Uma playing wiith her Christmas present

Check out Uma sitting up and playing all by herself!

Brian

The Next Lance

Check out Rohan at the local bike shop!
Taken 12/22/08

Sun Devil Stadium

Here is a picture of Adam and I at Sun Devil Stadium where my Sun Devils allowed the Georgia Bulldogs to escape with a narrow 27-10 victory. OK maybe it wasn't so narrow, but it was a great game and well worth the trip.

Bring on the Dawgs for a rematch in Athens in '09!

Brian

Finally home

Delta had poor performance today. The only redeeming factor in today's 15 hour episode is they upgraded me, so I could actually sleep.

Home at 3am after a brutal week...priceless!

Post from a weary traveler

This object in this photo is the reason the last 24 hours (and counting) haven't completely killed me. My flight from La Guardia last night was seven hours delayed before they finally canceled it at midnight. The best Delta could do is rebook me on a 7pm flight the NEXT DAY. I ended up getting a flight out of Newark at 4:50pm today and now it is three hours delayed. This trip will be my longest delay since September 11 happened and I was seven days late coming home from Hungary.

The next two weeks are going to be great and filled with a lot of family time. I have to make a day trip to NY next week, but otherwise won't travel again until after Labor Day.

This week I submitted my big project deliverable so it felt really good to see four months of hard work finally make it over the finish line.

Looking forward to seeing my babies. I miss them!

Brian
(From my mobile phone)

Blowing Kisses

Rohan loves to blow kisses. He will also give a sloppy wet one if you ask (and he is in the mood of course - he is a boy after all!). Now he kisses all over Uma too and I am dying to get a video of that!

Rohan's Home Alone Face

Rohan at the ice cream shop on 7/29/08 doing his best to copy cat his papa (taken from mobile phone)

Uma is sleeping through the night!

Of course, I need to add quotes around that title, but suffice it to say Tina and I won't complain about it! Friday night she slept for six hours straight. We were flabbergasted and overjoyed, although we thought it was a fluke. Low and behold she did it again Saturday and Sunday night too. Only five hours per pop, but that sure beats two or three! The other news with Uma, besides the fact she keeps getting cuter and cuter, is that she now weighs in at a whopping 9.75LB, which represents 50% weight gain in just seven weeks. If I did that, I would weigh 300LB right now.

Rohan continues to develop his vocabulary by the minute. This weekend he called Sport a "good boy" and Tina told me this morning he called Sport "Gordo," which is a term we all call him frequently and affectionately, of course. He is also counting to three bilingually in both English and Spanish, which is just amazing. He says the Spanish version out loud, and does the English one mostly through some arm motions we taught him. The funny thing is that we didn't realize how much he was absorbing when he was younger. We had taught him some sign language and he never did it, but all of a sudden this weekend he was giving the signal for more (food) while in his high chair. Amazing!

Update from the trenches

I have determined the number of posts I make to the blog is directly related to the number of great nights of sleep I get at home!

Uma is now six weeks old and is growing into a healthy, chubby little cutie. She still has the most beautiful big blue eyes and now that she can see a little better with them, she'll look you right in the eye and say hello. She also throws off some smiles, although they are not really directed at anyone yet. On the sleeping front, she is so much easier than Rohan was. Rohan had to be held and rocked at all times with a binky in his face or he was screaming his little head off. Uma is fairly content to spend time on her own between feeding and napping, and at nap time she goes down and stays down much easier too. I am sure this little girl will be an angel just like this through her teenage year right?

Rohan is doing well in his new role as big brother. At first he wanted to pretend she wasn't ther but that didn't really work. Then he tried hard to monopolize my and Tina's time and that had decent success, but now I think he is starting to accept her and sometimes even says "baby" when he sees her. Rohan's biggest developmental note is how rapidly his speech is growing. He can say or at least will try to say anything you say to him. He is very fond of expressions, such as "oh cool," "wow," and "oooooooh." The Nanny taught him to say "oh my God" and we are trying to break that one now. I don't think our nanny knows that is not acceptable language for a toddler! So, visitors beware, we are not looking for a Fokker-like incident...watch your mouth around Rohan!

