Category Archives: General

In the words of Meatloaf “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad”. I am of course referring to back my New Year Resolutions for 2008.

Resolution 1: Faith
Not only did I achieve my personal best times for both the ‘Great Yorkshire Run’ and ‘Great North Run’, thanks to the family and friends, I succeeded raising a whopping GBP 1,573.00 for the Brain & Spine Foundation!
Status: Sorted! 

Resolution 2: Hope
Well I thought that winning the lottery in 2008 was a dead cert. Maybe I should have been a little more specific, as the few Euros that I won did not quite give me the satisfaction of winning that I was looking for. Needless to say, as 50% of the proceeds goes to charities, I expect that we donated a fair amount. One question … can I declare my ‘donations’ via the lottery as tax deductable?
Status: Deferred to 2009 and rephrased as winning lottery jackpot 

Resolution 3: Love
As I stated, this for me was the easiest resolution, to love Barbara (despite being a Scorpio woman) and Nathan even more than I did before. Especially for both Barbara and myself, Nathan has been a wonder to watch grow and develop. Still my mind cannot always absorb the fact that he exists and he is my little boy … and he is already one years old!
Status: Sorted, but ongoing! 

So what does 2009 have for me in terms of New Year Resolutions? Well … I will make it a bit more challenging this year:

Resolution 1: Get the fireplace built, so we can finish off the living room.
Resolution 2: Get a new car for Barbara.
Resolution 3: Win the lottery jackpot to pay for Resolution 1 & 2!

To family & friends … have a very prosperous and loving 2009!

No I am not going to write about Angie’s babbling. I do not have time, nor sufficient disk-space for that!

But on the day after Nathan’s christening, we got some great pictures of Angie, Nathan, Barbara, and myself enjoying the great weather on the Blaricumse heide!

Mmmm … not a bad looking ‘de Haas’ bunch!

So here we are, on the threshold of another new year, wondering what improvements the year 2008 will serve to us, preferably with a side order of greasy chips to help lubricate the way forward. Many of you (I cannot use the term ‘us’ in this circumstance) will be starting the year with the same old shovel in your hands preparing to dig yourselves into a hole with new year resolutions that fizzle out over the year without being accomplished.

Not me! I am not one to have new year resolutions. But wait a moment … maybe I am missing out on some enlightenment that accomplishing resolutions brings? A greater reason for why so many torture themselves year after year with setting resolutions. Maybe I am disturbing the whole fabric of the time space continuum by not participating in this sadistic ritual?

Ok then … for this year only … I will make some new year resolutions! But how many? By the standardised accounting principles of Genies … 3 seems to be the magic number. Ok … 3 resolutions. But what 3 resolutions would be enlightening? Maybe the good bible can give me guidance … 1 Corinthians 13:13 … “But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

Resolution 1: Faith
“The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.” This year it is my resolution not only to enter the ‘Great Yorkshire Run’ and ‘Great North Run’, but to run them as well … or at least walk them. Believe me … you need a whole lot of faith to get through them … as well as a lot of stupidity in the first place. That is why I will also be entering my three nieces into the ‘Great Yorkshire Run’ for moral support. After all, the runs are about raising money for good causes … and that’s a good thing.

Resolution 2: Hope
Why do the words ‘hope’ and ‘lottery’ have a stronger correlation than any other two words in the dictionary? Why can’t ‘win’ and ‘lottery’ be more cooperative? My next resolution is to play and win the lottery this year! As at least 50% of the proceeds goes to charity, this resolution is also about doing things for good causes. Weak argument, I know. A stronger argument is that I am doing it for Nathan, so that I have ‘hope’ of a brighter future for him.

Resolution 3: Love
For me this is the easiest. My final resolution is to love Barbara (despite being a Scorpio woman) and Nathan even more than I did before. And this extends to the family. But as our family extends to into other families, I wish to pay special attention for two other remaining ‘haasjes’ … my mum and Angie (who has been a haasje longer than the rest of us ). Of course there will always be one extra special haasje … Jan Albertus de Haas (25.04.1923 – 19.01.2002). In the future words of Jan Nathan Leonid de Haas (born 10.10.2007) … “Daddies are best“.

Now that I am already well on my way to fulfilling my three new year resolutions, I feel that I have got 2008 off to a good start!

To family & friends … have a very prosperous and loving 2008!

Most of you will have received my mother’s Christmas letter … which has probably already been recycled as Christmas toilet paper  … sorry … bad habit of teasing my mother. A proud skill that I hope to teach Nathan one day.

This Christmas brings high notes and low notes …

On the high notes, we sing joyfully for our first Christmas in our new home, accompanied by a very special Christmas package … little Nathan! With a face that permanently puts him on Santa’s ‘good’ list.

On the low notes … we have many family members not around us this Christmas. I only have one thing to say … its not too late to grab a flight and join us!

So wherever you are … have a very Merry Christmas! The three of us look forward to seeing you all hopefully in the very near future.

Love JJ & Barbara & Nathan xxx

What better way to start the launch of our new family website! Joint in celebration with a family member … Natalia Bottomley!!!

Hey Natalia! We wish you a fantastic birthday! When I have worked out how to share this blog, you will know that we were thinking of you today!

Love JJ & Barbara xxx

With the expected arrival of only the third male ‘de Haas’ to be born in 84.5 years, all activities are focused on getting his new home in shape. Of course, that does not mean that I would not be distracted and build a new website instead!

However, all is for a good cause. With this ‘blog’, I can update everyone with news of the pending arrival … as he is eagerly kicking to get out!

After that, I hope that we are able to track family events and news … once I have worked out how to properly use this blogcast stuff!