Somewhere in the Middle

Hello Fall

There is no doubt about it... I'm an autumn girl. I absolutely adore this time of the year from the weather to the colors and the holidays we celebrate during the next couple of months. It's a beautiful time of the year here in Europe. For me, fall represents a new beginning. I suppose it has a lot to do with the beginning of a new school year which brings all sorts of changes. Plus it's an opportunity to meet new people and take advantage of different opportunities.

My schedule is a bit more laid back this year so I'm hoping to take advantage of the time and do some things I've missed like blogging and cooking. I also have a long, long, list of art/craft and sewing projects I want to complete.

This past weekend, I celebrated the beginnning of the fall season with pumpkin pancakes. The recipe was super easy and the pancakes were delicious! Almost as good as the Williams Sonoma Spiced Pumpkin Pecan mix & I saved myself $15! Had I added some sugared pecans to my batter I think my mix would have been just as good but Lil'C doesn't like nuts so I skipped that step. I did drizzle my pancakes with maple pecan syrup. Delish! 

So in honor of the Autumn season I'm dedicating the next month to cooking with pumpkin! Bon Appetit!

Note: Right now Lil' C is obsessed with all things Moshling. So last month I sewed Little Jeepers, his favorite moshling. Even Jeepers helped us celebrate by sharing our pumpkin pancakes! lol!

I love how Lil' C posed him... Fork & knife in each hand, ready to eat! lol! I suggested we take another photo with a plate of pancake crumbs and Jeepers wearing a little syrup but C wasn't having any of it! lol!

Saying Goodbye

It's that time of year again... when we have to say goodbye to our special friends. This year Backgammon Grrrl & her family are going back to the US. She will be greatly missed and I know C feels the same way about Lil' J. We've shared lots of good times!

This year though I'm going to try my best not to say any final goodbyes. When Lil' C & I said goodbye to Numeracy Grrrl and her family two years ago is was so incredibly sad. During their last playdate, Lil' C was so brave. He didn't cry while in Lil' J's presence but when we got into the car he completely broke down and it broke my heart. I just can't let him go through that again. So this year I'm going to try and keep it light. We all hate to say goodbye and would rather say, "... until next time" but it's easier said than done.

Yesterday, I met Strawberry Shortcake & Meditterean Man for coffee. It was great catching up with them. Meditterean Man & I both signed SS's Belgian flag with well wishes. What a great idea! I'm sure it will bring her lots of good memories when she looks at it years from now.

In the afternoon, I met up with my English conversation group for our last meeting of the season. I'm really lucky to have such a fun group! These ladies always make me laugh.

Today we all discussed our summer plans. The ladies that are not permanently moving are all planning to visit their home countries... it's funny when you talk to them and ask how long they'll be gone... "Oh, just for 6 or 8 weeks." lol!! Is that all! lol!

God save the Queen!

Lots of festivities surrounding the Queen's Diamond Jubilee! Everyone including me showed our spirit today by wearing red, white, and blue or tees and dresses with Jack Union Flag! That's the great thing about living in an international community... we all share in celebrating important events from our home countries.

All the children in school were able to decorate their own crowns. Here's a little peak into how some of the children help celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee!

I love how one of the signs says, "Girl Power!"

Mini break from French.

I am on fire this week! lol! I've blogged every single day! Can you tell I have a break from French class. lol! Every time we have an exam it's followed by a mini break. Which I have to say is really nice.

My class is really intense and while Madame Benedict is fabulous she's one tough cookie! Last Wednesday, we had our exam and the oral portion was pure torture. 

For me, saying words in "liaison" is very difficult. Native french speakers will say two or three words all together so they sound like one word. For instance, "c'est quoi ça?" (what is it?) or "neuf ans" (nine years old) is pronounced so quickly it sounds like one word. Unless you know how to read and write you'd never guess the person speaking just said two to three separate words. Madame Benedict is constantly telling me "non, taileen...liaison" and I have to repeat the words over and over until I get it right. Which is a little stressful for me. And when it during an exam it's even more stressful.

