BEER & FLOODS! OR better, FLOODS of BEER

Over the last three days we had torrential rain in our neck of the woods. I got so fed up with the water that I decided to write about it. But before I go any further, you need to know that we live on top of a hill. Dominic always wanted to live 'on the top' - I on the other hand would love to live next to the ocean. My husband granted himself his wish;  whereas I have to listen to Mick Jagger's "You can't always get what you want to."

I decided to blog about the poor guys who live at the bottom of the hill and our wonderful morning spent at a local brewery to bottle 140 bottle of Dominic's own signature beer. All I need to do is somehow connect these two:



There are always three or four ways of dealing with a problem, or in our case, with an inconvenience!  By now you know that liquor prices in B.C. are ridiculously high. Like so many other men, my loved one feels an undeniable attraction to a cold bottle in the fridge. In order to keep his love affair going he is forced to do one of four things,

- To keep on buying beer and to keep on complaining,

- to keep on buying and stop complaining,

- to stop drinking beer, - yeah, as if this would ever happen,-

or, to become creative!

In Dominic's case it meant to find a local brewery and design his own beer; Not only is this a tasty, slightly intoxicating way to make your dollars buy more, it is also a fun way to bond with your teenage son when it comes to bottling. This is what I call a creative mastermind!



Do I hear you say 10.45 AM is too early for your first glass? If you think so, then you most likely haven't heard of the "It is 5 O' Clock somewhere"- rule.



When you live at the bottom of the hill and your front yard has been flooded, you need to become creative too. Don't just complain about the rain, have your alternative transportation ready, put your house on the market and move up to the top of our rock. You will be safe up here and the view is most

likely much better!  



Unlike the roads and unfortunate houses at the bottom, our house will never get flooded. On the contrary, we are getting ready for another force of nature: The force of attraction when the word hits the street that Dominic is in possession of 140 bottles of freshly brewed grain and yeast. Friends, our doors are always open, we welcome you!



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HELP! I NEED ANOTHER HUSBAND

Only dairy farmers or bakers need to apply!

The successful candidate must be able to supply an endless amount of dairy products - preferable milk - and baked goods; staked high to satisfy the on going hunger of four teenage boys.



I honestly thought buying nappies, formula milk or baby food in jars was bad enough. Years later I get a rude awakening: Our children changed from the cute, chubby, helpless little creatures into independent, strong willed, still cute (but different cute) young men, with a huge appetite!

Our new house came with one fridge and skinny freezer only. The boys empty them at a faster rate than I can restock them!



These days you can find me either on the way to the grocery store, in the grocery store or on my way home. Once at home I get ready to bake muffins, cookies, brownies or pancakes. I even took up yogurt making.

Joey, our Korean exchange student, can eat for three! Furthermore, he literally drinks our ketchup bottles empty; he fears Heinz will stop producing them shortly.  At first I thought he doesn't like my cooking because he puts the sauce on everything. But even I have to admit,  my cooking isn't that bad either;  Joey simply loves the taste of ketchup.

The two most common questions I have to answer on a regular basis are: "When are we eating dinner?" and "What are we eating later on?"  Of course, there is nothing wrong with being asked these questions, it's just very frustrating to answer them right after the boys wolfed down their afternoon meal of French toast or toasties (melted cheese).

If Dominic agrees to change our marital status from 'couple' to 'quadruple', I will search for a legitimate religious order which allows women to have three men. If the google search will be unsuccessful I need to settle this matter once and for all: I am sure there will be another mid-term sale coming up soon and I will get myself a bread maker, a waffle iron, an ice-cream maker, a second fridge and freezer, big sacks of flour and a cow for the backyard.

Right now a song pops into my head. The one where Marilyn Monroe sings about "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend". Easy for her to sing, she never had children....

VACATION TIME

These are our last days of our school vacation.. What better reason is there to reflect upon holidays?

Dear Holiday,
I love you as an institution; I love you for what you stand for: A well deserved period of fun and relaxation after a period of hard work.

