Monday, January 17, 2011

In the words of the great Ozzy...."Mama, I'm coming Home"

Hayden-Not quite ready to leave Belgium...He wanted to stay.
The decision has been made and executed.  The 'old country' has been left behind, but not forgotten.  Brent dropped the children and I at the Brussels airport in the wee hours of the morning and was off to work.  He will join us in Arizona when business has been settled in Belgium.  It was a good thing that he dropped us off so early.  There was no waiting in the British Airlines line and we had a lot of luggage to move around and check.  (At least it seemed that way when you have your own luggage and that of your three children)

Logan
We made it through the security check-point with ease and settled in our not-so comfortable airport chairs.  We watched planes take-off and land, read and chatted a bit about the expectation of the life that awaited us.  It was almost time to board the plane for London, Heathrow when who do we see?  The mother of one of our good friends in Belgium, Scott and Sabine.  We had unknowingly booked the same flight to England and even more crazy, had each changed our assigned seats and chose those next to each other. It was a great serendipitous surprise.  Probably much to her dismay, we chatted the whole flight to England.  She had been staying with the Sturgges family for three weeks and was most likely looking for a peaceful flight home.

Upon our arrival in England, we said our goodbyes and off we went our separate ways, she for her home and I and the children for our plane across the Atlantic Ocean.  Once again we waited.  When it was time to leave, we filed onto the plane, found our seats, and settled in for the long flight "home".  We watched movies, read and tried to sleep in our confined arrangements.  After the 9+ hour flight, we were finally landing in America.  We followed the masses of people to retrieve our luggage and then entered the que for customs. We handed over our Belgium exit papers and with minimal effort and even less time, we were through.

Landing in Phoenix
On our way through the doors that separate foreign travel from everyone else, we saw a banner held by my parents. "Welcome Home Family"!!  We were home...for now.  The children and I would be staying in my parents basement until Brent came back to the USA and we figured out where we were going and what we were going to do.

We loaded up into two cars and made our way to the Banfield homestead in Mesa, Arizona.  My sister Bridget's children were anxiously awaiting their cousins arrival with a huge "Welcome Home Fishers" sign.  It was great to see the family again waiting with open arms, but I am missing my man and wondering, "What's next?"

Some needed Happy Attitude






Saturday, January 15, 2011

Freezing our Keesters Off

Yesterday the water in our house never would get hot.  This happened once
before and we were told there was just a "bubble" in the line.  So I thought it would just work out.  Right?  No.

The oil in our boiler is OUT.  That's right.  1700 euros in 4 months.  Gone.  We called today to see when we can get it filled.  Monday.  They were closing in 5 minutes.  SOL.  Yes, they close at noon on Saturday.  Of course they do.  So no heat, no hot water until Monday afternoon.  And it's less than 50 degrees F. outside in the middle of the day!

Somethings in Belgium I will definitely NOT miss!


©ColleenFisher

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Movie Night

We haven't been to a movie in over 6 months and tonight we broke that dry spell.  We went as a family to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows.

Interesting things of note:
  • The movie was in English (YEAH) and there were double subtitles flashing (Flemish and French)
  • There are assigned seats-we were told politely that we had taken someone's spot. (no really-they were so nice)
  • There was an intermission (like Gone with the Wind-have to check and see if the movie was like that in America)
  • The popcorn was already in the buckets-no loud popping noises and delicious smells wafting through the air.
  • It was a Saturday Night and the theater filled up eventually, but there weren't a ton of people waiting for other movies or long lines for that matter.
  • And why do they not shut the bathroom door.  Seriously.  If you know me you know I am not high on the propriety level, but come on people we came to see a different show.
©ColleenFisher