Ellen In Amerika!"MY EMIGRATION TO AMERICA AND MY ADJUSTMENT TO LIFE IN CALIFORNIA SINCE SEPTEMBER 2008"

Yesterday,  my nephew Remco had his birthday, and today my friend Sonja  is the birthday girl. Congrats to you both!!

Again it has been a pretty busy week. 1 day off in 10 days is not exactly what I wished for This new life of mine is so different, but still I enjoy it. Even when it is getting a bit too much. And, dear, dear Joy, I am okay. I am very touched by your comment, you asked if I were okay! It is just that I work often for the schools and then in the evening I work for the hospital. I do not have to accept every job offering from the school district, but the problem is, I do like that work so much. The only big downside of this all is the weekend shifts. I know for now, I just have to accept the situation and wait until the next school year. If I am qualified for the new position, and work full time for the school district, I can skip the weekend jobs at the hospital. Last Thursday, I had a talk with the HR department from the school district. Because of my previous exam results, I do not have to do the new exam for the Para educator III position, and I am already through to the next round, which will be the interview with the members of the school board and some teachers. That will be kind of tough, but we will see how things will go. Last week, I was sent to schools I’ve been before. It was so nice that the kids start to recognize me.

Last Friday I had an appointment for a blood draw at 7.00 AM. I had to fast so as soon as we were done, we drove back home, had a quick cup of coffee and then Dan drove me to the school in that “bad”  neighborhood. I had to work there until 1.00 PM. Around 1.30 PM, I came home, started to do some errands in and around the house and made dinner. Then, at 4.30 PM, I went to the hospital for the evening shift.  Saturday I had a split shift again. After the morning shift, Dan picked me up, and we went to the bank where we had a talk with our contact person. This talk was a bit longer than we anticipated, so after our talk, we had to rush to the stores to do the groceries. Back home, I made dinner and then it was already time to go for the next shift. Luckily, it wasn’t too slow, so the time went by very quickly.  Dan and I were pretty tired, so we just watched a little bit of TV and went to bed.

This morning I had a 4 hours shift at the hospital. It was pretty slow, so I could take off earlier. That was very convenient for me, because I had to buy some food and presents for my monthly gathering with my Dutch friends. At 3.00 PM, Dan dropped me off at the house of Annika, and we all had a great time. First, we went to the beach for a stern walk. It was very windy and sunny weather. The waves were spectacular. The downside was, that the sand was all over us: in our hair, mouth and shoes! Back at her house, we had some nice hors d’oeuvres and the main dish was also delicious. It was again a very nice gathering. It was funny, that we were talking Dutch with lots of English words in it! Marianne, one of the Dutch friends, is flying this Wednesday to Holland for a family visit. We envy her very much!

This coming week will be very busy as well. I am not sure when I can write again. I hope I will find some time because I do like to do this writing a lot!

Sunday, was a fun day, although I had the split shift again. After the morning shift, Dan and Ryan picked me up, and we drove to Simi Valley to pick up something from a friend. It such a nice drive to that area. In our city, which is near the ocean, it was cloudy weather and a bit foggy. In Simi Valley it was beautiful, sunny weather. After picking up what we came for, we drove back home. Ryan had to work on my PC for his homework and I started to make dinner. Around 4.45 PM, Dan drove me back to work. The evening shift was busy and went well.

Monday, was a day at the house. I had to do 3 big loads of laundries (we have a huge washing machine). I did not have enough space on my laundry pole outside, so I had to use the dryer also. I do not like to use the dryer that often. Anyway, around 3PM, I went outside to get the last laundry from the pole, when it just started to rain That was so weird. And, lucky for me, all clothes were dry. The rest of the day was normal cleaning stuff. I have to say, now and then, a day like this is nice. I also had a long talk with my sister Lotty.  She has a job again! I am so happy for her and also so proud. She has applied for a job day and night for the past 8 months. She is the living proof the perseverance always wins!  Congrats sis, and good luck  on your first working day! When I picked up the mail, I had a nice surprise again. My other sister Marja, had sent me another book of John Stanford! Wow! this was so nice again. Thank you big sis!

