cleverly disguised as a responsible adult

I ordered a bunch of swatches from Silk Baron. I want to see what the different oranges look like in Real Life. Then I can choose and get to work on September's Watchful Dress. This is a costume that I Need To Make. So much love for this book. So. Much. Love. I already have the chiffon overlay and the pocket watches, but I'll need to find beads, green silk rope, black ribbon rosettes, and a brooch. Yus.

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I need to get my measurements and put them into lekala's website. I can then order my patterns and figure out yardage. Werk officially confirmed that Cosplay During Conference of Doom is a GO. I need more costumes and I want one to be a formal Red Queen.

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I need to figure out what all alterations I need to make to a different pattern. I want a White Rabbit outfit.

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I'll be eligible for another two-week sabbatical next year. I plan to take my parents, husband, AND kids. I want to go to Costa Rica. I'm reading resort reviews and trip options. No plans yet, just dreaming.

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We'll be able to walk down to the local Farmer's Market tomorrow morning. The kids can play while parents shop. Then we can go to the library. I like this new Saturday routine.

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I have plans for pencil skirts and other new things. I ordered a denim jacket to pair with some of these skirts and tank tops. I will be trendy. This is worrying.

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I need to figure out a makeup routine. I have lovely shadows from Espionage Cosmetics. I need to figure out how to use them and not look like an eccentric clown. Not sure how to do that. Time to play!

Sept 17 - Get up, get kids ready for school. Start to panic about not seeing them again for 10 days.

Drive to Madison airport. Get there in PLENTY of time for flight. Downwood's foot is still hurting, so drop him and our bags off at the terminal before going to find parking in the economy lot.

Our flight from Madison to Chicago gets delayed and then delayed again. Apparently ALL of American Airlines' computers went down at once. Sheesh. We eventually got on a plane and got to Chicago, where we met up with Sis and Brother in Law. We then sat in Chicago and waited and waited.

Our flight from Chicago to London got delayed due to weather. First we couldn't board, then we ended up just sitting and sitting on the tarmac. Eventually we took off. I think I got a couple hours' sleep on the plane. Not sure. It wasn't restful sleep, in any case.

Sept 18 - Arrive in London. Our flight from Chicago was delayed enough and the terminals and security at Heathrow are far apart and slow. So we missed our flight to Brussels. The agents eventually got us on a new flight, so we got to hang out in Heathrow for four hours waiting for it. Ugh.

We eventually made it to Brussels. From the airport, we figured out how to get a train to the city. Luckily for all concerned, our hotel was across the street from the train station. 

We went out that night for an early-ish dinner, mostly to try to stay awake long enough to make it to a reasonable bed time to prevent too much jet lag. First, we ended up in a Spanish soccer bar and drank some beers. Then we went to a Greek restaurant where the staff spoke Greek and French but not much in the way of English. I, of course, couldn't remember please/thank you in Greek until 2 days later. Naturally. The food was amazing and we went back to the hotel to pass out.

Sept 19 - Our first "real" day abroad! We breakfasted at the hotel and were initially confused by some of the offerings. Sliced meats and cheeses and baked beans. There was good coffee and lots of other choices, so we were able to load up and head out for the day!

First item on agenda: Figure out subway system. This done, we hopped a couple trains into the center of town and proceeded to walk ALL OVER IT! We saw palaces and the grand plaza. It was Cultural Fest weekend, so we saw cultural things that were...odd. I'm sure it would make sense if I'd lived there my whole life, but...odd. We found chocolates and fancy sandwiches. We found more coffee. We found a street vendor with the best waffles in the history of the world. We also discovered just how much the people in Belgium love french fries and that the ketchup is really weird.

We walked and walked with very little in the way of sitting still. By the end of the day, Downwood was about to kill all of us, his foot was hurting so badly.

That evening, I'd booked a Belgian Beer Tasting Tour for the four of us. Our guide was Mick from Ireland. He knows a LOT about the history of beer in Belgium and can talk about all the kinds of beer and what to look for in really good beer. We ended up walking quite a bit between the pubs for the tour, but we had good beer and it was nice.

At the end of the tour, we were all buzzed and starving. On our way back to the subway, we found a food truck selling burgers. We immediately ordered cheeseburgers. They were the BEST cheeseburgers. They would have been the best anyone's EVER EATEN, but the cheese wasn't perfect. It was melty, but forgettable. Everything else about the burgers was wonderful. It was the perfect ending to the day.

Sept 20 - At breakfast, we discussed options for the day. We could go to Antwerp, Bruges, or Ghent. Or we could walk around Brussels some more. We eventually decided to continue exploring Brussels, since our beer guide had pointed out the one place in Brussels that serves Trappist Westvleteren - widely considered to be the Best Beer in the World. 

