This little flutter happened earlier today whilst I was in my hotel room, on the 8th floor!

*meep*

Bliss is...

A mini bar filled with delights for the weary traveller.

Just landed in Taipei from Seoul and it's around 20c. That's a welcomed change as it was 7 this morning in Seoul.

Right, I'm off to catch up with Sarah, it's her birthday today :)

Monday marvel

I received this unexpected surprise in the post today at the office *grin*

Thank you my dapper fairy!

Dutch word of the day: mooi - beautiful.

Road to hell!

It's about time the 'Belgian government' (read 'lack there of') got their fingers out and formed a government - again. First on the list of things to do is to fix those atrocious roads that we have to drive on.

Rant over.

p.s. this is the second time since i've lived in Belgium that we haven't had a government!

p.p.s. word of the day - geen; meaning 'none.'

Ride

Ahhh

I rode for the first time today since my accident last August. I rode home from work. The sun was shining, I didn't need my gloves and I was on my new bike.

Somethings in life are priceless!

Hond!

Sarah and I went out for a quick drink after my Flemish class tonight and saw this in the window of the hairdressers downtown lol. I hope she's not responsible for my next hair cut!

Chimay to the left, chimay to the right, chimay in a wine glass that's just not right!

Chimay Rood in an American Thai restaurant = "thumbs up."

Chimay Rood in a wine glass = :(

Mijn liefde

It was just after Valentine's day 3 years ago that I first had the pleasure of "chatting" (read stalking) my better half. Sarah and I both had profiles on that essential "social" website for any young lesbot - gaydargirls. If I was bored and on my computer, I'd often find myself trawling through people's profiles, just for a laugh, to see what ridiculous things they're written about themselves.

Normally I'd just look at the main cities, but this fateful evening I decided to look under the towns in the countryside. These ones normally provide even more entertainment but certainly never any potentials for dating...or so I thought.

I began to scroll down the list of profiles from the back of beyond when this very unique looking picture of someone's eyes caught my attention. Viewing the profile I saw that she lived in Belgium and not in the back of beyond in the UK. At that time I visited Belgium 3-4 times a year with my old job so in my head the location was a small detail that could be conveniently worked out.

I remember reading her profile and thinking, wow, this girl sounds AMAZING! Her personality came across in her profile and I very much liked what I read. I had to send a message to her. I did doubt if she would reply though. My first text was some incomprehensible rambling in a rather poor attempt at Dutch. It was enough to hook Sarah in just a wee bit.

The texts progressed into long chats over msn and then on skype over the following weeks. Unfortunately for Sarah, I'm very impulsive and can be a bit pushy when I set my eyes on a goal (read target). I wanted to go over to Belgium to see first hand if all of these feelings were real. And I wanted to do this asap. Sarah on the other hand was a wee bit cooler. Looking at her schedule for March 2007 she replied, "Well, I'm starting my new job in the first week so I can't have any visitors then, and my best friend is coming over in the 3rd week so I'm not free then...How does April or May sound?

GUTTED! That was not the answer I was looking for. Needless to say, I was rather persistent and Sarah was persuaded. I did visit in March, in fact I visited at the end of her first week at her new job. That was a momentous week in her life LOL and as it turned out also in mine :)

Grrr!

Yes, it's been a while, tsk. I blame that on my procrastination. I have so many things to write you see that I just don't know where to begin. So I put it off.

Well, this post is another beginning.

Over the past few months I've become (as has Sarah) super-aware that I'm increasingly sensitive to my hormones at a particular time of the month. My mood changes, I hate everything, people bug me, I want to sleep the whole day, I see no light at the end of the tunnel...Girls you know the feeling right?! The general feeling of "I feel fat and bloated and I can't be arsed to move a muscle!" This is rather difficult for me to get my head round because I generally consider myself a positive and easy going kind of gal...except for 3 days in the month.

Apparently I'm on time each month with said feelings. Lucky me! I left the house this morning like a kid being dropped off for their first day at school. Not fun. I repeat, not fun!

Sarah, bless her, calls me and sends me some supportive tesks to keep me motivated but I just can't seem to dig myself out of it. Anyways, half a bar of dark chocolate and a few hours later I come with a complete mood change in the opposite direction and feeling all hunky dorey about life.

Once again, please remind me what the evolutionary point is in hormonal fluctuations (apart from the obvious)!

Lost in translation

I just replied back to my Dad's text enquiring how I was doing. Said I was busy with work and that I have exams for my Dutch class tonight and tomorrow.

The response:

"Ach dung x"

*shakes head shamefully trying to conceal her laugh*

What chance have you got?!

Achoo!

I'm sick today. My cold has been gathering pace over the last few days and came to a bit of head last night when my cough developed into a fully blown beached seal bark thus, keeping me and unfortunately Sarah, awake most of the night. Having just gotten back from the H1N1 breeding ground in Scotland, I was thinking my chances were rather high of succumbing to it. Luckily not. But at least Sarah will have a chance to wear those beautiful face masks I brought from China.

In Belgium, even if you're off work sick from one day, you have to get a doctor's note. Whereas in Britain you can self-certificate for up to a week. I prefer the system in Belgium because at least you're forced to get medical help sooner. The level of treatment that I've received so far from my GP for many different ailments has been like night and day compared to what I'd normally get back home. Of course the fact that I have to pay 24E per visit does ensure a better quality of service, but at least I will be reimbursed for some of this. There's no long waits, I can get appointment and prescription in the same day and if I need medication after work hours, there's always 1 local Chemist that's open late through the night.

On another note, I shall be tuning into BBC Radio 2's Breakfast Show now that Moira Stuart will be the newsreader with Chris Evans as the new host.

p.s. I ordered a replacement book for my Dutch class on Monday from the publisher and it arrived today before they've even asked for payment - fantastic service!

TV-tastic

My new favourite Belgian tv program is "Man bijt hond." It's a captivating wee insight into the lives of every day Belgians. It's a breath of fresh air in contrast to the run of the mill reality tv format in that it is genuine and simple in its topics, subjects and filming style.

Words of the day

Verdomme! = dammit!
Herhalen = repeat.

I have a Dutch exam on the 19th and I've managed to leave my study book behind in Scotland.

Stom = stupid.

Everybody needs good neighbours

OMG! It's 8:55am on a Sunday and yet again there are un-Sunday-like loud noises coming from our apartment building! One of the joys of having retired people living in your block!!! Shouldn't they be in church at this time?!

They better have a good excuse for waking me out of my slumber for this. For example, they've broken their hip whilst sweeping the snow from the front door. *TUT*

Get back to bed old yean or wheeshed and read yer paper!

...I guess it's their turn to get us back for waking them every other morning Mon-Fri...

Sleeping is no mean art: for its sake one must stay awake all day.

It's 2:49am. I knew I would regret that coffee at 10:30 this evening. Oh well. Sarah's tucked up in bed snoozing away. You know, sometimes procastinators even put off going to sleep. Isn't that strange?

I did try tonight.

I'm too restless.

Besides, taking a midday nap is all the more enjoyable than sleeping when you're meant to be in bed.

Fortunately being restless at this time of year provides the perfect opportunity to write the "to do" lists for this year!

Roll on the risky decision making, irritability and slight tremors due to a lack of sleep!

Note to self: reduce caffeine intake in 2010 and pay more attention to circadian rhythm.