Memories of days long past come floating back; long, lazy days filled with sweet nothing. During our school holidays back in the days, when I was a young girl, we didn't have a computer at home. My parents couldn't afford to go away during each vacation. German TV at that time only had three channels, our kid's entertainment started at 5.10pm, and ended at 7pm.

We had a big yard and my brother and I had enough willing neighbours to play with us. Time spent at home during school holidays is a pleasant blur. We read books, went on bike rides and later on a teenagers, we still went on bike rides, just a little bit further away.



Did we drive my mom crazy?  I don't think so. This lady has a talent to keep herself - and others, busy. Always has been, always will be. Obviously, I asked her this question, several times even. And always the same response: "Oh, I really don't remember, that is so long ago!" Our dad was mostly at work'; we definately didn't drive him crazy.

Dear Holiday, as a working woman I cherish you to charge up replenished batteries -  we all need a rest once in a while.

Dear Holiday, in my current state and carreer as a mother of four, you are driving me crazy!

Holiday time at home is luxury and fun during the first three days. The luxury of staying up late, getting up even later and slouching in ones PJ's can't be stressed enough. Holiday time frees me up from a demanding taxi service four nights a week to bring any one of the boys to soccer practise. At least now I can design my own evening entertainment.

Any longer than three days and anarchy takes over!

Mrs. Holiday, I hold you responsible to turn our life upside down, to let our well rehearsed, well established routine fall into pieces. Nothing makes sense anymore. If I don't offer our boys a list of activities ( e.g. ice-skating, movies, skiing, trail walking), they are more than happy to roll out of their bed straight onto the comfy couch in our men den to start on the xbox.

We are getting up way too late, we don't know if we should eat breakfast or lunch, our dishes are pilling up in the sink. It's driving me crazy!

Dearest holiday, I appreciate you as a wonderful opportunity to experience daily life in a more extra-ordinary fashion these days. But as you know, all good things have to come to an end. This is what happens to all good or bad things, they have to end. The good thing about bad things coming to an end is that we have the chance to start fresh again.

The good things, like holidays, need to come to an end too; otherwise we wouldn't enjoy and appreciate them so much!

Therefore, on Monday my children will be sad that you are over, but I will be happy! Life as I know it will be upon us-again!

LOVE IS IN THE AIR

It is official: Our teenage son has a girl-friend! After weeks of speculation, casual remarks about her, several visits to her house and late night text-messaging I finally - officially - met Mystery Girl!

Good Lord, our son has taste! (He probably got that from his father...) She is gorgeous! Everything about her is long: her overall size, her hair and her legs! If this isn’t enough, she seems to be very nice, polite, fun, well brought up and well mannered! It seems to be too good to be true, but pretty and nice can go hand in hand together.

Here I am, home alone with our teenage son and his girl-friend. They went up to his room – and from then onwards, silence! What are they doing? Actually, I leave this to your imagination and mine! I did what (hopefully) every mother would have done: I avoided the upstairs – in fear of being accused to spy on them! Instead of sorting through our laundry upstairs I decided to spent a delightful afternoon on YouTube, searching for the songs which would bring back vivid memories of my first kiss, slow dance and the other innocent, but still slightly naughty things I did when I was a teenager!

What was I worried about? A stolen kiss? Or that little bit more? I don’t really know!  Our teenager is fully aware of the story with the bee and the flower (i.e. reproduction). He spent his first ten years in the Dutch school system. A system were they don’t shy away from graphic illustrations when it comes to sex education and STD.  This country has the lowest pregnancy rate among teenagers in all of Europe! Need I say more?  Honestly, I am pretty sure our son knows more about any of the dating do and don’ts than I ever knew. So if it’s not the S.. I was worried about what was it?

From now on I am the mother of a teenager who has a girl-friend! This is a new step into unknown territory for me!   Am I the only one or do you agree when I say, as a parent you have constantly new territories to conquer? On the other hand, this new job-description is another opportunity to shine as an "extra-ordinary" mother (e.g. don't spy on them).

