Barack in Business

We had a fun day
yesterday. I started out by voting early-- James came with me and we had a great adventure of it. We voted at Mason Prep school downtown and they must be the "knights" because there were gigantic suits of armor everywhere. James really loved it, and it kept him interested while I waited in line. They generously gave him an "I voted" sticker which was very exciting to him.

The birthday party was great fun. It took James a little while to warm up to the scene. We literally got him up from nap, changed diapers, put on shoes and were out the door to make it only 30 minutes late. So he was still really waking up when we arrived. The other parents were really friendly and nice-- and it was funny to match the kids with the parents. Figure out who goes with who. They were so nice it is a shame will be ditching that program to go with the Island School full time. But, we think it is the best thing for James to be at the Island School. My gym is just a big room with mats and a ball pit and fun things to climb on. The employees are a little blase about the whole thing. Not to say they were not fun-- they were really good at working with the kids and directing their play, but they would jump from activity to activity with the frequency of a short wave radio. James could barely get into something before they were starting another game/activity/ story.
We came back from the party, did the kids' baths, then Christine the babysitter showed up. She is really sweet and the kids love her. Though she only got to visit with them for a few moments before bedtime. I just didn't want James to freak out if he woke up in the night and Christine was there instead of us.
Next Mike and I headed to the Master of Public Administration oyster roast. It was super fun-- lots of GREAT oysters and so nice to talk with the students and some professors in a more social setting. I told Mike he would have to keep a straight face if anyone called me "Professor Owens" but he could not. Apparently when he was doing horseradish shots with a few of my students one called me "professor Owens" and he completely broke down laughing. But maybe it was the horseradish. As for horseradish shots--no alcohol involved-- just daring each other to eat large amounts of horseradish from crackers, as I understand it.
At the party they had a TV on with the results coming in all night. It was exciting to hear Barack won. After four years of trying to explain American politics in the Netherlands it is nice to have someone refreshing, positive, and with morals getting the votes.
We are looking forward to a sunny Sunday. It is cool but clear and we plan to head to the county park for an afternoon adventure.

runs in the family

We are still struggling to replace our "in transit" USB cord for the camera. Sorry for the lack of posts and pics lately. Things have been busy-- but all in a good and fun way. Here is a photo of my sister's middle child Lindsay Kate and her mohawk from a few years ago. Will has one to match and that cow lick is genetic.

The week has been nice. We visited a new school for James, the Island School on Johns Island. If only we were staying-- we would definitely stick with them. As is, we will transfer James starting in February. Nothing wrong with the place he is now, but just the difference between "okay" and "wow". We really like the director of the Island school and the way she has everything organized. Finding a school in Hartford is a whole 'nother story. There is a public magnet Montessori school with preschool that I am trying to get in the lottery for (Magnet schools are often so in-demand that you have to win a position through a lottery system). We are trying to talk them into letting us into the lottery though we have no Hartford address right now.
We also went to the public health clinic in Summerville for some vaccinations. They were FREE-- hooray, though they do not do well-baby checks and we will need to find a pediatrician for that. Will was only due for one vaccination, but James had THREE as he had to make up for a few things they don't give in the NL, like Chicken Pox. Oh, that was a sad event, as he sat for jab after jab after jab. Though he was happy to watch the unsuspecting Will go after him and get his shots. Sweet Will, he was just smiling and flirting with the nurse--- until that needle went into his leg. Oh boy-- that was not fun.
But it is done, and we are on track for all of our vaccinations for now. Thankfully they had no issues accepting all of our Dutch records and shots. Whew!
We're off this afternoon to our first American birthday party, to be held at the My Gym in Mt Pleasant. Sounds like its just a place for kids to jump around-- which should be perfect for James' set.
Tonight the parents go for a night out together zonder kinderen (no kids). Cannot remember
the last time that happened. Before Will, probably. We will head out to an oyster roast being thrown by my students. We will go early and leave early so that we don't ruin the party with our "adult-ness".
I am happy to report that the breastfeeding has not fallen all to pieces in the wake of the purchase of formula. Many days Will nurses exclusively, and only rarely do we need a bottle. Though Mike has backup now for when I go to teach my class, so things are really great! Thanks to the moms who sent me support emails/posts about that. It helped a lot.
Mike is working as a handyman on a couple of projects for friends, and talking with the folks at the Timber Frame Guild about having a barn raising for Cousin Bu's horse-riding nonprofit in Waycross GA. It could shape up to be a really cool project... will keep you posted,

