I learned a new word yesterday

and it is a good one!

When I talked to Jack last night he said he was getting 'antsy'.
It made me laugh and right away I had a feeling on what it would mean.
Couldn't find it in my dictionary and didn't expect to. But Jack gave me a good idea on what it meant by showing this picture

I think it very much describes how we both feel right now.
In a few hours Jack will board the plane that will bring him here.
It won't be until tomorrow morning until he will be here, in the meantime, I will run around like a headless chicken.
Feeling antsy and nervous.
Oh well, it makes for a clean house if nothing else.

I like the word, but I love that tomorrow around this time Jack and I will be together again.

almost 200

amazing, the next post on this blog will be # 200.
When we started this blog we thought we would be together soon, but than reality hit.
Life doesn't happen as fast as we want it to happen.
In a way, that is good, we get more time to look forward to things.
And as my Mom used to say, the struggle makes you stronger.
And it does, even though we want things to go much faster, Jack and I still feel strong about why we started this journey.

It is only a week now before Jack will be here for the meeting with my sons father.
An important meeting, but I am quite confident about the outcome.
Still, it is exciting.

Something that is changing for me is the fact I am getting aware of us going to move to another country.
In the next months I hope to tell more about what that means, but right now I keep my mind occupied with stuff that isn't too important, but special to me.

Jack and I are planning our first time alone. And we both are hoping to spend x-mas together at Cape May. A place that got pretty special to me really fast.
But for some really weird reason, I have music on my mind today, music that is Dutch and I would like to share with Jack this vacation, x-mas music if you want, but I also have the feeling I need to have music close to me, music that reminds me of home.
For now I have found Anouk, Together alone and her newest, Who is your momma.
I have several Blof cd's and ordered the platinum cd.
But I need more suggestions.
Today I realized I won't hear Anouk, Blof or Marco Borsato on the radio there, I need to bring them with me.
But I need suggestions, help!!!

as an example...

need to rant a little

this has nothing to do with Jack or our plans, but everything with the animals that brought us together.
Most of you know that I foster.
Most of you also know that the group I volunteer for does focus on the Spanish galgo's.
Being involved with greyhounds also means I know about the US part of the story and the Irish horror.


But living in the northern part of my little country also means that I am the contact for that part of the country if it comes to greyhounds.
And for Dutch standards, that is the worst part of the country for any dog, let alone a greyhound.
I really don't feel like going into it right now, I will one day.
But let me just tell you about the sweet girl that I have here right now.

She comes from a known greyhound breeder. Her owner bought her and it turned out she was ill. Something easily prevented by giving the common vaccinations. But hey, that costs money which you don't want to spend when a dog isn't racing yet.
Than, the new owner got sick, bit of a problem since the dog was meant for the track and he can't take her there now.
So she was never meant to be a pet. The wife didn't approve of having a dog inside the house. The dog was not gentle enough with the kids.
After a while, the dog, not even 1 1/2 years old didn't get walks or other ways to get rid of the energy that comes with dogs that age.
And since the owner lost his job, he wasn't contributing to the family anymore...
So, the dog needs to go, she is too hyper and not wanted as a pet.
Fortunately they get in contact with GINN
I told them to, please, bring the dog a.s.a.p.
Now she is here.
Purebred, good line.
Too skinny.
Too nervous
Ate whatever her owners ate.
Full of worms.
Lived in a kennel outside for months.

When I try to pet her, stroke her, I can feel her tremble, when I get out of sight, she panics, her tail does overtime when I return after having stepped out for 5 seconds.
After 2 days she gets that she can do her business outside.
That a cuddle is the best thing in the world...

Tomorrow she will leave.
To make sure that no more un-wanted greyhounds will enter this world, she will be spayed.
She will also get vaccinated, de-wormed and checked on other things by the vet.
She'll be operated on because the owner left her here with nipples that are inflamed which, from the looks of it, isn't from the last few days.

She will be taken care off.
She will find a good home and be happy.

She is one of the most beautiful, sweet, affectionate dogs I have had here over the years.
I just don't get it.
If even we treat animals like this, how dare we say something about other countries?
We always seem to know how others should do it,still we fail in treating animals the right way ourselves.

It is crazy, look at her picture, can you believe it?
Someone kept away the basic care for her, kept away love, medical care and decent food.

When I touch her, oh so soft fur, I can feel her tremble...

Teenagers are weird.

