Wayne and coffee

Oh my best friend Wayne.....It's always such a pleasure to spend the day with him,especially sitting at Inteligentsia and having coffee...I even got two hearts today......

I Love......

My husband....I did not realize until this morning,after a good night's sleep in my own bed,with the 2 puddies in between Vincent and I and the window open (9 days in a hotel room will make you appreciate fresh air!) that my wonderful husband had scrubbed,washed and cleaned the entire apartment!He even scrubbed the teakettle!......

I also forgot to mention that my wonderful best friend in the world was at the airport yesterday,to surprise me and take me home....WAYNE......

How lucky am I?.......

HOME!!!

Finally home!....As I walked thru the door,a bouquet of flowers was in the living room,with the sweetest note.....Its good to be home.....

At Schiphol

The most fabulous crew at Schiphol Airport this morning,right before departure.....

Brian,Susan,Miss Jewel,Jane,Dan,Sandy and Dona......You guys are the best.....

Laundry and Poffertjes

Yesterday was a day where we did not have a clue what was happening,everything was changing so fast...airspace was opening,but were there any slots available for us? did our pilots decide to bail? No info from WHQ...so we just waited it out in the "Living room" of the hotel...and decided to do laundry in the "alley" behind the hotel....fun!...especially the beers we had whilst waiting for our underwear and socks to dry....Then our flight cancelled.....

By this time we had had a crewparty in my room and had moved onto Brian's room,and then decided to have dinner at the hotel.(More wine....)

Then we found had they had started the "Kermis" on the Dam,and I took the crew so they could try the Dutch Poffertjes.....Great success!

Now its Wednesday...It looks like all systems GO for Thursday...I am not holding my breath until 908 is at the gate in Amsterdam tomorrow.....One of planes diverted to Tenerife this morning,due to a "mechanical"...(ash in the engine???...)....

WE shall see...I think we will not know until about 1am Amsterdam time,when 908 is to leave Chicago (6pm Chicago time...) so one final room party tonight or not?!......

Day 6

And day 6 in Amsterdam...After walking thru the Jordaan,and having lunch at a very nice cafe on the grachten,we surprised Jewel with appeltaart en chocolade taart met slagroom at the hotel,with champagne....Then we had dinner at an amazing Mexican restaurant in the Jordaan...never had Mexican like that...the absolute best!...and the margarita's...could drink a pitcher of those a day...amazing....

Our purser is having a conference call with management later on tonight,to figure out if there is a light at the end of the tunnel....

Enough is enough,its time to go home........

Day 6 part2

Still in Amsterdam

Monday April 19th.....Just checked the computer,and our flight just has been cancelled...Its been 6days now.....

We are trying to keep ourselves busy,so yesterday we rented bikes,and went biking in de Polders and in a nature preserve called T'Twike...then we had a picknick in in Het Vondel Park with wine and cheese....lots of fun,until on the way back to the hotel,I was on the back of Dan's bike,and he suddenly stopped in front of a "paaltje" and I went flying....Thank Budha I had a little wine in me,so I did not feel a thing,until this morning....I am black and blue!

Today I am taking everybody thru the Jordaan,walk around,stop for a beverage,walk,eat and relax...Today is also Jewel's 61 st birthday,so we are planning a surprise birthday party for her tonight.....

Amsterdam,Ash,Volcano and crewparty

Worked the flight from Chicago to Amsterdam on Wednesday April 14.....and we are still here...As I am sure,everybody knows the Icelandic volcano is still spewing ash (as of 8am Saturday morning,here in sunny Amsterdam...) Every day we get a call from the crewdesk,telling us another day.....We decided to have a crewparty in Brian's room last night,lots of wine and making fun of the insane cnn on the telly....

Today we are going on a boat tour thru the canals....We are though, all slowly running out of cash,have been looking for laundromats,and I actually went to the Hema to buy clean underwear...Thank Budha,I have a fantastic crew....as you can tell from the photos.....

Day off

Both Wayne and I love being off on Mondays....Especially when the weather is gorgeous,like it is today.We decided to stroll to Lincoln Park Zoo,and then cruise Broadway (for boys,for Wayne...)

What a lovely day.

Happy Birthday Vincent and Dieudone!

Today is Vincent's and Dieudone's birthday!...Hiep Hiep Hoera!

We started celebrating yesterday,when I took Vincent to his favorite lunch place,Cy's Crabhouse on Halsted....It was lovely....Then off to the Duke for some old fashions and good conversation...Then bed and Red Dwarf.....

Today we are taking it easy,just made Vincent a nice Dutch pot of tea,got his laptop ready,so he could read all of his Birthday emails,and later on I made reservations at a cute French Bistro in Lincoln Square,for some French wine and steak frites.....Yum...

work

I actually forgot to mention here,that I DID get my job back (the powers upstairs decided I was too good of an employee to let go,or maybe it was my charming personality ha ha!) so after not flying for about 3months,I actually had to get back in the blue polyester uniform,and go back to work....

My first trip back (to Amsterdam of course,we were running low on Albert Heijn tea,stroopwafels en Nivea.....) and I actually got to work my favorite position,First Class galley...Yeah,nice way to ease myself back into the workplace!

As soon as we got to Amsterdam,I ran over to AH,got the groceries,took a shower,and jumped on the tram 5 to Amstelveen to visit Vincent's parents,the wonderful,lovely best parents ever,Ria and Frank....and surprise surprise,who was sitting on the couch?.....Bertie!!!...how great was that?....

It was so nice to see him again...Vincent and I are still trying to get him to come over to Chicago,and we will succeed....Just going to take some time...and when he does come over,he will love it so much,he will never leave........

Anyway,we all had a lovely time,drinking wine,catching up and having great conversations.Then dinner came around,and Ria made my favorite meal: Karbonaatjes (van Bertie!..mmmmm...lekker!) spinazie met ei,aardappelen met jus en witlof.....oooooh,I nearly died of pleasure......I would of taken pictures...but my damn blackberry went on the fritz.....so no pictures.....

At about eight clock,I could not keep my eyes open anymore,so I hopped back on tram 5,got to the hotel,and collapsed in bed,and slept solid for 10hours,until it was time to get back on the plane,and work an easy flight back to Chicago...where my lovely husband and puddies welcomed me back with open arms......

Today its Saturday,not even seven clock in the morning,and Vincent and I are allready up with a lovely Dutch cup of tea,and starting our "Birthday" weekend!.....Its going to be a lovely day.

Early birthday present

It's Vincent 's birthday next Sunday (April 11)

We were strolling along Broadway,shopping at our favorite vintage boutiques for Vincent (he needed "bigger" work clothes,as the ones he had,had ...ahum...."shrunk" in the wash!) and I came upon "Captain Bananahead's Encyclopedia" (or for you normal people....HALO the videogame...) and Vincent's eyes just popped out of head,and it was,yet again,love at first sight for him.....

So I bought him his birthday present a week early,and now my husband is lying on the couch,with the biggest smile on his face....

Python boots

Aaaah,Vincent love of my life and his new python cowboy boots......Yes,he is in love,even wears them to bed,when it rains,he will take them off and wrap his favorite jeans jacket around them,so they do not get wet,and places them on a high pedestal in the living room,so he can lovingly gaze at them when not wearing them.......

Nice weather

The last couple of days,its been 85 degrees and sunny (dat is ongeveer 22graden voor de NL ) and Vincent and I were just in great spirits....went walking a lot,found some great new little bars,had old fashions and beer.....Life is good.