Could this month be any crappier? I don’t think so! It started off wonderfully when I had to call an ambulance for my dad. Five hundred trips to the hospital later, we are now set on the fact that he simply had terrible side effects to some new medication he’s been taking for his blood pressure. A full examination also showed some dark spot on his lungs, which totally made us fear it was lung cancer, but we were told today that it’s not, although he should still stop smoking. Let’s not kid ourselves; that’s not gonna happen.

So anyway, Jack had a brief flea invasion. He’s allergic to flea bites, so I had to call the vet right away. He came at home and noticed how neurotic my dog is … Soooo, he prescribed some, uhm, mild calming meds. I suppose you could call it prozac for dogs. He said I spoil him too much (what? me?), which makes him too dependent and insecure … So now I’m not allowed to pet him; only once or twice a day. That’s hard! He seems to be doing a little better though, so I haven’t given him his little chill pills yet. I’m hoping he won’t need it at all.

^^ crappy webcam pictures.

Plus, the weather has been shit! I don’t mind rain, but it keeps switching 50 times a day, from hot and sunny to cold and rainy, so I never know what to wear. Also, Jack does *not* appreciate his new rain coat:

Walking him has been extremely painful this week, because he refuses to go out when it rains, so I’ve had to literally pull him and force him out. He kept trying to turn around and go back home. Perhaps he needs his prozac after all.

In other crappy news: I am still dealing with some psycho stalker! I think I’ve only written about it on Myspace so far, so those of you who are just now tuning in: this dude has been stalking me for over a month now. I first met him while walking Jack, because he has a dog too, so anyway, it started with just “hi” and “how are you today”, and then quickly shifted to him purposely hanging out at particular spots when he knew I’d be out. It was painfully obvious. Then one day, he showed up at my door with a pie and a creepy smile, and it was sooooo awkward!! LOL I had never given him my address, so I suppose he followed me or something. So the next day, I decided to avoid his neighborhood all together, and started walking Jack in a totally different area. I haven’t bumped into him since *whew* , but he has knocked on our door 3 times already, asking if I was there. My mom answered the first two times, then my dad told him off the third time. And hopefully he won’t come again. But he’s been purposely hanging around our street since, so every time I leave the house, I have to peek through the windows first and make sure he’s not around. And then when I’m sure it’s clear, I literally run out and turn around the corner real fast LOL! It’s ridiculous!

Well, it’s July 11th today. Only 10 more days until our belgian national holiday! No idea what I’m gonna do, or if I will even celebrate at all. I guess it might depend on the weather, we shall see!

xxx
Lisa

Moving on to happier topics: say hello to my new house in Brussels. It’s small and cute and cozy and perfect for me :-) It’s got two bedrooms, so I’ll turn one of the two into an office/part time guest room. There are only houses on one side of the street, so it’s nice and peaceful. I blanked out the house numbers for obvious reasons :-p

I spoke to the notary last week, who told me we’ll probably sign the final papers at the end of August. I first thought I would get the keys at the beginning of August, but I guess I’ll have to wait a few more weeks. Oh well, no biggie. I can’t wait to move in though! It will be nice to have my own little European place that I can decorate however I want. It will also be easier to invite friends over, so that will be fun!

Oh man, the funeral day was harddddd. I don’t think I’ve ever cried this many hours in a row. I’ve been sobbing a bit today, but I’ll be alright. It was good to see my whole family! We don’t gather often, but when we do, we’re quite a clan lol It’s great support in times like these.

Mom wants me to get a picture of my aunt to put in a frame, but it feels too soon. I think it will take me a while to open our album.

The priest did a really good speech, and that was also of great comfort. They’ve started a really sweet tradition: since cemeteries are no longer right next to churches, they now put little crosses with people’s name on them in the back of the church. So we can go light a candle for her next to her little cross whenever we feel like it. Probably sounds stupid to some of you :-p but I thought that was sweet. Ah, anyway.

More later.
xxx
Lisa

Oh, I feel so crappy right now. My aunt passed away this Sunday, and although I had heard a little while ago that she was ill, I guess I never realized how serious it actually was, so it really came as a shock now. I’ve got lots of memories popping back in my head at the moment, I feel pretty sad and confused. I wish I could have seen her just one more time. We get so caught up in our lives; well especially me I suppose. It makes me realize I should take the time once in a while to stay close to people. It’s crazy how fast time slips away, and then before you even know it, people are gone and it’s too late. I’m usually not the type of person who has any regrets, but I’m dealing with a couple at the moment and I hate that feeling.