The first sentence I had to read on my exam was "Le robe est plutot belle." I read it too slowly. So Madame B took points off for not rambling the words together. So she made me repeat the phrase. When I tried to say the sentence in one quick breath I pronounced "est" like it's pronounce in Spanish! Ugh!! That lead to more repeating and questions about which verb I was congugating. More points taken off for this error! As she's writing more zeros and ones I feel my confidence go down right along with my grade. In the final section, I had to create sentences using "Que" and "Qui". Now I feel like I have a good grasp on which word to use depending on the situation but I tend to mix up the pronounciation which gets me in trouble especially when I'm already nervous. So sure enough I said "Que" when I should have said "Qui"! Ugh! And once you say the word there's no going back. You've said it and you can't change your mind. So more points taken off! With my confidence shot, I continued with the written part of the exam. But what I really wanted to do was walk right out of that room and never come back!

I scheduled a doctor's appointment about 2.5 hrs after my class thinking I'd be done with my exam. Wrong. As I was trying to finish up the exam I kept looking at my clock... 9:50... 10:00... 10:30... I had two choices... leave and see if Madame Benedict would let me finish the exam after our break or cancel my appointment. So what did I do? Cancel my doctor's appointment. I didn't want to have this French exam hanging over my head for the next week and a half. Rescheduling a doctor's appointment is so much easier!

Make a Wish.

Last weekend, we participated in the Make a Wish fundraiser. It's a 24h walk/run event that is strongly supported in our community. Different organizations, units, and countries form groups to ensure that someone to run/walk constantly. Lots of people camp out too. It's like a big party. Many of the different nations set up stands selling food and drinks. There's music to motivate everyone to get out there and do your best as well as a bouncy castle for all the kids. This year C's school organized the different grades to run at different times of the day. It was great fun for the kids and they know they're supporting a good cause. ;)

Making your way back home.

Post originally written: 29 June 2011.

It's funny the random things I remember growing up in New York City... our apartment and the amazing view we had from our kitchen. There were so many trees it looked like a mini forest. Never in a million years would you guess you were in NYC. I even remember the Cornell dishes my mother used daily... white with yellowy orange flowers along the border.

One item I can recall with much fondness were a set of silver rimmed monogram highball glasses. I absolutely loved these glasses. It seem like everyone had these glasses. When I'd visit my grandparents I always made a point to chose a silver rimmed high ball glass. It's been years since I've seen these glasses in my parent's house. I have no idea what happened to them. Most likely they either broke or were given away.

Several years ago we were having brunch at a friend's house and to my surprise they had a set of these silver rimmed glasses passed down from their parents. Ever since that day I've been longing to have a set of my own.

For years now I've searched for these monogram glasses with the initials from my maiden or married name but no luck. But last week, my luck changed. I couldn't believe it ... a set of six monogrammed with the letter R and in pristine condition. I immediately ordered them and just yesterday they arrived. They're so pretty and much more substantial than I remember. When I asked the seller about the glasses she told me they were purchased from an estate sale in Palo Alto, California. The glasses were an anniversary gift and it seems the couple may have displayed the glasses rather than used them. The previous owners parted with the tumblers because they were moving to the East Coast and worried that the glasses would break during transport. And that's how these pretty little glasses made their way to my home all the way in Belgium. ;)

Update: I've had my monogrammed high ball glasses for almost a year now and I hate to say it but I rarely use them for fear of breaking one. S absolutely refuses to use or wash them.  So I've been searching for another set so we can use them daily and if we break one or two we won't feel so bad. And last night I found another set again with the initial "R". From the photos the glasses seem to be in great condition and they were $30 less than what I paid for my first set. Sweet!!

Well, hello there.

Goodness, it's been so long since I've posted I almost couldn't remember my Typepad password! lol!  That's horrible isn't it?! So what's been going on?? Lots of good stuff! And I promise to share it all one bit at a time.

So I hope everyone had a lovely Mother's Day weekend!

My boys made me breakfast in bed. C ate with me.

Waffles with Strawberries and whipped cream. Delish!

C made me the sweetest little card with a beautiful family drawing and photos of me while I was pregnant and one of him as a newborn. The card was wrapped in red fabric covered with little crowns. When he gave me the card he said,  "Mommy, here's some crown fabric because you're the queen of the day". 

S & C also surprised me with a Kindle. Last Christmas when we went back to the US, I played with a Nook and I have to admit it was really cool. And what's great about the Kindle is that you have access to the internet anywhere you go for free. Big plus in my eyes.