We wandered the streets of the lower city and eventually found the place. From the street, all you see is a door in a wall. Go through the door and you're in an alley. There's a fairly non-descript door in the alley. Go through the door and you're in a pub straight out of a D&D novel. It's all dark, polished wood and stained glass. I fully expected to see a hooded figure in the corner who would give us our Plot. It was super neat.

We ordered the beer and...yeah. Not quite a religious experience, but close. It's an INCREDIBLY complicated beer. Lots of layers of flavor, very interesting. Lots going on there. We're not wine people, so we don't have the full vocabulary to describe this beer. Let's just leave it at "This beer is very good. If you like beer and you get the chance, you should try it. It's interesting and complicated and good."

We continued wandering. There was chocolate, waffles, and lunch. In the afternoon, we decided we should have a goal. The goal? The natural history museum.

It was a trek to get there. It has no nearby train stations, so we had to walk and walk and walk and walk. It was hot, sunny, and up and down many hills. Downwood's foot was killing him by the time we made it to the museum. We went in and found DINOSAURS! They have many dinosaur skeletons, including a flock/murder/congress/something of EIGHT full-grown iguanodons. Super cool. I squee'd. We went through a couple of their other exhibits before heading out.

I asked the ladies at the front desk of the museum how to easily get to a metro station. It turned out that our map didn't show a short cut tunnel under one of the big government buildings, so it was MUCH easier to get to the station than we'd thought.

Back at the hotel, Downwood collapsed and I watched some Belgian TV. It was interesting, though I don't really know what was going on. Game shows are weird when you understand neither the rules nor the language.

For dinner, Sis, BiL, and I went out in search of take-away. Downwood still couldn't walk. We checked out some kebab places and a deli-ish place, but settled on BFC - Brussels Fried Chicken. It was cheap, plentiful, and really tasty. The cole slaw was very weird and the fries were excellent. We grabbed a couple cans of Jupilier - what seems to be the Belgian equivalent of Coors: generic but still way better than generic beer in USA - and some sodas. One of the sodas was Mojito 7up. It was mostly terrible, though Downwood drank it. 

All in all, much exploring, much walking, and a pretty good day.

Sept 21 - We took the train back to the airport and flew from Brussels to Copenhagen and then to Munich. More about this day in the next post.

My therapist wants me to talk to people. Specifically, he told me to call a friend and go to lunch or tea or coffee or whatever. Just get out of my normal routine. He also told me to do some other things, mostly to help with the feeling of being lonely, even when I'm surrounded by people. Time to end the isolation, apparently, but still maintain the balance of quiet and alone time that I need. Not sure how this is going to work, but it's a thing.

I made polenta for dinner Saturday night. Emi thought it was the best thing EVER. Ox was not too sure about it. It's new and different, so he's skittish. He did try a bite, though, so that's progress. He also chowed down on the fish I cooked, so that was gratifying.

I felt like a terrible mom at the end of this weekend. If I wasn't doing chores, I was playing a video game. I played and snuggled with the kids some, but I was very, very selfish with my time. This sucks.

My new Surface can Remote Desktop to my work computer like a champ. The resolution on the screen is such that I can see my entire work desktop on my tablet screen. This means that everything is TEENYTINY. I got work done, and I'll be using this to travel instead of my enormous laptop, but still. I either need to change the resolution or get used to eyestrain. Also, the absence of certain keys (insert, print screen) is a novel experience. Not sure I approve.

In order to make werk seem not so bad today, I requested a bunch of vacation days. The Monday after the UW workshop, for example. The kids' birthdays. My birthday. Downwood's birthday. A long weekend around July 4. Things like that. I'll still have enough vacation to spend around xmas and if I need a long weekend another point in the year, but this will help give me things to look forward to.

Haven't made final decisions on Germany/Belgium yet. Need to do that.

Even though we're planning this big trip in September, I'm considering taking a minitrip with the kids in August. I think we could drive down to Chicago, go to the aquarium, get a hotel with a pool, spend the night, go to the Field Museum in the morning, and then come home in the afternoon. We could do it on the Monday-Tuesday of their birthdays for added specialness. Chicago hotels are expensive, as is food, parking, and admission, but it would be a nice family thing...and then we'd abandon them for a week and a half while we go play and drink beer.

Okay. To work with me. I have a quick bit of code to write and troubleshoot, a giant project that's now overdue, but more awesome than before, and the usual pile of miscellaneous panic. Yey. Time for tea and work.