Today, I was assigned a job at the middle school, which is located  around the corner. The class I had to assist was with 7th and 8th graders. I wasn’t sure I was going to like this class very much. But it turned out to be really fun. The kids were very friendly and polite. But I have to say the teacher was pretty strict with them in a good way. They were not able to fool around with her. The day went by quickly. Ryan is here again because his mother has to work late. I was planning to make a salad, but he does not like that so much, so I have to come up with something else. I think I’ll make tuna sandwiches with tomatoes, lettuce (from our own garden),  bacon and tuna of course! I hope it will taste good!

Come to think of recipes, not sure of you readers have seen this recipe in the recipes section of this site, but this is my all time favorite one, and I invented it myself! (I am a little bit proud of that ) Please, try it out, and let me know if you like it. One tip: use lots of Italian seasoning, about 2-3 tablespoons, and when you have the warm pasta on your plate, top it with lots and lots of shredded and powdered Parmesan cheese.  Bon Appetite!

Ingredients for Olive Pasta with Chili and Garlic:

• 2 tablespoons of Olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of water
• 200 gr. small pieces of bacon or roasted ham or broiled chicken
• 4 Garlic chunks
• 1 red chili pepper
• 1 red or green bell pepper
• 3 tbs of Italian herbs and salt
• Fresh shredded Parmesan cheese
• Powder Parmesan cheese
• Fresh Tagliatelle, Angel hair or spaghetti etc. (no macaroni)

Directions:

1. Boil the pasta.
2. Chop the bacon or ham into small pieces.
3. Wash the veggies and chop the garlic, chili pepper and bell peppers in small pieces. For spicy pasta, leave the seeds in the chili.
4. Heat the olive oil and water in a wok or other wide pan.
5. If you use bacon, then put that in first, if it is ham or cooked chicken, you can add that later.
6. Add the veggies, garlic, Italian herbs and salt and stir it.
7. Cook it low for about 5 minutes.
8. Drain the pasta and add it to the mix and stir it well.
9. Leave the pan on the stove for a few more minutes and set the table.

This meal is so good when you have the pasta on your plate, and you add lots and lots of fresh shredded and powdered Parmesan cheese to it.

Serve this meal with a salad (Caesar) and garlic bread. Muscat wine goes perfectly with this dinner.

Eet smakelijk, bon appétit, Guten Appetit!

Source: Ellen Schaefer

Saturday, the split shift at the hospital went very well. In the morning, I worked with my male colleague, and we had some good laughs. He is a great instructor also. After work, Dan picked me up, and we went to get the groceries. Because we were almost out of a lot of things, our shopping cart looked more like one for a big family! The receipt looked that way also!!!

At home, we put everything in the pantry and the fridge, and then we had a small bite. Then I already had to make dinner. I made a fishpie with layered teaspoons of margarine, tilapia fish, tomatoes, onions, sharp cheddar cheese, seasoning, and breadcrumbs. It was a big success! After dinner, Dan dropped me off at the hospital, and I was afraid it would be very quiet, but it was actually pretty busy! I worked with another colleague, and she is also good in training. She let me do a lot of the code procedures, and they all went well! She was having a hard time though. Her son had a basketball game and went out with his team for dinner. She had contact him through sms. He would walk from the restaurant to the hospital and from there he would be picked up by a family member. After 2 hours, her son (14 years old) was still not there. His cell phone was off and therefore she was very worried. We both tried to locate him. Finally after 2 and a half hours, her mom called and said that he was found. He was still at that restaurant with his team. We had called that restaurant earlier to ask if he was there, but the owner had said: No one was there! So silly! Anyway, she was very happy he was safe. I told her that I knew exactly how she felt. I have been through that too many times with my sons!!

