Mon, Mar 6, 2006
A day in the life of Evelien van Brakem, a young, innocent and somewhat naive housewife. She is married to Harko and has two daughters of primary school age. Evelien has suddenly grasped the idea of having a nice job for self-fulfillment, "something interesting, with colleagues and meetings". Harko supports her off-hand and suggests an au-pair to help them out with the kids. He knows of one.
Evelien takes the kids to school and brushes off one of the mothers, who is looking for a compassionate ear to listen to the story of her husband wishing a divorce. She visits a job centre but does not like the jobs on offer. It does not withhold her from telling around that she has had a job interview or, alternatively, a job. She tells the latter to her lover Theo, whom she hurriedly and secretly makes love with in a hotel room - apparently a routine meeting, but she announces it to be the last one, as her new job won't leave her any spare time.
In the evening the au pair turns up: she is a Russian girl called Nikita, and Harko notices that she is beautiful. Harko is told that Evelien does not have a job yet and announces that he will pull a few strings at his office.
Mon, Mar 13, 2006
Evelien has sprained her ankle and stays at home. She spends her time knitting and reading a book by Dr. Phil. Harko is in control of everything, or so he thinks. Nikita takes the kids from school; on their way home the children buy a hamster. Theo is going out of his way to reach Evelien by any means of communication, but she denies him. He even drives to her house in a forklift, carrying a large notice with the words "I want to marry you!". In the evening Theo calls her again. Harko cleverly guesses what it is about; Evelien makes a confession, albeit not a full one ("Did you sleep with him?" "Only once."); Harko is in rage and leaves the house.
The children pick up the word "slippertje" form their parents' argument and decide that that will be a good name for their new hamster.
Mon, Mar 20, 2006
The atmosphere between Evelien and Harko is icy. At nights, Harko is sleeping on the couch. Regina, the elder daughter, is in love with a new boy at school, Max, but he is teasing her. Evelien talks to Max's father, a gay guy called Sjors, about Max's behaviour, and mentions her marriage problems as well. Sjors takes control of everything. Evelien is to make a reconciliatory meal for Harko, and Max is invited. While Sjors is helping out with Evelien's dress and the meal ("men want lots of meat"), Max and Regina are becoming the best of friends, whilst listening to MP3s and eating large quantities of cold frankfurters (or rather the Dutch variety, knakworst). When Harko arrives home early, Sjors, still present, is hugging Evelien for comfort. Harko, thinking that this is Theo, hits him in the eye.
Mon, Mar 27, 2006
Evelien and Harko are now being nasty to each other. Evelien has forgotten an appointment with her family visiting her father's grave, who died ten years ago during a tennis match with Sylvia, Evelien's sister; Harko receives a phone-call from Evelien's mother reminding them about the appointment, but takes some time passing the message on. Meanwhile he arranges taking the girls to the beach, using the car, so when Evelien finally hears about the family meeting, she is to travel by a clumsy combination of trains and busses. By way of revenge she makes sure he does not have his swimming trousers with him.
Evelien borrows Sjors's car. On her way home she has a flat tyre and no spare wheel. She calls Harko on her cell-phone, but he does not want to help her. After a troublesome voyage, using trains and busses and walking long stretches through the rain, she finally arrives home. That is the end of their tribulation: Evelien and Harko finally have their reconciliation.
Mon, Apr 3, 2006
Evelien finds the dead body of Slippertje, the hamster, in its cage. When the postman brings a package, she still has the dead hamster in her hand, triggering the postman to tell the story of his wife's sudden death. He reminds her always to say goodbye whenever you leave a loved-one: there is always a possibility it is the last time you see each other. Evelien takes the advice by heart: she calls her former lover Theo in order to finish their affair in a proper way. During the call Theo takes a flirt with a young girl; Evelien notices, concluding that no one is irreplaceable. She buys a new hamster that is to impersonate Slippertje. When the children are out of school it takes them a quarter of a second to establish that this is not Slippertje. Evelien then tells the truth. Slippertje is buried in a box.
Mon, Apr 10, 2006
It is Evelien's birthday - much to her distress, as she wrongly believes she is getting old, fat and ugly. Harko has arranged a stay in a romantic hotel; the children will stay with their grandparents. The hotel's proprietor is not quite the enterprising type: he knows nothing about the reservation made by his brother on the internet, he cannot tell a champagne from a champenoise (nor can I, for that matter) and does not serve either espresso or cappuccino. Evelien and Harko take the hotel's old-fashioned style with a lot of humor. When their youngest daughter, Julia, calls her mother for feeling homesick, Evelien is becoming restless. Finally, her parents pay them a visit with the children and they celebrate a proper birthday after all. At last, when the time is 12 PM, the family congratulate Evelien with no longer having her birthday.
