Show me the bling, baby!

This is our current candidate for an engagement band. We wanted to go a bit blingey for the engagement ring and a lot more traditional with a gold wedding band. It was fun to go out and shop together for a ring on Friday. Wilbert's never worn one before, but he's being a big sweetheart and saying "I'll get used to it!". We liked this stainless steel jobbie from Humphrey in Austria, and thought the three diamonds were nice because the two inset ones represent us as individuals and the one in the gap represents the relationship. We're going to look around a bit more and make a decision soon.

And we found out we both have funny ring sizes, exactly 1 mm apart: 22 1/4 and 23 1/4.

SMALL update/announcement

Well my peeps have been getting restless for an update, so here we go...

Threw a kick-ass congress in Prague for work... record number of attendees and the best conference/event we've ever had, I believe. Great joint effort from my team.

Right after that was the industry's biggest trade show in Amsterdam... which meant coming back from Prague and going right to work over the weekend... took one day off, then took three days off this past week to recover.

Went to the eye doctor and found out that they've PROBABLY over-conservatively treated me with the laser, and I'm stuck with around -1.00 (average) in each eye, which means I will have to wear glasses. Fuck. And they'll re-laser me in a few months to try to get me to 0.00. Which really sucks. Oh well. At least the price included everything and I'm not paying more. And -1.00 is a HELL of a lot better than -7.00!

Oh, and Wilbert and I are getting married next year. :-) HE SAID YES to the question I asked him in the horse-drawn carriage in Central Park in New York on New Year's Day. He doesn't make decisions quickly, but he's taught me patience over the years, so it all worked out! :-) We'll look at doing a multi-national thing, with the civil marriage ceremony taking place in Holland, and a more spiritually oriented thing taking place in either Des Moines or Washington D.C. We'll see! So I get to spend the rest of my life with the most wonderful man in the world, and I'm very happy (and a little bit giddy) about the whole thing! :-) Ik hou van je, lieve poepie!

Ma Turns 70

IMG_3455, originally uploaded by Christo's POV.

I had the honor of attending Wilbert's Mother's 70th birthday party yesterday. There was more family there than I had ever seen, and it was really fun. I'm sort of jealous of Wilbert for having all his family so close by, and is often the case with someone who has that luxury, he doesn't seem to fully appreciate it. And there are some really nice people among them as well! I was especially impressed with his Uncle Piet, who even at his ripe old age is still very interested in internet, satellite TV, and all sorts of other technologies. Cool guy!

He insisted (and quite rightly so) that the immediate family get together for a photo. With Caroline living in France, they don't get to see each other that often. Was also nice to meet Perry's new girlfriend, who seemed like a really nice gal and a major improvement over the last one. :-)

In general, I feel really lucky to be able to enjoy my partner's family, since my own is so far away.

Luckiest man in the world

As is often the case, I fell asleep in bed last night while reading or playing with a new gadget or something like that, and Wilbert was still upstairs playing on his computer. But for the first time ever, I fell asleep with my socks still on (a sign that I was deeply engaged with a new gadget, because my socks usually get ripped off the first moment I walk in the door!). When he came down to go to sleep, Wilbert gently woke me in the dark and asked sweetly, "Can I take your socks off for you, honey?" and proceeded to do so. That had to be about one of the sweetest, simplest things anyone has ever done for me, and it touched me deeply. I'm really lucky to have him in my life. Ik hou van je, mijn lieve huppel puppie!

What it would look like if...

...Wilbert and I decided to have kids. This is the neighbor boy, a really happy little lad. Though we both like kids (Wilbert is more patient with them than I am), we've made a conscious decision not to have any. But we're surrounded by nephews, nieces and neighbor kids, so we get to 'borrow' them every once in a while. But this picture had us both wondering what it would be like.

Lunch with John

Had my usual Saturday lunch date with one of my several Purmerend homegirls, John. We love to get together and talk about people. Today's favorite subject was a teenage American girl sitting with a group of Dutch kids and totally dominating the conversation while talking at lightspeed. Imagine that!

Vision Update

Well, it's been a while since last updated you kind folks out therein Blogland on the current status of my recovery, so here we go...

Things are going slowly but well. I went back to the doctor last Friday and my incisions were fully healed. But my vision is still pretty blurry. I can drive during the day, but it's sort of difficult to read road signs from faraway. I've gotten pretty used to computer work again, but the lack of sharp vision frustrates me greatly. I'm told that I'm progressing normally, but I'm very impatient. If things aren't better after another week then I'm going to start stepping up my demands on my doctor. "God grant me patience, but please hurry up!" Being back at work at least keeps me busy and distracts me.

Will keep you up to date!

Don't fuck with me, biatch!

A traditional Dutch carnival game called Photo Shooting. Hit the target and win a Polaroid of yourself.

