Vitamin Fanatic

Vitamins are a part of my daily life, I'm not sure when I became such a vitamin fanatic, but it has definitely been a few years now.  Some vitamins come and go depending on sales and some vitamins are a fixed part of my life.  Barely a day goes by that I don't take a multi- vitamin & mineral, I eat fairly healthy but just in case I like to make sure I'm getting whatever my meals didn't provide.  Plus I have a toddler at home and come in contact with a lot of kids, I need all the extra help I can get.  Besides the multi-vitamin there is the B-complex vitamin, I find this almost as important as the multi-vitamin.  B-complex produces energy & helps metabolism.  It also helps with the health of hair & nerves.  I also regularly take an Omega 3-6-9 vitamin, essential fatty acids. Fatty acids are important for the body to function normally, inc. skin, respiratory system, circulatory system, brain and organs. And then when I need an energy boost I take a Q-10 vitamin, and it's also a great antioxidant.  You might read this and think I go over the top, but that's my personality.  Plus, I'm allergic to a lot of fruits and if I don't take the time to cook them, I can't eat them. 

Obviously I don't want to solely rely on vitamin supplements so I also try and find foods that provide them as well.  A book that has helped me along the way is "The Real Vitamin & Mineral Book".  The book provides a description of each vitamin & mineral, it explains the pros and cons behind them, and also provides a list of foods in which you can find them.  One food that helps the body on multiple levels is the avocado, peanuts and spinach are also great.  I'm not the only one in the family that takes vitamins daily, it's a habit I started with my daughter also.  Even at just 2 yrs old there are plenty of multi-vitamins available.  Her favorite seems to be the raspberry flavored SpongeBob multi-vitamin, but she will eat most any of the brands I give her, thanks to the flavors.  Living in a cold country with little sunshine in the winter months she needs the extra help.  One of her friends always seems to have a cold and now that she's in preschool who knows what she'll come in contact with, I like knowing I am doing everything to help.  I also give her a vitamin D drop along with her breakfast to ensure she builds strong bones, again the lack of sun here means less access to it naturally.  She does enjoy drinking milk and it's in things like her cereal and yogurt but like myself why not ensure she is getting enough.  I want her to be accustom to eating healthy and living a nutritious lifestyle.  There are so many unhealthy and overweight adults and children in the world, I like to know I'm doing what I can to help me and my family, and to for come issues later down the road.

Popping Up

Since I get to experience Eindhoven mostly on foot I have the time to notice new things popping up all around town.  A funny thing I've noticed over the last few months is this sign!

What does it mean?  Is it a "no drinking zone", is it a "no glass zone"???  I've been on a mission to find out the meaning but so far no one can give me an answer.  I searched online and found similar signs but not this one.  Eventually I stumbled onto a local website "Eindhoven Dichtbij" and they too seemed to be asking the same question as me.  They had put out a request for photos of this sign and coincidentally I have some.  I emailed my photos to them and now I'm hoping they can help me in my mission.  And other than the beer glass popping up all over town so are these small electronic trash cans.  When they first installed the electronic trash cans near our apartment I swear it only let you swipe your card (stadpas) once per day, per container.  That doesn't sound bad unless your klutzy like me, I've had it close before I managed to get the trash bag in, which means I have to return home with the same trash I took out.

Like so often yesterday I set out with enough trash for two containers, the first bag went fine but when I turned to the 2nd trash can I realized someone else's trash was stuck in the machine!  I tried shaking it loose but nothing.  Instead of returning home with trash I decided to try my card on the 1st trash can again, and surprise, surprise it opened.  Now they truly are convenient.  Everywhere I go in the center of town I see them popping up, but do I really need one right outside of my apartment.  We received a letter in the mail from the city informing us they will be removing the parking spot in front of our apartment and installing an electronic trash can.  I'm not super pleased, I was happy with the two in the adjacent parking lot.  I wonder how this is going to affect selling our apartment?

Pandora's Box

In ancient Greek mythology Pandora's Box contained all the evils of the world, when she opened the box (actually a jar) it released evil into the world and the only thing remaining in the box was hope.  Nowadays, Pandora's Box contains beautiful customizable jewelry, and my husband bought it for me!!!  If you live here in Europe you most likely know the brand, but I am not sure if it's also popular in The States or not.  Ryan surprised me with a beautiful combination of three necklaces, they can be worn together or separate.  He said while at the store trying to design the necklace the women working the counter just didn't understand what he was coming up with, but once they pieced everything together they were very impressed, as well was I.  I have never owned necklaces that feel the way these do, they are so smooth, almost soft to the touch.  Because the necklaces are three different sizes they hang beautifully over my clothes and chest.  I was absolutely shocked when Ryan gave me the small silver bag from Pandora, I had told him not to buy me anything for Christmas because driving lessons were costing enough. 

