'Tis the Season

It is that time of year again. The time when our lives become scheduled around football games and SportsCenter. I think Kyle should count his lucky stars that I was born in the South and have a slight understanding of just how important football is to him. If I happened to be from anywhere other than the South then I might think he was crazy for being this obsessed. I count my lucky stars that he only likes football and not hunting or fishing because then I would never see him on weekends in the fall. Thus far, football started on Saturday and he has already gotten up on two different nights at at 1:30 and 3:30am to do his Fantasy Football draft. When UGA has a evening game he won't be able to start watching it until at least midnight our time which means he will be up into the wee hours of the morning cheering on the Bulldogs. Let the craziness begin...

The two places where I can find Kyle every Saturday for the next four months.

Instructions for Females in a Relationship with Men That Love Football

These will become effective Thursday Aug 28. Extremely important recommendations for wives, girlfriends, fiancées, mothers, sisters and daughters.

1. From the first weekend in September until the end of the bowl season, the television is mine, at all times, without any exceptions.

2. If you have to pass by in front of the TV during a game, for an important reason such as preparing snacks or getting me a beer, I don't mind, as long as you crawl along the floor.

3. During the football season, read the sports section of the newspaper so that you understand who I'm yelling at during the season. As a tip, check the box scores for the referees' names too.

4. During the games I will be drunk as CooterBrown. You cannot expect me to listen to you, open the door, kill any spiders, answer the phone, etc. It ain't gonna happen.

5. It would be a good idea for you to keep at least 2 six packs in the fridge at all times, as well as plenty of things to nibble on, and please do not make any funny faces to my friends when they come over to watch the games. In return, you will be allowed to use the TV between 12 am and6 am, unless they replay a good game that I missed during the day.

6. Please, please, please!! if you see me upset because my team is losing, DO NOT say "get over it, it's only a game", or "don't worry, they'll win next time."

7. If a great play occurs while you are in the room, you may be required to freeze or repeat your act for the rest of the game as good mojo. If my team wins, you will be showered with gifts for the next 6 days. If they lose, you will be blamed repeatedly for moving, blinking or secretly not believing in your heart of the power of mojo.

8. Tell your friends NOT to get married, have any babies, or any other social related parties or gatherings that requires my attendance because: I will not go, I will not go, and I will not go. However, if a friend of mine invites us to his house on a Saturday to watch a game, we will be there before the Coors Light bottles reach "Code Blue".

9. You are welcome to sit with me to watch one game and you can talk to me during halftime but only when the commercials are on, and only if the halftime score is pleasing me. College Gameday and the highlights on Saturday night are just as important as the games themselves. Even if I curse Lou, Herbie, and Corso like the anti-SEC, biased dogs that they are, I still want to hear what they say.

10. And finally, please save your expressions such as:"Thank God the football season is only during the Fall." I am immune to these words, because after this comes the NFL playoffs, the Pro Bowl, AFL, AFL2, the CFL, and the replays on the college sports channels.

The race is on

It cracks me up how absolutely sure people are that they know who will win the U.S. election. If you ask any European, they are 100% positive that Obama will win. From talking to them, you would think the race has already been decided and Obama is ready to be sworn in as soon as the logistics get settled. However, if you ask a fair number of Southerners, they are sure McCain will win. As of yesterday, a Gallup poll showed that 45% of registered voters would vote for Obama and 44% for McCain -- obviously neither is the clear winner just yet.

Personally, I can't wait for a new president to be in office, and not for the reasons most people seem to have. I am so sick of every European bashing George Bush. I don't even care about politics and have no real opinion about what Bush has or has not done. But the way people feel completely free to just trash him gets on my nerves. Most recently I have heard people here referring to Bush as Hitler. Now Bush might have made some bad decisions about things, but to compare him to Hitler is just ridiculous. Has Bush built concentration camps and set out to eradicate an entire race of people?