Off to catch another flight. Ciao for now.

(written from my mobile phone so please excuse spelling errors)

Brian

Uma's first weekend

Uma's first weekend, originally uploaded by behrig14.

Cord Blood Banking

I don’t think I mentioned this before in any other post. Tina and I decided to bank Uma’s cord blood. We didn’t do that for Rohan because at the time it seemed more experimental than it does now. These stem cells from these cord blood banks have actually been used several times in the last year to save lives. This time around, we looked at it as an insurance policy and one we would forever regret if we actually needed to use it but didn’t decide to because of a few bucks. Protecting our babies is worth it. It was certainly not cheap, costing $2150 in total for the first year and will cost $125/yr after that. We used Cord Blood Registry (CBR), which is the older and more established of the two main cord blood banks. If you haven’t checked this out before and someone in your life is expecting a baby, it’s worth considering. If you want to buy something practical for your friends, family, or children, this is a fantastic and caring gift idea.

 

We got Uma’s report back today and she has 612 million cord blood cells (stem cells) in the bank. That is double the average, so we have to say many thanks to our doctor (James Knoer) for being so diligent about collecting it. I watched him do it after Uma was born and he literally “milked” the cord blood out of the umbilical cord. I never thought I would find that process so interesting, but I did. How cool! The cord blood itself is stored at a secure facility in Tucson. In the event we ever needed it, it would be sent out on the next flight from Tucson and couriered directly to where it needed to be. Currently, stem cells are being used to treat about 70 diseases (leukemia, other cancers, and blood disorders) and we believe that number is going to increase dramatically over the coming years. This may one day save a family member’s life, not just Uma’s.

 

Back to work - for Brian

Today I came off my weeklong paternity leave. It actually went pretty well considering how tiring the weekend was. We also took Uma to the doctor today for a checkup and I am pleased to report she has cleared her birth weight and is now 6lb 13oz!

 

Hoping for a good night’s sleep…

Uma - Day 4

Yesterday was the turning point for Uma to go from a sleepy head all day and night to the day-night reversal that is common among newborns. We need to get her some daylight today because she seems content to be awake all night until 5am and then finally go to sleep. At that point, she settles in for a nice relaxing day of feeding and sleeping before going into her awake time at night. I remember this with Rohan, but I think it was one of those less than favorable memories that I chose to suppress in favor of the cuter, happier memories.

We're taking Uma in to the doctor today to get her bilirubin levels checked. She is moderately jaundiced. Hopefully it will clear shortly. With Rohan, we had to go daily for a week, so I hope we don't have to do that with her as well, and of course I also hope she's OK!

Origina of Uma's Name

Both Uma's first and middle name have many meanings, and Tina and I chose them because to us her names mean:

Uma - Light
Bela - The sea shore

Together, her name means light of the sea shore

Welcome Uma Bela Ehrig

Uma was born at 7:05pm EDT on 6/2/08 at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta. She weighed 6 lb 11.8 oz and measured 20 inches in length.

Tina did a great job with the delivery and is recovering nicely now. We will stay in the hospital through Wednesday.

More to come soon

Slowly but surely progressing

Tina is having regular contractions and all of that good stuff, but it's going slower than we had hoped and as of 1pm she's still just 4cm dilated. After that I found the snack bar and bought a pound of gummy bears and swalled them whole. Washed it down with a nice caffeine free DC.

We are expecting the doctor to come back somewhere in the neighborhood of 3pm to check her again. Judging by her pattern of contractions now vs 1pm, she must be making progress.

Water is broke (manually)

Dr. Knoer came in and broke her water around 9:50am. It's now 10:42am and she's feeling relaxed and closing her eyes. I turned on some Norah Jones for her and turned down the lights. The contractions are coming regularly and she's getting 10 miliunits/minute of Pitocin.



We also took the opportunity to sign up for Cord Blood Registry, the cord blood banking site. Hopefully we'll never have to use it, but it's an insurance policy we feel is worth it.



This hospital visit is so different from Rohan's birth. Getting induced is a strange experience, although honestly more comfortable (at least for me). Last time there was so much anticipation, a bit of fear, and in general everything was unknown. This time it's kind of like a scheduled plan, and step by step they increase the Pitocin and guide her along. It's kind of like its scripted.