But when does he ever listen to me, ha-ha!  As an addition to the necklace the store threw in a silver Pandora charm bracelet.  I can wear it as a silver band or add charms over time.  They sell a variety of unique charms from silver & gold to even glass.  For now I am going to enjoy the incredible necklace, I can always collect charms later.  My husband enjoys buying jewelry for me, over the past 10 yrs he has bought me a variety of rings, necklaces, and earrings from around the world.  He even brought me back an interesting belt that looks more like a necklace from Dubai.  The last time he went to The States he asked if he could pick anything up for me, I told him I would like a simple pair of hoop earrings.  I'm not a big spender so I like to keep the costs low, but like I said before he rarely listens to me.  And luckily for me, because when he returned from California he had a pair of unique yellow & white gold earrings from Bloomingdale's.  I have never seen anything like them, instead of being a hoop they are twisted together, the two different types of gold meeting at the bottom.  I am one lucky woman!  I should have known from the beginning that Ryan likes to buy jewelry, because I still have the first ring and necklace set he bought me at Wal-mart when he was 19 yrs old!

Music Moments

In my house music is very common, and my daughter has grown to enjoy music as much as us.  We like to crank it up after my husband gets home from work and dance around the living room, great family music moments!   

One album we are all enjoying at the moment is Mumford & Sons (they're a British folk rock band). It seems to be the running background music of our lives over the past two weeks. It's funny how you can like an album so much you will listen to it repeatedly. I remember at one time thinking Kings of Leon would never get taken out of rotation, but eventually they all get replaced. As of now Mumford & Sons is taking their slot on our playlists.  Then there is always Adele, she's great, I think everyone can appreciate her talent.  She's also someone we can listen to with the entire family or individually.  I'll often turn on one of the above albums while I'm writing, they're soothing, don't distract, and have a lot of emotion to them.  From what I understand Adele has become quite popular in The States but I'm not sure about Mumford & Sons... so for the ones of you who have never heard of these albums you really should give them a chance.  Now if I'm not listening to mellow British music, I'm listening to American rap, I love it! 

I love any music that will get me dancing but there's something special about rap. I wish I could say I outgrew it as a teenager but I didn't. I also wish I could say there are a lot of great rap albums out today, but I can't.  Other than dancing to it, I really enjoy exercising to it.  It's peppy enough to get me moving, yet has this aggression to it to keep me motivated on the crosstrainer.  The past couple of weeks I have either listened to Flo-rida or Nicki Minaj while exercising.  My husband also appreciates rap but he can't stand Flo-rida; he's more of an Eminem type.  And Nicki Minaj just makes fun rap, she's a little eccentric and that definitely reflects in her album.  I'm sure you've read this and lost a bit of respect for me, but you have to understand I enjoy a variety of music.  Before driving lessons I like to listen to Andrea Bocelli, and while growing up I almost played out my Phantom of the Opera cassette tape.  And I enjoy Metallica as much as I enjoy The Beach Boys!  I hope you all have music moments throughout your day!     

