#comoany

[thedaveandkimmershow]

Up at seven on the 31st. Kimmer up by eight.

Last minute cleaning, packing, admin, and showers 'til eleven then out the door, on the road, to the Doug Fox parking lot by 11:45, change our TSA Spot Saver for a half hour later, shuttle over to the airport, check our one big bag in, mail my dad's birthday card from the one mail box they actually have at the airport, sail through TSA to the S gates where we score sweet potato fries before realizing there's no Starbuck's here so we take the shuttle train back to the main terminal where we score our drinks (chai latte for me, tall drip coffee for her), shuttle train back to the S gate where boarding's in progress, get on the plane, and enjoy a pretty chill, nearly ten hour flight.

Enjoy?

Seriously?

Yeah, I know. I was really kind of worried about the flihty 'cause it's been a coupla decades since I did that trip last and who knows, right?

Plus, ten hours sounds like a really.

Long.

Time.

So I have a bunch of stuff for me to do with that ten hours. Have some books in my bag. A thermos I'm gonna plaster with stickers. There's a paper I'm gonna brainstorm. I figure I'll catch a nap. And so on.

It helps, of course, that not everyone chooses to fly on New Year's Eve so there's plenty of open seats, lots of room to spread out. So Kimmer takes over our two seats and I take over the two seats across the aisle. Didn't end up doing the sticker thing. Didn't end up doing the brainstorming thing. Didn't end up taking a nap.

I write a pair of blog posts for December 31 and January 1. I text with a number of friends and family. There are a coupla meals in there. And I watch A Haunting In Venice.

BAM. Ten hours. Like that.

The math of my airplane activities doesn't quite sound right to me, doesn't quite add up to the full ten hours... which is what I mean by that ten hours not feeling like ten hours.

The entire flight did feel like we were traveling in the middle of the night, though. Shortly after take-off at 2:30 in the afternoon, the pilot has everyone lower the blinds on their windows and, by 'n by, people begin stretching out for naps even though it's full blown daylight outside in North America.

When we raise the blinds again, it's morning over Holland the very next day, January 1, because of the length of the flight coupled with the number of time zones we just crossed.

Off the plane, passing through seemingly endless halls in Schiphol airport, we do a quick, friendly, and mildly profane interview with a dutch customs officer before continuing many more halls to our baggage claim after which we exit into the airport arrivals area where we're met by...

No one.

So here's what happened. Of my two cousins who were gonna pick us up, one had to work an unscheduled night shift and the other, well, I didn't have any means of contacting by phone or messenger. So Kimmer 'n I decide to set ourselves down nearby to figure out our next move. There's no worry or anxiety. We already achieved our biggest objective: we made it to Holland!

By 'n by, after strolling back to where we exited baggage claim, I spot one of my uncles.

Wait.

Is that guy my uncle?

I start to not be sure.

Then I start to really not be sure.

Then I start to think this was someone who only looked like my uncle until my uncle looka up and sees me and—

Whew.

It really is him.

Because he recognized me. ☺️

After that, we meet up with my cousin—the one I had no way of contacting except through, it turns out, Instagram Messenger—we meet up with my cousin and her husband, my uncle and his girlfriend at a nearby coffee shop where Kimmer 'n I order mint teas that arrive in glasses filled with hot water and tea leafs. It basically looks like someone threw a handful of salad into a glass of water. I will say, though, the tea's delicious.

The way our travel day worked out, we arrive in Holland a little after 8:30 in the morning local time. We're through baggage claim a little after 9:30. And we finish up at the coffee shop at 11 after lively family conversation. A preamble to the coming evening's get-together with even more family.

11 in the morning dutch time, by the way, is 2AM at home. The actual time our bodies recognize as the official time. Home time.

By the time we're at our hotel, it's noon. 3AM at home.

By the time we're in bed for our nap, it's 1. 4AM at home.

4:30pm dutch time, we're shaking off the sleep, enjoying hot showers, getting ready and packing anything we took out of our bags back into our bags because this room we booked we booked because we couldn't check into the room we booked for the week... until 3. So we booked a room for, basically, five hours so we could check in and get some sleep immediately.

Afterward, back down to the front desk we go, turn in our keys, get our new ones, back upstairs we go, stash our stuff in the new room, then back downstairs we go again where we meet up with my cousin and her husband already waiting in the lobby.

Six o'clock we're at my aunt and uncle's place where there's a mass of family. Four generations for about an hour there until the representatives of generations three and four have to take their leave 'cause it's someone's bedtime... leaving in its wake a coupla grandparents, five parents, a handful of young young adults, one little girl, and two littler girls... a family menagerie representing conversational interests spanning physical health and mental health, police work and bodyguarding, editing, videography, and observation, family albums and parties, school and work, travel plans and life plans, food and food 😉, bad English speaking skills and non-existent Dutch speaking skills, what's happened in the last twenty years and what's happening now, plans and hopes, relationships and accomplishments, and so on and so on

And so on.

