First One in the Books

I know I promised you pictures and I swear I've taken some with my phone. The problem is that apparently my iCloud is not sharing photos like a good iCloud is supposed to. So you will have to wait until I get home. Sorry. 

Okay okay...I know I have been remiss about blogging. What can I say? I was out having fun!  

I still can't add pictures here so I will do that back in the states. I am currently sitting in the Dublin airport and really want to just get home. I don't typically say that at the end of an international trip but I have felt like complete garbage for three days and really just want to sleep. Aside from that, the trip was great fun. 

Race day was picture perfect for running. Weather was in the low 60s, not too windy and generally ideal racing weather. The course, however, was brutal!!  I never knew how hilly Brussels really is. Good heavens. There were moments I honestly thought about giving up. But I didn't. My brother ran with me the whole race which was cool. And, in typical runner fashion, there were runners in costumes and other crazy attire. A couple guys dressed as a lady bug and bumblebee. One guy in one of those body suits that also covers the face (it was pink), a guy running with his two dogs (which we determined was kind of cheating because they could pull him along) and other such craziness. And if you haven't seen the Facebook post, we were on the Brussels TV. After we crossed the finish line, I thought my brother was right behind me going through the line to get water and food. Apparently, though, he got stopped by the camera guy who saw his shirt and wanted to know about it. So Rob came to get me and we got interviewed. They obviously cut out a lot of the interview like explaining what the shirt was about. I guess MasterCard doesn't air the same commercials in Belgium as they do the US because he had no idea what it was about. 

Anyway, then we went to Ghent and Bruges each for two days. Very different cities but each cool in some way. Ghent is very medieval and definitely a younger crowd (they have a large university there). Bruges was absolutely gorgeous as we had been told it was. And we actually had the best waffle of the whole trip in Bruges. It was right off the iron and was amazing!!!  

....(a few minutes later)

Well, you are in Iuck!! I just checked my ipad photos are there are some on here!!!  

The starting line before the race...

The front of our shirts...

We were at the very back of the pack which was fine with me!  

Dude with his dogs 

Yeah, the finish was still 1/2 of a mile away at least!!! 

Post race STELLA!!!!!

Post race waffle!

Gravensteen Castle in Ghent

That's all that apparently transferred so you have to wait until I'm back in the US of A!!

Waffles, Waffles Everywhere

I bought a new camera the other day because mine died. It's supposed to have wi-fi so I can email myself pictures or post them on Facebook. However, I haven't had time to figure that out. And of course, that's where all my pictures from today are. So that's to helpful at all. Needless to say, you won't be seeing pictures on here for a while. 

There is this wonderful thing here in Belgium called the Belgian waffle. Have you heard of it? You may think  you have and you may even think you have eaten one. But, oh how wrong you would be. I may never have a US waffle again. Not only are there waffles sweeter here, they put delectable toppings on them. This morning I had a waffle with fresh strawberries and melted white chocolate. It was divine!!  Then for dessert tonight, I had a waffle with chocolate chip ice cream and melted milk chocolate. Exquisite!!  I think I gained 20 pounds today. 

Tomorrow is the chocolate tour day. 3 hours of chocolate shops and 45 minutes of learning how to make chocolate. Color me thrilled!!  

I will try to take some photos with my phone so I can post them here. 

Nighty night.  

Leaving On A Jet Plane

Oh wait...I'm already on the jet plane!  I'm not sure if the wi-fi will last long enough for me to publish this before we land but I am going to try. 

We finally made it to the day of the trip. Clearly, since I'm blogging on the plane. 

Hmmm...maybe I shouldn't have had that rum and diet less than an hour after taking two pain pills. My legs feel heavy. 

So the beautiful thing about purchasing our airline tickets last March is that we got to pick our seats before most and we ended up in the exit row on this flight. Not only is it an exit row it it's the exit row in the middle of the plane so it's like the bulkhead area as well. We have so much room it's wonderful. I was the ever giving sister and offered to sit next to the window because there was not as much leg room because of the exit door. So my dear brother thought he was getting the better ended that deal. Until he realized I could put my feet up on the door and really stretch out. But again, I am an amazing sister and switches places halfway through the flight. I'm so thoughtful! 

My legs really do feel heavy. Hmmmmm....

So I got an email late yesterday afternoon at work. One of the jobs I applied for a few weeks so decided they wanted to interview me. But they were doing interviews this week. I replied that I appreciated the opportunity but could I do it when I return to the states. Then I talked to one of my mentors and she suggested I offer to do it from Belgium because it would make me look more dedicated. So I offered thinking they wouldn't bother me with that on vacation. Yep. I was wrong. So at 9pm Belgian time tomorrow/today, I have to do an interview. And of course all my notes are in Iron Mountain. This should be interesting. After my interview though, I will be enjoying a large quantity of Stella. 

Well, I think that's enough for now. I may try again to sleep. I haven't been successful thus far but maybe now I can. 

Au revoir.