Heartwarming connections

What a weekend behind! Actually what a beginning of year! Work wise it has been extremely intense period of the cycle with deliverables and deadlines on daily basis. Additional pressure from an important presentation to prepare and present on a complex issue to the whole directorate. In compensation, I do get unique opportunities to meet with the top of the ranks, as the Friday lunch meeting which turned out to be one of the most interesting discussions on current affairs. I cherish those moments and they do resource me in a surprising way. I think I have managed well. I always measure my success in terms of how patient I can remain with my children and husband The busier it get the more intentially I need to dedicate regular sessions of quiet in my daily routines, to stay calm in front of the waves of my tribe. It is really great times though. This week I attended gym competitions and last week swimming competitions. We practice the multiplication tables with another one. Weekends are 100% family time. This weekend was a peculier one, as we actually had a unique dinner invitation (I think generally there is post-covid inertia) with new friends. The uniqueness came on one part that we were the only foreigners among the 17 persons around the table, which is the first time in the 20 years here. Another friend said it is a sign you have become belgians! Another surprise was that as the evening advanced, I realised I was in the middle of this countries nobility. For a Nordic it seems rather unreachable as rare as they are, but in this country - as one of them rightly said - there is extensive wealth. Summa summarum, despite, the language, cultural and class barriers, I spend a very lovely and inspiring evening being immersed in the intriguing life of the nobles. We discussed about their family trees, hetage stories, children (all of us had 4 children) divorces (they seemed to be common, as was the high number of children, and marrying always among the noble lines).The Duke sitting opposite me had a huge castle, the one next to me was an antiquitaire as profession emptying also other people's castles. The duke on my left had just arrived from horse racing. I was amazed to what extent they were so charismatic caricatures of themselves ! The evening ended 1:30 with candies, donuts and ice -cream - served in beautiful silver baskets. I am touched beyond words for my friend's invitation to open her home and introduce to her family and close surroundings.As an adult and expat for decades I acknowledge having certain cynicism to forming frienships as they dissolve just when the relationship would have reached a deeper level due to change of country. Therefore, I was moved when my new friend said very frankly: "I want to get to know you and feel we have a connection, we will be friends for years to come". Well, I welcome open arms new genuine frienships in my life. How blessed and grateful we are.

Happy birthday!

My husband had one simple gift request to Celebrate his big number: à weekend à deux in Paris. Feasible ! Except if it was not the four kids and the dog needing a synchronised care solution for 24hours. And no, we still do not have the au pair to take the relay- but ode to dear friends and class mates we did it! Intensive preparations on Saturday morning, dropping off the kids to three different destinations and we were sitting in Thalys on our way to Paris. Champs Elyse, spy exposition, Cabaret and Monet paintings. Morning sauna and spa. Paris never disappoints. Walking by the grand boulevards, place de Vosges, by the Seine. There is something eternally romantic and energising in the City. Happy and tired, we pick-up the kids on Sunday afternoon. It has been an adventure for them too, my youngest 1st sleepover, restaurant dinner, movie night and even a guest at the scouts outing. One-on-one weekend - not a once a month fair perhaps to do, but surely little more often than every 10 years! And of course happy to see my youthful birthday husband so pleased ❤️

