XXV

We had a very nice weekend of good food, nice weather and celebrating . . .

We had our stoic neighbors over for dinner to celebrate Ross's birthday.  Thank you, Anse and Esther for knowing how to properly pose for a photo.  After nearly five years, we give up on the other three!

Then we really celebrated in Brussels . . .

in this area called Quartier Saint Catherine.

We even stayed one night in this cute little hotel that's been around since 1896.

We were assigned to the Tahiti Room.  Interesting to say the least.

Then we went to this little bar called Cafe Merlo . . .

where Ross's two good friends, Laurel and Jenna, hosted a surprise party for him.

There were lots of decorations and fun "extras" (thanks to Randi!) like mustaches, glow bracelets, a photo booth and all Ross's favorite candies.

We even had Randi and Hannah join the celebration on Skype!

Naturally, Winslow was there.

Jenna made two delicious cakes and speculoos tiramisu that was the best we've ever eaten.

The whole spread!

and the whole gang :)

Happy 25th birthday, Ross!

Our quick trip to TX

Jim had a business meeting in Jefferson and I couldn't help but tag along.  I'm so glad I did . . .

Be sure to . . .

- make it full screen by clicking [   ] 

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- AND click the X to close out those pesky ads so you can see my captions!

Correction: I just thought that was the battle pusher.  Turns out it was his shield :)

Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, POP!

Long time, no see

Just a little update on what's been going on with us lately.  

Besides enjoying the warmest Belgian weather on record . . . 

From a large cow hide to this nice bag.  Ross spent several weekends making this happen.

Every inch handmade including the stitching!

Valentine's Day!

Mardi Gras.  This was as good as it looks.

Jim and Ross won a little and lost a little at the oldest casino in the world  . . . in Spa, Belgium.

The trees are blooming all over the place.

The park is busy with people enjoying the weather . . . including us.

Crocus and narcissus

I will definitely be back in a few days when all these blooms open up!

Worth the wait

The crocus are blooming about a month or more too soon this year.  

The weather here is always a subject of conversation - mostly in the way of complaining.  Admittedly, I wasn't sure just how much I could take of it either.  I was certain that grey was the national color of Belgium . . . until this year.

This year has, by far, been the best weather year since our arrival.  I haven't seen this much sun in nearly five years! The summer was outstanding and the winter (so far) has been more like spring. Now, don't get me wrong . . . it's not tropical by far, but February temperatures of lows at 4C and highs of 7C (that's 40F and 45F for us Americans :) is unusual.  Plus the added bonus of sun nearly every day.  

  

Apparently it really is unusual.  I read in our local paper that this winter is headed toward setting a record for the warmest winter ever!  I'm just glad we are here to witness it.

What will these Belgians (and me) bitch about now?

Snelmail not

Ironically, snel is Dutch for "fast, quick, rapid, speedy . . ."

Mailing letters and packages back and forth from U.S. to Belgium and vice versa has been, at the very least, intriguing.

Not long after moving here, we learned that Randi's friend Corey liked to collect postcards so we started sending one to him each time we traveled to a new place.  We also always purchased a postcard for ourselves.  One day it dawned on me that we could mail ourselves a postcard too.

That's when I started writing and mailing a postcard to us describing where we were and how much fun we were having.  I wish I'd thought of it sooner!

This week we received this postcard from Randi, mailed while we were on our trip to Orange Beach at Christmas.  It took 6 weeks to arrive in our mailbox.  It's a postcard - not a shipping crate.

Once I sent a package to the States that took exactly 30 days to arrive.  I paid the premium fee to keep it off the slow boat, but if it ends up on there anyway, as Randi said . . . guess it takes long time to row a dinghy full of mail across the ocean in winter :-)

When something is shipped from the U.S., it remains in Customs for . . . as long as it takes.  If it's something "new",  taxes are 25% of its value.  Belgium's mail tax is basically extortion.

If you mail something to me and write on the shipping form that it's worth $100, I get to pay a tax of $25 for the post office to give it to me.  If it's something not "new", then Customs decides if it is in fact, new or not, if it has taxable value, and then you may or may not pay taxes on it.

Not a bad system, huh?

Even a regular first class stamp here will cost you over a dollar compared to the U.S. at 49 cents and if you want to mail that letter to another "state" (aka country), it'll cost you about $1.50.  

Don't even ask what it will cost you to send that same letter to the States!  Okay, it'll cost you almost $2.  Is that why the Belgian P.O. was a billion plus in the black while the U.S.P.S. was a few billion in the red?  Perhaps.

Ok, so the post office will cost you an arm and a leg, but what about FedEx?  No surprise, send me a letter FedEx from the U.S. and pay $59.00 and I'll get it in 2 days.  I send you a letter FedEx, and it'll cost me $116.00 and the "delivery date is unavailable".  

It is still the same distance both ways, right?  When it absolutely, positively has to be there one of these days?

What got me thinking about all this is when we received one of our own postcards last week.  From Switzerland.  Mailed October 8.  

That may be a record . . . 4 months to go 400 miles.  The pony express resurrected.

In addition to postcards, I've enjoyed collecting sand (or rocks in some cases) from every beach we've visited.  I really love the display and all the fun memories it brings to mind.  Randi was nice enough to make these snazzy tags for each one . . . Nice, France - Barcelona, Spain - Cancun, Mexico, - Livorno, Italy . . . and so many more wonderful places!