Metal Meredith

Phil is Happy

As mentioned previously mentioned on this site, Phil has been looking for a new car for a while now. It seems that the yellow truck isn’t as convenient or luxurious enough now that he is a high-powered executive. We have been looking for a good couple of months for a decent car that falls under the $1500 mark. With his recent winnings, Phil found a 1990 Volvo 740 Turbo Wagon. Knowing that it wouldn’t hold any of the ‘awesomeness’ it possesses without the word turbo attached to the end, I was just happy that he gave up on the BMW.

Although I love his truck for him, I am relieved that the weekly car search consisting of hours of time spent on Craigslist and looking in the paper each week, is finally over. I am also pleased to be able to drive a second vehicle in the family. Last night, I even drove it home from Panera, proving its fine European engineering by holding a hot cup of coffee on the whole ride home and using only one hand to steer. I made it in one piece and the car was fine, too.

So, if you pass us on the road, we are the ones in the dark grey Volvo wagon. It isn’t as fancy as some people’s new Volvo, but we love it.

Photo below is not actual car but close:

Between Vivienne and Phil

Vivienne: Where’s Daddy?
Me: I think he is in the bathroom.

--She heads toward the bathroom and I hear a door open--

Vivienne: Whatcha doin’ Daddy?
Phil: Peeing.
Vivienne: Good job, Daddy.
Phil: Thanks, Baby.
Vivienne (clapping): Great job flushing, Daddy.
Phil: Thanks, Vivienne.
Vivienne: You are a big girl!!!
Meredith (laughing hysterically): Yes Phil, you are a big girl.

I always knew Phil was a big girl, I have been telling him for years.

And I am so tired....

We left the Park Hotel (or the PH for Phil) this morning at 9am with a nice European breakfast in our tummies. We took a tram and a train to get to the plane to ride 8 hours to get on a shuttle to wait in 90 minutes in customs to drive 2 hours to get home at 7pm EST, which is 1am Amsterdam time. My god...we are so tired that I am seeing double and am dizzy from all the travel.

I won’t be doing an extensive update but feel the need to boast a little on my husband. Not only did he give me a fabulous vacation for my anniversary, while we were gone he won First Place, Eight Place and Tenth Place in the Expression Engine Web Design Shootout.

I am just so proud and Phil is so excited. If nothing else, it was a giant cherry on the sundae that was our holiday. I cannot pile the praise on high enough to show my appreciation, respect and love for my wonderful husband.

Gushing over. More updates coming as soon as we recover and lost more photos from the last three days. 

Phil’s Day

We missed breakfast, again. It was 9am when I woke Phil up this morning. We got up and got dressed and went to the Ship Museum. We had a tiny breakfast snack at the museum and them walked around and looked at the exhibits.

Phil thought it was pretty cool. I thought it was ok. There were a lot of model ships and boats, a lot of maps and seafaring tools. The best part was the replication of a real ship that you could board and tour. Phil and I both acted the part of the captain for a few moments.

We them took a tram to the Royal Palace Square and ate lunch at this little café called St Paul’s. I had a Salmon, Mozzarella and Pesto Crostini. It was so good that I wanted to eat three of them. I also had ‘fizzy water’ with cassis to drink. Essentially, it was a soda water with syrup. But, it was fancier than a Coke, so it was nice.

We braved the cold again afterwards to go see the teeny house, a house that is only as wide as the front door. I can’t imagine living there, as you wouldn’t be able to have a sofa or a double bed.

Phil wanted to go to the Rijksmuseum, where there was a Rembrandt exhibit. I went along and looked at all the fancy art. We got stuck behind an Italian tour group of teenagers that seemed very bored. It was interesting to a point, but by then my feet felt like they would just fall off.

We had Thai food for dinner for our last big meal of the vacation. In all this eating out, we realized there are many differences from eating in the US. Mostly, the waitresses leave you alone until you ask them for something. It works well when you want to sit and enjoy your company without the constant interruption of the staff. We had to adjust our way of thinking in order to stop a waitress and not feel rude. But all in all, we like this system better.

We are all packed now and ready to leave in the morning. I am not looking forward to our 8 hour plane ride with the 2 hour car trip before getting home. But I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, cooking in my own kitchen and being alone for more than a few minutes at a time. I am excited to see my Vivienne and hear about her week without her parents. Although I don’t have much faith that she will tell me about it. She tends to keep those secrets to herself.

Phil is already planning our next vacation. He doesn’t want to go home because he doesn’t want to go back to work. I can’t blame him. I don’t really want to work either. But we must. So tomorrow we make our way back home.

I must take a moment to thank everyone who made this possible. I now not only have a passport, but it already has two stamps in it. I am looking forward to getting many more.