Grimbergen Kersmis and Aalst Housewarming

Last Saturday was quite a busy day for us. Morning til lunchtime, we were at Aud's school for her very first spectacle. Then we went to the town of Grimbergen for another family activity: shopping  at the town centre and kiddie rides for our little A.

 To Grimbergen Centrum

she liked this a lot!

 

she told us she wanted to ride the pony....

she changed her mind. sigh...

A: "mom can i do the jump-jump thing instead?"

D : "can you do it na ba baby? if you think you can do it, ok..."

A: "yipee, i love you mommy!"

strapping up for safety

 

pose muna before the action!

 

click here to view my 1st bungy jump video clip

My friend Ate Shirley just recently purchased a house in Aalst and she was having a housewarming party that same day. So after the Kersmis (fair) and the 6pm Vigil Mass, we headed off to Aalst  para humabol.

 

This is Ate Shirl, our very first Filipina friend here in Belgium. 

She works at the Royal La Rasante in Woluwe, where we have membership (thanks to Dad's TME employee Benefit Card). We used to go there a lot because we used to live near the area. It would just take us 5 minutes to get there....te voet (on foot).. . Since Aud doesn't have to go to school then, I would just leave her at the RLR Creche (nursery)  for an hour or two while I go to the gym. We swim together after. Their kiddie pool is special for me & Aud because we met Agnes & Noemie there. We had countless swimdates after we found out both of our hubbies work at TME.

Going back to Ate Shirl... she really made our everyday trip to Rasante more interesting. Seeing her there everyday made me feel closer to home. Even if she's on duty, she never fails chumika (another term for talk/gossip). Its one of the things I really miss about Woluwe...having to go to RLR a lot and spending time with Ate Shirl. We seldom see each other now because our schedules don't match and we don't go to Rasante as often sa before. So when she called me up to inform me they were able to buy a house in Aalst (Flemmish province here in Be. with quite a large number of Filipino residents) and that she wants us to go to her housewarming party...i was tickled as punch.

As soon as I gave her our housewarming present, she led me to her bedroom  so we could talk  daw in private. Imagine my surprise when she handed me a gift. I  was stunned because you don't normally receive gifts when you go to housewarming parties. I asked her  why she gave me a gift , she said she wanted to thank us for inspiring her to invest on a property. She's been here for 25 years and she never thought of buying her own place. She said she was comfortable renting the same house for more than 14 years. When she found out we were moving to our own place after just a year of being here, she realized she could also be brave like us.  I remember encouraging her to  buy a house  kesa naman forever siya mag rent. I am really happy kahit papâno, we were able to inspire her. Ate Shirl,  you made the right decision & we're really proud of you! Thank you for the gift and for inviting us! We had a great time at your housewarming. :)