Epidural is in

9:15am epidural went in. She got a bit dizzy but is doing OK. Dr. Knoer is about to come back and break her water.

Started Pitocin

8:00am started Tina on Pitocin, which forces her uterus to start contracting. They start out with small doses and gradually pick it up. Shortly our OB/GYN Dr. Knoer will come and check Tina's dilation and then we'll start her on an epidural.

Arrived at the hospital

7:17am checked in. Labor and Delivery Room 14 at Piedmont Hospital. Getting hooked onto monitors now.

The Pain Of Waiting

Today we went to visit Tina’s OB/GYN for her final exam prior to delivery. She has an appointment at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta Monday morning, 6/2, at 7:30am. The good news is she is 2cm dilated right now and other conditions down there are also ripe enough, and that makes it more likely the drugs they give her Monday morning will kick start the labor process so we will have a baby by 2-3pm Monday by the doctor’s forecast.

Last weekend we bought a digital video camera and plan to make liberal use of that at the hospital. I have to figure out how to enable a lower quality image for some shots so I can easily post them to the internet. Right now as it stands a 5 minute video takes up about 300MB, so that’s not really sustainable for a website. I’ll figure it out this weekend, I hope, so everyone can see pictures of the baby girl.

Rohan has really been developing his vocabulary over the last month since I last posted. Many of his words require an interpreter, and for those of you who plan to visit soon, here is a guide for you:

Milk – “Bok”

Tractor

Please

Thank you

Coffee – “Ka-kee”

Mama

Papa

Banana – “Nana”

Apple

Waaaaaaa (that is not a word, but it’s his most frequent sound)

Light – “Daaaah” (currently his favorite word next to Papa)

It’s funny, now that I’m sitting here writing them out I can’t remember them all. Oh well, come and visit and watch and listen for yourself!

Cheers,

Brian

Who's the boss?

Besides being a great '80s TV show, it is also the current theme of our relationship with Rohan. Last Friday he decided he was going to start his terrible two's about nine months early! He went on a "nap strike," for lack of a better term. He decided he no longer wanted to sleep, either in the middle of the day or at night. He was a cranky little guy! That basically went on until yesterday. On Monday the doctor told us it was time to start telling Rohan and showing him who was boss. If we allow him to manipulate us because he is crying or because he looks cute or sad then he will become the boss. It took several days to accomplish this one small victory, but as of last night we won. Yeah for us! One battle down, countless more to come in the Toddler Wars!

On a sweeter note, Rohan now refers to me as papa and Tina as momma. There are no sweeter words than those. Sunday was my first experience with an unsolicited "papa" from him. Tina was holding him andhe said it and then came to me. His vocabulary is really developing across the board. We need to post all of the things he can say!

Ciao for now. Signing off from a 5am taxi ride to NYC.

Cheers,

Brian

Rohan's Latest Stats (4/28/08)

At 15 months, 3 weeks, he measured:

 

Weight: 27lb 6oz (75^th percentile)

Height: 33 7/8 inches (90-95^th percentile)

Head Circumference: 18 ¾ inches (75^th percentile)

 

This last week has been a trying one. Rohan is now asserting his role as the dominant person in the house and it really caught Tina and I off guard. Late last week while I was at a wedding he decided he no longer wanted to take a nap or go to bed at night time. He went so far as to start vomiting. He did that for a few days. Today we took him to the doctor and he basically told us this is a tactic many toddlers at this age do. They try to assert their dominance over the parent and if the parent doesn’t step up and be the boss, the baby becomes the boss. Tonight I put him into his crib and he screamed his little head off for fifteen minutes. I came back in and told him momma and I loved him and that we wanted him to sleep and then told him I wasn’t coming back in. This time around, he wailed like you wouldn’t believe, and then in about 20 minutes he was out cold. Solid!

