International House Of Pancakes

We've been running a boys' household for the last 10 days. We've been doing a lot of cooking. We made dinner every night and many times we also cooked breakfast. The healthy kind. Pancakes with maple syrup and bacon strips and fruit juice. The boys enjoy making their own. That's even more fun than eating them.

Shopdropping

I am usually very much entertained by guerilla marketing techniques. Earlier this year, I wrote about a campaign by Cartoon Network that upset the city of Boston. Recently, there has been much attention for shopdropping. Instead of advertising or convincing stores to give some shelfspace, shop droppers simply place their articles in stores themselves. Hopefully that will draw attention and generate a buzz.

The New York Times ran an article about shopdropping this week. It featured a picture of T-shirts dropped in a Target store by an arts group in Oakland CA, the Center for Tactical Magic. The shirts season's greeting from the "three wise men": Karl Marx, Che Guevara and Mikhail Bakunin.

Dear Santa...

In case you did not have a chance to look in our stockings, here's our wishlist. Hopefully you are reading this blog. We are a little concerned that you can't find our new house. We don't live in Atlanta anymore, and our subdivision is so new that it does not show on Google Earth or on the GPS navigator. Hopefully you will notice the outrageous Christmas lights on our house.

Holiday preparations

It will be a boy's holiday this year. Ina and her sister are in Indonesia. I will stay home with the boys. And the dog. We'll do skate parks, movies, and things around the house.

Greg and Sammy have been helping getting our home into the holiday spirit. Sammy made a nutcracker at school, and Gregory made his own Christmas tree out of coat hangers.

Sports Center

Today's week 15 of the 2007 season of the National Football League. Cincinnati already lost to their superbowl rivals the San Francisco 49ers. The Cowboys will play the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Jets will face the Patriots. Here's Sammy reading the complete schedule.

Cage dwellers

Until she's fully house broken, our puppy Carly stays in her crate for most of the day. Her only time out is for doing her business, for eating, and for playing with the kids.

The boys are supposed to be responsible and should teach her how to behave. That's not always working out. Many times the kids are actually copying the dog's behavior. As illustrated by this picture.

Doc Ock

Gregory has been experimenting with the copier lately. This is what he created with his Dr. Otto Octavius action figure. Dr. Octavius is better known as Doctor Octopus or Doc Ock.

President George W. Spiderman

I thought it was about time for some more artwork on this blog. Here's one of Sammy's recent drawings: a portrait of president George W. Spiderman.

Hair straightening

When I first met Ina and her sister Ima, I got stuck in a Jakarta bar for hours because of a thunderstorm. We could not leave because the rain would make their hair all curly.

In 1872, Marcel Grateau (a Parisian) used heated rods to straighten or style hair. In 1909, Issac K. Shero patented a hair straightener composed of two flat irons that are heated and pressed together. Almost one hundred years later, the flat iron is still Ina's preferred method of straightening her hair after having taking a shower.

Hair straightening is a time consuming routine, so there is plenty of time to watch some Hollywood celebrity gossip videos on TMZ.

A puppy

We have a puppy! Greg and Sammy had been asking for a dog for a year. They gave up their big birthday presents, but all they got were pooper scoopers and poopie bags.

After a lot of trips to Petland stores looking at yorkies, schnauzers, and maltesers, we finally decided on a pocket beagle this week. That's a lively dog of a size that the boys can handle. Our puppy is a girl, and her name is Carly. Most of the time, she's napping. Preferably in one of our laps.

I am not really known as the biggest dog lover in town. But hey, maybe Carly will make "het baasje" change his mind.

Happy Thanksgiving 2007

We celebrated our 8th Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. We joined the cooking tradition years ago. Of course we had turkey with cranberry sauce and stuffing. And roast potatoes with rosemary, along with zucchini, butternut squash, and a Waldorf salad. And some Sonoma valley merlot to top it off. And the traditional football game? We did not really watch it. The Dallas Cowboys beat the New York Jets earlier this afternoon in Texas Stadium. The highlight were the snowflakes making a surprise appearance late in the second quarter. Yes, it was cold today.