Finally, after I relived all my first time adventures, the laundry couldn’t wait any longer.  Hesitantly I went upstairs only to realize the couple wasn’t around after all!  At that moment I figured I had to avoid our den. But, I am only human and a woman and my curiosity got the better of me. I went downstairs.

I was prepared for hot flushes and embarrassed looks! But all I could hear was rapid gun fire (good decoy) and laughter. Here they are, in front of our TV screen:  The gorgeous girl-friend was kicking my son’s ass on the Xbox!

So much for my vivid imagination! When I was a teenager we didn’t have electronic devices! We had to entertain ourselves with different objects of desire...

TOO MUCH TIME

 RANDOM & (EXTRA-) ORDIONARY THOUGHTS during a bus ride

From Coquitlam to Burnaby[/caption]

                                                                                                                                                       To fully appreciate Justin Bieber you need to be a teenage girl! Our male dominated household is a “Bieber-Fever - Free Zone!”

Blame it on my ears:  Katie Perry, Kelly Clarkson & Carly Rae Jepsen sound like one to me!

The movie”JACKASS” should be renamed into ‘Dumb Asses”.  Honestly, who comes up with this dangerous, disgusting stuff? Men?                                                                        While I am thinking about movies:  I don’t see the attraction of ‘The Walking Dead” either

 On the other hand, I think Peter Griffin is cool!  “Family Guy” beats “South Park” any day!

 What is it with men and their obsession with black socks?

 Forget about reading “50 Shades of Grey”. See what 50 shades of black socks do to your libido when you try to match them back together!

Best invention in the sock department: The ones with the names of the week printed on.    Or buy hiking socks.   They make it even easier to get the right foot into the right sock: They have the letters written on them!  This is a wonderful no-brainer for early in the morning.

The best invention for homemakers who are in charge of the laundry: Colour catchers! These sheets of paper changed my life! They save so much time and deliver what they promise!

Is it too late to teach our boys home etiquette? They need some fine tuning! Why can't they compliment me on a job well done when I present a new dish? Instead they are yelling: "Don't like it".

Joey's mom in Korea, (he is our exchange student) you did something right here: Your son would NEVER, EVER say something like that to me.  If he doesn't agree with the new dish he quietly reaches for the ketchup bottle! He is a clever one.

 Mom was right when she told me fewer, but thicker rolls of toilet paper last longer than single sheet rolls.

Please anti-wrinkle cream - manufacturers, tell the truth, are your creams really working? I have reached the age where I want to believe your promises!

What happened, can't “multi-task” anymore!.  I was able to read an e-mail, respond to it, answer the phone, watch TV and talk to Dominic – all at the same time!  Now I need quiet and peace to do one or the other! BUT, I am still able to make yoghurt and crunchy flakes at the same time!

Blueberries and pumpkin spiced lattes are an acquired taste.

Why should you drive with 16 and drink with 19? The other way around makes so much more sense to me..                                                                                                                                                                            Drink when you are 16, get shit faced many times over, puke and get it over with. Then become a responsible driver with 18. You won’t have any desire to drink anymore (or at least not so much).

I wonder where I will find Cruz's well hidden birthday present. Probably at my next spring cleaning.

It was brilliant how Brando cracked the combination lock of our new suitcase. He watched YouTube got on with it. Scarry what teenagers know and learn from their downloads. But in this case, very helpful indeed - and easier than you think!

Wouldn't it be nice to become Penny's roommate and hang out with Sheldon, Leonard, Howard and Raj? Would love to meet Howard's mother ...

Don’t know whom I am talking about? It’s the Big Bang Theory!

Would you like to add to this random rambling?  Please let me know!

Plan Ahead & Seize the Moment

 I love having a plan or spending time on making one! And since I became a mother I also like to have plan B and C in case plan A falls through.

It is Monday morning. After some strategic planning, the day was all accounted for.  The plan kept me moving and talking from 8.45 in the morning till 3pm in the afternoon.

By 9am, 15 minutes into my first appointment I realized there was no plan anymore: My lady friends stood me up! One due to flu and the other one due to miss-understanding!