 

Cheers

 

Brian

 

In NYC, and feeling fine

Musings from NYC:

• Today is tax relief day at Dunkin Donuts https://www.dunkindonuts.com/ buy a coffee, get a donut for free
• Shops near Times Square were open at 8am when I walked from my hotel to there. In case you need some sneakers for your lunch time game, Foot Locker is ready to sell them to you
• Central Park was packed full of runners this morning and naturally I had to try to pass as many people as possible without being passed myself and now I’m tired as hell. There was just one small blond girl that I couldn’t catch. She was booking.
• Investment bankers are so busy they can’t even meet for a drink. Or at least, they pretend to be so busy they can’t meet.
• People here are cranky. Yesterday I got out of the taxi and felt a bit flustered by almost getting run over by opening the door into traffic, and then when I got out on the right side I shut the door and someone yelled at me for not leaving the door open for him. The taxi driver yelled at me too. Do people in NY die earlier than elsewhere as a result of their foul moods?
• Hotel rooms in NY are probably the worst of any major city, and they charge twice as much for the privilege of staying there

Opening Doors

Rohan opened his first door today. Watch out, here comes trouble!

 

I sense a job coming up for me this weekend…

 

Musings as I ride my bike around Amsterdam

I rode my rental bike to work the last two days. Last night I was really challenged when we left the office at 9:30pm and we still had a 30 minute ride back to the apartment, assuming we didn’t get lost like we did in the morning. One of the good things about riding the tram for the last week is we familiarized ourselves with the landmarks and it was actually simple to figure out where we made the one wrong turn. Naturally, we had started down the right street and then thought it was the wrong one and turned around and proceeded in the wrong direction. We made it back home in 25 minutes flat at a very leisurely pace, which was awesome because that is half the time it takes to go by foot > tram > foot. It’s only 4 miles from the apartment to the office, and if I didn’t have the bike and I was really feeling frisky I think I’d almost prefer a brisk walk home than a 50 minute / 4 mile tram ride with lots of waiting and walking in-between. Anyway, the cycling around town is really awesome. I see no reason why every major urban area in the US can’t have this same type of system. In Holland, bicycles come first. If a motorist hits a cyclist, even if the cyclist was a total knucklehead, it’s the driver’s fault. As a result, cars are always on the lookout for bikes. That doesn’t exactly happen in the US. Don’t even get me started on Atlanta. It must be the most “unfriendly” cycling city in the US.

 

Everyone traveling to Amsterdam should feel obliged to rent a bike. It’s really the best way to see the city. The bikes are easy to maneuver and the seats are big and wide, so your bottom doesn’t hurt too badly like it would on a road bike. As I have ridden around town over the last couple of days, I feel like I have really submersed myself into the culture and really feel like a true Dutchman, if only for a few fleeting minutes when I’m not disrupting the flow of traffic or nearly running over pedestrians. In my opinion, cycling is one of the reasons Dutch women have nice legs. So ladies, if that isn’t reason enough to hustle around town on a bike, even for short distances, then I don’t know what is!

 

My favorite bike here is the traditional Gazelle, which you probably know without even knowing you know it. I also think the concoctions they have created for transporting children are really cool. They have bikes with what looks like a wheelbarrow on the front. You stuff the kids in the wheelbarrow and off you go. You’ll also see some young mommies riding with children that look no older than Rohan in a seat right in front of them, essentially strapped to the handlebars. Tina, let’s get one!

 

Last night we found a fantastic tapas place on Westersstraat, which is in the Jordaan district right near our apartment. It was called Paso Doble. We had a nice Spanish waitress and my colleague Eduardo felt happy that he could finally speak Spanish with somebody. We ordered way too much food, probably had one drink too many, and made our way back to the apartment around midnight. All in a days work!

 

Today I was back up at 6:40am for a quick 30 minute jog and then headed back to work. Today we have a hard stop at 7pm, thank goodness…because the last three days of the workweek are going to be hell.

European sports

I can’t help but notice how weird European sports are. What’s on TV this weekend? Let me tell you!

 

MotoGP Sport Bike Racing (and reruns of yesterday)

Women’s Cross Country Running (hugh?)

Rowing – Oxford vs. Cambridge (a big deal?)

