So much in so little time

The last week has been filled with crazy days. Not so much in terms of it being hectic, just very different from the usual.

(holiday munchies at Kevin's school)

It started out with all the 'new' pre-christmas traditions: the 'holidays celebration' at Kevin's school or also known as 'eat as many cookies, ice-cream, muffins, chocolate as you can get away with'; then the 'trolley of lights' in our neighbourhood, also known as 'freezing your butt off waiting for your turn to take your toddler in a small trolley that seats 15 people in a neighbourhood with 400 kids', followed by the company 'holiday reception' also known as 'have some luke warm hors-d'oevres on the company, but pay for your own drinks at the cash bar while you talk to your colleagues' (ok. I admit, I skipped the company reception in lieu of spending time with the family - I was reliably informed I didn't miss much).

After these compulsory festivities, we headed off to West Virginia to try out our first American skiing. Winterplace, WV is not exactly the Alps, but for a couple of day of relaxed family-skiing, it hit the spot. In true American fashion, the ski-resort also had day -care, so mom & dad could hit some slopes while the little guy amused himself with toys & playmates. Overall, he did not seem too impressed with the cold snow and ice. I am hopeful this will change and that by this time next year, he'll be ready to strap on some skis too.
(Kevin figuring out this fluffy white stuff called 'snow')

One downside to the trip: don't trust travel food. We normally never eat fast food, unless we're travelling and now I know why again. I came down with a very serious case of food poisoning from a McDonalds meal near the ski resort. ...there went the last day of skiing. As the raven says in Poe's poem: 'never more!'.

Back in North Carolina, it was on to Christmas which we spent with fellow international friends and their kids. Turkey, potatoes, side dishes, triffle and food galore....good stuff (though not exactly the best medicine for a stomach still somewhat upset from from food poisoning)

One thing I'm not yet used to is the new political correctness in the US around Christmas. Even if you're not religious or practising, what's the harm of someone wishing you 'Merry Christmas'? Yet is seems, almost all stores and companies are pussy-footing around this and if they acknowledge the event at all, it's as 'happy holiday's or 'wishing you well'. Even in the grocery store yesterday, a clerk admitted to me they weren't allowed to wish anyone 'merry christmas'. They could only respond in like fashion, if they were wished it first. Silly if you ask me. I'm not a particularly religious person, but I realize full well, we'd have no Christmas vacation if it weren't for Christmas, so let's cut the debate and celebrate the free days :-)

Tree Danger?

Kevin has surprised me lately. With the Christmas tree, the lights and decorations up and the presents assembled underneath, I thought Kevin would be a little terror around the tree and we wouldn't be able to let him near it for fear of it being torn down, or all the presents openend.

I was wrong. He is mesmerized by the lights and decorations, but is following our 'suggestion' of just looking, pointing but not touching. He's also able to pick up and hold the presents without opening them. Amazing kid.

We'll be off to Winterplace, West Virginia, next for a couple of days of winterfun and skiing. It will be Kevin's first experience with snow. Hopefully he'll find it as interesting as he does ice from the freezer (which he can play with for hours).

Schone Schijn

De 'site van de week' van de Gazet van Antwerpen is zeer interessant. Het is de website van Glenn Feron waarop hij toont hoe hij met Photoshop foto’s van topmodellen en beroemde vrouwelijke artiesten bijwerkt voor de hoes van albums of magazines. Rimpeltjes verdwijnen, een mooie teint verschijnt en borsten en billen krijgen een subtiele boost.

Dus wij moeten ons niet schuldig voelen in vergelijking met de topmodellen, want zelfs zij zijn zo mooi niet als ze lijken..

Sleep

is such a good thing. Finally, after several nights of waking up around 4 and 5am (because of congestion and/or being cold and/or nightmares), Kevin slept through the night till 7am. Bliss. Amazing how much more refreshed one feels after a full nights sleep.

Kerstversiering

(kerstboom binnen)
Een interessante traditie in Amerikaanse wijken tegenwoordig is het versieren van het huis voor Kerst. En dan bedoel ik niet aan de binnenkant, neen aan de buitenkant.

(kerstboom van buitenaf gezien)
Toen mijn vader hier een paar weken geleden logeerden en hij ons hielp met de buitenversieringen, hadden we het er nog over en hij zei dat als je het in Belgie zou doen, dan zou men denken dat je een winkel zou opendoen of zo. Men versiert gewoonweg de buitenkant van huizen niet. Binnenkant, geen probleem. Buitenkant niet.