The wee screamer

Will has been crowing for a while, making all sorts of sounds to express his joy including giggling and laughing. This week he found his own scream. Not a sad sound, or a frustrated sound, but a totally happy (and hilarious) scream. Repeated over and over and over again.
Mike let me sleep in (until about 7:30) one morning last week and I was awoken by Will repeatedly screaming as he lay on his new activity blanket with things dangling above. If only we had our camera we could make a video of it--- but we hope to replace the camera within the next few months and we will get it then.
In other news I took the boys to the SC Aquarium on Friday. It was super fun-- James really loved it. They have an area where you can stick your hands in the water and touch various animals (though he did not want to touch the hermit crabs, he would hold shells, and the horseshoe crab FREAKED him out). Even Will stared, gaped, and smiled when I parked his carriage in front of the big tank. It is nowhere near the size of the GA Aquarium, but it was so accessible and easy to manage. It was a fun day. It is so expensive that I think we will just get a family membership so we can enjoy it a lot while we are here. Don't get me started on the $4.00 hotdog.
My second class went really well. My students are great, and I think we are going to have a good semester. The material is research methods, which is not exciting stuff to most folks-- but I am really loving it and they will survive.
Politics are heating up in SC-- I was polled by telephone one night last week about all kinds of issues, which I loved. My class is about research methods (including survey, etc) so I had a great example to share with them. Barack Obama was at CofC about 10 days ago but I was not able to make his speech. I went hours later to class and there were still guys in black suits and reporters everywhere. I think I heard Edwards was working at the soup kitchen that same day... but things are a little too busy for us to follow political candidates around at this point in time. It was really fun to be polled, though!

Sailing away...

Well, I looked up the clark howard thing (www.clarkhoward.com) after Steph's comment. Yikes. I hope we are not being scammed by the Rotterdam mafia. At this point we're pretty much too far involved --if it is a total scam, we have nothing left to do but complain. We are just hoping and praying that they are not completely dishonest folks. I do not get the feeling that they are. But that being said, Mike and I both get the impression that there is a culture of "taking advantage" in the shipping world. Maybe we just have had a bad experience, or perhaps this is the kind of work that attracts reckless, scheming, sea-lovers-- modern day pirates, if you will.
It is somewhat resolved this morning.

After sending this letter:

Dear Tiede,
I understand what you are describing—but this is untrue. I specifically asked Judith van den Bosch if 10cbm was a minimum.
I specifically told her that I intended to move an amount closer to 5cbm of goods.
When I informed your organization that I planned to send a smaller shipment I should have been told it would change the price. But that is not what happened, instead even when I asked whether this would change the price I was told it would not.
I am very dissatisfied with the interactions I have had with your company. I know the average Dutch consumer would not accept a quote being “changed” in the middle of a business transaction. This is unprofessional. We were quoted 364 Euros per cubic meter, and I intend to pay for 7cbm of shipping. If this matter is not resolved I plan to register a complaint with the Consumentenbond. I learned about Transpack shipping services through the website www.internationalmovers.nl. They have asked me to fill out a questionnaire based on my experiences. If this matter is not resolved I will also inform them of my dissatisfaction.
Thank You

I received this terse reply:

Mrs Owens,

We will stop discussions.

Pls pay Euro 2548.

