I had a wonderful Christmas this year 
On the 24th, my girlfriend Kirsteen flew in from Vienna, where she lives, and she stayed until the 27th. We did the whole exchange of gifts on Christmas-eve, a first for me – it’s more a British tradition I think, and since she’s Scottish … I think I’m converted She liked what I got her, and I loved what she got me.
Otherwise, we did nothing exceptional for x-mas, the usual: stuff yourself with food and watch a ton of movies (I has Blu-Ray). She brought the latest Star Trek movie on DVD (great!), which she got from her friend Amber for x-mas.
Unfortunately, my daughter could not join the party, but that’s life for you. I still have some gifts for her, so she’ll get them later.
New years will involve working for me, one of the tragedies of life as a computer geek. But in January I will see both my girls again, and I ‘m looking forward to that a lot. A trip to Kirsteen in Vienna (and a trip to Bratislava together from there) is in the works. And I’m sure we’ll enjoy that little break very much.
January will also (hopefully) finally bring the delivery of my new bike (picture on the right). I’ve been biking to work since I started my new job at Mirabeau Hoorn in November, it’s a mere 15 minute trip and the first time I’ve worked so close to home that I can bike there. I love it every day (and hey, it’s healthy too!).
family, general
life, personal
A letter from our lawyer, who handles our joint request for divorce, arrived
The judge has declared to agree with what Petra and I decided, and has confirmed that with a signature
I immediately send the lawyer a confirmation (that we agree with the verdict/decree, which is a sort of final check) and that he can go ahead with registering it with the ‘mariage-registry’ in the city we got married in. This should take about a week, and then the divorce is final.
Call us crazy, but we’re pretty happy about it.
family
personal
I expect today to be pretty weird in the chaotic sense. Petra (my ex wife) will be subjected to surgery on her armpit. Last time she went in for surgery, she came out of the anesthetic pretty darn well and quickly too, and she was out of the hospital within an hour after surgery. Let’s hope that this time will be no different
A difference from her previous (unrelated) surgery, is that they will not close the wound, and put in a drain, this means that the coming week will be troublesome. For that reason I will work from home the coming week, because she will probably not be fit enough to take care of Femke alone. (especially lifting our darling little girl is becoming heavy enough under normal circumstances, let alone after having had surgery in a rather tender spot).
Speaking of Femke: she has a very clear musical preference for ‘The Offspring’, and particularly ‘Pretty fly’ causes her to really turn wild, she’s showing clear ‘head-banging’ behavior. A chip of the old block as they say.
Thankfully, this week we also have support from Petra’s mom, who is staying over. ( she happens to be a nurse ), but all in all, it’s probably going to be pretty chaotic week.
update: As the previous time, Petra bounced out her anesthetic quicker then anything, and within no time at all, she was eager to leave the hospital again. So, now she’s back home again, and everything seems to be going just fine.
family
chaotic
For most of you it’s been known for a little while now, for some of you this will come as a nasty bit of a shock:
Petra and I are getting a divorce.
Before anyone gets wild ideas about lengthy court battles and endless custody hearings: we will have none of that. We are ending our marriage in mutual respect and friendship, and everything we do revolves around one person: our daughter Femke.
For the time being, the girls are going to stay with me in our house. Once the divorce is final Petra will set out to find a place the girls can live, and I will do everything in my power to help them and support them.
These things are never easy, on none of the persons involved, but I think we’ll manage.
family
personal
As I mentioned earlier, I am a new dad. (well, for almost 2 months now )
Our little girl is growing at a mind boggling rate, gaining a staggering 200 grams per week! Since she was rather much underweight when she was born, she’s on a fast track to make good on her weight, on average, a baby should weigh about 4 kilograms when he/she reaches 2 months, right now, for Femke, that is 2 weeks away. Since she weighed 3500 grams as of yesterday, and she gains more then 200 grams per week, she should only be 100 grams behind schedule when she is 2 months old.
Otherwise, she’s a blessing, she sleeps all night most nights, and almost never cries at night. (she does all of that during the daytime – if at all).
So far, so good
family
on the 7th of june, 2007, my wife Petra gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.
We have decided to call her: Femke
The little one was a bit small and under weight for a baby that was almost carried full term, so she was kept at the hospital for a couple of days and nights, but both my ladies came home yesterday.
Proud father? Hell yes!
She’s got dark-brown hair (though that can still change), and dark green eyes (turning greenish-gray), a cute little nose, and a slightly tinted skin (due to her Indonesian blood on her mothers side )
Pictures will undoubtedly be posted here in the future
family
