Change for better or worse!?

Change, they have told me over and over, is good! Well, last week some things suddenly did change:

1. I was wearing shoes without socks. So spring is finally winning the battle against frost and rain. Changestatus: ****

2. I was called 'changed' by a pupil and this over the whole line. Not in a nice way according to him. He made some comments of being rather strict in comparison to last month. I first hoped that he was talking about me having a new hairlook! Changestatus: don't seem to be able to figure out ** or ***

3. Number two was confirmed by one of those 'stupid but can't help to fill them out anyway'-quizzes on Facebook. According to their 'What kind of teacher are you' I turn out to be a 'mean' teacher! Well, perhaps that haircut was a bit too much to handle for my audience. For sure the once with Autism must have some issues going on in there. changestatus: subzero!!!!

4. My zero fine status has changed. Our mailman was so nice to hand me over with a big smile the envelope with the message that I had been speeding through Overijse. Couldn 't help it but I felt bad the whole day. So, I started calling some people to break the news to and hopefully they would cheer me up a bit.

-My mum. She was her 100% herself by pointing out this was not the end of the world and that there did not had crashed a plane on our roof! Ahm, this was helping for sure! Not!
-My close friend N. 'If you get caught speeding you do it better right!' Okay, so I am even not good at speeding!
-My old friend P. I was forced to leave a message on his answering machine and must have sounded rather pathetic! Because I was not able to tell on tape why I wanted to talk to him.
-My studygroup at college. They were telling me that they had probably been not caught yet or expressing their opnion by using bodylanguage involving a waving hand and 'tttttt-sounds'.
-My boyfriend P. Short outline of that conversation:
Me:'Hey P, uhm, I have some bad news! But promise me that you are not going to be upset with me!'
P: 'What is the bad news? Did something happen to the car?!'
Me:'No, no (and thinking: what if so and I had been in the car?) but I tell you when I get home!'
When he saw the car (and hopefully me!) arriving in one piece and found out what this was all about he was rather relieved. He pointed out that this was 'only' a speeding ticket.

What score this last change deserves I can't seem put down easily. I totally agree with the saying 'Change is good' but then number four was one of the changes I wasn't after in life! But you better be aware of me speeding by on a broomstick with a witchy hairdo, looking very mean and not wearing any socks!

Circle of friends!

It was noted down in my little agenda in capital letters: DINNER REUNION HOEPERTINGEN! And even just reading those three lines made me smile. What Hoepertingen was all about would take me a seperate entry. But to cut it short it were for me the best youthcamps ever. If you ever have been on a camp you know that the memories you create there can stand the test of time.



Thanks to D and L who put some time in retracing the hard core members we ended up in Leuven for a dinner. L had chatted a few times with me and the last few days we started to get a bit anxious. Needless to say that the three men that we were going to meet seemed to have made it in life. Even the mails that we got sounded rather serious. L and I even had a backup plan if our dinner companions seemed to have changed too much. A Parking Party in one of the underground parkinglots with a bottle of 'Wissels-Jenever'.


I was the first to arrive. Hate that but someone has got to be that number. While sitting there with the menu I had numerous flashbacks of how we were in a very distant past. I am not going to tell you even those details but I can assure you that we did some things that you hope your own children won't find out for quite some time.


A half hour later the dinnercircle was complete and we were off for a night to remember. I guess that the other guests thaught we were annoying. We talked (some more then others) and listened to find out what had happened to us in our personal lives. Beamed up old memories and people and tried to catch up with the new lives that we are living. Most of all we laughed out loud!


D, the one who tried get us together, managed to travel to the South Pole and proposed to his girlfriend in the elevator of the notary. B still loves to sail to unknown destinations and and has now two children running around. He also is not scared to work all over the place and to admit openly that kids are hard work. R is still left handed (a creative mind) and for sure a dotting husband and father. He also still has this amazing mysterious smile and sparkling eyes that can leave you behind mystified. L still has a very bubbling personality and has some jobexperience in the sky! Her laugh is still deadly contagious. And I? Well! I was of course the one who asked the too indescrete questions and ended up telling too much classified information.

