Ladies Night

Oh yes it's ladies night, and the feeling's right.

Oh yes it's ladies night, Oh what a night (oh what a night)!

Last night my friend Laura invited me out for ladies night at the movies in Maastricht. She has made it a ritual with two of her friends, Steph and Hannah, that once per month they attend ladies night at the movies. I thought this sounded like a great idea! I'm always up for meeting new people and trying new things. Laura arrived at my house at 5:30pm to meet the babies; Pumpkin, Gizmo and Maggie and to catch up before we met up with her friends for dinner. The babies loved Laura and because she has cats of her own she was not bothered by them running all over her in her all black ladies night attire :)

We had a reservation at a new Indian restaurant in the city centre. I haven't had Indian food in a really long time so when Laura suggested it I was thrilled. Laura loves to try new restaurants and we seem to have a similar palate for food so I was excited to try her suggestions. We met Steph and Hannah at the restaurant shortly after 6pm. They were great! Lots of fun and very easy to talk to. They both are very familiar with Canada and are world travelers themselves. They made me feel very welcome and at ease. We agreed that ladies night would be relaxing and fun and that conversation would steer away from politics and work. They are both PhD students and at this time of year are more then ready for a break from their studies.

Our meal was excellent! I had veggie samosas and a chickpea curry dish. It was delicious :) It was perfectly spiced. We had the opportunity to meet the owner who also serves in the restaurant and Hannah asked him about where he was from in India. He said he lived close to Nagpol. Hannah and Steph have both travelled parts of India and talked about some of their adventures there. They said that people are relaxed and trains are always late. Not just a little but we're talking hours late. It sounded like an eye opening experience to see the poverty and experience the pollution. I've never had the urge to go to India but I'm thinking that at some point in my life I would like to go and study yoga there in an Ashram. I have heard wonderful things about the Iyengar Institute from my yogini, Suzie. Laura is very adventurous and I'm sure I could talk her into this without too much effort ;)

We had tickets for 8pm at the movies so when we finished dinner we started the walk over the bridge to the theatre. We were going to see the movie, New Years Eve. It's by the same people who made Valentine's Day. A girly movie, for a girly night! They had glasses of champagne and grab bags for all of us with some really great treats inside. We took our seats and they had a fashion show by the store that sponsored the event. They were showing holiday dresses and the models strutted their stuff to Christmas music. It was really corny but we laughed and enjoyed the show. The manager of the theatre was a real "ham" and loved the lime light. He was eating up the opportunity to be on stage in front of a theatre full of women. He took his sweet time with the draw prizes, telling so many bad jokes that for once I was almost relieved I didn't understand the language. In the end we didn't win prizes but we all felt like winners! hahah...corny, I know. But we really did have a great time. The movie was good, the champagne was great and the company was amazing! The night ended with Dutch kisses and Canadian hugs. Thanks for the awesome ladies night and I look forward to next month when we get to do it all again :)

Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.

On Saturday morning when I woke up I was tired and didn't feel like getting up. I contemplated how wonderful sleeping in would be but thought about the people who would be waiting for me at UM Sport. I teach a spin class on Saturday mornings and there is a group of regulars who depend on me to teach. So I mustered the strength to pull myself up and out of my nice warm bed. I looked out the window and it was pouring rain. I held off leaving hoping that the rain would let up but it didn't. I knew it was going to be a wet ride to the University but that there was no avoiding it. I had a brilliant idea that I would try riding my bike while holding on to an umbrella. I have seen the proficient Dutch riders do this with ease and thought I could do it too. I struggled to hold on to the umbrella and steer my bike and hold onto my bag and when I got to the bridge, dismounted and tried to push my bike up the ramp the wind took my umbrella and turned it inside out. I struggled with my bike, my bag and my umbrella, got frustrated and for a second it got the better of me. I stopped struggling, dropped my bike and bag and started to laugh. I looked like a complete fool. I tossed the umbrella into my basket and said "who cares", it's just a little rain. I jumped back on my bike and I pedaled faster to try to dodge the drops. I had a great class and when it was time to ride home the sky was clear. I got home and jumped into a hot shower. A hot shower always feels great but this one was exceptional. During "the best shower ever" I thought to myself, would I have appreciated this shower as much if I hadn't had to persevere the bike ride in the rain. Sometimes it's the challenges that make the small things that much sweeter.

In the afternoon I had an appointment at Toni & Guy to get my hair done. I had been looking forward to this all week. It was the perfect afternoon of pampering.

I really like how my hair turned out. They did a colour dip technique to give the look of being sun kissed from the summer. The ends are a few shades lighter then the top and they layered it. No more tree head! My stylist and colour technician were awesome. They had great energy and lots of great stories of back packing adventures across Australia.

