is interested in purchasing a sporty 1995 Ford Escort Wagon, 260,000 km, we are putting it up for sale. It's got a great engine, good tires, a/c, automatic locks and windows (I'm starting to miss those), and can fit an amazing amount of stuff into it, which is particularly handy if you do a lot of moving around or camping. It does need a mechanic's help because it makes some strange noises when you turn, but with a little love this car could take you places. Last year, we took it to the Adirondacks, up and down mountains and it didn't complain at all! Brave little car.

My two sisters are off on a one month adventure to Europe in 25 minutes. They are probably sitting in the waiting room right now, or maybe even on the plane, bags packed and stowed, cameras ready, and the excitement flowing through their veins. I'll miss them a lot, but they're bringing along the pins I gave them so they've got a little piece of me with them for their pictures :)

Perhaps I'll post some pictures of the last little while, since pictures are always nice.

Another dinner outside - BBQ'd of course, but this time it was shish-kabob

Mike wore this to school one day to see what kind of reaction

he could get from his students. Actually, it was Clash Day, and

I think he did a pretty good job clashing!This is my failed attempt at a picture of glow-in-the-dark bowling.

We went bowling with all the Vander Deen siblings last weekend

after celebrating Mom and Dad VD's 25th anniversary with the

family at the Mandarin.

This disgusting creature was on our bedroom wall yesterday morning.

It is bigger than it looks, and really gross, and there better only

be one of them.It belongs in the zoo. This is NOT a photo-shopped picture.

I think it could have eaten me in my sleep.

Now what is all this stuff? What is going on at the Vander Deen household?

I saved the best picture for last. :) Yup, if you think you've figured it out, you're right! Our lives are about to change in a most significant and exciting way, for come November, D.V., we will be welcoming the newest little member of our family into the world! This week, we got to hear his or her little heartbeat at the midwife's office, and it was such an amazing sound! Other than being really really tired, I've been feeling pretty good, which is quite a blessing and really makes being tired nothing to complain about at all. It's still somewhat unbelievable to us that we are going to be PARENTS, but we trust and pray that God will give us all that we need to bring up this child in the fear of His name.

First Burgers of 2007

'Twas the first day of real Springtime and the Rachel sat outside

To eat her cheese and crackers at noon by building's side

The lunchtime sun was glorious, bright and cheery warm

On days like this a lunch outside will surely be the norm.

The Rachel came home happy, full of lots of vitamin Ds

Absorbed from being outside in the bright and cheery breeze.

The Rachel and the Mike were feeling summer's promise

They thought, I know one supper which for months has been amiss.

And so the rusty shed key was taken from its spot

And they rolled out the trusty Barbeque which for so long was forgot.

Out came the buns and burgers, they were prepared with glee

For the first barbequed meal of 2007 for this young family

Alas, the buns were freezer-burned, the patties, they were dry

The mayonnaise was weirdly colored, its smell had gone awry.

Yet the Rachel and the Mike, ignoring the substandard taste

They ate their stale burgers, they would not let them go to waste.

For now we know that whatever the case, any burgers from now on

Will be much better than last year's leftovers which thankfully are gone.

What was I thinking

Somehow, someway, Mike got me to play Medal of Honour with him tonight. While he didn't manage to keep me playing for as long as he might have liked, I think he enjoyed hunting me down while I was running around blindly with a bazooka, hitting walls, falling off buildings, and getting stuck in closets.
I have a feeling those hundreds of hours of playing in university may have given him a bit of an edge. I'll have to pull out the Boggle and show him a thing or two :)

Must ... post ...

It's almost the end of March already - winter has come and gone and the summer birds are seeping back into the treetops. All the snow is melted off our property, even the mountain on our front yard. Thankfully, it didn't all drain into our basement, which, being in an old house in the spring for the first time, I was a little afraid of. The next challenge for us is to find ourselves a new car. Despite how good the old Escort has been to us up until her 250,000th odomebirthday, she's starting to sound a little too unsafe for the number of daily kilometers she does on the highway. So far we haven't had any luck winning the car from Tim Horton's Roll up the Rim - well, no luck winning anything for that matter.
Tonight, we're having four people over for dinner, and we have no idea who they are. They will just show up at our door at 7:00, and we hope to enjoy a tasty Dutch-Indonesian meal with them, complete with satay and kroepoek, or Krupuk Udang Komodo according to the package. This is all organized as a "Mystery Dinner" through the school for a fundraiser. We are looking forward to it - I just wish we had another dining room chair. I hope they aren't expecting things to be too fancy! Perhaps we will draw straws for the office chair...

Weird word of the day:
HONORIFICABILITUDINITATIBUS
With honour.

Boring, Boring Post

So it's been a while since I've posted - not too much new and exciting going on. We've both been sick with various things, strep throat, ear infections, colds, so we're on his-and-hers amoxicillin. Aww, isn't that cute.
We finished painting our living room last week, and we're quite pleased with the results. It feels like a whole new room, and it didn't even take that long. Give us a call and come visit to see the new look!
We were quite pleased to get hit with some of the snow from the storm which centered on Hamilton a week ago today. Except for the fact that shovelling the driveway with a fever isn't the nicest thing in the world, it was nice to get some real winter action in and see what our area looks like buried under snow. Of course, it's looking pretty miserable out there now that it's warmed up and even rained a little. It's a false spring, and I'm not looking forward to it getting cold again but it's sure to happen.
Rachel, signing out

Milestones

Today marks an important Odometer Birthday for our trusty little Escort.

Congratulations on this milestone,

and may you enjoy many more happy kilometers!!

Here she is, parked in the driveway

at exactly 250,000.0 km

Wecome, Hannah Rachel!

This past Friday, 11 lady friends all crowded into our little living room for a shower to celebrate the birth of Rick and Elaine's baby Hannah. A good time was had by all (I hope, anyways!!) playing games and catching up. Hannah was really good, tolerating being passed from lap to lap, and it was an enjoyable evening.

The star of the show(er)

Hmmm.

Sometimes, there are people in this world who make you so mad and frustrated that they don't even deserve to be the topic of a blog post. Therefore, the topic is changing.
So we've had winter for a few days now. It's nice and all but a little too late to enjoy it to its full potential. I've unplugged our Christmas lights already, our furnace seems to be running continually and my kitchen keeps getting filled with snowy bootprints. My hands are dry, my toes are cold, and my nose is runny. When does spring start again? March?
It's kind of that doldrum time of year, when if you're not completely excited about how you spend your days, you begin to wonder if you should find something else. Does anyone out there know anyone out here who needs someone with a Biology degree and an ability to learn? Please let me know.

"I'm old, Gandalf. I know I don't look it, but I'm beginning to feel it in my heart.

I feel... thin. Sort of stretched, like... butter scraped over too much bread.

I need a holiday. A very long holiday. And I don't expect I shall return.

In fact I mean not to."

sorry Danielle, I stole the quote, but you can use it too if you want to :)