Sunday 2 August 2009: checking in

Heidi says: waiting and thinking and waiting and breaking my head... This is not the easiest time of my life.

Monday 20 July - 25 July: Heidi's trip to les Vosges in France

Saturday 25 July 2009: our last sleeping place: chambre d'hôtes in La Chapelle au bois ( very nce building but such bad taste inside... pity)/ picture taken by Yma on a walk

Friday 24 July 2009: some castle in some village/ Funny!

Thursday 23 July 2009: just awake. Breakfast is the best when you're camping!!/ Picture taken by Yma/ A hard day's night/ Yes, she IS doing the dishes!

Wednesday 22 July 2009: hungry in Colmar/ tourist train in Colmar/ air in Kayserberg. I want to celebrate Christmas or New Year in that last village one day. So cosy!!!

Tuesday 21 July 2009: Le lac du Gerbepal. Nice lake but very exploited. Icecream, hotdogs, boats and people everywhere.

Monday 20 July 2009: The beginning. Putting up the tent. Enjoying the new surroundings.

Saturday 11 July through Tuesday 14 July 2009: Here's Heidi finally after cutting Sarah and Ayla's hair today!

Sarah says:
And HERE'S HEIDI!!! It's been a while! She's alive and well! That's us above today - Tuesday the 14th - just after she cut my hair! It was good to see her again. It feels like ages ago!

That's Ayla today as well with her new haircut - done by Heidi. Isn't Ayla starting to look older all of a sudden?! Time is flying. I sometimes seriously feel like I have a teenager on my hands!

That's me above in a silly photo from yesterday - Monday the 13th of July. What is with my mouth? Fake smile maybe? Attempt to hide my yellow snaggle tooth for once?

There I am above on Sunday the 12 of July after waking up after having gone to bed at around 4am after having been to a festival under windmills. We got caught in the pouring rain during a great concert by Madensuyu during Kortrijk Conge. As you can see in the photo, it had been a very, very long night!

And since Heidi wasn't around, I took a photo with Yma at Kortrijk Conge on Saturday the 11th of July. She's the next best thing to Heidi!

I am off to The States on Thursday and will try to post on here when I get the chance - if I get the chance! Stay tuned! It's getting harder to get onto the computer these days as I am bust from morning to night lately cleaning house and running around. All good stuff but it keeps me away from the Internet.... Tomorrow I have to pack half the day and clean up some more and say goodbye to Tom and Ayla!!! I will miss them so....

Thursday and Friday 09 and 10 July 2009: Sarah has two days off from cleaning up the house and this means her back feels almost better again!

Sarah says:
Man was I in a bad mood some of yesterday the 10th of July as you can see above. But it went away fast. I had a nice day with Tom and Ayla - I so love this little family of mine!

Photo above is from Thursday the 9th of July. I met friends for lunch. It was nice. Great group of women from all over the place.

I need to get Heidi on here again! Maybe later today!

Now I am off to watch the Gilmore Girls with my kid who just woke up. I wish I had slept late. Tonight I will stay up all night for some celebrations going on in Kortrijk. Arghhh...

Friday through Wednesday 03 to 08 July: Face The Day is falling behind like we predicted - but I still have a photo from each day!

Sarah says:

Above is of me today - Wednesday the 8th of July. I have been cleaning house most of the day. It feels great! My back hurt and my knee too but it all seems worth the pain - though I hope it goes away soon! The combo of moving boxes when cleaning up the office and moving stuff while cleaning house plus riding a bike and wearing more high heals than usual - has thrown my back out a bit! I hate that my back will always be my weak point! The good thing is that since my back operation, the pain tends to go away quickly!

That's me above yesterday - Tuesday the 7th of July. It was a very-good-news kind of day. Can't you see it in my eyes?! :-). I can't say why or what but it seems to be all good and exciting stuff! For now it's my secret...

That's me above on Monday the 6th of July. It was yet another day of house-cleaning and it felt great to clean out old boxes. We threw and gave so much away - plus we have tons of stuff to sell at a boot sale in August!

Above is a photo from Sunday the 5th of July taken in Arnhem, The Netherlands during a huge fashion happening there. It was a nice weekend and day with the family and with Tom's parents.

Above and below are photos from Saturday the 4th of July still in The Netherlands but this time in Hoge Veluwe National Park at the Kröller-Müller Museum.

In the below photo I am once again with ASG! Two weekends in a row! Imagine that! It was great to see her and TSG and Dirk. The weather was perfect too. We rode bikes all around the park and enjoyed the art at the museum. My daughter struck the poses of the people in all of the paintings. She made a great time of it. Fabulous day!

Above you can see me again in Arnhem, where our hotel was, on Friday the 3rd of July. That statue is Grietje. She was all dressed up for the Arnhem Mode Biënnale. I have tons of great photos from that and from our day in the park and at the museum, which you can see if we are connected on my Facebook page.

And finally - Post Secret. It's been a while! Actually, there weren't really any this week that caught my eye but the above one I had saved long ago for the right moment. I guess now is it! I can so relate to what is said above. It's not that I had any idea at all what would happen in advance - so that I can't really relate to. It's the thing about it having been months... In Belgium there is a 3 month period from when you get fired to when you actually stop working. That's a long, long time and it was rough. You have to get up each day without real motivation. It wasn't easy. I am glad that period is now over and I can put everything in a good and positive perspective and place. Those 3 months jaded me for a while. Now they are behind me and I really look forward to what's coming next...

And below you can see a selection of photos from our day at the museum. It was superb! Ayla enjoyed the art and kept herself busy as you can see below. She and I rode more than 25 kilometers through the park as well! Not bad for bike novices...