The skate park

It's Thanksgiving break. The boys are off from school this week, and I am also taking vacation. We are taking advantage of the warm weather. It is still 80 degrees (27 Celsius), so we took to the park. We discovered a pretty cool skate park in Allen. Greg and Sammy have been riding their skateboards and their Razor scooters, while I was enjoying the sunshine and listening to loud grunge music played. I never knew young people still listened to Nirvana and Pearl Jam.

The rise of the euro

The euro has been rising steadily against the dollar. It is also gaining ground as a global currency. There has been talk about China and the Arabian nations keeping a portion of their reserves in euros. So far, it's been just talk.

Mafia kingpins have already changed their currency of choice for money laundering and storage. It used to be the one hundred dollar bill. Now it's the 500 euro note. And that applies to both real gangsters and musical gangstahs.

In the video for Blue Magic, top musical gangstah Jay Z is driving through the streets of New York flashing huge stacks of euros. Some financial experts labeled Jay-Z an economic forecaster, of sorts, calling him the next Alan Greenspan. Nobody legitimizes the euro like Jay-Z.

Spotlight student

Every day, Greg and Sammy open their schoolday with the Star Spangled Banner, the pledge of allegiance to the American flag and to the state flag. Next some students will present a short news bulletin that is televised over the school's CCTV system. They will announce what's on the menu for that day, and what the Maverick's score was.

Once a week, this is followed by a little award ceremony. A handful of students is awarded for helping others, showing good attitude, or simply for uniqueness. Yesterday, Sammy was the spotlight student. He received the uniqueness award.

Halloween in Stonebridge Ranch

We had our first Halloween in Stonebridge Ranch. Greg was dressed up as Michael Myers, while Sammy was Optimus Prime. Here are some belated Halloween pictures.

Birthday Bengal

More than anything else, Sammy wanted a Cincinnati Bengals uniform for his birthday. Why would a boy who just moved from Atlanta to Dallas not prefer the Cowboys or the Falcons? It's probably because of the tiger motives on the uniform. After all, Sammy also likes the LSU Tigers, the Auburn Tigers, and the Clemson Tigers.

Here's Sammy doing a two minute drill in the park down our street.

Happy 8th birthday, Sammy! Touchdown!

Pizza Hut Park

We went to see FC Dallas' last regular season game at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco. That's a brand new, 20,000 seat soccer stadium not far from our home. Soccer is very family friendly entertainment. Many youth soccer teams come to see FC Dallas. Women and children almost outnumber men.

The match was sold out. Apart from FC Dallas and local team jerseys, there were many foreign shirts, primarily Latin American. There is also a Brazilian style drum band.

Since Dallas had already secured a spot in the MLS play-offs, their stars Denilson, Ricardinho and Carlos Ruiz had the night off. Dallas lost 2-0 to the Kansas City Wizards, but not many cared much about that. Next week, the MLS play offs start, and that's what really counts.

Just grass

The backyards of most new homes in Dallas are void of any landscaping. It's just grass. Mostly St. Augustine, Bermuda or Zoysia. Nevertheless, just grass. No shrubs or trees or borders with flowers: just grass.

What to do about it? Some people build a pool, others spend their money on landscaping, but most folks just leave it the way it is.

We were determined to buy a home with a landscaped backyard. But new homes with landscaping are hard to find, so we compromised. Now landscaping will be one of many projects. In the meantime, I get to play around with the lawnmower.

LaSalle Bank

On Chicago O'Hare today, I noticed a bunch of LaSalle Bank ATMs. They have always been there, I never used them. But today, I decided to withdraw some money. Maybe for the last time, just before the geen and yellow shield will be replaced with B of A's red, white and blue.

To me it felt that my red, white, and blue is disappearing.

Moving in

It felt like juggling balls. On July 6th, we tossed all our balls high up in the air. After almost three months of hangtime, everything landed perfectly today in our new home. There were two trucks this time, with smaller trailers and not as tightly packed. Nevertheless, the movers delivered a lot of stuff. We'll be unpacking boxes for weeks.

