Hey. I just booked a flight. :o

My parents are going there for 2 weeks with my sister her new boyfriend and her 4 kids.
They asked me just 2 days ago if I wanted to come. I immediately said no.
Having to travel to Dunkirk for so many hours in the car and 2 weeks in a cramped space, is too much for me.

But then I thought hey I can book a flight and just go for a few days.
I know it will be good for me plus the secondhand book stores were winking. :rolleyes:

So if all go's well (I am waiting for confirmation of my booking) I will go from Amsterdam Schiphol on Tuesday and will be back on the 6th.
Just in time for the Chick lit swap!

They seem to have rented a cottage near the beach. Aaargh I have not been in a bathing suit or bikini for so many years. Since I got the IBS and my belly became huge. :ph34r:
(I could pretend I am pregnant. Nobody knows I am already in meno pause) :giggle:

Anybody who lives in the neighbourhood and wants to get together? :wub:

Rowena is going to stay in my house and feed the cats (if they are lucky)
Another problem solved.

It cost 300 euros only for the flight but I did save quite a lot and it will be good for me.
But I am scared. :ph34r: :rolleyes:

you go relax and have fun marlene

you deserve it :wink:

Thanks babe :hug:

I was looking to see if any of the bcers live near where I am staying.
Poole but I guess not.

Oh well maybe I can go again in the autumn or go for the Unconvention 2009

Now that I have decided to go. Everything was made easy for me. Rowena who offered to take care of the cats. My dad who has to travel back to The Netherlands on Sunday (one day after he arrived in England) and is going back on Tuesday plus still enough place so we can take the same flight.
So it all fell in place. I have enough medicines and money to spare.

Thrilled that Rowena is going to stay and take care of my house.

I am so exited now!!!!!!!! :yahoo:
Wish I could meet gizzy and sunny and camis and and and everyone. You are more to welcome to spend a day at the beach with us.
If there is one person very welcoming it is my mom.

Just looked at the place we are going Poole through satellite. It looks lovely!
:bananadance: :bananadance: :bananadance:

I will definitely come home with books.
O no. cannot buy wish list books. :ph34r:
Playing in the Happiness Exchange

Sounds like a lovely holiday, Marlene! Especially the book buying bit! :D
I hope you'll have nice weather for the beach!

Sounds like a wonderful trip Marlene. It will be great for you to get out and relax. Enjoy yourself. You deserve it!!

Have fun, Marlene

Have fun Marlene! :hug:

Have a fun and safe trip Marlene :bananadance:

I hope you have a FABULOUS trip, Chica! :D

Have lots of fun, Marlene!

PS: I'm jealous that you're going from Shiphol.... I like Shiphol (the only part of the Netherlands I have been to, lol) even though it freaks me out to be below sea level! Say hi to the crazy tall tower!

Thank you all.
I just received my confirmation email. Geez after more than 30 hours <-< but now I can start really looking forward. :bananadance:

Jessica I love Schiphol too. Love the shops and such. :lol:

I already checked to see if there are any second hand book stores .
We are staying in Poole in Dorset. and yes there are.

My parents phoned and they said the place they are staying is lovely.

Only shitty thing is that I have to wear a bathing suit. :ph34r: :pirate: (I only have bikinis cause I always was skinny, good figure If I may say so myself but I can't fit in those anymore, well maybe but my belly is huge. :rolleyes: )
Maybe I can buy a one piece from a pregnancy store? :giggle:
Or lend one from Jordanne?

No Bookobsessed people living nearby? or feel like staying at the beach for a day with us? :drool: :bananadance:

Oooooh just seen this Marleney but I can't take a day off work BOOOOOO because my co-worker Sarah has just gone for 2 weeks in Cyprus :cry:

You could borrow my swimsuit :lol: I am NOT pregnant just fat - but I think you could get two Marlenes into one Giz :giggle:

Poole is lovely as well - I am jealous!

Hope you have a lovely time Marlene!

Ha not anymore babe. :rolleyes:

O I would have loved to have you with us for the day. Talking for my family too.

I am so exited now. Lots of things to do. Not preparing for the journey. It is only 5/6 days and I do not have that much clothes but most work is leaving the house as Rowena wants me to leave it. spic and span. :pirate:

Well her boyfriend will be here for the first time so I will definitely vacuum the whole house. Clean sheets on the beds and clean the fridge.


Plus clear a lot of the mess, books and such.
So today is a busy day.