The Summer Fair in Hoorn 2

The Summer Fair in Hoorn 1

Lazy Sunday

Night on the town

After a wonderful dinner at one of our oldest favorite restaurants in Amsterdam, Swaggat on the Langeleidsedwarsstraat, we met up with Jan and Michael for a drink on the Rembrandtsplein. Was good to see them, and in general the night was really enjoyable and relaxing before heading back to work again tomorrow. Hartstikke bedankt voor een gezellige avond, heren!

Party boy

While I was at home recovering from my eye surgery, party boy Wilbert was out enjoying gay pride with some friends after a long, hard week of work. The margarita death toll was considerable, which necessitated this little cat nap on the way to Amsterdam in the train. :-) We are going our to celebrate my improving vision as well as our impending 9th anniversary later this week! Thanks for taking such good care of me this week, lieverd!

Gay Pride Amsterdam... without me. :-(

Yesterday was the famous Gay Pride parade on the canals of Amsterdam. Unfortunately, I missed it, because with my current eyesight, I wouldn't have enjoyed it very much anyway. I'm pleased to say that I'm seeing a little bit better every day, especially if I keep my eyes well moisturized with artificial tears. So I'm a bit more hopeful and less pessmistic than I've been the last few days. Being like this for so long is a bit depressing. And I was really sorry to miss the canal parade, especially when it was gorgeous weather for once!

I have another doctor's appointment tomorrow to look at my progress, and then I hope to go back to work. I might not be able to do much computer work, but there's so much work that has to be done in the next four weeks that I HAVE to get back. Plus I'm sick and tired of sitting at home along most of the time and am aching for some social contact! :-)

Kobe House restaurant Amsterdam

They were playing Christmas music in August (and had the guts to defend it!) But the food was good.

Lasek Day 5

Not c good day. Vision is not improved, and though they removed my bandage lenses this morning, my eyes have not yet fully healed. I am praying things start to look up soon because I'm starting to get really impatient. Wilbert took me out for Japanese tonight to cheer me up, which was very sweet of him. Tomorrow is a new day; fingers crossed!

Nurse Kitty loves Daddy's iPod too!

Another gratuitous cat photo from my sick bed. Recovery is going slightly slower than expected (well, hoped for) and trekked all the way into Amsterdam this morning just to find out that it was 1 day too soon to have my bandage lenses removed. So back again tomorrow. 
Little or no pain, but as predicted my vision got worse again yesterday but will slowly improve from here on out. I'm getting headaches as my eyes have difficulty focussing through my 'new' lenses, but that should clear up soon too. Pills were making me sleepy all the time so I stopped taking them. Can't wait to 'see' the end result!

Lasek Day 1

I drove to Delft this morning with Wilbert for my laser eye surgery, and everything went well. Had a difficult spell this afternoon when we got home, lots of pain and a constant stream of tears, but after opening my eyes for a while, the pain went away! I am taking no less than 7 medications (5 drops and 2 pills), so the pain is well-managed (as well as infection and inflammation). I already have a marked increase in my vision, but the monitor is making my eyes hurt, so I'll keep this short. All in all, a good first day. It could get worse before it gets better, though, so Í'm prepared for that.

The treatment itself was a piece of cake. It was slightly gross to smell the laser burning a hole in your eye, but other than that, not a lick of pain during the procedure. The doctor (Monika Ladesz) was excellent, and I recommend her to anyone. In general, VisionClinics is what you would expect of a high-priced private clinic: the best, most trustworthy, and service-oriented. I go back for my first exam tomorrow and again on Thursday, when they remove the contact lens bandages I have on. But for now, I'm feeling great!

13 hours and counting...

Nokia Fashionista Disaster

With the exception of a lovely chat with Anneloes and David outside after escaping this tired excuse for a social event, the Amsterdam Fashion Week opening party sponsored by Nokia was an unmitigated disaster. :@

Held at the Stadsschouwburg in Amsterdam, we waited for more than half an hour to get in, and would have never gotten in had we not powered our way to the front of the line. We didn't have tickets but were on the Nokia guest list, so you'd think we would have been treated a little better. When we got inside we found a crowded, tropically warm room with a very unglamorous group of people. Very little going on except for a single crowded bar, a bunch of wannabes trying to figure out why they were there and a few second-rate Dutch celebs. Tired! We wandered around for about 30 minutes then decided to get out.

Then when we tried to leave they wouldn't let us because there was too large a crowd outside waiting to get in. And the emergency exits were locked! Can you say fire trap? We were afraid they were going to sell us into slavery to make third-rate Nokia phones in a third-world country somewhere. I then got out my Sony-Ericsson phone (the apparent brand of choice at this party!) and threatened to call the police if they woldn't let us out. Anneloes threatened to fake a fainting spell. I think here threat was by far more dramatic; you win, honey!

So the only good thing that came out of this was a nice chat with two new friends. Thankfully the first half of the evening went MUCH better (see above), and the trip to Amsterdam wasn't a total loss.