So I paid the original amount, and as I said above from this point its just hoping and praying our things arrive-- or arrive without being crushed into tiny pieces. If nothing else, I can feel confident that I paid an agreed upon price to have them crush our things into tiny pieces.
I did point out to Mike that his final reply doesn't say they'll ship our goods-- only that discussions are over...

Shipping and Handling

Oh, it is an interesting task to attempt to ship goods internationally. When we originally signed on with Transpack shipping of Rotterdam they told us it would cost 364 Euros per cubic meter to get our goods from door to door, Enschede to Charleston. I originally estimated that our goods would be around 10cbm, but after hearing this estimate I knew that was WAY beyond our budget. With reality in mind we bought moving boxes that would total just 5 cubic meters, and decided we would try to shoot for that or less (well, it was a goal, but one we didn't reach). Based on my insanely exact measurements our goods totaled 5.33 cubic meters. I spoke with our representative Judith throughout the process, among other things getting her guarantee that we would only be charged for the amount we shipped. It was repeatedly emphasized that 10 cbm was not a minimum. Can you see where this is going yet?
5.33 cubic meters of goods were picked up from 102 Gronausevoetpad on December 12. We were told they would crate the goods, take the final cubic meter measurement, then submit an invoice to us for the total, and finally send our things. Around Christmas I heard from Judith of Transpack that the crated total was 7 cubic meters. A stretch for our budget, but within the realm of possibility considering crating boxes of odd shapes and sizes.
The entire shipping process was estimated to take about six weeks, so we were a little... dismayed let's say... that we'd not yet been billed a month later. After I asked them to give me an honest estimate of when we could expect our goods on Monday they quickly sent along an invoice for 3640Euros.
I have been going back and forth with them since then about this erroneous total, and trying to keep cool and not think about the fact that they have all our stuff and our hands are tied in many ways.
Judith's boss, Tiede, the guy who gave me the original quote, says that they changed the way they would ship our goods (from being part of a 20cbm container to being part of a liftvan--- I have no idea what this means). He says that changing this changes the cost. Of course in the subsequent emails that have flown between Tiede and I this week I have emphasized that the customer should be informed if the quote "changes". I am remaining calm, though Mike periodically freaks out about it-- both the fact that they have all our stuff and just the cost.
Tiede first offered to reduce the cost by 350 Euros (total 3290), then today said that they could go as low as 2930. I am holding out for 2548 (or 364 euros times 7 cubic meters)...
primarily because that is all we can afford. The whole interaction makes me feel very Dutch-- it was routine at the grocery store for the person in line before you to laboriously read through and check their receipt for errors. I keep reminding myself that no self-respecting Dutch person would let Tiede get away with this!

Tom Maier special #4756

Huge props to my Dad (and Dotty too) for helping us out with the acquisition of this beautiful and functional family vehicle. In the midst of all our moving confusion, they took the reins and made sure we had a very dependable car the day we came back to the States. For my Dad this does not mean just going out and finding a decent car, this is a Tom Maier process that starts with internet savvy and ends with a couple months of mechanical tweaking in the garage. AC, heat, automatic everything, runs and looks like new- all thanks to the Tom Maier touch.
Thanks again Dad!
(and Mom...)

Folly Beach, USA

here are some shots of us at the beach this past week with the dogs and the boys + Uncle Carl and Nellie the wonder dog

