Okay, first off I know, I suck.  I missed sharing the entire month of November with you.  It’s not that I didn’t want to pop in here and tell you all about the cool things I get to be a part of, or that I haven’t been taking pics to post (I have plenty!) — it’s just that when I finally do have the time to type, my eyes are like “no way, woman!”  And before you know it I’m snoring alongside the dog and Joe —- seriously all three of us have our own little orchestra going.

Speaking of which, we did get to see the Russian ballet perform the Nutcracker in Brussels (sorry about that abrupt transition) — and while I’ll never regret going to the ballet, it was the first performance I’ve ever watched to canned music not alongside an orchestra.  It was lacklustre, BUT I got to go to the ballet in Brussels and that’s worth something.  We’ve also been busy doing all sorts of glass clinking and touristing thanks to friends visiting.  Thanksgiving week was busy, busy, busy with Suzanne and her beau flying in from Chicago, Jordan and Wilber from Korea, and Emilio from Phoenix.  Needless to say lots of laughs and feasting went on — lol never once having a turkey included, although we did get to eat delicious pheasant.

Last week of October, first few days of November I was home meeting my adorable grandson and spending time with my own children.  That time always goes by way too quickly, and I don’t have enough of it, but I’m grateful for every second of it.  Warning:  baby pic alert!  And, yes, I look at pics of him (and video clips Kaylene sends me) way, way, way too much —- cannot get enough of that face.  He’ll be walking the next time I see him in person.

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My Babies and their babies

As for life here, it’s beautiful.  I LOVE Christmas time, and Europe does it up right with the lights and Christmas markets.  So far I’ve been to the Christmas market in Liege (another pretty Belgian city) and Cologne (my favourite German city); Joe also got to go to another one in Germany.  Mons Christmas market opened up on Friday, but it was raining so much we decided to wait until today to stroll through it.  Tonight, we’re just going to relax and soak in all the Christmas cheer despite the gloomy weather (which I also love because hello?  candles!).

Kyle and his girlfriend arrive on Friday, so we’ll spend the weekend in Amsterdam with them, and then cart them back to Mons.  I’m so excited they’re coming.  They’ll be with us for three weeks, and we have all sorts of fun stuff planned (including a weekend in Paris!  Yellow Jacket protests or not, we’re going).  I’ll try to pop in to post pics and whatnot, but if not life will slow down again in January, so just in case I don’t get to type again until 2019:  Happy, Happy Holidays!