Want to do most of the stuff today so I can relax a bit tomorrow and maybe look for a bathing suit. :sick:

I have already searched online to see if there are any secondhand bookstores. There is one in Poole and a few in the neighbourhood by car.
Plus a boot sale in Poole on Sunday, the day I go back home otherwise I miss the chick lit swap. :giggle:

I LOVE Poole - My Mum & Dad used to live in Bournemoth which is just up the road. Bit too far for me next week , thought as went ot Windsor this weekend :( and have no Hols left anyway - have booked 2 weeks off unpaid in July/August) You will habe a fab time with your family :)

So both you and Giz know poole.
Is it a big city with lots of shops?
Or is it a typical English beach place? with a fair? or a bit smaller?

Any good places you can recommend me in Bourmemouth?
Although if it is nice weather I assume my mom and sister and kids will want to stay at the beach but maybe my dad likes to go and do something.

Too bad sunny. :hug:

I think I last went there 20 years ago :giggle: but it was nice then and I know other people who have been and say it's lovely. And Bournemouth has a lot of v trendy clubs these days. Lots of good shops too.

http://www.bournemouth.co.uk/

http://www.bournemouthandpoole.co.uk/

Bournemouth and Poole both have nice shops..And if I remember rightly Poole has a nice Art Gallery - and the original Cosmetics to Go/Lush shop!!

If you go to Bournemouth the BIC ( huge buildin on the seafront) is where I worked every summer whilst at Uni ( except for the one year '90 when I worked on the Pier at the cafe on there :bash: )
It's changed a lot now, but nice place to visit.

And bit of trivia about Bournemouth is that I got married there!

I met Giz in Windsor yesterday. Here.
K did a duoatholon ( running & cycling) and came 3rd and Miss Sunny was rubbish on the go carts and fab on the climbing wall..when i can make photobucket work for me, I'll post a pic...We released some books but no JE's yet...except from each other..lol

No I didn't get any JEs either

I have got a sunburn on my feet of all things :lol: how daft?

I have got sunburnt arms, face, chest and neck...... :rant: - This smiley is inserted to demonstrate colour of my face!!
I think I need to see boxing photo's :rofl:

Good luck with your catches-to-be! And Marlene, again I hope you have a wonderful time... and I hope you get lots of catches too, if you release there! And no sunburns! I'm sunburned from Friday when I went to Kitchener (the next city over) to have lunch with a friend... I have a bit of a sunburn on my arms and face... but the worst place (the place where I ALWAYS burn!) is in the part of my hair!



Marlene... Shiphol is great. I didn't get much of a chance to shop as I've just changed planes there (and on the way home from Europe had to literally get off my plane from Florence, pick up my boarding pass, and run across the airport so the already-boarded plane going to Detroit didn't leave without me! (After all the joking we did about me being forced to stay in Europe, it was NOT funny when I was almost stuck in Amsterdam... that would have been the scariest place for me to be stuck out of all the stops on my trip!) BUT, I did buy a keychain with a tiny pair of wooden shoes on it. My first purchase in Europe! And I bought it from a very nice Dutch boy about my age. And then we talked for a while I was waiting for my flight (the shop was right beside my gate). And I learned how to say "carbohydrate" in Dutch.... which I don't remember now :( It was my first Dutch word! Later that day I learned it in Italian too, but I don't remember that either.

hahaha car bhon- hie draad

what a weird first word to learn.
next time you do not have to be afraid for Amsterdam. Just take my phone number with you and you can call me and stay with me.
I do not live that far from Schiphol.

Giz and sunny. thanks for the info

I want to have a bit of sunburn cause I look like a :ph34r: ghost now.
Really looking forward now even though I still have a lot to do, cleaning.
If I go to Bournemouth I will look if I see BIC and think of you and Kevin. :rolleyes: :lol:
wow third! good job!!!

Hope you have a great trip Marlene!

Thanks . It id 6.27 I woke up at 6.00 without an alarm.
My plan was to wake up at 6.45 which meant I had only 45 minutes to get dressed and shower. Guess I needed to relax and that's why i woke up so early.


Plain will go at 09.50 but my dad wants to be there 2 hours early :bash: :bash: :bash:
Geez. If I can't smoke for 2 hours. We have the new non smoking rules set up today and then another 2 in the plane and getting out, I will kill the man.

Well bye bye. see you Sunday evening. I might find a pc. :wave:

Bon Voyage Marleeny!