The conversation I had with my, almost 14 year old son this morning.
Son: There is a soccer game this Friday, sounds like fun.
Me: Nice, want to play?
Son: Yes, but...
Me: But what?
Son: It is on Friday, outside school hours...
Me: Is that a problem? I mean, if it is fun.
Son: Anyway, I should have handed in the form today, so I am too late.
Me: Well, if you can find the teacher, you still can.
Son: Mumble, mumble, grumble, grumble
Me: What is the problem, if it is too late and you don't want to get back alone, I can get on the bike and pick you up?
Son: That is not the problem.
Me: Than what is?
Son: It costs 5 euro to participate.
Me: So? I don't have it in my purse, but if you want to pay for it yourself, I'll give you the money back.
Son: Grumble, grumble, grumble....

Which was pretty much the end of the conversation. Why he even brought it up is beyond me.
I know he would like to go, but only brings up reasons not to go.
Can't force him to go, but some days I wish he was still the 8 year old that I could tell: You are going and you will enjoy it.

Imagine taking a kid this age shopping for clothes when he doesn't feel like it.
Jack and I experienced it. Sooooooooooo frustrating, having him drag his feet behind you and face that would kill if it was as effective as he meant it to be at that moment. Nothing is nice, having him try on something is like you ask him to go into a torture chamber and the new clothes are things we specially searched for to cause him the most agonizing pains. (btw, he wears those clothes with pride now, casually mentioning that they come from the US)
Those are the moments I wonder why Jack even bothers putting up with someone with a teenager.
He lived through it before and you would think he is warned an never do it again.

Guess it means you can survive a teenager.
But sometimes...Arghhhhhhhhhhh

A gorgeous day in the Netherlands

Today was one of those , not so common, beautiful days we can have in fall.
Sunny, dry, no wind, perfect for a walk in the woods.
The leafs are starting to color, not as bright as in Pennsylvania, but still, it was one of those days to go out and take a long walk with the dogs. So I put both my girls in the Doggyride behind my bike and we were off.
Turned out I wasn't the only one thinking that way, a lot of people walking their dogs and a lot of families with kids running around. It was very busy, but actually that was exactly what I was hoping for.

Cara, my new girl behaved great, she can be overly exited when meeting other dogs so this was good training for her, also having kids running around with big sticks and having fun was very good. She still has to get used to some things.
At some point I did something I usually don't do, near the little pond there are some benches and people let their dogs get into the water to swim.
When we arrived there, a sweet, young hunting dog came up inviting Paquita and Cara to play.
Since I had my pocket full of treats and Paquita was very interested in playing I let her go. Boy, did they have fun.
Paquita loves to show that she is half sighthound and very fast. The other dog loved going into the water and challenging Paquita to do the same. He was out of luck, that girl will not go into the water.
Later when called she came back as asked. Good girl!
During all this we had quite the audience which is always funny.
A lot of people were commenting on her being a racing dog which always makes me smile, since she is half border collie and half galgo, a hunting dog.
But as usual someone came up wanting to know more, which gave me the chance to talk about the rescue I volunteer for Greyhounds in Nood Nederland

When Jack is here, in 16 days, I hope the weather will be just as great so we can take the dogs out for this very same walk again. The good thing about doing these walks with Jack is that he doesn't mind talking to people about the dogs, since he knows how it is, having 2 rescue's himself.
Remembering the evening walks in Cape May, those were twice as much fun with people wanting to meet the dogs.
We even got a really nice picture of us because of an accidental meeting with a musician/photographer while walking them.

It's Never Easy

It seems that the last two or three trips there have been outside issues that have popped up that potentially could have delayed our plans. Fortunately they didn't but here we are again and unless the world goes bankrupt, which is beginning to look possible, I will be getting on the plane in 23 days to visit Petra. It is a very important trip since we hope it will open up the door to actually start filling out papers and making this journey reach one of our biggest goals, being together.

When I booked the flight I did not realize that I will be missing two events over here that I always participate in. First is Halloween, LOL, which I understand is a much bigger deal over here than in most of Europe. No worries. I am bringing along three pumpkin carving kits and patterns so we can spend one evening creating our own works of art. It will be fun to just have an evening together playing with pumpkins and laughing.

The second thing I will miss which is more serious is our presidential elections. When I realized that, I immediately applied at the election office for an absentee ballot so I can cast my vote in this very important election. It seems like the past 8 years of George Bush has felt like 100 years and I want to make sure my vote is counted so I can help change the course of leadership over here. It is no secret that my vote is going to Obama since the republicans of Bush and McClain have done their best to destroy this country both at home and with our relations around the world. I feel Bush has been the worst president in the history of this country and my vote is not going to someone who seems dangerously close to him in policy. And as far as McCains VP choice of Palin? Wait a sec while I get back up off of the floor from laughing so hard. Only trouble is, if it weren't so scarey, it would be hilarious. Anyway, I will be anxiously watching CNN from the Netherlands to see the results on November 4.

Let's hope the world doesn't fall apart in the meantime so I can be there.