Kindness of new friends ( no longer strangers!)

After our work shift at The Lion's Lair concession stand on Monday, my co-volunteer Keri handed me a small gift bag and said " here's a little "happy" for you".  "For me?" "Yes, just because.."

Wow! Inside was a nice card about brightening rainy days ( surprise, it is raining!) with chocolates and new hand cream and new friends. I feel so touched, what an unexpectedly lovely occurance. Then my other co-volunteer, during conversation, found out that our heat doesn't work in our living room. At 6 pm my phone rings and it is Kathy, letting me know that her husband Bob is on his ways to my house with two large space heaters they are not using! Soon we were watching Space Jam without our coats and mittens on! Then my neighbor Lynn drops off a pot of chicken chili, a pan of iced brownies and a baguette after the boys middle school basketball game last night. 

I feel so embraced by this new community of women. They are ready with a smile for the girls, and a hug for me, especially after our family tragedy. Believing God has put us here and continue to be amazed by his outpouring of love...

Weekend Update

We had Special Olympics practice on our schedule for Saturday morning, but Mother Nature had other plans. When I looked out the front door on my way down the stairs, I saw a winter wonderland. We had an overnight snowstorm. For Belgium anyway! We had about an inch of snow and it was still heavily falling. I checked online and there were travel cautions posted, icy and slick conditions. I decided that SO, excellent as it is, is not worth driving 20 min in bad weather. So after breakfast and coffee the girls and I climbed into my big bed and watched a movie on the laptop, all cozy and snug!

I did some housework and took a long walk, molly ran of course, she can't stand to miss a day! Charlotte had No problem missing a day!

Danny walked home around 4:15 ish. I had gone out in the car and just missed him I guess, he didn't care. We had made a sign and baked a tart from the frozen store for him, so he felt welcome.

He had a blast on the trip, they won all their games, and the coach , since he was on the A team, 8th grade, and not getting a lot of playing time, had him play on the B team as well. He played a lot this way, and on the B team scored 12 points. He really enjoyed that, didn't look at it as a demotion or anything, so that was good. He liked the family he was with, for dinner they had....wait for it, all together now...Spaghetti Bolognese!! Hilarious that this is the ubiquitous European dish. They also gave him a bag of Haribo gummy bears, which are manufactured in Bonn ( the BO in the name). They even send the kids on their way with a sack lunch for the bus ride home, nice,huh?!

We had a nice dinner of the leftover bisquick pie, blueberry tart and ice cream. Played some UNO in our toasty kitchen :)

All in bed by 10:15. Ready for Sunday!  We decide to check out Saint Anthonys in Kraainem, a suburb of Brussels about 17 min away. The parish is run by IrishFranciscans, and Father Brendan did not disappoint. His thick brogue was fabulous and his slightly disorganized homily was moving all the same. It was the children's mass, filled with faith formation classes and parents, a lovely choir and all readings,etc. done by the kids. Our friend Barbara from bible study was sitting right behind us, which was nice. To know someone felt wonderful, a tiny flutter from Saint Pat's.

Mass takeaway : Father Brendan " there is only today, so don't look back and feel guilty, don't look forward and say I'll do it then, love more today, help more today, smile more TODAY!" You get the idea! Great right?! Now I need it to sink in.. Barbara and her son gave us the skinny on how since they changed suppliers the donuts in the coffee and donuts leave a lot to be desired...they said they just stop at Lonbois, right on our corner. We're in! So we grab treats and curl up against the rain again. The rest of the day is spent doing homework, Danny does his and I do my bible study work, reading,skyping Aunt susan and other fun activities. A very nice weekend, we just all miss Jerry.

Tragedy

Looking back at my last blog post, that was before, and now it is AFTER. We found out on Friday morning that Hank and Eugene had been murdered. In their home, by their business partner and cousin, at 8 o'clock in the morning. Surreal,horrifying,gut-wrenching,unbelievable, all these words apply but can't do anything to describe our lives in the past week. Jerry coming home from work, meeting me for coffee to talk and try to strategize and process.  Walking around in a daze on Friday, telling the kids after Danny's first basketball game on Friday afternoon. This was without a doubt the hardest thing I've ever had to do. How can you give children this news about their Uncles? Danny's Godfather was Hank, Jake's was Eugene. both gone instantly. We all sobbed around the kitchen table, then joined hands and prayed, then talked. Molly asks "why,why?" But of course there is no answer for a senseless brutal crime. We could only say, and continue to say, that the boys are up in heaven and they would not want us to be too sad. We share happy funny stories and memories and encourage the kids to do this. I took Jerry to the airport at 6:30 Friday morning to fly to MI ( he had just gotten back from Phoenix last Saturday afternoon) and then came home to get the kids over to Danny's game.

