Feel good video of the year

I saw this on Topher's blog last week and kept going back to see it because it cheered me up and my boys love the music. So I decided to share it here too. If you pay attention, you might even see the Atomium. I hope it makes your heart sing.



Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Voorgoed uit ons midden, voor altijd in ons hart

We said our goodbyes to Johan on Saturday. It was a day filled with deep sorrow and many, many tears but we were so grateful afterwards to have been able to share it with his family, friends, fellow students, and the numerous people whose lives had been touched in some way by Johan. He will be missed by so many, yet he will live on in our hearts.

My wise friend Joy said to me: "It's so strange how death is an inevitable part of life, yet we never get used to it....We have to endure this to carry the candle in our hearts, I firmly believe."

Be still an instant and go home with Him, and be at peace a while.
Course in Miracles, p. 341

Farewell to a dear friend

Johan, we are going to miss you enormously. Your humor and good cheer, your passion for music and your talent for awakening the same in your students, and your friendship.

It was a privilege to have known you and we wish your family the strength to bear this unfathomable loss.

We will never forget you.

Fresh start

It may sound weird but I love Mondays, they always feel like a fresh start to me. Everyone is off to school, work, and we are back in our routines. Well, for one more week, at least, sort of. This is the last week of school, so next Monday will be a completely new kind of routine (and then only eleven days til Jenny and her family come to visit - woo hoo!!!).

Today my oldest is home as his exams are all finished so he pretty much has the whole week off, except for some activities, bringing his books in, and picking up his report card on Friday. So we are heading off to do some summer shopping for him and having lunch out together - at Greenway perhaps, a favorite of ours!

Our youngest had his big 9th birthday celebration this weekend - on Friday we took him out to dinner and he chose Thai House...on Saturday four of his friends came for a party...and on Sunday afternoon all the in-laws were here for the afternoon. Luckily it was nice weather and everyone could enjoy sitting outside.

So you will understand why it took me so long to blog! We did get our long run in yesterday, we did 6 loops around the lake (8.4 km) in 53 minutes, it was very humid out - we kept saying this is what it's going to be like for the Hottest Race, only twice as hot! But the sweat was dripping into my eyes - I really need to start wearing that headband again!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Perfect running weather

Yesterday was perfect running weather. Sunny, but crisply cool with a very slight breeze at 8:30 am. I walked the boys to school and took off from there for 45 minutes with some hills. My runs seem to take me further and further afield these days! I ended up doing 6.6 km, enjoying the green, the flowers and shrubs and trees, the horses in the field - it felt really good!

For those of you who are struggling with the heat, Kristen Armstrong's most recent blog is full of her take on running in hot, hot, hot Austin TX right now:
http://milemarkers.runnersworld.com/2008/06/some-like-it-ho.html

Wherever you are, enjoy your day!

Mom, throw down some money, the ice cream man is coming!!!

Who remembers the Eddie Murphy routine about the ice cream man??? No seriously, there was mild panic in the house yesterday evening when the clanking bell of the ice cream man was heard down the street! Luckily our neighbor Kristel had flagged him down a few weeks ago and begged him to slow down (he used to fly through our street) two nights a week. What a treat for the boys! (Want a lick? Psych!)

Unfortunately it's just not really ice cream weather yet here...the temperature is still quite chilly and yesterday it was supposed to rain. So I decided to do my long run at the gym. It still amazes me how busy it gets there around 10 on a Sunday morning...of course I was there by 9:15, I am so paranoid about not getting a treadmill (there are only 8 of them).

Normally I had to do 7 loops around the lake, which means 9.8 km, so I decided to do a nice even 10 on the treadmill. I started out by doing 2.5 in 18 minutes, taking a potty break (that is the wondeful thing about being at the gym!), and then comitting to the remaining 7.5, which ended up taking me 53 minutes. Whew. It is a long stretch on a machine, I have to admit. But I was pleased when I was finished and headed home, in spite of the fact that it was gorgeously sunny and I actually could have done the run outside. Oh well.

Short Update

Just a quick "week in review" as we are now in June which means:

• full swing exam week for our oldest
• last month of school, i.e. school outings, presentations, etc. for the two younger ones
• the dire need to plan outings with my friends that we've been putting off for months and must do before school is out!

Aisling and I got together on Monday and ended up taking a wonderful hike through the Meerdael woods, from one natural spring (Zoet Waterbron) to another (Meerdaelbron). It was perfect weather, all hot and sunny (we were cool in the shady forest) and it took us 1 hour and 45 minutes. I mapped it later on Map My Run and it was about 7 km. Not too bad considering we were babbling away the whole time!

Linda and I had planned a "professional" outing to Brussels on Tuesday to a very posh herborist shop on Place St. Catherine. It's a gorgeous shop, and in the back they have a room where all the walls are full of those little wooden pull out drawers, with every dried herb imaginable. We also hit the huge Asian grocery store which is right in the neighborhood, spent a good long while looking at all the specialities, and came out with heavy bags! We're planning to do some experimenting over the summer for our fall workshops.

Today, it was pouring down rain, so I headed off to the gym for a run. I did 5 km in 35 minutes, and then I had to rush off to make sure I would be in time to pick up my oldest from his first exam, Latin, and take him home for lunch and more studying. With our odd schedules the next ten days I am going to have to be very vigilant about getting my runs in!