While sipping from our glasses and our goodtasting food passed through I started to feel quite happy. And it wasn't the spare alcohol that I got to drink. It were those four familiar faces that seemed not too have changed too much. None of us had undergone radical plastic surgery or had adjusted their behaviour in order to get here tonight.


Before we knew we were ordering our last drink and noticed that we were the last to leave. It was about midnight and this in combination of being 30 makes head for your car. Kids, early Sundays, work assignments, family lunch, other parties to attend, all things that we did not have to consider when we met before this evening.


D had to leave because he had to pick up the international sunday papers at the airport in the early morning and have a coffee at Starbucks for work! R and B were heading for a birthday party and tried to convince L and me to join them. R is a lawyer, so he can be very convincing and B just told us that we were going to be the party crashers of the succesful evening. I felt tempted but this time I declined. At camp those two got me in trouble more then once! So L and I walked back to the parking lot. 'It was fun! ', she said. 'Sure it was! We didn't change that much!' After we paid our parking ticket we kissed goodbye and drove off.


While driving home with Lara Fabian 'Je me Souviens' in the background I started to reflect if we did not change? Well, perhaps our lives have changed some things. But in the end we are five individuals who still try to keep focused and suck out of life the best there is out there. All of us have our own story but because there was a time that we spend summers in the most fruity corner of Belgium, dressed up as Romans, designed our own code of arms , danced a menuet in a castle, biked through the Limburg hills (even at midnight to find a 'frituur'), played poker under adult supervision, drank liters of Looza fruitjuice and Bink Beer, listened over and over to the Beastie Boys and were able to discover the beauty of life in the fullest dimension we ended up at that night at that one table and smiled!


More then ever the lyrics of this rather so corny song of Lara Fabian can touch me. It was nice to be back and hope that we will be able to create together some new memories to cherish as much as the previous ones. Last night was for sure a damn good start!


To end the final lyrics of 'Je me souviens' by Lara :


Je n’oublie rien de rien,
Je me souviens
J’aime tes blasphèmes, ta foi, ta dignité
Tu es comme une île
Que l’on ne peut pas quitter

J’aime tes poèmes, ton coeur, ta liberté
Tu es comme une île
Que l’on ne veut pas quitter
Des paysages qui mélangent au plus que parfait
Des dessins que la nature ne refait jamais
L’impression d’être entrée au jardin de la paix

Je n’oublie rien de rien


Et je reviens (hopefully more then once!!!)

Belgium calling Texas

Sometimes it are the small things that you cherish the most. I always try to look forward to rather little treats that can cheer up my such ordinary working week and provincial life. My weekly highlight is calling the States. Trying to keep in touch with the people that I have encountered during my American adventure is not always that easy. Facebook has of course pushed it a bit further but it is still the oldfashioned phone that does the trick.

The lucky person that I call once a week to catch up is H. We started out at Hoover High in homeroom. She shares the same first syllable of our last name and so she became one of the first familiar faces to meet in the mornings. We shared 15 to 20 minutes in the mornings listening to the general announcements and picking up reportcards or finding a red or pink carnation from a secret admirer amongst the Hoover Boys. H became the caffeine that I lacked during my rather fast breakfasts.

Making friends in a strange country as a teenager is quite a challenge. You now that you will leave after one year and that putting energy in friends is rather an adventure heading to an unknown destination. I was cautious in the beginning of letting my fences down. But H managed to make them go down rather fast. By week three she knew that I had broken up with S at the time before getting on the plane, that I did not like math (she took advanced calculus if I am not mistaken!!!) and that I was so good at overreacting.

We exchanged phonenumbers by the end of month one and she was the sister that I did not end up having in one of the three guestfamilies. One of our rather long phonecalls was the one at electionnight when Bill Clinton got elected. We got on for I don't know how long why he would or would not be a good president.

H then already had triggered a soft spot in the friendship alley. We ended up going to ballet recitals, drinking softdrinks at the Mall, searching for new cool clothes, buying together my first compact powder (so that I finally really got into the girlsroom during lunch time where the important newsitems were broadcasted in front of the mirror!), going out on fridays for a hamburgers at Fridays (and H thaught me that you don't have to tip when you are not happy about the service), going to church together (one of the rather hard things to explain to the average European who thinks that church is boring) and watching the latest movie releases at the local movie theater!