Mon, Apr 17, 2006
Evelien's sister Sylvia is sleeping on the couch: she has been thrown out of the house by her boy-friend-to-be, or rather by his present girlfriend. Evelien and Harko find out they never have any sex, as she is tired in the mornings, while he is exhausted at nights. They agree to have a lot of sex that very evening. During breakfast Sylvia explains she always has a wrong connection with her boy-friends: after a few weeks she will suddenly lose interest and can't even stomach him.
Evelien is preparing for the evening, selecting interesting magazine articles, when she receives a message from Harko: he won't be at home until 11. Evelien happens to meet Theo, her former lover, and he seduces her. Consequently, she is late collecting the kids from school. At home, she is called by the hospital: Harko has had a heart infarct. She rushes to the hospital, accompanied by Sylvia. They are told Harko has not had a cardiac arrest; he is being treated with an angioplasty in order to remove a blood clot form one of his blood vessels. The procedure is successful; he needs to stay for one night only. Evelien is feeling guilty for having betrayed Harko while he was in danger.
Back home Evelien finds Sylvia in her bed with a man who is some twenty odd years her senior. She is furious: the couple are to clean the bedclothes and vacuum-clean the floor. At night, Evelien, Sylvia and the kids fall asleep together in Evelien's and Harko's bed.
Mon, Oct 16, 2006
The family have moved home. The new home has been decorated by Jenny Smulders, a dominant interior decorator with spiritual tendencies. The interior is supposed to be honest and basic; in fact, it is rather empty - the kind of interior pictured in posh, stylish decorator magazines. It is impossible to sit comfortably on the couch. Jenny herself is a very strict lady. She tells them to take the cover from their garden furniture: the furniture is supposed to live, i.e., get sucked by rain.
Evelien's mother and her friend, Gert, come along to bring the kids and a pot of soup. She has officially become a Bob Ross instructor; she brings a picture in Bob Ross style painted by herself as a gift for their new home. Asked to give her honest opinion, Evelien shily tells her that she thinks the painting is ugly as hell. Her mother furiously leaves, taking the soup and Gert with her.
Later that day Harko is angry on seeing Jenny's bill: she is very expensive. Late at night it starts to rain; Harko and Evelien rush out to cover their garden furniture.
Mon, Oct 23, 2006
Harko is going back to work after moving home. The prospect of having to work for twenty more years makes him sad. Evelien still insists they have to take off their shoes to preserve the wooden floor. Regina has put on a thick layer of eyeshadow. It seems that she wants to make an impression on Zappa, her ex-boy friend. When Evelien takes the children to school, she meets Zappa's father, a television celebrity; he is very rude to her. When returning home, she accidentally triggers her neighbour's car alarm.
Gert, her mother's friend, is prepared to help her finish the interior designer's bills, on condition that she accepts the Bob Ross style painting. She reluctantly agrees. Jenny Smulders, the interior designer, passes by; she explains that it is quite possible to sit on the new couch: the real problem is that Evelien's legs are too short. Gert discusses the bills (the sum total of which is enormous) with Jenny and explains to her that there are a lot of double entries and mistakes. He negotiates a sizeable discount and a job for Evelien as Jenny's personal assistant to pay for the bills. Evelien finally agrees that taking off your shoes in your own home is silly. The kids like their granny's painting a lot and accept it for their own bedroom. Harko arrives home on a racing bike, dressed like a professional cyclist.
Mon, Oct 30, 2006
Harko's boss Van de Berg is coming to dinner; it is a crucial moment, as Harko's promotion is pending. It is the very day at which Evelien starts with her new job. They have trouble preparing dinner, as both have a busy day; finally they settle on a barbecue. Evelien's job is to visit people who wish to sell pieces of furniture; her driver is a great help. Halfway through the day Harko and Evelien have a phone-call: Harko is unable to fetch the vegetables, while Evelien cannot collect the meat. At the end of her working day Evelien is having trouble picking up the kids at school. She finally calls the rear neighbour; she is ready to help her out.
Back home, she finds Harko, who is rather relaxed having drinks with the rear neighbour: it turns out they have studied together. The Van de Bergs arrive; they are rather boring. Mrs. Van de Berg is trying to take over raising Regina and Julia, finding fault at them. In the kitchen Harko explains to Evelien that he has taken beta-blockers. However, after having a few more drinks Harko is losing control, making rude remarks and behaving over-excited. Feeling offended, the Van de Bergs leave the house.