Belgium, Day 2

Before I get to Belgium, Part II, lemme say this: Neti potting is SO weird!

I'm one of those types that gets sinus infections and colds on a somewhat regular basis. And I had heard of neti pots before, but prior to this year of frequent sinus issues, I never seriously considered them.

At my doctor's appointment Tuesday, the doctor actually recommended a nasal rinse. To which I said, "You mean a neti pot?!" I had recently posted a Facebook question about them that generated a lot of responses from people singing their praises. Unfortunately, I couldn't find one on Amazon that would ship to my American-in-England APO address. Fortunately I have a pretty awesome mom who picked one up for me at Walgreens and shipped it last week.

So tonight I gave it a try. What a strange sensation! It kind of feels like when you accidentally breathe under water, only a bit less violent since you're expecting it. I couldn't make it through a whole pot in either nostril, and I think it'll take some practice. But here's hoping it'll help to mitigate my sinus issues that have plagued me this past year!

Okie dokes, now onto our second day in Belgium! We decided to spend our second day in Ghent.

I summarized Belgium in my last post as essentially us being sick and Belgium being cold. This was indeed true on day two. The only difference was that it was Sunday, and nothing was open till about noon. We foolishly took off for Ghent first thing in the morning and froze our tails off until we found a cafe to warm up in. It was in this cafe that I found the highlight of my trip: the Italian Coffee.

See how pretty she is? Sweet and dark and delicious. It was essentially coffee and amaretto and whipped cream. What's not to love? The combination of coffee and alcohol did the trick to warm me back up and put me in good spirits. Caleb enjoyed his spoonfuls of Daddy's hot chocolate.

Our travel buddy Tim enjoyed his Belgian beer. By the end, we were all warmer and in better moods.

Since it was well after lunch time, we could now explore the cathedral in town, so we did so, taking a few illegal pictures along the way. (Hey, I didn't use a flash!) The cathedral in Ghent was MUCH colder than the cathedral in Ieper had been!

This was taken in the catacombs downstairs. For some reason, I felt like I was in Romeo and Juliet. I guess it felt a bit like my field trip to Verona in 9th grade.

More from the catacombs.

Here's just a shot of Ghent as we walked from the cathedral to the castle.

Next we explored the castle in Ghent. It was fine. My only complaint was the hand-held audio tour thingamajiggy. Instead of being tour-like ("This is the great hall, where the kings would hold feasts and ceremonies...") It was a dramatization following fictional characters around from room to room. Irritating. I gave up after the third room and just lugged the heavy thing around. Luckily, it was free with the cost of the admission. I'd have been even more irritated otherwise.

Here's my boys in the castle.

Me and my turkey leg inside the castle.

And here's our travel buddy, Tim in the castle.

And finally, another shot of the outside of the castle. As is standard with castles, it was a lot of stair climbing, and we were all pretty wiped by the end.

We wandered around a little bit more after the castle, but mostly just made our way back to the car with a few detours into chocolate shops. We had intentions of going back to Ieper for the Last Post we had missed the day before, but ended up just hanging out in Menen (where we were staying) and eating too much chocolate while watching Couples Retreat. I guess there are worse ways to spend an evening! :)

This blog is long enough without a dip into our few hours we spent in Lille. So I may save that for another blog. But if I never get to that blog, I'll summarize Lille in one word: meh. In other words, could have lived without it! Maybe I'll elaborate later this week, but for tonight I'm off to bed! Good night!

Belgium, Day 1

Okay, so I didn't do so hot at my committment to blog more this past week. I really had good intentions, but this sickness I had this week had other plans for me. I honestly went to bed at 7:30 one night--even before Caleb. Luckily my husband stayed up with him, but he's been sick, too. It's just been a symphony of coughing and nose blowing in our house. Awesome. Fortunately the meds are kicking in, and I'm feeling human again. It's 7:40 and I'm still awake! Party time!

So this sickness started for my husband about three weeks ago. I started to feel that tell-tale feeling in the back of my throat about last Wednesday...just two days before the Annual Awards Ceremony. I was panicky that I'd miss the ceremony, so I started doing everything I could to avoid getting sick...drinking Airborne (blech), making sure to take my multivitamin, gargling salt water, drinking lots of fluids, etc.

Well, in spite of my best efforts, I started feeling really good and sick on Saturday, our first day in Belgium. We left at about 5 am, caught the ferry at 8 from Calais, landed in Dunkerque at 11 (one hour ahead in France.) We found the house we were staying at, threw our luggage in, and made our way to Ieper, about 20 minutes down the road.

Ieper is a city with a lot of WWII history. It's also a great place to go for chocolates. Obviously, all of Belgium is pretty much a great place to get Belgian chocolates, but in Ieper, they were cheap!