De eikeltjes

Fall is here. While the temperature is still hitting 90 degrees (32 Celsius) every day, there are sure signs that summer is over. Daylight is shorter for one thing, and the oaks are producing acorns.

We collected a bunch of live oak acorns today, and I introduced Greg and Sammy to the age old art of making acorn puppets and spinning tops. They could not believe toys could be that simple. Gregory even wanted to go shopping for more acorns.

Sky Ranch

Greg returned today from a 3 day school camp at Sky Ranch in Van, TX. That's a two hour bus ride east of Dallas. The fifth graders learned about ranch life and about all kind of animals.

Here's a picture Greg took during his time on the ranch and a journal entry he wrote:

Day 1:
Dear mom and dad. I had a great day. First we touched and petted horses and lamas. Even a donkey and also goats. The funniest part was when one of the instructors showed a lama spit on him by touching his butt. And we were going down a long fast big waterslide. It was awesome, so kool. We went horseback riding. They were so big. I got big. And we talked about nature and saw some spiders. Oh, you will be afraid of this one: they have venom snakes. Well, I had a good time but I still miss you.

Happy birthday to Greg!

Greg turned 11 today. He treated his new friends in school to a great american cookie cake. They loved it.

Greg loves his new school. Not as much as Hembree Springs, of course. But Wilmeth Elementary is almost as good.

Last night we had a curriculum night at the new school. There is a lot of focus on reading. No more D.E.A.R. time (Drop Everything And Read time). From now on, Greg is expected to read 60 minutes a day: 30 minutes in school, and 30 minutes at home. A good thing there are so many great books in the school library.

Football's starting

Tonight's the kick-off for the new NFL season. It's the Saints vs. the Colts. NBC has been teasing us for weeks with a commercial featuring Peyton Manning and Reggie Bush.



Who's going to win? The game's tied 10-10 at the half.

Texas mushrooms

Watertowers are mushrooming across the suburban ranchland of Dallas. They are a sign of the fast development up here. They also serve as useful landmarks in the open landscape.

I've always been fascinated by watertowers. Ever since my toddler years in Brielle which boasts a beautiful black and white tower.

The water in Texas hold is not the best I've ever tasted. Water is pumped from a large number of lakes throughout North Texas. It has an earthy/musty flavor and odor due to algae decay in the raw water source.

The good news is that there's enough of it. This year has been one of the wettest on record, turning Dallas in a green and leafy place.

Hari Merdeka

Sekali merdeka, tetap merdeka!!

Independence Day in Houston

We just returned from a weekend trip to Houston. We attended the Independence Day celebration at the Indonesian consulate. The 17th of August was sandwiched between the two massive tropical storms Dean - still raging in the Gulf - and Erin, dumping water on Oklahoma. Apart from one downpour at 5pm, the celebrations were spared further rain. Ina stocked up on Indonesian food items, and caught up with many friends. Greg and Sammy played baseball and caught frogs. And I enjoyed the Indonesian music and dance.

Ina's new kitchen

Greg's new room

Sammy's new room

Our new home

We found a new home in Texas. In McKinney, 30 miles north of Dallas. It's still under construction. The builder tells us it should take another six weeks or so. It's fun, we can watch the construction from week to week, and we can still choose how some areas will be finished.

Greg and Sam are registered in their new school - Wilmeth Elementary, located just outside the La Cima subdivision.

La Cima is part of Stonebridge Ranch, a huge masterplanned community on old ranch land. We were attracted to this development because of its rolling landscape, the green belts, parks, and the brand new homes that are being built over there.

The turtle whisperer

There's a huge pond here in the Legacy Town Center. And like many other ponds and lakes in North Texas, it is turtle territory. You can attract them by throwing some food in the water. Or you can simply stick a leaf on a twig, put it in the water and wait for Mr. Turtle to bite it. "Whoa, Dude. Mister Turtle is my father. The name's Crush."

Under contract

I am back in Georgia for a business meeting, to collect the mail that Sally kept for us, to pick up a forgotten pair of pants at the dry cleaner's, and to take a picture of the "under contract" sign in our yard. YES!