Wednesday and Thursday 01 and 02 July 2009: Heidi and Sarah go to the unemployment office twice...And it's FLASHBACK 1st OF THE MONTH AT FACE THE DAY!

Sarah says:
No time for Flashback first of the month just now. Maybe later! Below you can see Heidi and me yesterday. We tried to go to the unemployment office but it was closed! Just our luck. So we returned today and then went to the "work shop" afterwards and now it seems to be all official. I have to run! Good things lined up for this afternoon I'm hoping!


Okay - now I have time for Flashback 1st of the month! Above you can see me and Heidi on 01 July 2009 - yesterday after a failed attempt at going to the unemployment office. I, for one, look quite tired up there. Look at my little eyes! Bad sleeps. Hot in the attic!!!

That's Heidi all alone above exactly 1 year ago on 01 July 2008. I was away in France on vacation and I had put some random photos on later than month. I think the one below was of me on 01 July 2008... To see exactly what Heidi was up to one year ago click here!

So as I said - that's me above in France doing as the French do! To see more about what was happening around this time last year, click on this link!

That's me above exactly 2 years ago on 01 July 2007 with short hair and some kind of attitude. To know what was going on, have a click here!

Last but not least, above you can see me and Heidi not only 3 years ago today once, but twice! Heidi was pretty pregnant as you can see in the photo above from 02 July 2006. The other one on the left is from 01 July 2006. Click here to check it out!

And finally - we can't forget to say:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our buddy ASG!!!!
Her birthday was 01 July! We hope she had a great one!!!!!

Tuesday 30 June 2009: Heidi and Sarah are one day away from being officially unemployed...

Sarah says:
Last day of work today! I will miss it very much. Next to the work itself, I will miss my colleagues, such as Bruno and Nancy above, and I will miss the office! It's been a great experience and I am very thankful to have had it, even with the ups and downs. Now it is time for the next chapter. Tomorrow Heidi and I will go to the unemployment office. I have never been unemployed before. I wonder how it is going to feel tomorrow! Today was quite okay. A little strange to give in my keys and car and all that and to say goodbye. But it's been 4 months in the working and it's really, really time to move on now... The sun is shining and it is very hot today. That's better than clouds and rain! I'm going with the sun right now!

And I'm going to try to see the world through rose-colored glasses for a while while I can and have time to... This is temporary. I'm really excited to see what I will do next!

Monday 29 June 2009: Heidi and Sarah meet again...

Sarah says:
Here we are together again! You'll see us on here together from time to time! I'm glad Heidi and I live in same neighborhood. It assures we'll see each other around still! :-) We'll be on here again Wednesday the 1st of July as we'll be heading to the unemployment office together. And these are the days of our lives.... :-)

Saturday and Sunday 27 and 28 June 2009: Sarah goes to the Antwerp zoo to see ASG and Kai-Mook!

Sarah says:

I am sweating so much lately - as you can see a good example of in the above photo. Is it just hot around here or is it me????!!!! I have been having really nice days lately. Good pace. Truly feels like vacation! I intend to enjoy these days as they won't last forever! Tom is now on vacation too and we are riding our bikes all around and hanging about. No rushing. Did some shopping today, which is always good! It all feels right. Time is a gift right now!

That's me and ASG above at the Antwerp zoo yesterday the 27th of June. It was a nice, long day in Antwerp and we got to see the new baby elephant Kai-Mook, which made my kid very happy. We met up with ASG and went to the zoo. Then we went to a very boring and disappointing Fashion museum in Antwerp - the Momu. Antwerp has all this hype as the fashion city but the fashion museum is pathetic. I recommend it to no one!!! Before we went we had a fantastic and BIG lunch at Wagamama. Now that I recommend to everyone! It was such a treat!!

That's Kai-Mook above!

Below is my Post Secret pick-of-the-week. Last week there weren't any at all that caught my eye. This week I chose the one below because I am thinking about my activities of the last two years and of how they are coming to en end as of next Tuesday. As much of a shame it is that a lot of things and people are going to disappear from my life soon that have been part of it for the last two years and also for many years before that -- well, I have to keep reminding myself that just because this chapter of my life is stopping - of my career, experience, contacts, etc... - that it doesn't mean it wasn't worth a lot, because it was. It was worth so much. Just what I learned and did in the last couple of years is invaluable. I will be forever thankful for this experience and opportunity. It's taught me so much. I WILL miss it when it is all gone but I will use so much of what I have learned in future jobs and experiences I am sure. It is time to move on and move on I will. I have had plenty of time to reflect and some of it was really hard but I'm at a good place with it all in my head now and all the negative is slowly going away and I'm planning to walk away proud of the last two years and am ready to embrace what's coming next, whatever it might be... Time will tell...

Thursday 25 and Friday 26 June 2009: New dresses, old Christma trees and too much tan... These are the days of Sarah....

Sarah says:
That's my new top/dress in the photo above. I bought it yesterday. Just couldn't resist! It's comfy and has a nice shape! I can wait till the sales! I want summer stuff! I am in a shopping mood, that's for sure! Dangerous!

There above you can see Tomske and me surrounded by silver and gold Christmas trees! Don't even ask why! Let's just say as it was just the 1st day of summer and the days are getting shorter and shorter as of now, well we are getting ready for Christmas! We also bought several large wine racks today along with 4 big storage boxes and 3 big garbage cans. What are we up to?

The photo above is from yesterday the 25th of June. Can you say too much tan? I had mammogram yesterday morning. All clear! It wasn't pleasant. That's for sure. They used a new and improved machine - better than the one they had 2 years ago - but it was not easy to twist my shoulder the way they needed me to and we had to re-do one side a few times. But all is okay so I am glad about that!