Track Cycling (at least it looks interesting)

Curling (I usually only watch this when heavily intoxicated and during the winter Olympics)

Snooker (I just don’t get it)

 

I thought I’d get to see a cycling race since there are two good ones this weekend in France and Belgium, respectively. How disappointing!

 

Losing an hour...again (notes from Amsterdam)

Sunday morning I woke up and realized I had truly done something I may never do again in my entire life: Lose an hour due to daylight savings time twice in the same year. Our government decided it would be great if we confuse the rest of the world for three weeks and move our daylight savings schedule up. While I do enjoy having more light at night in March, I don't think I would be hurt to wait for the rest of the world to switch over as well. So I lost an hour three weeks ago and I lost another one today. Let's mark that one in the hall of records.

 

Yesterday was a gloriously sunny day in Amsterdam. I spent most of it inside trying to finish some things needed for work on Monday morning, however, I did manage to sneak out for a couple hours in the middle of the day for lunch. I also secured a bike rental for the week, which cost about 47€, so basically if I use it twice a day rather than take the tram and a taxi here and there and I'll break even. Besides that, it's just faster to get around Amsterdam on a bicycle than on anything motorized. There are so many people everywhere and I think this is the one person in the world where a bicycle has right of way over a pedestrian. Cars are somewhere in the middle I think. You definitely have to be an aggressive driver here or you'll never get anywhere with all the bikes and people. It's a bit unnerving to have a car buzz past you when you are on a tight road and have nowhere to go and I could see how a lot of people wouldn't enjoy that aspect of bicycle riding around here. I plan to use the bicycle to jaunt off to and from work, weather cooperating of course.

 

I made my way over to Leidsestraat yesterday, which is one of the main shopping streets and is also on the way from the other shopping and red light districts up near Centraal Station to the museum district (Van Gogh, Rijksmuseum, etc.). It was a madhouse full of people. I took a spin up and down but didn't do a whole lot. I was mainly looking for something to eat that wouldn't require an hour of time. That would be okay if I had someone to enjoy the hour with, but when I'm alone I don't really care to sit around and stare at my napkin. I didn't end up finding anything suitable so I got back on my bicycle and headed back near the apartment where I knew there were some places like that. It is a 15 minute walk from there to the apartment, but less than 5 minutes on the bike!

 

I spent the day until about 8pm working and then went out for Indian food at night. There is a restaurant nearby called Shahjahan and I'd give it an "OK" rating. It was definitely spiced down for the locals and I should have thought to mention I want it "desi hot" (like an Indian would eat). It was also very creamy, and that always spells trouble for me.

 

To my delight, I found out NCAA basketball games can be viewed over the Internet from the Netherlands, so I watched a bit of a game with UCLA last night. It didn't start until midnight, I think. Of course, in the morning I realized I was watching a game from Thursday night. Oops. UCLA won last night too, so I felt like I was seeing the real deal.

 

It's just past Noon here and I still have a couple more hours of work to do. I'd better get to it!

 

Brian

 

The last few days (notes from Amsterdam)

Wednesday through Friday this week went by like a blur. Our whole team got together and had a sort of workshop to take stock of where we are at with our project. The great thing that came out of this for me and the family is that we decided my last week on the project will be next week, so when I return home April 5 I'll be home for good. At least, I'll be home from this project without any prospects for doing additional international travel in the near future.

Wednesday we worked until 9pm and then headed out on the Sneltram to Amsterdam Centraal Station. Sneltram literally means "fast tram" because it supposedly skips some stops, yet somehow it still takes 20 minutes to go 4 kilometers. I don't really get that. Anyway, my colleagues were staying at the KH Barbizon Hotel right next to Centraal Station, which had a fantastic lobby area. I heard from them later the rooms weren't so great, and for that I say "Welcome to Europe!" We asked the concierge for a recommendation on a restaurant and he recommended Het Melkmeisje, which literally translates to "The Milk Maid." It was just around the corner and had availability, so we went for it. It was right at the entrance to the red light district, so the area was full of people. The restaurant was typical Dutch style, in my opinion, in that it was small with a high ceiling and glass from floor to ceiling at the entrance. It was similar to the bruine café's we went to last time in the Netherlands. This place had a great wine list and I ordered a bottle of French Rhone that was something like a Syrah. I wish I could remember the name. It was tasty! I ordered a pepper steak to go with it and found I preferred it over German or Austrian pepper steaks, which are typically cream sauce based. This was based in something more like runny syrup. We wrapped up dinner around midnight and then Eduardo and I hustled back to the apartment, which was about a 15 minute walk. On our way back to the apartment we found the red lights extended far beyond the red light district. We were walking down a street a few blocks from the apartment and there were some red neon lights visible all over some windows on the other side of the street. To my surprise, there was a scantily clad lady flirting with some young men next to one of those windows. As we got further down the road, we walked past another "shop" on our side of the road and there was a woman standing in her bra and panties. I had to laugh, take one more look, and then walk on home.

