Easter in Spain...

After spending four Easters at the Chateau with Sally, John, David and Andrew, we weren’t going to allow losing access to the Chateau to stop us from spending Easter together. We originally considered going to Ireland, then switched our sights towards Iceland. While I was in the US, Sally and John had an epiphany--Iceland’s still cold in April. Since being warm sounded better, they found a 4-bedroom, 4-bathroom villa to rent on Guadalmina Golf Course in the Costa del Sol area of Southern Spain. Our view overlooked the 17th hole.
The kids loved the backyard with its heated pool, ping pong table and pool table. They enjoyed playing a strange version of a scavenger hunt where they had to complete different tasks. Here David is directing a blindfolded Veronica to retrieve a ball from the pool. It’s always entertaining to see their imaginations at work.

Dutch Royal Stables...

Sally picked me up from the train station on my return to Holland so that I wouldn’t miss the AWC’s tour of the Dutch Royal Stables. First we swung by school to pick up Ashlynn so she could join along. The highlight of seeing the carriages was definitely being close to the Golden Coach (built in 1898) which the Queen rides on the opening day of Parliament. Ashlynn’s favorite part was seeing the horses, including posing with the Queen’s horse. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to see the modern aspect of the stables such as the limos and planes.

We Are Family...

When my dad heard that I needed to go back to North Carolina, he instantly invited me to swing through California. Of course, I reminded him that it takes 8 hours to fly to San Jose and that it’s hardly on my way home, but how could I resist the chance to see my family. Not only was I able to celebrate Leigh’s 40th, but got to go shopping with Eden at the high-class Goodwill in Los Altos and to spend a day with Darlene. It was definitely a nice bonus and great way to end the trip.

A Room with a View?

When we checked our email the evening of the wedding in India, we received an urgent message from our property manager that we needed to contact them and our insurance company. Imagine our surprise when we found out that our tenant had been out of the country for five months and no one had winterized the house. During a hard freeze, a water pipe in the attic burst and water free-flowed down through the master bedroom/bathroom, guest bedroom/bathroom and into the basement for over two weeks causing $85,000 in damage! In mid-March, I flew to Cary to work with the contractor to pick out all the materials for the three bathrooms. It was strange seeing straight through to our bathroom from the living room. The good news is that this gave us the opportunity to redesign the master bedroom and to upgrade to cherry cabinets and granite. It also gave me an unscheduled 10 days to see friends, go to book club and to hash.

Michael Meets Elvis...

As soon as I suggested doing Thriller as a skit, Veronica volunteered to be Michael Jackson. Luckily, we were able to borrow red leather pants from a very skinny Hague hasher and a faux leather coat from another friend. We were too cheap to buy a black wig, so we sprayed her hair with temporary dye instead.
Jimmy was the big surprise guest as the King of Rock and Roll invited the King of Pop to join him in Heaven for a jelly donut party with Marilyn Monroe, Jimmy Hendrix and Jim Morrison. The audience was especially surprised as he threw donuts to the kids in the front rows. What a great ending to the show!

Our Favorite Zombie...

After Michael Jackson died, I thought it would be fun to do a tribute as the North American contribution to the International Family Event at school. I was inspired by a great version of Thriller at Carnival in Barcelona last year to see if we could put together our own interpretation. As I can’t really dance, I was lucky that Lauren was willing to choreograph the dance despite not being in town for the performance. She worked for several weekends with Ashlynn and Veronica and then for several days after school with the rest of the kids. Ashlynn took her role as head zombie very seriously and did a great job leading the rest of the zombies. I was happy that we didn’t get into trouble with the administration for trashing school uniforms for costumes.

The Beauty Project...

Back in December, I volunteered to be photographed as part of the Exploring Beauty Project, a traveling art exhibit to explore the nature of beauty. American artist Erik Hagen is a trailing spouse who followed his wife when she was transferred to The Hague. Originally he put out a call for women over 40 to photograph and I decided to surprise Jimmy. It wasn’t until I saw his website that I realized what a prude I am as I was one of the few ladies that was fully clothed. He’s now planning on doing a book of his sessions--will be interesting to see if I make the cut.