Dog-Sitting

Kevin Zaugg (the Sr. Manager from Iowa that has been a huge help for me trying to adjust to Holland life) and family had an emergency with a family member a couple weeks ago and had to fly home to the US. He asked me to stay with the dog until he got home so they didn't have to 'kennel' her. I stayed at their gorgeous house in a town near Den Haag and used his car (actually I had two to choose from) to go to work and back...and wherever I wanted, really.

She slept with me at night--well not too close to me, I have a thing about dog hair. I think I'm afraid I will inhale enough throughout the night that I will wake up with a hairball. Yikes...

The Dutch are always out walking their dogs,....mostly because they have really small backyards (they call them gardens) or don't have one at all...so they walk them to go to the bathroom and bring baggies for their presents along the way. I figured that I would play the role of a dutch person and take Blu for a walk. She was sooooo excited! I barely got her to sit still long enough to get the collar and leash on her. No, I didn't play the role of the Dog Whisperer, because she's so good otherwise, that it wasn't a problem that she was pulling me as hard as she could down the sidewalks. Her little butt was swaying back and forth trying to get me to speed up....it was quite cute.

We walked each day after I got home from work,...so when I walked in the door, she practically trampled me with anticipation. Kevin has been continuing this ritual--he says.

I will be watching her again one night next week while Kevin goes to the UK for business. His wife and kids are still in the US with family. They will return in two weeks.

Blu is a weimaraner. Here are pictures of her:

Back in Holland!

Well, here I am....awake and ready for work this Monday morning. The funny thing is that it's way too early for me to leave the apartment yet. Through my poor judgement and lack of care yesterday, I decided to take a nap when I got home from the airport. My nap turned into a 10-hour siesta and I woke up at midnight wide-awake. I managed to toss and turn for a few hours and then finally got up and showered at 3am this morning. It's now 5:15am and I've killed some time talking to Mom and Kyle online.

I've failed to update the blog for all that went on while I was home in Missouri, so here it all is:

My trip back to the US on Monday, December 11th went smoothly--no delayed flights and no missing luggage. My father and sister were there to greet me (mom was at a meeting at work I believe) and I must say that it was nice to be home.

I flew out to see Kyle on Friday, Dec. 15th and stayed with him until the following Tuesday. We took a trip out to Tahoe one night and it was absolutely beautful there. We brought gear to go skiing the following day, but decided against it late that night. Gambling went horribly! Kyle introduced me to the game of Craps and I think that we managed to go through $40 each in a matter of minutes. I don't believe that anyone at the table won...and I've been scarred every since. (I've seen Kyle win many times on different occasions, but this night was horrible!) Here are some pics of the scenery on the way back down the mountain:

After leaving Kyle on Tuesday, I headed to Vegas for Mac's 21st Birthday. I met my parents and Mac at the MGM Grand--they were already gambling, of course. :) We ended up playing a lot of Video Poker and Video Blackjack...with a few stops at the slot machines. It was a great short family vacation!!! Here is a slideshow of pictures from the three days in Las Vegas:

After Vegas, we hurried home to finish up everything for Christmas--shopping, decorating, cleaning, and cooking.

We went to Grandma Gross's on Christmas Eve for dinner and opened up gifts. We all went to the late-night service at our church in Buckner that evening.

The next morning, we had the Edwards side of the family over for an Old English breakfast--toast, soft-boiled eggs, fried tomatoes, and mushrooms in a creme sauce. It's all just piled on top of one another and it's very delicious! There were two little ones with us, which made things a lot more entertaining.

A few days after Christmas, I headed to Sacramento to see Kyle, again. : ) Kyle, Jake, and I went to Sierra at Tahoe ski resort on New Year's Eve. It was a great time and we got some video thanks to Jake holding the camera while going down the slopes. I'll have to work on getting the video on here soon. It's funny and my coat is ridiculously loud! After skiing all day, we went to Reno and watched the fireworks, gambled, and drank a little. There's also some video of this night (but no still pictures) so I'll work on getting it on here, too.

After leaving Kyle, I spent a couple more days at home and then I was off to Holland again. To my surprise, I was given an upgrade to Business Class on my flight over. The seat reclined almost all the way back and there was a footrest that came up. The meals were great, too! It's a whole different world than the one I'm used to...that's for sure.

When I got to my apartment, I was so exhausted that I unpacked and then layed down to take a nap. My short nap turned into a rather long siesta and at midnight, I woke up fully rested and ready for work. I managed to stay in bed for a few more hours and then gave-in and took a shower and got ready for work. I really screwed up here! Geez! Oh well, my body will figure it all out soon enough. : )

I already miss home and everyone there--the rain is killing me here!!!!! haha... It will get better, I know......I'm planning a trip to London right now, so that will give me something to look forward to. Whoohoo!

Check back later for more pictues on this blog! I'm not finished with it!