I could have gone home, feeling sorry for myself and finish vacuuming the basement - the  Hoover was still out.                                                                                                                                                                

Instead, I thought “Sod it” and set off on my own (the basement will still be dusty when I come back). I did what I planned for the morning:  a brisk walk through our wonderful nature. This was a wonderful opportunity to have some ‘me’ time while trailing through rocky, muddy and wet terrain.  Ignoring the bear warning signs, I set off into unchartered territory.

If I have nobody to talk to, my brain has vivid conversations with itself. Marching through the morning mist, inspired by the colours and beauty around me, I couldn’t help but thinking:” How many meanings are there for the word “Snicker doodle?” (E.g. Have you been snicker doodled before?)  How will I celebrate when my book “Very Berry Extra-Ordinary” will hit the No.1 spot at Amazon .com?  What is the best strategy to get onto the Oprah Show? (I should get her phone number and call!)  If somebody will hand me one Million Dollars, what is the first thing I would buy?”(Pay off the house first or rather go on a cruise- or better still pay off our parents homes and then go on a cruise?) Ok, this is not mind blowing, world changing stuff, but these issues needed to be addressed anyway.

What am I saying?

Plans are good - but be prepared to have them changed!

And more importantly, seize the moment!

Like the previous Friday when I decided to reinvent myself as the next master chef!  The day started off with no plan, and all of a sudden there was one! The rainy morning was a perfect excuse to hang out at the library and stock up on weekend reads, i.e. cookbooks.

The Cauliflower Gratin caught my eye and after following the instructions step by step, the dish looked exactly like the picture in the cookbook.

Or on Saturday when I was forced to change my Saturday afternoon plan for our teenage son.  It involved a 45 minute car ride to pick him up from his soccer match.  He inconvenienced me – again- because he forgot one of our family rules: communicate with your parents if you need their help!  But, this trip turned out to be a blessing. Forty-five minutes alone in the car with your son can be turned into bonding time if you ask the right questions and keep the radio on low.  In Holland our children were always on their bikes and went everywhere on their own (much shorter distances, bicycle paths and street lights everywhere). Here, they still need us to get from A to B.

If we always wait for somebody else to join us, or if we need constant reassurance from somebody else, or if we ask permission to does something then will never get things done!

We don’t need to wait till the 31th of December to reinvent ourselves or to change a habit or to start something new. Let’s do it right now. The right moment, the right time, the right circumstance doesn’t exist! The right time is now!

We all should do what we planned for today – even if it means we have to do it alone!

To me, this is what being Extra-Ordinary is all about!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DAVID BECKHAM COVER(S) UP

I know I promised you “Fright Night”, a haunted house filled with blood thirsty creatures roaming around during full moon, causing goose bumps, palpation and sweaty palms to every living soul. 

Unfortunately, this has to wait till the next time!  Something else came up and I need to get the following off my chest first. I am a woman- changing my mind / my script / or my intention is part of the gender description!

What or who spooked me? My de-railing comes in the form of Mr. Eye Candy, David Beckham.

Personally, I like his looks and I love the idea of him being a devoted (?), progressive father. Anyway, I spotted his latest picture in his undies for the H&M campaign (you’ve seen the one, taken by tourists in the tour bus?). This alone caused my housewife brain to go into overdrive.  Then I picked up a dated edition of “Hello’ magazine during my holy hour at the library! Here he is again, Mr. Handsome, besotted father with his daughter in his arms. I can’t remember the quote exactly, but it went something like this:

“Now that I have a daughter I can’t run around half dressed anymore”

Or did he actually say “naked”? Or was it “...in my boxer shorts anymore”?

Is he joking? Or does a prude lurk inside this well chiselled, well camouflaged body of his?

If this is the truth can I make the assumption that his three boys have never seen Victoria in her Eve costume? (This should read “Adams costume” actually. But you will only get this pun if you know her maiden name)!  

For Goodness sake David, get real! Your daughter has three brothers. Sooner or later, at one occasion or another, she will find out what that dangly thingy is you guys have and we girls don’t.