Thursday my run started too early for my taste. After finishing dinner at midnight, I was up at 6am and with a mostly full belly still went out for a run. Needless to say, I took it nice and easy. This morning I noticed it was garbage day. Ordinarily, that would be unremarkable, but in Amsterdam they just throw their garbage bags onto the sidewalk rather than into a trash can. With trash bags strewn about, it made it a bit difficult to stay in the pedestrian lane, so I went out into traffic, which is mostly bicycles, but is actually a bit more nerve wracking than automobiles because you can't hear them coming along. There weren't many of them at that hour, so it wasn't too bad.

At work on Thursday we had another long day, wrapping up at 9pm again. This night the local folks from our project joined for dinner and our project Principal took us to one of her favorite restaurants, Blauw aan de Wal. This place was really in the heart of the red light district, so on the way to the restaurant you have to pass by all of the dirty little shops that make up that district. Somewhere between a porn shop and a peep show was a particular graffiti filled alleyway and at the end of it, to my sincere surprise, was the restaurant that was extremely civilized. It had a fantastic wine menu of high-end European selections and a menu crazy enough to justify it. I have been to a lot of really nice restaurants and have learned about a lot of foods that you wouldn't find in many places, and I'd say this place prided itself on having the most obscure gourmet creations possible. If only I had taken a copy of the menu I could share it with you, but as it stands now I can't even remember what the names of things were. Just think about obscure varieties of fish, vegetables, meat and meat derivatives, and that would be what they would have. I decided to skip a starter since I felt I had eaten rich foods already on that day and plus I saw some desserts that seemed more worthy of my calorie budget. I went for veal on the shank, along with the marrow from the bone, which was a first for me. It was served with a side of something I thought resembled a potato croquette, but I'm not actually sure what it was. There were also a couple other things that I have no clue what they were, and then some vegetables that I can't recall now. Everything was magnificent. For dessert I had some kind of chocolate cake-like thing. I don't know what the name for it is, but let's just say it was good. I would highly recommend this restaurant, and you have to be prepared to spend about 100€ per person if you choose to go there.

Thursday night ended around 1am, and I still managed to drag my tired self out for a run that morning. The day was mostly uneventful and we finished work by 8:30pm (On a Friday! In Amsterdam!) and then Eduardo and I went back to the apartment. We decided to stay in for the night and cook. I suggested Mexican food and so we went to the Albert Heijn grocery store and put together the best mix of ingredients we could get to make tacos. We made soft shell tacos and refried beans and it was great. I finally went to bed before midnight (barely, but still…) and slept until 9:30am the next morning. Life is good again.

The weather is back to normal and I'm feeling fine (notes from Amsterdam)

I awoke this morning with the urge to go do something active and lose the jet lag. I find getting back into my routine for both fitness and food is the best way to do that.

Last night we went to a reasonably posh if not trendy restaurant called Werck, which I found out after I got there should have been called "Wreck" because of the poor service and low quality food. That was a disappointing start, so I hope tonight we can find a place with equally as pleasing ambience with the food to match!