We’re all going to church on Thursday. I’m not sure what I’ll be wearing yet; they said the weather would be horrible and rainy. How appropriate. **sigh**

On a more positive note: I actually found a house last week. It’s not big, but it’s nice and clean, and the street is pretty. I’ve already signed the first papers, and the final papers will be signed in August I think, which is when I’ll get the keys. So I finally have my very own little Brussels house, and that makes me happy :-) I’ll post pictures later.

Mixed feelings indeed.

Wooh, so much has happened since my last post! I’m back in Belgium and it feels sooooo good! The weather has been amazing since I arrived; although it’s clouding up now, it’s still warm enough to wear Summer clothes. I’m back in mom’s house now (= the coziest place on Earth).

And here’s a late picture from May Day, with the traditional May flowers (I believe we only do this in Belgium and France … or something …?):

Jack survived his flight! Yay! It was such a stressful process, I’m not sure I ever want to do this again. All went smoothly though, but it was too nerve wracking for me. I basically cried when they took him away (LOL), so embarrassing! A Delta employee came over to console me, and I felt like such a baby. When they saw how worried I was, I think they started worrying about a possible lawsuit in case anything went wrong (which one lady even admitted after we landed!); so they gave me real time updates throughout the whole trip lol  I thought he was going to need time to adapt to this new environment, but it went like a charm and he actually seems to have a lot of fun here. So now we’re both upstairs in our cozy clutter:

I’ve been so busy since I got here! I’d like to get my own place, because I’m starting to feel like I’m bumming off my mom every time I come lol So I’ve been house hunting like crazy, and I have to say it is a frustrating process. I fell in love with one house, but the sellers are divorcing, and the ex-husband doesn’t seem too willing to sell, so it’s basically a huge headache and it looks like the sale might just be stopped because of their issues. Sucks!! Just my luck too. It has been a frustrating couple of weeks (mainly because of that), so I’ve treated myself to a new hair cut:

It feels sooooooo short to me! Ah! A couple of people told me it basically looks the same, which I don’t understand because it clearly does not. Or does it? Hmmfff. Anyway, I’m happy with it, so that’s all that matters, right? Right!

Oh yeah, before I forget: I know some of you have been e-mailing me and calling me to meet up in Brussels and stuff, and I haven’t had time to get back to most of you yet (I’m sounding like such a broken record, it’s embarrassing). Soooo, I apologize again. I really really do! And I will definitely catch up in the next couple of weeks or so! So thanks to those who have contacted me as soon as I arrived, I definitely appreciate it and will get in touch very soon! Hugggggs!

Xxxx
Lisa

Yes, I know! I need to stop writing about my flights and my dog, but I guess those are basically the only two things my life revolves around at the moment lol So anyway, I booked my flight to Brussels yesterday, and I’ll be leaving on April 23d, arriving on April 24th … with Jack this time! Aaarghh! I’m so worried and excited at the same time. He’s never been on a plane, and he won’t exactly be flying first class :-S I saw some pictures, and cargo does look scary as hell. I hope he won’t be too freaked out.

I always promised myself to never put my dog in cargo, but after having spent weeks trying to find other options, I had to come to the sad conclusion that there’s just no way around it. Sucks. So, fingers crossed!

^^ And here’s a good excuse to show off my new antique chair while I’m at it. “Antique” in America = circa 1960’s (don’t laugh). Excuse the sunroom, it’s still under construction. I thought about shipping it over to Belgium, but that sounds a bit excentric, and quite impractical for now. So we shall see!

I am, however, shipping a whole bunch of clothes. And mom doesn’t know it yet, but she’s about to have the shock of her life when UPS delivers 3 giant boxes full of stuff that we have no space for I was gonna sell a ton of stuff on eBay, but only ended up listing half of it, and now I just can’t be bothered anymore so I guess I’ll just keep it hahah! Screw it.