In the afternoon, C & I took a nice bike-ride through town. Unfortunately, S had a work event planned so he couldn't come with us. The day was absolutely beautiful! I snapped a few photos and had fun editing them with Instagram. It's an addicting app!

Look at that sky! So pretty!! Wish we had more days like this!

One of the houses we usually pass have these crazy dogs that bark like they're going to attack you but they're all talk no action. The house is a bit of a mess with cows lounging around and goats that are constantly escaping. They also have some farming equipment sort of abandoned by the side of the road. It's not very attractive but I thought the photo came out nice.

I love playing with the contrast.

If you're walking along the fields, you're bound to run into one of these... inside you'll find a statue of a saint. I'm curious if farmers prayed to these saints for a good harvest.

Along the way, we came across lots of cows. They're super friendly.

Thanks for looking!

 

Happy Valentines.

Today, I surprised C with a Valentine project... window art. Fun stuff! It's been such a long time since C & I sat down to create. I've miss doing projects with him. Things are just super busy around here. Especially now that we received our long-term shipment. I've been organizing and recycling things like nobody's business but I still feel there's no end in sight.

After dinner, C & I sat down and worked on these little hearts I made earlier in the day. C really enjoyed decorating his little hearts.

I love this heart he created. Love how colorful it is and the little rainbow in the center is adorable.

Crafting is our special time together. We talk and really enjoy each other's company. I really need to set more time aside so we have time for fun projects. It's easy to lose sight of how important quality time is when you're constantly rushing from one place to another, getting dinner/lunches prepared, helping with homework, on the phone, and on and on...

Tonight, letting go of our usual bed time was a great idea. C loved staying up pass his bed time to finish his hearts. ;)

Big win at the Spanish luncheon.

Last week, the Spainards had their luncheon and I won this fabulous Tous black leather bag! I love it! The leather is like butter.  Love that it's a Spanish designer too.

Where did the week go?

Seriously, I don't know where the time goes. Ok, I mean I do know where the time goes but why does it have to go by so quickly!! Can someone please tell me! lol!

I can't believe it was just last Friday that we received our long term storage items. It's been almost six years since we've seen these items. Little did we know back then that we'd be staying in Belgium for more than 3 years.

Sorting through boxes and finding sentimental treasures here and there is a wonderful feeling. Yearbooks, letters from old school friends, photos, etc... For the time being, I've put these boxes aside for a day I can really look through them. I did find a very special book my best friend gave me close to 20 years ago. Reading it made me cry and laugh at the same time. I was so happy to find the book. And it just so happens my BFF will be visiting me next week. Perfect timing. ;)

But before my BFF gets here, I'm trying to unpacking everything. But it's proving to be challenging since I don't have a lot of time to dedicate to this task. But I'm trying.

The item I was most looking forward to receiving was our furniture... a super comfy Crate & Barrel couch & chair plus an armoire. Well, unfortunately the moving company had other plans! They lost my couch. I mean how does that happen. It seems pretty easy to me... take the wooden crate out of storage, place it on a boat, and deliver the crate. Oh, I'm so disappointed!! We love that couch!! There is a tiny bit of me that is hoping they find it safely tucked away in the corner of their warehouse. But I'm not holding my breath. The weird thing is that they delivered all the cushions, pillows, and slipcovers. Which is no use to me without a frame. ;( The armoire has a few nicks but I think we can touch them up.

Our chair arrived in good condition. C absolutely loves this sitting on it and has asked if it can be his special chair. Last weekend, he spent hours lounging on the chair devouring "Calvin & Hobbes" comic books.

I've sold a ton of things already which feels great. I'm trying to be practical and not be too sentimental about things. In our shipment, we found more 110V appliances than I know what to do with. But we're being good... saying farewell to some of our favorite kitchen appliances... Breadmaker, Cuisinart food processor & blender, coffee grinder, mini refrigerator and my all time favorite...  my Kitchen Aid mixer. S has about 6-7 boxes worth of books! He even has text books from his undergraduate & graduate program! I'm trying to encourage him to recycle them but he's not budging. His excuse, "I can use them as reference books." Seriously? I like what Mr. On the Street had to say about these computer books, "Reference books? Maybe for a computer history class!" lol!