My sister-in-law and son, this past Sunday, built a killer snowman. As I watched from the warmth of the living room, through the large plate-glass sliding doors, I couldn’t help but be amazed at the quality of snow falling from the Belgian sky. Don’t be mad at me though. I fell off my bike last week and was nursing a bum knee (a likely story).

I honestly thought that my snowman-building days (or at least watching others build snowmen) were over once I moved to Belgium last winter. I honestly thought that good quality snow for snowman-making was something we could only look forward to on our winter trips back to the US.

Pleasantly surprised is an understatement. I grew up playing in the snow — red fingers, icy feet, runny nose — so to see my son (who is 3) out there braving the wilds of nature to roll some frozen water around the yard was great.

Kudos to his aunt who did all the real work. She was the muscle behind it all. But I must say it took quite a bit of coaxing for her to create a 3-balled snowman; she was happy to make a short, fat two-baller. In the end, Mr. Dingledobe (ok, I just made up that name now) had 3 parts, a carrot nose, walnut eyes and buttons, and two sticks for arms.

I’ll post pictures as soon as they become available!

I just learned today that practically right across the street from where I work (in the Troon area in Brussels) is the US Embassy building (which is in the Kunst-Wet area). I had been wondering where this was in relation to my building. I need to go to the US Embassy some day soon for my daughter’s paperwork.

It’s a lot of fun getting to know the lay of the land. I feel pretty good about the Central Station / Troon / and Kunst-Wet triangle now. I’m also a trained professional at buying cheese pizzas from the Pizza Hut around the corner.

And, to top it off, today is absolutely beautiful out. I’ve learned to really appreciate the nice days here!