Mom is leaving.

My time with Mom is winding down. She leaves Thursday. Even as I write that, I get tears in my eyes. I'm going to miss her very much. It's been so nice having her here. So nice for me and the kids. She's a big helper and a pleasant person. I love her so much.

We didn't do quite as much as I had hoped we would, namely because I got intimidated by the crowds that first day she was here. But today (Tuesday), Dave watched the kids all day so that we could go to Frankfurt together. The plan had been to go with the whole family, but the twins got woken up by Alex and his nightmare at 4:00 a.m., and didn't go back to sleep. That would have made for an awful day. Not to mention, it was cold and rainy and dreary and the twins both have colds. So I'm glad we were able to go alone in spite of the plan. (Thank you, honey.)

A new museum opened up in the church in Römerburg. It was really nice. Small but inexpensive, and their artifacts were so impressive. Church artifacts from the 1300s. Amazing! I enjoy the religious history much more than any other history. It was a nice day for Mom and me.

We also visited the archaeological museum of Frankfurt. Their exhibits were impressive, but the permanent exhibit had no English explanations. It was still very interesting as it revealed artifacts excavated near Frankfurt. I found it interesting because when I think of Europe, I think of the Medieval and Renaissance periods, but they had found artifacts from much further back than that. Of course. If I think of the caves in France, I would remember that humans on this continent go much further back than the Medieval period.

The temporary exhibit had English translations and was very interesting. It depicted Etruscan culture and the gods of Old Italy, where there were many different gods similar to Greek mythology, but it seemed they had a greater fascination with death and the afterlife. I would even go so far as to say it was a little bit creepy. The museum overall was very interesting, and much bigger than it looked. I didn't take pictures today but will attempt to next time I go.

I always get a little bit sad after Christmas. Factor in Mom leaving on Thursday and the gloomy weather. It's not a good outlook. I know I have such a great opportunity here, and I'm grateful for it, but can I just be human for a bit? I'm sad because Christmas is over, Mom's leaving, and January and February are going to be tough months for us. I have to travel about 2.5 weeks total in January. I'm looking forward to the sunshine that I'll get when I go to Israel again, but right before that, I have to travel to Grafenwohr, and right after that, I might be going to Romania (neat, right?!). All this travel is hard on all of us. Hard for Dave for obvious reasons, hard for the kids since I'm not around to be with them, and hard for me because I'm not around Dave and the kids. That's January. February is going to be tough because Alex is scheduled to have his adenoids removed. In the meantime, the poor kid can hardly hear at all. But have you ever taken your kids willingly into surgery? That's a hard thing to do! Thank God it isn't worse. I know that. It's still hard, though. I'm taking him in knowing that he will suffer. I hope he's old enough to understand. I hope it's the right decision.

Pray for us, okay?

St. Bartholomew

This is nearly 600 years old

Mom and I in Romerburg