Kyle recently pointed out that people seem to never be at a loss for words criticizing Bush, yet they don't have nearly as much to say about Putin or the communist regime of China. Perhaps it is because they would be thrown in jail for saying anything negative about the government if they were living in either of those countries. I think if we are fortunate enough to live in a country where you can criticize the goverment, then people should at least do so in a civilized, thoughtful manner, rather than just throwing out slurs left and right just because it is the popular thing to do.

Sometimes I am embarrassed to admit that I really have no interest in politics. However, I feel like a much more honest person than the majority of people I meet who wholeheartedly love or hate a politician. If you asked them to really specify the details and specific points on a stance the politican has taken, then the person would be at a loss for words. It really used to drive me crazy when you would drive around Athens, GA, (home of UGA) back in 2004 and all you saw were "W. The President" stickers on every college kid's car. I have a feeling about 98 percent of those kids didn't have a clue about Bush's position on anything.

If people are well-informed about why they like or don't like a certain candidate then I enjoy hearing their discussions. But when people take a strong stance and then have no clue what their candidate actually stands for, that really bugs me.

My Turn

I am turing 29 on Friday. I am embarassed to say, but if Kyle hadn't reminded me I think I would have forgotten it was my birthday! The combination of life being pleasantly busy, often not even knowing the date any other day of the week, and me not being that into holidays, add up to almost missing my own birthday! Kyle will be turning 30 in October so he has been reflecting on age recently. I feel like I should say I should have all these deep thoughts about getting a year older. However, the truth is that I am quite happy and content with where I am for my age.

Whenever I see that people have lists of '101 things I want to do before I die' I kind of feel bad. I am not much of a goal person so I definitely couldn't think of 101 goals. As of right now, the only things I would like to do better in my life are know French and grow closer to God, and I haven't done much work towards either of those goals so I can't really complain that they haven't been attained. I know many people work well with goals, but I am not one of them. I try to take advantage of any opportunities that come my way and I am always on the lookout for something interesting, but past that life just seems to happen and I go with it. Without having had a list, I think I am in a pretty good place for not having set any goals to get here!

I recently came across my journal from college. I only wrote in it every few months but it was so fun to look back on what things were happening each year from parties to dates to summer plans (although not too much about school :) Even though I did get mono at one point from staying so busy, past that I am happy I took advantage of every opportunity that I came across. One of my favorite quotes is by H. Jackson Brown Jr. "Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you'll regret the things you didn't do more than the things you did." And I think because I have taken advantage of every opportunity, I don't worry about turning a year older. I really feel like I have fit in almost as much as I possibly could in 29 years so there is nothing left to regret.

I recently watched the movie Postcards from the Edge. I was touched by the scene where the mother (who was an older movie star played by Shirley MacLaine) says the following to her daughter (who was a young movie star struggling with drugs and men played by Meryl Streep)
"I think I'm sort of...jealous of you. And that is because, well... it being your turn and all. I think I find it tough to face...that mine is almost up. It's real important to enjoy your turn. And it would help me a lot if I knew...that one of us enjoyed our youth."

I had never thought about my 'turn' really ending, but after thinking about people I know at various stages of life I can see what the quote meant. In high school and especially in college my ride was going 90mph. I can already feel it slowing down as bit as I settle into being married and having a routine. Although I am still in the midst of my turn, it is a good reminder that life isn't always this busy and fun. One day my turn will slowly come to an end and it will be time for someone else to hop on. It makes me happy and content to know I enjoyed my turn then and I'm still enjoying it every single day so that when the ride does stop, I will have no regrets.

Tool Time

I recently wrote about how nice it is to live in an apartment and not have any home projects to do over the weekend. That is still very true, but the only problem is that when we do have a project to do, we have to improvise our equipment. Earlier this year I locked my bike in the hallway and then proceeded to loose the key. We borrowed a power tool from our friend to cut the wire, but he stressed we needed to wear protective eye gear and gloves. Since we didn't have either of those things, we came up with this instead...

Yep, Kyle is wearing my swimming goggles and his winter gloves. I was on the other side of the camera wearing my sunglasses as my protective eyewear and trying not to laugh too hard.

