Landsthul Bound

We arrived safe & sound in Frankfurt. Yesterday while I napped, Sherry & Deb went to the commissary to purchase groceries to feed up to 100 wounded troops this afternoon / evening (see info box to the right). Today is Football Sunday and we will be serving homemade chili and loads of baked potatoes. It is probably chilly outside, but you would never know it as the oven has been on since the wee hours of the morning.

The only obstacle we ran into so far, was Sherry and I spending time to dig through the recycling bag to try to find the recipe for banana nut bread. After finally giving up and going to another recipe, Lexi (Sherry's 13 year old) walked into the kitchen and found the note card we had spent hours looking for. Now I will be the one to blame if the banana bread doesn't turn out.

I am also the first one to fall sick. Sherry was so sweet to take me to the bakery with her this morning so we could pick out freshly made German treats for breakfast and coffee (extra strong). As we were standing there talking, I started scratching like a dog with fleas, and my right arm broke out in a huge welt. Hives. After a short discussion, I was popping Benadryl and drank what seemed like a gallon of water - although a good stein of German beer would have probably have made the hives go away quicker...

The facility we are going to is a USO Wounded Warrior center at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. The Wounded Warriors come and go throughout the day .. and I am hoping to find a way to root on the Seahawks, especially to cause a little adversary between one of the Marines who was giving me hard time yesterday. It seems they LOVE having visitors at the center, and, of course, I now make a good person for them to pick on with my skin looking like beetroot. The troops were so excited to find out we were the ones cooking for them today, and kept asking what time we would be returning. Not sure if they were more excited for the company or our home cooking.

We've been reading through the 600+ cards my friends so graciously rallied to get written for me to hand deliver. It's been incredibly uplifting to see the sweet words of encouragement from girl scouts, students, nursing home residents and all the loving people who contributed to my request. Hopefully going forward people will continue to send Sherry cards for the wounded, as that will be an ongoing request of mine (not just for the holidays).

For now, I must hop in the shower. I've been up since 5am trying to get everything accomplished for our day. I feel so very blessed to be here ..

Robin (photo of us all plus Jo from USO)