We joined our friends Ben and Mandy for dinner at Pet Thai. Numerous people have recommended this restaurant to us and we have been meaning to go for some time. It is a very busy spot so Mandy made us a reservation for 7pm. The restaurant was very cozy with bright colours on the walls and thai inspired decor. Our meal was fantastic and the company was even better. The spice scale goes up to 15 so I thought I was being conservative ordering a 5 but the server quickly made the suggestion of going with a level 3. I am so happy he did! We were glowing from the heat of the food. At a level 5 I think I would have needed a cold shower to finish :)

This morning I taught a workout mix class at UM Sport to my usual group of Sunday morning students. They are so dedicated :)

When I arrived home Nick and I went to pick up groceries and to check out the Christmas market. I took pictures of Sinter Klaas (who looks more like a religious figure then our North American Santa Claus) Black Peter, I know this sounds inappropriate but that is what they call him and the beautiful Christmas decor of Maastricht. I'm really appreciating and enjoying all the small things.

"Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one." Dr Seus

It was a dark and stormy night...

We have had the most beautiful fall weather here in the Netherlands. November had average temperatures in the mid teens with lots of sunshine. We were told that this is not typical weather for this time of year and that we could expect a change pretty soon. Well when December arrived so did the yucky weather. It has been rainy and windy for the last two days. Because we ride our bikes everywhere this leaves us riding in the rain and sitting in damp clothes when we arrive at our destination. I hate when my clothes stick to me and when I get a chill it seems almost impossible to get rid of without a hot shower. Last night we were laying in bed and listening to the rain and wind howling outside. We have a skylight that gives us a view of what's gong on in the night sky and lets in the sunlight when we have it. Our bedroom is a loft, Nick can't stand up except in the middle where the peak is, and we sleep in the highest peak of the roof of our building. This makes me a bit nervous when the weather is bad.

In addition to the grey and rain I have really noticed how little day light we get. The sun doesn't come up until almost 8am and it goes down by 4:30pm every day. Nick leaves in the dark in the morning and gets home in the dark at night. The lack of Vitamin D is really starting to get to me and I'm lucky enough to have a schedule that allows me to get out in the middle of the day. I thought that the Canadian winter days were short but these are extremely short. It's a good thing I've been exercising as much as I have as this really helps to improve my mood and energy levels. Apparently, in the south of Holland, we will get some snow but not much and only for a few months. I much prefer a really snowy winter with sunny skies to the grey and rain that we have had the last few days here. I hope that this is not the tale of things to come over the next 3 months.

On Saturday I'm going to get my hair done. I haven't had it cut since July because I have been apprehensive to get it done here not knowing the reputation of the salons and the fact that there are so many to choose from. I've been going to the same stylist for 5-years and although my hair isn't complicated I am a bit anxious about having someone new do it. I feel a little guilty...like I'm cheating on Rachel (my Canadian stylist). A friend recommended a place called Toni and Guys so I have finally made an appointment for Saturday afternoon. I am really looking forward to it! You always feel great after a relaxing day of beautification :) I dropped in to the shop to make the appointment and it is very posh and the staff were super friendly. I really noticed the customer service because it is not common to receive really great service here. The stylist I am seeing speaks english so that should be very helpful as well.

Saturday night we are going out for dinner with our friends Ben and Mandy for thai food. Thai is my absolute favorite food. Last night I made a thai inspired dish and it was awesome! Here is my list of ingredients and prep instructions. It was easy, healthy, quick and very delicious if I do say so myself.

Ingredients

• mixed vegetables (seasonal root veggies)
• tofu (cubed)
• green curry paste
• coconut milk
• match stick rice noodles

Preparation

1. I grilled the cubed tofu in a warm skillet in olive oil (I like my tofu a little more firm and grilling it helps with the texture)
2. When the tofu was lightly browned I added a variety of seasonal root vegetables (zuchini, brocoli, cauliflower, carrot kale, celery, bean sprouts) and a bit of water for steam.
3. I mixed coconut milk and green curry paste in a small bowl, to taste, and added it to the skillet. I allowed the stir-fry to simmer, only about 10-minutes so that the veggies stay firm. I hate limp veggies!
4. Boiled water and added match stick rice noodles, they soften quickly so keep an eye on them
5. Plate noodles and pour stir-fry over bed of rice noodles
6. Enjoy your delicious thai style dinner :)