At one point I'm hanging out with my nephew when my aunt walks over with a photo album she deposits in front of us. The album contains family photos from the last few family gatherings and parties.

One of the twins is with us just then. The granddaughter of my younger (but seems older) cousin. She's shy, quiet, but a huge fan of my nephew. And what apparently brings her out of her shell is the opportunity to identify herself in any given picture.

A few pages into the album, her twin wanders up in front of me, looking down at the album (upside down from her point of view). As soon as she spits herself in a photo, she declares—

"Daar ben ik!"

"There I am!"

—as she continues the hunt for other instances of herself in these pictures.

When she doesn't see herself on either page that's open, she declares

"Niet!" (Not!)

And if I don't move my hand to turn the page fast enough, she reaches down herself to turn the page because she's not, you know, on it.

If it turns out she's not present on subsequent pages she declares—

"Ook niet!" (Also not!)

and "Ook niet!" (Also not!)

and "Ook niet!" (Also not!)

—until she sees herself again and declares as if for the first time...

"Daar ben ik!"

The experience was totally adorable. And it made room for her shy sister to point out where she was in all these family pictures.

☺️

In the end, this was the fullest night (and quite the packed day) I can remember with people in a really long time. An experience that can only happen here where the majority of my family lives.

It's an exquisitely fun and funny, thoroughly engaging, completely familiar experience and we loved every second of it.

No joke.

Every second.

It's just that satisfying.

It's just that personal.

And it will be tough to leave this behind.

😕

[7nsomnia]

Can dcc just burn to the ground already atp like what do you MEAN Handong will not be able to attend the last ot7 concert in who knows how long because of a visa issue??? I'M TIRED

[staryarn]

@arraven 's Maud + Cavernous Wailing Ego

[pinkblondie]

You know when your clit is swollen, throbbing and aching to cum, but each time you manage to bring yourself close to climax you mess up the rhythm or lose the right angle and accidentally keep edging yourself when you really just want to finish. I call that CLITICAL FAILURE. Send post.

[verdemint]

the blog layout?????? SLAYYYYYYY

also i missed you so muchhhhh 😚😚😚

ROOOOOOOOOOOOO

ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

IVE MISSED U SO MUCHH👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩😭👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩

(Actually planning on changing the layout once again but AHHHHH MWAH THANKUU)

[stitched--skins]

The girls are fightingggg

[dasisugarun]

when i saw black icon design of weverse today i got so scared, bc my first thought eas that its dedicated to mourning. after an hour of intensive scrolling ig its just... new ui solution (?)

[number1-schn-tgai-fan]

im like so genuinely sad abt prodigy being removed. not only is it setting the precedent in allowing trek to be removed from paramount, like right after they made absolutely everything unavailable on everything except their stupid ass platform, but also it was just a good show. it wasnt incredibly popular on here, and i understand why, but it was cute and the characters were fun and it was genuinely en enjoyable show

[xolaanii]

i think my recurring chest pain might be my heart breaking slowly but surely

[heritagebuilderssydney]

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[pslwithsoymilk]

what i have learned from my incredibly extroverted brother, is that you get a lot if youre bold enough to just,, ask

[fluffypotatey]

Oh OK I get the misunderstanding. Some of your questions make more sense now. No the entire world is not split into outies and innies. It's something that only happens in 1 company using their procedure they invented. Mind you, it's a very powerful company with lots of offices and branches, but it's not the whole world.

ahhhhh gotcha, gotcha okay

[bishiglomper]

There's no craft or dnd tomorrow. Instead we're going to make dinner at my aunts for her birthday.

It's the first time we'll be over since the baby was born. I don't think my uncle has met her at all.

We haven't had dinner over there in forever. I think it was someone's birthday last time too.

Ever since he threw a fit over the whole camper being in his neighbors yard thing and banned us. And then grudgingly lifted the ban. We havent asked to visit since then.

Bro expressed his condolences because I always dreaded my conservatives uncle's "read the Bible, read the news and be amazed!" Speech 🙄

He said that and I'm like. Oh dear God. We just had the election.

It's gonna be awful. 😫

Bro will probably be there which is only going to fuel the fire. He's the only one who will shoot the shit with uncle and he's also a republican.

Fuuuuuuck

[staryarn]

Bonus pfp @moonlightzipfile

Sprite edit for @moonlightzipfile 's Siffrin sinner