March - time to dry-clean my wintercoat

Winter is finally gone. It was sort of just hanging around for a few days, and then poof.... day temperature above 12 degrees, no gloves, and no more thermals. I'm even planning on getting my winter jacket dry-cleaned and then I'm going to put it away for 7 months.

What has been going on this month? Well, my three jobs (clinic, bike store, and own business) have temporarily increased to four jobs (working for another research project on my days off from the clinic). My contract at the clinic ends in about seven weeks and given that they are big time in the red, all positions not directly related to patient care are not being extended. It's probably a good thing that they wont extend my contract - I'm now way too expensive for them. What I mean by this is that I now know how much they underpay me compared to other research assistants at the clinic and in other organisations. I had the feeling that this was the case when I was offered a contract there, but at that time I needed a contract for my resident permit. This is no longer the case - I'm 98% Dutch now (well on paper anyway).
What will I do after my contact finishes? There are always the other 2 to 3 jobs I have and there are other things 'in the pipeline'. Can't say too much at the moment.

And the photo up the top? Today is open glasshouse day. Neva, Nika, and I checked out our local glasshouses. The most interesting part was that one company was giving away free dish-washing brushes. I don't know why someone was giving them away, but who can say no to free stuff? I left home with just the necessities (wallet, scarf, umbrella, and camera) and came home with extra stuff without spending any money (d-w brush and free postcards). A successful day out (despite the rain and wind while riding home along the dyke).

March was a month of:

• getting that letter - and now just waiting for the invitation to the ceremony
  
• counting down to Easter (Lars and Maria are coming over from Norway)
• trying to administer a Dutch intelligence test - I couldn't even pronounce some of the words that the person had to define!
  
• learning how to delegate (someone else administers the IQ tests)
• talking to people about future work possibilities
• hooning around in our new, second hand car
  

And good news - Martijn passed his last round of exams. He is on his way to becoming a real lawyer.