Deviled Eggs

Well the holidays are here so that means time for family dinners and get-togethers with friends. Most years I avoid having to bring a dish to the meals, opting out for snacks or drinks, but this year I was asked to make deviled eggs for my sister-in-laws Christmas Eve dinner. I dreaded every moment leading up to it. It's been years since I made deviled eggs and I can't say even then they tasted nice. But between a hectic holiday schedule, including a driving lesson on the morning of the 24th, I managed to make them. I decided to split the work up into two days, just so I wouldn't run out of time. Plus I like taking my time cooking, I don't want to make any mistakes. I boiled 2 dozen eggs according to a recipe I found online for deviled eggs, it was a different way of hard boiling eggs than I was used to. I put the eggs in a pot, brought the water to a boil, then only let them since in the hard boil for 3 minutes (usually I boil them for 10 minutes).  Then according to the recipe I was to remove them from the burner and let them sit in the hot water for 30 minutes, sounded strange but I had nothing else to work from. Then after letting them sit I was to to cool them in ice water for 20 minutes, all of this was to help with peeling and to lessen the chance of the green ring that often appears on boiled eggs. I felt this was a lot of work just to boil eggs but I wasn't going to take any chances. Apparently the hard work with deviled eggs is peeling them! But surprisingly enough I managed to peel 18 eggs without damaging them. I had 2 extra eggs just is case of a disaster but it worked out. According to the recipe I was supposed to leave the eggs on their side over night prior to boiling them to ensure the yolks were in the middle, but I didn't feel like turning it all into such a large project, I just wanted to make something edible. After peeling and slicing the eggs it was time to empty them to make the filling. This is also quite time consuming, I don't have a technique for emptying the eggs so between prying them loose with a spoon and squeezing the eggs I eventually popped all of the yolks into a bowl. The next step was easy, just a matter of tossing all of the ingredients into the bowl and mixing. At one point I was afraid to taste my own concoctions, but I knew I should before I refilled the eggs. Surprisingly it tasted a lot like ones I remember getting at family events growing up. I ended up combining two recipes one for preparing the eggs and a different recipe for the filling. I found a recipe that a restaurant in Indiana used from the 1920's-70's, and if I ever have the need to make deviled eggs again I'll refer to the recipe from the Durbin Inn. Now it was time to refill the eggs, I had no idea how much to portion per egg so I started out with small spoonfuls and kept making rounds until the bowl was empty. For the most part this went well. All the while I took pictures, just in case the eggs didn't make it to the party I had proof that at one point they looked nice. It was time to add the paprika to the top at first this went smoothly but as I sped up I started getting sloppy, but by this point I was just tired of dealing with the eggs. I had to no choice but to transfer the slippery eggs in plastic containers to the dinner. Just trying to get them in and out of the fridge I smashed a few eggs together, I didn't think they stood a chance of making it. Then of course we were running late for the dinner and with every turn I felt the eggs sliding around, I expected a disaster when we arrived. but to my surprise they survived! I wouldn't say they were a hit compared to the rest of the food, but most of them were eaten (by the kids, ha-ha!) I did save a small batch for the Christmas dinner the next day and with pleasure I watched them get snatched up and eaten. I know my family is thinking, I can't believe you're still going on about the eggs, but hey, what can I say, I complain a lot and I retell stories endlessly!

License to Drive

When I say license to drive I'm not referring to the C rated 80's comedy, I'm referring to myself.  I have an American driving license and I have a Dutch license to drive scooters (aka brommers/snorfiesten), but I am still not legally allowed to drive a car on Dutch roads.  Periodically over the years I have tried to convince the Dutch system to transfer my American license over but they refuse (probably a good thing).  So now after living here over 8yrs I have finally decided to attempt to get a Dutch driving license, which is no small feat.  They first take you out for 30 minutes just to see what you're even capable of; apparently I sent the wrong message because the instructor recommended a small package of just over 20 lessons.  But once I actually started taking the lessons (2 hours once a week) my new instructor quickly realized I was going to need more lessons than my package provided.  You'd think getting behind the wheel again would be easy, I drove from 17-21yrs old, and I even had my own car for 3yrs, but it wasn't easy.  I was actually a complete mess; putting it off for so long wasn't a good idea.  I had hang ups from all of the wrecks I was in, I completely lacked confidence, and I had zero understanding of the Dutch rules.  I'm surprised the instructor let me on main roads.  In The States I drove an automatic, here it's a stick shift.  There I understood the laws/rules, here there are so many it's practically impossible to remember them all.  And in the US it was all in English, here I chose to do it in Dutch (maybe not the best decision).  The combination made me want to throw up for about an hour before each lesson and my entire demeanor has convinced my instructor I can't handle stress and have anxiety attacks.  GREAT!  But with the help of a good instructor and a very supporting husband and family, I am now making progress.  I am about 75% of the way to getting my Dutch driving license.  I have completed the theory exam (written exam), even though it did take me three times to pass!  The 1st time I missed 1 question too many, the 2nd time I bombed, and the 3rd time I made it through.  There was so much pressure - the fact it was in Dutch, each test costs over 30euros, and every time I failed it pushed my entire schedule back costing more time & money.  But with a lot of studying, an 8hr course, and a 2nd book from my sister-in-law, I made it. 

That same week I also had a practice practical exam; it's part of the package I signed up for, to give me a good idea of what to expect during the real deal and to see what kind of progress I have made.  After it was over the instructor said he assumed I was going to be a nervous wreck behind the wheel (thanks to my overall attitude and appearance before the exam), but he said surprisingly I remained calm and didn't do half bad.  Technically he said I did "redelijk goed" which translates to reasonably/ fairly good!  I'm crossing my fingers that after a few more lessons I will be able to take the actual practical exam (driving exam) in January.  My instructor recommended that I take a special practical exam for people who suffer from performance anxiety (aka faalangst), basically it allows you to pull over to the roadside and collect yourself during the exam without getting points deducted.  At first I thought he was joking, but when I realized he was serious I was quite embarrassed.  Maybe talking to myself, huffing and puffing, and clenching the steering wheel until my knuckles were white sent off the wrong signals, ha-ha!  I have two chances to pass the test within my package, so 1st round I'm going to take the normal exam, and depending, I might have to opt out for the "special" exam 2nd time around.  But of course, I'm hoping to pass the 1st time!!!

