Across the Pond

Our first leg has begun. We were welcomed to Belgium with its usual gray and rainy self. Despite the rain, I was happy that the temperature was at least above freezing. By the way, if you thought that a friendly, civilized airline no longer existed, look no further than Jet Airways. From the moment they checked us in to our exit from the plane, they disproved the myth that flying has to be miserable. We were offered warm, moist (real) towels prior to take-off, comfy and roomy seats, each our own entertainment screen, and decent Indian food! And this was all in economy.

Here was our usual first breakfast in Antwerpen with Bert, Etiye and Robert. Nothing like champagne, fresh orange juice, filet americain and francipan to start off the day.

Bon Voyage & We Are (Almost) 3

Alex and Ella had the opportunity to celebrate a pre-birthday party prior to our departure. If you need someone to help you organize a party, a business, your life - call Sharon. She will make it happen (and with a bang). Here are pics of the festivities:

House packing

From this...

Let the packing begin! And since I'm terrible at organizing when it comes to packing, my sister is here to rescue me. I usually start with a plan, but end up walking around, filling various boxes instead of staying focused on one, and the items are no more packed than when I started. Fortunately, my sister is still here.

Quick side story: she went to Italy, no work (she's also an OT), ate lots of good food, stayed with friends and family for 2 months, came back to the US, and is going to the tropical Azores to be a therapy program director at a school on a navy base. Tough life, I know.

And she's not leaving until next week. I need to milk this.

Here's the result of her gracious assistance. And we were also lucky enough to do this while Alex was in school. Otherwise, there would have been all sorts of drama involving her wanting this book and not wanting us to put away this toy...you get the idea.

...to this!

One room down...

Thank goodness for the organization-obsessed Mama'lene's in the world. What would we do without them?

What is your packing formula? Or do you just randomly throw it in like I do?