Ending a chapter in Belgium

It's been a while since my last blog. I know... Life has been very turbulent the last few weeks, but nothing we couldn't handle, but I admit it, we were at our limit... 

Here a short (I'll try) resume of the latest events:

1. Risky business - On November 25th we were euphoric when finding a renter for our house. It was very soon, but the couple seemed reliable and produced all relevant copies of income, payments of previous lease, ...  It took a while for the guarantee of the bank and the first month of rent to be paid, but we weren't suspicious yet. On the 27th of December an expert was in Zoersel in order to make an inventory of the premises. The expert was supposed to be paid in cash by both parties. Our renter didn't have any money on him but promised to bring the money later that afternoon but never did. The renter also hoped to posses the keys so he could move in that same weekend. He told us he had paid the first month rent and that it probably was because of the bank holidays that the money was not yet on our account. As for the bank guarantee, some kind of extra paperwork needed to be done. He did offer to pay all this in cash so he could receive the keys of the house. FORTUNATELY Wim reacted very appropriatly by saying he wanted the money by the means foreseen in the lease contract. No money ever appeared in our account. We never heard from the renters after that... As they never answered any calls, there was no option left but to contact an attorney to end the lease asap. By contacting the owner of the house they still occupied, I found out these people never paid rent and were convicted to leave their house before December 31st or they would be forced to leave. We even found out most documents they had produced were forged! At the moment we are still waiting for termination of the lease, but we hope this will be over soon so we can take another chance at finding a reliable renter.
2. Taking a Cat Scan - Suffering from severe aches of the stomach-area. I went to the doctor who put me on antibiotics and ordered a CT-scan asap. Conclusion of the radiologists: a swollen uterus and oh, by the way, we can't exclude cancer of the uterus or the bowels... GREAT! In the days/short weeks left I spent time visiting a bunch of specialists who wished to operate anyway just to be sure. Let's say I've had some maintenance done and I'm cleared for hitting the road at full speed again.
3. Cat AWOL - Meanwhile in Zoersel... Louis (our cat) went for a stroll and decided to not come back. He never went very far, so we thought maybe he entered someone's house/shed and got locked in. We called on all our neighbours but couldn't find him. After a week we still hoped for a happy ending, but started to worry . I thought maybe he might have gotten caught in an animal trap. Wim checked the woods in front of our house and found more than 20 (fortunately empty) traps... He immediately called the police. After they came and confronted the neighbour who put the traps there, Louis came running home uninjured. Very weird timing, it could only mean one thing: Louis was trapped by the neighbour who decided to keep him. In some countries one would consider this catnapping ;-).

Between all these activities, we still managed to organise small farewell parties/dinners, enjoy the holidays, sell both cars, prepare the house for the big move,... Days seemed hours. Nights were short. 

Looking at the children I sometimes wished I was as ignorant as them, enjoying the holidays and playing like no change was to come. But it was... but for the good!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!