Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Emotional Resilience, Expat Transitions & Change, Family & Friends, Holidays, Life Balance, Light Bulb Moments, Repatriation, Travel, Writing, tagged 'in the moment', 2013, Adapt and Thrive Across Cultures, being present, change, Christmas, continuous intentional observation without judgment, deaths, emotional resilience, expats, expectations, family, grieving, holidays, illusion of perfection, intermezzo, Jane Dean, Jo Parfitt, Lisa Hall, loss, mindfulness, mourning, New Year's, reflection, Repatriation, solitude, Summertime Publishing, The Emotionally Resilient Expat: Engage, transitions, travel, turbulence, turmoil, wanderlust, writing on January 6, 2014 | 6 Comments »
Over the past couple weeks, I’ve been taking it easy. Really easy. As in not doing much of anything other than what absolutely, positively needed to get done. For example, that time spent pulling together receipts, filling out reimbursement claims for our international health care provider, making photocopies of the entire stack and then standing […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Holidays, Travel, United States, tagged American football, away from home, bowl games, bowling, Christmas, Christmas Eve, circumstances, creativity, decorations, family, holiday season, holidays, innovation, ornaments, panache, stripped down version, togetherness, travel, US on December 31, 2012 | 8 Comments »
It’s been quite a holiday season this year, in oh so many ways. Nothing about it has been ‘normal’ or ‘same old, same old’ or even vaguely familiar. Given a whole range of circumstances, some of which will go unmentioned out of respect for others’ privacy and most well beyond our control, my family has found itself […]
Posted in Change, Family & Friends, Holidays, Light Bulb Moments, tagged 2012, call to action, Christmas, family, friends, holiday season, love, New Year's Eve, peace, resolutions on December 30, 2011 | 12 Comments »
If you’ve come looking for a succinct list of New Year’s resolutions, you’re in the wrong place. I wish I could be of more help, but unfortunately I’m not quite there yet. Believe it or not, this is actually one of my favorite times of the year because to my mind, it truly is a […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Holidays, Life Balance, Light Bulb Moments, Netherlands, United States, Writing, tagged brain surgery, brain tumor, Carolina pines, chemotherapy, Christmas, family, friendship, loved ones, planting a seed, radiation, writing on December 24, 2011 | 21 Comments »
It’s Christmas Eve day. The aroma of my Jamie Oliver-inspired gravy wafts gently throughout rooms regaled in ornaments, decorations, pine boughs and tiny lights. Another half hour and I’ll start lighting some candles. Carols are playing softly in the background while Daughter and Husband work diligently on a holiday puzzle. But this is not the […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Albert Heijn, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Holidays, Life Balance, Netherlands, tagged appreciation, celebration, Christmas, Christmas tree, decorations, family, friends, holidays, New Year's, ornaments, rituals on December 22, 2011 | 6 Comments »
It’s been a fairly typical ten days for Yours Truly’s family here in Nederland in the run-up to Christmas and New Year’s. By that I mean lots going on: some of it getting done, some on its way to completion and woefully behind on a fair bit as well. Given that Christmas comes on the […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Dutch Life, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Holidays, Netherlands, tagged Christmas, Christmas lights, Christmas tree, decorations, wreath hangers on January 8, 2011 | 4 Comments »
You’re probably blinking and rubbing your eyes, wondering if you’ve read the post title correctly. Surely Yours Truly isn’t so daft as to write a Christmas-related post. What with the new year begun and all. Well, the title is correct and you’re wrong. I am that daft. And absent-minded as well, it seems. Back in […]
Posted in Albert Heijn, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Food and Drink, Holidays, Life Balance, tagged Christmas, Christmas cookies, gifts, holiday, list on December 23, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Oh it’s getting to be that time… You know, the time when the list of things still to do is greater than the amount of time in which to do them. Despite my best efforts to ’embrace simplicity’ and pare down the list, it remains steadfastly robust. And it needs to stop. Now. I just don’t […]
Posted in Albert Heijn, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Dutch Life, Expat Life, Food and Drink, Holidays, Netherlands, tagged Christmas, Christmas cookie, hot chocolate, Kerstboom, little things, shopping, speak Dutch, traditions on December 18, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
How often are we reminded that, at the heart of virtually every endeavor, it is the little things that matter? It’s all in the details. Grandiose ideas are intriguing, but if they can’t deliver it leaves you wanting. I wrote last month in a post here about one such Dutch amenity that I love. Last […]
Posted in Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Dutch Life, Food and Drink, Holidays, Netherlands, tagged Christmas, doughnut, Dutch, Oliebollen on December 5, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The Oliebollen are here! The Oliebollen are here! Those incredibly delicious, Dutch fried doughnuts dipped in powdered sugar. Eaten fresh and hot, they are amazing. Little Oliebollen stands pop up on street corners this time of year, beckoning with Christmas cheer. Wonderful plain or with apples or raisins or other fruits and fillings. A-maz-ing. I’m […]
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