Irish update

Looking at all my blogs, there's a lot of negativity. So I'm going to try and stay positive in this post. Don't hate me when it's a short one!

We're getting ready to celebrate our third Christmas in this wonderful land of leprechauns and rainbows. And what a good one it will be! I can't wait to see the look on our girls' faces when they see all the items they had on their wish lists. I did really good this year by buying them a little something every month, instead of creating debts in December. Even the 'balls to my chain' will get a present I think he'll really appreciate. If he doesn't, that'll just be the last time I try! *cough*

Anyway, how have we been doing so far you ask? GREAT! I'm still a full time mom, filling my time with taking care of the house and the kids. I'm not always doing a great job, but I'm doing it none the less. Dirk is doing great at his job, with multiple opportunities coming his way. He's already had more chances than he's ever had in Belgium. He probably has no idea of how proud I am of him. I'll always be eternally grateful we had the opportunity to come here because of him.

The girls have been doing amazing in school too! So well, that some of the teachers thought they were born here. Everybody seems to love them and I honestly can't blame them. But I'm not really objective. We still love the house we live in and how this whole renting business is dealt with. Need your chimney cleaned, the landlord will take care of it. The gate flew off because of the storm, the landlord will take care of it... Everything is so much better than in Belgium.
We're still not the richest but we manage a whole lot better than we ever did before!

Once Arwen is older and capable of taking care of her sister, more than she already does, there's a very good chance I will go back to work. What I will end up doing is still a big mystery. Ideally I'll end up in some B&B or hotel, or maybe do something more with photography. But I might be wishful thinking on that last one. There's still some time for me to figure it all out.

Over the summer we had my in-laws come to visit for two weeks and it was so good to see them. They've become a better family than my own and I'm eternally grateful for them. The girls were very happy to see them as well and they seemed genuinely happy to see us too. And not just the girls, which was extremely refreshing to me. Thanks to them and their rental car we were able to see a tiny bit more of Ireland.
There's still a whole lot on my Irish to-see list though, Connemara being my nr 1. Maybe we'll rent a car ourselves and take a little family trip.

We plan on going back to Belgium somewhere next year, but time will tell when that is. Can't put any details here as I don't want certain people to know. It will only be for a few days but I'm sure the girls will love to see some relatives again. And who knows, we might reunite with lost family.
What I'm most looking forward too is a visit from my dad. Finally we'll be able to meet up without the burden of feeling guilty toward my siblings or trying to include them, or fear we might run into them. They made it very clear they want nothing to do with us and now we're finally free. No matter how I look at things, we've got some good things ahead of us and I can't wait!
I will do my very best to keep you posted of all things, good and bad.

Féach leat an chéad uair eile! (which should mean: see you next time)