Legacy Village

We have been living in Texas for a week now. We're staying in a temporary apartment in Legacy Village, right in the heart of the Legacy Town Center. That is a newly developed urban style oasis in suburban Plano, TX. It blends businesses, retail establishments, a hotel, restaurants, offices and open spaces in a newly created town center. The lead architect and planner of the center is new urbanist Andres Duany. It's so urban that even parking can be a problem... that's unheard of in Texas.

Graceland

This posting is more than a week late, but hey... Elvis passed away 30 years ago on August 16th, so an extra week doesn't matter that much. On our way from Georgia to Texas, we stopped by at Graceland, Elvis' long time home in Memphis, to pay tribute to the King. We toured his home, saw the famous jungle room with green carpet on the floor and ceiling, and admired his pink cadillac and other cars, as well as his two planes. Taking care of business in a flash!

L'albero del nonno

Another current favorite of mine is Specialized's Tour de France commercial with Paulo Bettini. Bettini? Is he even participating?

The Perfect Three Way

My favorite commercial these days is a very simple 15 seconds long retro Reese's Cups clip that has everyone guessing about what song it is.

The Ocoee river

On our way from Atlanta to Texas we drove through the Ocoee river gorge in Southeastern Tennessee. Over millions of years, the Ocoee River has cut a steep, winding channel into a mountainside of hard rock in scenic Cherokee National Forest. It was the location of the 1996 Olympic whitewater competitions.

Today we stopped by to have a look at the rafts and kayaks navigating the rapids.

Wallpaper

Many people who came to look at our house commented on our wallpaper. They would have preferred more neutral colors. We did not like the loud patterns of our wallpaper either when we first moved in. Over time, we came to like it. Now I am positive that we will miss the hunting scenes in our powder room, the rabbits, pigs, and ducks in our kitchen, and the bookshelves and and the Scottish tartan motives in the bathroom upstairs. We never read "Travels in the English countryside" and "Les chateaux de France".

Moving out

We moved out of our house today. After two days of packing, all our stuff was loaded on a moving semi truck. Just plants, cleaning products, chemicals and lots of dust were left behind. Driver Jim also loaded his Harley and our Honda. He is taking everything to Texas where it will go into storage.

It was a little sad to see our gutted home. We will spend the weekend cleaning it up. Next week, we'll drive to Texas.

Thomas

Congratulations to Albert, Regina and Floris!

The Competition

After yesterday's successful lemonade sales, Greg and Sammy set up shop again today. Soon they found out that the world had dramatically changed. Across the street, Kayla and Maryn opened a competing lemonade stand.

Luckily for Greg and Sammy, they did not spoil the market. They kept prices flat at 50 cents a cup. But they offered custom made bead buddies to go with the lemonade.

The lemonade wars caused the market to double in size. Instead of buying one cup of lemonade, most customers bought two. One at either side of the street.

Pink Lemonade

Here's another blog from our driveway. Greg and Sammy can't wait for the Transformers movie to open on Monday. And for our upcoming long drive to Texas, Greg wants to buy the PSP transformers game. The problem is he's just a couple of dollars short.

The boys have been thinking of many ways to make money. Sell old toys, help out with yard work, clean up their rooms, and many more chores. Since it was blazingly hot this week, they finally settled on selling lemonade. It's a classic business. Many neighbors stopped by today to quench their thirst with Greg and Sammy's quality lemonade.

Happy Father's Day

The boys went all out this father's day. They surprised me with some ceramic art work. I got a Hummer from Greg and a football helmet from Sammy. Both were beautifully decorated, glazed and fired to perfection.

In a car themed day, Greg traded all 2,000 of his Andretti's arcade tickets for a NASCAR #31 Jeff Burton license tag. He fixed it himself on the front of my Honda. And to top it all off, I also received a Tomtom ONE GPS navigator. That will surely come in handy during our house hunting trips next month in Texas.

Cookies and milk

Yesterday, Greg and Sammy had their last day of school. It was probably their last day ever on Hembree Springs Elementary. If all goes well, they will start the new school year in Texas.

So the summer season has started. Many summer nights will be spent like today's: swimming in our community pool followed by freshly baked cookies and milk before going to bed.