Ah the wondrous smell of a towel that was dried outside in sun and wind. Even with some kind of fabric softener it's still quite rough, and works like an exfoliating scrub.

Most subdivisions in the US don't even allow you to hang your laundry outside. Here it's common custom. In my dad's backyard is the "droogmolen" (drying mill) which turns around and holds quite a lot of laundry. To be honest, riding by an apartment building that has laundry hanging on most balconies made me realize it really doesn't look all that great, I get that point. It's just so much better and saves so much gas/electricity to dry laundry this way.

I remember when I was a kid, and my mom did laundry. Can you imagine how much that is for a family of six? This mill was completely loaded, we'd look for older laundry that was dry, so we could hang the next load.

Now that it's just laundry for three people (Kate, my dad and I), I have a bit more room. Most laundry is from Kate and me.

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It isn't healthy, it really isn't. This baggy even contains some MSG. But I miss Paprika flavored snacks when I'm in the U.S. (at times). BBQ flavor is okay, but it's not this. I'm eating way too much unhealthy stuff when I'm in the land of my birth!

"Poh Fich Ah". Mike asked me if we could eat those. It took awhile before it dawned on me he meant "Poffertjes". They're kind of like itty bitty pancakes, quite yummie, served with butter and powdered sugar. Healthy they're not, but at times, who cares.
	While I was in the Netherlands, my mom (her last gift to me) gave me some coupons so I could buy some poffertje pans to take home. The boys loved them last year, this way I could make them at home.
I also bought some poffertjes mix (always easier). The other day, poffertjes were on the menu. I took pics. I'd have shared them with my mother to show her that the gift was being put to good use, now I'm sharing them with whoever reads this.
Some eggs.
Three to be exact.
Side one (I need to get less messy about putting them in) This was actually the last pan, and I was running out of poffertjes batter.
Side two.
Hmmm.
On the plate, with messy powdered sugar :-).

And before potential thieves think "oh great, an opportunity", we left daddy at home.

To the right: in the pool with Cousin Pam (pronounced in Dutch: Pahm)

Leaving daddy at home has always been fine, but this time mommy won't suffice. She misses daddy and her boys and her peanut. She misses them terribly actually. Today, when we saw the men of our household on the webcam with the dog, she was overcome with sadness.

When she talks to daddy on the phone, she'll say "Daddy I misses you." She might add an "I want to go home." But she doesn't get so deeply sad. That's it for me, no more web cam. I know her daddy and her boys will miss that. Perhaps one sided webcamming might work, without seeing them, we'll see.

Other than that, Miss Kate is quite happy with the attention she gets from Opa. She's looking forward to Oma being home from the hospital. The reason for our trip is the very fact that Oma was admitted to the ICU a little over a week ago. She's now out of the ICU, and given time to recover as much as is possible, given her condition.

Oma went into the ICU on a Thursday and we were at her bed on Saturday, it was that scary for a bit. They were going to put her on some kind of mask that is meant to help inflate the respiratory system so she'd get more air/oxygen. They'd do that for 3 days, if that didn't work, they wouldn't be able to do anything, and it'd mean good bye.

Fortunately she responded very well to added medication (she can open up her own pharmacy) and didn't need the treatment with the mask (sorry, I don't know the medical terms in English). After a few days she recovered enough to leave the ICU.

This morning the doctor cautiously mentioned a possible return home on Friday. For a hospital stay that started with an intake person asking my mother if she'd taken care of her funeral wishes etc., that's pretty good. For the record, if someone comes into the ICU, I don't think you should ask the patient if they've figured out their funeral. Ask the family if it's necessary, don't show the patient that you've pretty much given up on her.

We will be writing up some wishes for the time when it will really be over. Hopefully it'll be some time away, but with her general health condition, every day is a gift, really. She keeps coming back, to a point, she always loses a little ground, has to give up a little bit, but the woman has a fighting spirit of which I am in awe. She's so grateful to be able to live at home, and to be with my dad. My dad takes care of her so well. He waits on her hand and foot. Every meal is prepared by him, he brings her every drink she needs, every snack she wants. He heats up her shoulder wrap at night, makes sure her feet are warm, and much, much more. He's completely amazing.

This marks the first time I've flown back to the Netherlands in a hurry. It was that serious. In case things would have taken a turn for the worse, I didn't want to take the chance that I'd regret it later if I hadn't gone.

Luckily I'm able to work (somewhat, it's not easy to arrange time around hospital visits and caring for Kate.) I should really head off to bed, since it's close to midnight here in western Europe.

Being in the Netherlands makes me come up with lots of things I'd like to write. Coming home, even like this, is always a welcome opportunity to eat typically Dutch things, to be part of Dutch culture and customs a little bit again.

I don't think I would want to move back here, I love living in the United States, but there are some things...

More about that later, maybe, if I have time, and if my mom's health situation continues on this path and nothing serious happens.