Bizarre attending events on Saturday and Sunday and not telling people what had happened, but how can you do that when you really don't know anyone? "Oh by the way, guess what?" How can you even broach the conversation/topic? I did let the school counselor and middle school principal know so that they could help Danny if he needs it. On Tuesday I finally told Romy, who is a lovely woman, one of the admissions gals, and got a very needed hug. She shared the information with the family support group who immediately started a drop off a meal schedule for me-- very hard for me to accept as I am usually the one who is cooking for someone else. My bible study group also found out, and yesterday when we met I was able to talk a bit and then Judy the co-head of the group, prayed for our family, and I felt a weight lift off my chest. I felt the peace of the Holy Spirit-just hours before the funeral would take place in Posen.

http://demo.piadvance.com/2015/01/loss-of-brothers-leaves-a-sad-void-in-posen/

Jerry and I decided that it was a blessing that we were in Belgium and to not take the kids back to MI. The media coverage and emotional weight of the wake and funeral would have been just too much. Jerry was able to concentrate on all he needs to handle and on his own grief, without worrying about us. In fact, he said it gave home peace picturing us here, going about our routines.

300+ people attended the wake. Several of the Amish families who helped with the potato harvest came, and, this is beautiful, asked if their children could sing some of the hymns that Hank had said he loved so much when he heard them singing them in the fields. Jerry said it was so moving. I don't know a lot of the details of the funeral, which was yesterday, but if Jerry wants to talk at some point, I will certainly be here to listen. He and jake are heading back to Brighton today and they will spend tomrw and Sunday with Cassie, which is just what their spirits need.

The kids and I kept busy this week with our running group on M-W-F, working at the concession stand M&F,attending varsity,JV and middle school girls and boys basketball games(yes we are Super Fans!) and doing our usual runs to the markt, the Proximus store for phone and TV issues, and the sports store. 

This weekend Danny is in Bonn,Germany with his bball team, they play games Friday evening and Saturday morning and bunk in with a players family. He is pretty excited about the trip.

All in all the kids are alright, as they say, but I am a praying mom these days, more than ever asking Jesus to bless and protect them and give them his peace, which surpasses all understanding.

Danny in his travel uniform, ready for school and trip to Germany

Girls eating a meal that a lovely family dropped off for us

Choir! Songs and laughter...

We are excited to announce that we have joined a community choir! This is held at St.John's on Thursday nights and filled with parents, former parents, staff and community members and directed by Ms. Swanson, the head of music at StJ. She is a charismatic, hilariously funny British gal with fabulous piano skills. We will be performing in a spring concert with a sixties theme, so we started rehearsing Ain't Know Mountain High Enough, Leavin on a Jet Plane, etc. With Dance Moves AND Clapping!!! Oh yeah! I expected to enjoy it, but we had way more fun than I thought! Can't wait for the next rehersal!

Ms. Swanson on left, my smiling girl, Mary, our friend and school receptionist and others.

We Can Help Out! Monday 12/1/15

In which we start our volunteer career!

The girls and I are excited to take our training for the Lion's Lair, the concession stand in the athletic area of Danny's school. The stand is open every day after school from 3:15-4:30 and on game days as well. They sell popcorn,homemade cookies, grilled cheese sandwiches( or fromage as it is called here) fruit, packaged snacks/candy and drinks. Including beer--this is Europe! Janna is the mom who is president of the Athletic Boosters Club and manager of the Lions Lair, a super short,super nice gal from Oklahoma. She is doing our training. Charlotte mans the popcorn machine and Molly helps with set up. I just try to learn the drill and assist the girls. Once the customers show up it gets fun and the girls enjoy passing out the treats to the kids and taking money. I help make change! After we clean up we get the news...We have got the job!! We will work on Monday afternoons, and sub for a big game if they need us. 

On Wednesday we head back to school for an interview with the elementary school principal Ms. Anderson. Love her Irish accent! She talks to Molly and Charlotte about what they might like to do, and give us a tour of those areas. For molly it is the Timber Tops, the preschool kids. She will probably begin assisting with their lunch, then hopefully move up.

For Charlotte we head to the cafeteria and learn how to be lunch moms. She is a bit overwhelmed by the scene but hopefully she will get used to it.

I have hopes that the girls will enjoy being connected to our new community in this way!

The weekend begins 9/1-11/1/2015

The weekend begins!