Dan picked me up again, and at home we watched some Law and Order episodes. We had nice wine and tortilla chips with Queeso dip, mmmmmmmmm!! Of course, I fell asleep during the second episode. Ryan wanted to watch another episode, but Dan told him he had to go to bed too. He had attended a birthday party the night before, and he had not seen his bed before 3.00 AM!!

Sunday morning, we slept in. Dan gave me, when I woke up, a sweet Mother’s Day card, and he made a wonderful Mother’s Day breakfast, eggs Benedict with orange juice. They were so good! Thomas had sent a nice email for Mother’s Day, and Niels and I talked for a while on the phone. He also had sent an E-card for Mother’s Day. We were planning to go hiking, but because we were busy with working for Ruysdael Design and because Ryan was picked up late by his mother, we stayed home.  Late in the afternoon, I made some snacks, and we watched our wedding video again. I have to confess, it is still my favorite video. It is so very well captured by my brother with the most beautiful background music you can imagine. Another reason it is so wonderful to watch is because I see my sons, my family and friends again.  Again, I got emotional by watching it. After dinner, we went to visit our friends Annet and Steve. We had a wonderful evening, and I feel blessed we met them and that we became such good friends! When we came home, Dan still had to work for a new customer. I was pretty tired, so I went to bed to read my book. I might have read one page and then I was already asleep!

This morning, I expected a call from the school district, so I hurried to be ready to go….but they did not call! For a moment that was a big disappointment but then I thought, I have more than enough to do here. So my day started early with doing my chores in and outside the house.  I also had a nice phone call with my friend Coby. Shortly after I finshed our talk, my other friend Annick called and she came by for having lunch here. It was nice to see her again and to hear how she is doing.

Yes, it is wonderful to have such nice friends, here and in the Netherlands. I feel very lucky. And on top of that, I have a wonderful husband, great children and family, what else can a woman want?

For dinner I had made tortilla’s. I used now also cilantro in it, and to be honest, it made it more authentic. I sliced a jalapeño pepper in it, and that made it nice and spicy. The only bad thing about it was that it stayed on my fingers, even after washing my hands over and over again After dinner, Dan and I walked to the stores and bought some wine and orange juice. Now we are gonna work on the paperwork for renewing my resident card.  Maybe we will watch later 24!

Saturday morning, Dan had breakfast ready for me when I came down. That was nice! Even Ryan was up early. Dan dropped me off at the hospital. The morning went by so quickly. All went pretty well, and after my shift, I walked to the Mall to do some forgotten groceries. When I stood in line, I called Dan, and he picked me up. The afternoon was relaxing and in the evening we watched Life of Brian again. It was again so hilarious. If you like John Cleese, and you haven’t seen this movie, I can recommend it to you!

Sunday morning we slept in a bit. After breakfast, Dan and I went to the gym. I probably did my weights a bit over the top because I am feeling so much muscle pain already. My back, neck, arms and legs are hurting.  I might need go to bed in time. (wishful thinking!)

After the gym, I took a nice hot shower and made omelet sandwiches for lunch. Thomas, my youngest son, came on Skype and we talked for about half an hour. It was so nice to see him again. We talked about his work and his new house and about things here. Thomas and Myriam are having Tiesto, our British Shorthair cat in their house. It always has been an indoor cat, but now, because they have their own 2 story house, the cat can go into the backyard and over the past few days, she “escaped” over the fence. She did that also yesterday, but got into a fight with another cat.  She was too afraid to jump on the fence again. Thomas had to open the gate. Hopefully she has been “cured” from exploring outside the back yard. It is a real funny cat, and I miss her a lot. But she has a great life with Thomas and Myriam.

This evening, we had an American meal: Bush Beans, Hamburgers, potatoes in the skin, and rice pudding as dessert My father in law called, and we talked for a while.

Tomorrow I have the evening shift again, and I also might get a call to work for the school district.

The weather is still not what it should be. It almost feels like the June gloom, but then a lot colder. Hope the weather is nicer at your place!