Christmas and NY Joys

It is the Evening of a long day of unpacking, washing and settling back home. The house was welcoming us last night at the height of 10 degrees, but it was there, safe and comforting. The chilly night did nothing to the joy of our kids discovering the gifts left under the Tree in the morning! The screems and laughs and energy is hard to discribe and yet those moments I would truly like to bottle for future. My youngest got her Elsa make-up kit, my son his long dreamed volume speaker and my girls their selected brands of backbag and clothes. They have clearly been very nice all year ! Everybodies dreams came true this year, amazing! Kids are usually so creative and happy to find their toys after travels, and today was no different. We heard concerts, dressed barbies and baked the 3 kings pie. The highlight of the day was undeniably getting our Taica back home from the dog carer. He had been OK despite my worries about how he will survive the New Year's fireworks and being in a new place. Apparently animals adjust quickly. The hosts were looking forward to welcoming him in the future, which is so important to hear. Our winter break was evrything one can hope: Seeing the Grand - parents, lots of snow, winter sports, Nordic scenery, food and culture. And Sauna of course. My kids are Finns by every means and during the 10 days they mastered cross-country skiing, ice-skating, sleighs, saunas and -the most wicked part of it - rolling in the snow naked afterwards! And they did this many times. True Sisu they have, even and especially my 4-year old! I have said this before, but the one place I truly feel GOOD (safe, relaxed, happy) is in my home town, on the beach trail next to my parents house. Regardless of whether I have my running shoes on or on the skis, I have a smile on my face as I roll off from the front porch and start my 6-9km trail around the ski mountain and lake. I did it every day of my holiday and if anybody wonders it makes me a better person to this wordl It was heart warming to spend time with my parents. Evening discussions around a glass of wine and treats about life and politics, breakfast together in the small kitchen table which is the favorite spot for everybody! It is a big effort on all sides to join together and I am very grateful my parents have still the energy to welcome us from far away. While living abroad coming "home" is such a highlight of the year for all of us. For our children it is during these stays, that they also get to establish their Nordic identity and immerse in their culture. I think it is hilarious they consider my little home town as the best place in the world to live in. They went as far as to search for a house and work for us to make the big move! Honestly, if teleworking became the norm, I don't think we reflected twice: the place has everything we wish for: nature, peace and quiet, space, clean air, sports and culture, high quality schools. The only bad is it is so far away..Anyways, these dreams definitely pave a nice beginning for the New year 2023! We are very fortunate to have our hidden gem to go and recover.

Kaamos

I feel time is disappearing with such a speed that I seem to catch it only in glimpses. Toussaint holiday and the sun of Portugal seem far away. Sun, Surf and authentic people are the take aways from our one week recreational pause. Taica stayed at home with a luxory private care-taker, as the mother-in-law flew in for this important mission. The thing is, as soon as you return from the break, the eveyday rat race kicks in with such intensity your mind whirls. Children's school, exams, taxi driving to hobbies, medical checks, birthdays and gifts to prepare..and our own 8h main jobs! As December approaches, at least in my case, the energy levels are down and despite the daily dose of sports, yoga or other pleasent treat, this time of year seems such a drag. Is it the lack of light, ongoing war or climate change angst pressing on the back of the mind and eating on the happiness storages? Probably all of them. I push on with the seasonal activities, visits to the Christmas market, baking first ginger cookies and anticipating our upcoming Christmas trip to up North. Fortunately there are also our wonderful, energetic children with their beautiful innocent souls reminding me to see the joy and fun in all of this craziness. Kiss and Cheers to that!

Paris in September

My long waited girls-only visit to Paris with my beautiful 9 year old daughter. The plan had been cooking already for some years, we knew it was her time for an exclusive travel, but I had a too young baby at home, then there were the terrorist attacks and covid. Pas de chance as the French would say. But here we were now, sitting in the Thalys train on our way to Paris! I had carefully planned the stay to include a little bit culture (eiffel tour, her main wish), hop-on-off bus (in case tired feet) and lots of fun (zara, zara, zara and of course being a great fan of macarons, the iconic la Duree). My daughter was a splendid travel compagnon and without a word walked with me from Champs Elysee to Louvre on both days (22 000 steps!). We stayed in a small boutique hotel, where the staff treated her as a princess. Actually everybody treated her like a princess! Her perseverance amaized me and the staff of La Duree and waiting 40 min.on the line in the rain was compensated with her favorite macarons treat free of charge The Parisians know how to do it with style. The wheather was sunny and beautiful. In the evening we enjoyed a typical parisian dinner and I insisted showing her la Seine at night with the dazzling lights a special feel. How energising 24 hours can be. Both of us were smiling girls while returning home bags full of French treats for those whose turn will be next. Thank you my lovely girl Estelle for the special bonding moments shared, which I will keep sake in my heart❤

Towards LESS waste (I did not say Zero Waste)