Friday is an exciting day, the long awaited St. John's Lions Varsity basketball games are here! Since the teams usually travel a good distance, the games are played tournament style with Friday night and Saturday morning games played by both boys and girls. The athletes from the other teams stay overnight with St. John's player families, and are called "housers"! Molly is beside herself to get to the gym. I am a bit panicked because I have very little cash and I have no idea how much it is to get in and how much the food is. Hope I can swing it!   Quelle suprise!  There is no charge, and in fact I am told later that they don't get big crowds and spectators are definitely appreciated. No worries there, we will be in attendance is I know my Molly. As we are walking in to the gym a voice calls out, "hey Danny" that makes me feel so good. Danny sits with us, but I tell him he can certainly go over with friends and after a bit he does. Yay! We watch the girls game, they win against Bonn,Germany. Then we go to concessions to get some bad-for-you-food. The kids choose frittes and nuggets and devour them. As I am hovering a gal walks up and says " are you Kerry?" I was so surprised! Of course I said yes I am and she said she was Anne of my buddy family. I had received an email a couple of weeks ago from her, but with everything else I had not responded. So here we were and both just tickled. Anne's husband is with UPS(tons of those guys here) and she has 3 kids, 1 has graduated and is in Australia with Anne's parents doing university, Zach is a junior and on the basketball team, and then mickayla is in 8th grade like Danny. We ended up chatting for the rest of huge evening, watching the game, talking about families ( she grew up in the church of the Salvation Army, plays the tuba,and does a ton of charity work with SA in Belgium-so interesting) she introduced all her kids to us, and every time one of Zach's friends went by she introduced them, grabbed Danny, told them to watch out for him,etc. She was awesome. 

The boys squeaked out a win in a nail biter to the finish so Molly loved that. When the game is done she races over to congratulate the team and Coach D. Everyone is extremely nice to her :)

Anne suggests that Danny might want to come back over Saturday morning to watch more basketball, and I second the motion. I am taking the girls to SO practice and Danny can have a break. 

I leave him sleeping and navigate my way to the track. It is cold and windy, but at least not raining! Practice is fun for the girls and we go to the pool again and do swimming as well. After I park near the pool I sneak into a patisserie and grab two warm croissant for my hard working athletes. They are thrilled! 

We head back to Waterloo and swing into the school in hopes of catching a bit of Bball( as you can imagine, Molly so did not want to go to SO instead of the games this morning!) yay! The varsity guys are in the last quarter so Molly a gas a chance to cheer some more. Unlike last night they are up by quite a bit. Danny is at the gym so we grab him and all head home for lunch. Jerry's flight is delayed and the wind is the problem, it is still blowing like crazy. I decide to give in and let him grab a cab so to assuage my guilt I make a homemade potato soup. The house smells delicious! Jerry gets home around 4:30 and is a sight for sore eyes! He certainly has traveled through many time zones in the past week! But he is a good sport, as you know, so he offers to take. The kids to a women's pro basketball game in the next town over at 20:00(8pm) I decline in favour of a shower and peace. As the emails and photos pour in though, I regret my decision...apparently this is quite the operation, with fans with wooden clappers, an oompah band, random horn playing, a sound track and announcer coming over the PA, a crazy cacophony of non stop sound! Jerry says it is unreal! Next time I'm in! 

Sunday arrives and everyone sleeps and sleeps and sleeps! I make the French toast I tried to make our first Sunday, when I couldn't get the cooktop to work! We head over to Danny's school to the chapel for 12:45 mass. Perfect! It is the same priest from last weekend, who we just loved. There are about 30 people in the chapel. Father sakes for a Eucharistic minister and after waiting so I don't take someone's spot I go up and assist. What a special moment and a blessing.  In spite of the chill we all head outside, Danny and Jerry on the bikes and the girls and I running. We explore some new trails and get some exercise. Now that we have TV, with several BBC channels, we are excited to tune into our Sunday night tradition of Country File! Good to see Adam's farm again and our favourite presenters. Watching the jet stream blow around the British Isles and straight across Belgium lets me know that we will be in for the wind this week as well! 

Welcome coffee number 2- but let's face it, you can never have too many!!

Wednesday 7/1/15

The girls are so excited! We are off to our second welcome event of the week! This time it is a casual coffee in the sports foyer, The lions Lair, with new folks and old, a chance to meet some new people. I first must stop in to the counseling office to talk about Danny's German class, at the teachers request. I send the girls off to the coffee on their own-I don't even walk them over. Let's see how they manage. I am floored by the level of interest in how Danny is doing after only TWO days! Pam Mobley, the counselor, is waiting to chat, and Mr. Lowry( first name?!) comes in as well. They are both so full of time and interest--wow! I do go into our family situation a bit to them, the fact that Danny's sisters have ID, because though to me all seems well with that and it is just a fact of life to him,who really knows? Pam's office is so relaxing and calm I want to lay down on the couch next to the fluffy stuffed elephant and stay there all day! She assures me that this is helpful and that her door is open to anyone anytime. She may be sorry she told me that! ( side note-- I ask her about what brought her to St.Johns and she and her husband, a teacher at the NATO school in Brussels, have a non-profit Christian mission! I will look forward to learning more about that) Both of them tell me how swell Danny is (duh!). As far as the German goes, obviously he is behind a semester, and we will consult with his teacher to get her recommendations on catching him up. They assure me the teacher is happy to have him in the class.

