Hello my sweet dear friends,

Chocolate. I need chocolate, a lot of it! White chocolate is my favorite, but dark will do.

Talk to me, call me, text me ... I need conversation! And I need it right now!

I cannot fall asleep now, that is the rule. 
I have to stay awake till a 'normal' bedtime hour.

What is normal? Seriously, can anyone tell me?
Not yet? When??

Is there a doctor out there? 
I really would like to have a solution for this, a potion , a pill, anything to get rid of it.
It is turning me into a total dysfunctional person, a zombie, a blood shed wide eyed creep that looks at you without seeing you , and that has absolutely nothing remotely sane to say because her mind is totally empty. 

You see, Jetlag and me , we do not get along so well, we are somehow even on non speaking terms. 

I am generally not thrilled at waking up at 3am to feel ... well, so awake! 
Oh and of course Ms Lollipop and I usually enjoy this early morning feeling awake thrill together. 
Ah yes, the joy of sharing jetlags with your child.
By the time you have convinced you own body it is really still in the middle of the night, please go back to sleep,
the child will pop in the room with alert eyes and a "let's start our day" mood.


"I am hungry ... "

sigh...

By the time the rest of the town wakes up , you already have lived it, twice.
At breakfast you feel like you want to eat a bowl of soup for lunch.
At lunch you want to have a glass of wine and a steak, for dinner.
And at dinner you have to pinch yourself and slap your child to avoid from falling face down smack into your plate.

or was it the other way round?

sigh ...

What time is it?

Can I go to bed now ... please?

No more calling now, no more texting, I can close my dry red eyes and I will be back tomorrow!

That's a promise!

good night
Evelyn

Hi all,

Thank you all for the positive feedback and encouragements to build this blog. I thrive on positive feedbacks and encouragements! 
I specifically love positive attention from my friends, and that is because I love my friends! 

I love you all!! 

We are flying home tonight. We, as in Ms Lollipop and me.

Ms Lollipop has 2 weeks off, Easter holiday's.

We, as in Mr Guzzi, Ms Lollipop and me, had planned to go to Beijing for the Easter holidays.
We were going to visit our dear Moscow friends who have moved there last year.
In Moscow, we were friends and neighbors, for 4 years!
I miss them...
I was looking forward to that trip. I was counting the days. 

The tenants of our house in Belgium decided otherwise. 
They are moving out.
I knew it the moment I opened the email, or even before, when I saw the subject. 
They were moving out, and that house needs a refurbishment, before new tenants can come in.
We were not going to go to Beijing.


We were flying "home".

I wrote a piece about 'home' in one of my newsletters 11 years ago. 
Mr-guzzi and me just moved to Casablanca. Our first assignment, the start of our adventure. 

I want to share with you what I wrote 11 years ago:
"Home" is difficult to explain. The word "home" has so many different meanings as there are people walking this planet. Every person has a different interpretation, every person has different feelings when you talk about home. "Home" is full of emotions you can not capture, it is heavy with endless encounters and  intense memories .

To us "Home" just got a bit more complicated. We talk about our home here in Casa. Our dog Osker is part of this home. The sun that shines for free forever. Our new found English and French friends. The Makro store only 10 minutes from our house. The Moroccons and the Islam we learn to love and discover. We enjoy our new home with all our senses. We enjoy each other and the sun, we enjoy this exotic land.

Of course, Home can also mean 'home' with my mum and dad, my brother and their dog Jasper. The local pub with delicious fresh draft Jupiler beers in huge 33cl glasses. The ever growing mushrooms that bring the ever hard work. The succulent tomatoes-à-la-mama , the divine wines from papa's cellar, my old room -still my room, but also not really any more.

We have a "Home" at Mr-Guzzi's family. His mum and dad and 3 sisters. The big green garden full of berries, fruits and small animals. The pool that can never decide wether it wants to be bleu or green. The sunday evenings at the big dining table. The sisters in law, quarreling and giggling.

Our new Home in our old town. The house we just bought there before moving. The new kitchen we installed, the smell of the freshly painted walls. The memories of living between rubble and dust when refurbishing ourselves. 

It is sometimes hard to know what you mean when you talk about "going home".

After 11 years , I can tell you this: It is all still the same!
What a relief!

It is a huge comfort to know that our lives might ever change and evolve around us, our 'home' will ever stay the same. No matter where we go, or how long.

I guess this is why Ms-Lollipop enjoys going 'home' so much to a place and a country she never ever lived in. 
She can stay away as long as she wants, everything and everyone she loves will still be there when she returns. 
They will be waiting for her to give her a big hug and a big cuddle and all the attention she can bear, for we are only there temporarily. She will be drowned in a pool of warmth and love and every bit of her flesh and bones will soak it up till she cannot breath anymore!

It will of course not stay this way forever. People grow up and change their lives. Grandpa's and grandma's move to smaller homes, cousins grow up and live on their own. It's the cycle of life and at some point we all move up a beat. Luckily it is a very slow cycle and for now all is still the same, safe, predictable world we left so long ago. 

We will enjoy every minute of it!

What about you, what does "home" mean for you?

Xxx
Evelyn

When it comes to introducing myself I usually face a huge writer's block.
I get nervous.

The facts are: My name is Evelyn, a name chosen by my sweet parents because my mum used to babysit a little french girl named "Evelyne". 
Apparently the girl was a bit of a difficult one to babysit, so when I was born she dropped the "e" at the end.
I am not sure if that made me an easier child.

I like my name.

I am married for 15 yrs. Yes, to the same man. 
I have a 9yr old daughter and a rescued streetdog called "Jazz".

 "We" are an expat family. 

We have lived in Casablanca, Paris, Bucharest and Moscow. 

Currently we live in Singapore. I love it. It's by far the easiest place I ever have been located to. 

I am not sure how this website/blog will evolve.
I used to write a newsletter in Dutch, as that is my mother tongue, just to keep family and friends in Belgium (that's where I come from) informed about our adventures abroad. It was superb reading for the private room, so I heard.

This blog has the same intent, except maybe for the private room part. Well, unless you have wifi ... sorry, I am drifting.
You will notice I drift ... a lot!
This blog is to write about my daily adventures, my tips and trics, our wonders and achievements.
Please visit me once in a while, and leave a trail, a message, a comment, so I know somebody is reading this stuff.
I like my writings to be read, and I like to have feedback, especially if it is a positive feedback. 

Enough introduction, real blog can start! 
I am ready... will you follow me?

A new adventure can only start with one thing: Champagne!
I love champagne.

Cheers
Evelyn