Ammyy.com Scam

I was almost scammed today!!! Over the past few days I've been receiving calls from a strange telephone number : 0501  It's not a Dutch number, or even an American one; I kept letting the call go to the answering machine but they would never leave a message.  Finally out of curiosity I picked up, it was a woman with a thick accent telling me she worked for Microsoft and that they had been receiving error messages from my computer and she would like to help me.  At first it didn't seem so far fetched, sure I get random pop-ups and to be honest I don't know the last time I cleaned up my computer so I went along with it.  She had me type in all sorts of commands, prompting different screens to pop up.  All the while I found the call quite strange, I had never heard of Microsoft contacting customers warning of a possible computer crash.  Everything she explained seemed to correlate with my computer, she even had quite detailed information.  She had me check the "event viewer", and via the "run" command we went through things like "prefetch" and "cmd".  She even went as far as telling me my "clsid", it was all quite convincing yet I still had a bad feeling.  For those that know me, know I am a little on the paranoid side; it just wasn't sitting right.  Then she said she was going to connect me to a colleague of hers that they would help me clean up the errors and allow my computer to run faster and not crash.  (She acted as if my computer was on the brink of crashing).  Then her male colleague took over the call, also with a thick accent, and it wasn't Dutch.  He then asked me to use the "run" command to access a website, this really started ringing alarm bells in my head.  Before following through with the command I pasted the website into Google and I saw it was to remote access my computer.  Basically allowing him to take over control of my computer from wherever in the world it was that they were calling.  No way, just because he says he is Microsoft doesn't mean I am just going to give him control of my computer.  I further Googled the website he had given: www.ammyy.com

Ammyy.com is a legitimate company that helps people connect their computers, but his intentions were not legitimate.  I scrolled through Google finding endless forums about a scam explaining the exact situation I was in.  Still being on the phone he kept asking me if I had pressed the green button in order to download the product yet.  I then informed him of my findings, that all of the forums were calling it fraud/scam and that he didn't even work for Microsoft.  The man's tone of voice quickly changed, he admitted to being a third party but he wasn't going to give up.  Finally I just told him that if the error issues were true my husband would deal with them and then hung up on the scam artist.  After hanging up I started reading further into the scam, it has all sorts of names and has happened to people world wide.  They often target wives, I guess they think we're easy prey.  I am glad I wasn't naive enough to allow them access to my computer, but I do feel stupid for even allowing someone to rope me in as far as they did.  So this is just a heads up, don't fall for the AMMYY.COM SCAM, hang up the moment a strange person claims to be Microsoft and wants access to your computer.  Don't be foolish and allow them access or pay them any fees like I have read others have done!!!

You Tube

I don't know if You Tube is a part of people's lives anymore or not, all fads come and go, just like MySpace.  But You Tube is still very popular in my home.  My daughter accesses it daily through our iPad to watch a variety of videos from cartoons to children songs.  She likes the videos no matter what the language.  It has taught her so much, and me too!  Some how in all the years after elementary school I forgot the words to most childrens songs and nursery ryhmes.  With the help of everyone "broadcasting" themselves I get refresher courses whenever needed, I now know all of the words and hand motions to songs like "Where is Thumbkin" & "3 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed".  Of course she does stumble across strange clips though, I just have to keep an eye out.  But besides using You Tube for my toddler, I use it for myself.  Need to know how to properly cut a leek, there's a video for it, there is basically a video for everything.  Writing fictional stories is a hobby of mine and occassionally when writing I need a visual example of what the character is doing in order to create the best description, all I have to do is pull up You Tube and I get a personal explanation on martial art moves, motorcycle racing, dance moves, you name it.  Of course a few years ago I went through the phase of needing to put my own videos online.  It was neat to be able to show people around the world fun/funny things I have experienenced.  And watching the amount of views go up and up was exciting in itself.  When our shark video had over 1,000 hits I was ecstatic, now a few years on it has almost 7,000!  After a while the excitement of it faded, but we still occassionaly post videos.  The latest video was of our daughter; my husband went all out, he trimmed and slowed the clip down, and even added music.  But it was worth it because now my family here and in The States can get a good laugh whenever they're having a bad day.  It's amazing what you'll find on You Tube, just type in your town or street and you'll be quite surprised.  Here is one of my daughter's favorites, courtesy of Expert Village : http://youtu.be/eiWbjoOOly4  And here is one of my favorites (my husband pointed it out to me), I love technology and can't wait until everyone functions more along these lines, thanks Microsoft : http://youtu.be/a6cNdhOKwi0  Well, hope you all enjoyed another random fleeting thought of mine!