My Kiva Dot Org

For Christmas Mike gave me some gift certificates to kiva.org, a micro lending non-profit. I sat down for a brief moment this morning to do my lending. It is a cool concept, you lend a small amount of money to a person in another (developing) country who will use that loan for a business venture. In a given amount of time this individual repays the loan, giving you credit with Kiva to re-lend. I asked our friend Genia, who works in the micro-finance world if she thought it was legit over Christmas. She said it was fine, but part of the connection to this person in a far-away place is an illusion. If I am getting this right, she said that there is an agency on the developing-country side managing the money-- so you are not exactly lending the money directly to this other person. All of your money goes to this other individual, but its not going into their bank account. Which makes sense-- there of course has to be a system of checks and balances to make it work in a legitimate way.
So, I went with three different loans at this time.
I sent a small amount to a carpenter in Cambodia, a herder in Tajikistan (a married woman with eleven-- that's right ELEVEN children trying to supplement the family income), and a fruit and vegetable saleswoman in Cambodia. I cannot access their photos because the kiva website is bombarded with users right now
http://www.kiva.org/
I guess we were not the only people who had this brilliant idea for Christmas.
Whether the connection with these people far away is real or a bit of an illusion, I really like the concept and cannot wait to see how these businesses flourish. Then I am looking forward to loaning again...

On other fronts my first class went pretty well last night. It was a short class because I really just needed to introduce the course and go over the expectations, etc. It came at the end of a busy day and I felt like I could have done better. No major disasters-- they laughed at my jokes, and seemed interested in the topic (though it is a required class, so these students are not taking it just for the fun of it). I am really looking forward to next week when I can jump in with the material and we can do some learning!

blasts from the pasts

One great thing about being back in the US is that we have access to our old photos and such. I found some family gems where you can see a little Will and a little James. The top photo is (I think) my sister Marilois, not me. Whether me or my sister, she is enjoying the fruits of her first Easter basket. I can definitely see a little Will in there.
The bottom photo is me with my Grandmother Owens watching the parade at Disney World. I can totally see James in there.

We see the boys a lot in the Maier men as well (sorry Larry I couldn't find young photos of you in what I have).

Mike's brothers Tom, Jim-



and Bill-



Mike at 2-


and the future, James and Will- I mean Tom Jr. and Brad...

last few days

Mike's gorgeous chicken with sweet potatoes and carrots. It was deeeeelightful.

Dad relaxes at the county park in a co-nap with Will, while...

James and mom hit the slides

James likes to get into Will's crib first thing in the morning.

James preps for his first day of preschool in the US in the vein of Stuart Smiley.

"I'm good enough... I'm smart enough..."

The path

We have been taking delightful walks with the pups around our neighborhood. This path is not rustic or especially wild, but it is close and easy for a quick jaunt with the pups. Just look at those blue skies.

The big pond has snowy white egrets and great blue herons... though we haven't caught them on camera yet. Here is the family on a walk. Will is sporting his new "pilot" hat from Auntie Dorthe. We have had a great time visiting with Keith, Dorthe, and Maya this week.

Guys gone wild

Well maybe not entirely. Mike is enjoying an evening out with friends at a birthday party. He will not only get to enjoy fun and conversation, but is also there to do a little employment networking. I was invited but we didn't feel like upsetting the cart quite yet with preparing for a babysitter. Our routine is not established enough for us to manage a night out on the town together. But before you feel bad for me, know I also wanted to use the time to catch up on the week's work. Moving and unpacking took more time than I anticipated, and I want more than anything to assure my colleagues in the Netherlands that I will be able to reach all of my commitments even though far away. I planned to work the entire time he was away, as any quiet moment is precious these days, but it is nearing 9PM and I just fell asleep on the sofa reading. That is our wild and crazy life: 9PM... home 'alone'... and I am going to go to bed.

Both James and Will are adjusting incredibly considering the moving and fluid routine of late, but they are not quite back to normal. James has been off with his sleep patterns, and Will has yet to establish any sleep patterns at all. That translates into the family awaking at 5AM the last two mornings... I wouldn't be surprised if Mike is nodding off at his party right now. Though hopefully he has risen to the occasion.

We've had a busy week, including scoping out James' new school (the teachers are great and the kids seem like a fun group). Typical of the 2-3 year old window in time, there are kids older than James in the class who are smaller than our petite fellow, and a gigantic kid who is younger than James. I am not joking-- this boy is a bruiser-- I could probably fit into his shoes. He is huge. James was excited to visit the class and we are happily anticipating this experience, too. Now all we need to do is have some immunization forms filled out by a physician. That should only involve a visit to the pediatrician and a Ducth-English dictionary. We have also enjoyed catching up slowly with friends, though not nearly all of our beloved Charleston crew.