We finally ended up in rather funny looking dresses at the dancefloor of our Senior Prom. That night I realised that she was for sure a very special friend. By then we knew where we were heading for: she to Ohio State and I Leuven! We threw together our caps in the air at graduation after she gave a very 'serious sounding speech' as valedictorian! (smartest girl of our class, she will hate me for telling this but is a fact!)

Now 16 years later we still try to keep the bond of unconditionally friendship going strong. It is not easy. There are moments that the distance kills you. The hardest time ever was when H asked me as a bridesmaid and I did not manage to go because of work. There are moments that you wonder when it will come to an end. Every time when we see each other it is hard because you never can predict when there will be a next time!

H and I have for sure went our own ways. I ended up becoming a teacher (as predicted in placement and carreer tests taken at Hoover) and she became a lawyer à la Alley McBeal!! Not that she has the same nutty behaviour but she has got the spirit! I envy her life once in while that when I call her after nine at her office that she is still going strong! I imagine her sitting there behind her desk and looking so professional! And yes, I sometimes end up talking to her answering machine because she is such a busy bee. She feels sorry and bad about this but I don't really mind. It is part of her job description and just hearing her recorded voice can make me smile!

During those calls we try to catch up and being honest with each other. We end up asking each other questions that we don't dare to ask others. It seems like the distance makes it eassier. H still manages to be damn honest with me on every subject. Also she is one of the few people that I truely believe when she makes a compliment or comment.

Wrapping up a piece about this girl is not that easy because I could go on for hours. I just know that I need those phonecalls to get through the week. I can stay focussed and push my limits a bit further then I imagined. But most of all H reminds over and over that friendship can go the distance!!!

Dream destinations!

I ended up once more in one of those such annoying traffic jams. Hating the prospect of wasting time by standing still I then try to do come up with other activities. Most of the time I will try to kill time by keeping my mind trained. Objective: noting down mental lists of any sort. Today's subject: time travel destinations. Below you can read my five star dream destinations in case such a thing would be possible.

1. Rome at the time of the Romans, I pay a roman bath a visit and have a very long steambath. After that relaxing activity sipping some real nice tasting Italian wine. Then getting my hair done in that fantastic fashion that I know from many history lessons and movies. To end up in the market place where Seneca is proclaiming one of his notorious speeches.

2. Egypt at the time of building the pyramids of Cheops. And that I finally get the hang of reading hieroglyphics. And next I want to have a milk bath and then be off to sail on the Nile while eating fresh fruits. I would take tons of cats along and spoil them to death.

3. Florence at the time of the Di Medici and wander through the streets and hope to walk into one of the great Masters that have added the marvelous colors to the medieval town. Perhaps I even manage to get into a secret library where the most sacred manuscripts are kept.

4. London at the time of Shakespeare and attend 'Midsummer Night's Dream' at the Globe as a groundling. After that I would have an ale in the pub and discuss poetry with romantic souls like Marlow till the sun comes up. I would try to catch a glance of Queen Elisabeth her dresses and then kiss my lover farewell before he is off with the Spanish Armada!

5. Bath at the time of Jane Austen. Dance through the night with Mr Darcy and in the morning walk up in a gigantic mansion and take a stroll through the rosegarden. Have a indulging teatime with tiny cucumber sandwiches and fresh strawberries. And in the evening play a piano sonate or three for my perfect gentleman.

By number five I ended up in my drive way and was I confrontated once more with a living room that needs a total make over, a kitchen sink totally covered with tea spots (P please!!!!!), the laundrybasket that still needs some more attention and other daily life ingredients that ask for some extra energy that I left behind at work.

Needless to say that none of the above seemed in reach and so I was rather relieved when I finally ended up once more in my bed! And yes,sometimes I end up travelling through time down there. But then you never are able to choose the destination. Wondering where I will be tonight once I have closed my eyes? At least I never seem to be wasting time under the duvet. It is for sure one of my favourite travel destinations!

P.S: the best time travelling I did in a 'Heavenly Bed' at the Westin in Rotterdam! Still my best dreamtool ever. Want to know more google 'Heavenly Beds by Westin'. Bet you don't want to waste any time and book a room asap!! Sweet dreams guaranteed !

