Dog Sitting: My Pseudo-vacation!

Last year I house/dog sat around this same time for my next-door neighbor. It was awesome because I got to be living on my own for two weeks with two dogs whose collective weight was 208 lbs. One of those dogs being my little 8lb Bear, and the other a 200lb Mastiff named Mugsey and they became the very best of friends. It was so much fun, like a little vacation across the street. I'd cook and clean and study and occasionally invite friends over for food or movies or just hanging out with me and my oddly-matched pair of dogs.
I'm doing that again this year but for a different family and a different dog that live right next to Pineview Reservoir. Last night, my mom and I were invited up to dinner at the house that I will be staying at in a couple of weeks. The couple wanted to make sure that my family and I were all comfortable with this house/dog sitting that I will be doing for them. The dinner was absolutely fantastic! They made a salad with the spring mix of greens (not my favorite but alright) then they put some cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and thinly sliced, medium rare, incredibly tender and well seasoned steak on top with some kind of vineagrette. We also had some of that artesan bread from Crumb Brothers on the side and for dessert: fresh strawberries, small pieces of the smoothest dark chocolate, and some home made biscotti. I never used to like biscotti until I worked at the coffee shop and was able to try real, high quality biscotti and this was it!
We talked about their German Shepherd who is also named Bear that they've spoiled like crazy... this dog gets walked twice a day, eats cottage cheese for breakfast, and raw steak and vegetables for dinner! He's a very beautiful dog, he's got such an interesting color and pattern. We also talked about art and Europe since the woman, Alke, paints beautiful paintings and is from Germany. They are going to Europe for sixteen days and right when they get back, I'll be on my way to Spain! Alke was telling me where I need to go and what I need to see when I'm there. She got me so excited for this trip, but then my mom brought up how long I will be gone: 47 days. Wow, that's a seriously long time... at least for the first 16 days I'll be close enough to drive home during the days but that house is still a pretty long ways away, and I'm not going to be able to bring my Bear with me. That'll be a long time to be without my little puppy and an even longer time without Colby, especially with how much I've been seeing him lately since he's been stuck at his parents house until he gets better. I'm trusting it will be alright.