YEEHA!

Exam is turned in, I'm fried (physically and mentally), tired and on to the next foik in the road. LOL

Last week I was at my sisters, and very unexpectedly received a crash-course in PHP. My biggest nemesis in getting my exam turned in. I just couldn't get my head around what was in the book vs what was expected in the exam, but by the end of the night, I more or less "got it" enough to put the required form together. After that, I had to put everything together into a cohesive assignment, check, double check and for my own peace of mind check it again, and make sure I didn't miss some little thing that would turn around and bite me, and I was ready to mail it out 2 hours before deadline. Not that I'm slow or nothing, but the site where I had to upload the packet had some issues and it took about 3 hours to get it there, where after I freaked out with the "what if!?" thought, and send it straight to the school office, with an explanation that I really didn't trust the first try.  It really gets me, the week that all exams are due, they completely revamp the website! Nothing works the same, if it works at all, and there you are, sweating that you get your things to where they have to go, so you can graduate.......  Go figure!

Sunday, as promised we went to Bokrijk. WE HAD A BLAST, got blisters, sunburn and were in bed by 8, but it was so much fun! The old breeds was kind of a bust, because the one stand that had information didn't want to give any, after they found out that a) I was from Holland, and thus for some odd reason wouldn't be interested in preserving old breeds from Belgium and b) referring back to a, I wanted information on Dutch breeds, and they didn't have any. I couldn't get across that I was interested in any old breed, because the older the breed, the better for our castle, whether it was Dutch or Belgian, because, let's face it, in 1650 both were Spanish. LOL. Supposedly, there were several groups of the old breeds in the park, but they weren't marked as such, and I found out almost at the end of the day, that all the animals in the park are actually old breeds.... I found a book, I wouldn't mind getting into the store at the castle, so I took a picture of it.  There were a couple of things that made this day absolutely perfect.............
- I had my buddy all to myself.... No TV, no computer, not even a phone, because that's on my sisters' dinnertable, right where I left it!
- We were in our favorite place, outside and amongst other old things.
- We talked, like we haven't talked to each other since I started my study, and just enjoyed each others' company.
- The weather was nice, although it seemed a lot hotter than the 82 that was predicted, but there was a little bit of overcast, so we didn't get the full sunblast. (Obviously not enough so we didn't get a sunburn, but we just put a little extra cream on our faces, neck and head and we're good to go)

Today, I just caught up on all the emails I just glanced at over the last couple of weeks, generally got my barings and vegged. Laptop on knee, kitty close by, tea within reach... pretty much a pretty relaxing day :-)

Tomorrow I will organize my pictures, and notes and such and try and find the Dutch Group that preserves old breeds, finish my schedule of more studying, setting up my business, networking, marketing etc, as well as chores around the house., and the promised research for the castle.  I'm going to try and study less than the 50 hours a week I have been studying, so I have time for my best friend, the fuzzy roommate and family and friends and still have a couple of hours to sleep at night....This requires careful planning, and sticking to it. We DID decide that we want to take a couple of days and do fun stuff. One day to the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam to see the Nightwatch, and if we have time, the 17th century 3master ship that's anchored in the harbor, one day to The Hague, to see the architecture, and eat a maatjes haring on the pier (mike, not me... YUCK!), one day to the Roman ship in Utrecht and the old fort that is rebuilt there, and if I can slip it in there, one day to a zoo we haven't been to yet :-)  We got word that the castle will be closed for winter this year, so I may actually get the house decorated for the holidays, and some scrapping done thru november/december..... Although I WILL miss going to the castle and hanging out!

Thursday I will start the day with going to Maastricht at 7AM for a meet and greet/networking event, and after that, I will have to break down, and go pick up my phone. LOL, followed by a tourguide meeting at the castle at 7.30PM. No plans for Friday or Saturday yet, and Sunday is marked in my dayrunner as "First day of the new ME!"

Well, I think you know just about everything that's been keeping my mind in frenzy... I will try and keep you posted on the proceedings a little more regularly, but for now, I'm going to say... Goodnight, and don't forget to hug that loved one! :-)

Hugs,
Pauli