Unfortunately, it was really cold in Belgium the few days we were there. About 30 degrees the whole time, and it snowed most of the time. So we spent a lot of time going from one cafe to the next just trying to stay warm.

The essence of our Belgium trip was this: cold and sick. We never really felt like we warmed up and never really felt well enough to enjoy the trip. In retrospect, we probably should have just stayed home. So since there really isn't much more to say than that, I'll just show you some pics.

The cloth hall in downtown Ieper. Beautiful building.

Me and my boys in Ieper!

Inside the "In Flanders Fields" WWII museum.

More from the museum. In this area, there was an overhead speaker that had a peom about the horrors of war being read. As the part about "Gas, Gas! Quick, boys!" was read, this tall column filled with eery green smoke. It was very haunting.

Me and Caleb in Ieper.

Outside a cathedral in Ieper.

Inside the cathedral.

Tommy trying to stay warm and eating a waffle topped with bananas, chocolate and whipped cream.

This is Menin Gate. It's very impressive in real life for this small Belgian town. It's a British WWII war memorial. To this day, the Last Post is sounded every night at 8 pm. This was one of the major reasons we went to Ieper, and we spent hours trying to stay warm in hopes of making it to 8 pm.

Alas, after a late night with the Awards Ceremony the night before and having gotten up at 5 to make our ferry, we just didn't have stamina. Nor was there anywhere warm enough to wait that long. In the end, we were all in bed by 8 pm instead of watching the Last Post in Ieper.

Tomorrow (hopefully), I'll catch you up on Ghent and Lille and that'll wrap up our Belgium trip.

Annual Awards Ceremony

Okie dokes! Been a bit of blog slacker this past week, but it wasn't necessarily for a lack of trying. I did start a few entries, but couldn't find my blogging mojo and just had too many other things on my mind. So I'll do my best to make a valient effort to make up for last week's absence.

There's a few things to catch you up with, and in an attempt not to bore you to death, I'll try and do one at a time.

So for today, let me tell you about the base's Annual Awards Ceremony that took place Friday. My husband was up for Volunteer of the Year and I was selected to be one of the emcees for the night.

I had been practicing the script for most of the week, but the night of the event, I was super nervous. I remember saying to the other emcee, "Holy crap. This is happening!" And he laughed and likened it to child birth. And in a way, it did feel eerily similar to that forward momentum towards an unavoidable event that is coming quicker than you're prepared for and won't stop no matter how much you dig in your heels. Eep!

Here is Tommy shaking the wing commander's hand after he was given his nominee's medallion.

My heart was pounding as we started the evening, and it continued to pound throughout the whole first half of the event. After we finished the introductions of the nominees, dinner was served, but I was still a bit too wound up to really settle down and enjoy it. Following dinner, we introduced the guest speaker, General (Ret) Gregory "Speedy" Martin. At this point, I was started to fade and was really worried about losing the momentum and energy I had, but Speedy was really entertaining, and his 15 minutes went quickly.

After that we announced the winners. I was super excited to announce my catergories, and sure enough, my husband won Volunteer of the Year at the wing level!

(For non-mil types, you are generally a part of a flight or office, which is a part of a squadron. Your squardon is a part of a group, which is a part of the wing. At our base, we also have tenant units who aren't headquartered here, but have squadrons represented here. So Tommy had already won for his squadron and group. So he was competing at the wing level.)

When I opened the envelope for his category and saw his name, I felt my face explode into a huge smile and I said, "From the Mission Support Group, the handsomest man in the room and my husband..." and announced his name. YAY! It was fun!

The rest of the winner announcments went quickly. It was a fun night. After it was all said and done, a lot of the senior leadership shook our hands and told us what a good job we did. Gotta be honest, as a Words of Affirmation girl, I was totally eating it up. The wing chief came up to shake my hand and coined me with his chief's coin! How cool is that?!

By the time it was all said and done, I was pretty knackered, but it was a fun night! I don't have the pics of Tommy accepting the award or when we walked through a sabre cordon during the introductions, but when I get them I'll post 'em.

Tomorrow, I'll fill you in on our weekend in Belgium!

Five More Years!

It's been a heart-heavy week following the surgery of little Xander Torres. They've been on my mind a lot, and while they can put the actual surgery behind them now, they have a long road to recovery and hopefully a seizure-free exsitance for little X.

In our own lives, this week marked 12 years that my husband has been in the Air Force! It's difficult for me to wrap my brain around having the same job for 12 years. Well, not really the same job, because there are many aspects and different sections to that job. But in essence, the same employer and same career for 12 years. Wow! I'm really proud of him!

