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Still jetlag. Just returned home from Singapore, from monsoon to rain and hail. Loved being in Asia again and meeting everyone Life can never take away memories, friends and experiences.

I earned it, worked so hard, did all the nice things with family and children, got new work and now time to rest. In Bussum it starts freezing, Singapore lots of rain, but tomorrow I will land at my favorite Changi. Time to get back to the place that has become so dear to me.

See if this post makes it. Lay out is gone, but I hope I can still write here. Have never been working so hard as the last couple of months. Can only tell you, work is not everything, but the money gives you the freedom to do as you like and that is a good thing. Completely free, free to travel, take days off and enjoy life. Isn’t that what you should be able to do at a certain age:)) So, that is exactly what I am going to do.
My home is still my castle and after the renovation even more, so I can leave it without worries. My children are doing just great. Another engineer will join the crowd:) Never imagined I would raise two daughters that are both heavily into the technical subjects, engineering, and my oldest one just published a new article about subjects in virology, of which I don’t have a clue. But not less proud. I encounter all sorts of hilarious situations in my work and really love it…but now it is about time to relax…go for the sun…visit the past and see what changed.

Yes, that is exactly how Brian and I feel at the moment…huge floods, but constantly emerging….Oh, our situation is completely different we both work till we drop, but I see results, my work is satisfactory, Brian is getting more and more disappointed and down and I am happy I do not have to handle the complicated situation he is…He hardly has time off. Is just needed too much.

I am just happy and have everything to be happy for…I do have to work till I drop, yes, but I get a lot in return… Just a short update, for over 5 weeks now I have had painters over here, just to plaster and paint my corridor, stairs, landing and about 14 old doors…The painters are real old crafstmen, the results are stunning and I will do everything to restore this house to its old glory…Just finished the wooden flooring…The painter and I went hunting for old panelled doors and found some…even old doorknobs… bronze and wood..Together with some very modern (and antique) lamps this will be just great…I work nearly night and day, editing, doing research for my work for the Consultancy agency for South East Asia (yes, I did read the reports about the law enforcement and safety in Singapore and if you have to give up so many of your personal freedom I would never want a law enforcement system like that)…I love to watch the BBC, laugh about all the (to me so familiar) eccentricities of the British, boy, can they be dull:) I hve all sort of nice things to enjoy and on the whole my life is just good, but too little time..Oh yes, sometimes, I miss not being able to directly touch Brian, but being able to be happy with other ways of contact and work is enough…I was so proud of my youngest daughter shining in the lead role of the musical in the theatre….I could hardly imagine she was capable of all this but yes she is………..and it made me laugh, because I also recognized why she was able to upset Brian at times, which is good:))) Brian is still trying to do his utmost to teach properly and he is one of the best instructors,

With Rhea I again noticed the talents she has and I know she will, if not a very good engineer, be good in something else….I will be going shortly to an outdoor opera, completely played in the pond of the old Palce wereQueen Juliana and Prince Bernhard used to live. Orpheus and Euridyce….will be great, everything played in the water, in the middle of the night…Later I will publish pictures of everything..To my readers in the States, I know I have been ignoring you, but will make up for it…

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Oh yes, both Brian and I know what hard work is. Only I still enjoy it, he does less…I never heard him use so many swearing words before, work, personal..I can swear at times, but in a 'ladylike' fashion…I have no difficult employer…Can arrange my own workhours and that feels great..Nevertheless I am drowning in work and was happy to work for my former boss again and being able to use my complete brain content:)) Still busy, very busy, on renovating. Last things I will have done, new wooden flooring in the corridors and hall…and carpet and then all the painting. Only when measuring I notice what a huge house this is…but I still survive…Enjoying my drives into the country..the sun and the news on the radio, the ''landslide'' elections in Singapore..
Arranging all my appointments, waiting for Rhea to have her premiere at the theatre in the musical and will most likely go to Asia again then…Oh yes, I can still handle 'the heat':)) Have gotten used to it the last days here… Hope Brian will survive the stress he is in…and I will survive the painting job:))

So much to tell, so much to do, so much happening. Of couse, like half the world I did watch part of the Royal Wedding:) And even see the difference between British and Dutch: showing emotion. It is beautiful, but cool…Oh yes, I am proud to be Dutch. Like Brian is also proud to be Scottish. We are different but still think alike. Only I enjoy immensily the nature here now, the flowers, the spring, the cows, the clouds, my contact with so many people. No matter how hard I work, I love the work, also with my former boss…laughing a lot. Brian is in a period of stress, mostly due to work and all that comes with it. I feel sorry for him. My last week was strange, everything seemed so nice and suddenly two people out of my past died and it makes you think. So glad I have a social life here, children, freedom and not too many things to worry about. At the end of this month my paintwork will be done, will have new wooden flooring and will travel again. Oh, will have a stop in Singapore. And yes, I also liked Pippa and Harry the most:))

Yes in more than one way:)) the  Singapore dollar is on an all time high compared to the US dollar…Aj this will make the Americans get out their pens and paper to see if the coffee machine isn't too expensive..:))Oh here in Bussum life is hectic just hectic…I work just as hard as Brian luckily I can see more direct results and don't have to be so careful and únderstanding' to rigid company cultures…Yes I enjoy what I do but it makes me terribly tired at the moment because there is just so much to do.. Both Brian and me act out in our own way to all the frustations but we know that…I just had the plasterguy for over a week and he finished….Had long talks with the painter who will be the next one to arrive next week…Never realized that only in the corridors there are 13 doors to paint….I lost count of the amount of keys I handed out, had the most peculiar people here, so can be ready for nice surprises if all these people who still might have keys show up:)) At the moment to me driving around is like staying in a 5 star hotel…out of the mess…Oh, it is going to look great…and yes like my former ''boss'' told me, it looks like a castle and I can feel like the lady of the castle but for that you also have to be home…Oh, for sure the stories from Singapore make me laugh…and a lot of the things I hear and do here do as well…..but if I only knew how much work (ad money) it takes to renovate an old house, I probably would have waited for a while..But once I start something I will finish it….I will stop though once I have the first floor till the corridor done………For the first time I just paid a 'surprise'visit to my daughter in her own house and it still feels so strange…the perfect house…but what I like so much is that it is green all around, trees, birds and a quiet street…what a difference with the area in busy Amsterdam she grew up………..Will it be better? Í don't know…Puck is preparing hard for a congress of two weeks in Tuscany….oh, those were the days…:)) I remember my trips to the States….way more fun than Brians trips to St.Louis…But I went to different places (and also Canada)…Someone asked me last week to send a copy of my psychology thesis to him…I got it out of a closet, all dusty and just couldn't believe what I wrote remembering these days, and full of amazement, realizing it was written 31 years ago!! It really and this is such a cliche, feels like yesterday, that I had to type it all on that old Remington using Type-ex, computers with a hard disk of 20 mB…and now seeing what Puck works with, even the simulator equipment and e  learning Brian uses and it makes you wonder not only about your age but also how fast developments in the world go…Am I grateful for my talks to so many people my laughs….hoping to be able to travel soon again…Next month I should be out of painters and work people:))

A day of birthdays…Spring..Puck celebrated her 26th birthday in her own house, so proud…yes, she as well as I. Spend my whole evening there and felt so strange…..
Today Brians birthday, so much older, living in such different conditions…so strange…but I did not forget his birthday. And he knows…….Both birthdays are special, but Puck is more happy at the moment….And I can tell exactly how they both feel…