Missing

I miss ........

- the smell of the sea when walking with bare feet through the sand and the waves that splash over them. Even the successful sinus-operation has not been able to bring back that specific smell that then used to fill up my nose!
- the feeling of putting on my toeshoes and turning pirouttes! My toes have turned into rather strange looking things but that feeling that I had while wearing those funny looking objects was worth quite a bit. Thanks to band aid and desinfectant I still have toes.
- the sense of doing everything a very first time. Tasting for the very first time the devine drink called Champagne, your first dance solo, your first 'real' kiss, the first ride with a car (feeling so grown up), .....
- the precious friends that I have made while being away from 'home': H, M and A who still keep in touch after all these years. But even numerous phonecalls, mails and skype can't seem to make up for the real thing.
- the sounds of Brussels. I loved that town and that will never change. It got under my skin and just cherish the many hidden treasures that I have discovered while living down there!
- the sound of frogs while going to bed. As a kid I used to fall asleep with in the background the frog-sonate in F major! Loved the sense of having the call of nature so close by!
- the smell of pinetrees! Just can't get used to those sprays that promise you a walk throug a pinetree forest!
- the sensation of flying for the first time. My first flight with a commercial airplane was so intense and it took me to my very best year of my life.
- the wind that blows in my face while skiing down the slopes of 'Coupe du Monde' at Avariaz. Since my back injury skiing seems somthing that I have done in a previous life!
- the taste of the delicous French fries that my grandmother prepared and the bottles of Coke that we were allowed to drink as a treat and got out of her tiny basement.
- the color of gravel that my tennisshoes brought back into house after playing a mixed doubles and winning that five set game against all odds!
- catching my breath after walking up the mountains in Stams (Austria) and having the breathtaking view of a sky filled up with bright stars at night! Not to mention the shooting stars!
- the sense that pocketmoney is a fortune and that being able to spend it on useless things like candy, stickers or toys wherefor you first had to save for months. Being able to buy them made you feel as rich as a millionaire.
- the warmth of a cat lying at your bed end and falling asleep. It is a nuissance that P is allergic to any animal that adds some comfort to our home! He can't help it but it even a stuffed WWF-clone can't make up for the real thing!
- the kicking feet of A when he was in my tummy! I have mentioned numerous times that I consider being pregnant not a blast but that specific sensation made up for all the rather unpleasant side-effects.
- the ability to stay in bed as long as you want and then just let the day itself decide what will happen next. Woudn't exchange A for anything in the world but I am so jealous of people that can say that got up late and just went with the flow.
- the smell of my grandmother's perfume when I walked into the bathroom after she had spend an eternity in there! Knowing that having her over for a few days was having extra treats!
- the happiness that I sensed when I got my first bra! Now buying new ones is facing the facts of time and that those tiny little ones are so much cuter then the huge laced moddels!
- the excitement of having to ask permission for everything and anything! Now I take everything for granted and I shouldn't!
but above all .........

- the talks that I had my dad while the sun was setting in the garden at home! Yes, I still miss him! Even the cigeratte smoke that filled up his office I now consider a precious memory. I am not ashamed of admitting that I do have imaginary talks with him. And yes, I still have a hard time of letting go! W.H. Auden wrote in 'The Funeral Blues':'He was my North, my South, my East and West; My working week and my Sunday rest!' Well no better words to express how I felt with my dad along me every step of the way. Miss you walking next to me!

Staircase to heaven?

Now that Nicola's Bookstore had closed down I had to find an other bookheaven. I am not that keen on big chainstores if it comes down to books. But then they have great deals and a huge selection. So after comparing a few I decided that Waterstone's was the future recipient of a part of my negative fortune.

Today I decided to give it go. I parked my car at the station, jumped on the metro and arrived on the scheduled time. When I walked out the sun was still shining, not that much traffic and not that many tourists out there to block my way. I was in a really good mood because I was about to enter one of those places that can me feel rather on cloud number 7!

In a record time I bought the books I was after (but the one that I really needed seemed not to be in but that would mail it to me!) and walked out with a plastic bag full of goodies and their nice magazine. As a cherry on the cake I received the one and only Waterstone's Card. Now I can collect points and exchange for even more books! Huray for Waterstone's!

