First Holland Holiday Sept.2000
There we were, standing there waiting for the door to open. From everything Marco had told me about his sister,
(Conny) I shouldn't have been nervous. She sounded just like him, super sweet, kind, and easy going. But it didn't
matter what he had told me, all I envisioned was a woman opening the door and giving me an evil look for corrupting
her baby brother. Yikes, I heard the locks being undone! And there she was, the person I had been so nervous to meet,
standing there with the biggest smile on her face.
She was so friendly, so nice, so kind, so sweet. She was definitely related to Marco. We sat down in the living room,
had some coffee and talked for a bit. Every once in a while, as we were telling her some of the highlights of our trip, I
would see her look at Marco and just smile. And as soon as he would see her, he would kind of half-giggle and look the
other way. (he's so cute) We hadn't been there that long when Jan came home. Now Marco had told me all about them,
and he sounded as great as Conny. They had lived together for years and may as well have been married, it just wasn't
on paper. So, when Jan came in and Conny introduced him, she said, "Dawn, this is (pause) my friend Jan." He looked
at her, laughed, and said, "So I'm just your friend eh?" hahaha I didn't know if I should laugh or not, but it slipped out
anyway.
After a few minutes, Marco and Jan were talking all about his fishing, while Conny and I were talking about other
things. This was so nice. There were a few times that I just sat there, (like when they started speaking Dutch) not
talking to anyone, just watching. I was getting to see what Marco's life was like. I could always tell when they
(especially Jan) asked Marco something embarrassing, because he would look directly at me, get red, then giggle and
look the other direction.
I could look out their window and see across the street into Marco's home. I couldn't wait to see it. After 2 cups of
coffee, he got his keys, we said our good-byes, and we left. We grabbed as much stuff as we could out of the car and
headed up the stairs. When we walked in, Winnie, his evil spoiled cat, greeted us! He will of course argue and say she
is the sweetest kitty ever. Which she is, to HIM. All those worries I had over his sister, I should have had over Winnie.
She was obviously not happy that I was there. I swear, no exaggeration, if we were sitting on the sofa and she was
across the room, she would do one of two things to get to Marco. She would one, either walk as far out of her way as
she could, just to prove that she did not want to go anywhere near me. Or two, she would walk right in front of me,
only pausing long enough to swat me with her little bitchcat paw! And as soon as she was sitting on Marco's lap, she
would stare at me as if to say, "Look here bitch, he was mine first, so back off!" Go ahead, laugh at me, but I'm telling
you the truth. Ask Marco and he'll tell you I'm right. Of course he will laugh as he's doing it.
Marco's house was awesome. My living room is mostly in black, gray, and white furniture, with a
funky-multi-colored sofa to bring it all together. Marco had a black leather sectional, a coffee table, end table, and
kitchen table (all black bases with white tiled tops), black kitchen chairs, white sections of china/shelf units, and plants
all over. This was so cool, because as different as we were personality-wise, we had the same exact taste in decorating.
Well, at least in furniture and color schemes. I have pictures by Kim Anderson hanging in my living room (black &
white, usually with one object in color - of children kissing or hugging). Very sweet romantic pictures. Marco however
has a giant Ireland flag with a picture of some scary ass soccer player's face on it that says, "There is only one
KENO". If you look at this guy's face long enough, you are sure to get nightmares! But, Marco's 3 main loves in life
are Ireland, Soccer, and Fishing (I come a distant 4th hahaha). So unless he was able to find an Irish flag with this
Keno guy holding a fishing pole, this was perfect for him.
We really didn't do too much this first day. Thank Gawd. It had been a really long trip to get here, so all we wanted
to do was lay around and relax. Which we did, pretty much all night. Marco went through his 6 weeks worth of mail
while I laid on the sofa flipping through channels on the tv. I had fun stopping on the shows that were all in Dutch. I'd
sit there and watch for a while, having no clue what the hell they were saying, but enjoying it anyway. I thought that
the shows that are done in the States would be dubbed over in Dutch, but they weren't. They were still in English, but
had Dutch subtitles on them. Bummer, I really wanted to see The Brady Bunch all spoken in Dutch.
