Last night, I went to the wedding reception of a coworker. He’s Dutch and she’s Brazilian so they had a very lively reception. Complete with three showgirls, an MC and a limbo contest. Picture if you will: a room full of tall Dutch people trying to do the Brazilian version of the electric slide crossed with the mambo. Oh, yes, I was taking part as well. I have strengths, coordination with dance moves are not one of them. But it didn’t stop me from blundering around the dance floor, trying to follow along and avoid the less coordinated people nearby. Yes, there were even less coordinated people than me.

All in all, it was a very nice evening. I am glad I went because as I have learned, if someone invites you to something in the Netherlands, they have thought about it and it should be taken seriously. It was in the tiny village of Echteld. I stayed overnight at the inn that has been there since 17 something. Fell asleep in a tiny room under the eaves with the windows open and woke up to rain pouring in. And after a nice breakfast, it was back to Amsterdam and off to work.

In sharp contrast to the lovely weather yesterday, it has been raining all day. Riding to my banjo lesson required raingear. I changed it to today because tomorrow is the funeral for Marianne’s father. I hope that tomorrow goes as well as it can for the family. At any rate, I will be there to lend all the support I can.

Tonight will be the Brazil-Germany match at 10pm. I will be watching it from the couch with the boys. Henry is not that into it but George really likes to watch the matches because he bets his allowance on matches. He’s hoping to win enough to go on an Agility Camp for small mixed breed dogs for two weeks – complete with all you can eat meal service and campfire songs.