This was turning into a real nice day! Even the people that I ran into that were demonstrating because they demanded their independence couldn't change that. The Spanish region of Catalonia was trying to make very clear that they wanted to fly solo! So back to my car that was waiting for me to drive to Mechelen.

Well, you know what sometimes can happen then..... A day that started out so nice suddenly becomes rather gloomy. Was I in for a big treat. At one of the metrostops it seemed that our driver seemed to have forgotten that he was on tight schedule as well. But nobody was making any nervous gestures or seighing. I just hoped it woul only take a few minutes and we would be back on track.

Next thing the driver just gets out and walks down to the back of the metro. 'Just relax, C, he just needs to take a leek! He will back shortly!' Well, he came back and was so kind to ignore an older lady who was informing why we had stopped.

A few minutes later we were happy to hear those familiar sounds that a metro makes when the doors close and now we were going to leave ...not! We were just standing there and nothing happened and the intercome seemed to be not in use anymore. Or perhaps the driver was not aware of the fact that he was transporting a bunch of people.

Believe it or not by now this lady here with her filled up W-bag started to get itchy. 'I am going to get late. My collegues are going to be pissed. I will have to explain why I am late! Oh, no what if I am really late not just half an hour but perhaps even two? And what if this metro never leaves and I have to find first a bus to get to the parking lot outside the city! It is a weekend so not exactly tons of busses out there and a demonstration! Takes a lifetime to even find the right bus and even longer to get to the right parking lot!'

While I was having a brainmarathon the driver had gotten out once more. He was having a rather stressed look in his eyes! 'No, no I am just overreacting this is not going to happen. In a few seconds he gets back on and then we will have a nice ride!' Uhm, well, seems I ran out of luck because once the driver got back on he seemed to even be able to find the intercome and speak. What he said I did not all get because he seemed to think that all that really mattered was the word Stockel.

And so we all had to get off! There I was standing whith my bookbag and I just had it. So I tried to find out what was going on. But all these helpful people that work for the public transportation were nowhere in sight. Perhaps they were out there with the Catalonian people! By now I noticed that none of the rides that passed by was going to Herrmann Debroux!

I was in a real pickle here and I called one my collegues announcing that I was stuck in public transportation. And then my rather nice day just went down the 'tubes'! I couldn't help it but right in the middle of the station I started to produce tears! I did not care I was stared at. 'Just let them think that I just broke up with my boyfriend or found out some horrible news. I am going to cry here and now.'

After my collegue had tried to calm me down and told me that it was not my fault that I was going to be late I went back to check the lineprogress. Only subs going to Stockel! And then I decided to just let it go, thinking that it was not going to be end of the world that I was going to be late. I tried to think positive and so....... the next ride was to .......... Herrmann Debroux!! Hurray!!!

In the end I was about 45 minutes too late and my collegues were not upset with me. They ofcourse made some jokes about Brussels and public transportation. But I it did not mind. By the time I was cutting up the 'Misérable'-cake (very fitting dessert to prepare after such a ride) I felt much better.

Being home now and reflecting about this day I should have known that getting on that ride was going to be rather risky. It was asking for problems when you can read at the end of the escalator the word 'HELL' is written. So it would not be fair to the MIVB to write a letter of complaint because they had tried to warn me!! Next time perhaps a limo with private driver for a ride to bookheaven?

A rare species but amongst us: the M.M.M.

There are some things that I never get used to. Not that I have not tried but.... Sometimes there are a few issues that just never get cleared up between the ears. How hard you do try it just does not work! And when your five year old starts to notice it as well it becomes rather time to act.

Yesterday, after dinner (P and I try to take turns on that chore) our kitchen looked like a weapon of mass destruction had found it's way into there. A who had finished his meal and was ready to run off with sticky hands! But before doing so he was so kind to make clear what his expectations were. He pointed at me saying:'You will do the washing up!' Next he pointed at P saying:'And you will turn on the TV!'

My first reaction was to laugh but once I had my hands planted in the kitchensink I started to wonder if I had reasons to do so. P is very helpful in the house. He manages to some things that some of my friends their partners never seem to do. But apparently it seems still not enough to make sure that A knows that men and women can share some responsibilities at home.

