Ellen In Amerika!

What a night, I woke up at 3.00 AM with severe muscle cramps in my shin muscles in both legs. I probably over trained, not sure. But from 3.00 AM, I hardly slept. The cramps did not go away. And they followed each other constantly. At one point, it was so painful, that Dan woke up from my groaning. I felt terrible, but could not help it. Finally I fell asleep around 6.00 AM and slept till 8.00AM. The whole day my shin muscles were sensitive and now and then the cramps came back, not sure I like this and what to do about it.

The bike story yesterday had quite some reactions. That is always nice! It is totally different to bike here than in the Netherlands. When I take the groceries on my bike from my local store, it is similar. No big roads, no dangerous situations. Only sometimes, when I go in the afternoon, I might bump into schoolbusses and students who really do not pay any attention to traffic whatsoever. The kids look up from their mobile phones once and cross the street or intersection, not even looking left or right. Just thinking the cars will see them. It looks to me that they do not have traffic lessons at school. When I asked Ryan if he had traffic lessons at junior highschool, his answer was: “Kind of”. Which almost made me think, he did not. In the Netherlands, the children have traffic lessons in 6th grade (age 11 year). At the end of that year, they will have to pass a written exam at school. Then they have to go on their bike and do the traffic test in a big area around their school. On the crucial points in the streets and on the intersections, there are volunteers who judge the students on their drivings skills. I still remember my exam and also the ones of my sons. It is an official State-required exam.

My friend and colleague Esther was there again this morning at the hospital! She was gone for three weeks, and it was good to work with her again. We have the same humor, and we really should be more aware that we work in a hospital. It was so busy this morning. We could not even get a glass of water to drink. My throat started to itch, and a bad headache found its way into my forehead. The sun shone at the entrance doors of the hospital, and our info desk is just inside the doors. So every time the tinted sliding doors open, the sun peeks right into your face. And the doors open every time visitors come in. The result is that you do not see a thing the first 30 seconds! The only thing you can do is say “Good morning, how can I help you?” although you do not see anybody standing in front of you.

I had an easygoing day. We got up, and after Dan went to work, I worked at the computer and also read all the sweet comments and emails. Then I had a nice workout with the Wii again and took a shower. Yesterday, I started cleaning the kitchen cabinets with a constant eye on Fawn and today I finished them all. All stuff is in the right place again, nice ordered. For how long…….I think not that long

Ryan had a half day school because of the finals. He and a schoolmate came over to play on the X box. I made cookies and lemonade for them and they had fun together. I am not sure how it works here in the States, but when we had finals ( proefwerkweek, tentamens), you had homework for hours! I think highschool (freshman year) here is different.

Fawn is not here anymore. We had to bring her to the Cat Clinic to put her to sleep. Today, she suddenly went so weak. She could not stand anymore. She was wobbly and fell down on her side. There were more things that made me decide to call Dan. We talked for a while, and we [...]