I also went to a grocery store to make good on eating better on this trip and with the hope I can control myself. On my trip to Helsinki a few weeks ago, I gained 7 pounds. I don't know how I did it, but sure enough the pants felt a little tighter when I got home. Anyway, back to the grocery store. It was called a super market, but was equivalent to the size of two 7-Eleven stores. I surveyed the store to see what they had before grabbing anything and found it was a decent market with fair variety for how small it was. I found the prices to be relatively cheap, especially on alcohol. Of course, I have to convert to USD, but when I compare the prices here to the prices at home, I think European groceries are cheaper. Alcohol was cheap. I bought a bottle of Bordeaux for 4€ and you could pick up a twelve pack of Heineken for 7€ and change. Fruit was also reasonably priced, so I bought packs of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and apples (the only that wasn't cheap). I look forward to eating them today.

Amsterdam is really the perfect runner's town. It's basically flat, with the only hills to speak of the bumps you have to go up and over to pass over all of the canals. The streets are generally brick, and while that can sometimes be a bit tricky to navigate if one has come loose, I think it's easier on your body than concrete. I ran around both sides of Prinsengracht this morning, which is one of the rings that form semi-circles around Amsterdam. I ran the whole thing in 37 minutes, so basically that should give you some perspective on the size of the Amsterdam central district (it's small). If you haven't been to Amsterdam before but expect to go at some point, bring your walking shoes. You can really walk around this whole city without ever needing a car.

Our whole team is coming to our office today, so I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and having a productive day. Until next time…

Arrived in Amsterdam

This morning I arrived to snowy and cold Amsterdam, which I’m told is a bit abnormal for this time of year. It actually isn’t that bad; even Atlanta had some snow flurries yesterday. The difference is Atlanta was warm and sunny the day before and probably went straight back to that condition today!

 

As a result of all the snow in Amsterdam, our office is closed. The office manager got snowed in at her house, so no one was there to open the doors for me and my colleague, Eduardo Rocha. Thankfully, we found out with enough time so we just went straight to our corporate apartment where we were headed anyway (so I could wash the international travel stink off me) and we are staying there for the day. The corporate apartment is absolutely beautiful, and in a perfect location right in the heart of Amsterdam near the Anne Frank house. It is appointed in contemporary European style with wide-planked bleached hardwood floors (that appear to be heated), stainless steel appliances, flat screen TV’s with a Bose sound system, Grohe faucets and fixtures, and an espresso machine. It’s much more comfortable than a hotel. It is set up in a roommates sort of plan so each of us has our own room and bathroom and then we share a common living area. The apartment has a terrible wireless internet connection and that is definitely slowing me down today, but I am surviving without it…barely.

 

The flight over was one of the worst ones I have experienced from a comfort level perspective, so I’m very happy to be settled into a relaxing and comfortable environment. I was on a terrible Delta flight on a 767 in a seat that didn’t recline with a headrest that had neck support but turned out to be a tease as it collapsed every time my head put pressure on it, and to make matters worse I had a small electrical box where my right foot should have gone, so I was basically sitting upright with my legs crossed for the entire flight. Note to self and anyone else reading this: Don’t book seat 29C on Delta flight 38 from Atlanta to Amsterdam!

 

I miss Rohan a lot on this trip (and Tina too of course). I think yesterday he really knew I was leaving and that was the first time he put two and two together in that he saw my suitcase and the way I was acting and knew I was going to be gone for a while. Tina told me he cried for five minutes after I left, which definitely made me sad. There will be many more of these days to come because a consultant’s life is all about travel.

 

Until the next posting…

Ear infection

One of the less enjoyable parts about parenthood is managing a sick child. Most of the time when you can figure out that they are ill, you feel bad for them, but you don't really know what is wrong with them. Today we took Rohan to the doctor and found out he has an ear infection. I had tubes in my ears as a baby and hope he doesn't have the same fate. He has been generally irritable for days now, so it is good to know it's something serious and not a change in behavior for the worse!

On another note, I'm heading to Europe for a couple weeks starting next Monday. I'm not really looking forward to another weekend away from home. Duty calls and I agreed to it, so here I go! I'll spend 5-6 days in Amsterdam and then head to London for a couple days, and then I'll either head back to Amsterdam or go to Helsinki for a few days. Lots of travel. Lots of air miles. Bad exchange rate = expensive trip.

Making good on staying in touch

I created this blog to stay in touch with friends and family. The primary purpose will be to talk about what is going on with our family life, and especially notes, photos, and videos of our children.