dr. w is in holland...isn't that veird?

in my mind, goldmember was perhaps one of mike myers' best characters from austin powers. i loved how he went around saying, "i'm dutch. isn't that veird?"

dr. wintermute left for holland on sunday. she spent yesterday in maastrict, is doing a day trip to amsterdam today, and is presenting researching tomorrow. then she flies back on thursday, arriving in burlington, vt for a big family gathering on my dad's side. should be an excellent weekend. we will have the entire family, including all of my cousins and related significant others together at my uncle and aunt's house (dad's oldest brother) in upstate ny.

this house was the main gathering spot for the family growing up. with one family in boston, one in poughkeepsie, one in schenectady (us), and the fourth in plattsburgh, it made an ideal nexus. additionally, i have a whole slew of cousins, and there's only about five years between the old and the youngest. suffice to say, we grew up very tightly knit. we've been banned from about half the restaurants in plattsburgh, and most of my uncle's neighbors were relieved that our gatherings had stopped. we spent a lot of weekends in the basement, playing just an indoor version of just about every sport. this meant a lot of broken lamps and light bulbs.

the original plan was for all of us to sleep in the basement, old-school style, but saner minds prevailed. dr. w, for one, declared that she was:

1. not sleeping on the floor
2. not sharing a room with anyone besides me

so the married folks are in a hotel down the street.

will be a great long weekend. pics from holland and the burgh next week.