Marco ordered dinner in, and after we ate we got on the computer for a little while. We took turns checking our
emails. Mine wasn't so bad because I had someone checking mine while I was gone. She cleared out all the junk so that
I wouldn't have to sort through 1000 of them all at once. Marco on the other hand, had about 1,295 emails waiting for
him! It was late by this time, and as he was playing around on the computer, I laid on the bed and watched. Ummm
while I'm here, have I mentioned that Marco has a single size bed? (I bet you're thinking the same thing I was! How
the hell are we gonna manage this one? hahaha)
I don't even remember closing my eyes, but the next thing I knew, I woke up and it was morning. Hmmm I was quite
comfy in the bed, but where was Marco? He has glass French doors between his bedroom and his living room, so I
peeked through and saw him asleep on the couch. Awww, I felt bad that he was in there. But I do know that once I fall
asleep, nothing will wake me up. And I did have a good night's sleep, so I guess I didn't feel too bad.
I was gonna wake him up, but decided to be nice and let him sleep as long as he wanted. I went into the kitchen,
made some coffee, fed the little WinnieBitch, and then sat down to get online for a while. This time difference sucked.
When we were online the night before it was like 4am in the States, so nobody was up. But now it was 3pm there and
everyone was awake. Yay, for the first time in 2 weeks I would get to go play in chat. I played for an hour or so, but it
was boring without Marco, so I stopped being nice and decided he had slept long enough. Oh yeah, I never have
mentioned that Marco is definitely NOT a morning person. It is about the only time I ever get to see the grumpy side of
him, so I kind of have fun poking at him and making him wake up before he really wants to. (Oh shush and let me have
some fun! Stop saying, "Poor Marco" Because I know you're sitting there saying it! hahaha) Continue
(Conny) I shouldn't have been nervous. She sounded just like him, super sweet, kind, and easy going. But it didn't
matter what he had told me, all I envisioned was a woman opening the door and giving me an evil look for corrupting
her baby brother. Yikes, I heard the locks being undone! And there she was, the person I had been so nervous to meet,
standing there with the biggest smile on her face.
She was so friendly, so nice, so kind, so sweet. She was definitely related to Marco. We sat down in the living room,
had some coffee and talked for a bit. Every once in a while, as we were telling her some of the highlights of our trip, I
would see her look at Marco and just smile. And as soon as he would see her, he would kind of half-giggle and look the
other way. (he's so cute) We hadn't been there that long when Jan came home. Now Marco had told me all about them,
and he sounded as great as Conny. They had lived together for years and may as well have been married, it just wasn't
on paper. So, when Jan came in and Conny introduced him, she said, "Dawn, this is (pause) my friend Jan." He looked
at her, laughed, and said, "So I'm just your friend eh?" hahaha I didn't know if I should laugh or not, but it slipped out
anyway.
After a few minutes, Marco and Jan were talking all about his fishing, while Conny and I were talking about other
things. This was so nice. There were a few times that I just sat there, (like when they started speaking Dutch) not
talking to anyone, just watching. I was getting to see what Marco's life was like. I could always tell when they
(especially Jan) asked Marco something embarrassing, because he would look directly at me, get red, then giggle and
look the other direction.
I could look out their window and see across the street into Marco's home. I couldn't wait to see it. After 2 cups of
coffee, he got his keys, we said our good-byes, and we left. We grabbed as much stuff as we could out of the car and
headed up the stairs. When we walked in, Winnie, his evil spoiled cat, greeted us! He will of course argue and say she
is the sweetest kitty ever. Which she is, to HIM. All those worries I had over his sister, I should have had over Winnie.
