Saturday, March 1, 2008

The Saturday tennis match

Today I played tennis with Stephen. We went to courts I haven't been before and it was fantastic. 6 courts and nobody else there. On a saturday! We played 2 sets (which I both won) and we had some really good moments. Hopefully we'll see more fireworks next saturday!

A friend of Tony and Vicky dropped by in his old timer car.

I think it's a Morris?

In the evening we went to make pizza's at Karin and Gavin's place. Gav was a happy chappy.

And so was mason on his beanbag.

Friday, February 29, 2008

The little balloon woman

We went to the mall this morning where we saw this little balloon woman. Ain't she cute? I wish I could've taken her home... ;-)

In the afternoon I walked Mason again. This bird was walking next to us somewhere where we stopped and it just looked at is. It didn't seem very scared.

Not that Mason cared at all. He sniffed wee from some other dog probably or something...

Earlier this week Nicole received our tax papers. One book is to fill out and the other one is the "guide". Unreal.

There are a hundred questions in the form and they have an a, b, c and d on avarage. So it's actually 400 questions. Luckily we can skip a fair bit coz it doesn't apply to us.
This is the Dutch government making it hard for us one more last time.

In the evening we went to the pasta pot. They make fantastic pasta dishes. Really fresh tomato sauce and the meat is really lean (= mager in Dutch). I had a plain lasagna and it was just exactly what I wanted. You know wat I mean? Sometimes you just feel like certain food, well, I do.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

The city and the bowls

I had an interview in the morning. It went rather well I thought. If these people make me an offer I'd be very pleased. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Before I went in I had a drink outside because I was a bit early. The office is in the city, it looks cool, I like high rises.

It was sunny and warm. Not sweaty warm, but nice warm.

This plaque on the building basically says "You only live once, try to be nice". I like that a lot.

Went to walk mason when we came home. I find it incredibly relaxing and it's good exercise for me too. And it's nice for The Mase as well. On our way we saw this van. How can there be a plural? I thought I was the only one?

Mason was a good boy. he sits at the curb often without even telling him to. And he's becoming easier to walk. I try walking him exactly the same route everyday now. Takes about 45 minutes on a nice pace.

Dinner.

Aaaaaand off to the bowls. Yours truely sucketh mucho ass tonight but it was still fun. Frame 1.

Frame 2.

Frame 3.

Frame 4.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

The animals

In the morning (after more recruiter talk on the phone) we went to the Arndale scum city central shopping mall. I cut my hand on the hand rail of the bloody escalator, I think someone whacked it with a piece of glass. Not too bad but it's a stingy cut. I forgot about it quickly when I went to the tennis section of Big W. My recent increase in tennis skill demands a better racket than the one I bought one week ago. Scroll to the end of this blog post to see the beauty I got now!

When I came home I walked Spacey Masey.

Because I can't always put Masoooon in the spotlights, here's a picture of Caesar, the big German Shepherd we sometimes say hello to. He's a beautiful dog who immigrated here with his owners from Italy.

This is the "Red cocky". Well, that's how we call him. It's actually a Gala or something. I'm not sure but he's very friendly and speaks fluent english (when you're drunk). He used to be Gavin's mums.

And this is the white "Cocky girl". It's a real cocky.

Personally I would never cage any kind of animal except for chickens maybe, but at least in a nice big space. These two wouldn't survive long in the wild though.

Nicole made apple pie tonight. It's very yummy :-)

And this is my new racket that will enable me to kick more ass than ever! They say though that with power comes responsibility so I can't be too hard on karin ;-)

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

The cheese feast

Last night before going to bed I found this "butt-crack" pillow. Hilarious.

Early morning I picked apples from the apple tree. Nicole now has the task to turn these into some serious apple pie action :-)

We had a lot of phone action this morning. I spoke with 2 other recruiters who both seemed interested. With at least 1 of them (and probably the other too) I will arrange an interview. I would say there is a healthy amount of interest in my skills here which I am very happy with.

And then it was time for tennis again. Karin kicked my ass again by 6-4 in a 1 set match. Great fun, great shots, lots of sweat and swearing.

We are improving a lot every time we play. Both our serves are getting faster. I do believe karin actually aced me today, hmmm, can't have that of course ;-P

And then at home: dinner. Already ate fish for lunch so I took the good old Gouda out of the fridge and create a cheese feast.

Monday, February 25, 2008

The Choppermeister is on the loose!

I had my first job interview today with a recruiting agency. After this: Lunch! So driving around checking out terraces.

We found a spot at Fellini's terace. Oh I like chicken parmigiana.

Walking back to our car we passed the old fire station which is now some kind of hotel that features an antique fire truck standing in the biggest bedroom.

And we also passed a bakery where I bough Mr. Gingerbread.

And after a nice meal you need a nice walk so we took Mason for his round. He was naturally overly excited...

And then it was time to unleash the Choppermeister from his cardboard cage. It arrived safe and sound and it still drives fantastic.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

The lazy Sunday

Nicole about to take down the dried clothes (together with me I have to add ;-) )

And then the sun was going down. I didn't do much today at all. It was one of those days.