Zie je in januari

Days of the week, months of the year, and the word "I" in a sentence are not capitalized in Dutch.

Cities, countries and names of people are capitalized in Dutch.

So a sentence might look like this . . .

In december, vertrekken we op een zaterdag op weg naar de Verenigde Staten waar ik zal krijgen om een heleboel mensen die ik lief en missen zien.

in other words . . .

In december, we leave on a saturday headed to the States where i will get to see a lot of people i love and miss.

True story :)

Linda

Sometimes I call our dog Winslow, Shakespeare, because Shakespeare was the dog we had for a long time before Winslow.  Sometimes I call him Ross or Randi.  I don't think I've yet called Randi or Ross, Winslow or Shakespeare, but it's sure to happen.  

Of course, Winslow and Shakespeare are very dear to me so it's not all bad that I would get these names mixed up, right?

My Aunt Bev always had dogs around her house.  I specifically remember large basset hounds and a pomeranian named Linda.

From time to time, my grandmother called me Linda.  I never once heard her call anyone else Linda.  I always thought that was a sure sign she felt about the same for me as she felt for Linda.  Now, in the case of Linda being dear to her, that wouldn't be a bad thing, but in fact, Linda was not a favorite of hers.  I'm not sure what that says about me . . . but this article made me think about it.

Thousands Of Americans To Notice First Signs Of Dementia While Visiting Parents Over Holiday

WASHINGTON—Noting that the experience is sure to be extremely upsetting, a new report has found that thousands of Americans will likely notice the first signs of their parents’ dementia while visiting over the holidays. “Shortly after arriving home from the airport, an estimated tens of thousands of adults will invariably witness one or both parents forget something that just happened, misremember details of their lives that have been discussed hundreds of times before, or momentarily lose track of what they were doing right in the middle of an action,” lead author Dr. Tim Belarde wrote in the report, adding that 80 percent will see their parents write down incorrect information on a calendar, 65 percent will hear their mothers refer to a completely nonexistent event from childhood, and half will observe their father mixing up siblings’ names. 

“For the remainder of their vacations, these Americans will spend hours carefully observing their parents for further signs of mental decline and then convince themselves that any brain lapses were anomalies due to the stress of the holidays, ultimately leaving with dozens of unsettling memories they will repress in an effort to deny the inevitable.” 

At press time, sources reported that an estimated 40,000 mothers had just asked their children to resend their flight itineraries for the fourth time.

Hope that made you smile :)  And please don't ever call me Linda.

Bauble and Bijou

Wreaths have been around for centuries not only hung as a holiday decoration, but also worn on the head, placed on a memorial . . .

I first admired the wreath in the photo about this time last year when I saw it on the website findinghomeonline.com.  The website has some nice decorating ideas, especially for the holidays.

Anyway, I think the wreath is amazing so now I'm collecting ornaments to one day make one of these myself. The ornaments don't appear to be all vintage so a few new ones thrown in will be okay.  Nevertheless, I know there must be hundreds of ornaments so it could take a while!

Another man's junk . . .

A man from Tessenderlo (that's a city in Belgium) appeared yesterday before the court because he has collected around his house refrigerators, freezers, cables, refrigerator boxes, washing machines, etc. in large numbers in the garden.

The municipality of Tessenderlo urged the man several times to clean up the mess. "It is mine. Who does that bother? " is his answer. "Collecting is a fun activity for me since my retirement. So I have the day to do something and I do not have to go sit at the cafe.

The municipality  of Tessenderlo sees things differently. It fears for fire safety, germs and nuisances, including rats.

The prosecutor was talking about deviant behavior and a collective rage where other people suffer (perhaps something was lost in translation here?) .  

The Looienaar (that's what people who live in Tessenderlo are called)  got the last word and promised to take everything away. Tuesday afternoon the man seemed already to take action.  The judgment follows on 7 January.

I think the Hallsville prosecutor would have his work cut out for him.

Remember this jewel?  What would the Looienaarens think of this?

Kitsch

Recently we went "kringwinkeling/kerstmis shopping" and spotted this little gem.  

I thought to myself "this looks like something that could have been sitting around my house when I was a little girl".

She was only 25 cents and I felt compelled to buy her.

Then I turned her over and saw this.  

Grutman is a fancy furniture/interior design store here in Hasselt. Things may be overpriced at Grutman, but 140 euros?  For this little 4 inch tchotchke?

I showed it to Ross and he immediately burst my bubble by noting it was probably 140 francs . . . which in today's dollars is $4.78.

I suppose the sticker in Chinese should have been an indication as well.

Completely worthless, but . . .

she's still pretty cute.

November in Pictures

This a post of photos I've taken over the past few weeks.  No rhyme or reason, just photos.

I used to be amazed at what people (like me) are willing to pay for here.  Like in a restaurant, it's not possible to get tap water.  Tap water = not an option.  

Water is on every menu, sold only in a bottle, and generally costs about 2 euros - same as a Coke and a beer or coffee (that's water on the menu up there under Coca Cola).  

You also have to keep in mind that the bottles of Coke and water are tiny, like the little 6 oz. Cokes you remember, but that probably don't exist anymore in the States.  

So you can either sip your 3/4 cup of liquid during your meal or buy 2 or 3  more.  This is your only option.

We sometimes like to take a break from Belgian food and eat at one of the only American restaurants in Belgium - McDonald's.  At every McDonald's in Belgium, ketchup will cost you.  This one pkg. of ketchup, equivalent to 2 tablespoons is 60 cents.  That's 82 U.S. cents for every little pkg. of ketchup, or mayonnaise, or barbeque sauce . . .  This, too, is your only option.

This is us at a Mexican BBQ restaurant celebrating our neighbor's birthday.  It you can call it a Mexican restaurant - Sangria was on the menu, but margaritas were not :-\

That's Pieter, Anse, Bert, Esther, Ross, me, Annemie and Jim.

This is an armoire at the kringwinkel I would have liked to purchase.

For only 140 euros.

You may think that says 740 euros because everyone here makes their ones look like sevens.  All sevens have a line drawn through them . . . to distinguish them from the ones, I guess.

This is another armoire at the kringwinkel I would have liked to purchase.

Also priced at 140 euros.  

Sevens and ones again.

Of course, neither of them (the armoires) would fit in the car so someone else will get to enjoy these bargains.

Also at the kringwinkel . . . this item was not tempting.  At all.  Someone else in the market for a pink bidet will get to enjoy this bargain.

We saw this truck in Glasgow.  Luckily it was stopped at a red light because it took me that long to get my camera out!

Isn't that great?! It reminded me of something clever Randi would invent.

This is us having drinks with Jim's co-workers and their wives.  

That's Jim, me, Elaine, Carole, Steve and Alan.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with some of our Belgian and American friends.  It was delicious if I do say so myself.

That's Laurel, Daniele, me, Jim, Annemie, Jenna and Ross.

This is one of two Christmas trees I put up in our house this year.  Ross swears I've had them up since Halloween and that may in fact be true.  I really love Christmas.

This is Winslow enjoying Jim's sheepskin - purchased at Ikea :)

Just a couple of photos Randi texted to me . . .

of these two adorable children . . .

whom we will get to see in person in only 2 and a half weeks!

And lastly . . .

Two of several attempts to take our own picture for our anniversary.

When I looked decent, Jim's head was cut off.  He always looked good except that his head was cut off :)

Happy 33rd anniversary to the nicest guy I've ever known!