Home again, home again, dancing a jig

This morning at 10am we were reconnected to gas and electricity and were able to move back in to our apartment. Yiiiippppeee! It has been two weeks since we were cut off and it has been a challenging process to get everything turned back on. Nick had trials today so we moved some things last night. This morning at 7:30am we brought the cats, the litter box and as many other things as we could carry. Nick went to work and I went back to our short-stay apartment; cleaned and packed the rest of our belongings for the final trip back to our apartment to meet the contractor. I am so glad to have all of our things in one spot again. It took about 10-minutes for him to flip all the switches. The electricity came back on right away but the radi

ators weren't turning on. At first I thought it would just take a while for them to warm up but after an hour I was still wearing my touque and mitts. I fiddled around in the utility room

but didn't know where the pilot switch was. Nick came home at lunch and remembered that there was a box in our laundry room and I am happy to say I am snug as a bug in a rug :) Pumpkin, Gizmo and Maggie have been sleeping on the bed all day. The early morning walk over in the cat carriers was very tiring for them, apparently. I am starting to get excited for the holidays and have been checking out decorations at the stores. They have some really pretty and unique things here. I picked up a beautiful cranberry wreath centre piece for the table and we are thinking about getting a small potted evergreen to act as our Christmas tree. Thursday I went for tea with my friend Laura and we picked up dutch Christmas cards. I have been working on them and plan to send them out shortly as I'm not sure how quickly the mail will get overseas especially getting closer to Christmas. Maastricht has a Christmas market in the Vijhof that is currently under construction. I've walked down to monitor the progress a few times and I don't think it will be long now. There is a skating rink, a ferris wheel, mulled wine and vendors from far and wide. I'm really looking forward to experiencing the Christmas Market.

People keep telling me how wonderful it is. We are planning to go to Germany to check out the Christmas market there. They are supposed to have the best Christmas markets. Every day they seem to add a few more lights and decorations to the city streets. They really go all out!

Great Eggspectations

Nick and I are still living at our short stay apartment. It is becoming more of a mid range stay then a short stay at this point. We've been here a week already! We are hoping to be back in our place by the end of the week but who knows???? I am really starting to miss our little apartment. I find it really frustrating how long this whole process has taken. Do I have unreasonable expectations? I just think our landlord should have paid the bill as we have been paying him to do so and that the electric company should have shorter service time, especially in the winter months when they know we can't live in the apartment without utilities. We are currently paying into a new contract but are waiting for the company to come to our place to turn it on. No one can give me a firm date either. Arrrrghhh! That's right, arrrrghhh!

On a more exciting note, this Thursday I am going Christmas shopping with my Canadian friend Laura. I don't really have any shopping to do because Nick and I are taking a trip for Christmas but I love holiday shopping. I'm looking forward to grabbing a tea and just hanging out. The stores are a buzz and the streets are decorated with beautiful holiday lights. We have plans for Saturday night as well. We are going for dinner to Laura and Richard's house. Laura said she plans to make something with pumpkin in honor of the American Thanksgiving. I love pumpkin! A few friends from my spin class also asked Nick and I out for drinks. We have turned in to quite the social butterflies :)

Today was my busy day. I teach 4-classes on Tuesday's and it leaves me pretty fatigued. I finish teaching at 10pm and by the time I get home it's 10:20pm and I'm still wired from teaching. I have to sit and watch tv for a bit to unwind before I hit the pit. I always have great plans to get up early on Wednesday to make the most of the day but I usually need the sleep in for recovery. Tomorrow I would like to start the morning with a yoga class but we'll see how I feel.

Nick made me some delicious scrambled eggs when I got home. What a nice treat! I don't know how he does it but his eggs are way better then mine. They are always nice and fluffy and perfectly cooked. I'm not great at taking the time to eat after I exercise and he knows that I often neglect nutrition when I finish this late. Opting for my comfortable bed instead. I never feel very hungry and when I'm this physically tired I'm not motivated to cook. I realize that it is really important to fuel to keep up my energy levels and to help with recovery especially after teaching this much. I'm all about routine and I find that my eating routine goes out the window on Tuesday's. I eat mostly small snack type meals because of my busy schedule and that I'm eating on the run but today I made a focused effort to have nutritious snacks. I've been feeling a little run down lately and I think it's because I haven't been eating the right things at the right time. Thanks for the scramble Nick, they exceeded my great eggspectations!