He reenlisted on Wednesday with the help of one of my coworkers, Rob. In my job I get to witness a few reenlistents. But, of course, it was fun to be at my husband's! He's a real private kind of guy and doesn't like a lot of ceremony or fuss, so it was just the three of us. I didn't even get to attend his promotion ceremony last year and wasn't sure I'd get to see his reenlistment, so I was glad when it worked out in such a way that I did get to participate.

I'm glad it's the weekend. This next week is going to be busy. I'll be preparing for the Annual Awards Ceremony. (Have I mentioned that I'm one of the emcees? I can't remember) So there's meetings, rehersal and the actual event that take up tons of time. Plus, we'll be getting ready to spend President's Day weekend in Belgium. My brother's coming in a little over a month, too, so there's lots of things to do between now and then. YIKES!

Prayer for Strong Towers

Just wanted to mention the Torres family today. Their sweet son Xander is having brain surgery to help with some pretty serious seizures he's been having. I can't imagine how scary and overwhelming this must be for them, and I'm sured they'd appreciate any and all prayers.

No Fried Foods February!

I really like the idea of picking one easy health-related goal a month. One thing to abstain from, but only for four weeks. It makes it seem more feasible. Plus then I feel like it's really about achieving a short-term goal instead of a massive life change that I know will never stick around.

In that vein of thought, No Candy January is over! Bring on No Fried Foods February!

I did pretty well for No Candy January. I only had candy the two times I've already mentioned - once when my coworker brought in Belgian chocolates...you know, ones he actually picked up in Belgium. And even then, I only had one! And the second was when I helped construct a Reese's peanut-butter chocolate trifle at a Pampered Chef party. It's just no fair asking me to help make it and not to have a little bit!

But over all, I'd say two bits of candy in a whole month of candy abstinence equals success--especially since I maintain the candy dish in our office at work! So go me! *virtual pat on the back*

Since I've been trying to eat healthier this year, I haven't had a ton of fried foods, but I do sneak some of Caleb's french fries from time to time. And I did have some magnificent duck rolls at Dragon House, the Chinese food restaurant near base. Oh man, they were worth it.

But in the idea of short-term abstinence, I thought I'd give No Fried Foods February a chance. When I was doing Weight Watchers, a substitute leader taught us about the dangers of BLTs. A lot of times what really inhibits my weight loss goals isn't my overall diet, it's the BLT's...the Bites, Licks and Tastes I take of the food I'm preparing or whatever is on Caleb's plate. Those little BLT's add up over the week and can make a big difference!

French fries are a particular weakness of mine, and although this past month I haven't ordered any, I sure haven't refrained from taking a few of Caleb's (or my husband's, when he's not looking!) And while I'm still proud of myself for only having a few versus the whole order (hey, Club Sandwich of Love, here!), I know it would make a difference over all to cut out fried foods all together. Again...not forever, but for a bit. I'd really like to know...can I go an entire month without french fries? Is it really possible?!

Okay, I promise this won't become a diet blog. But sometimes that's what's on my mind. That's the problem with having a blog with no gimmick...you get whatever's floating about up there!

Adventures in Toddler Parenting

Toddler parenting: the act of cleaning up the exact same mess five times in a day.

The problem with staying home all weekend with the express purpose of having a "lazy weekend" is that it's actually impossible when you have a toddler. Caleb's at an age where he wants to undo everything I do, "help" me with my tasks, climb up and reach everything that used to be out of reach, and just generally test every boundary that exists for him. One of his many moments today including throwing all his shoes downs the stairs while I was making dinner.

I need to start planning at least one Caleb-centered out-of-house-activity a weekend, if only to maintain a shred of sanity.

Additionally, I'm trying to kick my diet up a notch. I've been eating very healthy foods since the beginning of the year and exercising a fair amount, but I haven't seen the results I was hoping for. So I'm back to tracking my food, Weight Watchers style, and really watching my portion sizes.

The result is that I'm hungry. (It's only day one, and I know it'll take at least a week or two to adjust to smaller portion sizes.) But hungry Kelly = cranky Kelly, and a troublesome toddler exaberbates the problem.

Luckily, he's pretty cute. Tonight, after I told him I was going to count to 3 and he better sit down and finish eating, he sat down and started his own cranky mom routine. "I go three! One! Two! Fee!" and general somewhat unintelligible bossiness. I was trying my best not to crack a smile at his cheekiness.

But I couldn't help but smiling at him cuddling with Zeus tonight while watching Thomas the Train. It was nice to see my two trouble makers sharing a hug and a quiet moment, even if it did only last five minutes!

Good day!

Two good things to report today!

First, I ran a mile and a half! This probably seems like no big deal to some of you fitness junkies, but it's a big freaking deal to me. By default, I'm not someone who is physically active. I'm not athletic or coordinated or fast. It takes genuine effort and discipline to make myself go to the gym regularly.