(inkom van buitenaf gezien)
Hier is het, hoe meer hoe liever. Vele mensen houden het stijlvol, met enkel wat witte lichtjes of ijspegeljtes aan de dakrand, maar je ziet ook tuintjes en huisjes waar het de spuigaten van overloopt: met plastieken herten, sinterklazen, lichtjes in allerlei kleuren, riante kransen, sleeen, enzoverder.

(zicht vanop de oprit)
Dit is het eerste jaar dat wij ook aan de buitenkant wat versiering aanbrengen, kwestie van niet uit de toon te vallen. Hopelijjk niet te kitscherich, maar je moet zelf maar je mening uitbrengen: een kaarsje in elk raam, de kerstboom voor het raam en wat lichtjes en groen rond de trappen en deur.

(zicht vanop straat)

Sinterklaas

Sinterklaas is al een paar dagen geleden, maar ik was er nog niet aan toe gekomen om hier een paar fotootjes van het Sinterklaasfeestje in te plakken. Het feestje was, zoals gewente, georganiseerd door de Nederlandse club en vond plaats in een wijk clubhuis in Raleigh.

In tegenstelling tot vorig jaar, toen Kevin zich nog van geen kwaad bewust was en zonder problemen op de schoot van de Sint kroop, was het dit jaar anders.
Hij was was vrolijk aan het meebewegen met de Sinterklaasliedjes die iedereen aan het zingen was, maar toen het plosteling stil werd, zijn naam geroepen werd en hij als eerste naar voor werd meegenomen, zag hij het toch niet zitten om uit mama's armen weg te gaan en bij die vreemde snuiter te zitten. Neen, toch liever niet. De Sint vond dat niet zo erg, Kevin was immers braaf geweest dit jaar, dus kreeg hij zijn geschenkje toch. En dat geschenkje, een nieuwerwetse 'etch-a-scetch', met magneetjes, peciaal potlood en 'pimpampoentjes-gom' vindt Kevin, zelfs to vandaag nog, een fascinerend ding. Van alle geschenkjes die hij toch nog toe gekregen heeft, is dit wellicht het enige waar hij bijna elke dag mee speelt.

voices

I have gotten quite attached to 'reading' audio-books on CD during my commute to and from work. It makes a nice change from listening to radio stations saturated with ads or listening to depressing news broadcasts. It also is a great way to cram a little culture in an otherwise busy day.

One thing that I have noticed is that the narrator's voice adds a whole new dimension into whether you like a book or not. While the material does not change, the voice, timbre, accent, punctuation, flexibility and rythm of the narrator can add so much, or detract so much from the material, that it can totally change your perception of the book. My husband and I recently listened to 'the kite flyer' on book cd during our respective commutes, and while I liked the heavy persian accent of the author & narrator, my husband did not care for it, found it difficult to understand and couldn't finish the book. Had he simply read the book, he probaly would have enjoyed it.

Currently I'm listening to a classic: 'lolita' by Nabakov, read by Jeremy Irons, who also starred as the male lead in the same film. Mr. Iron's reading is done superbly (as was his acting in the film). The book is heavy on prose, elaborations and distrations as it journeys the story of Humbert Humbert. Yet, while on paper, that might actually make it hard to get through at times, Jeremy Irons makes it effortless. He switches between voices, male and female, american and english, without spoofing or overdoing, soft and sensual, changes the pacing and intonations to match the story, now delirious and manic, to caring and soft, then factual and cruel. He mimmics a besotted man mentally retelling a story, with humor, heart and truth. Beautifully done. Highly recommend it if you have the time, though not for those of puritan morals (doubt any of my friends are that type anyway). The full book is 10 cds - most public libraries have it in inventory.

The good body

It's been a while since my last post. My father stayed with us for the last 2 weeks, and we celebrated Thanksgiving with friends, went on a little roadtrip with the family and then did lots of Christmas shopping with 'vava'. He went back to Belgium yesterday late afternoon. The house is much emptier now and Kevin asks on a regular basis 'vava? vava?'. It's so sweet how he says it, but sad he'll have to miss vava for a while. Probably will be at least 6 months before we see him again. Hopefully dad can fix his computer soon so we can do the videocalls again.

Eve Ensler has done it again. Her show 'the good body' is the follow up of 'the vagina monologues' and every bit as good. Very touching, very timely, very appropriate for this country and season. If more people could feel good about their bodies and find a good balance between healthy, enjoyable nutrition and enjoying food, we'd have a lot happier society and much lower healthcare and psychiatric care costs.