Over to the coffee I go the girls already have name tags on and crumbs around their mouths, so obviously they are getting along just fine. One gal gives a little welcome speech and encourages us to contact our buddy family or anyone else. I try to decide which group to bust in to...and end up chatting with a nice gal from Germany who has been at the school 2 years. She has K-2-4 grade kids. Leinchen, pronounced like Gretchen with an L she tells me, is a chatty and friendly person. While I am telling her a bit about the girls and my hopes for their experience in Belgium, she says "the person you need is Jo Taylor, the elementary principals assistant! She knows everything, I will take you there and introduce you" excellent! So as the coffee finishes up we head over. She kindly explains that she was lost in the school for the first few months, which is nice because I have no idea where we are going! I recognize Jo Taylor from the orientation on Monday and introduce myself and the girls. I explain a bit about what jobs they liked in the states,what my hopes are, and leave our contact info. Later when I check my email at the hotel parking lot, she has already responded! The elementary principal will meet us on Wednesday and interview the girls, then show them the early childhood area and the cafeteria, and we shall see! I think this is tremendous progress for our second week here, and I have high hopes for next week!

The girls and I then walk to town to tackle Proximus again re: phones, ING re; bank

cards ( no luck) and visit HEMA for our euro coffee pods. Lucky to have a HEMA right in town. Quick stop at Carrefour for the heaviest groceries I can find and then home again

We love it when Danny comes home from school. We all sit in my warm kitchen and tell all about our various days, encounter by encounter, school period by period. Such a fun together time!

Charlotte sporting her SJIS hoodie!!

Tuesday 6/1/15

Tuesday 6/1/15

Misread the 24 hour time and hustle molly and Danny off to bed. Tidy  up the kitchen and head up myself. Stop to kiss Danny goodnight again and glance at his analog clock...5 minutes til 9! Oops--I guess it was only 8:30 a while ago, not 9:30 like I thought! Oh well, rest never hurt anyone! I am in bed too, no HGTV is working wonders on my sleep quantity! Also no movie watching because it is FREEZING in the main room. I rarely enter. So my spots are my cozy little kitchen or my bedroom! 

The girls and I had a fun adventure today! We visited Les petit Reins, a salvation army like charity shop in Brussels. There is a main shop, a retro area, a baby area and a bike area. I don't have enough change for parking, and still no bank card, so we can only stay a short while. We visit only the main shop, but I can't wait to check out the others, especially the retro! Molly stayed on the first floor poking around the books, and Charlotte and I head to floor three for small electronics and household good. I am hoping for a blender, but no luck. We find some neat glasses, a laundry basket and a mosaic game. Downstairs molly has several books picked out, and we find several more for me. Then we browse for Danny and find an Asterix in French and two French kids magazines from the '60's which look really cool. I think he might have fun working on the French reading in a comics format. 

BOOKSTORE HAUL!

Oops, the time! I ask my brave Charlotte if she thinks she can take the car keys and head out of the shop, down the street and across to our car to stand guard against a traffic police officer. She does! So off she confidently goes-I am proud! The clerk in the book area speaks no English so we pantomime our way through the transaction. I mention that I am sorry I don't speak French, I plan to work on it, I have only been here a week. A couple approaches and says the heard me say I had only been in Belgium one week? Yes, I say. Well, how did you find this place? they want to know. Well you know why...I am ALL about the bargain, no matter the country! And I truly love the thought that my money is going to help those in need directly where I spend it. On we go, with only a few navigation errors, over tram tracks and through the tunnels of Brussels til we wash up on the shore of IKEA. Yes I know, but I had a return to make, and I need a frying pan which will work on an induction cooktop, wifi and meatballs, not necessarily in that order! We are home at 4 and there is no sign of Danny. I told him if he wanted to stay for an activity he should just do so and I would not worry. Miss molly, already dressed in running gear, sprints out of the garage as soon as I stop the car. Charlotte takes her time changing and heads out, and I force myself to go walking when I just want a bowl of cereal and some coffee. But if they can/will do it, so must I! Danny gets home around 5, it turns out he has gone to a play audition. Good for him. I guess it is not a traditional audition but rather an ensemble theatre experience which he said sounded really interesting. I will fill in details as I know them, he has another rehearsal tomorrow. We enjoy giving Danny his treasures from the thrift shop including four of the George RR Martin Game of Throne books and he is thrilled. I told him to realize how much he is thought about even while he is at school. Which brings us right back around to bedtime...Good Night!

First day of school 5/1/2015

Danny was excited, but not half as excited as the girls! We slept late because we were eating breakfast at he school. The morning was crisp and chilly as we walked over but it was warm in the middle school/high school library where we were headed. Caroline came to say hello, she has the friendliest face and personality ever.  I also introduced Danny to mr. Lowry the MS principal. We sat at a table with a man who is a stay at home dad to 6th,4th and 2nd grade kids and his high powered lawyer wife. I will not feel inferior!  The breakfast was lovely, fresh fruit, yogurt,croissant, juice,tea and coffee. Loads of  staff were there, school nurse Cathy, head of school, asst. head of school, athletic director and his assnt., elementary,middle and HS principals, counselors and more. We heard from the welcoming committee and the parents booster club and other groups will speak at the second welcome coffee(!) on Wednesday morning. Is this the perfect spot for me or what?! Coffee EVERYWHERE! Karen, get over here!

