§ ¶Saturday 26 February 2005
I can't show you the rest of the house yet, as it isn't finished, but I've got pictures of our living room...
Please disregard the mess! Olivier had a busy morning... You know, sometimes I wonder how on earth people manage two small kids.
I've got my hands full with
one. Am stretched thin. What's the secret? Does one tie them to
their chairs? Glue their little arms to their sides? And then,
when they fire their small impish smile at you, everything's forgotten.
For about a second. Sigh. No one ever tells you how much *work* a kid
is, do they. Or maybe they do, but you just don't listen, do you.
Pieter looked at me yesterday and said: "Are you sure you want a second
kid? Seems like you're barely surviving with one." Yet I'm
determined to do it all once more. (Not right now, mind you.) There's
always that 'what if, we could' feeling. And contrary to what you may
think after reading the above, I do enjoy my little imp. Very, very
much. 
Sometimes I think humans must be the most silly beings on this planet.
§ ¶Thursday 24 February 2005
Hurray! I finally feel truly at home here in my new house. And you know why?
Look:
It's Lodewijk the 2nd, sitting in a tree, as seen from our backyard. Home sweet home!
§ ¶Monday 21 February 2005
Right! Here goes... New Pivot version (1.24 'Arcee'), Blacklist installed... let's see how we get on! Time to test the comments. Hit it folks!
P.S.: I've also added a secret question for you to fill out before you can submit your comment. If you fail the test, your comment will be refused. But if you know me at least a little bit, or take a good look at my sidebar to the left, it won't be too difficult a question to answer! I hate being forced to do all this, but...)
§ ¶Sunday 20 February 2005
We're back online! Still having some problems though - we're on a shared Windows XP machine, and Pieter can get online without any problems whatsoever, but when I log on, I can't. It says the signal is too weak, plus I don't get a DNS or Gateway assigned or anything. While we're both using the same machine with the same Wireless USB network adapter thingy! If anyone knows what causes this problem, please let me know! (meikeATstarrysheepDOTcom) Thanks.
As for the rest - we're doing fine. I'm getting used to the house and its surrounding noises, though it's still far from ideal. Our neighbours on the noisy side have just put up their house for sale - do you think it's us? So I'm hoping for quiet new owners...
Let's see, what else. Oh yes, Olivier has chicken pox, poor little mite. Especially on his head, underneath the hair. He's been sleeping bad enough since we moved, but it's even worse now. Pieter and me are slowly turning into walking zombies... We definitely need a sleep vacation.
I'll be uploading some pictures lof the house later this week. It's still not finished - the kitchen alone will take two months or so to finish. What is it with kitchen people? Why is it impossible to deliver a properly fitting kitchen? Grrr. I won't go into the details here, but it's a bit of a mess. Anyway. We've got the new dining chairs, and the IKEA bed and wardrobe. The bed's up, and we'll get started on the wardrobe today. Boring, eh? But hey, at least I'm updating again! 
I'm now going to take a look at new Pivot versions & blacklists, so I can get my comments up and running again, too. If this weblog suddenly disappears, something's gone horribly wrong. :D
§ ¶Saturday 05 February 2005
With more than 30 instances of comment spam per day, things are getting out of hand. Until I've got a broadband connection again so I can finally search for a solution to the problem, commenting has been temporarily disabled. If you want to reach me, you know the addy. Thanks!
§ ¶Thursday 03 February 2005
Warning: this is a fly by post!
Just a very quick 'hello' to you. I'm doing well, the move went very smoothly, and we're now slowly adjusting to our new surroundings - Olivier the slowest of us all. After all, he's never lived in a house with two floors and a real stairway before! So he's been having to tell us everything he sees, all the time. All these new impressions unsettle him a bit, I think.
The house itself is looking great. Five more boxes to go, and next week we'll get our new kitchen. After that it's just the new bed and wardrobe from Ikea that have to be delivered and - oh dread - assembled.
So all in all, positive sounds about my newly acquired status of house owner. The one thing that *really* disappointed me, though, is that the house is anything but soundproof. One can literally follow the neighbours' conversation, and when they've got guests, we've got guests too, if you know what I mean. The one thing that made me want to leave Amsterdam most has come back to haunt me, with a vengeance. We're now thinking of somehow placing insulation walls up against the existing walls, but I've got no idea how that's done.
Next time we're on the lookout for a house, my first question to each and every real estate agent will be: 'what about the noise?' *sigh* 'Nough said. Got to learn to live with it, right? Head up. Shoulders squared. We can do it, yes we can.