Will started rolling last week, and in the last few days has been rolling over and over and over again. He is truly unstoppable. The worst is when he catapults himself upside down, sideways and over in his crib, only to find he does not want to sleep in that position. It requires notifying us with a sad little cry, at which time someone goes in, flips him over, and settles him back into sleep. We are working now to establish better naps and a consistent bedtime for him.

We broke down and bought formula yesterday. I feel like the stress of late has been diminishing my milk supply. I have not felt full since we left the Netherlands, and I kept thinking that when we came here and settled in things would pick up. In many ways I feel like a failure because I know that supplementing with ANY formula is a slippery slope... that as Will takes in formula his demand on my supply will lessen, decreasing my supply, leading to more formula, less milk production, and so forth. My other option is to spend time each day building up my supply by pumping, but I am having trouble finding time to work and contribute to the household as is. To be brutally honest I also really hate pumping. All the enjoyment of nursing dissipates to the uurr--aarrr---uurr--aarr rhythm of that machine. But we are trying to find the balance in what is most important, and what we can manage to accomplish.

I am including a few photos of our house in 'Pleasantville'. We love it-- it is comfortable, spacious, and perfect for our needs right now. The James Island county park is just down the road, and we have already made a few trips to walk the dogs and visit the playground.

Where to begin?

Happy New Year!
We realized early evening yesterday that while we sat quietly on our sofa thinking about dinner plans, the Netherlands was already experiencing the new year. We are certain that Gronausevoetpad was awash in color, light, and PLENTY of noise. To be perfectly honest, we were not too sad to miss trying to get a 4 month old baby to sleep though a miniature local firework display. Our neighborhood on James Island, South Carolina was nothing in comparison-- a few fireworks here and there around 10PM and we were not woken up at midnight.

We have been in a daze the last few days as we unpack, organize, etc. This is our first move with a child-- not to mention children. It certainly changes things. I am accustomed to staying up super late one night and cranking out the whole move-- all the unpacking. Not possible when a 2 year old and a baby are in the picture. Nevertheless it is probably healthier and wiser to pace ourselves through the unpacking phase.

We spent a week in Atlanta after making the journey across the sea, then spent a week in Valdosta. We saw lots of family and had many great meals. Too many, we think now.

A few days after Christmas we made the drive to Charleston with Kat in the van and Mike in the "big truck" or UHaul rental. As we approached Charleston in the van Keska started jumping about as soon as the sea air reached our noses. She knew she was coming back home. We took both pups (and the boys) to the beach on Monday and had a beautiful walk in the sun. It has been warm and sunny and we are loving it. Cold weather is predicted for next week, but we imagine it will seem like nothing in comparison to a Dutch winter.

Our new place is great. Mike calls it Pleasantville, as it is a neighborhood of row after row of identical houses. Our place has plenty of room, and best of all-- we don't own it-- so none of the problems are our responsibility. Sorry no photos yet. We fear we lost our new digital camera during the move. We think we may have left it on the van that was supposed to take us to the airport. Our older digital camera is working fine-- but we have yet to find the cord that allows us to load pictures onto the computer. Be patient and you will be greatly rewarded.

We are hitting the ground running in 2008. Kat is preparing for her class and new job, oh-- and finishing up a certain important document about wetlands policy implementation. Mike is searching about for a short term job that thrills and inspires him. James is going to get potty trained, which is surely going to be an experience for the whole family. Will has been eyeing our food quite closely lately, and we imagine it won't take long for our little meatball to try his first solids. All in all it seems like a typical plan for us-- a little ambitious but with the promise of growth and excitement for the whole family.

Happy New Year