Rehab

Hi guys,

Sorry it took me so long to write something here. I've been back in Belgium for a couple of weeks now and I'm still 'in rehab'. For one reason or another it's more difficult than I thought it would be. For instance I find the traffic here very very very busy in comparison to the traffic in Kos. Okay, in Greece people drive like mad men, but here it's soooo crowded. I feel like I never have enough space and I'm always in the way. It takes me a long time to get used to that again, but anyways now I can drive a 'real' car again, my lovely Jeep Wrangler.
Enough about traffic and cars, let's talk about real life. It takes a while to get used to the rhythm of home again. It still hurts that my wonderful dog, Viggo, isn't around anymore. Somehow I still one him to walk trough the door and all is back to normal. Especially the first 2-3 days it was very hard. Now it's getting easier, but I just keep thinking that I needed to be there for him when he wasn't feeling well... It came as a shock when I was still in Greece, but the shock was twice as hard when I got home, as I also thought it would be. Anyway, I'm still grieving and things will get better, but it will never be like it was before... I realize that now.
When I was in Greece I was working 6/7 and almost 10h a day. Now I'm back to doing absolutely nothing. Which is fun for a while, but it gets boring really easily. In December that will change, because I got offered a job at FLIR, so my old job. I'm going back there to replace my dear colleague who's responsible for Germany. So yes, I'll have to speak some German out there! ;) Good thing I have some time now to practice my German skills a little bit. I'm really excited and looking forward to it.
December 4, I will finally know where I'm headed next summer season. So I will work with FLIR until I have to leave for my next Thomas Cook destination. That's another thing I'm looking forward to!!! I so hope I can go to Italy!! Pray for me! ;)
After that next summer destination I will have to chose what to do with my life. I'm pretty sure I won't stay in Belgium. I have to, no, need to explore the rest of the world. The world is too big to stay just in one spot. I have a 'travel-bug' (most likely inherited that from my mum) and that bug needs some loving. ;) No, seriously, I have to look for a job somewhere around the globe and I'm pretty sure I'm going to find it. All it takes is some courage and a suitcase.
Don't get me wrong here, I would still miss my mum, brother, family and friends like crazy, but there are so many things to help us keep in touch and, come on, planes aren't invented to stay on the ground. :) I will definitely keep you posted on my whereabouts on time and in the meantime you can find me in Belgium.

To close of this blog I would like to share a song that really made me think about the decisions I have to make next year. My 'shoebox' is a large, beautiful white basket and all my memories are in there. Enjoy this beautiful song by Chris Young:

Lyrics: 

I stumbled on a bunch of junk of mine
In a shoebox the other night
In between cleaning up files and messes
That I'd made of my life

Ticket stubs, poems and old letters
I dumped them all out on the bed
Found a homemade birthday card from mom
And this is what it said, yeah, this is what it said

Don't forget the little moments
They're the ones that mean the most
When the way home seems so far away
Take 'em out and hold them close

And take a picture with your father
'Cause one day he'll be gone
And don't forget to fill an old shoebox
Full of things to look back on, full of things to look back on

I opened up my grandpa's pocket knife
And I was back to his back porch
It was summertime I was turnin' nine
He said, "You want that knife? It's yours"

I remember runnin' off in the yard
Carved my name in every tree
I haven't held it since he passed away
And it meant the world to me
Because he meant the world to me

Don't forget the little moments
They're the ones that mean the most
When the way home seems so far away
Take 'em out and hold them close
And take a picture with your father
'Cause one day he'll be gone
And don't forget to fill an old shoebox
Full of things to look back on

Look back on, a little window to the past
Look back on, God knows life goes by so fast
If ever you should ever doubt the blessings that you've had

Don't forget the little moments
They're the ones that mean the most
When the way home seems so far away
Take 'em out and hold them close

And take a picture with your father
'Cause one day he'll be gone
And don't forget to fill an old shoebox
Full of things to look back on

I stumbled on a bunch of junk of mine
In a shoebox the other night

Source: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/chrisyoung/theshoebox.html

Cars...

Car-wise last week was a roller coaster of emotions: sad news regarding my 1992 Jeep Wrangler that has been declared 'dead'... My dear car died on me... I'm heart broken, I'll tell you that. I love my Chuck (that's it's nick name since I've had it). Now since my car is not the youngest anymore I don't think I can sell it, especially without a functioning motor. I really want to keep that car, but then I'll have to save a lot of money to buy a new motor block. It actually all depends upon where I'll find work. If I can catch a train to work, I don't really need a car, so I can save a little bit to buy a new motor. On the other hand we still have my brother's Alfa Romeo MiTo which I could drive to work if there's no way I can catch a train to work.

1992 Jeep Wrangler

Last week the Alfa was in the garage to repair the broken window, door and seat (from the brake in a couple of weeks ago). The repairing of the car caused a lot of trouble: normally we could pick up the Alfa on Friday. Since the men from the garage didn't call us, I called them to hear if the car was ready. Apparently if there has to be done some body work, the car goes to a body shop in the neighborhood of the garage. The guy form the garage couldn't tell me immediately if our car was ready. Five minutes later his colleague called us to tell us the car had just been returned. When we arrived at the garage we noticed the key chains on our car key weren't there. The car key itself seemed more 'used' then ours. Suspicious... We got to the parking lot to find our car, but... our car wasn't there!!!! Turns out the guys from the body shop made a huge mistake and brought in a white Alfa MiTo, but not the right one!! Since it was too late to call the body shop we returned home with a Fiat 500. They reassured us they'd call up first thing on Monday. At 11am I decided to call them again myself, because of course they didn't bother calling. Then after 5 minutes of waiting on the phone, they said they didn't know if our car was ready because there was something wrong with the door in the way that they weren't sure if the door was ours. You have got to be kidding me, I thought, they didn't know if it was the right door???? How is that even possible??? At last at 4pm my dad went to the garage and claimed our car. The car was ready, with the right door. Weird story, I know!

2010 Alfa Romeo MiTo

But, back to last week's roller coaster of emotions: my car declared dead on Monday. Tuesday we went to Holland to drive a 1966 Dodge Charger, we'd been there before and saw the car in great shape and now we were able to take it for a spin. Wonderful sound, great motor, everything on the inside is working. I'd never seen an old timer in such a good shape. Of course my brother bought it. And as from Friday he is the proud owner of a '66 Dodge Charger!!!

1966 Dodge Charger