Of course, it is your own business how to bring up your children!  But wouldn’t you agree that it is much easier to let it all ‘hang out’ or simply grin and bear it - at least in your own home?  Confined to your own four walls? Let’s face it: If you can’t run around naked within your own four walls, where else can you?  And if you do, look what happened to the future Queen of England.

 If your children won’t see their own parents naked - how else will they learn about the small differences?  Where else should their see it or learn from? At their friends house (I hope not!), on TV (most likely), at a peep-show (Holy C.., better late than never?), on the beach (you have some explaining to do right there and then) or in some books and magazines (probably the safest bet).

As for me, I whole heartedly support the ‘no secret’ policy! -  That’s what we did (and still do?) in Germany.

My three boys know how I look like.  I never made a big deal about it. And the result?  They don’t really care about this whole subject on being nude!

 Do you agree? Is this part of being extra-ordinary? To me it is!

On this note, I wonder what is going on in Madonna’s house!

Happy to hear from you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Move

(Warning, this is a long one, but it is the introduction for everything that will follow...)

Our whole family recently moved from The Netherlands to Maple Ridge, BC, Canada.

Our family includes the American husband, our teenage son (15 years of age) our pre-teen (12 years) the youngest one (9) plus my German self. Reason for the change in scenery was our search for adventure, more space, wild nature and the language. And frankly speaking, after 12 years in the Flatlands of Europe, we just learned everything there is to know about the Dutch-Way-of-Life. Prior to our departure we both operated successful businesses- my husband as a self employed business coach and trainer, me as the proud owner of Strawberry Lounge.

What you are about to read is not an account of the vast differences in Dutch vs. Canadian attitudes or culture. Far from it- I am going to de-mystify the belief that

“You can only move countries, (or continents in this matter) prior to the arrival of your children or when your children are younger than elementary school age”.

We heard about this as well. Unconvinced about this wives tale we were more worried about the following two scenarios.  First, love would strike any of the boys and second, our own increased age would label us “unsuitable to be of any valid contribution to the country”. If we wanted to make the move, we had to move now.  We didn’t have any family, friends or business connections to rely on. It was up to us to make it happen!

On arrival to Canada we explained to our children they had one of two choices to make. To either live in the past or to give it an honest shot here in Maple Ridge. The Netherlands was the past, Canada is the present and will be our future.

Six months down the road we figured it out.

Our kids are happily settled in their Elementary or High School respectively. Each of them took their time to adjust to their new life. Unsurprisingly, our youngest son had the least trouble. Only two days after arrival he found his soul mate just two doors down the road. The middle son took his time and spent a couple of weeks on facebook, posting openly his mistrust and hate about his new home.  But let me tell you, after spending a birthday party with his new class mates it is all easy going with him. He happily mingles with his new mates on his way home, turned into an enthusiastic street hockey player and entertains the whole street in our den. And our teenager? God knows- he is a young man of few words.  But what we can gather from his tidbits, he thinks it is cool here. He also joined the neighbourhood street hockey team. To earn some money he scored himself a baby - sitting job, earned himself a cool mountain-trail bike doing chores for an elderly gentleman and made friends with other like minded souls.  He is good! When our boys talk about their previous life and their friends left behind, they sound fine. We can’t hear regret or sadness in their voices.

Let me share with you what helped make our transition so easy:

All of us speak English. Due to our back grounds we brought up the children tri-lingual. Daily life is easy with the same lingo. Watching TV, reading books or mingling doesn’t cause a problem. The school system is fabulous: The Canadians don’t believe in holding a child back. If any problems are encountered they get help along the way as much as possible. Both younger boys get extra help twice a week with their writing and grammar skills. Brando, the oldest, actually excels in every given subject! If you decide to move countries, make sure you are familiar with the new language.

Find a house and neighbourhood for the whole family.