I have now first-hand experienced how one single book -coming at the right time and format - can truly make a major change in ones life. The book "Famille (presque) Zero Dechet" (family of almost no waste) did just that. Paradoxically, I had bought the book already back in 2015 upon its publication and gave it to a friend as a gift thus only partially implementing all the good tips myself. Reaching no waste is an utopia (for me), but there are many aspects in our daily life we can and should do better. Here is what I did this week, not to loose the amazing momentum and energy hyped up from the summer: I searched, found and ordered all our weekly veggies, fruits, eggs and proteins but also flours and home cleaning products directly from the local producer (very easy in and well organised here in Belgium and all are organic!). Good bye plastic wrappers, welcome fresh, local produce creating much less co2! Mmore controversially perhaps, I ordered a bread machine AND a yogurt maker. One could argue that I could do them without the machines, but the line goes there and the easiness of operation of both does increase my edge to actually use them. Both first sets turned out a huge success among our family (only question why on earth did I not invest in these earlier?). Furthermore, and surprisingly without any heartache, I gave out my much-loved and well-served Nespresso machine (half-broken anyways, sniif) and digged out an old coffee machine. I simply could no longer bare to look at the aluminium cups, claimingly recycled, but wasting resources anyhow. With this change, My coffee consumption will hopefully go also down  Finally, I invested in small but needed practical things when buying in balk to organise the kitchen: glass jars to organise my flour and cereals, cotton bags for own bread, vegetables, fruits, nuts and sorts. My kids are all very enthousiastic with these changes and husband all in supportive. Breaking the routine was the hardest bit, as all these changes have been cooking in our minds for a long time, but required a rested mind to put in action. My sister (hippy) called me lovingly hippy. I replied, fortunately aiming to reduce waste is no longer for margins, but close to middle stream if not yet main stream. As a mom, I feel a strong urge to educate my kids to make these changes and show the example. This generation has to learn to live more sustainably, it is undeniable. Thank you Universe for showing us the way. Namaste.

Summer 2022 - Bretagne - Saint-Malo

It is Friday morning 7:15 am, the last full day of our stay in Saint-Malo and summer holidays. Tomorrow morning we will head North towards Honfleur for a final over-night stay to make the return drive more pleasent to the whole family (and admittedly further extend our wonderful break by another hint). As in every morning, Taica woke me up, by his gentle scratching on our bedroom door. He is very intelligent we think, as he does not bark knowing the family is sleeping. I have to absolutely write a few words about this adventure for Taica. He has turned out to be a marvelous, flexible, discreet travel companion of all times. Starting from the roadtrip to Finland, where he travelled in a backpack in planes, boat, train and a car without showing any signs of stress. His bravery has continued in the second leg of our summer journey in France, where he follows us everywhere and silently sits in our daughters laps hours in the car, less and more fancy restaurants, castle tours and most recently - in a kayak ! Fortunately, the French love dogs, and he has been accepted to most places without a hic. We are very proud of him and again, thanks to him we encounter and interact with people around us in a whole new positive angle. Who would have known a family dog could trigger such emotions and an aura around everything - not us!

Another great thing happened this summer, as our children have reached ages, which allowed us to tend to the plenty of water sports and other activities available in the reagon, and we have been busy. When asked in the evenings about the favorite things happening in the day, we hear first things "wind surfing, kayaking, surfing, char a voile, sailing..". I must mention, practicing these sports in Bretagne has not meant always sun and pleasent temperatures. For example, our experience of wind surfing in Ile Grande close to Perros Guirec last week - early in the windy morning with fog, light rain, and water/air temperatures well below 20 degrees set the consitions far from ideal and yet we all considered it was amazing experience to exceed ones limits and learn new skills! Another event definitely building resilience of our children was our biking tour from Dinard to Dinan. Supposingly an idyllic family trail from one scenic village to another in a dedicated bike trail. All this proved to be true, if it was not for the un-announced pouring rain that shadowed our trip. The kids (my 7 year old included), biked the whole 47 km without a cry. As we reached the village half-day, we indulged ourselves with hot chocolates and delicious breton galettes to fill with needed energy and endorfins. More importantly, I invested in gorgeus yellow rain coats, which protected the kids and raised smiles in the surroundings so cute where my four pussins biking and bringing light to the grey day. Personally, I am so pleased to see our kids (and us) so very relaxed, happy and very funny together. The days are long and full of program, and it is a huge logistic challenge to transfer our family anywhere with the 5 bikes,ski box and luggage (ode to my husky husband!!) - but it is definitely worth it. Discovering new places, new flavours, skills and encounter with different people make our children grow and keeps myself and husband younger  It is actually also very rewarding -amidst all the everyday business - to hear the positive comments about us from strangers. Yesterday at the beach, an elderly lady stopped for a good while to discuss and give compliments of our family. It makes me smile and I feel truly fortunate. Today awaits new adventure and we will discover the joys of navigating a catamaran in Saint-Malo. As ahead of any new adventure, I feel slightly concerned and play with the idea of comfortably strolling the streets with a coffee mug instead of braving the way to the waves. But I will not give in. And hope it will be worth it this time as well !