Georgia On My Mind

Titso with her favorite pal Joelle in Brussels.

Something I really like about living over here are all the people I meet from so many different countries. Sometimes I don't take an interest in the news because it is about another city in another place that I have no relation to. However, after living in Europe, oftentimes I now have a friend or acquaintance that I think of when a city is in the news and it makes it so much more personal. This week I am thinking of our friend Titso who we know from church. She is from Georgia (the country, not the state). Titso came to Brussels nine years ago to try and find a better life. She only speaks broken English so we are not sure of her whole story, but it seems like she has had a really hard life and yet she keeps going. She is willing to do any type of work and shies away from any handouts of charity. It broke my heart to think of her when I heard that war had broken out between Georgia and Russia. For months, Titso has been planning a trip back to Georgia for this Thursday. While there, she was going to get to see her granddaughter, whom she hasn't seen for the last nine years. Now, I am not sure if she will be able get home and it makes me so sad for her.

I had been a little homesick recently and hearing stories like Titso's always reminds me of just how appreciative I should be that we are to be able to afford the time and money it costs to make a trip home, no matter how short or long a time it is between visits.

Wonderful Wednesdays at Chatelain

My absolute favorite thing about living in Europe are all the outdoor markets. Any time I go to one, I know I will enjoy myself. The best part is that there is a wonderful market every Wednesday that is just one block from our apartment. It takes place from 2-7pm and is equal parts food market and "meet" market. There are several wine stands and young people fill the streets sipping on wine and eating their charcuterie and fromage (an assortment of meats and cheeses) until late into the night. Although I brought my camera with me this past Wednesday you really have to be there to experience the feeling in the air of carefree, young, summer fun.

I have been biting my tounge for the last few months as I read about how outraged people in the States are about the rising price of gas and food. I understand that most people don't want to hear someone who gets to live in and travel through Europe complaining about anything, but I just can't take it anymore.

Here are just a few comparisons of what things cost in the States compared to what they cost in Brussels. (I found the US prices on the web and then converted Brussels prices to dollars):

A gallon of gas in the US -- $4.00
A galon of gas in Brussels -- $9.21

Pound of chicken in the US -- $5.25
Pound of chicken in Brussels -- $8.23

Gallon of milk in the US -- $3.78
Gallon of milk in Brussels -- $5.94

The reason I have lost my tolerance with hearing people complain about the rising costs is because it is all about choices. Kyle is paid in US dollars. With the current exchange rate that means that for every dollar he gets paid, it is only worth .64 cents to us in euros and yet everything here is much more expensive. I am not allowed to work here so we are only living off his income.

And somehow not only are we able to still live comfortably, but we put money into our savings account every month, we have no debt and we are still able to take wonderful vacations. And it is all because of the choices we have made.

--We don't eat out often. (I don't think people recognize that even grabbing some fast food during the week adds up in the end).

--We only have one car and it is not the top of the line, fully loaded newest release. In fact, it doesn't even have air conditioning or electric windows.

--We take public transportation often.

--I cook dinner almost every night and Kyle brings leftovers to work for lunch several times a week.

--I have cut back on buying meat and try to cook more vegetarian (thus lower cost) meals.

--We are content with the clothes in our closet and rarely go shopping.

A combination of American media and culture have brainwashed us into thinking that it is embarassing to cut back and be frugal. We feel that we deserve everything and should never have to say no to any of our hearts desires. Instead we are constantly told that we should buy whatever we want whenever we want and not feel bad about it because "we deserve it." The fact is that we don't deserve anything. We are incredibly lucky to live in a country that offers the most freedoms in the world. There are ample opportunities for education and work. We have more free time than ever before. We are all so fortunate and instead all many people do is complain about their lives and blame the government for everything (while sitting in front of their big screen TV with their Suburban in the driveway). It is time everyone started counting their blessings instead of counting all the things they don't have. It is the choices one makes about things, more than the economy that dictates a life.