I just checked this site in the new Internet Explorer and it is very broken :S
I will work on this and get back to you. In the meantime, why don’t you non-tech people download a much better browser: www.getfirefox.com
Something we’ve definitely taken advantage of here in Belgium is the Child Development Center (CDC). Almost every friday night they have a “parent’s-night out” where they will watch the kids from 7pm-midnight. We’ve used it 4 times already and will do this at least once a month. It’s so nice to have because when you are new somewhere, you don’t know anyone to watch the kids, but you still want to get out and go to a bar or a museum, etc.
My goal is to get Drew to take at least one day off each month while the kids have school and he and I can go venture around town doing grown-up things. So far so good.
I have been here for four months now and have yet to see a cockroach. Normally, I would not complain. I would marvel at my cleanliness and good living, but I know that has little to do with the scurrying little jerks finding their way into my home. So where are they? I think I have found out!!
The Belgians, and Europeans as a whole, have given up on doing this sort of thing themselves.. and have thrown their lot in with the Robots!! That’s right. Robots.
You may ask yourself, “How does he know this stuff??” Well, I have seen it. They have robo-dogs, cats, people, brooms and cars (and mopeds, more about that later). And now, we see the RoboRoach.
From the Times in London, ”
Yes, it’s the Roboroach!! Despair!!
I think this one is scarier…
So that’s why I don’t have a roach problem, now if I could get rid of the mopeds… I would be golden.
Last week when I was searching for concerts in brussels, I saw that Dave Matthews was coming in March. the tickets went on sale yesterday and I scored myself a pair. It is him solo and will be an acoustic performance so I can’t wait. I’ve been wanting to see DMB for quite some time and him solo is just fine with me.
It just sucks that I have to wait until March; but that is just a minor detail!
Bath and Body Works has a great coupon where you get an item worth $12.50 free. You still have to pay $6 shipping and handling, but if you buy anything worth $12, that is like getting it half off and sent to your door.
Here is the code: 5260
I have no idea how long it will last so buy fast!
Instead of emailing everyone deals when I find them, I will now post them here for you guys. I always seem to forget someone on my email list and then I feel bad. So now, I leave the power in your hands.
I will post good deals as I see them and if you don’t know about them… it’s not my fault 
Isn’t that great how I just took the responsibility away from myself and put it all on you? It’s a good plan to me!
Now, I realize alot of you will think I suck for saying this but to me, Paris just isn’t all that. Last week, the schools were closed here in Belgium and Drew took leave so we decided to take a couple short trips. One of these was to Paris. Paris is only about a two hour drive from our house (we live about 10km from the French border) so getting there was pretty easy.
When we decided to go we thought we wouldn’t really prepare because well… surely there would be signs pointing us to places we wanted to go. That just wasn’t the case. So we got off the exit in the not-so-nice part of town. That was interesting :). Once we got back on the highway we drove around some more until we saw the Eiffel tower. We did have part of our trip planned out though. There is a boat called BatoBus that goes up and down the canal taking you to many stops along the way. An all day ticket for the four of us was actually pretty reasonable, about 30 Euro or $40.
So our adventure began. We parked kind of close to the Eiffel tower. I was really intrigued by the buildings. For some reasons I find shapes of buildings and things like that pretty fascinating so I’m totally overlooking the Eiffel tower. So I take this picture of this row of houses with the ET in the BG:
Then we walk to the ET. It was pretty neat to look at. I would have loved to have gone to the top, but not that day. That day was just about walking around and checking things out. I took tons of pics, but here is the obligatory shot:
At the tower we see an ice cream shop and we decide to get a cone for the boys. The ice cream tastes like they don’t use any milk in it and the simply froze a yoo hoo. but the boys like it. I read somewhere that Paris has tone of carousels set up around the town and sure enough, we spotted one. So we took the boys to ride one.
After the horsey rides, we go to board our boat. The kids seem to dig this which is great. The canal is beautiful and so are the bridges.
We see lots of great monuments along the way and check out some things here and there but our major venture was to Notre Dame. The cathedral was just gorgeous.
We walk around and decide to go inside. You can really just feel the mood and get wrapped up in the serenity inside….until your two year old finally looks up and notices all of the candles and starts yelling FIRE FIRE much like beavis. It was just too damn funny I couldn’t help but laugh. Bad mom.. i know 
At the end of the day I asked Ian what his favorite part was and he says, “getting ice cream and riding the merry-go-round.” ahh.. to be a kid.
The city is pretty neat, but it’s massive. I am more of a small-town girl. I like having access to city life but its nothing I would want to experience every day. When we lived in the Baltimore/DC area I preferred to go to Annapolis or Alexandria rather than the cities.
There are so many things to do in paris though, we will definitely go back. I think next to do on my list is the Air and space museum. Now THAT would be cool!
Most everyone knows I listen to hard rock and alternative music so it’s been quite a change to experience the bee-bop club music that seems to be played on the radio; even stranger is the fact that i find myself bopping my head to it. I usually listen to my iPod in the car though so I can listen to the music that I want to.
Last night, I was reading a german magazine that had published tour dates of my favorite band, Tool, on it. So, I was thinking..germany is close, maybe they are coming to Belgium. And they are. Except the shows are tonight and friday night and are both sold out. Can you say, letdown? That’s okay though. I see there are several good bands coming and I love live music of most types so I’m determined to catch a show. I got to go to a concert last April and I’ve been wanting to do it again since then!
If there are any local belgians reading this and can point me in the direction of a good local radio station please do. Throughout the day I typically have satellite radio playing through the Internet so I’m open to anything!
BTW (by the way for you non-chat people), how’s everyone doing? Paris pictures coming soon!
Another Halloween has come and gone for the mighty Smith Clan. I thought that we took it seriously, but in reality the Belgians go hardcore and don’t stop. They take a whole week off after the “blessed” day, and do nothing. They actually are celebrating all saints day (the day AFTER Halloween), but I don’t have to acknowledge that and neither should any of you. They do take the whole week off though… which is good because it makes driving around easy. But I am getting ahead of myself.
I was lucky enough to be home for Halloween and got to see the boys walk from house to house saying trick or treat. Abe of course trampled every flower in every front yard we went through and little mister E told on him the entire time. So there you had Anakin Skywalker and Chewbaca walking around a truly international comunity and people actually recognized them for who they were supposed to be. Another triumph for American pop culture!!
I think that it could have been better only by my being dressed as a Mad Cow or something equally offensive. Maybe an Insane Clown from the posse. Where do I get this stuff? Who knows? I have hit my head on the various low hanging parts of this Belgian house five times this week!! Crap… double crap!! Maybe that is where it comes from.
The markets here in Belgium (and I’m assuming most countries in europe) are really great. Each town, no matter how small or large, has a market. Most markets have cheese, meat, flowers, fruit and vegetables, etc. There are also some that are flea markets, or brocantes. I could have fresh bread and cheese every day of the week if i want to.
A couple of weeks ago I took my camera and went into town to the flower market. The town is called Mons which means hill in french. I decided to park at the bottom and make my way up the hill.
The building in the center is the local collegial. It would be a cathedral but it doesn’t have a bishop. Here are a couple of other pictures of the collegial:
and I of course snapped a picture of the beer truck parked in the rear of the church
the next picture is a spanish-architect building. It was built in the 1500s.
and finally I arrive at the Grand Place where he flower market lives. The fresh flowers here are amazing and so very affordable. I can spend $5 and come home with a beautiful bouquet each week. Apparently this market is year round as well! Most people who know me know that I love fresh flowers so this is a great thing!
