Well I would just like to reassure you all that since my last blog we have received about another foot of snow, making the total count about three feet. I have never appreciated our tractor more! Most people were stuck inside the entire Christmas weekend, but we are farmers, and with the power of our green machine we've been just as busy as always :)
December 21st through the 24th were very busy days for Benoit and Nicole; Benoit would get calls about every half hour from elderly people that needed him to come to the rescue with the tractor to shovel out their driveways before Christmas, and everyone wants their hair to look good for Christmas day so Nicole was working until 10pm some nights! All this busyness left Pauline and I home a lot to do little projects and thus I have become the honorary chef of the family... just a few of my adored creations have been: homemade spaghetti and sauce, grilled fish and ratatouille, and eggplant Parmesan! :)
December 23rd was what I would call our "last minute shopping day". Pauline and I went into Verviers together and met her aunt, Nicole's little sister Fabienne, who reminds me a lot of a friend of our Jo Ellen Legg. She was really fun, and we shopped for hours despite the constant removing and putting back on many many layers. Once Pauline finally found the absolutely perfect gift for her little boyfriend of 1.5 months, we got on the last running bus before they were all cancelled because of the snow and we went home. There is no better feeling than coming home to a warm house after a cold, snowy day!
December 24th was one of the most stressful days that I have experienced in Belgium. In the morning we went to school, which took twice the normal time with the snow, to get our report cards. I was shocked when I found my teacher and she was in the midst of showing my report to three other teachers. She said that she was really impressed and that I hardly make any errors in my writing at all; she even said that kids in my class would be very jealous :) Then we went home, and in not so good news we found out that Justine Bragard, who is my family's daughter that is currently doing her exchange in Kingwood, Texas, was admitted to the hospital and was put into an ICU room. She has been complaining about severe leg pains and weakness to the point that she had to use a wheelchair, she lost 5 kilos and it was getting to the point that medical attention was needed. The entire day I was little miss translator, from emails to telephone calls, I was needed to make them feel as at ease as possible knowing their daughter was in the hospital, in a foreign country, on Christmas! That late afternoon I got my present from my parents in the mail :) and then we all got dressed up to go to Grandma's house for Christmas eve dinner! A four course meal, but the soup was questionable, and I was so happy after my first bite that everyone around the table looked as disgusted as I did-- we discovered that grandma accidentally used orange juice instead of cream in the mushroom soup... ha! I loved playing with my cousins all night and then at midnight we went to midnight mass which was very cool, and they all wished me a "Merry Christmas" and then back to Grandma's for dessert and home around 2 when I skyped my whole family to join their Christmas eve :)
Christmas morning we actually had SUN!!! So I decided to brave the three feet of snow and go for a run... unfortunately I made a wrong turn somewhere and came back very sore and tired an hour and a half later- oh well! The four of us had a late lunch of fondue together, and then opened gifts! I got wonderful boots, a scarf, a ring, and a sweater! Then we all skyped the members of our family that aren't with us which was wonderful!
The day after Christmas we woke up early and had a pastry breakfast :) And then got ready for all of Benoit's giant family to come over! We were all out in the room we rent out and it was really a blast to have a big family around! We did secret santa and my present was bibs for the 2 month old and I got gloves from an "uncle". Around 3 I rushed off because I had a band concert at 4! We played really well and Nicole came to see which made me really happy! The sad part of the day was that I found out that I will have to change host families and will not be able to stay with the Bragards all year... I am trying not to think about it.
Monday the 27th we found out that Justine left the hospital and although the doctors never figured out her diagnosis, with steroids she is doing a million times better :) I invited Mallory over and we played in the snow of course, and made the Bragard family as snowmen! We also made dinner for the family and then just hung out like it'll be when we are roommates!
The 28th we woke up and went on a snowy run through the town and then got ready and her parents picked us up and took us to Maastricht Holland!!! (I love that that is just 20 minutes away) They have a whole bunch of sales going on right now and so of course we did some shopping! We went back to her house which is about a half hour from mine, and we had pizza with her host brothers and made no-bake cookies with frosted flakes... the Belgians weren't a fan of the cookies, but we had a blast making them! I spent the night at her house and the next morning we just hung out until I had to go home. I took the train and the bus and I think for the first time yet, there were no problems, like delays or stalls, with getting home :) I got home and opened a wonderful package from my aunt and uncle! Then Norbert, Gene and their kids, David 16 and Lea 11 came over for dinner-- they are very close family friends and the kindest people ever! We had a lovely dinner with them and around midnight we all finally went to sleep.
Tonight I am babysitting for the same family that I did last time and then I am looking forward to celebrating the New Year 7 hours before everyone in Missouri :) Around the holidays I missed you all very much, but just know that I am really a member of this family and was treated with incredible kindness! Oh and the title of the blog, Vive le Vent is Jingle Bells in French :)
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