Saturday, 26-January-2008 - Erp - Got an e-mail from Maria at 1330 inviting us to go skating outdoors. We'd meet at Mieke's in Erp http://vanerpparket.nl/index2.phpat 1600. There were seven of us: Coby, Bep, Tonnie, Ine, Maria, Mieke, and me. We skated for about an hour. It was dark when we got back. It was great to be outdoors on skates again.
Thursday, 24-January-2008 - Veghel - Annemiek Steenbekkers from our daily regional newspaper, the Brabants Dagblad http://www.brabantsdagblad.nl/, interviewed me this evening. She was interested how American voters living in Brabant were keeping up with the 2008 US Presidential Election (see link). Marij kept company with us as I told the story of how I came to the Netherlands.
Saturday, 19-January-2008 - Beek en Donk - Went to the weekly winter training session--first time this winter--first time on skates since October. I really felt it. Ronald taught us how to skate backwards in a circle. Some of us caught on. I definitely need more practice.
Sunday, 13-January-2008 - Veghel - Helped Marij with her hobby. Today we went to Veghel Zuid in the neighborhood center De Golfstroom. Had a lot of fun.
Sunday, 6-January-2008 - Bleiswijk - On this sunny day, Marij, Rosan, and I drove to Bleiswijk to visit Ina, Martin's mother. Katherine and Martin drove up from Hellevoetsluis. We brought Christmas presents from Grandma Weiss for them along with us. We had a real nice visit. Because Katherine and Martin brought a lot of items for the next flea market, they drove back to Veghel with us in their own car. On the way home, we ordered Chinese takeout food, and we invited Chris and Marieke to join us. It was real nice to have seven people at the dinner table.
Sunday, 30-December-2007 - Erp - Got up early to go mountain biking with Chris and Richard in the nearby villiage of Erp. I met Chris at his place at 0900. Richard would meet us at the starting point. After signing in, I heard someone say that there were 800 riders today. Chris and Richard took the 40 km route; I took the 30 km. Shortly after the halfway point, I decided to call it good and head for home. This was my second official trail ride. I was happy to make it this far. I knew I needed to get in better shape--ride more often--to make it to the finish. Chris and Richard were just finishing when I called in. We met for an after photo, and then we said goodbye to Richard (he lives in nearby Keldonk). Chris and I continued on to Veghel to first wash the mud off our bikes. I dropped Chris off back at his place. Marij was happy to see me when I got back home.
Saturday, 22-December-2007 - Veghel - I just updated my home page to include this year's family newsletter. Wishing you a blessed Holiday Season and a Happy New Year. 
Saturday, 22-December-2007 - Veghel - Yesterday was the shortest day of the year. I've been watching the weather forecast all week, so I knew I could go skating outdoors today right here in Veghel at the Aa-Broeken, a meadow which is flooded to create a wonderful frozen pond. I rode my bike along a magically frozen path. It was only a kilometer away, but I kept stopping to take pictures of this wonderful sight. I wore a helmet, because I didn't want to get another concussion (like the one I got while snowboarding last winter). I tried my cross-country skates, but even after all my in-line skating this past year, my ankles were too unsteady, so after about five rounds I switched to my hockey skates. There, that was better. Now I can have some fun--it was great! I think it was 11 years ago that I went skating here--memories of skating throughout my lifetime came back to me. My father taught me how to skate when I was five years old.
Saturday, 22-December-2007 - Veghel - Here's what it looked like this morning. What a magical world outside!
Friday, 21-December-2007 - Tilburg - I saw and felt it getting colder and colder during the past week. Ten days ago, I knew this was coming--large mole hills were pushing up around the grounds at Standard Aero. Already then, I was hoping to go skating this year.