After the general meeting, the middle school kids, Danny and a 6th grade girl named Maeve, were taken to the counseling center for further instructions and placement test. Danny later told me that he was given a math test and then the French teacher came in and just started tackling to him in French as her placement interview. He felt fine about that--Go Danny!

The girls and I stayed in the middle school library for another hour and used the wifi. The librarian was super nice and kept encouraging us to eat more of the food! I enjoyed listening to the elementary parents session, I wished I had younger kids to be a part of the fantastic sounding things they do at St. John's in the lower grades.

Charlotte was happy to connect to the internet, and put some new games on her mini. The girls both found books to check out, we can use the library as a school family, which is awesome. We then headed home for lunch and running and straightening of the house. I get a toe hold into Danny's room with hopes to finish later. Instantly it is 3:20, and molly and I walk back to school to meet Danny at the Lions Lair as planned. This is the hang out area outside of the gym, parents man a snack counter there every day after school and kids with activities can grab a bite and do homework while they wait to start practice or whatever. You will not be surprised to learn that this is where they sell spirit wear, only 2x/month, so it is ESSENTIAL that I get on that today! Ulla, a lovely Mom who hails from Ireland, is on hand to show us the goods. Also unsurprising to those of you who know me, I grab up the sale items--last semester's items, heavens,no! I had promised the girls a hoodie and I am happy to deliver! Photo to come. We run into the extremely tall Coach D in the lobby and ask about joining basketball. He is super encouraging and Danny could start right away. In spite of my nagging Danny does not want to come back to practice at 16:45 today. I will work on him for Wednesday's practice. First day is a bit overwhelming I guess! 

It sure is nice being under 10 minutes walk from school. We are home in a jiffy. Charlotte is showered and waiting and we all convene in huge kitchen to hear about the D's first day. He pretty much started with lunch, after all the welcoming,testing,etc. He was assigned a buddy, Isaiah, who happens to be Principal Lowry's son, and he took him to the cafeteria. Danny said most kids buy lunch, but until I can get money on that lunch card, he will be bringing in his cool Star Wars lunch box he got for Christmas. He said a couple of kids commented on it, they thought it was cool! In the afternoon he had Art, French, Math and Social Studies. He thought they were fine. He felt like he was a bit behind in French, but didn't feel worried about catching up. The class is entirely in French of course! In math he was actually able to contribute, so he felt good about that. He has a rotating scheduling from day to day, and also weeks, something like A week,B week, day1/day2. My head was spinning! He also needs to choose his additional language, because in middle school you are learning at least two. He will choose between German and Dutch. May I go to school there please?! No homework tonight, just some forms to sign,etc. we shall see how the work load progresses.

After nice family meal of oven ready moussaka and carrots and then Danny and I spend an hour or so putting away his clothes, hanging posters, sweeping the floor, and suddenly his room looks peaceful and moved in. Yay! And so we enter St. John's school, Waterloo Belgium!

special Olympics Belgium Saturday 3/1/2015

Today is the big day! We are off to the sport club to meet our SO Belgium local team.  Unfortunately it is pouring  rain and 3C out(36ish). I don't know whether we'll be outside or inside, so we layer the girls up in shorts,t's,jackets,sweats a nd hats. Jer,Danny and I wear our jeans, we don't want to get active on the first day, we hope to give the girls a chance to mixin with the Belgian coaches. The nav. System takes us off course a little bit( enough to see the shopping possibilities in the town--WHOOT!) but we arrive at 9:15 on the button. We meet Sylvia, who is the Area Dir./ club president, and two of the coaches.  David, the long distance running coach and a really super nice gal with an awesome smile(a female PJ!) whose name I can't recall. The girls immediately join the team running laps around an outdoor track in the pouring rain. UGH! But they just head right out, no complaining. I chat with Sylvia and another Mom, Marlene, whose 17 yr. old daughter is an athlete. Marlene adopted her daughter, Esme, and her brother,who has no disabilities, from Vietnam. She also has twin 25 year old daughters who are teachers. After lots of laps, the team goes into the covered bleachers to stretch out and do some calisthenics. Then the distance group, of which molly and Charlotte are now members, do a 5K on the track, while other athletes throw the softball,sprint,etc.  When track is through, some athletes head to the football field to practice, but since we are all soaked and freezing we opt for the pool for swimming! This is at a club in the town and once the girls are off with their group to the locker room, jer and I visit the corner cafe fro take out espressos and, oh, why not? A tasty tuna broodje for Jerry. We can sit above the pool and see the action. The girls do a great job, swimming laps and then practice pre-diving skills. I feel bad that I don't have dry clothes for them to change into, but who knew that they would be outside all that time. I later met a dad named Patrick, who mentioned that there is an indoor option for track. "when the weather is bad". What?! This isn't bad?!

