It’s been a roller coaster of a month. First there was snowboarding in Austria. The original plan was France but Austria is closer (10hours) and has a better nightlife. The planned group shrunk for a variety of reasons and I found myself being the lone girl on the trip. There were advantages to this, zero difficulties and no bitchiness, but it also meant dinner conversations mainly involving various bodily functions. My snowboarding is getting better and I had a super time. There was even some singalongs in German (guess you had to be there!). For photos go to the travel section and look at snowboarding - Austria. There was also Linda’s birthday party, which was great (a couple of pictures in the fun section). We danced the night away. I can always tell it’s been a good night if the trains to Utrecht are already running in the morning. I especially like to freak out those peppy Saturday morning people on the train with my panda eyes (mascara smudged off for the uninitiated), tipsy stagger and 24hour old rumpled outfit. It’s the simple things in life eh?

I joined a tennis club. The people are a bit older which is a pity because I was hoping to find some non-expat friends. But it’s good to smack the ball around a bit. Other big news. Jarno has a project in Mauritius. From April 12 he will be away for minimum 10 weeks. I think I’ll survive and his company is paying for me to visit for a week, so I can’t really complain.

More importantly, the dirty, stinky, ugly, revolting carpet from the living room is gone. We now have a beautiful wood floor (as of yesterday). Thanks to the people who helped carry 1000kgs up the stairs, I was unfortunately too late to help There are pictures of it in the Utrecht section. I also had my first experience with Dutch labourers. After he had 8 cups of coffee, 10 long chats with mates, spent the whole time complaining and didn’t finish the job off I’ve decided next time to look elsewhere. Still, all’s well that ends well. Love to hear from people. Til next month