Enough with the Peacock Already!

I am going on three nights of relatively no sleep all thanks to the fantastic farm animals. I told you we have cows for neighbors, but did I mention the peacocks? I can deal with the cheese factory churning all night, I understand the rooster will crow and the crack of dawn, but a peacock in my tree screaming like a hurt child at 3am is NOT acceptable! Ever since Easter morning this bird has been carrying on and now has found a comfortable spot in the tree in our yard. The boys seem to sleep through it, David claims he isn't bothered, and even my landlord, Vincent, has no issues with the howling bird. But I just can't sleep through the noise. I'm surprised I can even write a coherent sentence, you have no idea how many times I've had to spell check already. Seriously, I think I had better sleep with newborns, and you all know how terribly my newborns slept!

So, I implore you, no I beg you, please find me a solution (short of running it over with my car) to rid my yard of the peacock! I'm searching the internet and hitting all the wrong sights because I can not find an answer to my problem. I think I may just go take a nap...you'd be surprised at how quiet and serene it is here during the day! Seriously, if you loved me at all you would join my secret society A.P.P.P.L. (Anti-Peacock People for a Peaceful Life, or said like apple) and help me get rid of the peacock for good! Then when we have accomplished our main objective we'll move on to more serious issues, like how to reverse global warming, lessing our dependency on all petroleum based products, eliminating hydrogenated oils and MSG from our food for good, solving the dying bee issue, and then of course how to stop David from snoring (which also keeps me up at night, but not nearly as bad as the peacock!) Thank you for your time to let me rant, I promise I will fill you in on more important issues later!

Welcome to Belgium

I though I'd start off with the obvious! Life here in Belgium! Most family and friends know we moved here last August, and most of you know that the change has been a difficult one at times. But, now that we've had a couple weeks of sunshine my head is clearing and I am ready to share. I hope those of you who are planning to visit will find a few of these thoughts helpful, and for the rest of you maybe a couple laughs.

1. Yes, fries come with that, but you have to pay extra for the sauce.
2. Pantelon de Jogging!? But it's not nice for the baker to see you that way!
3. The LARGE coffee is SMALLER than a small at Starbucks.
4. We have bread vending machines, just in case.
5. I have a field full of cows for neighbors, so does everyone else.
6. It's only 15 KM away, but if you get stuck behind a sugar beet truck....
7. You might as well order beer with dinner, it's cheaper than water.
8. Athletic shoes with jeans? Obviously American.
9. And on the subject of dress code, everyone wears a scarf, all year long.
10. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone speaks English, just almost everyone!

So, I guess if you take in the whole experience so far, it has been a good one for our family. We have learned to spend less money, but spend more time. Eating out is a special treat, but eating at the dinner table is a nightly special event. We have learned very quickly that you really can live without your television. Fresh is better. Consuming less equals polluting less. You do not need a hybrid to get good fuel economy, just a European car. You can loose weight relatively easily if you do not have the convenience of fast food. Children are highly adaptable. Family is most important. And no matter how far we go, or how cool it is, we are all just Americans at heart!

I hope each and every one of you get a chance to visit here in Belgium. We miss you and miss being a part of your daily lives. It's been hard at times to keep everyone up to date with our adventures, and our simple day-to-day stuff; but hopefully this blog will give you all a little better window into our very real experience living so far from home.