We are so happy to get home and have soup,coffee and warm clothes. The plan is to head to a 5pm English speaking mass about 10k from here. 

In the afternoon jerry and Danny go to Sports Direct and buy bikes! They are awesome and best of all were an awesome price, about 1/4 what shipping their bikes would have been. The only downside is...you guessed it,the appalling weather! No trying them out today I'm afraid. 

Charlotte and I take our turn with the car and go to ALDI. What a zoo it is, I think because everything is closed on Sunday. I needed to get some things for Danny's lunches for the week. Even though he has had the same length of time for a break it seems like much longer. I know he will be happy to get to school and get a break from the girls...and maybe me!

It rains even harder as we leave for church! We find it no problem, it has a plain country feeling to it, barrel ceilings painted white, bronze stations along the walls. Just lovely. An organist is playing and a young cantor with a lovely British accent is singing when we enter. We are the only people there. A few minutes later two more ladies enter and one asks Jerry and Danny if they could take up the collection and the offertory. Sure, no problem. When mass begins at 5 there are nine people total. When we finish at six, it is 20, including the priest and cantor and organist. The priest was very happy to meet us and invited Danny to altar serve next time. On the way home we stopped at Carreforre for a blonde beer restock, but we all went in. We love that place! It is really fun to wander around and look at all the interesting products...and buy them! Danny noticed that all the liquor was at the front of the store and on sale post New Year's Eve! We decided to buy weird things and have a Saturday night adventure dinner.

 Ours consisted of foi-gra, sardines in olive oil, raspberry and onion  sauce,crackers,grapes,tomatoes,egg salad with shrimp in it and Viennese mousse cups for desert! It was strange but really fun. Molly was very proud of herself for trying everything....now she has decided she wants to try fried clams. I may have to send her New England for that!

Tintin was the movie, Jerry hadn't seen it before, and molly finished her puzzle of Time Square while watching.

New Year's Eve in Waterloo! 31/12/14

News years Eve in Belgium....

Still cold, brrr, but ice is starting to melt on the roads. Our mission today is to drive up to Antwerp and get the car jerry has been given to use.  Jerry heads to his favourite cafe for coffee and the internet and I have a few moments of tidying,blogging and praying in my warm kitchen before I wake up the kids. Lovely!

The drive to Antwerp is easy because no one is on the road. Jerry's office is actually in Antwerp and when he is in the country he will be working either there or in Ghent. When people hear that they are aghast, "who would want to drive So Far?" Of course by our standards this is nothing, like going from MI/Brighton to Southfield, or NJ/West Orange to NYC. Jerry likes to be at work early and that is not the European way, so he thinks he'll be fine. Anyway, we find the dealership no problem and the guy is waiting. Truth told, when I looked at the car on line, it looked bigger! Thank you marketing photographers! But no matter-here it is and we aren't paying for it, so it is lovely. It does have to back seat, so total capacity of 7, visitors take note! We were presented with a bottle of champaign along with the vehicle--bonus for picking up the car on New Year's Eve?! Off Jerry went to the in the rental car, he will cab home from there. The kids and I pile in, I have spotted an Aldi just up the road and since we are in huge Dutch half of the country I want to stop in to see which of our favourite products are here. Unfortunately the exit from the dealership is up a slight hill onto a busy street, and I embarrassedly stall the car 4 times before managing to clear the premises--yikes! I stall once more in traffic before parking at Aldi, but somehow my skills at the stick shift have revived by the time we are done shopping(toast sprinkles,tiger broodje,eierkoken!) and I get us on the highway and home with no further stalls, even in the small traffic jam we hit. Go Me! After lunch Danny, Molly and I take a walk downtown to go to the Proximus(comcast) store. I am hoping the SIM cards I got in the mail will activate the phones I brought. 45 min. wait later I find out that my android will take the card, but not the cheapy I brought. It seems it is locked for the US. Hmph! So I will continue to figure that out. Meanwhile, if I new anyone in Belgium I could call them! We walked a bit, visited a couple of shops and the food markt and then headed home. By this time Jerry had come down and joined us, which helped because he could carry groceries too!

Our New Year's Eve festivities consisted of:

Making a delicious Belgian hot chocolate recipe that the secretary at Danny's school, Mary, gave us...

Cooking up frozen pizzas we found- Turkish,Greek, and pomodoro

Watching Cinderella Man with Russel Crowe and Renee Zellwiger-pass the Kleenex

Calling family- I happily got a chance to talk to Mom and Susan, Jer chatted with Hank

Listening and then watching the tremendous amount of fireworks shot off at midnight. I had just gone in to say Godd Night and Bonne Anne to Danny when they really kicked in 11:58ish. We opened his shade and could see right through his picture window as the colours exploded all over the dark Moom and star filled sky. It was so cool! 

Happy New Year in Belgium!

