Just a small update. Its been a very hot summer with temperatures in the high 90s (35+ celcius) for weeks on end. When its that hot you really don't want to do a whole lot and thats exacty what we did.... or did not do for most of the summer. Actually, thats not true now that I think about it.... because we went to Portland, Oregon (and the great state of Washington) to visit some friends, we had friends and family stay over from Canada several times, and there we have had enough to do around the house.

 When my uncle came out from Canada I discovered he had never been to an icehockey game in his life (and he is 72 or so), and since the Ducks were in the playoffs and playing the Calgary Flames when he was out I took him to 2 games. We had a blast. Too bad the Ducks didn't make it all the way to the Stanley Cup finals though. Also, my 10 year old nephew has now taken on baseball and it is quite interesting to see these little leagues play ball. The field is smaller then a regular baseball field of course.

We're planning a trip to The Netherlands, but we aren't sure exactly when its going to be. Its been 2 years now so its about time we go play in the lowlands again. Then I finally get to use that American Passport I have since April of this year!

No other news to report. I hope to work a bit more on my website a bit more soon. :)

Yes, I did it! From this day forward I can proudly say: "I am an American", because as of March 3d, 2006 I actually am one. On that day I took the Oath of Citizenship in a Naturalization ceremony in downtown Los Angeles. And I wasn't the only one, there were 4999 others that took the Oath with me in a giant hall in the Los Angeles convention center.

The Ceremony started at 08:00 AM and because Los Angeles traffic can be a real nightmare sometimes, plus they had forecasted rain, I decided to leave at 06:00 AM. I wouldn't want to miss this one. Luckily, I arrived on time, at around 7:30 I parked my car in the parking garage of the convention center and I made my way inside. Although there were 5000 people there, it was obvious they had done this before, because it all was very organize. A few hours later, around 11:00 AM I walked out of the building having lost one Green Card, and having gained one Citizenship.

So now what? Well most importantly I no longer have to worry about immigration or immigration laws. I am now an American, and they can't kick me out the country any longer. Another advantage is that I now get to vote. To vote in the United States you need to register yourself first as a voter, and I did so during the citizenship ceremony. So I get to vote in the next elections, which are the General Elections of November 2006. In California, the position for Governor is up for grabs. The current governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger will try to get re-elected, and several others of which the Democratic candidate the most important one, will try to dethrone the Governator. Hey, technically I could participate as a candidate to the governorship, but I think I will just fill out a voting ballot this time. ;)

My citizenship has been a long process, and with Julia having gained Dutch citizenship when we still live in The Netherlands, we are now both Dual Citizens, and no matter what happens in the world, we will always have 2 countries that we can call home.