You guys are totally getting my updates like a month late each time lol I’ve been back in the States for quite a bit. The weather has been utter crap since I got back, but it’s finally starting to warm up now. Uhm K, who cares about the weather! Next subject: I’m doing alright. Jack turned into a little fat sausage while staying at Mike’s dad’s. Fat dogs are not cute! So I’ve been walking him all over town to drop the weight, and got him back into shape in about 2 weeks time *yay*

I also want to apologize to the people who have been messaging me about updates (which are obviously taking forever - sorry!). I’ve been a total bitch and haven’t responded to any. I’m so so sorry! I’ve been quite busy, so to set things straight:

• I’m not pissed off at anyone :-)
• I have temporarily quit LiveJournal … as this site seems to be doing the job for now.
• Don’t message me through Facebook, I haven’t had time for that one since New Year. MySpace is okay, but quite inactive as well.

Uhm, okay, that’s about it. Just so you know I’m not dead or or anything :-p

Ah, I know, it’s already January 3d lol I just got back from Germany where we celebrated New Year’s. It was fun. Germans definitely get into it … All in all, people were very friendly there, but I seriously need to work on my German if I want to go back there, because language is a big barrier. I think most understand English okay, but they’re not too keen on speaking it. So I basically ended up communicating with a crappy mix of German/Dutch/English. The food was incredibly good, but sooo heavy! OMG

Don’t you love their public toilets? Lovely name. And the little boy looks very belgian lol

It’s good to be back in Belgium though. I don’t know, more comfortable. January sales officially started today, so I bought some really cute dresses for almost nothing! yay me

Anyway, happy New Year to everyone :-)

Whoo, only 12 more days until Christmas. I used to be all excited about it when I was little, and now I’m just dreading it. I have no decent presents yet. Ugh, okay, scratch that. I have NO presents yet whatsoever. I went Christmas shopping this weekend, but ended up coming back home with stuff for myself lol

We already put the Christmas tree up, which is lots of fun with the cat (eh). It’s her first Christmas tree, so she’s having a blast. We haven’t decorated it yet. It’s just standing there, all green and bland, waiting for her to get used to it. Let’s hope she starts to leave it alone within the next few days, because it looks really dumb right now.

Did anyone else watch Miss Belgium on Saturday? Whoa, was it lame or what? Worst show ever! Totally amateurish, with really bad production. I seriously cringed several times, it was painful and embarrassing to watch lol The highlight of the evening was Kelly Clarkson’s second performance, abruptly interrupted by a fan who basically ran on stage, went like “hi” and then kissed her on the cheek. Which also proves how badly organized the whole thing was. The audience was awful too, and well, I could go on and on about this, but it just sucked really really bad.

Nobody really cares who’s won, and it doesn’t matter anyway. I did, however, find a video on YouTube of the evening’s true star: Kelly Clarkson’s belgian fan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2Mrd_8nvWM

In other personal news: I screwed up my no-sugar diet yesterday and ate a whole pack of cookies. Bahh! I’ve been banning sugar for 2 months now, and it’s hard as hell! My sugar level was way too high, so anyway, yesterday I figured it wouldn’t hurt to eat some sweets once in a while. But I felt really dizzy afterwards, and I’m starting to realize it’s even messing up my sleep pattern. It really sucks :-( Sweets are the biggest joy in life **sigh**

So I finally did it: I switched from Joomla to Wordpress! I’d been debating about it for at least 6 months. The site itself looked pretty damn good, but Joomla just wasn’t the best platform. In fact, it kind of sucked. It seemed great at first, but it was inefficient as hell and really time consuming to manage. The template looked fab, but there was so much coding involved; the smallest change often turned into a big headache, which got me running to Kristi for help more than once. I held on to the site as it was for months, partly because I didn’t want her work to go to waste, until I realized it was a weak excuse which had basically turned my website into a dead page. The traffic, which used to be pretty decent (considering it’s never been more than a personal website) has completely died at this point. The only traffic I get now is accidental, not targetted at all, and thus useless.

Wordpress always struck me as this uptight blogging platform that only nerdy middle aged men would use, until I decided to give the sucker a try and installed it on another website last month. I have to say, I’m impressed! It also beats Blogspot by far.

So after having used all 3, which is really the best? I made a quick comparison list with both positive and negative sides. Continue Reading »