070203 - Jack displays his OCD. He is only 3 and has his cars not only lined up, but sorted buy color... Earlier in the day I discussed with Louise and Dad about how we all count thing and they said Grandpa Winger use to count things.... Scary!
070203 - Afternoon in Mansfield
070203 - Afternoon in Mansfield
Got up this morning and headed went to the church pancake breakfast. Then ran to Meijer for some dog food and other supplies. Home, fed the dogs, everyone to the bathroom and then up to Mansfield. All the boys were sleeping so we went straight into the nursing home.
I went in alone to see Grandma Winger. She was sleeping so I didn't wake her. I sat with her a bit and thought of all the things she has done for me as I watched her facial expressions in painful twitches. I wrote a note in her book, gave her a kiss and said good bye... The last conversation we had was at the Winger Christmas party as she was leaving. I gave her a hug and a kiss, told her i loved her and she, through her fogged mind smiled and said 'I know you do honey'. For that to be our last conversation will be a good life long memory. What a great lady and what an impact she has made on my life. I will be traveling extensively here soon and probably wont see her alive again...
Very sad moment in my life....
Home to the farm. Went sled riding with my boys and then Mary and Martha, Burt and Louise stopped to see my family. Eating dinner now and then heading home.
070202 - Asleep
This is the first post on the new BLOG! Grant was playing hard all morning and then fell asleep standing up...
061207 - Pool time
061207 - Up in the am and in to work with Arno. Fast day and then heading out to a pool hall with some of the guys at work. It was a nice place and we played for about 4 hours. We played one game that was quite fun and the shots that were being made were ridiculous. One fellow, Erik made 4-6 miracle shots in a row. AMAZING and fun time. Back to Amsterdam on the train and then tram to the hotel. Called L and sounds like the work on the roof is almost done. I got to talk to Jack for the first time during this trip, I was glad he finally talked to me as I miss them all terribly.
061206 - Movies
061206 - After the tour we met up with Arno and had a good American meal, McDonalds! It was good but not quite the same. They had a sandwich called a 'McKrocket' it is a deep fried patty filled with chese, sausage and spices... I don't see it coming to America anytime soon. In good Americanstyle we at as we watched a movie 'The Big Leboski' and had lots of good conversation. Spent the night listening to the water and wind on their lake house.
061206 - Batavia
061206 - After the grocery I got the night tour of Lelystad. We stopped by a replica of the old ships that made the Dutch a world power. It took 15 years made all by hand tools and volunteer work. It is HUGE. Next to it they have started a second ship and the construction is amazing.
061206 - Lelystad
061206 - Fast day at work then headed to Lelystad with Gwen. We hit a Grocery store for some snacks and drink. The groceries are quite different with loads of fresh bread, cheese and everything else you can imagine. Another really neat thing is the Christmas trees. As you can see here they are all smaller and they are balled ready for planting after Christmas. This is just one more example of the European mentality of less waste.
061206 - UP TOO EARLY
061206 - Well today it the first day I am taking the tram/train system all the way to work so I was a bit nervous. Thus I got up and was ready in plenty of time. The tram ride I thought would take a half an hour only took about 10 minutes so I was even further ahead of schedule arriving about 1 hour before the train into Almere. So I hung out had a coffee and sandwich and watched the peole moving about. Very interesting how smooth everything runs. Ahndi and Gary showed up and we jumped on a train, not the one we planned to take... They thought they would be able to teach me how to transfer trains... But thankfully the train we jumped on was direct to Almere. After a short walk we are here again at the office ready for another fun and exciting day!!!
061205 - Ice Skating
061205 - After dinner we went ut and walked around the Leidseplein. This time of year they had a skating rink set up in the center for people to use, much like they do at Rockafeller Center in NYC. There we some fols on it but I thought it best I not give it a try and retreated to the hotel.061205 - Dinner with the Scots
061205 - After making it back to the hotel I got refreshed and then headed up to the Leidseplein to meet Gary and Ahndi for dinner. They being Scotsman needed to find a place to watch the soccer match, so we ended up in a Scotish pub for some VERY dark beer, food and soccer, which I have no clue about... But very good food and conversation. 061205 - Train Ride
061205 - Up in the AM and Niall carried me to work. Didn't have much on the schedule today but for sure kept busy. At the end of the day I went with Ahndi and Gary from Scotland to the Almere Centrum Train Station. They showed me the walking path and how to buy a ticket. We then took the train into Amsterdam where they again showed me how to use the automatic ticket machines to buy a ticket for tomorrow. I then headed out to catch my tram to the hotel. I am getting good at this and it really is an easy way to get around.Lori talked to my Mom and the report on Grandma Winger is that she is regaining function and speech, but still can not swallow properly...
061204 - Up in the AM another interesting ride to work with Niall... Got there and had meetings and training pretty much all day. The day went very fast. Nial carried me home and I ventured out again to find a resturant and ran across a chinese one where I could get some sweet and sour pork, very dutch eh! But it was good and tehn I went back to the hotel, surfed the internet a bit and tried to catch some good sleep. Funny thing is, nearly everyone I know has called me in the last 1.5 weeks from home in their evening, not realizing I am in Amsterdam and they are waking me up at 1, 2, 3am.... I guess I should be thankful for all the friends ;-)
061203 - Downtown
061203 - Made it back into town through Central Station where I took some time to figure out how the ticket machines work, I think I will try it tomorrow... Then I strolled through the rain, with the hundreds of others to pick up some souvenirs and some new shoes. I went into a shopping plaza and they had a huge Christmas tree. Headed back to the hotel, walked around the area to find some restaurants and a grocery. Hanging out in the room, preparing for the week and to update the blog tonight.
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