She was obviously not happy that I was there. I swear, no exaggeration, if we were sitting on the sofa and she was
across the room, she would do one of two things to get to Marco. She would one, either walk as far out of her way as
she could, just to prove that she did not want to go anywhere near me. Or two, she would walk right in front of me,
only pausing long enough to swat me with her little bitchcat paw! And as soon as she was sitting on Marco's lap, she
would stare at me as if to say, "Look here bitch, he was mine first, so back off!" Go ahead, laugh at me, but I'm telling
you the truth. Ask Marco and he'll tell you I'm right. Of course he will laugh as he's doing it.
Marco's house was awesome. My living room is mostly in black, gray, and white furniture, with a
funky-multi-colored sofa to bring it all together. Marco had a black leather sectional, a coffee table, end table, and
kitchen table (all black bases with white tiled tops), black kitchen chairs, white sections of china/shelf units, and plants
all over. This was so cool, because as different as we were personality-wise, we had the same exact taste in decorating.
Well, at least in furniture and color schemes. I have pictures by Kim Anderson hanging in my living room (black &
white, usually with one object in color - of children kissing or hugging). Very sweet romantic pictures. Marco however
has a giant Ireland flag with a picture of some scary ass soccer player's face on it that says, "There is only one
KENO". If you look at this guy's face long enough, you are sure to get nightmares! But, Marco's 3 main loves in life
are Ireland, Soccer, and Fishing (I come a distant 4th hahaha). So unless he was able to find an Irish flag with this
Keno guy holding a fishing pole, this was perfect for him.
We really didn't do too much this first day. Thank Gawd. It had been a really long trip to get here, so all we wanted
to do was lay around and relax. Which we did, pretty much all night. Marco went through his 6 weeks worth of mail
while I laid on the sofa flipping through channels on the tv. I had fun stopping on the shows that were all in Dutch. I'd
sit there and watch for a while, having no clue what the hell they were saying, but enjoying it anyway. I thought that
the shows that are done in the States would be dubbed over in Dutch, but they weren't. They were still in English, but
had Dutch subtitles on them. Bummer, I really wanted to see The Brady Bunch all spoken in Dutch.
Marco ordered dinner in, and after we ate we got on the computer for a little while. We took turns checking our
emails. Mine wasn't so bad because I had someone checking mine while I was gone. She cleared out all the junk so that
I wouldn't have to sort through 1000 of them all at once. Marco on the other hand, had about 1,295 emails waiting for
him! It was late by this time, and as he was playing around on the computer, I laid on the bed and watched. Ummm
while I'm here, have I mentioned that Marco has a single size bed? (I bet you're thinking the same thing I was! How
the hell are we gonna manage this one? hahaha)
I don't even remember closing my eyes, but the next thing I knew, I woke up and it was morning. Hmmm I was quite
comfy in the bed, but where was Marco? He has glass French doors between his bedroom and his living room, so I
peeked through and saw him asleep on the couch. Awww, I felt bad that he was in there. But I do know that once I fall
asleep, nothing will wake me up. And I did have a good night's sleep, so I guess I didn't feel too bad.
I was gonna wake him up, but decided to be nice and let him sleep as long as he wanted. I went into the kitchen,
made some coffee, fed the little WinnieBitch, and then sat down to get online for a while. This time difference sucked.
When we were online the night before it was like 4am in the States, so nobody was up. But now it was 3pm there and
everyone was awake. Yay, for the first time in 2 weeks I would get to go play in chat. I played for an hour or so, but it
was boring without Marco, so I stopped being nice and decided he had slept long enough. Oh yeah, I never have
mentioned that Marco is definitely NOT a morning person. It is about the only time I ever get to see the grumpy side of
him, so I kind of have fun poking at him and making him wake up before he really wants to. (Oh shush and let me have
some fun! Stop saying, "Poor Marco" Because I know you're sitting there saying it! hahaha) Continue