Our first few days

We all sleep in on Sunday, we will gradually reign it in. We are not able to coordinate mass, but at least we went during the week for Christmas, we will make it happen next weekend for sure. I despair of ever being able to do anything other then micro wave in 30 second increments...stove top not working! Then I realize after close study of the French manual, that the cooktop is induction and therefore requires special, "not the cheapest ", cookware! At least I didn't email the landlord to complain, that would have been very embarrassing! Sunday is spent just vegging, playing UNO, drinking coffee and fiddling with our heating system...it is pretty chilly in here!

Monday-29/12/15 (please note my cool switch to European way to write the date! I am also working on my 24 hour time, harder to get my head around!)

After a late breakfast for us ( jer is at his cafe with wifi at the crack of dawn) We decide to make another IKEA run since Jerry has a lot of work to do and  the wifi is free and easy there. We install him on a couch, making note of the line to get food. Well, it is noonish, surely it will be much shorter later on. We are able to skip the showroom and go directly to the markt place to pick up more coffee cups, a mixing bowl and many other exciting things. The place is a mob scene! Everyone is off and hanging out in IKEA apparently. We go up to the cafe around 2:30, expecting to eat and chill a bit, and the line for the cafe is even longer, literally out into the shopping area. Ok, no meatballs today! We go down, grab our chairs and coat rack and pay and load and leave, arriving home and unloading into the basement around 4ish with 3 starving kids! I am in need of some alone time, so I volunteer to carry everything up and unpack, while Jerry takes the kids to the Turkish pizza place he and I scoped out on our visit in Nov. All parties are happy with this decision! The kids love the food and I love the quiet!

She did bring half of it home!!

Tuesday 

We set out for a recommended running trail around noon, after Jerry returns from his wifi cafe. They must think he has no home! He is still using Danny's computer since his has died. He will get a replacement in Phoenix next week. Anyway, back to our fitness plans. We follow the directions and end up literally bumping down a cow path with 2 foot deep icy,muddy ruts, glad it is the rental car! Jerry and I are thinking no way can we run out here with Molly. We finally come to a parking lot, and low and behold, at the end of the lot, we see a sport club. We decide to go check it out and are invited for a tour and work out! HOORAY! It is a lovely club, pricey but all inclusive. Only issue is the distance on foot from our house, the girls and I will be hoofing it as Jerry will have the car every day. So we will see if we join, but in the meantime we have a great workout! And we all needed it!

Moving to Belgium

big day!

Brussels here we come! I am so happy to be leaving...because it means I can stop getting ready to leave! All the craziness of Christmas shopping, packing,organizing and goodbye-ing is behind me! Relief! Ed Bedner and Jake are driving us to the airport at 10:30am. I actually spend several hours stuffing last minute items into tiny spaces that open up mysteriously overnight at the edges of your suitcases; what started out as one suitcase per person has now turned into a chaotic jumble of a bathing suit top inside a running shoe wrapped in yet another persons jeans...you get the idea! I told the gang that when we arrive everything can go in huge master bedroom and I will unpack it all and make piles for distribution.

God was so good to us this morning; the weather is clear and perfect, the ride to the airport is traffic free, we wait only 3 minutes for a curbside check in person, and get Jackie, a really nice friendly lady. She checks all 10 bags WITHOUT weighing them, or charging us for the extra 5! And she was able to issue us boarding passes, which doesn't always happen with an international flight, so we don't have to wait online inside at the counter. I even convinced her to get in a photo! Jer gives her a great tip! Security has the long roped corridor set up, but NO ONE is in it. We even have a moment where we wonder if it is closed, but up we zigzag walk. We go right through an NO ONE is at the bag/people scanner either. Perfect for molly who gets very flustered by the whole remove your shoes, get everything up on the belt routine when folks are huffing and glaring behind you. So with our 5 carry on bags, our 5 backpacks,all our electronic devices,belts,shoes and contents of pockets we pass through the body scanner. Only one pop on a suitcase, Danny's pencil case for school, which I shoved in a carry-on, had a pair of scissors in it. So it got pulled, but the guy even gave them back to us after examining them. So no problem. Then we went on to the World Club, which can sometimes be very hectic, and it to was very sparsely populated and relaxed. The kids all got soup,snacks,coffees and sodas to enjoy in huh one cool window seats that look down into the main corridor of the airport and you can with call the common folk passing by! AWESOME!

We were able to relax there for about 45 minutes because everything else had gone so smoothly. So thank you GOD!

Our flight to Atlanta was up and down no problem, and due to a full flight, were able to gate check our carry-ons for free! Yippee! We checked out Hartsfield's world club and then got on our Brussels flight. We had good seats; Jer and Charlotte, Me and Molly, and Danny in front of me. His seat mate was a slim young man who was friendly but not chatty, the perfect guy to share a seat with on a long flight with. We were a bit late pushing back as we loaded extra fuel and landing sequences due to snowstorms across the Netherlands, the pilot told us we may have to land somewhere else....but in our great and continued good fortune, we were able to land in Brussels on time(8:25am Brussels time) and without incident! Amsterdam, where we usually fly through, was snowed in and delayed. Bingo! Customs-"bonjour and on your way,enjoy your stay, aurevoiur" , rental car-about 15 minutes, but a large enough trunk for most of our luggage and Molly. Cab for Danny, Charlotte and I to the house, ready and waiting, key to the house, right where Steve said he'd hide it, alarm code correct and deactivated, and We're In! 

