Laurel Elisabeth Stevens

Yesterday I celebrated my 40th birthday.  One of the cool things about turning 40 is that I can now multiply my kids' ages by each other and it equals me.  It will only last for another 20 days or, and then one will be nine.  I wonder--will such an equation happen again?  There's an algebra problem for you. But, since I am not the sum of my children, or neither am I the product of my children, (though they are the product of, well, anyway) . . .I have thought about some other things recently. We have so much.  We had a big cake in celebration and there is lots left over.  We had lots of bottles of wine and sparkling water in the fridge and there are lots left over.  We run the tap to get the water warm and it just goes down the drain.  So much water, and it is all clean.  I am grateful for the sun that shines on us and the rain that poured on us today.  I'm grateful for the time to play and relax, to be busy and learn.  I'm gr...

I woke up this morning (Saturday) before 6 AM suddenly remembering "Our internet is being cut off today!"  I nearly jumped out of bed and ran to the computer.  I needed to write.  (and post).  Our computer will be packed up on Monday, so losing these two things brings me right back to where I was in those early days in Celle, except not quite.  I still have my iPhone.  But that brings up the age gap--I just don't see myself blogging from my iPhone.  But who knows.  The need to post our progress might just drive me to it.  Usually, however, it is better if I put a little bit of distance between the actual events and the blog post--it's more fun for you to read. This week has been quite an emotional roller coaster, not so much the nostalgic kind, but the kind of emotion that comes when everything seems to be going wrong.  Most of the problems have to do with leaving this house and getting to the next one.  But we have a lot of good ...

Intriguing Walk I’m in love with the heath.  In the guide book this place kept grabbing my attention from our earliest arrival.  Finally as my birthday approached I told the family that is where we would go to celebrate.  So, against German custom (celebrating early is bad luck) we drove to Lüneberger Heide for my “birthday outing” as our family is beginning to term these little trips. It started out poorly.  In spite of my enthusiasm, I hadn’t planned well.  I just figured we would go exploring.  There is a large nature park that encompasses part of the heath (Heide), so during the one hour drive I was looking at the website on my iPhone and telling John where to go, continually revising our plan.  Nevertheless, we arrived in good time and parked. But was it chilly!  I guess the house was warm when we got dressed, and the sun was shining, so half the family left without coats, and only one fourth of the family had a jacket that might r...

In February when I was making reservations for an apartment in Amsterdam, I made a phone call about a canal apartment.  The owner, an American, told me, “Oh no, that’s not available.  That’s Queen’s Day weekend.  You know it’s Queen’s Day, right?” No, I didn’t. What was Queen’s Day?  The only thing I could gather from Ms. Marshall was that it would be a crazy day celebrating the Queen’s birthday, and everyone would be in Amsterdam.  Luckily, her other apartment was available so we booked it.  Later, when talking to our Dutch friends we told them we’d be in Amsterdam on Queen’s Day.  The husband’s response was exuberant: “Oh you’ll be there on Queen’s Day?  That’s terrific.  That’s awesome.  You’ll love it.  That will be great.” The wife’s response was a bit more subdued.  “Well, you could go to a smaller town where there will still be a celebration but not as crowded as Amsterdam.”  She also told us places in Amsterdam wh...