A Week at a Time: Mar 5 - Mar 11, 2011

Last week seemed quite eventful, and by the end of the week, I found myself behind on responding to emails and with a growing pile of laundry. Sometimes I can't imagine how I actually worked a full time job, taught as an adjunct, and worked on freelance projects all while planning a wedding and still making time for cooking and hanging out with friends. I am very thankful for the break I have this year before starting back to school and teaching in the fall.

Saturday, I played a disc golf tournament in Amsterdam. The first round, I got a little frustrated as I missed out on some of the mando and OB rules that were written on the tee signs. I started to let my inexperience with the course and the serious mindset of my fellow card members get to me, and my score suffered as a result. During lunch, however, I shook off the first round, and my second round was much stronger, as well as more enjoyable. I took the following picture from the basket of Hole 9. For an alternate tee pad, we used the top of the hill in the background.

Mar 5 - Disc Golf Tourney

On Sunday, I though I would be content with my normal day of "post tournament rest". However, the sun came out and the sky was beautiful. I couldn't let the day go to waste and insisted that we pick a site in town to visit. We chose the Geldmuseum (money museum), which also houses the mint (or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the museum is housed in the mint). I think the museum is mostly intended for children. Although I enjoyed the exhibit of old coins, the rest of the museum consists mostly of interactive exhibits in Dutch. We were given a card with "money" on it, which could be used to play the games in the exhibits. If you win a game, you gain money which can be used in other games. At the end of the visit, you can use this money to buy a souvenir. Way to teach the kiddos gambling early! Maybe it helps to stimulate the economy?

Mar 6 - Geldmuseum

Monday, I did rest. In fact, I can't really remember what I did except for taking a few pictures of Mr. Traveler's bike. He's been riding his foldy bike to the train station, carrying it on the train, and then riding it to work in Houten. However, since we figured out the buses, he decided it would be nicer to take the bus to the station in Utrecht and leave his bike in Houten. Monday was the last day for the bike around our place, so I took this picture as the sun streamed through our window.

Mar 7 - Rust

Tuesday, I set out to run some errands (including a little clothes shopping -- I was pretty excited with my purchase of 3 new undershirts for less than 15 euros total). It was another sunny day, and that, along with the increasing temperature, encouraged many people to spend time outside. Along the Oudegracht, people filled almost every outdoor table, enjoying their lunch or coffee.

Mar 8 - A Springy Day

Wednesday, I went to my first event with a women's group I joined. I loved getting to know the other women, seeing a new town, and spending time with the dog that accompanied our walking group. The sheep in the picture below were quite vocal, almost as if they were trying to get us to pay attention.

Mar 9 - Bah

Thursday, I made plans to play disc golf with my friend M (the guy who helped me get to the first tournament I played here). We met up at the train station and traveled to 3 different parks. At the first one, we talked about potential holes for a course that is in the city plan. We even threw a few discs to try out the holes we had invented. Next, we headed to IJsselstein, but got on the wrong tram and ended up at the Nieuwegein course instead. We played 6 holes of that course and moved on to IJsselstein. None of the courses compare to the ones we have back in the States, but they are all better than the one in Utrecht. I took the picture below from the Albert Heijn (grocery store) across from the course.

Mar 10 - IJsselstein

On Friday, I set out to find a book for the book club I'm attending next week and ice packs (the kind you use to ice down sore muscles). I found the book, The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer, at my first stop (Selexyz). Even though their Web site only had the Dutch copy of the book, the English one was on the shelf when I went to the actual store. The ice packs were a little harder to find, but I finally found them at the sporting goods store. I grabbed ingredients to make a pizza and headed home. The following picture was taken near our apartment just before the sun started to set.

Mar 11 - Avond