Our original plan was to live in isolation, to live with as much space as possible. We lived like sardines in The Netherlands. Canada is the second biggest country in the world. Why should we cramp our style here? For some strange leap of faith we decided to buy a house along a totally different spectrum. We both fell in love with our new residency, situated in the heart of a neighbourhood.  Honestly, this is the best thing we have ever done!  Our new neighbourhood swarms with children and their parents are extremely nice and entertaining too. Thankfullywe have more boys than girls on top of our ridge and the ages range from seven to 14 years of age.  Each of our boys found the right match.

Our street is a cul-de-sac.  In the afternoon and early evening hockey nets are spread across the street to slow any traffic down. During hot afternoons our yards are transformed into battle grounds for water gun fights, they serve as backdrops for movie making, for hide and seek games or any other creative gimmick to pop into the heads of the boys. If the weather god plays tricks on us we have Plan B. All the houses have an entertainment system in their basements.

All parents have an unspoken agreement: We feed whomever we find in our house. Due to this arrangement our kids discovered KRAFT DINNERS and fell in love with MACCARONI & CHEESE. Because all our neighbours are so nice we often find ourselves sitting on someone else’s terrace having margaritas or drinking beer. Or, everybody else finds themselves on our deck outside. Quite often we throw our goods together for an impromptu BBQ. To make good things even better, one of the neighbours owns a swimming pool with the sign “open to all” attached to it!

Just a short, but very steep bike ride down the hill you can find the HOT ROCKS, three big rocks in the middle of a river.  This local swimming hole is ideal when it gets hot and for anybody brave enough to brace glacier water. Brrr, it is freezing, but refreshing.

Talk and talk some more! 

Find out where to find the deals!  Moving is expensive, especially when you make the plunge across the big ocean. All big electronic household items are rendered useless coming from Europe.  We could save cash by simply asking what item to buy from which shop. On a food related basis, I interviewed every female I came in contact with to share her secret shop for purchasing fresh produce and general survival items.  Everybody pointed me to the Superstore and the Farmers Market. Acting upon their recommendations I got a free savers card from each store to take advantage of their weekly specials.

 Watch what you are buying

North American food tastes different than Dutch and German food. God knows what they put in their bread, canned soups or drinks. Actually, I don’t want to know. All I know is that it takes time to adjust to the new cuisine. Bottom line is, adapt or start spending BIG for the flavours you are used to from Europe.

But, as I just mentioned, every EU import is very expensive. The Knorr and Maggi sachets have to wait for a special day, e.g. Canada Day.  A cheaper option would be to send a stress call to family or friends in the old country and ask for a care package.

Instead of spending big money on food one can opt to split the budget and shop big for clothes instead.  All the famous US labels like Ralph Lauren, T.Hilfiger, The Gap, Lands End or Banana Republic have Outlet stores – everything can be purchased for a fraction of the Euro. These shops also offer discount coupons on line when you purchase for the first time in their store.              Another good money saver is a Garage Sale. Dominic ( my husband) found us a “Broiler King” state of the art BBQ, a sturdy oak outdoor garden set, various chairs for our terraces, hockey equipment and a Nerf gun- all this for the tiny fraction of the retail price.

As a recap, these are our tried and tested recipes for establishing ourselves in the new country:

Talk and talk some more.  Let everybody know you have arrived. Open up your house for visitors. Canadians take their volunteer work seriously. I joined the ranks. So far I volunteered for school projects and for a two day community event. Both occasions are fabulous to meet and mingle with mothers, get to know the school and make new local acquaintances. Dominic and myself network at various events to get to know the movers and shakers of the business world and we visit lots of free social events to get to know as many individuals as possible.

We obviously have to put in the effort.  But we are more than happy and willing to do so.  You have to make the first step, the first commitment and the rest will follow automatically. The Canadians make it surely easy for everybody. They are welcoming, friendly, open minded, honest and easy going. Step by step we are building our new circle of friends and acquaintances here. It is effortless, fun and rewarding.

Somebody said: ‘”Home is where the heart is”.

Dominic and myself believe this. Accordingly, we pass the following message on to the boys:                      We are happy wherever we are, because we want to be!