Since I started at this job last summer, I've been doing circuit training classes off and on. I aim to go three times a week, but that almost never happens. Stuff comes up, I forget my gym bag, or I just flake out. Since the beginning of the new year, I've been doing pretty good about getting to the gym regularly, even if it's not always to circuit.

Lately circuit has been incorporating a lot more running, and I wasn't sure I could do it. I usually alternate running and walking laps. I am just not a runner. (As opposed to my husband, who could probably run in his sleep.) But I've been pushing myself to run more lately. Tuesday's class required us to run 5 laps (.5 miles) before and after class. And I did it! I actually ran all ten laps! Even after a really tough circuit!

So when I hit the gym today, I thought, "Heck. I can run a mile. I did it the other day. Not all at the same time, but I did it!" So I ran a mile. Then I thought, "Heck, I bet I could run another half mile!" And I did! I was really proud of myself. I didn't run it fast enough to pass the USAF PT test for females in my age range, but I was only about a minute and a half off. I could shave that off!

Again, probably no big deal to some, but a pretty big deal for me! So allow myself to celebrate for a minute. Woo! Go me! I'm the woman! I can leap tall buildings in a single jump! I'm faster than a speeding bullet! I rock!

Okay, enough of that! :)

The other bit of news to report is that I was selected as one of our base's emcees for their annual awards ceremony next month! I actually auditioned last week and again today (long story), but the bottom line is, I got picked!

My husband talked me into trying, and I wasn't too keen on it at first. But when I found out there would be a script, I was more amenable to the idea. I just didn't want to have to get up their and ad lib all night! Anyway, I thought, "What the heck?" (I've been thinking that a lot lately!) I'd never done anything like this before and thought it might be fun. Hopefully it is!

Yeah! So that's that. I have no pics from today, so hopefully the webcam pics at the beginning of the post will do. :)

Job Satisfaction

I don't have much to say today, and no pics to go with it. I just want to say that I really like my job. And it's not necessarily the job itself, which is fine, but it's the people.

It's always the people, isn't it? For better or worse, that's what makes your job what it is, at least 80% of the time.

I've lucked out because I've worked with some great people in every job I've had. I can think back to the last three jobs I've had and I'm still friends with a handful of people at each job. Of course, there have been a few people I haven't jived with along the way, but at every job there were great people, too. And it's those great people that make a difference.

And in the job I have now, I'm really blessed to work with a great group of people who make me laugh and teach me things about aviation I never knew I wanted to know. (Don't tell my brother, the King of Aviation Nerdery, but it's actually kind of fun learning some of that stuff!)

Anyway, sometimes I stop and think about how fortunate I am to have a job I like and work with people I like. It hasn't always been this way. It may not always be this way. But I'm happy where I'm at for now, and for some reason, that seemed like it was worth a blog.

No Candy January

Today was standard issue. Nothing terrible exciting. Had a really brutal workout in circuit training class today, but that's about it. I think my legs will be feeling it tomorrow!


On Sunday, we went to church, but towards the end of the ceremony, the fire alarm starting going off! I was kind of confused at first. I was looking around like, Is this real? Should I grab my coat? Do I get my kid?


The usher escorted us out and assured us the nursery workers would bring Caleb out to safety, and they did. Turns out some of the ladies were making something in the kitchen for a post-service fellowship, and I guess it must have gotten a bit smokey in there. No real fire, just some exciting cooking! :) These are my boys, outside of church. Caleb is clearly wondering what all the fuss is about.



I also went to a Pampered Chef party that afternoon at my friend Sharon's. It was a bit different than a traditional Pampered Chef party. Instead of the PC lady doing the demonstration, we broke up into teams and competed to make a PC recipe the fastest. Our team won by making a Reese's trifle pretty quickly.


Did I mention I'm trying not to eat candy the whole month of January? Yeah. This past Sunday was the second time I broke that rule when I dug into this divine trifle. The other time was when my coworker came back from Belgium waving around Belgian chocolates all day! (In my defense, though, they were Belgian chocolates! And I only ate one, although I was tempted to eat more!)




I think February I'm going to try and swear off fried foods for a month. I haven't eaten a ton of them this month, but I'm curious if I could survive with NO french fries for four weeks!


We booked a Mediterranean cruise this week (eeeeee!!!) for May, so I'm trying to whittle down a few pounds before then! I'm trying to watch what I eat in general and keep up with the exercising, but I'm also giving myself 1 month rules to challenge myself in one way in particular. This way, I'm not totally depriving myself, but there's one tiny area I concentrate on each month. January might be the hardest because I have a candy dish to maintain at work!