The van Putten Diaries

I tried to pull some thoughts out of Nic for a check-in, and he did have a few things worth mentioning but they all came out of him in bullet-point format rather than a narrative.  So, here you go: Nic isn't picking up Dutch as quickly as he thought he would just from existing here.  But Miles is, and that's great! Summer is nice.  Things are good. He's very glad that there's a dog park in the neighborhood because he does so like dogs.  And Saartje (neighborhood Corgi) is so soft. Nic does wish that we had more friends and that he had joined the fencing club by now, but he's also aware that not everything needs to happen at once He misses people. He's looking forward to engaging in the upcoming Dutch elections and doing some volunteer work with a political party.  It's an opportunity to meet like-minded people and he really likes this work and how this work is part of his role in a community. The kids are doing really well growing.  Nic is absolutely loving...

It's been just about 8 months since we moved and it's hard to say whether it feels like it's been a long time or a short time.  We're established enough that we see our neighbors around town and we say hello (in Dutch).  We have a good idea of how most things about daily life work here and where to find what we need, or who to ask if we don't.  Yet, I still look out the window at the now familiar street we've chosen to live on and it feels novel.  It still feels a little surreal, like it's a dream come true but I had written off that dream and left behind so long ago that even the dream itself is unfamiliar.  I don't think about Tacoma often.  When I do, I'm no longer flooded with anxiety and discomfort.  I miss our house and our yard and our cat, and then I also really don't.  I miss some people and my spirit becomes full of love for them, and then I let it go.  I never hesitate to send them a message when I'm thinking of them, though. ...