A quiet Sunday night

Greetings from The Hague. Not much going on here in The Hague. I will be in Milan in two weeks and I am very excited. Usually I plan and research and prepare for every trip I take (those that have traveled with me understand......)but I have hardly done any preparation for this trip. I have my tickets, a hotel room, two passports and a couple of guide books, what else does one need? I did try to get tickets to the Opera but did not have any luck. I am trying to get a reservation for the Last Supper (not my Last Supper of course but the famous painting). You can make a reservation to see it for 15 minutes, after you have been sprayed down for any chemicals you may have on you-I think it sounds very interesting and very blog worthy. Work continues to be busy and interesting-before my next move I am going to research employment law and that will play a large part in my preference list. Who cares if it is a third world country and I won't have internet-I want to know if my new post has unlimited sick leave! I am still in awe of a country that allows employees to have unlimited sick leave, AND if an employee is sick they are paid for TWO years (granted the second year is only 70%). AND as you get older you accrue additional annual leave. When you are 65 an employee earns 32 days of annual leave a year on top of the 22 days of holidays we have. But enough about that.....I have a new "it's not possible story". I joined the gym down the street from my apartment. I went in the first day to look around and see what it is all about and decided I wanted to join for 1 year, after all it is cheaper and we all know about the dollar vs. the euro. I soon found it "it is not possible" to join for an entire year until you have been with the gym for a year paying a monthly fee. I just don't say anything any more, I just file the newest "iinp" (it is not possible abbreviation for future blogs) away, smile and nod and remind myself I am living in Europe! I have been entertaining alot and will be hosting an Embassy wide Wine and Cheese party on October 17th, I had my very fun dress rehersal W&C (wine and cheese abbreviation for future blogs....) but I have found that entertaining in a foreign country is like preparing for a party with one hand tied behind your back and a blind fold on. The simplest things that you take for granted are nowhere to be found-for example tooth picks-who knew that Dutch people don't believe in tooth picks? I was making brownies only to find it was not possible to fit my 9X12 inch pan into my oven! What can you do but laugh and serve brownie batter for dessert and tell people it is an Oklahoma thing? Well I am off to bed-I am still trying to recover from staying up until 4:00am to listen to OSU demolish Troy, then get up at 8:30 to go to a 3 hour brunch, come home to prepare for a group of 6 to come over and have dinner and watch football (do you know I am becoming quite adept at planning meals that don't require tooth picks OR my oven).