MIA

Hello blog followers. Long time no chat :( I apologize that I have been MIA but we ran in to a strange series of events that involved us moving into another apartment for a short stay. On Tuesday of last week I taught my regular morning fitness class at Zenden. I jumped into a quick shower so that I could get going with the rest of my day. I had plans to go to the library for the afternoon and then to teach two classes at UM sport and one at Mac social club on Tuesday evening. I had just soaped up my hair when I heard a banging at our front door. The knock at the door surprised me and struck me as very strange because in order to get into our building you need to be buzzed in. The banging at the door persisted so with soap still in my hair I put on my robe and went to the door. There was a women with a clip board and two men with tools. They informed me that our landlord had not paid or renewed the contract with the utilities company and after several written warnings they were here to shut off the water and electricity to our apartment. This caught me completely off guard as Nick and I pay an all inclusive rent for the apartment and had not received any notifications. I asked them if I could give them money to leave it on until we could figure this out but they explained that they are a company hired by the utilities company and couldn't help us. They were kind enough to allow me to wash the soap out of my hair but following my shower I was quickly left in the dark, cold apartment with no running water. I called Nick and he rushed home, we went to our landlords place of business and he was very appologetic. He arranged for us to stay in another apartment until he can get this all figured out. The temporary accomodations are about a 10-min walk from our place, just over the river and a little closer to the University. He paid for a cab for Maggie, Gizmo and Pumpkin to be taken to the new apartment which was very kind. The new apartment has turned out to be a nice get away. It is much larger then our place and the cats settled right in. They love the long hallway and large windows. I would have liked to move into this place but it is 1400 euros a month. Out of our price range for sure! We are hoping to be back in our place by Tuesday but who knows. The people who disconnected our water and electricity said they thought it would be at least two weeks. I was pretty upset in the moment by the experience of having everything shut off but in the end there were some positives as well. The list of positives include; 1) Now we will be in charge of our own bills...a bit of cost savings 2) Pumpkin, Gizmo and Maggie are having fun in the new apartment 3) I had the opportunity to meet one of our neighbours...she offered to help when she learned they were cutting off our electricity and water 4) When I go to the University I don't have to push my bike up the bridge :) We are happy, we are healthy and we are still together....it could be worse, much worse. Some exciting things are in the works since I was last able to blog. I start renting a therapy space in the New Year at the University sports centre. Very exciting! I have been asked to give two workshops for the fitness instructors, personal trainers and sports league coaches for staff training and we are going to Paris over Christmas. I really missed my blog while we have been MIA. It feels good to be back at it :)

Party! Party! Party!

On Thursday night we were invited to the inaugural lecture of Professor Luc Van Loon, Nick's advisor. As is part of custom here in the Netherlands the Professor is then responsible for hosting a reception after the lecture and throwing their own celebration party. The party was a real formal event in a beautiful venue with an open bar, food, dj and dancing. Like a wedding reception. I find it very strange that it is a requirement to throw and pay for your own party but it's the Dutch way. They throw their own birthday parties too! I met lots of the spouses and partners of Nick's lab mates as well as his colleagues from the department. I met a girl named Laura from Toronto Canada and her boyfriend Richard. She has been here for 6-years studying and is heading back in the summer. She is planning to start school at the Naturopathic College. She has cats too so we exchanged stories. We plan to get together for a cat date soon :) We have a lot in common.

We had a wonderful time and Luc's friends, colleagues and students gave wonderful presentations and prepared some great movies. They bought him a piece of art that he has had his eye on for some time. You could tell he really appreciated everyone's efforts. People partied into the wee hours; dancing, laughing and cutting loose. Slayer came on at 12am and things just got crazy from that point on. Professors were head banging and slam dancing :) We left at 1am because I had to teach the next morning. I gotta say, I'm getting old! I was tired all day. Not because of the lack of sleep but because of the disturbance in my routine. I guess you could say I'm just a shadow of the party animal I once was ;)

The next morning came early and it was 11/11/11. On Nov 11th in Canada we recognize Remembrance Day and at 11:11am I took my two minutes of silence. We recognize the sacrifice that soldiers made in the great wars and we take the time to recognize current service people and their families. When I was walking across the Vijhof Square on my way home from teaching a class I looked down and noticed that there was a marker set into the stones that marked the liberation of Maastricht in September of 1944. It really hit home! This is where the war took place. My grandpa was here during that time and he was liberated by the Canadian troops. I would really love to see some of the war memorials before we leave. I think as a Canadian it's an important part of our heritage.

Here in the Netherlands (especially the south) Nov 11th marks the start of Carnival, the festive season. Yesterday, there were over 12,000 people in the Vijhof Square celebrating Carnival. There was music, dancing and good old fashioned partying. The young and old were dressed in yellow, red and green and partied all day and night. They wore circus inspired costumes but anything seemed to go. Nick and I got a real kick out of some of the older people's costumes. They are so elaborate and colorful. They really get into it! There was a live feed on tv from the Vijhof so I watched the festivities from home. It was packed. Nick and I had planned to walk down to people watch but after Thursday nights festivities I wasn't feeling up for another party. I hadn't realized what a big event it is. People come from far and wide to attend. We will partake in February when they have the week long party :) Some of my participants let me know that they would not be present for classes Friday morning because of Carnival. In the end it was my class of 45+ women from Zenden that missed class and not the students. Those party animals!