Schiphol
Floor got back from her holiday to Crete on June 11th. Hein was on holiday as well that weekend, so we couldn’t pick Floor up from the airport. I’ve never gone anywhere in our van without Hein, because getting me into the thing requires a lot of muscle. When Roel proposed we go pick her up together, I didn’t hesitate, because Roel is a strong guy. Thus, I had my first van ride without Hein in six years, a milestone. Waiting for people at Schiphol Airport isn’t as fun as it used to be, by the way. No more glances at each other through the windows until the person being picked up collected their luggage. All there’s left now is an anonymous exit and texting back and forth to find each other. We came home to the smell of pie and the anticipation of the first match of the World Cup.
Oh, and Floor? She had a good time. She barely went anywhere on the island and the only differences between the pictures of her on Crete and her in Zeeland were the views.
Air conditioning
Our room has had air conditioning since last August. The salesman told us that having an AC in a bad idea because it dehumidifies the air. A better idea would be to turn it on before going to bed and turning it off when we actually did. So we did, but before you knew it, it was sweltering again and I could wave goodbye to my good night’s rest. I remedied it last year by sleeping downstairs. I can’t do that this year. As a last resort, we just turned the AC on while we were trying to sleep. It was fantastic. While the rest of the Netherlands was melting, we were sleeping in an 18°C bedroom. I’m such a pansy.
Pain
Since September of last year, I’ve had a painful big toe, probably because of my shoes. I didn’t think there was an easy way to solve it. Whenever I’m in my wheelchair, my legs have to absorb most of the bumps in the road. I try to use my footrests as little as possible. Standing up in the patient lift wasn’t a picnic either, I was in a lot of pain. The shower lady concluded that I had a clavus in my big toe. Even then, I didn’t think there would be an easy solution. After all, my shoes would always keep chafing and putting pressure on my big toe. I decided to just live with it, until I had a pedicure two weeks ago. The corn was removed and my foot hasn’t hurt since. I have no idea why I waited for so long to have it fixed. Not a clue. Floor said it was typical, just like me.
Graduation
Thursday, June 15th was the day we’d all been waiting for. Floor was expecting a phone call around three. It came at 15:15 and it bore good news. While that historic moment played out, I was on the toilet, so I missed most of it. I made up for it later. Tim, Lieke’s son and fellow graduate, came by to celebrate, along with grandma, grandpa and Lieke. We celebrated and toasted for hours. On June 30th Floor got her diploma, her high school days are over. Only then did we put up the flag, with her old school backpack on the pole.
Let’s kill ALS
We kicked June off with a photoshoot for an article for a local magazine. Monieke, Hein’s sister, set it up. The whole family gathered on the bridge and waited for our elusive photographer. We saw lots of familiar faces while we were up there, but no photographer. After waiting for a little while longer, the writer of the article decided to take the picture. Lia had brought her bright red handbag, which would look good on a picture, even one in black and white. I’d expected it to be more about the cycling charity drive, but it was more about me. It turned out great. Read it here [it’s in Dutch].
While we were celebrating Floor’s graduation, we talked about the charity tour. It wasn’t looking good, it was planned on a regular work day and a rainy one at that. Lottery ticket sales were good though. Four out of sixteen people who celebrated with us won prizes.
The charity drive was on Wednesday. It rained all morning and we left a bit late. We dropped the kids off at SnowWorld and made our way too the farm where we’d be spectating the tour. We were just in time to wish some of our cycling friends good luck. There were about 60 participants, most of them family and friends. We generated about 1800 for ALS, not as much as I’d hoped, considering how much effort everyone put in. Planning it was fun though and it created a lot of buzz. A big thank you to both my family and the others who helped organize the event.
Ward has had a busy month: exams, a tennis tournament and celebrating his birthday. Fortunately, he passed his exams and he won’t have to do anything until we go on holiday in August. I won’t be writing an entry for July, so the next time you’ll hear from me will be in September. Happy holidays, everyone!
