Another Week-October3-9

This was another regular week with the addition of a promotion, a small flood, and travel to another country. Nothing much.


Darin promoted to Major on Monday. We all attended the ceremony and then as Davis said, “Poor dad, spent his first day as a Major working late.”

Our landlord finally (My poor cracked hands have been waiting for 2 months) had his plumber friend come and hook up my dishwasher. I know that there are people who don’t mind doing dishes by hand, but I am not one of them. I like my sinks cleared, a dishwasher makes that quick and easy. I only like to do dishes when my hands are cold. Must be my mom telling me as a child, “If you’re cold, do the dishes.” It heats them up quickly and it clears the sinks. Thanks, Mom. We also got a new tank on one of our toilets. Turns out that it leaks worse than before, so I’m still waiting for the plumber friend to fit us in again. During the fixings, Holger (landlord) was turning the water on and off, later that evening, I found a flood in my food storage room. I was so mad. Darin was sure that it had something to do with my dishwasher working. We had to turn off the water and mop up the mess, and call our landlord to come and fix it. The next day it was fixed, but I think that it was his fault in the first place. I think that he didn’t fully turn it off (it is really hard to turn), and kind of messed up…my mess to clean up. But on a happy note, my dishwasher works and wasn’t the cause (although Darin is still unsure about me using it) and I don’t have water in my food storage room. But I am still waiting for a toilet, such a pain in the booty…ha.

Hurray, with Monday being a holiday (Three cheers for Columbus!) we were able to go travelling on Saturday and still have Monday to try and get the house unpacked more. I know it seems like I’ve been doing this forever, but really I don’t do much other than rearrange things while Darin is away because of Anya and homeschooling Jag. So it may in fact take me FOREVER! We went to Luxembourg. It is under 2 hours away, isn’t that awesome? I live in a fabulous location for travelling.

We learned a few things on our trip to Luxembourg:

1. They don’t speak German or English or even French…Luxembourgese? But it is closer to French than German. Awesome because I’d hate to use my mad German skills!

2. Our GPS is loaded with many European maps, but not one for Luxembourg. Lost isn’t quite a strong enough word.

3. Luxembourg is beautiful!

4. One shouldn’t head to a new country without map, dictionary, or clue.

5. As soon as you cross the border from Germany you are met with Luxembourg’s version of fine dining…Pizza Hut and Burger King. Who would have guessed?

6. Luxembourg’s airport is probably as close as the Frankfurt airport for those who may come and visit.

7. This season called autumn is amazing. We haven’t seen anything like it is 7 years. I think it might be my favorite, but I’d like it more if it were warmer.

8. The autobahn is always under construction.

9. Luxembourg city has main streets with names like, John F. Kennedy Ave., F.D. Roosevelt Blvd., and Patton Ave.



Once we found our way, we wondered through the quaint city and enjoyed the cool looking buildings. We happened upon an outdoor market area where we were able to grab some lunch from the bakery stand. We checked out the Bock Casemates, which are these underground tunnels and pathways built into this mountain in 1644. They were multilevel and at times reminded us of the underground city in Cappadocia, Turkey. At least the smell did. They were used as a fortress and were initially 23-km long. The boys ran and explored, it was great fun. The views, out the tunnels were breathtaking.

Luxembourg is also home to the US Military Cemetery in which Gen. Patton is buried. Darin was telling the boys all about it when he forgot Patton’s name and started referring to him as David Patton, I laughed. A lot. David?! Darin couldn’t believe his mistake. Ha, ha. The military cemetery is the first one that I’ve been to since having sent my husband to war- twice. It hit me so hard and my emotions were a mess the entire time. The sacrifice of so many people. All of the families that were affected. It was so real to me. I have felt the sadness and fear that comes with sending a loved one off to a warzone. The military cemeteries have changed for me. They are no longer just a bunch of white crosses, they are people and families. I am grateful for the sacrifice made by so many. It was a neat place to visit.