So I need some help to explain to A that men can try to do some of the less appealing chores as well. Perhaps the next lines might get him on the right track of thinking about running a household in the new millennium!

1. Men can do the dishes!
I always wondered why men who have their hands in soapy water end up in picture albums or more recently on Facebook. Well, now I do know. Yes, we do have a dishwasher but even unloading that modern device seems to be a tough job. But I have missed out rather a lot of TV-shows because my men where out there watching TV and I had wet hands. A tiny television set in the kitchen would perhaps make up for the rather lonely moments!

2. Men do know that toiletpaper is not a hidden treasure!
Why do I end up more then half of the time in the smalest room of the house and find out too late that the paper is all gone. No warning what so ever! Well, I am not going to tell you what I need to do once in while when I am confrontated with this either crushing scene in there! It would be censored if I did so!

3. Men do know that cleaning means more then just making things wet.
P cleans quite often the floors but seems to forget that you have to put things back in the right order when the last drop of water has vanished. I ran into some rather hard objects when I went to bed and thaught that my bed was free. Surprise! My bedside table was still there. Perhaps it would become clear if I would leave it there next to me. Wonder what P his reaction would be if he would end up hugging a piece of furniture instead of me!

4. Men do know where clothing items belong once they need to be washed.
I have sometimes the impression that we are living in a house where you can run into numerous clothing items. A lost pair of socks of P, a pair of underwair of A in the bathroom, a jacket in the bedroom, a shirt in the bathroom and a pair of trousers in the livingroom. Everywhere clothes seem to be at home but sometimes they seem to be this a bit too much. P his running outfit and rather sweaty perfume adds not that exactly to the stylish flair that I am after in the livingroom. If Misses Bucket would walk in she would rather end up in the ER!

5. Men do know that chores are hard work .
P is for sure one of those men that really derserves the label of the More Modern Man. He is rather well trained and knows that he is needed at the homefront as well. I am very happy to say that P does things that some other men only would admire of a safe distance. But why do they expect us that we every time then express our grattitude when they do something extra. They even talk about it when they have done something that women do silently.

So P, yes I love it when you hoover the livingroom, clean the toilet, put the trash out, clean the car, load the dishwasher, clean out a kitchen cabinet, hang up the wet laundry, do the dishes, cook a pastadinner, keeping tins, paper and glassware seperate, wash the windows and other rather homerelated chores.

I might not tell you every time over and over again but I do tell others about the fact that I am blessed with a More Modern Man! I have to be honest I had to think rather hard to come up with some of these remarks. Just keep up the good work! And no, ladies, you can't have him for any money of the world! So you better start training yours. I will have my hands full with A!

New cookingstars in the making!

Yes, I watched 'Mijn Restaurant'. Because I love cooking I love foodrelated newsitems and programmes. Last Year I ended up even going to one of the restaurants . Well I had a wonderful lunch with above me one of those big black microphones. It was rather a strange experience to digest a delicious appetizer with above you a long lollypop who tries to pick up my first vibes.


So after that lunch experience I have to say that I know for sure that the people that are now in the running won't have a walk through the park. The heat is on the moment you get your future building that you have to turn into a succesfull restaurant.

I am going to be short about what I have seen so far and for the moment I still don't have a favorite copple. But I was happy to see that the highest amount of money went to the youngest candidates after the first challenge. Very brave youngsters who decided to take some risks in a time that there is not much to smile about. They want to go for it. Claudio wants his own kitchen and tables and Gaëlle believes in him every step of the way!

To find out how much extra money to were able to take home they got an envelop. When Claudio opened his he just beamed and Gaëlle hugged and kissed him. In a time where most of the news is dealing with unemployment and the rather gloomy future that lays ahead of the young generation that is still out there I was touched by this image.

Claudio and Gaëlle I can't promise that my vote will go to you but don't give your dream! It is worth to fight for. And Claudio the force will be with you in the kitchen as long Gaëlle bears with you.

P.S.: There is a way to please Peter Goossens and is the taste of a certain something that he really made awful comments about. I tasted the stuff in his restaurant and I have to be honest it is the best thing that I ever tasted. If these candidates have watched the previous series they should have noticed but I wonder .............. Did you?