We are excited to see if the kids like the house, and they do! We let Danny pick his room first, and he doesn't choose the loft room bed as we imagined, but the one with the full size bed....perhaps due to the fact that he is growing a half an inch per night?! Charlotte has a large room with a view of the garden and Molly's room is at the front, smaller and cozy. Every room has it's own sink, so we will all have the cleanest teeth imaginable. No halitosis here! We literally pile right back in the car and set the navi for IKEA--meatballs here we come! Ahhhh, fabulous coffee, predictably good and familiar food and a nice large table by the window to watch the snow fly, just what we needed. I've got my list and we eventually tackle the store. Most everyone is off here between Christmas and the New Year, and this is apparently a big time for home projects unless you can afford to go to San Moritz, so the place is quite crowded. No matter, we power through, with the girls staggering along zombie-like after being up all night. But we are mean parents, and we will make everyone stay awake til at least 7pm so they can start adjusting to the new time zone. After check out( yes they do have those euro yogurt cones here too!) we realize that in order to get the largest box in the car(kitchen table and four chairs) we need to put the back seat down. Charlotte,Danny and I crouch down on the edge of the folded back seat with our necks bent for the ride home- not ideal, but we got our load home! Unpack IKEA and then head to the food store-thinking of how nice it was in Holland when Jerry's coworker Machiel met us at the Pijnacker house with two starter bags of groceries. We hit Aldi and Carrefour and load up on milk,bread,beer,pindas,cereal,cookies and cheese! Because half the country is Dutch and half French, the products all have two languages on them, none English, but I recognize a lot of Dutch and we happily get some of our old favourite things.last stop, Mediamarkt, for a coffee maker! You know what? Let's get two! One Senseo, which is my fav. from Pijnacker, and one regular coffee pot. Now I can relax!

Home and unload the groceries and then figure out where pj's are,hook up the computer to the TV(The Muppet Movie!), heat soup in the micro( can't get stove to work) and relax. We make it to about 8pm before we all crash into our beds. So that's our travel and arrival day--We're Here!!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Beautiful! 

Beautiful tree (nicest one ever! That's what my Mom always said!) 

Beautiful kids...Beautiful friends (thanks for the annual visit Stewarts, even though we couldn't play UNO due to little Oliver!) 

Lovely food ( thanks for the fantastic Polish dinner Wisbiskis! Complete with Wisbiski Sausage and cruschiki!)  

Sacred and beautiful midnight mass ( though I stayed home with Charlotte and Cassie, I was so proud of my two handsome sons, one heading to usher and the other serving at the altar, and my handsome husband in his blue suit ushering as week, and my beautiful Molly, going to do her unofficial job of making everyone feel welcome!)

Beautiful morning-- with all eyes on Cassie as she saw what Santa had brought...the requested Garbage Truck and much more!

Beautiful sight-- as the full suitcases finally piled up in the kitchen, the tree came down and headed to the curb ( I mean who ever heard of an pre-lit artificial tree whose lights don't work and who sheds more than a real tree?! Time to go tree!), the pantry looked empty, the old "dead body" freezer was given away via Freecycle, last minute laundry folded and the floors vacuumed(and my friend MaryJane didn't have to do it like she did when she came to drive us to the airport when we were moving to Holland-long story!)

Beautiful house, sad to leave, happy to be ready to go to our next adventure! 

Christmas festivities

In spite of being inundated with Christmas music and decorations since before Halloween I still love those two weeks before December 25! Holiday concerts, school pageants, cards in the mail every day and excuses to eat those special foods! I love baking things to give to people, imagining how happy they will be to receive them. This year I did not bake as much because of the move, but I did have time  for pumpkin bread, Italian ricotta cookies, no bake's and pumpkin chip spice cookies. Jake took several trays into work for his bosses and the kids took plates to school for favourite teachers.  We also dipped pretzels and made chocolate dipped peanut butter cookies.

Scranton held their Christmas concert at the Brighton Center for the Preforming Arts and it was dynamite. It featured the 7th and 8th grade bands and the jazz band.  Mrs. Evans acknowledged the band officers and solo/ensemble medals winners, so Danny stood up twice. She also announced Danny's move and talked about what a good tuba player he is and how much he will be missed. Then she talked about what a nice family we are and how much we volunteer...I was blushing even though no one could see me in the dark!  It was very special. We will certainly miss the brighton Band program, it is really terrific.

Danny had his last scout meeting, a white elephant gift exchange- Christmas party- Stooges film fest.