Skip to main content

DC Is Not an Illusion

We've gotten several emails and phone calls confirming our next posting in DC, but it wasn't until the 2" thick welcome packet arrived that I finally gave in to the joy of believing.  There were so many pamphlets and maps.  We unfolded each and every one.

20120306 8369

Noah is excited about my "map room" idea.  I want a room full of maps.  State maps, country maps... whatever.  As long as I can put a tack in it as a place I've been to, I'm good.  We have a couple we picked up here of Spain and Europe (which are in Spanish so I love them even more).

20120306 8367

Josh showed everyone where he'd be working and where we're looking for houses... the road he would take to work.  We pointed out parks and exciting places.  I think it's safe to say we're all pretty excited about our next destination now.  We have a few more trips to take in Spain.  A few more places I want to see before we leave.

Unfortunately we got some bad news yesterday that our landlord passed away a few months ago.  This was incredibly disheartening to us.  He was such a wonderful man.  We really wanted to thank him in person for being such a big part of this adventure in Spain.  We wanted him to see our pictures and see the improvements we did to the house for them.  We wanted to talk about history and politics with him.  We were really looking forward to seeing him and his wife again.

Every time we spoke with him he was so thrilled to hear we were enjoying his country.  I remember talking to him while he was vacationing on the beach about the World Cup and how he had waited a lifetime for Spain to finally win.  I'm glad he got to see it.  We knew he was sick, but he told us he was almost completely better and expected "his beach" in Galicia would cure the rest for him over the summer.  He ended our last conversation with "find as much joy as you can, don't leave for tomorrow what you can do today because when you find the time it's already passed.  BE HAPPY!"  I hope he got to go to his beach.  I know he lived his life to the fullest and was happy.  

I hope you all get a sense of the kind of person he was and why this is sad for us.  Our thoughts are with his family.  We hope to find a way to let them know how much his cheerful attitude and generosity meant to us during our 3 years here.

Comments

Sandy said…
Are you going to be in Southern MD? It's really nice out there. The DC folks will think you're in the stix, but you can get decent housing and there's some fun fossils, beaches, fresh blue crabs by the bucket-full...a nice place.
Unknown said…
I can definitely understand liking the map room idea. :) Me and Kev have framed maps with pictures and other stuff from the locations along one of our walls. (the one across from the kitchen) They are like framed scrapebook pages of places we've been and the things we did there. I'll have to get you some pictures of them.

Popular posts from this blog

Very bad day today

I got a horrible phone call early this morning from someone I used to work with. A friend of mine, who was stationed in Iraq, was killed yesterday in her sleep when her trailer was hit. SGT Trista Moretti was an amazing person. She had an impact on so many lives in so many places. It's going to be tough for everyone (like me) who can't make it to Jersey to say goodbye. I've been crying off and on all damn day. It seems so unfair. I hate this war and don't agree with it, but I don't think she died in vain. She died for everyone else out there. They fight for each other, not a cause, not their government. That's what I miss about the Army. I miss my comrades. Trista was hilarious and beautiful and had this great Jersey accent. We used to play word games and gossip and eat lunch together every day. We would laugh all day long while we "worked" haha. I remember when she first got to the unit I told everyone some bitchy chick with an accent was in the...

Hurricane Sandy

This will be a gleefully uneventful post, but I thought I should at least inform everyone of our whereabouts during Frankenstorm. On Friday the landfall predictions were further south, which had the eye passing near our tiny town after obliterating Dover, DE.  We happen to be surrounded by water.  The Patuxent River on one side, Chesapeake Bay on the other, plenty of swamps and creeks in between.  Not a good prospect. Josh and I had gone out that night to try and secure supplies and already, there were no batteries or flashlights.  We also don't have a grill and thought "we'll try Lowe's tomorrow"I mean, most people already own grills... right?  Everything in our house is run on electricity (including the water pump for the well) except for the fireplace.  I don't know what builders are thinking when they do that.  I at least want a gas stove and water heater!  So, anyways.  We got a few hours of sleep before trying to brave the crowds...

Hiking on the Guadarrama Trail

As promised yesterday, I actually left the house and went on a hike with Mama C and Goober!  YAY! I was a bad Mommy and ill prepared to shield us from the hot Spanish sun so we all have a touch of sunburn.  Whoops.  It was fun though.  OK so here's where we began our journey.  You can see the bridge between the roundabout and the little house with a red roof (which is a restaurant).  All the cylindrical buildings were a plant nursery.  We walked over the bridge and past the nursery where we crossed the street and then started up the dirt path.  The other little building is literally a Gypsy Keep. Here's what it looked like from the road... and it was so ridiculously creepy, yet fascinating.  I don't know why there is always tons of junk in trees around gypsy places.  There was a gutted van in the backyard, a stroller jammed into a wall, shorts in the trees.  We both wanted to trespass, but the kids would have inevitably fal...